Why isn't AEW reasonating with lapsed fans?

[Benoit's Weight Machine]

I would think former WCW fans would wanna see someone take it to the WWE and would wanna help out by watching. Surely those who stopped and never became a fan of WWE. Hell it’s even on the same damn network haha. Either way it sucks.

I don’t know if you can count the bad ratings up to what’s going on right now or not, as the ratings were better before the Rona hit. A lot of stuff has taken a hit during the shit. But surely aren’t anywhere near two million. But they should and probably will be back in the million once the worlds normal again.

The bad ratings can go either way. There is no hockey are basketball right now and people are bored out of their minds. The lack of crowds hurt AEW but it's not like there's many other options for fresh programming to watch. Most people have binged everything on Netflix by now. I think the rona does play a part in the current situation but the issues I mentioned in the original post were already in play before this happened.

 

[Benoit's Weight Machine]

Also a factor... some people just grow out of shit. Lose interest or fall behind or find new stuff they like. Some people probably loved wrestling at a point in their life, and genuinely were fans, and still like to look back on the era when they were fans, but could never be brought back because they just can't get into it... no matter what. It happens to people.

Interestingly enough, this perfectly described my wrestling fandom before I saw AEW for the first time.

 

[Cwalker]

It’s a combination of things. Wrestling not being as hot as it was 20 years ago, WCW going out of business(which outside of Chris Benoit, I believe is the worst thing to happen to pro wrestling.) The fact that’s there are no “real stars” anymore. So many things play a role in this topic

 

[Hoss]

Shit happens. I don't even remember a time when I didn't love wrestling. Like I've probably watched it literally my entire life. I know for sure I was watching it when I was 4. But from around late 2012 until 2017 I just flat out stopped watching it. For really no reason at all other than I didn't feel like it. I don't think there was any particular thing that brought me back. I would say seeing clips on social media of things like Brock busting Orton open and Shane flying off the Cell kind of stoked the fire in me, and then one day I just said fuck it and got the Network and binged like 5 years of missed wrestling. And of course I also had to check out AJ Styles in NJPW, which led to me watching Omega, Okada, Tanahashi and etc. and now in the last 3 years since I got back into wrestling, I've watched the most wrestling I ever have. I was watching quite a lot before, but now I mean, not one day passes where I don't watch wrestling. And it's not like I was not enjoying wrestling in 2012. I was enjoying WWE and TNA quite a lot. But I just stopped. And then I came back after 5 years, for practically no reason other than I felt like it.

 

[Chris]

Shit happens. I don't even remember a time when I didn't love wrestling. Like I've probably watched it literally my entire life. I know for sure I was watching it when I was 4. But from around late 2012 until 2017 I just flat out stopped watching it. For really no reason at all other than I didn't feel like it. I don't think there was any particular thing that brought me back. I would say seeing clips on social media of things like Brock busting Orton open and Shane flying off the Cell kind of stoked the fire in me, and then one day I just said fuck it and got the Network and binged like 5 years of missed wrestling. And of course I also had to check out AJ Styles in NJPW, which led to me watching Omega, Okada, Tanahashi and etc. and now in the last 3 years since I got back into wrestling, I've watched the most wrestling I ever have. I was watching quite a lot before, but now I mean, not one day passes where I don't watch wrestling. And it's not like I was not enjoying wrestling in 2012. I was enjoying WWE and TNA quite a lot. But I just stopped. And then I came back after 5 years, for practically no reason other than I felt like it.

Pretty much me exactly, just for less time. I stopped towards the end of 2015 and didn't start again til right before WrestleMania 2018 and I have no reason for either lmao in fact I'd probably say the late 2015 product was more interesting to me than early '18

 

[Swamps]

Everyone has made some valid and solid points in this thread. I'll add some of my opinions on to why there is a loss of interest in wrestling in general.

One thing is the lack of ability to create a proper monster in today's wrestling world. People hate on Brock, but he does bring in business. Why? Because he is a legit and believable bad ass. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, you had guys like the Road Warriors, Demolition, The Undertaker, King Kong Bundy, Big Van Vader, etc, guys you believed were indestructible. WWE did a great job building up Braun, and then he lost his mojo so to speak. The breaking of Kayfabe and the constant bitching on Social Media have turned a lot of fans off to him. Yeah, he is the Universal Champion, but it doesn't have the same impact that it would have had if he had won two or three years ago. Now, you have smaller (And whinier guys) who are main eventing the shows. I know some guys like Rollins, but he does come across as a bitch on Social Media. Will Osprey owned his ass without doing much, and made him look dumb.

I may not agree with Jim Cornette on a lot of things outside of wrestling, but he is spot on, when it comes to things that have killed the business. This wrestling ten year old girls, blow up dolls, and super kicking children has made a once respected past time turn into a legit circus. Making the majority of the matches a car crash hasn't helped neither. A lot of old school fans that left don't want to see a million flips done in a match. They want good technical wrestling. For Christ Sake, WWE had the tag team that was considered the reincarnation of the Brain Busters (although I don't agree with that statement, the jackets don't make you a carbon copy, not one of those guys were as intimidating and serious as Tully and Arn) and could have built around them. Averaging 700K to 900K? Yeah, that's good, except TNA was drawing damn near twice that much on a much cheaper budget back in the day. If there was going to be a serious competitor to go against WWE and bring back the old fans, it would have been TNA from 2002 - 2008. They even dropped that ball. Mainly because Jeff Jarrett couldn't get out of the way of his own ego.

 

[Dale]

Apologies for my sentiments being short and sweet compared to the rest of you guys' but at the end of the day, it's just another run of the mill wrestling show no matter how it was spun prior to it's launch.

 

[Jimmy King]

I have a friend that doesn’t watch current stuff anymore (except if it’s Lesnar who he’s a fan of) he has the network just for classics. He’s a big CM Punk fan as well and Punk leaving did have a part in his decision to not watch regularly anymore, but I posed the question to him that if Punk ever returned would he watch regularly, and he said he wouldn’t because he’s not a fan of what it’s become now (basically spotfests and such).

Some lapsed fans just aren’t into what it’s become, and don’t watch anymore because of it.

 

[Bobby Barrows]

Tbf to myself, I've been well documented that I quit watching wrestling for a long time (June 2007 (obvious reasons), to August 2011. It was during that time that I just couldn't watch anything wrestling. These things just happen.

 

[Benoit's Weight Machine]

I would think former WCW fans would wanna see someone take it to the WWE and would wanna help out by watching. Surely those who stopped and never became a fan of WWE. Hell it’s even on the same damn network haha. Either way it sucks.

I would imagine that a good portion of the AEW fanbase is made up of former WCW fans. The problem with that is that WCW hasn't run a show since 2001 and even at that point, their fanbase was in a rapid decline. All the nonsense in 2000 effectively killed the territory.

Everyone has made some valid and solid points in this thread. I'll add some of my opinions on to why there is a loss of interest in wrestling in general.

One thing is the lack of ability to create a proper monster in today's wrestling world. People hate on Brock, but he does bring in business. Why? Because he is a legit and believable bad ass. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, you had guys like the Road Warriors, Demolition, The Undertaker, King Kong Bundy, Big Van Vader, etc, guys you believed were indestructible. WWE did a great job building up Braun, and then he lost his mojo so to speak. The breaking of Kayfabe and the constant bitching on Social Media have turned a lot of fans off to him. Yeah, he is the Universal Champion, but it doesn't have the same impact that it would have had if he had won two or three years ago. Now, you have smaller (And whinier guys) who are main eventing the shows. I know some guys like Rollins, but he does come across as a bitch on Social Media. Will Osprey owned his ass without doing much, and made him look dumb.

I may not agree with Jim Cornette on a lot of things outside of wrestling, but he is spot on, when it comes to things that have killed the business. This wrestling ten year old girls, blow up dolls, and super kicking children has made a once respected past time turn into a legit circus. Making the majority of the matches a car crash hasn't helped neither. A lot of old school fans that left don't want to see a million flips done in a match. They want good technical wrestling. For Christ Sake, WWE had the tag team that was considered the reincarnation of the Brain Busters (although I don't agree with that statement, the jackets don't make you a carbon copy, not one of those guys were as intimidating and serious as Tully and Arn) and could have built around them. Averaging 700K to 900K? Yeah, that's good, except TNA was drawing damn near twice that much on a much cheaper budget back in the day. If there was going to be a serious competitor to go against WWE and bring back the old fans, it would have been TNA from 2002 - 2008. They even dropped that ball. Mainly because Jeff Jarrett couldn't get out of the way of his own ego.

I agree as far as the lack of monsters/stars. I think Vince and his ego has something to do with that. All of his big 80s and 90s stars left for WCW Rock left for Hollywood and Austin walked out. Brock was then pushed to the moon until he left to pursue an NFL career which never materialized. Vince then pushed Cena excessively for 10 years. Punk left and I think that was the final straw for Vince. New stars just aren't created organically anymore, they just go the Cena route and force the top guys down everyone's throat and they never get over. Bryan Danielson got over organically but they did everything in their power to squash that.

You are on to something as far as the smaller and whinier guys. Back in the day, the path to becoming a wrestler was much different. They were almost always a former football player, bodybuilder or a legitimate amateur wrestler. For whatever reason, most wrestling fans from the 80s onward have been mostly nerdy and socially awkward. A lot of the wrestlers you see today were those nerdy and socially awkward fans. Look at how many wrestlers copied Superstar Billy Graham. The wrestlers today copied Shawn Michaels hence all the flippy shit.

On the subject of the flippy shit, I agree that it needs to be toned down. Hangman's standing 450 is the most egregious. Would anyone do that in a real fight? Especially a drunk cowboy? I'm all for flipping if it's used for a purpose and in the right context. PAC is really the only wrestler that uses the proper balance of flipping and making it look like convincing offense.

TNA is an interesting comparison. They came along at the right time but their show just did not look or seem to be major league. Also, they got a lot of flack for their use of ex WWE guys, however the real problem was elevating former WWE midcarders to their championship.

 

[Lady Redfield]

I’ve never stopped wrestling, I’ll watch it until the day I die, but, just gathering opinions from friends who have stopped watching it, the general consensus is “wrestling has gotten stupid” and they refuse to watch it. I think that is part of what turns people off from it, at least if you’re an older fan. It’s definitely not as great as it used to be.

 

[Swamps]

I agree as far as the lack of monsters/stars. I think Vince and his ego has something to do with that. All of his big 80s and 90s stars left for WCW Rock left for Hollywood and Austin walked out. Brock was then pushed to the moon until he left to pursue an NFL career which never materialized. Vince then pushed Cena excessively for 10 years. Punk left and I think that was the final straw for Vince. New stars just aren't created organically anymore, they just go the Cena route and force the top guys down everyone's throat and they never get over. Bryan Danielson got over organically but they did everything in their power to squash that.

You are on to something as far as the smaller and whinier guys. Back in the day, the path to becoming a wrestler was much different. They were almost always a former football player, bodybuilder or a legitimate amateur wrestler. For whatever reason, most wrestling fans from the 80s onward have been mostly nerdy and socially awkward. A lot of the wrestlers you see today were those nerdy and socially awkward fans. Look at how many wrestlers copied Superstar Billy Graham. The wrestlers today copied Shawn Michaels hence all the flippy shit.

On the subject of the flippy shit, I agree that it needs to be toned down. Hangman's standing 450 is the most egregious. Would anyone do that in a real fight? Especially a drunk cowboy? I'm all for flipping if it's used for a purpose and in the right context. PAC is really the only wrestler that uses the proper balance of flipping and making it look like convincing offense.

TNA is an interesting comparison. They came along at the right time but their show just did not look or seem to be major league. Also, they got a lot of flack for their use of ex WWE guys, however the real problem was elevating former WWE midcarders to their championship.

Good post and points made, bro. By the way, love your User Name. Actually jealous I didn't think of it, hahaha.

You are spot on about the previous Pre-requisites to becoming a wrestler back in the day. I think HBK was even a college athlete.

I was listening to one of Jim Cornette's old podcasts yesterday, and he was discussing the differences in the ROH locker Room and the old school locker Room. "I walk in, no one is talking to anyone. No one is talking about their matches. No one is talking about getting pussy. All they are doing is looking down at their phones. Then I find out later, one of the guy's was texting one of the other guys on the other side of the room". Too much Soy in today's product.

I could go on and on about the Old TNA, so I may go over to the Impact section and talk over there some. Not a fan of the shit they have been doing lately, but it is what it is, G. A lot of the marks for TNA used to annoy the crap out of me online back in the day, but it didn't make me stop watching the product. Just made me stop posting about wrestling in general on other sites (before I got banned, lol).