Internet: Good or bad for professional wrestling?

[Crayo]

Thread subject sort of sums it up. Post your answers with reasons. It'll be a fun debate.

 

[Saylor]

It's a benefit to wrestling as a whole in my opinion. It makes the show more interesting because we can discuss with others on what's going on, discuss latest news and so much more in regards to wrestling as a whole. However, with that being said it does spoil things for ourselves as we know what's going to happen but that's our choices. If we wish to know what's going on we look at the internet, if we don't then we simply don't have to look. The internet pushes the WWE in my opinion as that's the only place where all us dedicated fans with can hang out and discuss wrestling. We push WWE in my opinion so it's better for professional wrestling.

 

[Stopspot]

The internet, the IWC and the smarks push the WWE to put out a better product (or at least try to some of the time.) that is less predictable and to also tighten their security over stories and such to avoid leakage. Which is good for the business as a whole.

 

[Rysenberg]

Was thinking of making my next blog about this lol.

It obviously costs WWE a lot of money in the sense that it probably loses them a lot of PPV buys. But I think as a whole it is beneficial to the WWE and to the viewer.

As Saylor and Stopspot state above it is great for a lot of us to be able to discuss wrestling online, and some of us probably wouldn't watch if we couldn't otherwise. So if there was no Internet there would be much less smarks and that would mean they weren't forced into pushing people who deserve to be. So instead of seeing the likes of Ryder, Bryan, Punk and maybe even Brock get pushed we would see a show completely based around Cena, Orton and Sheamus - which it is at this point - but without having to cater to the smark community it would be a lot worse.

Plus, I got back into wrestling by watching it on Youtube, I reckon there must be other who get back involved with wrestling via Youtube.

So yes, the Internet is good overall for the company IMO.

 

[Stopspot]

Was thinking of making my next blog about this lol.
we would see a show completely based around Cena, Orton and Sheamus - which it is at this point

I don't even think Orton is main focus any more. I's basically just Cena, Brock, Ace, Sheamus now.

 

[Saylor]

I don't even think Orton is main focus any more. I's basically just Cena, Brock, Ace, Sheamus now.

Orton's the face of the OTL paperview.

 

[Rysenberg]

I don't even think Orton is main focus any more. I's basically just Cena, Brock, Ace, Sheamus now.

Orton at the moment reminds me of the Undertaker circa '05. An obvious main eventer but was hardly around the title.

 

[Stopspot]

Orton's the face of the OTL paperview.

And this is the first time he's been the face of a ppv since night of champions if I remember correctly. Randy's main event momentum died quite a bit when Barrett hurt himself and he hasn't gotten back to full speed yet. He is on his way but not there yet.

 

[Testify]

Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, but more times it brings more bad to the product, so I stick to the above picture.ity:

 

[#Heel1]

WWE:

Good- Gives them more media exposure, which means more revenue. Twitter has worked out well for them so far. Not to mention WWE.com gives them more opportunity to sell merch than just at live events.

Bad- Obviously PPV loss. Secrets and backstage drama get released. Smackdown spoilers decrease potential viewers. Basically piracy and leaks are what hurt them, in one way o another.

Audience:

Good- Free tivo, AKA the ability to watch replays of any shows you missed. Information on wrestling schools and promotions if you are interested in making a career in the industry. I mean really, imagine trying to find out about FCW if you didn't live in Florida. ity:

Bad- Depending on how you look at it, spoilers. Just a general loss of excitement that would come with surprise returns or plot twists if you watched it traditionally.

 

[Testify]

WWE:

Good- Gives them more media exposure, which means more revenue. Twitter has worked out well for them so far. Not to mention WWE.com gives them more opportunity to sell merch than just at live events.

Bad- Obviously PPV loss. Secrets and backstage drama get released. Smackdown spoilers decrease potential viewers. Basically piracy and leaks are what hurt them, in one way o another.

Audience:

Good- Free tivo, AKA the ability to watch replays of any shows you missed. Information on wrestling schools and promotions if you are interested in making a career in the industry. I mean really, imagine trying to find out about FCW if you didn't live in Florida. ity:

Bad- Depending on how you look at it, spoilers. Just a general loss of excitement that would come with surprise returns or plot twists if you watched it traditionally.

It's freakin' amazing that fellow with Charlie Sheen avatar can write so good post. Just saying, I hope you get the point.:burns:

 

[Leo C]

It has ups and downs, just like previously stated. It helps them sell more merchandise, more people have access to the product, we always have more information, but the downside is that people always learn about leaks and secrets, like returns, for example. I don't think spoilers are such a big problem. I mean, they are (for the WWE) because less people watch the shows due to seeing spoilers, but I don't think spoilers are a bad thing if you are a fan. If you don't want to know about the shows, just don't read the spoilers.

 

[Crayo]

Real good quality replies thus far. I'm personally a believer in the "internet makes the WWE better" argument.

 

[Lockard 23]

For the audience, there is no negative aspect at all. We can get together with people online who we would otherwise have no access to without the 'net and discuss a favorite hobby of ours. It's also not a bad thing that we can run illegal streams of PPVs, even if it is technically illegal.

For the business, it's a double edged sword. It allows them to sell more merchandise and use the internet to promote their shows more. On the other hand, it allows spoilers and such to leak out. Look at the way they chanted Goldberg and Lesnar's names before they made their entrances in 2003 and 2012. It kinda ruined the surprise in a way, which wouldn't have been possible if the internet didn't exist.

 

[Crayo]

Yeah I was going to mention the chanting of Lesnar, that was pretty annoying since it ruined the shock value in a sense. But then again, no one knew for sure and every one was still shocked so :S

I just wish WWE stopped trying to swerve us, as they swerve into a brick fucking wall.