03-04-2014, 01:05 AM | #41 |
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Build up to Orton VS. Batista has been less than the buildup for a normal PPV match
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03-04-2014, 01:21 AM | #42 |
Quark is Less Impressed.
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They have a month of Raws left.
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03-04-2014, 01:23 AM | #43 |
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And Bryan VS. Triple H could happen right now and the fans would be satisfied with the payoff.
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03-04-2014, 01:36 AM | #44 | |
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Quote:
All those Bryan marks are gonna watch whether he wins the title or not. Which leaves his appeal to a more mainstream audience and ability to draw people to PPVs and TV shows he's headlining as the more important thing. And the fact that the PPVs Bryan headlined last year didn't do very good business doesn't bode well for him drawing in the casual fan. |
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03-04-2014, 01:45 AM | #45 |
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I'll use the example I usually bring up here...
The fans wanted Santino to be World Champion a few years ago. Against Bryan, ironically. It was literally Bryan vs Santino for the chance to go to WrestleMania and the crowd was RABID for Santino to win the title. If they had their way he would have taken it off of Bryan and headlined WrestleMania. And he would have been MASSIVELY with the live crowd. There's a reason they didn't do it though. Live crowds and the IWC shouldn't decide who the champion/face of the company is. If they did John Cena would have been a jobber a LONG time ago. |
03-04-2014, 01:51 AM | #46 |
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I think part of the problem is that wrestling is in decline in general. Then you've got to deal with the fact that so many people are watching PPVs for free, not buying merchandise or even tickets.
I will probably never go to a live WWE event for instance, unless I got to go for free. Blaming PPV buys on one or two single wrestlers without taking into context the over-all writing of the show and how the fans are reacting seems like something the wrestling industry would be guilty of though. This recent Raw for instance had a lot of people doing stuff. I got good wrestling, good promos and everybody seemed to have something going on. That's how it's supposed to be. From what I've read though, the over-all product was weak for most of the year. Everybody who has been complaining has been saying the same things, that talent is being either held down or wasted and fans are subjected to horrible segments for no reason other than the writers are clueless. It's sounded like the very legitimate complaints about WCW during the death-period. The WWE's best hope is to work on creating an over-all better product while listening to the majority of their core audience. |
03-04-2014, 01:53 AM | #47 |
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John Cena being half-cheered/half-booed...when did that really start? Around the John Deer tractor t-shirt era?
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03-04-2014, 01:56 AM | #48 |
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The first I remember it was just around the time he was drafted to Raw and started feuding with Chris Jericho. So 2005-ish. Before the John Deere shirt era. Around the original "Champ is Here" picture of the WWE Title on the bottom of the shirt era.
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03-04-2014, 02:02 AM | #49 |
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I think merchandise is probably the most reliable area for pushing people...I probably am with the WWE on that front. However, that only pans out if every popular wrestlers gets quality stuff produced.
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03-04-2014, 11:15 PM | #50 |
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I first noticed it at Summerslam 2005 when he got a mixed reaction. I think he went against Jericho. They were putting him over established main eventers and he lost the "edginess" that made him popular with adult male fans in the first place.
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03-04-2014, 11:30 PM | #51 |
Quality Meme Producer
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I will do the Tatanka chant on camera if I lose
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03-10-2014, 10:11 PM | #52 |
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pEOPLE PAYING UP
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03-10-2014, 10:17 PM | #53 | |||||||
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03-10-2014, 10:18 PM | #54 |
Fire up Chips!
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Which one am I again? I forgot.
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03-10-2014, 10:19 PM | #55 |
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Sting VS. Undertaker.
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03-10-2014, 10:30 PM | #56 |
Fire up Chips!
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Fake Biker Sting and vs Fake Surfer Taker.
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03-10-2014, 10:48 PM | #57 |
You can't teach that
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No one took my bet but I may just pay you Swiss
Assuming Bryan wins the title... |
03-10-2014, 11:06 PM | #58 |
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I don't think that's necessary, I wasn't strong one way or the other. I just fell in love with the narrative.
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03-10-2014, 11:07 PM | #59 |
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Does Big Show do the back heel kick now? It almost looked like a Big Super Kick.
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03-10-2014, 11:08 PM | #60 |
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Want to give props to both Orton and Batista though, they're really making this a fun match. Very competent and very athletic match so far.
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03-10-2014, 11:09 PM | #61 |
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Holy fuck..
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03-10-2014, 11:09 PM | #62 |
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lol, wrong thread.
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03-10-2014, 11:13 PM | #63 |
Trickster Demon
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Bryan leaves the SuperDome with the WWE Title 100% at WMXXX
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03-10-2014, 11:22 PM | #64 |
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Well, that or CM Punk screws him over.
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10-16-2017, 10:08 PM | #65 |
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10-16-2017, 10:15 PM | #66 |
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Some people are better at predicting wrestling than others.
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04-24-2018, 08:28 PM | #67 |
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Bumping this. It was the last time I really gave a shit.
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04-24-2018, 09:58 PM | #68 |
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I loved Bryan's chase. Moments like the one with Bray Wyatt in the cage were truly great things. I remember being skeptical before that, but I can't pinpoint my wrestling cynicism. I generally say it was the 2015 Royal Rumble, but I haven't been happy with the general product for a much longer time than that.
WrestleMania XXX was a great PPV, but what bothers me about it, retrospectively, is how little any of it meant just a year later. The main event was Brock vs. Roman (vs. Rollins) after The Shield had disbanded after their amazing run over those 18 months or so. Cesaro had that great visual and moment in the Battle Royal, but a year later he was nowhere to be found. Daniel Bryan was in the opening match while Triple H wrestled a legend. There was a period of time where I thought that the WWE had done something inadvertently brilliant when they had Sheamus beat him in 28 seconds or whatever it was. Screwing the fans out of the chance to see Bryan perform galvanized people and encouraged them to cheer for him. If I remember correctly, the post-WrestleMania 28 crowd was the first "WrestleMania crowd." The way they chanted for Daniel Bryan throughout the show and then heading into Raw. That was the moment it all really started. I always asked myself "Would Bryan have gotten to be as popular as he is without being fucked over like that?", and was kind of uncomfortable with the probable truth that the answer was "No." Bad booking was the new good booking for the existing audience. But the crows are coming home to roost for them. Everyone wants to be that WrestleMania crowd, even if they don't have a clue why they are responding to things the way they are. They throw a charismatic guy like Jeff Hardy out there and the fans chant "Brother Nero." They try to push a guy like Roman Reigns; the crowd rejects it. They try to de-emphasize a guy like Roman Reigns; the crowd rejects it. The ironic wrestling fan is their own creation. The "hijacking" of their product has become encouraged and is now viewed as a "tradition." As time has passed, I've changed my answer to that question I used to ask myself, and I realize that what would become marketed as "The YES! Movement" was actually not a healthy thing for wrestling. The rise of Daniel Bryan may not have happened the exact same way without that WrestleMania moment, but it's had detrimental effects right up until this day. We now have Daniel Bryan back and it doesn't feel the same, when a genuine desire to see him succeed was what started this in the first place. It's a monster and it's out of their control. My answer is now: No. The WWE should not have screwed the fans out of the Daniel Bryan match at WrestleMania 28. |