This is true...DAMN TRUE.
This is what is missing from today's industry, well developed storylines where they prolong the money shot/payoff for an extended period of time...building the fans rabid at the thought of the match happening. Compare Sabu vs. Tazz to Angle vs. Samoa Joe for example. I fucking
at the thought of what Heyman would have done with that storyline back in the heyday of ECW. The amount of drama ECW squeezed out of it's characters and storylines is unparalleled today. It gave the fans a REASON to care about coming to the next show or seeing the next episode. Now every storyline is cut with meth/cocaine and instantly shoved up the fans noses for a quick fix, especially TNA. Christ, it makes my head spin seeing Angle and Joe getting along buddy buddy and teaming together THIS SOON!
I mean ECW made the fans believe what they were seeing was real. Sandman selling the "blinding" from Dreamer by not leaving his house for a month as an example. Compare that to the FUCKING SILVER PLATTERED GIFT that was the Edge/Hardy/Lita real life drama that had fans genuinely interested without the aid of CREATING a storyline....and WWE fucked it to high hell!!!
How do you screw up that storyline? I mean you literally have to go out of your way to fuck something up that was so perfectly placed in your lap. Everyone responsible for that should have been fired IMO.
The one major thing that jumps out at me from DVD's I've seen is that Heyman actually allowed the wrestlers to have an influence in their storyline and the direction they wanted to go. Now it's just Hollywood writers and egomaniacs that are totally out of touch with today's culture. The fans (and wrestlers) are ignored and not allowed to play a vital part of the role...hell, their opinions are even avoided (moving PPV's, confiscating signs, etc.) and dubbed out of existence. If you force storylines and champions down the fans throats, how do you expect them to be emotionally involved? They aren't. Dropping buy rates and ratings prove that.
The ECW fans shit all over the lazy performers and storylines and their opinions were heard AND LISTENED TO. That's the difference I see now adays. WWE does the opposite. They seem to be content with the "Slap the fans in the face Era." Somebody needs to slap back.