Was Heyman right last night?

[Stopspot]

There doesn't need to be. Just more entertaining unpredictable television is enough, something I believe WWE is moving to.

This. As some of us on here has stated multiple times a TV14 rating will not result in great TV. Entertaining and unpredictable product will.

I would like that post but Crayo already has so many :dawg:

 

[Danielson]

Ha funny you posted this because I said that the story line had a lot of controversy which is exactly what the attitude era evoked. I love being right.

 

[Swift]

This. As some of us on here has stated multiple times a TV14 rating will not result in great TV. Entertaining and unpredictable product will.

I would like that post but Crayo already has so many :dawg:

Yeah, Seinfeld is rated PG, and it deals with a lot of ''edgy'' shit (masturbation contest, female body parts, diaphragms, abortion, homosexuality etc) and it's on TV basically 24/7 and not too many people complain :dawg:

 

[RadicalOneO]

Do you think the audience in the AE would have complained like babies if this angle happened back then? Of course not.

Yes, I've seen documented proof on 12-13 year old forums complaining about Rock, Austin and Triple H

The fact is, fans of the AE were imbred, cousin-loving, foul mouthed alcoholics who enjoyed low brow entertainment


Today, those same fans are either old or have kids now and are teaching them a shade of morality

 

[blackterminator]

Heyman was absolutely right.

 

[Crayo]

Yes, I've seen documented proof on 12-13 year old forums complaining about Rock, Austin and Triple H

The fact is, fans of the AE were imbred, cousin-loving, foul mouthed alcoholics who enjoyed low brow entertainment


Today, those same fans are either old or have kids now and are teaching them a shade of morality

That's inaccurate... You're labelling around 5 million hardcore AE fans who tuned in weekly as a particular thing? No, the biggest complaint on the internet and sometimes in the arena's is that the AE > current WWE, but when they get a taste of a risky AE-type storyline, they complain. It's ridiculous.

 

[Lockard 23]

He was absolutely correct, and the funny thing was, I didn't watch Raw but when I heard of people complaining about the heart attack comment, I literally thought the exact same thing. It's also funny because Lawler made jokes about Stu Hart being dead once, and he also spit real whiskey in Jake Robert's face during an angle where he was making fun of his alcoholism back in '96. So, it's not like Lawler is a saint himself or something.

 

[Crayo]

What baffles me is the only reason people complain is because Lawley almost died. Well the only person who has a right to care is lawler, or should I say the only person who should care is lawler and clearly he's fine with it as expected because he knows more than most what this business is about. He's cut many worse promos himself. If he's fine with it, then why so people care?

 

[Stopspot]

It's not like it is the first time WWE made fun of death either.

 

[Wacokid27]

The fact is, fans of the AE were imbred, cousin-loving, foul mouthed alcoholics who enjoyed low brow entertainment

Hmmmm.......this is almost too easy. And that's without pointing out that "inbred" is misspelled. Maybe if you'd stop cussing and screwing Cousin Susie so much, and put down the Bud Light with the Jack Daniels chaser while you're watching reruns of Jackass and Beavis and Butthead, you could learn how to spell. But maybe Auntie-Mama and Uncle-Papa didn't teach you right.

Either way, yes, Heyman was right. The reason he was right is that a lot of people forget what made the Attitude Era what it was. It wasn't the beer-drinking, the cussing, or the TV-14 rating. The Attitude Era's attitude (for lack of a better word) was built around a greater level of realism than the "Hogan Era" (which makes it somewhat ironic considering that one of the greatest Attitude Era wrestling figures was "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan....yes, WCW was part of the Attitude Era), where all pro wrestling babyfaces were saintly figures who wanted all the kids to say their prayers, take their vitamins, etc., etc., and all pro wrestling heels were Snidely Whiplashes twirling their sinister mustaches while hatching the next plot to steal the girl and wreck Dudley Do-Right. The Attitude Era gave us "bad guys" who were actually good guys (Kurt Angle) and "good guys" who were actually bad guys (Austin). The lines were blurred between good and evil, thus making the product more realistic, as there are very few human beings who are 100% good or 100% bad, most o us being shades of gray (or "grey" for my British friends).

And that, my friends, is what Heyman was talking about. WWE blurred a few lines (something guys like him and Punk are good at), and some fans rebelled. Why? Because they're not tough enough to handle the greater level of realism. Because, realism creates unpredictability. And a lot of modern WWE fans don't want unpredictability. They want to know that, at the end of the night, Cena's going to be standing tall with the title or that Sheamus is going to have Brogue-Kicked the Big Show back into obscurity. Then, they see Punk being successful and Show being WHC and they rebel somewhat violently (at least as violently as they're capable of being) against the disorder/unpredictability/reality of their nicely-ordered little world.

Basically, Heyman was calling the average WWE fan a tool. And, again I'll say it, he was right.

wk

 

[Cloud]

Yes, I've seen documented proof on 12-13 year old forums complaining about Rock, Austin and Triple H

The fact is, fans of the AE were imbred, cousin-loving, foul mouthed alcoholics who enjoyed low brow entertainment


Today, those same fans are either old or have kids now and are teaching them a shade of morality

This is rubbish I loved the AE and I'm not inbred, foul mouthed or an alcoholic.

 

[Crayo]

Yeah, I'm not foul mouthed or an alcoholic either. :isee:

 

[RATED-RKOFRANKLIN]

He is clearly right. Ratings have been going down since the AE ended. It's time for more edgey content.

 

[Jose Tortilla]

Heyman was right.

Just look at how the crowd was reacting when he was pointing out those facts.

 

[Stopspot]

He is clearly right. Ratings have been going down since the AE ended. It's time for more edgey content.

Edgy does not equal ratings though. Interesting stories and good storytelling equals ratings. That can easily be done under a PG banner