Could the WWE ever manage to go back to the old days?

[Kane Knight]

Likeas in the old cartoony showmanship days. Hulkamania. The Phenom. Shitty hard to believe wrestling with wrestlers who could whip us into a frenzy.

Not should they, or will they, but could they. Do you believe they could ever put the genie back in the bittle, so to speak?

[RockNRoll]

I wish they could go back to pretending it was a real sport. Those were the days.

I don't think they could go back now, because everyone expects every match to be a TLC match.

[PureHatred]

No. You can't uninform the public. There are literally thousands of hours of videotape and hundreds of books dedicated to destryong the idea of a "hard kayfabe."

Plus, popular culture is so different. The anti-authority, anti-hero is what people want to cheer for now. When Kurt Angle came out as the "drink your milk," Red, White, & Blue American Olympian, people booed. In the 80's, that never would've happened.

That era was a reflection of the fanbase. Likea ll entertainment mediums, tastes have matured and there's just way more information out there. As much as I'd like to occasionally suspend my belief the way i once did, it's not happening.

[PullMyFinger]

No, it'll never go back to that. Society has changed greatly since then...

As for PureHatred saying that people cheer for the anti-authority and anti-hero, I think that's actually gone down dramatically since the Attitude days came to a close and 9/11. Faces are back to being nice guys who follow what the rules are, and the heels are back to being anti-heros. I mean, granted it's NOTHING like how it was in the 80s. However, compared to the Attitude Era....no way.

Also, that doesn't mean that the fans don't think the same...I believe its more around the lines of WWE shoving something down someone's throat i.e. Randy Orton. When he was a dick, the crowd loved him....but when he turned into a goody good face, his response flattened. Look at Austin coming out again...forcing beer on a guy who loves to be in shape (hahaha) and stunning him...the response was crazy. That's why I'm so against Christian and others turning face b/c their crowd response will die greatly due to the fact that they'll be goofy good guys i.e. John Cena.

I think the WWE is trying to hard to be conservative now.

[Jaded-Dragon]

Originally Posted by PureHatred No. You can't uninform the public. There are literally thousands of hours of videotape and hundreds of books dedicated to destryong the idea of a "hard kayfabe." Plus, popular culture is so different. The anti-authority, anti-hero is what people want to cheer for now. When Kurt Angle came out as the "drink your milk," Red, White, & Blue American Olympian, people booed. In the 80's, that never would've happened. That era was a reflection of the fanbase. Likea ll entertainment mediums, tastes have matured and there's just way more information out there. As much as I'd like to occasionally suspend my belief the way i once did, it's not happening.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by PureHatred Plus, popular culture is so different. The anti-authority, anti-hero is what people want to cheer for now. When Kurt Angle came out as the "drink your milk," Red, White, & Blue American Olympian, people booed. In the 80's, that never would've happened.

Angle came off as holier than thou.

[The Gooch]

Although I don't believe the WWE could go back to the Rock'n'Wrestling era, I do believe a start-up wrestling company marketed properly could be successful with that type of wrestling environment.

I would never criticize the "Attitude" era as it was wildly sucessful from a financial standpoint, the problem it created was that it removed the child fan from its marketing strategy.

Originally Posted by Kane Knight Angle came off as holier than thou.

yeah, that was what made his gimmick good was that he thought of himself as a major face when everybone really hated him. Plus he can actually wrestle and doesn't need to totally rely on a lame gimmick

The Hurricane is kind of a throwback to the gimmicky wrestler days.

[PureHatred]

Originally Posted by Kane Knight Angle came off as holier than thou.

True. And I'm sure you could argue that there are still some very cartoony guys on the roster who get over. But I still can't see a company getting over where everyone on the roster has some sort of gimmick like The Army Guy, The Russian Guy, The Cowboy, The Plumber, The Lawyer, etc... Wrestlers with characters are great. Wrestlers with gimmicks get very old, very fast.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by PureHatred True. And I'm sure you could argue that there are still some very cartoony guys on the roster who get over. But I still can't see a company getting over where everyone on the roster has some sort of gimmick like The Army Guy, The Russian Guy, The Cowboy, The Plumber, The Lawyer, etc... Wrestlers with characters are great. Wrestlers with gimmicks get very old, very fast.

Yeah, I'm not defending it in general, just defending Angle in terms of Hulkamania. Kurt wasn't booked like Hogan, Kurt was an all-American, but an arrogant ass to boot. If Hogan had come down and lectured people about the three Is, talking down to them vs talking to them, he would have been a heel too.

I mean, look at Simon Dean, too. He's like an evil Richard Simmons, but not as gay. He's a bad guy because he talks about how fat the world is. And he could be a "positive" chartacter (Not that I think he should be), but he's one of those people who's down on the folks he's there to help. Like Kurt was.

[El Santo]

Originally Posted by Kane Knight I mean, look at Simon Dean, too. He's like an evil Richard Simmons, but not as gay. He's a bad guy because he talks about how fat the world is. And he could be a "positive" chartacter (Not that I think he should be), but he's one of those people who's down on the folks he's there to help. Like Kurt was.

For some reason, I don't think "Positive Role Model Fitness Instructor" would have fit in the 1980's. Simon Dean seems perfect for an 80's gimmick. You could also argue that Million Dollar Man could have been a benevolent millionaire, I suppose.

The main point mentioned in this thread is that everyone really wants an anti-authority figure as hero. That may be true, but I think that lately it's been overplayed. Randy Orton and John Cena have been overplayed in that sort of role. Maybe it is time to return to a more clean-cut hero.

Why wouldn't this be as hokey in my book? In box office terms, the "Spider-Man" character is rather clean cut and rather popular --- unthinkable in the nineties when the de rigeur for superheroes was "dark and gritty". Take it as a parallel between the "Attitude Era" and the WWE post 9/11 era.

[YOUR Hero]

A blending of gimmick characters is the working formula, IMO, these days. The only problem I see is they make these guys jokes, guys that get beat down by more serious 'real' wrestlers. I don't think that's using the potential properly.
Mind you Hassan is a gimmick guy that seems to be shown as a threat. At least I hope he isn't being built up simply for a loss to Hogan/HBK.

[Maluco]

Originally Posted by YOUR Hero A blending of gimmick characters is the working formula, IMO, these days. The only problem I see is they make these guys jokes, guys that get beat down by more serious 'real' wrestlers. I don't think that's using the potential properly. Mind you Hassan is a gimmick guy that seems to be shown as a threat. At least I hope he isn't being built up simply for a loss to Hogan/HBK.

Exactly, they need the blend, increasing the gimmick wrestlers and mixing them well and evenly with normal guys, it gives more variation.

Some of my favourite ever gimmicks was the heel Goldust, I thought he was great at the time, his feud with Razor Raomn was quality. Need more people like that, various freaks and characters that can get a reaction. If I did not want the pageantry and spectacle and out-landish gimmicks I would just watch amateur stuff.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by YOUR Hero A blending of gimmick characters is the working formula, IMO, these days. The only problem I see is they make these guys jokes, guys that get beat down by more serious 'real' wrestlers. I don't think that's using the potential properly. Mind you Hassan is a gimmick guy that seems to be shown as a threat. At least I hope he isn't being built up simply for a loss to Hogan/HBK.

This is what worries me.