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The funny thing is I think we can all see WWE's side, and understand a sort of devil's advocate approach.
We get things like WWE being an upper body business, which is why Chris Hero got dropped (plus he was also boring as fuck) and why it'll always be a struggle for a guy like Kevin Owens. Yeah he's super fucking talented and he's clearly fit particularly for a man his size. But this is the entertainment business and unfortunately there are just harsh realities etc. If it were up to me I'd let things like that go, but I totally understand the body fetish, it adds a certain grandeur larger than life feel to the product.
Also, for all the talk about ratings in other threads, they really don't mean fuck all at this point, because there is actually no competition. So yeah, the ratings are pretty paltry. Even if the product was great I feel like they would only realistically be around a 4-5 versus the consistent 6-7s of 2000-halfway through 2001. Part of that is due to the network and teevo etc. BUT at the end of the day, it's not really a giant stretch to suggest that if this was MUST WATCH TV and an institution like was during a very, very, very strong 2000, people would simply teevo it and the ratings would still be what they were in 1995 seems (because that is almost what they are around) ignorant. If this was must see TV like Walking Dead (which I hate) and Game of Thrones (which I like but stopped watching), then people would go out of their way to watch it and ratings wouldn't be so MEH. As I said though, being the only show in town allows your ratings to not mean much. Yeah there's a bare minimum they need to be able to maintain so they don't look like a complete fucking joke but Monday Night t.v. isn't exactly that strong. There's not much competition other than when the NFL season is underway, and the ratings aren't that much better when there's not NFL.
We don't think we can do a better job than Vince. We just don't think Vince can do a better job than say the Vince of the 80s or HHH running the show. While I think for instance creatively I would like to see Noid's fantasy booking ideas (for instance) more than the dreck that is RAW, they are just fantasy ideas. We don't understand all of the inner workings of the backstage environment, we don't know guys attitudes and we don't have to deal with corporate pressure. However, to think it'd be better for a young guy in HHH (45 or 46 years old is young in the corporate world) who is clearly more in touch with the Audience than a 70 year old dude who his own employees admit is a little fucking crazy and I could only imagine losing his mind more so as he gets older isn't a big stretch either. This is not exactly a pipe dream, it's a realistic need that has to happen for the company to evolve.
And my last point is the problem. When wwf finally put the screws to wcw, it wasn't because the product was perfect. It was because the product evolved into something else. They stopped doing the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over. Characters evolved, in ring action evolved etc.
Credit to Vince and co. the business model has evolved. The production has evolved. But the in ring product has been stagnat for probably almost 12 or 13 years. We see glimpses of change, but Vince goes back to his comfort zone. That's all.
Now I do have to say this, maybe the product isn't made for me. Maybe I'm no longer supposed to enjoy it, I don't know. But I must then ask you, who is it supposed to appeal to? What is their demographic? I don't know too many people with any amount of taste who would enjoy a program with as many issues as RAW has to be honest. Children, teenagers, the elderly, invalids (Looking at you CyNick). I just can't see the appeal other than your odd cool angle (anything with Brock for the most part or Jon Cena's US title run).
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