[yeahbaby!]

As long as I get to YEET I'm happy

 

[GeneBlasterV1]

I'm ready for Cena to go on somewhere too but blaming him for any kind of downfall is stupid lol.

 

[Tomzy95]

Aren't Cody and Seth the champions right now?

 

[iarwain]

How is Cena still the last real world champion?

 

[LICC]

WWE is once again on the downturn and the criticism of the product are at an all time high.

All this can be pointed to one man - John Cena.

He returned, had that awful "heel run", randomly turned face and nothing makes sense anymore.

He needs to go away already.

he did not book himself fam

 

[Thanks12]

It goes like that sometimes though. I remember people saying Nitro sucked when they were killing RAW in the ratings. Eventually that bottom fell out.

I remember in 1999 and 2000 people complaining the Mcmahons were hogging up the spotlight. It took a year or two after that to where the Mcmahons couldn't draw the same.

I don't think in general everything is a collective until it is. The main guys are still over like Roman, Cody, Brock, and Cena is on his last run. It is what they do after those glue pieces go is going to be the real test.

Well the Mcmahon's were hogging all the spotlight from 2000 to 2003. It was ridiculous.

 

[OwenSES]

I disagree. Mainly because his heel turn got such a huge buzz. People were interested it went mainstream.

The issue was there wasn't a satisfying payoff to The Rock's involment. And it's not the first time Rock has teased something with no follow through

 

[Thanks12]

Nah this is all on HHH. He can't book. He got incredibly lucky inheriting the Bloodline storyline and the rise of Rhodes and Rock involvement. But since then, things have gone downhill.

 

[SuperstarSlyme]

Amazes me how some people pretend as if WWEs whole audience is a handful of people who sit on the internet all the time discussing how much they don't enjoy the product. If the criticism of the product is at an all time high then they wouldn't still be doing well as a business. Believe it or not, you're in the minority.

This. I came to terms along time ago that the WWE’s main target demographic is kids. 8-14 at that, the WWE isn’t something that me as an adult man should 100% gravitate towards. It’s mostly our love for wrestling when we were kids and continuing to want to fill that void or get that fix that keeps us engaged with wrestling. Most of the people at WWE shows are families bringing their kids to see a live stunt show, it isn’t about critically acclaimed writing or detailed storytelling and nuances, it’s just to make sure the casuals enjoy what they see on a surface level.

That’s why around 2006/7 when I felt myself getting more alienated from the WWE as they got more PG and oversterilized I started following promotions like ROH and TNA. 2010s was NJPW until AEW showed up. That’s why it’s important to have a balance of alternatives because it serves all markets. A person like me and 600k + people want an edgier alternative to WWE and that’s why we watch AEW. WWE still throws the older fan a bone or two here and there (Punk/McIntyre, WM40 etc.) but it’s catered to people who don’t think about wrestling deeper than a surface level.

It goes like that sometimes though. I remember people saying Nitro sucked when they were killing RAW in the ratings. Eventually that bottom fell out.

I remember in 1999 and 2000 people complaining the Mcmahons were hogging up the spotlight. It took a year or two after that to where the Mcmahons couldn't draw the same.

I don't think in general everything is a collective until it is. The main guys are still over like Roman, Cody, Brock, and Cena is on his last run. It is what they do after those glue pieces go is going to be the real test.

That is the intriguing part. We seen it in 92/93 with all the big names leaving the WWF and how the WWF struggled during their rebuild process between 1994-1997. The finally rebuild in 1998 and 5 years later all of their top draws (Austin, Mankind, Rock) were no longer available and all of the “what if” WCW guys either left or didn’t draw like they were supposed to (Hogan, Hall, Nash, Goldberg, Steiner, DDP, Booker, Rey). To make matters worse their new FOTC (Brock Lesnar) would leave 2 years after being called up and getting pushed to the moon. This would leave WWE in a dire period until Cena, Batista, Orton, & Edge were established as the new main eventers. 2011 comes around and you got the same situation again with familiar faces gone (HBK, Batista, Edge, Ric Flair, Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, Bobby Lashley, RVD, Jeff Hardy, Chris Benoit, Umaga etc.) and them having to rebuild which wouldn’t completely pay off until 2014/2015. So it’s interesting to see where WWE will be in the next 6 years with guys like Cena, Styles, Lesnar, Rock, Roman, Punk all either retiring or close to retirement at that point.

 

[Freelancer]

Not his fault.......

 

[promoter2003]

This. I came to terms along time ago that the WWE’s main target demographic is kids. 8-14 at that, the WWE isn’t something that me as an adult man should 100% gravitate towards. It’s mostly our love for wrestling when we were kids and continuing to want to fill that void or get that fix that keeps us engaged with wrestling. Most of the people at WWE shows are families bringing their kids to see a live stunt show, it isn’t about critically acclaimed writing or detailed storytelling and nuances, it’s just to make sure the casuals enjoy what they see on a surface level.

That’s why around 2006/7 when I felt myself getting more alienated from the WWE as they got more PG and oversterilized I started following promotions like ROH and TNA. 2010s was NJPW until AEW showed up. That’s why it’s important to have a balance of alternatives because it serves all markets. A person like me and 600k + people want an edgier alternative to WWE and that’s why we watch AEW. WWE still throws the older fan a bone or two here and there (Punk/McIntyre, WM40 etc.) but it’s catered to people who don’t think about wrestling deeper than a surface level.



That is the intriguing part. We seen it in 92/93 with all the big names leaving the WWF and how the WWF struggled during their rebuild process between 1994-1997. The finally rebuild in 1998 and 5 years later all of their top draws (Austin, Mankind, Rock) were no longer available and all of the “what if” WCW guys either left or didn’t draw like they were supposed to (Hogan, Hall, Nash, Goldberg, Steiner, DDP, Booker, Rey). To make matters worse their new FOTC (Brock Lesnar) would leave 2 years after being called up and getting pushed to the moon. This would leave WWE in a dire period until Cena, Batista, Orton, & Edge were established as the new main eventers. 2011 comes around and you got the same situation again with familiar faces gone (HBK, Batista, Edge, Ric Flair, Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, Bobby Lashley, RVD, Jeff Hardy, Chris Benoit, Umaga etc.) and them having to rebuild which wouldn’t completely pay off until 2014/2015. So it’s interesting to see where WWE will be in the next 6 years with guys like Cena, Styles, Lesnar, Rock, Roman, Punk all either retiring or close to retirement at that point.

The crazy thing is the rebuilding and return to mass appeal may not happened if it wasn’t due to the 80s stars catching fire again in WCW such as Hogan and Sting and even Flair.

 

[gillbergisback]

Is business declining? I haven't seen anything on that. Wouldn't shock me though as the economy falters so will 500 dollar wrestling tickets or whatever they charge nowadays.

 

[SuperstarSlyme]

The crazy thing is the rebuilding and return to mass appeal may not happened if it wasn’t due to the 80s stars catching fire again in WCW such as Hogan and Sting and even Flair.

Im pretty sure it would’ve happened, you got to understand they were all in WCW together since 94 and it took til mid 96 for things to catch fire. It really only takes the right storyline to completely change the trajectory of a company. Hulkamania, Hogan/Andre, Hogan/Savage, Hogan/Warrior, nWo, Hart vs America, Austin vs McMahon, Evolution implosion, YesMania, Bloodline/Finish the story , it just takes the right storyline with the right circumstances to make shit popular again

 

[SuperstarSlyme]

Is business declining? I haven't seen anything on that. Wouldn't shock me though as the economy falters so will 500 dollar wrestling tickets or whatever they charge nowadays.

I wouldn’t say declining but the Boom period from 2021 - WM41 is over and it’s starting to go slightly downwards, between declining TV rating from both promotions to declining tv attendance. PPV/PLE’s continue to be a strong point.

 

[promoter2003]

Im pretty sure it would’ve happened, you got to understand they were all in WCW together since 94 and it took til mid 96 for things to catch fire. It really only takes the right storyline to completely change the trajectory of a company. Hulkamania, Hogan/Andre, Hogan/Savage, Hogan/Warrior, nWo, Hart vs America, Austin vs McMahon, Evolution implosion, YesMania, Bloodline/Finish the story , it just takes the right storyline with the right circumstances to make shit popular again

This is true, but there were revolutionary things that happened too.

WCW changed things up with the type of matches shown weekly starting with first Nitro.

WCW also forced WWF hand with the monthly ppv shows. It was this that caused Vince to retaliate by actually acknowledging WCW on air. It caused the wrestling war to go another level.

This led to a counter with WCW using that attack with one of the biggest angles ever with NWO.

There was some serious reality based stuff that wouldn’t happen just out of the figment of the imagination of a creative team in a boardroom.

I think modern WWE lacks this element when crafting storylines at least this year. It’s not an accident Cody and Roman stories of continuing bloodlines and finishing father legacies. There is realism there people can buy into just like people getting into a war between two wrestling companies.

 

[SuperstarSlyme]

This is true, but there were revolutionary things that happened too.

WCW changed things up with the type of matches shown weekly starting with first Nitro.

WCW also forced WWF hand with the monthly ppv shows. It was this that caused Vince to retaliate by actually acknowledging WCW on air. It caused the wrestling war to go another level.

This led to a counter with WCW using that attack with one of the biggest angles ever with NWO.

There was some serious reality based stuff that wouldn’t happen just out of the figment of the imagination of a creative team in a boardroom.

I think modern WWE lacks this element when crafting storylines at least this year. It’s not an accident Cody and Roman stories of continuing bloodlines and finishing father legacies. There is realism there people can buy into just like people getting into a war between two wrestling companies.

This is also true too, reality based storylines almost always hits when done right, they should tap more into those things.

I also hate how open WWE is to letting you know this is fake lol like at least suspend some type of belief

 

[2pt0EcoBoostFusion]

You can blame Cena for many things (not that I want to, those who don't like him can) but blaming him for WWE's current slump is ridiculous.

 

[Ran27]

WWEs last boom period ended in 2001.

They had a mini boom in 2005-2006

 

[The XL]

They had a mini boom in 2005-2006

Yeah, they did. But I'm talking full blown boom.

 

[promoter2003]

This is also true too, reality based storylines almost always hits when done right, they should tap more into those things.

I also hate how open WWE is to letting you know this is fake lol like at least suspend some type of belief

This video says it all. WWE and HHH took the fun out everything.

He asked for it making it all about his creative and now backlash going his way.