In Your Opinion, list the top 10 problems with the WWE, and your solution...

[Kenny]

1. Triple H: Whether or not you like the guy, or think he deserves the belt. The bottom line is his holding of the belt is frustrating fans to the point where they are sick of the product. There are plenty of wrestlers who have went months / years without a title and there is no reason Triple H should have the belt as much as he does. So I'd put it on somebody like Booker T.

2. TOO High Tech: I'd change the sets for both Raw and Smackdown to resemble the older days. I'd change the ring ropes to red, white, and blue... and push the wrestlers to have matches closer to what they were like in the old days.

3. McMahons I'd still have the McMahons run the show, but in a much more normal way. Instead of having the McMahons come off as springer guests I'd have them be a lot more fair. You'd barely see them outside of their office, and they'd make matches that made the crowd pop every week. 2 McMahons working together per show.

4. Cruiserweight Division I don't know about you but when I think about Cruiserweight, the last thing I care to see is Jamie Noble vs Tajiri over, and over again. I'd bring in guys like Psychosis, Blitzkreg, Essa Rios, Juvi, and LaParka for action. I'd also bring in guys like Dean Malenko who could match up with a guy like Noble a little better than Tajiri.

5. ECW / WCW: You have Paul Heyman, You have Eric Bichoff... you have tons of ECW talent, you have tons of WCW talent. USE THAT! I don't think we need shows like Velocity and Heat. Give ECW a show, give WCW a show, and make it work this time.

6. Controversy: Okay, it's old. It was big back in 97 / 98 cause we didn't EXPECT Stone Cold to flip somebody off before a stunner. We didn't EXPECT D-Generation X to get somebody to flash. Now we expect to see a thong every week, a middle finger and a beer every time we see Stone Cold... etc. I'd take all of my energy out of creating controversy and put it into storylines people give a shit about, and matches people WANT tos ee.

7. Interference / Rule Breaking: I've seen enough. Once again if it happens every so often it has no suprise elment and it gets fu</>cking old. If we didn't see a Steel Chair every week, when one is used it would get a much bigger reaction.

8. The Divas: I'm guilty of being glued to my TV waiting for Trish's thong to pop out or waiting for Stacy to find a clever way to show off her ass so I can get off on it. But it's old. That's not why I watch wrestling. Sex is sex, wrestling is wrestling. I think this is Vinces own personal way to still see a good piece of ass cause his wife is getting old. Cut down the thongs, cut down the sex, let Stacy be pretty, let Trish be a wrestler... and lets get some Wrestling going. They'll attract twice as many viewers when it comes to youth than they will lose with old horny men.

9. CONSISTANCY: Every week it's another story with the GM's. They're scrapping storylines with no follow up. Characters seem to change direction 2 - 3 times a month. Vince is on TV, Vince is off TV. We need some CONSISTANCY. Get rid of the soap operah fu</>ckers and give us some good Wrestling storylines.

10. Making It All Happen: Simple... as a storyline have Vince finally come to his senses saying he has failed his father by making the WWE what it is. (Which he has.) This will be planned and the WWE will be off for a month or so. In the time slots of the WWE shows will be classic matches from the WWF, WCW, and ECW. Get all the talent together and make sure EVERYONE is on the same page. Writers, Talents, everyone!

The first day back will be the biggest Raw ever beginning with Vince McMahon showing some classic clips. Macho man and Liz making the crowd cry at Wrestlemania 7, everyone popping for Hogan, some hardcore ECW clips, memorable WCW moments and have Vince say he wants to give the wrestling fans those moments again.

He announces WWE Raw, WCW Smackdown (Thunder, whatever), and an ECW show on Saturday night. But this week we will see the best of all 3 and so it begins.

F</>ck me I have no life.

[Kenny]

I better get a life? I know people who don't go to church and worship Vince McMahon come across as "Weird" to you... but I think you need to.

You have your head so far up the WWE's ass it's not funny. Look at the ratings from the late 90's and look at them now, find a Raw thread on the old board from a few months ago... they were like 10 pages long. Now we're lucky if we get a raw thread up to 4 pages.

The best way to get people to stop bitching, it to stop bitching.

If you really want to humor me reply like this...

"I TOUGHT... You SAID... You weren't going to MAKE FUN OF MEEEEEEE!"

[Kenny]

Hmmmm, I keep an update on ratings all the time, and they seemed to be going up according to wrestling websites. And I wasn't bitching in this thread, you are the one who is doing the bitching, re-read your entire post. I just gave my opinion and views on your bitching thread. And I see you refuse to join in my discussion debate so something must be up. Somehow I got this feeling that you didn't even read my post. :y:

You don't know how to debate... all you do is say "Stop crying" over, and over, and over again.

When you're crying about crying.

If you don't like the post stay the fu</>ck out of it so maybe I can get people who want to discuss what I would like to change or what they would like to change. You're in here acting like the WWE can do no wrong.

[Bad Guy]

That's why the writers/bookers keep giving HHH the belt. Because they know it's very frustrating to the fans. They are doing it on purpose because why? HHH is one of the top heels. I am beggining to think that the writers/bookers did a great job on getting everyone to hate HHH. I mean everyone. He's a heel. He is supposed to be hated. Bunch of marks, I'm telling ya.

Except he is supposed to be hated for things he does in the ring, IN CHARACTER. Everyone hates him for what he's doing in REAL LIFE, out of character, backstage. There is no booking squad right now because he is literally, not exageratting here, he is literally the booker on RAW.

[Nowhere Man]

To elaborate on Bad Guy's point, there's a difference between heel heat and pissing the audience off. People like a good villain, possibly more than people like a good hero. People boo'ed Rowdy Roddy Piper and Ted Debiase because they were no-good, mischeivous bastards who would do anything to get their way. The fans reacted to it because they played their parts well, and were entertaining while doing it. Sure, they'd be pissed when they won, but they'd keep coming back for more. Triple H is NOT entertaining, so when the fans get pissed at him constantly winning, they don't come back. Triple H isn't getting the Ric Flair heat he thinks he has; he's getting Boss Man heat.

[Loose Cannon]

Another problem I would add to Kenny's list is the lack of title defense for the I.C. title. The past few months that title has never been defended, except on PPV's. I think the I.C. champ should defend the title every week on Raw and on PPV'S to sort of establish the title as the "Worker's Title." That means it should be a title that is highly competitive and is very hard to hold on to cause the champ defend's it every week. Same thing goes for the U.S. title. Right now Orton is the perfect candidiate for the I.C. title, but he should defend it every week against guys like RVD, Booker T, Matt Hardy, Jericho and others. They could make it the title that every mid card wrestler is gunning for and they could do Triple Threat matches and what not for it on Raw.

[Kenny]

To elaborate on Bad Guy's point, there's a difference between heel heat and pissing the audience off. People like a good villain, possibly more than people like a good hero. People boo'ed Rowdy Roddy Piper and Ted Debiase because they were no-good, mischeivous bastards who would do anything to get their way. The fans reacted to it because they played their parts well, and were entertaining while doing it. Sure, they'd be pissed when they won, but they'd keep coming back for more. Triple H is NOT entertaining, so when the fans get pissed at him constantly winning, they don't come back. Triple H isn't getting the Ric Flair heat he thinks he has; he's getting Boss Man heat.

I actually find Triple H to be entertaining sometimes.

"It's a white lie.... no offense guys." - To Mark Henry and Teddy Long

The DX days...

But I think Triple H is entertaining as a face, and not as this "RAAARRRR ARARRRAAAAAHHH... RAARRRRAAAHHHHHH *Spits Water* RAARRR* guy. But more of his DX role.

Both you and Bad Guy have the idea though. When I think "Good Heel" Piper and Dibiase definately come to mind. As do guys like The Rock and Chris Jericho who had you laughing your ass off and hating their guts at the same time.

What does Triple H do? Triple H was a much better heel when he kept his nose up and bowed like a sissy than he is now. I think the majority hate Triple H the person MORE than they hate Triple H the character. Which is sad.

[Savio]

1) I'd wish they would stop killing brocks image when he first came he could beat both the hardys now he is getting beat by benoit and becoming a p***y. If he lost to rey he would be over.

2) They need new story lines and/or bring some new factions (like make a faction to go against evolution)

3) combine the shows at the royal rumble

[Cactus Sid]

Ok, I've got some time, I'll go through the first 2 posts and put some consideration into what I percieve to be some of the problems

1. Triple H: Whether or not you like the guy, or think he deserves the belt. The bottom line is his holding of the belt is frustrating fans to the point

where they are sick of the product. There are plenty of wrestlers who have went months / years without a title and there is no reason Triple H should have

the belt as much as he does. So I'd put it on somebody like Booker T.

I try not to be one of the Triple H haters, and I am still hoping that he is just going to be a transitional champion. He held the belt for a year, and has been

in every Raw PPV world title match since it was re-introduced. He has become stale, and has led to a downturn in ratings and lower buy-rates. There is no

arguing this, it is a fact. Ratings picked up with Goldberg as champion, TV was better with Goldberg as champion, this is widely agreed. If Hunter really

wants what is best for the business, he will step aside and allow other people to flourish, which will, in time, be better for him, as he will be able to work

programs for more money, as business will begin to pick up. Notice how deflated the crowd gets from Triple H whenever he wins a match.

2. TOO High Tech: I'd change the sets for both Raw and Smackdown to resemble the older days. I'd change the ring ropes to red, white, and blue...

and push the wrestlers to have matches closer to what they were like in the old days.

No offence, but if this is one of your top problems, your really nit-picking. Red, white and blue? More encouragment of patriotism and antagonism of those

who oppose the US. Not smart for international audiences (and I would guess quite a lot of people in the US). I would agree with a more old-school

approach to matches, particularly with those who work a mainly brawling based offense. The one problem is re-conditioning fans to a slower style, rather

than the crash TV style adopted by all 3 major companies over the past 5 years.

3. McMahons: I'd still have the McMahons run the show, but in a much more normal way. Instead of having the McMahons come off as springer

guests I'd have them be a lot more fair. You'd barely see them outside of their office, and they'd make matches that made the crowd pop every week. 2

McMahons working together per show.

The McMahons need to be gone altogether. The shows are actually far more entertaining recently with all but Vince off TV. Fortunatly he's been restricting

his appearances, which has helped. The McMahon novelty has worn off. Vince's gimmick of evil boss vs the plucky defiant babyface has been done to

death, Stephanie in my opinion is just a pair of tits these days, that is the only reason I'd even consider keeping her on the show (i'm a full-blooded male,

what can I say)... actually, just keep her off TV, she brings nothing good. Shane.... charismatic, but not enough to carry a show, his fued with Kane was

shocking, and produced very little in the way of a result. Linda, I think is good for the odd special announcement, but that's it. I think Bischoff and Heyman

make far more entertaining on-screen personas than any of the McMahons.

4. Cruiserweight Division I don't know about you but when I think about Cruiserweight, the last thing I care to see is Jamie Noble vs Tajiri over,

and over again. I'd bring in guys like Psychosis, Blitzkreg, Essa Rios, Juvi, and LaParka for action. I'd also bring in guys like Dean Malenko who could match

up with a guy like Noble a little better than Tajiri.

Man, Dean Malenko vs Scotty 2 Hotty is like one of the most underrated matches in the past 5 years. Anyone remember it? The thing with the cruiser

divison, simple, NO air-time. When they first did the split, they had cruiser action, and it was good, they PUSHED the belt, Matt Hardy as champion made

for some great matches, Rey Rey is magnificent. Tajiri, now he needs to be allowed to work the way he did in ECW, then you'll see some matches. I love

this division, if the WWE decide to push it, make it more like the X-Division (early days) make people care about the talent, and give them some slack,

these guys have been doing what they do for years, and i'm sure they haven't had too many injuries, so let them do what they do best, and make the belt

mean something again.

5. ECW / WCW: You have Paul Heyman, You have Eric Bichoff... you have tons of ECW talent, you have tons of WCW talent. USE THAT! I don't

think we need shows like Velocity and Heat. Give ECW a show, give WCW a show, and make it work this time.

Let it go. Its not gonna happen, and no-one is gonna buy it. What your essentially doing is splitting the WWE's current fans into 3 types, which isn't gonna

bring in any extra money. Also, do you really want Vince to sh</>it on the legacies of these companies? Trust me, it'll happen. Its better to remember

what was good, and move on to the future.

6. Controversy: Okay, it's old. It was big back in 97 / 98 cause we didn't EXPECT Stone Cold to flip somebody off before a stunner. We didn't

EXPECT D-Generation X to get somebody to flash. Now we expect to see a thong every week, a middle finger and a beer every time we see Stone Cold...

etc. I'd take all of my energy out of creating controversy and put it into storylines people give a shit about, and matches people WANT tos ee.

The problem is, it's pretty difficult to create intrigue when most angles have been done. Think of something new which people will care about. Some angles

just don't work because they are so hokey and unbelivable. The WWE has created one interesting angle recently, and that's the Jericho/Trish angle.

Controversy works if done correctly. But it should be a good kind of controversy, not a "what the fu</>ck, that's the stupidest, dumbest most disgusting,

distasteful thing ever". They should create controversy around something which will get press attention, but wont give them a bad rep. The main thing for

the writers to do, is get the wrestlers over so that people will care about the angles when they come around. Of course, with the glass ceiling this is

difficult.

7. Interference / Rule Breaking: I've seen enough. Once again if it happens every so often it has no suprise elment and it gets ****ing old. If we

didn't see a Steel Chair every week, when one is used it would get a much bigger reaction.

Agreed, 100%

8. The Divas: I'm guilty of being glued to my TV waiting for Trish's thong to pop out or waiting for Stacy to find a clever way to show off her ass so I

can get off on it. But it's old. That's not why I watch wrestling. Sex is sex, wrestling is wrestling. I think this is Vinces own personal way to still see a good

piece of ass cause his wife is getting old. Cut down the thongs, cut down the sex, let Stacy be pretty, let Trish be a wrestler... and lets get some Wrestling

going. They'll attract twice as many viewers when it comes to youth than they will lose with old horny men.

I'm not sure where I stand on Divas. I agree, some of these ladies are great wrestlers, let them wrestle. The womens division was at one point the

"hottest" (doctor evil pinky to the mouth) part of Raw, they need to get that going again. Create "chemistry" (oh my god, I'm good) between some of the

ladies. Victoria/Trish were amazing last year, give the ladies time to work together and find things they can do in the ring. Also, let those who don't

wrestle use their charisma. Stacy has good mic skills, as does Dawn Marie. I also think that to a certain extent you can use the sex appeal but turn it down.

Let Torrie or Sable, those who don't have ANY talent, mic or in the ring, use their assets to effect. It gives you some TNA that attracts the horny old men,

and randy bugger teenagers, as well as creating something for the wrestlers to work with. It gives you some angles as well (as bad as it was, Henry

Godwinn and Sunny a couple of years back, could have really worked with a better male wrestler in the fold) Look at the Trish/Bubba angle from 3 years

and a half years ago, that created intrigue, and added TNA (no pun intended) to the mix. I think they can find a good mix of TNA and Wrestling, if they

seperate the 2, and make the TNA more subtle. Of course in the last 2 years, wrestling has been pushed to the forefront, which I agree with. I believe the B

& P match a couple of weeks back was the first for about 9 months, at least on Raw.

9. CONSISTANCY: Every week it's another story with the GM's. They're scrapping storylines with no follow up. Characters seem to change

direction 2 - 3 times a month. Vince is on TV, Vince is off TV. We need some CONSISTANCY. Get rid of the soap operah ****ers and give us some good

Wrestling storylines.

Agreed.

10. Making It All Happen

What you've suggested wont 100% change the course of the WWE, but at least you've made a go of it. (y)

=============================================================================================

Now to Dark_Kane.... you have no problems with the WWE, fair enough. Your post is pretty good, but I do take issue with your first thing about Triple H.

That's why the writers/bookers keep giving HHH the belt. Because they know it's very frustrating to the fans. They are doing it on purpose

because why? HHH is one of the top heels. I am beggining to think that the writers/bookers did a great job on getting everyone to hate HHH. I mean

everyone. He's a heel. He is supposed to be hated. Bunch of marks, I'm telling ya.

LOL, bunch of marks. That's the funniest thing I've heard in a while. You don't quite understand this concept of good and bad heat do you. For a start,

listen to a crowd when Triple H steps out, he gets a MILD FACE reaction. What does this suggest to you? To me it says, he doesn't have heel heat, despite

being a heel, and not many people care about him. He's supposed to be the number 1 Heel on Raw right? Given the title to frustrate the fans in a heelish

manner? NOPE, it makes people go.... fu</>ck this, I ain't watching. That means that ratings go down, it also means that people are less inclined to buy

PPV's, it means less money for the company etc.... etc... etc... Triple H is a stale character, holding the belt for all but 4, of the last 15 months (i think), and

he has done nothing but put the company in a rut. Now, read what I have just wrote again, and call me a mark. I LOVE watching wrestling, I DO NOT LOVE

watching bollocks, which is exactly what Triple H has become in the least 2 years.

Also, your final comment was un-called for.

Might consider doing one some other time, its something I wanna put some thought into.

[The CyNick]

1. I agree HHH needs to play a different role in the company. There are certain facts with him that cant be denied: he doesn't draw anymore, he's injury prone, and he's not a very good worker anymore. All of this adds up to say he should be moved down to a semi-main event spot and used to establish new stars. But that will not be happening anytime soon.

2. WWE looks too high tech? Not sure I get that one, and I dont think changing rope colours will do anything for business good or bad.

3. I think Vince is a very good on screen character, but not as a worker. The other McMahon's should be used very rarely because they are all annoying, take up time from talented people, and none of them draw.

4. I would love to see more cruiserweight action, but we all know Vince doesn't get stiffys from small dudes, so they dont get pushed. If I was in charge I would treat the division as a separate entity and you wouldn't see matches like Moore vs Morgan or Lesnar vs Mysterio, just like in boxing you dont see De La Hoya vs Lewis or in MMA you dont see Cro Cop vs Ortiz. In my opinion, especially with Rey and Eddie's popularity in the Hispanic community, I would make the title almost on par with the WWE title.

5. ECW and WCW was sadly killed due to Vince's love of his own ego over money, so no I dont think they should try to do anything with those brands. They are both dead and burried, nothing can be done to bring them back.

6. Too much controversy eventually stops being controversial. Thats actually one of the reasons that business is down. They did too much during the Attitude era, and now that people are getting crippled they have to slow down and it looks boring. Same with the controversy stuff, there's only so much you can do.

7. Rule breaking should always exist, how else can a heel make a buck?

8. The divas are getting better, Molly is the champ, Trish is miles ahead of where she was even 18 months ago, Victoria and JAzz are awesome, and the whole division is actually more entertaining then Ive ever seen WWE female wrestling. I prefer seeing them wrestle then just doing the stripping stuff. Eventually too much stripping gets boring, just like anything else.

9. I would like to see more long term planning, and see them stick to plans. For example, after Summerslam, come up with a main event for Mania, and spend time and money making me want to see that match. Currently they switch plans too often, and it has an impact on the success of PPVs.

10. I dont think any lay off is smart. The worst thing they can do is tell the fans 'hey the product sucks, we're going to take time off and fix it'. Plus, the one thing the WWE has going for it is that they never have 'repeats', I dont think it would be smart to tell fans they can miss a bunch of shows, because they could find something better to do and never come back.

[Kenny]

By "High Tech" I'm comparing Raw when it first starting airing to the Raw now. Metal ramps, huge sets, tons of fireworks... etc... I guess what I'm trying to say is I think it's a little "flashy" now.

[Mr. JL]

There I'm done giving my own opinions on your choices. So since you are not so bright in this topic, I think you better get a life. :y:

HEY, STFU!! JERK FACE

[KayfabeMan]

1) I'd wish they would stop killing brocks image when he first came he could beat both the hardys now he is getting beat by benoit and becoming a p***y. If he lost to rey he would be over.


There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING wrong with losing to Chris Benoit,no
matter what your image is/is supposed to be.Besides,he can only st-
ay a "monster" for so long before he HAS to become just another wr-
estler....

[moshingfreak]

for the first post you did on this, Kenny, u tha man

[Darwin Henderson]

1.Pushing the wrong people.

2.Not enough brand identity

3.Tag team and crusierweight divisions not being pushed

4.Boring characters

5.Workers look like they did 50 years ago in trunks and boots(cant they wear some street clothes)

6.Intervies/segments too long. Instead of having one or tow big promos could have 3 or 4 small ones.

7.Holding down ECW and WCW talent

8.Too many shows- If they had one show the writing would be better as they wouldnt have so much time to fill

9.Try to keep some mystery about the show and characters.

10.Try some different storylines

[moshingfreak]

Personally, i think RAW should bring back the Harcore Title for the guys who thrived on that stuff and get Smackdown! to give contracts to more cruiserweights. That way, the Harcore title and Cruiserweight Title could be used as a speciality title (I guess) on each show.

[Fryza]

Darwin nailed it for me...

[Fox]

1 - 10: Vince McMahon

[Splaya]

in precise order

1-9 HHH
10, the Mcmahons

[Kane Knight]

Except he is supposed to be hated for things he does in the ring, IN CHARACTER. Everyone hates him for what he's doing in REAL LIFE, out of character, backstage. There is no booking squad right now because he is literally, not exageratting here, he is literally the booker on RAW.

And you're supposed to want to boo him, not change the channel.

I'll rephrase it. If driving me to watch reruns on other channels, boring me til I turn off my TV, and leading me to fast forward while typing makes you a good heel, then I find HHH to be the best in the business. This is the portion Dark_Kane cannot understand, because he is so busy obsessed with being a "true fan" instead of discerning and intelligent.

[Head]

That is the most lamest opinion I've ever read toward the women of wrestling. Women's wrestling is not all about sex and getting the men horny. The female wrestling fans enjoy watching wrestling too. So maybe the female wrestling fans want to be entertained? Wrestling divas are around for a reason. WWE has female fans
you know.
No, the WWE has women wrestling because of horny teenagers. Just look at how the women are marketed. DVDs and magazines that are pretty much softcore porn, bikini contests, bra and panties matches, constant remarks by announcers on how hot they look during their matches, the t-shirts they come out with (Trish's 'Blow Me' shirt), storylines and backstage skits of the male wrestlers always wanting to get them in bed, the list goes on and on.

Besides, the WWE's female fanbase would not be nearly large enough to warrent the amount of airtime they devot to females.

[Kane Knight]

Ten steps to wrestling that better satisfies me:

Politics and boring wrestlers: You know, I could give a damn who's doing what, but the fact that HHH stays on top because he's got it in backstage is compounding the fact that I just don't find him interesting, I don't like watching him wrestle, and I find his promos to be good only for a nacho run. First part of this step is to seperate the bookers and the active wrestlers. If HHH wants to run the show, I wouldn't have him on the show at the same time.

McMahonwhich, heavy on the cheese: Vince wasn't the reason people used to tune in during the attitude era. People tuned in to watch Austin stick it to the man, who happened to be Vince. DX? Similar deal. Vince is eating up TV time that could go to better places. Simple solution: Get him the Hell out of there! Shane and Stephanie are fine in small doses. The Shane bit with Kane was moronic. The "royal family" of wrestling should be a sort of "Booker's Fiat" to be used in some occasions to promote, advance, and maintain storylines. I don't think very many people care about whichever fu</>cktoy Vince is parading about next. Maybe that's just me. However, the McMahon angles aren't all that great, and "keeping it in the family" is getting annoying.

Held Hoss-tage: I don't like big men being on TV JUST because they're big. big wrestlers who can entertain are one thing, but hosses who can't do shit in the ring must go. Brock=Good (Just don't let him speak). Nathan Jones=Weak. Kane=okay. Henry=No Way.

Inverse Legacy: Hogan's had what, 50 last title runs? Up-And Coming Talent getting squashed by legends probably feels good in the short run, but leaves little hope for the future. Come on, guys are jobbing to Hogan, what chance could they have against a wrestler? Hogan helped build an empire, and no-one's gonna take that away from him, but for CRYING OUT LOUD, He won't carry the company forever. I love the LOD, but what they did in bringing them back, even for one night was just WRONG. If legends aren't in good shape, they shouldn't be in the ring. Leave it to the new generation. And even worse, some of the legends WIN? Jesus, like Flair would have been forgotten had he not had his big win Sunday.

Beaten by KC's Masterpiece 4-1 in taste tests: Pardon the JR BBQ joke there. The announcers need to be changed. Tazz is fine. Cole's okay for now, but mostly because he has a strong partner in Tazz. JR and King were fine years ago. And almost NO-ONE is worth a damn that I've seen on the other shows. I kinda like Coach, but he needs a LOT more work. I don't usually hear snow, so I wouldn't know. Let's find some kids who know the moves, know how to work a stick, love the business, and put 'em on Heat and Velocity so they can build their chops. Then CAN the Raw team and put on some better guys. Rinse and repeat when necessary. don't fire good announcers in their prime, but don't cling to people who are really just getting old.

Why pay people, when monkeys can eventually bang out Shakespeare?: New Angles. New Personas. New Storylines. New ways to look at the old stuff. Change. Adapt. Grow. I don't know what to say here. If the creative team can't do this, get a new creative team. They've got some of the best talent in the world in the ring.

Vince, You are NOT Howard Stern: This is about shock. This is about HLA. This is about those, and other cheap gimmicks. You see, I know a little secret about wrestling fans. It shouldn't be a secret, because it's so simple, but it appears to be one. wrestling fans like wrestling. Unless you're planning on changing Raw into a 2 hour HLA-fest, the viewers you draw in will probably be minimal. Book the testosterone-laden soap opera and all can be good. See my last step for more details.

We have 16 review shows a week, and yet...: Raw and Smackdown spend so much of their time with the promotions and publicity deals, and I'd rather see wrestling, myself. If it's an actual advert, okay, I'm used to commercials. Cross promotions push it. This "Behind the scenes" stuff ticks me off. It's really cool that Goldberg'll break Kayfabe for one of his fans on Cable and all, but save that for the other shows. It kinda kills the mood of this supposed badass, and I don't really buy into it much to begin with.

Hmmmm...The BBQ sauce is starting to look appealing: Lack of character development, and just all around personality issues with a large number of wreslters, especially the new guys. I favor athleticism, but personality's still a strong aspect of a wrestler, and a lot of these guys have next to none. Blandness is bad, okay?

You don't need to read spoilers when wrestling finishes are like Groundhog's day: Kinda a rehash, but also an independent point. When the finishes are predictable, it kinda loses its appeal. Drop a title occasionally on Raw or SD! Blow people away. It'll be awesome, and it'll make it seem like the shows are there for more than to be a 2 hour ad for the next PPV (Though we'll know better, won't we. ;))

[Cactus Sid]

Finally got round to this, not really in order, but just things that I gradually thought of.

1- The Glass Ceiling

Probably the biggest problem with the WWE, I don't think anyone who has any clue about the business can deny that the glass ceiling is, in retrospect, killing the company. In all honesty, a guy like Chris Jericho should be rivalling Rock and Austin in terms of popularity, whether he's a face or heel. The guy either gets huge pops or huge heat. He has charisma, he has the ability in the ring, he tells a story, he's a good "actor", the guy SHOULD and indeed DESERVES to be in that Main Event scene on a regular basis. But, he is still held down. The WWE had so many chances to push him big, and failed each time, and then, when push came to shove and they did give him the belt, he jobbed to Stephanie McMahon, ok not the belt, but in terms of the fued. The glass ceiling either needs to be removed, or lowered. Now, I can understand that some guys are insecure about losing that place, so they don't make as much money, but they fail to see the long term benefits of getting someone over enough so that they have a chance to draw with them. This continuing holding back of talent is going to put the company in serious jeopardy in 2 or 3 years, when guys like Austin, Rock, Taker, Triple H, Angle, basically the majority of the current Main Event scene, are all in a position to retire. What do they do then? Push new stars? It'll be too late. Right now, in the current wrestling scene, the only way to get someone over is by a good, marketable gimmick, which the fans can identify with, or by booking them to look invincible. The glass ceiling has effectively ended the SUPERSTAR (as in Rock, Hogan, Austin) potential of Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit. I am not sitting here picking guys who are traditionally bummed by the internet, I am talking about guys who have had HUGE popularity are what time or another, and were booked to looked weak in comparison to the top stars at the time. This has got to end for the WWE to improve.

2- Stipulation Matches and The Effects

Some stipulation matches are dead. Matches that in the past drew crowds, and drew a huge amount of heat, no longer do so. Hell In A Cell? Who cares. If you put Nash and HHH into that type of environment, your wasting it. It could once again draw, if they put 2 guys inside it who will bump like crazy (not neccessarily from the top) and who will put on a helluva show. Right now though, Hell In A Cell is not a draw. Cage Matches? These haven't got a huge response in years, UNLESS they have been entertaining. But hey, Booker T vs The Big Show inside a cage, with no build up, jerking the curtain on a show, what do you expect. These are just 2 examples. But one of the big problems with gimmick matches, is that they are being thrown away on TV, or just added in for no reason on PPV's, with little build up surrounding the gimmick. I can't remember which PPV it was this year, but every match had a stipulation or a gimmick. WTF. This just left people less and less looking forward to the next match, as they'd already seen a gimmick in the previous match. The WWE need to reconsider this, and start making matches special again.
My big problem is with the effects of many stipulated matches. Many matches are meaningless now, everyone KNOWS Austin is coming back, because in the past these type of matches have always meant just that, when, recently, did a retirement match actually lead someone to retire? How often does the guy who "must win to get a title shot" or "must win to get a contract" lose the match, and eventually ends up with the shot or the contract. Its supposed to tell a story, where we all know the eventual outcome. Wouldn't it be easier to just build them up, than throw away a stipulation which one day could mean something. The WWE never ever seem to fufill the stipulation that matches have, and it results in a great loss of heat.

3- Whole Show Angles

Not always a bad thing, but they can be. If done correctly, a whole show angle can build up to something which both draws and creates genuine fan interest, while helping other people seem important. If you can make the Main Event mean something, build it up as the Ultimate Battle, have the guys in the back supporting their man, showing mean streaks or sympathy, you can make some of the guys seem like the right hand man for someone. Hell, if you were to spend a show promoting say a match between, Chris Jericho and Triple H, where Jericho was eventually gonna win the belt (fantasy situation I know) you could have clips of the fued, both Jericho and Trips shown preparing. Then, you could get Christian going into see Trips wishing him luck and willing him on and everything, behind Jericho's back, can you imagine the reaction he'd get? Then have Shawn Michaels find Jericho, staredown, leading to a hand shake, something on those lines. Build up the tension, and the Jericho must win factor. Hell, make it bloody obvious he's gonna win, but I bet people will give a toss, and watch, and genuinly mark out. Of course, this is something down the line, which will need a lot more development than what I've suggested, but it is an idea.
However, my problem with whole show angles, unless done correctly, is they can end up really screwing up a show, and unless there is a decent payoff, people will turn off. Whole show angles don't even have to build up to the main event, just something that runs throughout the whole show. The Bischoff/Austin fiasco at... was it Bad Blood? That ran throughout the whole show, and wasn't even funny. The other problem is pushing people to the back of the queue, making something seem far more important than anyone else. While this could put someone over, it could seriously deflate a crowd throughout the show, and continue the deflation into the main event, or payoff or whatever. The WWE do use whole show angles, and they don't always work.

4- Hosses

Hosses are one of the single biggest problems with wrestling. These essentially are Fat guys in underwear. Unfortunatly, the majority of them are not very good wrestlers, are they aren't very entertaining, and they are just big and ugly. They do, however, give Vince McMahon an erection, which means they get pushed. These guys get pushed over people who can deliver exciting TV and good matches on a far more consistent basis. Now, some big guys in the business right now, are entertaining. Based on size, Brock Lesnar would technically be a hoss. However, because of his background, he isn't neccessarily seen as one. Rhyno, could be considered a hoss. Erm.... thats all I can think of off the top of my head. Doesn't that say something? I have no problem with big guys being used to put over people who will make something entertaining, but I really dont wanna see them all over TV or PPV. If you use Big Show sparingly, and use him to get guys like Cena and Benoit over, great. If you put him over other guys, such as they did with Lesnar, that's bad. VERY VERY Bad.

5- Lack Of Pure Wrestling

I think this is something that doesn't just mean "Put Angle and Benoit in the ring every week" I'm talking about letting the wrestling do the talking, rather than angles. Build matches up as the most important thing, as a bout to decide who the better man is, rather than having interferance on practically every match that seems to happen. This kind of ties in what I said about using stipulations sparingly. I just feel that matches should be based on 3 basic principles. A Brawl, A Technical Affair or a High Flying battle. Matches don't have to follow the same pattern, and in many cases you can do all 3, but I just think that if the WWE want to recondition the fans, they should focus on those 3 principles.

6- Casual Fan Belief In The Product

Casual fans don't care anymore. I honestly believe this. If they cared, they'd watch. The WWE are not getting any new viewers these days, they are getting people who have stuck with the product week in week out for years. I think that the casual fan interest is a problem for the WWE. Why? Because now they start pushing the boat out to try and attract new viewers, while putting off many of the people who are still watching them. Necrophilia? I wont let that go. The very fact that they could come up with that is a disgrace. The whole Kane vs Shane fued. Ridiculous, fantasy booking. With the interest waning, they push the boat and create some bullsh</>it. Don't think this little bit is me having a go at casual fans, its me having a go at the WWE for deciding to make a joke of themselves.

7- The Past

What's the problem with the past? Its the fact the WWE can't deal with it at all. Montreal is my main problem here. The WWE have shoved it in our faces every year since 97. They just wont let it die will they. Furthermore, they act like it was the greatest thing ever, not the fact that they screwed a loyal employee of 10 years, who helped make the company money, as was much beloved in the locker room, by all but a few. Vince has apparently tried to make up with Bret, yet he continues this crap. Let it go. The WWE always seem to bring up the past when it seems convenient to them, they don't use it to perhaps help get people or fueds over. Another problem with the past.... ECW and WCW. The WWE seemingly refuse to push some of the ex-ECW and WCW talent. I know that here on TPWW the opinion is mixed. I myself have mixed opinions. But I think we can all safely say that guys like Booker T, Rob Van Dam, Chris Jericho and Lance Storm have not been given nearly as much as they recieved in their previous companies. Ok, we can argue this til the crowds come home, but Jericho, Van Dam and Booker T have all had times when they could have been main event players, while Storm has not been pushed at all since his arrival. Vince does seem to prioritise Hosses and "Home-Grown" Talent. One of the other problems with the past is that Vince doesn't seem to want to produce any best of ECW or WCW dvd's. He has the libraries. He has the best production crew around. He has yet to produce something that will make money and satisfy some fans. Why? I can only assume its because its WCW and ECW, and lets not forget the Invasion angle.

8- Lack Of Competition

Not really much to say here that hasn't been said in the past. The WWE doesn't have competition, so they don't neccessarily have to pull out all the stops. The biggest independants are not even in the WWE's league, and they don't exactly churn out the best angles ever, so the WWE have nothing to go on. If TNA can get better, get that TV deal, things may improve, but until then, the WWE has no competition to make them stand up and sort things out.

9- Low Morale

Low Morale is a problem for any business what so ever. But currently the WWE is really suffering. This reduces people's work ethic, and also, I believe, is resulting in more injuries. Yes, during the crash TV style days, the WWE were getting injuries, but no where near at the rate they are now, and they have supposedly slowed down. Something must be responsible for this, and i think it's just the general belief of the wrestlers. Another problem with the morale is the Cliquey nature of the locker room, and of course the glass ceiling which means people wont make more money, and wont get a lot of time to do what they love. Throw in ridicukous storylines, bad booking, a downward trend in the demand for wrestling, general apathy all around for the product, and morale will drop. Imagine being in the Raw looker room, knowing that Triple H is on the booking team. I'm not trying to throw as much sh</>it at him as possible, but at the end of they day, how would you feel, if this guy who's work ethic has dropped really low at times, who's segments on TV and buyrates for the PPV's he's headlined have dropped, and yet he is continually pushed, how would you feel? Until the WWE sort this out, they are gonna continue having a poor product, because the employees just wont put effort into something they don't believe in.


10- General Stupidity (Inc. The McMahon effect)

McMahons on TV? The pushing of Mark Henry? Angles that make no sense? Angles which are dropped? Triple H as champion? That's just a few, add your own if you like, the WWE has so many problems, it combines together to give one big problem, TV ratings half what they were at the peak, often lower. Buyrates dropping off. Unhappy wrestlers. A product which is sometimes great and sometimes defies belief in how bad it is. Booking which makes you shudder. Until the WWE overcome the little problems, they wont improve the big picture.

[sexymanalive]

There Only one porblem with the WWE and tha is the fans their like a bunch of little babys if they don;t get things there way they cry like little baby man i miss the old fan which no matter what WWE did they like it now in 2003 just like the dxie Chicks are asshole and the wwe fun are asshole escape for me am a true american and a true WWE FAN

World Life

[Kane Knight]

There Only one porblem with the WWE and tha is the fans their like a bunch of little babys if they don;t get things there way they cry like little baby man i miss the old fan which no matter what WWE did they like it now in 2003 just like the dxie Chicks are asshole and the wwe fun are asshole escape for me am a true american and a true WWE FAN

World Life

Trolls are getting dumber and dumber.

[sexymanalive]

poor poor Kane kinght i feel so srry for u looking to a ugly person like kane i guess u both have something in common u both will never make it to the top

[Darwin Henderson]

poor poor Kane kinght i feel so srry for u looking to a ugly person like kane i guess u both have something in common u both will never make it to the top

Make it to the top of what? Kane has been world champion so I think he has made it to the top, of his job anyway.

[Savio]

Ten steps to satisfi me:

Beaten by KC's Masterpiece 4-1 in taste tests: Pardon the JR BBQ joke there. The announcers need to be changed. Tazz is fine. Cole's okay for now, but mostly because he has a strong partner in Tazz.

JR is terrible because he always "says" the faces are gods and the heels are devils

King is okay though

[Kane Knight]

poor poor Kane kinght i feel so srry for u looking to a ugly person like kane i guess u both have something in common u both will never make it to the top

Too bad this SN predates the appearance of Kane in the WWE (As a nickmane, anyways).

There goes that theory. :|

[Kane Knight]

JR is terrible because he always "says" the faces are gods and the heels are devils

King is okay though

It's more than that with JR.

Plus, King is a broken record with his lusty cracks. They were old before he started using them; now, they're starting to decompose. He had a cool heel persona in years past. Then when he became the one-line wonder who appealed to the 14 year old fans by being as desperate as they were to get laid, it went out the window. King's mostly there to cement ugly plastic women as desirable fu</>cktoys.

[Cactus Sid]

There Only one porblem with the WWE and tha is the fans their like a bunch of little babys if they don;t get things there way they cry like little baby man i miss the old fan which no matter what WWE did they like it now in 2003 just like the dxie Chicks are asshole and the wwe fun are asshole escape for me am a true american and a true WWE FAN

World Life

SO what your basically saying is you miss the days where everyone was a mark? Well I have news for you, the WWE has themselves bred people to understand that wrestling is not real, and this had in-turn bred people to look deeper into wrestling. The fans these days are completely different to what "they were". You forget that people have the right to freedom of speech, and if someone doesn't like what they see, they are allowed to express how they feel it could be made better, its called "constructive criticism". I have practically stopped watching the WWE week in week out, because the product doesn't interest me like it did. What your basically advocating is turning around and sucking Vince McMahon's dick. Its like saying "Hey George Bush, your presidency is completely flawless" its complete untrue, and we, as fans, LOYAL FANS, have the right to explain how we feel it could improve.

Also, I'm not quite sure what that last line was, because it appears your unable to write properly.

[Heyman]

http://www.tpww.net/columns/1072308077.html

p.s. Kenny - I stole your idea. :P

[Nowhere Man]

I'd post my 10 problems, but everyone's pretty much nailed them already. Triple H bad, Vince bad, etc.

[asphyXy]

<font color=969696>1 - T
2 - R
3 - I
4 - P
5 - L
6 - E
7 -
8 - H
9 - Vince
10 - Stephanie

<</>/typical answer></font>

[Savio]

It's more than that with JR.


He also said "too bad fans" at wrestle mania because the rock won (that made me mad because I was there). Then the next night he was all "horay for Hogan!"

[darkpower]

There Only one porblem with the WWE and tha is the fans their like a bunch of little babys if they don;t get things there way they cry like little baby man i miss the old fan which no matter what WWE did they like it now in 2003 just like the dxie Chicks are asshole and the wwe fun are asshole escape for me am a true american and a true WWE FAN

World Life

First and foremost, the Dixie Chicks never did anything wrong, and that is 8 months old now, GET OVER IT!! There are actually some people in this country that actually DON'T kiss the president's ass 24/7. And what point did that have to do with ANYTHING here?

Secondly, I understand the act that some wrestling fans seem to never be happy, unconsitant with what they want, and somewhat nitpicky. But there are some that are not as hard to please that are still somewhat pissed off with the WWE (not always a bad thing, as EVERY company is going to do something or some THINGS that are EXTREMLY unpopular and/or just plain STUPID). THOSE fans are the ones that really should matter. Not to say that the hard to please fans don't matter (to not get anyone to thing the wrong thing of what I meant), but the WWE should get the people who aren't as hard to get back first before going to the harder to please people, instead of trying to do it all at once.

[darkpower]

JR is terrible because he always "says" the faces are gods and the heels are devils

King is okay though

Well, as a person who is SUPPOSED to try to get the wrestlers over to the people at home as faces or heels, that is just called doing your job. You're SUPPOSED to hate the heel characters, and like the face characters. That is how this business has done it for about 50 plus years now, and to change it just so the PBP announcers won't have to do stuff like that is just absurd.

But JR still irritates me now. He continues to overexaggerate the feuds, gets overexcited, and says the exact same things over and over and over again (Kane is a monster, we get that already. He's a "pathetic human being". Yeah, AND..?). It was good when he first started doing RAW and he was in 1998, but this is 2003, and by now, he AND the King (which is just as irritating) should have came up with some new words (how much longer is the King going to cum every single time he sees a woman wrestler just because she has "puppies", and just how many more matches can be "slobberknockers," as we have no CLUE what the hell a "slobberknocker" even IS). To me, I think ever since Michael Cole got paired with Tazz, his commentary has really improved, mostly because he and Tazz has got such good chemistry now (when Cole was with King, that was horrible, mainly because I think King only gets erections working with JR, and therefore refuses to work well with anyone other than JR), and it's refreshing to hear those two call a match than JR and King, they irritate me THAT much anymore.