|
I dont think straight up "wrestling" will ever draw on TV or at live events. For most people, that stuff is boring. Thats why things like ROH cant draw more than a few hundred fans, and why Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar in an Iron Man Match wasn't the highest rated wrestling match in modern history.
The most important thing in wrestling/sports entertainment is creating characters that people care about. Without that, you have nothing.
In order to sell a match, you need something more than wrestler A wants to fight wrestler B. They need an issue, and a compelling story to get them in the ring. However, if you try to get too cute, you can overlook the fact that at the end of the day there has to be a match that makes people feel satisfied, if that doesn't happen, you're dead.
I also believe that if history has shown us anything its that the casual fan doesn't want to see the really technical guys on top. The guys that seem to get over the best are the guys who dumb down "wrestling" to basically kicks, punches and a couple of distinctive moves. Guys like Rock, Austin and Hogan all had very entertaining matches, but they would never be rated above guys like Flair, Benoit and Bret Hart in the ring. Yet all of the latter guys drew significantly less money as top guys. So I think when they try to focus on great "wrestling" at the top of the card, while its very appealing to the hardcore fan, I think it turns off the average fan. I think thats a big problem right now. Sure HHH and HBK will have a great match night in and night out, but that doesn't get people excited.
|