Quote:
Originally Posted by Next Big Thing
He was paired with Federline, what did that do for him? Big Show was paired with Mayweather, what did that do for him? The few people who bought his movie were wrestling fans, not people who recognized him from Wrestlemania with Floyd Mayweather and wanted to buy his movie because of it. How has being married to Jennifer Hudson helped David Otunga or the ratings when his segments on?
When the mainstream media writes articles about celebrities, the actual wrestlers are merely after thoughts. The angle of the article is usually about the celebrity entering the wacky world of wrestling, not the wrestlers they're working with.
Seriously, how many wrestlers actually went on to endorse products that WWE wasn't already in business with or star in movies not produced by the WWE following angles involving celebrities? When the celebrity goes away, so does the mainstream attention.
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Well you're talking about their runs with these celebrities. You obviously remember them. That is the point. Pairing them up with the celebrities isn't designed for long term exposure. If it was, they wouldn't keep bringing celebrities in (after all, its expensive). They would bring in one or two, then sit back and enjoy all the new viewers they got. It doesn't work that way. Seth Green hosted Raw one night. That doesn't mean that a bunch of Seth Green fans now watch wrestling. What it does mean, is that a handful of Seth Green fans tuned in to see him, the same way we tune into a talk show when a celebrity we like is on, and watched it for that one night. Others who didn't watch it at least talked about it ("Hey did you hear so and so was on whatever last night?" "Oh really? What's that?"). The goal of this isn't to make all of those people suddenly become wrestling fans. The point is you grab their attention for just one episode, strut your stuff while they are watching, and hope that you interest a couple of them enough to tune in again next week. It is foolish to assume that one appearance by one celebrity will suddenly turn that celebrities fans into wrestling fans. It's not like that. It's "Hey you like this celebrity? Watch them on Raw." Then "Hey did you like what you saw? Watch Raw again next week." Repeat. You take them one episode at a time.
I mean think about it. What got you interested in watching wrestling? What got you interested in watching any other tv show? Generally, something about the show has to grab your attention in the promos and advertisements. And yes, sometimes that something is a guest star. You watch one episode. If you don't enjoy it, you stop watching. If you enjoy it, maybe you watch a second episode. If you enjoy the second episode, you watch a third. Then eventually maybe you turn into a regular viewer. Maybe you don't. But at least you gave it a chance.
Here's the trick, if they get you to watch because of a guest star, they don't want to blow that guest star on a shitty episode, or in the case of wrestling, a shitty match. They want to put their best foot forward, put on a great show, so they can max out the benefit of the exposure that came with that celebrity. So in the case of the WWE, they are going to want to pair that guest star up with someone who will do well and put on a good show. There is a reason that nearly every Raw guest host did a skit with Santino - he's funny. He can appeal to a lot of people - wrestling fans and non-wrestling fans alike. It was the WWE's way of saying they have more than just wrestling, they have comedy as well. There is also a reason they don't pair the guest star with someone like Koslov. He is boring. So its not a matter of pushing the superstar because they were paired with a celebrity. They pair them with the celebrity because they are going to push them. Or at the very least, because they trust them to put on an entertaining match/promo. Either way, there is a level of trust there.
And let's not forget, Federline wasn't just paired with Morrison. He was in a storyline with Cena. And Cena is and was a top guy in the WWE. Morrison on the other hand, shortly after the Federline angle he went into a feud with Jeff Hardy for the IC belt. A few months later, he went on to win the ECW title. Not long after that, he formed the successful Miz/Morrison team, and won the tag titles. The Federline angle was right before what was probably his most prosperous time in the WWE so far.
The WWE pays big bucks to the marketing guys who decide what celebrities to bring in and what to do with them, and then pay even bigger bucks to the celebrities they bring in. These decision makers are trained. I think they know what they were doing. I mean, they are obviously seeing some kind of result from these superstar/celebrity pair-ups, even if you don't. Otherwise, they would probably stop blowing such big bucks on them. I mean, do you have any idea what Snookie charges for appearances? It's ridiculous.