Reasons why WWE is in a slump...

[Volchok]

Well, everyone, after seeing four episodes of TNA Impact, I'm happy there is finally an alternative to the WWE's crap. In fact, for those who haven't made it a fact to tune in to or TiVo Impact Friday afternoons, I've compiled a list of recent grievances against Vince's once mighty company. I'll list them for you with my reasons for them being on the list. Let's start with the most recent.

"Nazis Get Titles"
For those of you who've lived in a cave for a while, during the WWE's recent tour of Europe, specifically the show in Munich, Germany, the WWE Title match between Eddie Guerrero and JBL was dead (that's what you get from Bradshaw in the title match). Now, what was a heel to do to generate heat in Germany? Flash a Nazi salute and start goose-stepping, what else?


For those of you who don't know, doing that type of stupid shit is against the law in Germany. Now, while CNBC fired our retarded Texas friend, how does Vince McMahon punish this dumbass??? Make him the WWE Champion. Huh? I know, it really doesn't make any damn sense, but that's what happened.

So, now we have Triple H modifying Nazi symbols for his crappy shirts and he gets a World Title shot at Vengeance AND Summer Slam (well, that's the current plan), and Mr. Layfield gets the WWE Title. So, if you do something equal to burning the American flag, you get a title. If Eddie wants his title back, he'd better learn German and shave his moustache a little bit.

"Mae Young's Pregnant Take 2"
On Raw, Lita recently found out she was pregnant, and that big red goofus Kane is the baby daddy. Haven't the bookers learned anything from Mae Young, Terri, Stephanie McMahon, and Stacy Keibler Pregnancy angles NEVER work. I'll repeat that. They NEVER work!! And, as I'm writing this, according to all the online news rags, the writers have no clue where to take this. Isn't that great? These rocket scientists don't have a clue where to take this crappy gimmick.
I have an idea, Lita has a miscarriage. The end. No more pain from this god awful storyline. Then, maybe Matt Hardy could get something interesting going, like an IC title push and Kane can keep himself from being connected with the two worst storylines in the last two years (this one and Katie Vick). While I'm talking about Kane...

"The Ultimate Punishment"
Another problem with Raw is Eric Bischoff's overuse of Kane. If you piss of Bisch, you have to wrestle Kane. If you come back to the WWE, you have to wrestle Kane. If you sneeze hard backstage, you wrestle Kane. If you say the secret word, everyone in the playhouse screams, then you fight Kane. It's getting really old. We all get it, Kane's a monster. If that's so, stop giving him Matt Hardy, Eugene, and Benoit. Give him other monsters to play with. How about Batista or Tyson Tomko? Or, heaven forbid, do a special feud with the better promotion. WWE's monster Kane against the real monster, Abyss. Now, that would be great. Since I?m dumping on Raw, let's continue.

"Tough Enough IV: Divas Only"
The Raw $250,000 Diva Search. Where to begin. Well, this craptacular reality experiment was supposed to be on SmackDown, but because UPN had some waste of airtime called America's Next Top Model, it was transferred to Raw. You know what this means, right? That means one hour of the show dedicated to Evolution talking in the ring or talking backstage, and 15 minutes of this garbage. Adding in twenty minutes of commercials, that leaves about 25 minutes for actual wrestling. That sounds about right. So, not only does this idea suck, but it takes more time away from what matters WRESLTING!!! Nuff said.

"Creative Cramping"

How many of you have wondered, "Where is [insert current WWE wrestler's name] at?"

Well, here?s the base answer: Creative can't think of anything for them. So, they can't think of anything for Test, Scott Steiner, Rodney Mack, Billy Kidman, Paul London, and a list of others? That's just laziness. Scott Steiner, no matter how much he sucks, isn't hard to write for. Make him a bully heel and have him feud with Eugene. Fixed. Test can fight Tyson Tomko, making it Corporate problem solver vs. Trish's problem solver. Done. Rodney Mack can go for the IC title and feud with Edge. Problem solved. Kidman and London, put them in the Cruiserweight title. Gee, that was hard. Creative must be really lazy cuz I just came up with something for all the wrestlers I listed in under a minute.

"Haven't We Seen This Before?"
Remember The Million Dollar Man? How about "The Narcissist" Lex Luger? Maybe the Heartbreak Kid? Well, those characters are now John Bradshaw Layfield, "The Reflection Of Perfection" Mark Jindrak, and H.B. Cade (Garrison Cade's planned future gimmick). Another case of lazy writers. Sure, some people may say this is all homage to those once great gimmicks, but I call it lame.

Remember how WCW died? One of the reasons was "Perfection" Shawn Stasiak, a rip-off of Curt Hennig's "Mr. Perfect" character. So, maybe the WWE is destined to die soon. Let's just hope and pray.


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Well i hope you enjoy this reading and i hope i dont get flamed too much for my thoughts...

[OssMan]

what is with all of the question marks

[Disturbed316]

Originally Posted by AssMan what is with all of the question marks?

Edited for you

[Volchok]

my bad with the question marks.. my comp keeps screwing up.

Look, it's like this. People like me, who has been a wrestling fan basically my whole life, aren't just going to sop watching wrestling. The program can be as shitty as ever each week, but there might be that one week that something great happens and we don't want to miss it. The only people who have stopped watching are the "casual fans" who started to watch back in 98 and then stopped watching as things tunred shitty. Wrestling was like how reality TV is now back in 98, it was what a lot of people watched and it was mainstream. Now it isn't, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to watch anymore.

[Volchok]

look i've been a fan since the early 90's. I didn't mean to say everyone stop watching wrestling.. no because I for one am not going to stop watching it. Im just stating reasons why its bad.. come to think about it I shoulda changed the title of the thread...

[91]

Originally Posted by EcKo 03 ComPlEX Remember how WCW died? One of the reasons was "Perfection" Shawn Stasiak, a rip-off of Curt Hennig's "Mr. Perfect" character. So, maybe the WWE is destined to die soon. Let's just hope and pray.

Christ that's harsh. Asides from the fact that they came up with that character about a month before the company folded, I find it baffling that anyone could shoulder any blame on what was effectively a mid-card (at best) gimmick being played by a mid-card wrestler. Now whilst that sort of booking was as a whole part of the reason WCW died (I'd suggest more it being old guys refusing to give up their spot, Vince Russo jamming inane innuendo down our throats, the world title being treated like it was somewhere between a table and a steel chair in the important props list, lack of motivation), it's a bit unfair to say "one of the reasons WCW died was Shawn Stasiak".

Whilst I'm at it, I have a small problem with the creative camping piece. Now I agree entirely that they should be able to find something for everyone to do (except Steiner and Mack who can take a running jump for all I care), but you're asking for them to do some heavy stuff. Mack feuding over the IC title, Steiner feuding with Eugene - they've already got several guys doing that stuff already. Move them in and you have to move other people out and then you've got other (BETTER) guys on the "we've got nothing to do" roster. Personally I'd pair a number of them up, make them into a team, give their team a name to make it look like they're serious about them, and keep them together for a LONG time (not the obligatory three to six months we usually get) to spice up the tag division somewhat, which lord only knows needs spicing up.

[Dirtyunderweartaker]

I HAVE BEEN WATCHING WRESTLING FOR TWENTY YEARS, AND THE LAST FEW YEARS HAVE BEEN BAD. PEOPLE LIKE US MAY WATCH IT, BUT AT SOME POINT WE MAY LOOSE MORE INTEREST FOR LACK OF CREATIVITY THAT IS WATCHABLE, AND ENTERTAINING.

[Volchok]

chill with the damn caps killer...

[Savio]

Test would be good for tomco.....King: Can Tson solve the test?

[John la Rock]

ok Test, Steiner, and Mack are useless, Kidman's so so (good wrestler, no personality), and London I can't comment on since I havn't seen him.

[Kane Knight]

Howabout we just say that the writing and booking sucks, and they can't get the interest o hardcore or casual fans?

[MVP]

I only watch wrestling so I can complain about it on the internet.

[Batsu]

Well, here's what I wish would happen:

WWE matches need not be so damn "safe" to the point of lameness. I'm surprised they let Rene Dupree even use the Michinoku Driver II as a finisher now with the extreme crappiness of finishers now. I'm not saying to put back in the "Ganso Bombs" and all of that, but the piledriver ban needs to be lifted. Finishers such as the F-U...are just bad.

right on about the misused wrestlers. I don't think fans of SMACKDOWN! since the brand extension like seeing cruiserweights doing a bunch of dumb stuff, or nothing at all. Chavo Classic was cool, but giving a person who isn't even in the division the title was just wack. Horrid, even!

and as for the Mr. Perfect ripoff, that was actually the highest point in Stasiak's career. That gimmick actually fit him...though the Palumbo Luger redux wasn't as great.

[Mr. JL]

Originally Posted by Kane Knight Howabout we just say that the writing and booking sucks,

Okay, RIGHT THERE!

Everyone stop bitching about the WWE and this includes myself. People are now just saying what others have been saying for years. Pretty much everyone thinks that the writing and booking sucks! And well is does. We all, well most of us get really fed up and then start to rant on and on for a couple pages about how shitty everything is. Its repetitive and getting really annoying.

Of course everyone has the right of freedom of speech. But can we STOP this endless "WWE writing and booking sucks" threads???

This is a good thread with credible and valid points of view.. but lets stop with it already. Were beating a dead horse...

Why don't we create a permanant sticky thread "WWE's writing, creative and booking sucks" and anytime someone wants to rant on about how shitty it all is then just post in that thread..

[Heyman]

Originally Posted by Savior Test would be good for tomco.....King: Can Tson solve the test?

Can the Problem solver pass the Test?

[Scarface]

Im gonna invent a time machine and go back to the begining of '97 when I started watching. It was good then.

Oh and someone should be shot repeatedly for the Lita pregnancy storyline. And then stabbed in the groin.

[Heyman]

Originally Posted by Scarface Im gonna invent a time machine and go back to the begining of '97 when I started watching. It was good then. Oh and someone should be shot repeatedly for the Lita pregnancy storyline. And then stabbed in the groin.

Agreed.

When you think about it however - the only real way out of this for the WWE is to have Lita turn on Matt and join Kane (proving it to be one big set-up all along.....including the 'fake' pregnancy).

I know it's a STUPID suggestion, but you KNOW this angle won't last 9 months.

Furthermore - it's way too 'predicatable' if the WWE does a miscarriage angle (i.e. Kane attacking Lita). That's the route they'll probably go though.

They have themselves to blame. Crappy angle right from the start.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by Mr. JL Okay, RIGHT THERE! Everyone stop bitching about the WWE and this includes myself. People are now just saying what others have been saying for years. Pretty much everyone thinks that the writing and booking sucks! And well is does. We all, well most of us get really fed up and then start to rant on and on for a couple pages about how shitty everything is. Its repetitive and getting really annoying. Of course everyone has the right of freedom of speech. But can we STOP this endless "WWE writing and booking sucks" threads??? This is a good thread with credible and valid points of view.. but lets stop with it already. Were beating a dead horse... Why don't we create a permanant sticky thread "WWE's writing, creative and booking sucks" and anytime someone wants to rant on about how shitty it all is then just post in that thread..

Wow, man. Don't have a hernia. I just don't see the point in nitpicking what's wrong when everyone seems to think everything sucks.

Basically, why can't we all just agree it all sucks and move on?

Originally Posted by Heyman Agreed. When you think about it however - the only real way out of this for the WWE is to have Lita turn on Matt and join Kane (proving it to be one big set-up all along.....including the 'fake' pregnancy). I know it's a STUPID suggestion, but you KNOW this angle won't last 9 months. Furthermore - it's way too 'predicatable' if the WWE does a miscarriage angle (i.e. Kane attacking Lita). That's the route they'll probably go though. They have themselves to blame. Crappy angle right from the start.

See, that right there would work and I would enjoy it. This angle is going nowhere, so have, let's say, Edge come out one Raw and proceed to save Matt from Kane. Then down the line, Matt and Lita turns on Edge and joins Kane. I see no problem with that. Yiu just have to come up with a logical story on why Matt did it. No Bullshit story.

[asphyXy]

Two words: no continuity.

I remember when chair shots did jack shit to Kane. I remember "I Still Remember". I remember when Lita and Matt broke up [but I don't remember an on screen reconciliation, or at least an explanation]. I remember when Bradshaw wasn't a main eventer [wasn't that last month?]. I remember when WWE had feuds.

[#1-norm-fan]

Yes, continuity is a good way to sum it up.

My major problem with WWE over the past few years has been it's inability to put the wrestlers on a certain level and leave them there. Guys like Randy Orton, Shelton Benjamin, etc. have basically the same win/loss record as everyone else.

The Rock was a prime example of this. He became HUGE despite it but I can only imagine if he was used right. He basically lost every other match he was in. It got to the point where him losing didn't mean a thing. I remember when guys like Hogan would NEVER lose and when they did, it was a big deal.

I remember one of the things that made Steamboat/Flair great when I was younger was the fact that both of them were booked as great wrestlers in the scripted way, as in, on top of their amazing actual wrestling ability, they were booked as guys who were tough to beat. So when they would wrestle, it was almost like you could predict a winner just by how "good" they were.

If I'm not making any sense right now, it's about 3 AM right now. I'll try to explain tomorrow.

[Goldbird]

I simply hate it when Smackdown REBOUNDS show recaps of JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD week in week out.

It makes me not to watch Smackdown.

I watch wrestling to

- Laugh at BAHGAWD
- Laugh at announcers' mistakes
- at botched spots
- Keep up so I can follow what goes on in this forum
- Pass my spare time
- Bitch at how Vinnie Mac is bringing down pro wrestling

[Goldbird]

Originally Posted by c4g2 I watch wrestling to - Laugh at BAHGAWD - Laugh at announcers' mistakes - at botched spots - Keep up so I can follow what goes on in this forum - Pass my spare time - Bitch at how Vinnie Mac is bringing down pro wrestling

You havent done tumor's homework....

[Mr. JL]

Originally Posted by Kane Knight Wow, man. Don't have a hernia. I just don't see the point in nitpicking what's wrong when everyone seems to think everything sucks. Basically, why can't we all just agree it all sucks and move on?

lol... thats what I was trying to re-iterate... but I think I failed... haha

Yes I did.

[Kane Knight]

Though I do have my own sets of gripes.

It's just that they all come back to the same root problems.

That's the problem.

Pretty much every problem I have boils down to a couple of things.

1) Management
2) Booking/writing
3) Inability or unwillingness to heed the fans.

I will argue specific points, but it seems pretty pointless to gripe in general.

[Mayo]

Three words: Lack of competition.

This is making the WWE lazy and thinking that they don't have to put on high quality shows in order to keep up in the ratings war. There is just no reason to change the formula, since WWE is basically the only company that most marks care about. This, combined with the fact that there are no big debuts of wrestlers that quit 'the other company' to garner more interest in the WWE, mean that we will probably see shitty programming till another company steps up and brings us good wrestling

[Tiken]

One thing which has me not watching Wrestling as much as I used to (Early 90's - '99) is the stupid moves, as Batsu has already commented on.

Moves like the F-U and the 619 make me want to slap the creative assembly team faces. How about we get some real moves back into the WWE, and not play the SAFE game. Lets get back the old school moves. Pile Drivers, Neck Breakers (The ones which looked like half decent NB's), High risk moves off of the Top ropes and turn buckles, ect...

And one thing on the pile driver ban I would like to bitch about.

Pile Drivers are risky moves yes, and yes they can hurt, just like most wrestling moves. However the key to prevent serious injury is to make sure the wrestlers pulling them off know what they are doing, and know they can handle them selves in the ring.
Wrestlers for example who show little talent and skill in the ring shouldent be allowed to attempt those manuevers. (ie. Batista, Lita the botched wonder, Renee Dupree, JBL, John Cena*, Test and Rhino.)



* - John Cena is an average wrestler, a great man w/ with the MIC but I dont not believe he has the true talent and skill a wrestler needs.

[Kane Knight]

Come on, do you think that the WWE would have competent wrestlers doing trhese moves?

That's why they got banned in the first place. Given a choice between banning moves and getting good wrestlers, they said "Bye bye" to the interesting moves.

[mitch_h]

I don't know if this can relate to all fans out there or even the majority but for me it's just that i've gotten a lot smarter(wrestling wise) since the attitude era. While I loved the attitude era I would hate to see it again. I don't want to see raunchy or unrealistic characters or angles anymore.

Back when I would watch wrestling back in 97 and 98 wrestling didn't exist outside of the WWF and WCW. But with the internet and being able to tape trade... and whatever i've become aware of indy wrestling and puroresu. I understand and appreciate talented workers. No longer is it enough for a wrestler to just have good mic skills, the look, and a interesting gimmick... they need a good workrate as well. Thats one of the main reasons why I feel that JBL is not a credible champion... because he is a poor worker. Infact giving Benoit and Eddie the title were one of the few positive aspects of the WWE that i've witnessed in the last few years. I'm sick of seeing all these terrible green wrestlers that the WWE keeps on bringing up.

However, I don't want the WWE to simply concentrate on wrestling and forget about angles, gimmicks and promos. I don't think that focussing more on ring work will attract new fans but it should keep the fans they have. Because when I go to the ROH wrestling boards a lot of the ROH fans aren't wrestling purists. Many aren't familiar with puroresu, they are just disgruntled WWE fans who are looking for something to satisfy their needs.

[Tiken]

sure, there are many wrestlers on the WWE roster atm that are talented, skilled, and smart. Really only the rookies and those wrestlers who havent been touched latley are the ones to look out for in preforming any of those moves.

[Batsu]

Originally Posted by #1-wwf-fan Yes, continuity is a good way to sum it up. My major problem with WWE over the past few years has been it's inability to put the wrestlers on a certain level and leave them there. Guys like Randy Orton, Shelton Benjamin, etc. have basically the same win/loss record as everyone else. The Rock was a prime example of this. He became HUGE despite it but I can only imagine if he was used right. He basically lost every other match he was in. It got to the point where him losing didn't mean a thing. I remember when guys like Hogan would NEVER lose and when they did, it was a big deal. I remember one of the things that made Steamboat/Flair great when I was younger was the fact that both of them were booked as great wrestlers in the scripted way, as in, on top of their amazing actual wrestling ability, they were booked as guys who were tough to beat. So when they would wrestle, it was almost like you could predict a winner just by how "good" they were. If I'm not making any sense right now, it's about 3 AM right now. I'll try to explain tomorrow.

I understood this well enough. You're right about this. WWE attempted to rekindle this kind of credibility building with HHH... I'm not sure if he turned out to be the right guy to do this, though. (I think this both helped and hurt Hogan at the same time... though if this was given to The Rock, I don't think it would have turned out the same way.)

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by mitch_h I don't know if this can relate to all fans out there or even the majority but for me it's just that i've gotten a lot smarter(wrestling wise) since the attitude era. While I loved the attitude era I would hate to see it again. I don't want to see raunchy or unrealistic characters or angles anymore.

I don't think it's the characters alone. I think I could still go for the old Undertaker, or DX, if they hadn't moved on from that point. The problem is that their current environment won't support them.