Okay. This has been really bothering me for a long time so I am going to put it out there; some of the current WWE fans suck. They either have no idea of the inner workings of wrestling and think it is real, or they just have no common sense.
Recently, the fans have not been doing what they should. They have not been reacting how they should. One of the recent situations in which this was an issue was with the original story line between Daniel Bryan and A.J. Daniel Byran was working hard, and doing a great job at being a heel. He was treating A.J. terribly and he was using her to advance his career. He even caused her to be kayfabe (and if you don't know what that is then your part of the problem) injured by one of his opponents (Big Show). Despite this, the crowd was behind him and cheered "Yes! Yes! Yes!" in response to everything he did. Most likely unsure of what else he could do to get over as a heel, he broke up with A.J. on live TV and blamed her for his championship title loss. Again, the crowd cheered "Yes! Yes! Yes!" and even sang "na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye" as A.J. walked out of the ring after being broken up. >>Video here<< I realize that the fans were making an attempt to show there support for Daniel Bryan, but if they had any idea about wrestling then they would have realized he was attempting to turn heel and that their cheering was actually disrespectful towards him by basically not allowing him to turn heel. Luckily, the WWE creative team is pretty good at spinning anything to work out and they fixed this issue, but the fans were not being respectful to Daniel Bryan's efforts.
The second event that really made this issue with the fans hit home to me is the 4/9/12 edition of Raw, which featured the actors from The Three Stooges who were promoting their movie. >>Video here<< As you can see in the video, the fans are hardly reacting to their promo at all, and in fact can be heard changing "boring" at certain times. Now, put aside any feelings that the fans may have for the movie. The fact of the matter is that WWE brought in those actors for cross promotion (which is something they often do). This is a source of revenue for the WWE and part of what allows the WWE to put on the great shows it does. Do you think that movie promoters are going to want their stars going onto WWE when they may get a reaction like that? What the fans really are doing is embarrassing the WWE. The WWE brings these actors on their show to help promote their movie (and earn money to produce awesome shows) and the fans completely disrespect them. Furthermore, those actors were cutting a pretty good promo (if you ask me!) Will Sasso sounded just like Hulk Hogan! Yet, when he started to talk like Hogan, the crowd gave him no pop or response at all which caused him to momentarily be unsure if he should even continue the promo. Besides the fact that this hurts WWE revenue, and besides the fact that it is disrespectful to the WWE, its disrespectful to those actors. They came out to entertain the crowd and instead they were rewarded with a "boring" chant.
The last example that I will mention here is how the fans react to some of the Hall of Fame and Blast from the Past superstars that come in from time to time. Although there are many examples in which the crowd is respectful to the Alumni superstars. (Here you can hear the Universe chanting "You still got it" for Bob Backlund in a recent Raw episode.) But many more times the crowd completely disrespects the superstars of the past when they come to make an appearance.Here you can see Wendi Richter (2 time Women's Champion and Hall of Famer) and Cindi Lauper (who was part of the WWE during the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection in the 80's) coming out to do a promo for the WWE universe. Albeit, many of the fans may not have been alive the last time they were relevant in the WWE (myself included), but I still have respect for all that they did to get WWE to be where it is today. The Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection brought so much attention to the WWE from people who otherwise would never have given it the time of day and is one of the reasons it is what it is today. Despite this, during the promo the crowd can be heard chanting "We want Ryder". Now yes, I love Zack Ryder and I wish that he could get more air time, but that does not mean that we disrespect two Blast from the Past superstars who have nothing to do with Ryder.
What it really comes down to is that the fans have no respect for the superstars, the WWE creative team and the WWE company. Yes, we the fans pay for our opportunity to be in the crowd live at the shows but we are still part of the show. The show does not look good if the superstars are trying to cut a promo and the crowd is not following along with them as they should be (whether the intended result is boo or cheers). The fans who have been watching for the long haul will forgive this because they will understand, but this hurts the ability of the WWE to gain new fans. Recently, I convinced my boyfriend (who has never been a fan of wrestling but has admittedly never given it a chance) that he should watch an episode with me. However, I have been reluctant to actually have him watch an episode because I don't want him to not understand it due to the crowd's reaction. When the fans do not react to a promo or match the way they should it makes those superstars look bad and it makes the show look like it is poorly written (which is not the case *most* of the time. I will admit that some of the stories that the WWE has done over the years are a bit over the top and embarrassing!)
Now don't get me wrong, I think that the WWE fans should not always blindly go along with everything that the WWE does. Sometimes it is helpful for the fans to express their feelings about a certain story line or gimmick to let the WWE creative team and the superstars know it isn't working how it should. I certainly don't think that we the fans should just accept that a superstar has turned heel or face based on one statement or act, and if they do a poor job at it then we should push them to work harder to get over. I just don't feel that this has been the case in recent months. I feel that, especially in Daniel Bryan's case, he was doing MORE than enough to get over as a heel yet "his fans" just were not being respectful. And yes, when older superstars come out they may not be as good in the ring or as smooth on the mic as they once was, but we the fans should respect them for everything they did and accomplished in their prime days in the WWE. In any event, it is my opinion that if the WWE fans do not change their ways, it could potentially be harmful for the WWE and could destroy all that the fans claim to love.
Recently, the fans have not been doing what they should. They have not been reacting how they should. One of the recent situations in which this was an issue was with the original story line between Daniel Bryan and A.J. Daniel Byran was working hard, and doing a great job at being a heel. He was treating A.J. terribly and he was using her to advance his career. He even caused her to be kayfabe (and if you don't know what that is then your part of the problem) injured by one of his opponents (Big Show). Despite this, the crowd was behind him and cheered "Yes! Yes! Yes!" in response to everything he did. Most likely unsure of what else he could do to get over as a heel, he broke up with A.J. on live TV and blamed her for his championship title loss. Again, the crowd cheered "Yes! Yes! Yes!" and even sang "na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye" as A.J. walked out of the ring after being broken up. >>Video here<< I realize that the fans were making an attempt to show there support for Daniel Bryan, but if they had any idea about wrestling then they would have realized he was attempting to turn heel and that their cheering was actually disrespectful towards him by basically not allowing him to turn heel. Luckily, the WWE creative team is pretty good at spinning anything to work out and they fixed this issue, but the fans were not being respectful to Daniel Bryan's efforts.
The second event that really made this issue with the fans hit home to me is the 4/9/12 edition of Raw, which featured the actors from The Three Stooges who were promoting their movie. >>Video here<< As you can see in the video, the fans are hardly reacting to their promo at all, and in fact can be heard changing "boring" at certain times. Now, put aside any feelings that the fans may have for the movie. The fact of the matter is that WWE brought in those actors for cross promotion (which is something they often do). This is a source of revenue for the WWE and part of what allows the WWE to put on the great shows it does. Do you think that movie promoters are going to want their stars going onto WWE when they may get a reaction like that? What the fans really are doing is embarrassing the WWE. The WWE brings these actors on their show to help promote their movie (and earn money to produce awesome shows) and the fans completely disrespect them. Furthermore, those actors were cutting a pretty good promo (if you ask me!) Will Sasso sounded just like Hulk Hogan! Yet, when he started to talk like Hogan, the crowd gave him no pop or response at all which caused him to momentarily be unsure if he should even continue the promo. Besides the fact that this hurts WWE revenue, and besides the fact that it is disrespectful to the WWE, its disrespectful to those actors. They came out to entertain the crowd and instead they were rewarded with a "boring" chant.
The last example that I will mention here is how the fans react to some of the Hall of Fame and Blast from the Past superstars that come in from time to time. Although there are many examples in which the crowd is respectful to the Alumni superstars. (Here you can hear the Universe chanting "You still got it" for Bob Backlund in a recent Raw episode.) But many more times the crowd completely disrespects the superstars of the past when they come to make an appearance.Here you can see Wendi Richter (2 time Women's Champion and Hall of Famer) and Cindi Lauper (who was part of the WWE during the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection in the 80's) coming out to do a promo for the WWE universe. Albeit, many of the fans may not have been alive the last time they were relevant in the WWE (myself included), but I still have respect for all that they did to get WWE to be where it is today. The Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection brought so much attention to the WWE from people who otherwise would never have given it the time of day and is one of the reasons it is what it is today. Despite this, during the promo the crowd can be heard chanting "We want Ryder". Now yes, I love Zack Ryder and I wish that he could get more air time, but that does not mean that we disrespect two Blast from the Past superstars who have nothing to do with Ryder.
What it really comes down to is that the fans have no respect for the superstars, the WWE creative team and the WWE company. Yes, we the fans pay for our opportunity to be in the crowd live at the shows but we are still part of the show. The show does not look good if the superstars are trying to cut a promo and the crowd is not following along with them as they should be (whether the intended result is boo or cheers). The fans who have been watching for the long haul will forgive this because they will understand, but this hurts the ability of the WWE to gain new fans. Recently, I convinced my boyfriend (who has never been a fan of wrestling but has admittedly never given it a chance) that he should watch an episode with me. However, I have been reluctant to actually have him watch an episode because I don't want him to not understand it due to the crowd's reaction. When the fans do not react to a promo or match the way they should it makes those superstars look bad and it makes the show look like it is poorly written (which is not the case *most* of the time. I will admit that some of the stories that the WWE has done over the years are a bit over the top and embarrassing!)
Now don't get me wrong, I think that the WWE fans should not always blindly go along with everything that the WWE does. Sometimes it is helpful for the fans to express their feelings about a certain story line or gimmick to let the WWE creative team and the superstars know it isn't working how it should. I certainly don't think that we the fans should just accept that a superstar has turned heel or face based on one statement or act, and if they do a poor job at it then we should push them to work harder to get over. I just don't feel that this has been the case in recent months. I feel that, especially in Daniel Bryan's case, he was doing MORE than enough to get over as a heel yet "his fans" just were not being respectful. And yes, when older superstars come out they may not be as good in the ring or as smooth on the mic as they once was, but we the fans should respect them for everything they did and accomplished in their prime days in the WWE. In any event, it is my opinion that if the WWE fans do not change their ways, it could potentially be harmful for the WWE and could destroy all that the fans claim to love.
: lol
