World Wrestling Entertainment – Bringing Back the Attitude
The biggest wrestling company in professional wrestling, the WWE, has been criticized by many wrestling fans in recent years for being boring and booking the same old matches and storylines. Many fans even went as far as to switch over to other upstart wrestling promotions such as TNA and ROH. In 2008 came the final straw, Raw ratings fell further down than ever before, even reaching a 2.9 in January.
However the WWE tried to pull back viewers by pushing that a wrestler would be returning at the upcoming Royal Rumble. Fans bought the Pay-Per-View, not to see boring World Title Matches, but to see who would return, they weren’t pleased. The mystery wrestler turned out to be multiple-time WWE Champion John Cena, as soon as fans realised he was the mystery wrestler, it was the end of watching a company they had enjoyed watching for so many years.
But WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was optimistic that WWE’s biggest show of the year, Wrestlemania 24 would bring back viewers. He was wrong. McMahon booked John Cena in the main event against Triple H, who had wrestled at the event two years ago. Instead of giving rising stars such as Jeff Hardy, Mr. Kennedy and Carlito a chance in the spotlight. Ironically the three got to take part in the Money in the Bank match that took part that night. It was nothing to be pleased about though.
Vince McMahon decided to run a storyline where him and Triple H dominated the WWE and destroyed everyone in their path, therefore they wanted to play this angle on the night in meaningless backstage angles burying upcoming wrestlers. The Money in the Bank match was reduced to 7 minutes as a result of the backstage angle. It came as an even bigger shock when WWE veteran Shawn Michaels won the match.
Finally after taking up half an hour of air time during the show, Triple H and John Cena went out to a half filled Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. Triple H successfully defended the WWE Championship in a 25-minute match which featured 13 of the minutes on the mat with rest holds.
The buyrate came in for Wrestlemania a few months later and it wasn’t good at all. Mania managed an abysmal 450,000 buys, compared to over a million buys the previous year. Many wrestling insiders thought this would open Vince’s eyes and push newer stars. They couldn’t be more wrong.
At Backlash, McMahon and Triple H unveiled there third member of the group, who was to be 54 year old Hulk Hogan. Fans booed at the once fan favourite, not for joining McMahon and Triple H, but for actually coming back altogether. The WWE camera team didn’t do McMahon a favour either when one camera was shown on the crowd, where fans started to walk out of the arena. After the show went off the air the cameraman was fired.
Raw ratings continued to plummet, even going down to a 2.5 one week, while Smackdown was down to a 1.9 as wrestlers were continuing to be sent to Raw as random Draft Picks. Raw got Batista, Undertaker and Edge, while Smackdown got Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Paul London and Hardcore Holly.
In June Vince McMahon decided to give ECW a much needed helping hand by making the upcoming One Night Stand Pay-Per-View an ECW only PPV. When the day came, the main event was pushed as Tommy Dreamer vs. CM Punk for the ECW World championship, the match was never seen.
When the show opened, Vince McMahon, Triple H and Hulk Hogan walked down to the ring, causing original ECW fans to riot. Chairs were thrown in the ring and many directed at the three, one of the chairs even hit Triple H, which knocked one of his teeth out. After a 20 minute worthless promo, the 15,000 attendance to an 8,000 attendance.
One Night Stand drew 100,000 buys and subsequently Vince McMahon wasn’t happy at how the fans reacted to his promo. On June 27, 2008 McMahon called a press conference in Stamford, Connecticut announcing that the ECW brand was closed.
McMahon also fired all of the ECW Roster, which received a huge reaction from the remainder of WWE fans who thought that those on the ECW Roster could help the Raw and Smackdown Brands.
It was a poor July for the WWE, Raw ratings slipped to an average of a 1.8, while Smackdown fell to a 1.5. The Great American Bash was the last lifeline for fans of the promotion. The Bash drew 125, 000 buys with a Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels WWE Championship Match. Michaels used his Money in the Bank Contract for the match, but Triple H retained once again with a huge amount of outside interference. HHH’s 8 month reign was starting to bore the fans.
Finally Vince McMahon decided to hire a new writer who would book Raw and Smackdown, as well as all the Pay-Per-Views. His name was Alex Moss, and from the July 21 Raw onwards would be bringing back the attitude.
