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I think the whole "WWE created the stars, thats how NWO got over" is poor logic. WCW took guys that had been on WWE TV, and used their star power, but they presented them in a completely differenet manner form anything the WWE had ever done to that point.
On top of that WCW created STing, who was the main drawing point of Starrcade 97, which did WCW's best PPV number of all time. Goldberg was a WCW created talent and he did a ton for WCW in terms of being a counter to Steve Austin. So you cant just say WCW used only WWE created stars.
The main problem have been identified; the lack of creating new stars, and the EXACT same thing is happening in WWE. I remember at the time when WCW was going down you'd hear WWE guys talk about how that would never happen in New York because Vince is 'da boss' and he doesn't bow to anyone.
But look where we are. Hunter is in the same role Hogan was, in that he's always the top guy, and in fact he's worse than Hogan, because at least HOgan drew money most of the time. Hunter hasn't been a draw for 3 years, yet he's still on top. And worse yet from Hogan, he's definately not going anywhere.
WWE claims they have created new stars, but in reality they haven't. John Cena might be the most popular guy they have right now, but that doesn't mean they've "made" a star. I mean what big wins did Cena get? What PPVs has Cena headlined?
Orton they are legitimately trying to make into this year's star, but he's on RAW, we all know what that means, so how can anyone take him seriously (crappy booking aside)? We all know, no matter what, he'll wind up being another Benoit.
In a lot of ways, I think the WWE is in a worse position right now than WCW was in '01. See if Bischoff would have got control of WCW, and Jamie Kellner had have kept wrestling on TBS, I think WCW would have had a great shot to catch up to the WWE, or at least make it close again. Sure WCW was in the toilet, but at the time the WWE was getting 5's while WCW was getting 2's. Thats a lot of people to draw from. And yeah they would have had an uphill battle, but like I said, the audience (and thus the potential) was there.
With WWE right now, even if they were to create a new big star, you've so few people watching right now that it will be hard to even get the attention of casual fans. When WCW got hot it was because they went head to head with WWE, and that created a stir, and on top of that they used some guys people were fimiliar with and the rest is history.
But now, who is out there ready to go head to head with RAW and stock a roster with Goldberg, Austin, Foley and Hogan? I dont think that person exists. So now you're left with the WWE on their own to create the new stars that will get people talking again. But look at their track record, its not encouraging. And no matter what, HHH will always be there, and Vince will always think "Hunter is a big star, he should be the top guy". With that thinking, how will the next Austin or Rock ever get over?
The good thing about the WWE is that even though their audience has dwindled, the business end of the company is run perfectly, so they keep making money. So as long as they dont lose one of their TV contracts they'll likely be able to make money for years and years. Therefore, I'm not as scared that they will go out of business, but I am worried that we'll never see another time when pro wrestling is the in thing and numbers like they were in the hey day.
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