[PezzieCoyote]

I was thinking about this after watching the Rumble. Every year there are surprises, whether it's the return of an injured star or the appearance of a legend. We knew there'd be surprises. Word quickly got out about Booker T and Nash.

Money in the Bank is designed to be an out-of-nowhere swerve, but still, the option is always there.

With the internet and the dirtsheets, does WWE have the ability to surprise us. With all the eyes and ears backstage, can everything be kept under wraps? Has there been a return that truly shocked?

I honestly don't remember the last time I was truly surprised or shocked by anything in WWE.

 

[Bob Lincoln]

Yeah, it just involves staying away from IWC.

 

[perro]

I think The Nexus Riot Proves they doo

 

[jimboystar24]

Yes, they just did tonight.

Jerry Lawler, a man older than Ric Flair, is going for a World title. I didn't think WWE could get worse. SURPRISE! It just did.

 

[SHIRLEY]

Eve.

 

[EraOfAwesome]

To be honest, if Sting truly has signed with the WWE, then that was probably the queitest contract signing involving someone of Sting's fame that has ever occurred anywhere.

That would be a true surprise, as long as we don't get the "Sting sighted backstage at Raw tonight" crap from the dirtsheets.

 

[Dice Darwin]

The Corre having 2 R's was surprising. It was a well-kept secret.

 

[TelkEvolon]

Well you could of always known about what was going to happen if you read "insider stuff" It's the same as complaining about a movie not being shocking because you read about the ending.

 

[Bookworm Rocks]

It's possible, I was shocked by both Booker T and Diesel last night. It just involves avoiding the rumour threads. I didn't go into the Royal Rumble section at all but even if you went in there and just avoided threads with titles like *SPOILER* and "Rumour: Major signing" you should be able to avoid having at least some of the surprises ruined for you.

 

[MOBELS]

They do but the internet would needs to die so no insider new can come out

 

[Samee]

Booker and Nash completely shocked the shit outta me. There I was, marking out in the college library.

It's a shame news got out about them, some dicks just have to ruin shit don't they? Do these people think?

 

[footballer008]

i'll be shocked when we find out who the gm is

 

[Arya Dark]

Sure WWE can surprise you. All you have to do is stay away from the internet.

 

[BigDeadFreak]

They could do if they took more risks and we all stopped reading this site.

 

[Yamada_Taro]

They could do if they took more risks and we all stopped reading this site.

Spoilers aren't the problem at all. Yes, even if a fan doesn't read spoilers, he is spoiled by friends or surrounded by unhappy fans who read them and thus influenced.

BUT we can see that big events can still shock us even if we know about them (Booker T and Nash in the rumble). So spoilers aren't the biggest problems.


Mentality Evolution and adaptation :

There is an evolution of mentality towards credibility and realism, evolution influenced by modern martial arts and MMA. Yes the fans even if they don't watch MMA are influenced by it and search credibility and realism. WWE has to adapt for example modifying the comments style to add a more sportive and professional feeling.


Recycling of gimmicks, storylines, finishers :

This lack is part of the adaptation problem. WWE is desperately trying to create new recipes to keep fans attracted and to attract new ones. It creates a lot of generic/unattractive gimmicks and a few refreshing pearls coming mainly from the Indys or from outside WWE (CM Punk, Del Rio, Daniel Bryan, Santino).

WWE is currently unable to completely create new ones, but fortunately it slowly evolves.


Lack of emotionaly attaching wrestlers and jobbing :

The main and real problem is the fact that fans nowadays have only a few wrestlers to mark out. We can't find many wrestlers to be emotionnally attached/rooted with. It forces WWE to revolve around 5 big names and renders storylines uncomplete or too easy to figure out or to guess.

A good way could be to add new mid-eventers and main-eventers. WWE could also try to finish using jobbing as a storyline practice (it was the case in the old times when pro-wrestling was at its peak).

 

[Sickburn]

errrr Cena's return at the rumble, don't even try and claim you knew it was gonna happen...

 

[Yamada_Taro]

errrr Cena's return at the rumble, don't even try and claim you knew it was gonna happen...

I am speaking about the very rare and huge events that surprise most fans who don't read and read spoilers. Spoilers aren't a problem people marked out about Diesel and Booker T even if they read.

 

[DesolationRow]

So nobody was surprised when Nexus invaded Raw (June 7, 2010)? Or when Sheamus beat Cena at TLC '09? When Cena returned at the 'Rumble in '08? When Daniel Bryan showed up at Summerslam? When Jericho turned heel on Shawn? When R-Truth acted like a human being in a meaningful conversation?

 

[Ryan]

The internet ruined kayfabe.

 

[Kalashnikov]

In the last two days : Booker, Diesel, ADR winning the rumble, Lawler getting a title shot.