[Smarky Mark]

You hear it all the time around these parts.

"Every episode of Raw is the same".

And they are right.

We have witnessed every conceivable storyline, every conceivable scenario... so much so that the cycle has been repeating itself for close to 20 years.

Next week someone is going to start the show and talk. Then someone is else is going to come out and throw insults. Then after a brief scuffle the GM is going to declare they have a match later that night. Cue filler segments, cue matches between the same wrestlers for the 300thtime, cue network plugs, cue fake historical declarations... etc, etc. etc. etc.... main event. By next week you won't even remember any of it.

Now take a show like Monday Night Football. Despite being on TV for almost 50 years, you will never hear anyone say that every episode of MNF is the same. Why? Because it's not an 'episode' of anything. It's just a display of pro football. The storyline... the 'drama'... is a byproduct of caring about the football. Not the other way around. Now if the same teams played every week, every show had the same predictable outcome, and there were no standout players or teams... then we might have something that looks like Raw.

Basically what I'm saying is they need to stop writing Raw like a soap opera about wrestling and go back to writing it like it were a fictional wrestling organization... that just so happened to be a soap opera.

 

[All Petite Wrestling]

Is this a thread about threads?

Football is real.

 

[Anoche]

Wrestling is real

People are fake

 

[Kostic]

Wrestling isn't exactly that flexible. You complain about how every week, someone comes out, cuts a promo, then someone interrupts him and insults him, then GM books a match...well duh. That's how it works. What else will they do? Football IS the same every week. Every game is the same. Every MMA fight is the same. The difference is, it's real competition. In wrestling, you know that there's a team of people controlling everything and making all the decisions, so you can't quite get into it.

 

[ImSumukh]

TL; DR

This thread has just made the list

 

[SilvasBrokenLeg]

Wrestling isn't exactly that flexible. You complain about how every week, someone comes out, cuts a promo, then someone interrupts him and insults him, then GM books a match...well duh. That's how it works. What else will they do? Football IS the same every week. Every game is the same. Every MMA fight is the same. The difference is, it's real competition. In wrestling, you know that there's a team of people controlling everything and making all the decisions, so you can't quite get into it.

Couldn't be further from the truth.

 

[Kostic]

Couldn't be further from the truth.

No, it is very close to the truth.

 

[nyelator]

I agree with op.

 

[THE MAN.THE MYTH.THE SHIV.THE END.]

RAW is in need of rewrites.

 

[GRAPHICAL GHOST]

hire quentin tarantino!

 

[LongLiveTNA]

While the OP appears quite askew, RAW IS the exact same every week.

PPV match between wrestlers X and Y

1. Wrestler X comes out, proclaims "I will win"

2. Wrestler Y interrupts "No, I will win"

3. They almost come to blows

4. Out comes general manager

5. "It looks like you guys want to fight tonight, so I'm going to put you in a match"

6. Wrestler X fights other high card wrestler in pointless match.

7. Wrestler Y fights other high card wrestler in pointless match.

8. Everybody is watered down.

9. Repeat.

 

[ste1592]

Wrestling isn't exactly that flexible. You complain about how every week, someone comes out, cuts a promo, then someone interrupts him and insults him, then GM books a match...well duh. That's how it works. What else will they do? Football IS the same every week. Every game is the same. Every MMA fight is the same. The difference is, it's real competition. In wrestling, you know that there's a team of people controlling everything and making all the decisions, so you can't quite get into it.

How can real sports be the same every week?

 

[FOF_FAN]

I'm with the OP. They just need to make the outcomes of these matches different. Any Superstar should be able to beat any Superstar on any given night. It should feel like real competition with 2 guys who have a chance to win. After all they call them all superstars. Under the current format they could call a few guys Superstars and the rest of the roster pro wrestlers.

It's ok if guys string together stretches of clean wins for storyline purposes but invincible wrestlers, except for guys like Brock who has a pedigree as a real fighter, should be gone. Right now smackdown is doing OK, not great or even good, RAW terrible. You can call the clean winners on RAW or matches that won't end clean very easily.

Not sure this format would work for the kids though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Kostic]

How can real sports be the same every week?

Take basketball for example. Every game of basketball revolves around the same formula: we're gonna attack their basket and then we're gonna defend ours. Then attack, then defend again. And during those plays, 90% of the time they're pretty much the same. Pass the ball around until someone takes a shot. The story is the same every week, every season. The reason it's so interesting is because of the real competition of it and rooting for your team.

 

[Anglefan4lifeV1]

How can real sports be the same every week?

Lemme take a shot at trying:

Well, in football. Starts out with a coin toss and choosing which side you want. There will be a kickoff and a return or touch back Then there will be four downs where the qb is guaranteed to hike it. They may make it to the line in which case, repeat previous expectations. Their goal is to always make it to the end zone or kick a FG. Usually with qb's they have favorites they throw to, we know who they are in advance. There is a usual runner we can expect and even a backup we can expect. We can expect the defense to try and sack the qb, and generally we always yell "blitz" with the same individuals breaking through.

Now of course it's much more entertaining than pro wrestling with certain aspects of it being real. So when a runner breaks a block and runs for the end zone it's amazing and exciting because its real and its not someone in the back telling them to break it for excitement.

With all that said, certain aspects are expected and the same in every game. Essentially the "rules"

 

[SilvasBrokenLeg]

No, it is very close to the truth.

Not at all.

In a football game, you can have a low scoring defensive struggle, a high scoring shootout, a game where the running game dominates, a game where the passing game dominates, a wild 25 point comeback, a last second interception that saves the game, a close game that goes into OT, etc.

In MMA, you can have a fight that's a stand up brawl, a fight that's a display of technical grappling, a fight that goes the full 3/5 rounds, a fight that ends in the 1st, a fight where one guy gets dominated the entire fight but ends up winning by KO or submission, etc.

In either case, you're in suspense because you're watching two teams/individuals compete and you have no clue how the game or fight will go.

In WWE, it's the same format to the show, the same formula to the promos and matches. You may have some small variance once in a while, but it's mostly the same shit. And when you do have something out of the ordinary, it's generally something that's only done for the immediate shock value and that ends up hurting the credibility of your product - i.e. Jinder Mahal winning the world title.

 

[Casual Fan #52]

Wrestling isn't exactly that flexible. You complain about how every week, someone comes out, cuts a promo, then someone interrupts him and insults him, then GM books a match...well duh. That's how it works.

It doesn't have to. I've never seen that on LU for example. I don't often see that on Stardom either.

 

[ste1592]

Lemme take a shot at trying:

Well, in football. Starts out with a coin toss and choosing which side you want. There will be a kickoff and a return or touch back Then there will be four downs where the qb is guaranteed to hike it. They may make it to the line in which case, repeat previous expectations. Their goal is to always make it to the end zone or kick a FG. Usually with qb's they have favorites they throw to, we know who they are in advance. There is a usual runner we can expect and even a backup we can expect. We can expect the defense to try and sack the qb, and generally we always yell "blitz" with the same individuals breaking through.

Now of course it's much more entertaining than pro wrestling with certain aspects of it being real. So when a runner breaks a block and runs for the end zone it's amazing and exciting because its real and its not someone in the back telling them to break it for excitement.

With all that said, certain aspects are expected and the same in every game. Essentially the "rules"

Take basketball for example. Every game of basketball revolves around the same formula: we're gonna attack their basket and then we're gonna defend ours. Then attack, then defend again. And during those plays, 90% of the time they're pretty much the same. Pass the ball around until someone takes a shot. The story is the same every week, every season. The reason it's so interesting is because of the real competition of it and rooting for your team.

Well, but those are the rules, not the match; if you changed the rules, you'd be changing the sport, whereas in wrestling starting the show with a match wouldn't change anything, which is probably the reason why the OP complains. There is much more leeway for a wrestling show, which is basically a theatrical perfomance.

 

[Reggie Dunlop]

Wrestling isn't exactly that flexible. You complain about how every week, someone comes out, cuts a promo, then someone interrupts him and insults him, then GM books a match...well duh. That's how it works. What else will they do? Football IS the same every week. Every game is the same. Every MMA fight is the same. The difference is, it's real competition. In wrestling, you know that there's a team of people controlling everything and making all the decisions, so you can't quite get into it.

You nailed the whole problem with WWE right here. The whole point of wrestling as a form of entertainment is getting the audience to suspend disbelief. WWE is the worst at shoveling shit that you know is totally scripted simply by what is presented and the way they present it. The other promotions aren't anywhere near as blatant about it. But WWE doesn't even try to make it look like competition any more. The wrestlers themselves try, but the presentation and the shit surrounding it that's supposed to build up interest in the matches end up doing the eexact opposite.

 

[johnmangala]

True, tho it's better than past years pro wrestling will always face this issue. They really need a new scripting team.

This may be far fetched but I dream for the WWE be brought or merged with Disney or some sort. Marvel style scripting is pro wrestling in spirit.