WWE since Cena's injury in Oct 2007...

[The Franchise]

Does anyone else think the WWE has been a lot more entertaining since Cena's injury in October 2007? I would say that early 2005 until that point was the "John Cena era" in the WWE, which has had its highs and a damn lot of lows but since Cena's injury I have found the WWE to be more unpredictable and a lot more entertaining.

We haven't seen Cena as champ since, we got a really memorable moment in a Cena rumble win (Orton retaining at WM was perfect too, and if that was their plan why not have Cena win it in a surprise than HHH win who everyone thought was winning it anyway), a very, very good Wrestlemania, an amazing fairwell for Ric Flair, Chris Jericho's return, Jeff Hardy's rise, lots of good things in the mid-card, CM Punk winning the title, HBK/Jericho, HHH going to Smackers, Vince fucking off etc

I think the programming has been far better and am looking forward to 09. Who else feels this way and any guesses on if this was just chance or if Cena going down and proving he isn't invincible finally was a wake up for the WWE?

[Londoner]

No.

[The Franchise]

It's a fair bit different, any reasons on why not?

[Londoner]

Mainly its been too predictable, this is the least i've ever been entertained by wwe.Though it still has its moments, its just not the same now.

[Jeritron]

Well there have been a lot more great moments, and stuff has been more open. The show isn't great, but at least you can tell what month you're in now.
There's been new champions like Punk and Jericho, HHH has found his way to Smackdown and Jeff Hardy got pushed. There's been some great fueds, and Orton and Edge became a real focus for a while there.

Basically, a lot more players have been used and things are shaken up in the main event scene a bit more often.
It still hasn't come together very well though.

[Jeritron]

I'd say it's been improved a great deal, but still not good.

[NeanderCarl]

I like the unpredictability of some of the decisions that nobody saw coming, but for the most part, the shows have been preposterously predictable and increasingly stale.

I liked it when Raw had no general manager and was wild and crazy... for about a week. If they could make the broadcasts more like that every week, it could be a start, PG or not. Remember when Raw first started back in 1993? It was PG then, but it had a real air of unpredictability and you felt that anything could happen (even though it mainly featured squash matches)... there's no reason why they couldn't summon up a little of that spirit in 2009.

[Lux]

I'm looking forward to Edge's return.

[Kane Knight]

Well, better or not, it's certainly not more popular.

That being said, I think it's better, though I'm not really sure by how much.

[SammyG]

I miss Cena.

[Afterlife]

"I heart 2008" compared to "I forget 2007".

[Ruien]

Mainly its been too predictable, this is the least i've ever been entertained by wwe.Though it still has its moments, its just not the same now.

You knew CM Punk would win the title? You know Y2J would get in the title match, after LOSING a match to HBK? And win!, just for the fact Orton punted CM Punks head in. Or you knew Y2J would win the title in a steel cage match 1 day after losing it, to Batista.

We could go back to the monthly spoilers of "Cena wins".

[Londoner]

You knew CM Punk would win the title? You know Y2J would get in the title match, after LOSING a match to HBK? And win!, just for the fact Orton punted CM Punks head in. Or you knew Y2J would win the title in a steel cage match 1 day after losing it, to Batista.

We could go back to the monthly spoilers of "Cena wins".

Oh wow, you picked two unpredictable moments,or one even. Yeah, that makes up for months of shiteness. :roll:

As i said,it still 'has its moments'.

[Juan]

I've been watching wrestling since 1990, and I can honestly say that I've seen worse.

[Juan]

I think the main problem is that people will never satisfied. They will complain that they want to see something new and fresh. Then when something unexpected happens, ie CM Punk wins the title, Jericho wins the title etc, people will claim that they saw it coming or that it sucked or that it was poorly booked.

People have been complaining about WWE for YEARS. Even during the beloved Attitude era people were bitching about the booking and about certain guys not getting pushed. I really don't expect that to change.

[Juan]

As for the current product, obviously it has it's downfalls, but overall the quality of the matches has really improved over the last 2 years. They're slowly building a better product, but since there is no WCW to a light a fire under their ass, they can afford to take it one step at a time.

[Londoner]

Its just i think i've been watching alot of attitude era stuff recently,and have noticed the difference. There is just something majorly different atm.

[Juan]

Yeah comparing the current era to the Attitude era isn't really fair to the era we're currently witnessing.

[Juan]

And if you wait for this era to live up to the past, you're gonna be disappointed almost every time.

[Kane Knight]

I think the main problem is that people will never satisfied. They will complain that they want to see something new and fresh. Then when something unexpected happens, ie CM Punk wins the title, Jericho wins the title etc, people will claim that they saw it coming or that it sucked or that it was poorly booked.

You can't please all of the people all of the time, but I still call BS on this. Mostly because we've been through eras which unified a majority of this board, and pleased millions. The fact that this lackluster generation of wrestling is met by people who set the bar higher doesn't have anything to do with people never being satisfied. We just want good shows again. If you or anyone else wants to lower their standards, that's fine. But don't pretend that the problem is anything short of WWE no longer providing what it once did.

[Kane Knight]

And if you wait for this era to live up to the past, you're gonna be disappointed almost every time.

"Most every time?"

[Jeritron]

Maybe expecting it to be on par with that attitude era is unfair, but expecting it to be 'good', as in tolerable, is hardly too much to ask.

[Johnny Vegas]

lol

I think the WWE is going to be entering its next "boom" in about a year or two. Here is what i (want to) see in the future, if the WWE knows what is good for them:

-John Morrison is GOING to be huge. I can just see it happening. He is TOO different from everyone else and his moveset is innovative, fresh and very "people's elbow-ish". His breakdance leg drop is something he needs to use on a regular occasion with, lets say, a bodyslam to set it up. The split-legged corkscrew moonsault is fucking ridiculous. His Moon Light Drive finisher can be hit at anytime, which would make it that much dangerous. He is going to be big, but i think bigger as a face.

-I am waiting for the heel CM Punk to take over the #1 or #2 heel spot in the company along with Edge, Orton, and/or a pushed Dolph Ziggler (Man, if Punk/Orton/Edge formed a heel group = :drool: ). Idk how long Jericho is going to remain in the ME picture, but him up there would produce some good shit too. With the likes of MVP getting better over time, you have some great potential fueds. Kennedy will still be there as well too. And i'm not even going to start on Brian Kendrick and Ezikiel. Like, that right there needs to be a long lasting partnership, not a Devon-Batista type thing.

-Cena should still be around at this time and hopefully something will be done to freshen his character up by then. Keep in mind that wrestlers like Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Shelton Benjamin, Cody Rhodes, Dibiase, Kofi, Bourne, Mysterio (if around because of injuries), The Miz and others will definitely fill up the mid to upper card slots.

I mean there is going to be some good stuff going on in the future, but its just the likes of HHH, HBK, UT, and Batista retiring/giving up their main spots. So i think what is going on right now is like this: 84-90 WWE = 97-01 WWE and WWE 91-96 = WWE 02-07. But i definitely see a great boom coming with the wrestlers mentioned above, and thats not even counting some other talent coming from ROH.

[Lux]

I'm calling it now, the World Heavyweight Championship will be in the Palace of Wisdom before 2012.

[Kane Knight]

Maybe expecting it to be on par with that attitude era is unfair, but expecting it to be 'good', as in tolerable, is hardly too much to ask.

Who wants to watch "tolerable" programming?

[Fabien Barthez]

I do. I love TV that I find irritating, but not quite irritating enough to want to change channel.

In many ways, that is more irritating I think. I'm not sure, Maths has never been my stong point.

[NeanderCarl]

I do. I love TV that I find irritating, but not quite irritating enough to want to change channel.


And you're a Manchester United fan??

What, is your remote control broken or something?

[Fabien Barthez]

I was being fececious.

[Kane Knight]

I was being fececious.

You were being a piece of shit?

:shifty:

(Countdown for someone to completely misinterpret this play on poor spelling...Begin!)

[Kane Knight]

Though I think Fabe may have accurately summed up why someone would want to watch a show that was tolerable.

All I can say is I'm glad I have a DVR now. I can watch the 2-3 segments I want, and almost completely ignore everything else. Most of the bad parts of the show aren't worth complaining about when you can skip them almost entirely.

That's one of the reasons I'm not sure if the show's really all that better. I'm watching around half an hour of Raw every Monday night, and I'm really enjoying that. But that means 90 minutes of programming (including the commercials, natch) is stuff that I dislike enough to totally disregard. Is that better programming, or just the magic of "TiVo?"