Effective Thinking with EoR: Sports-Entertainment, Ain't what wrestling?

[EffectsofRaven]

Alright, this has been cooking within me for the pass few days and it's finally came to a head with WWE as they like to be known as now; Now, I ain't thrill this column up because there will be no need to.

Shoot, it's time for me to start... WWE is now gonna be known as WWE and it's officially decreeing itself from wrestling, sooner or later, sports-entertainment will be a pile of shit in the ring, without the core element of it "Wrestling" hell, look at TNA and you get a good idea of where "wrestling" is going these days; tasteless storylines, lack of decent wrestling/ storytelling. Further more, WWE is now telling what it's "hall of famers" should be saying in their induction speeches; kinda sad to see wrestling turn into the Jersey Shore, just look at some of the talent in both brands. So you might asking yourself, where the hell do we go from here? Quite simple, one decent solution to the issue... The real alternative, proper in-ring action and storytelling abilities.

You might be saying to yourself, here we go, EffectsofRaven is gonna rant about "indy" companies, all I gotta say is, the Independant Companies are the only wrestling companies around and you're basically a WWE bigot; maybe you should hop foot out of a wrestlingforum and go to a sports-entertainment forum. There's one I just left tbh. Back to the topic, so what are the real alternative these days?

Well, there is one, an obvious one, Ring of Honor... The mac daddy of them, combining enthralling storylines mixed with one of the best in-ring action the world can ever see, it isn't simply your high-spot city but actual technical, mat wrestling... You know, what Benoit, Angle, Guerrero and Co used to deliver to us on a regular basis, now pretty much extinct in the realms of sports-entertainment. Ring of Honor on HDNET is generally considered the best wrestling show around at the moment, or was but I'm sure RoH will get snapped up by another channel and produce on a good scale; they got cheap iPPVs which deliver no matter what, you get good matches then fantastic matches. I could go on for ages but just watch RoH and you'll get what I mean, that's if you're a wrestling fan that is...

Not saying everyone who watches WWE ain't a wrestling fan but when you have an WWE trying to distance itself from wrestling and TNA just mimicking WWE's direction; is Ring of Honor, Dragons Gate: USA & Chikara Pro, the forerunners for wrestling industry or we gonna be stuck in wrestling mediocrity forever now?

Not my best column, i'm waiting more for responses to this to get more out there.

 

[Chase]

To be honest Wrestling is considered sports entertainment. That is why WWE is successful. I mean sure yes there is wrestling in Ring of Honor, but people do not really care that much for what goes on the ring these days. See you got to look at this way WWE is successful and gets all the buyrates' because of its history it is that they can entertain people no matter what they do. No matter what people say about the following Raw, or Smackdown people will still tune in next week to watch it and either like or complain about the show. No matter how crappy the Wrestlemania card can look people will still buy it. Why? Because WWE knows how it works.

TNA they are trying to copy WWE they just do not know how to handle it well. See the difference between WWE and TNA is that they started out as a pure wrestling company, and most people and the fans hate the change its going through, I mean the way they are producing TNA is not a good thing, with crappy finishes, controversial title scenes etc.

Ring of Honor yes full of great talent, but really you got to look at it this way. Ring of Honor will change because people will be like "omg the wrestling is great " yada yada, but then it is like where is the fancy pyro? Where is the lights and the magic that make the show. Where are intense moments that make fans jump. Where is that controversial character in John Cena, where is that annoying heel in the Miz. All those factors play in effect. See it is all about the fans, the fans make it today, sure Ring of Honor strong fan base, but it is hard to get into. Especially when the crowd is split all the time and you do not know who in the hell are the heels, and who are the faces.

With WWE it is distinct you know who are the faces and heels, you also have big controversy with Cena, Top Face in the WWE but gets cheered and booed, and he knows it. He loves it he does not care what so ever. He adds that to his promos, WWE tells stories too, sure Wrestling is not great consistently but hell they always put on that one match every year, Takers vs Michaels is a prime example. A match that one match of the year I might add over some good ROH matches I saw. Really I am not bashing ROH I am just saying the reason why WWE is considered better is because they have what it takes.

Watch the Rise and fall of ECW. Great DVD on what explains to be success in a wrestling business, and why they call it sports entertainment. No matter what all wrestling is entertainment.

 

[Troy]

I can see why WWE are making all these changes like; not having wrestlers but superstars, not being called World Wrestling Entertainment but WWE etc. It is better for business, yes they started as a wrestling company but they have evolved into much more than that. They not only produce half a dozen tv shows a week, but DVD's, magazines, films, books etc. They want to be known as an entertainment company and like Chase said wrestling is entertainment so it falls under that category. The wrestling industry is so different now compared to even five years ago and so WWE needs to constantly evolve to ensure that they can continue to make a profit for their shareholders.

I saying all that WWE still produces a lot of wrestling for a company that is sports-entertainment. Yes some indy companies have a bigger focus on what goes on in the ring but wrestling is about more than wrestling (don't worry that sounds strange to me as well). Wrestling is about selling a match between two competitors. Not many people will tune in if all that happens is two random wrestlers come out and wrestle each other for twenty minutes. People need to be emotionally invested in the product and that is where the promos and backstage skits come into it. Has it gone over the top? Yes I think it has but in WWE you can still get that classic wrestling match and I am sure that within 24 hours we will see one at WM.

Also no matter how much WWE appears to distance itself from wrestling it's bread and butter is wrestling. It produces lots and lots of wrestling content weekly and it is a wrestling company.

What the indy companies do provide is a nice alternative (TNA should look up the definition of that word) where people can get their wrestling fix if they don't like what they see from the bigger companies. In the end it is all about choice about what wrestling everyone prefers. Some may enjoy the more "pure" style of the indies where there are longer matches and less focus on storylines. Some may prefer TNA with their crazy storylines and their game of title hot potato. Or some may prefer WWE with it's more professional look, larger than live characters, heavy focus on storylines and just that occasional great match.