What went wrong???

[adenslater]

I know this must be what alot of die hard fans such as myself must be thinking, but what happened to the good old days and by that I mean the attitude ere, where steel chairs, ladders and tables were a part of every day life and backstage brawls were common.
It actually sickens me to see what the wwe has turned into every 5 minutes all I here is "and all this for only 9.99" and the worst part is a couple of hits and they are barely moving I remember the days when they used to just walk off a steel chair shot and even stood up after being busted open.
I still watch the wwe but to me I feel ripped off and that all it is is about the money and not what the fans want anymore.

 

[Stopspot]

I'd be all for WWE putting as much focus into the stories now a days as they did back then. But I'd give a big fat no to chairs, ladders and "attitude" being the norm again. Society has moved on from the nihilistic 90's and so has wrestling.

and the worst part is a couple of hits and they are barely moving I remember the days when they used to just walk off a steel chair shot and even stood up after being busted open

This part I am actually happy for. A big factor in wrestling is suspension of disbelief, am I just supposed to buy that a person takes a steel chair to the head and just gets back up? No. Why should I care for the guy getting hit with a chair if he seemingly doesn't care.

 

[adenslater]

Yeah I know what you mean we all know the steel chairs and blood was fake but it made for good watching maybe because I was brought up watching the attitude era I think that it's not the same nowadays but even so you don't get the laughs as before, where you always had the rock or stone cold making fun of someone or had a funny song you just don't get that laughs anymore.

 

[Stopspot]

Wrestling in my opinion, is a variety act. There's room for just about anything in the wacky world of pro wrestling. And WWE has just a bit of everything. When motivated they know when to amp up the violence and intensity, this year in particular has been a stellar example of that. And they know that by timing that at the right moments they keep people watching. And honestly I believe it was the same back in the attitude era, that era spawned some of the dumbest stuff, characters and segments in wrestling history. But we tend to forget it in favor of the awesome. Just like when looking back at 2014 ten years from now, fans will not focus on the duller everyday going ons, but on Lesnar vs Undertaker, Shield vs Wyatts, Shield vs Evolution, Rollins vs Ambrose and much more.

Selective memory and all that.

And with wrestling being a variety act if you don't find what you are looking for in WWE, there are the independents and the international scene. Example: I want a more serious approach to my wrestling but without losing the comedy and fun, so I watch Ring of Honor and New Japan, where the focus is on the serious and on the competition, but with characters and entertainment undertones.

Also with WWE being publicly traded now, they can't just do whatever they want anymore. They have investors to answer to and such.

But I'd love to see more effort be put into the stories and feuds now adays. They have the talent to pull it off.

 

[CM Punk]

What happened is they have no competition. They were always trying to make a 'Must See' show, but now there is no point. Also, don't know why you posted in WWE News Feed. Lol

 

[Stopspot]

Moved

 

[adenslater]

Yeah it's really went downhill and very predictable now, and all about 9.99 which is really annoying, haha oops my bad just joined and trying to figure this out lol

 

[The GOAT]

What happened is that the wrestling world evolved and moved on. They went PG and now their product has to be a cleaner and more refined show in order to appease to their investors, sponsors and advertisers.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the Attitude Era as much as the next guy. The shows were much better then and there were far more engaging characters and stories on the show then than there are now, but a lot of that stuff just doesn't hold up well today. It was a product of its time just like everything is. The overabundance of gimmick matches, chair shots and blood really watered down the effectiveness of all of those things and conditioned people to think that's all wrestling should always be about (as evidenced by this thread here.)

I do feel that certain elements and components of the AE could be injected into today's product to make the show better, but a full-blown transition back into the raunchiness and excess of blood isn't really necessary today.

 

[Matt]

I think it's because they had competition back then so they had to ensure that their product was something people would watch over their competitors. Now, they have no competition so they've become complacent.

 

[Roadster]

I think it's because they had competition back then so they had to ensure that their product was something people would watch over their competitors. Now, they have no competition so they've become complacent.

WWE has competition, and that's the NFL and Monday Night Football but since WWE shamelessly tries to be mainstream (And they fuck suck) they lose every week until the season is over.

 

[The GOAT]

WWE has competition, and that's the NFL and Monday Night Football but since WWE shamelessly tries to be mainstream (And they fuck suck) they lose every week until the season is over.

Yeah, but Monday Night Football is only for a portion of the year. They don't have someone seriously challenging their ratings every single week like WCW did, nor do they have a wrestling promotion of their equivalent that people can easily jump to if they don't like how they're being treated in WWE (and I said 'of their equivalent', so lol TNA.)

 

[Roadster]

Yeah, but Monday Night Football is only for a portion of the year. They don't have someone seriously challenging their ratings every single week like WCW did, nor do they have a wrestling promotion of their equivalent that people can easily jump to if they don't like how they're being treated in WWE (and I said 'of their equivalent', so lol TNA.)

Business is generally down in the later parts of the year, and NFL destroying them in that time is still really bad for business (no pun intended) If WWE cared enough to have a full head of steam heading into the later parts of the year where they're not only destroyed by the NFL, but they're just generally down in the dumps by putting on great shows through out the year to build up the fan base that is willing to watch even through football season. They could pull out of this slump in business.