Quote:
Originally Posted by Noid
Sometimes the WWE violates the rules of storytelling, though, and often purposely avoid scenarios that could potentially stand to make them money. I don't think it's always smarks thinking they know best. Sometimes it is, but sometimes the stuff they put forward is just stupid, and shows that they no longer know their own audience.
Off on a bit of a tangent, your avatar reminded me -- the way they pushed Christian to the top last year, while rewarding in that they were actually doing it, kind of made Christian look shitty at the same time. At the time I quite enjoyed the rivalry between him and Orton, as did many others, and I ignored the criticisms of "Randy Orton wins all the time." Christian managed to get quite a few wins and falls over Orton. He was never made to really look like he was on Orton's level, though. And while I maintain that Christian was the heel, is much older than Orton, and probably not the guy the company should be investing in long-term, and that Orton beating him clean whenever they fought made total sense -- I do think that Christian's face push was aborted by the company way too quickly.
Instead of ending Christian's initial World Title run in four days, how about having Christian beat Orton with a roll-up in a hard fought match. The two respect each other and then Sheamus and Henry become involved. Christian & Orton beat them in a tag team match and then face each other again. This time the match goes to a double disqualification due to Henry and Sheamus. Cue a Fatal 4-Way, which Christian wins when he pins one of the heels. The money is still there in Orton challenging Christian, but you've made Christian stand out as a performer who is doing surprisingly well as World Champion. And at this point, you can properly gauge how well Christian is doing commercially as World Champion, as well as gauging critically.
It comes time to do Orton vs. Christian again, and that time Orton beats Christian like he did four days after Extreme Rules and is the new World Heavyweight Champion. Christian then turns heel on Orton in the coming weeks and you get the same essential story as what we got, except that Christian looks like more of a player against Orton, and actually poses some sort of threat to Orton's dominance, given that Christian has proven he can beat Orton in the past (although never decisively).
|
But this is the exact point I was making. This is what you want to see (and maybe others). I for one, loved the Orton/Christian feud, and rank it as the top feud of 2011. Do I wish Christian had a stronger run with the title? Hell yeah! But overall it was a great angle, and I'm happy with it.
Anyway, my point, is that what you wrote is what you'd have wanted to see. And that's fine, everyone has their own opinions and expectations. But if the WWE had done it your way, it wouldn't have instantly taken the ratings up to the high 7's they were hitting in 2000.
It's not so much about the actual product or the writing, it's about todays social climate. People just aren't into wrestling nowadays.