I've been thinking...not very hard, but...

[BigDaddyCool]

The state of current wrestling sucks, we can all agree on that. WWE for whatever reason is desperately trying to distance themselves from wrestling with every passing day, in and out of the ring. Wrestling moves being "banned" while more and more wrestlers have punching and kicking moves as finishers or signature moves. And outside of the ring, all they seem to focus on is magazines and video sales.

On the other hand TNA is a joke of a company. All they do is try to out do the last all gimmick ppv with an even crazier gimmick match where the winner is no better than the loser after wards in their "standings."

RoH isn't even an option, so don't bring it up.

Anyhow, my point or question, can wrestling even get back to the glory days of the Monday night wars or was that a bright spot that can never been equaled? Can wrestling even get back to maintaining a 4 or 5 rating consistently?

[Road Warrior]

No, btw were u at Raw, I saw it was in KC last night ?

[Rammsteinmad]

If what you're saying is "can wrestling be about wrestling again?" then I believe the answer is yes. When it will happen though I have no idea.

WWE seems more interested in being an entertainment product, and while I believe TNA COULD one day be a major company, right now they have a long way to go.

I guess it'll just come to a point one day when things will change and "wrestling" will be in again.

[Xero]

It can and I think it eventually will. But I don't think that day will come until Vince steps down or real competition comes along. TNA COULD be that competition, but they need to start being more like a pro wrestling show and less like a "Worst of WCW" compilation.

Hopefully when Triple H gets the whole book he can book it for the better. He has a good mind for the business, belt hogging or not I think he can pull it off.

This of course assumes that Stephanie doesn't get complete control of the booking and just runs it exactly like Vince does, which is unfortunately where it's heading.

[Rammsteinmad]

I don't wanna turn this into another TNA good/bad thread etc, but I think if TNA's video game is as good as it is looking, it could be a huge step for the company. SVR08 sucked major ass, so a lot of people who felt let down by that game might check out the TNA game, enjoy it, then tune into the TV product.

ONE DAY I'm sure Vince will finally let it go, and give control of the company to Shane/Steph/HHH. Hopefully that'll change the direction of the company in a big way, instead of continuing what Vince has been doing.

Unfortunately WWE (Pro Wrestlings biggest representative in the US) is so riddled with policies, rules, limits etc that it's really not as fun to watch now as it was 10 years ago.

[BigDaddyCool]

No, btw were u at Raw, I saw it was in KC last night ?

No I was not. My girlfriend/fiance who like wrestling has a heart problem and the pyro messes with her. My brother, who watches wrestling as a joke never wants to do anything. My bestfriend who watches wrestling only when I make him was busy. Desiel Mac, the only other TPWWer from the KC area lives to far away and his car is unreliable.

[El Fangel]

If your expecting the type of frenzy fans were in during the Monday Night Wars, and when SCSA was beating the hell out of Vince, Im sorry to say, you wont see it again.

Thats not too say wrestling will never be good, or never be "wrestling" again, but with the current state of storylines, and feuds, I doubt you will ever see anything like that again.

The main reason, is that no one has the charisma and the likeability(for want of a better word) That people like Austin and The Rock did to pull this off.

Wrestlings Golden and Silver age has passed, the best we can hope for now is the Bronze.

[Indifferent Clox]

If ROH ever gets a TV show and goes Head to Head with TNA. It will be the number 2 company and eventually be bigger than WWE. I believe this. I believe they would adapt and make a product that could draw big ratings and not just be a niche. It's got enough MMA esque stuff (see American Dragon v. Low Ki w/ special Guest ref. Ken Shamrock) I mean they know how to get big names if they want (Hardy, Guerrero, Foley, Rhodes, really they could get whoever they wanted if they got up there.) I don't see it impossible for in ten years ROH to be as big as TNA is now if not bigger. TNA to be a little closer to WWE and WWE to be about the same. ROH can then go on to beat TNA and go head to head with WWE . It's just about buisness. I think ROH knows what this generation wants and while people will talk down about it, it's got a style for everyone.

[NoRoolz]

The wrestling industry will boom again, I'm sure of it. Might not be for 10 years or something but I'm sure it will.

TNA will become a rival to the WWE in time. Even though the company at the moment is as BDC said, 'a joke' it is still something a lot of fans (in the UK anyway) are turning to purely because they are SICK of the WWE and the same old shit, and at least TNA has some very good talent, some wrestlers they haven't seen in a while and matches tend to be of better quality than WWE. I only realised recently, upon watching wrestling 'properly' again, that up-to-date TNA is available to watch on UK TV, and have been watching it for a few months now and even though I can see there's some major problems with the company, especially the ridiculous gimmick matches, it's new to me and some stuff has entertained me. I prefer watching iMPACT to SmackDown, definitely.

[Londoner]

If it starts to focus on the actual show rather than just selling merchandise then yes it can, but they wont so no.

[CSL]

If ROH ever gets a TV show and goes Head to Head with TNA. It will be the number 2 company and eventually be bigger than WWE. I believe this. I believe they would adapt and make a product that could draw big ratings and not just be a niche. It's got enough MMA esque stuff (see American Dragon v. Low Ki w/ special Guest ref. Ken Shamrock) I mean they know how to get big names if they want (Hardy, Guerrero, Foley, Rhodes, really they could get whoever they wanted if they got up there.) I don't see it impossible for in ten years ROH to be as big as TNA is now if not bigger. TNA to be a little closer to WWE and WWE to be about the same. ROH can then go on to beat TNA and go head to head with WWE . It's just about buisness. I think ROH knows what this generation wants and while people will talk down about it, it's got a style for everyone.

'This generation' meaning 'smart marks' who equal what, maybe 10-20% of wrestling's fanbase? Casual 'Cena fan' type fans wouldn't enjoy ROH and that's the reason they'll never be more than they are now. Sure they could 'evolve' and head towards sports entertainment but I don't see it happening. WWE is the be all and end all when it comes to wrestling. The only way that's gonna change is if TNA (which is the utter shits atm) does something HUGE. Which will probably never happen.

[Mr. Nerfect]

ROH will probably never be #1, but if it continues to grow, there is no reason it cannot effect another product (like TNA or the WWE), and really get them into gear and alter their product. See: ECW in the 90's.

TNA could really do some good. They have the mainstream product, and the star talent. I think they really need to do two things, though:

1) Start putting on an alternative product. Make it different from whatever the WWE and WCW put out.

2) Start charging admission for shows at the iMPACT! Zone. Seriously, why the fuck has TNA not started doing this yet? Even if it is something like $10, that can all eventually build up and help TNA get further into the green (apparently they have broken even or made a profit now, but I'm not too sure about that).

Is it because TNA doesn't feel that its product is good enough to charge for? If that's the case, charge the admission, and use that as a reason to make it good enough. Firing Russo, or at least silencing him a little, would go a long way to helping the product out. Paul Heyman really needs to get a place with the company, as he has a good idea of where to take it.

That's a very good point Rammsteinmad made about TNA's upcoming video game. It's something I've wanted to say for a while, but didn't, because I knew people would disagree with me because I said it. The video game industry is probably TNA's most direct line through to casual audiences so far, to be perfectly honest. I guess being on TV itself is a good one, but I'm not sure how good their advertising campaign is. I'm still willing to bet a lot of people don't know TNA exists.

If the video game is good, gets a lot of good reviews, and makes a lot of sales, it puts money in the pockets of TNA, and it gets a lot of good will for the promotion. Then they've just got to follow it up. TNA has been looking pretty OK recently (I mean, not completely horrible), so I'm hoping that they're going to get their shit into gear.

[The Naitch]

what made wrestling is the CHARACTERS

fuck wrestling trying to make believable characters. Sure, but wrestling is fake so you might as well use that make believe factor in it.

The Corporate Champ
Stone Cold
Heel Cena
The Undertaker
Kane

etc

no other place can do that but WWE

[BigDaddyCool]

I'm assuming whatever Noid said is wrong because he said way to much and that means he is wrong.

I agree with Naitch. In the late 99, the were catering to 16 to 35 year old males...wrestling key demographic. Now they are targeting 8 to 12 years old. That might have something to do with it.

[Outsider]

I'm assuming whatever Noid said is wrong because he said way to much and that means he is wrong.

I agree with Naitch. In the late 99, the were catering to 16 to 35 year old males...wrestling key demographic. Now they are targeting 8 to 12 years old. That might have something to do with it.

This is what I don't understand. Surely the 16-35 year old audience has a larger disposable income to spend on DVDs and PPVs, as well as t-shirts and house shows.

Kids might buy action figures and spinning belts, but they do not have the same level of money to throw at things they enjoy.

I have always argued that a good reason for recreating the old ECW is to try and regain and start milking cash from the older age groups (without losing any of the younger), something I do not believe they are managing to do right now.

[BigDaddyCool]

Part of the problem is that WWE (and TNA for that matter) aren't being runs like businesses, they are being run to please one person that is not representive of their key markets.

I would love to see someone with no attechments to wrestling come in and run a promotion as if it was a company. I would hope this person would have respect for the industery and not hate it, but not really have any favoritism towards anything but making the best possible product and give the consumers something they would like as opposed to something they merely stomach.