Re: The Official WWE Thread - Part 26

[Onyx]

The thing with competition is it has to be another wrestling company who airs at the same time as RAW.

Only another wrestling company is capable of stealing the current WWE fanbase.

If RAW was on at the same time as another great wrestling show, people would have to choose what to watch live.

They do choose though, they chose to watch HBO shows and NFL/NBA etc etc. It may not be a wrestling show but they go up against them in the same time.

You posted the other week of them getting less than 3m and that doesn't happen if people are not choosing to watch something else.

Fair enough, but what about the remaining group of WWE viewers who still watch and don't switch to NFL/NBA etc? They're most likely hardcore wrestling fans. Surely if a great wrestling show was on at the same time, they would consider watching it instead.

If NFL, HBO etc etc really meant so much, why don't the WWE's ratings drastically change? Like why don't they go from a 2.5 to a 1.5 or something? They always stay above a 2.1.

That's the group of people a new wrestling company would target. And during that process, if one or the other company decides to appeal to the casuals/mainstream audience, the viewership will once again increase. Like I said before, I'm confident during a wrestling boom it would double at the very least.

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

That's the hardcore wrestling crowd tbf, i think most of the casuals don't watch regularly anymore. Obviously there is still some but not the extent it was.

[Casciavit]

Barret should have been a main eventer. He had the look, cred, and mic skills to be one.

As for the Sandow he should have been in the uppercard, but when the company buries you on screen, but you get yourself over in the process, that is the end for you.

[Onyx]

Hope RAW is hijacked next week.

[silver]

Damian Sandow on the same level as Harry's hair

All these guys shouljd have joined the Social Outcasts when they had the chance.

[Onyx]

According to this guy there was a rumour of a 'summer of Sandow' story.

[RealGunner]

Watching Raw finally


What a pop for Cesaro. Guy has worked so hard to get to this level man. Deserves this. Love him

Can't remember being hyped for the IC title as much as this one. Great feud. Well done to WWE for once.


THE guy

4 on 4 tag match wasnt too bad

RIP mitch

Some absolute jobber match. Saw sandow there tho lmao.

This charlotte and natalya feud is worse than aids

Main event was pretty cool. Really liked Reigns and Aj. Their feud has been pretty good

OKish RAW

[RealGunner]

10/10 post imo.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/4hiug6/spoilers_dave_meltzer_explains_the_current_status/

Nature_Boy_Ric_FlairLa Smarka 942 points 1 day ago*x2
Pretending Roman can just replace Cena despite never getting over for more than a week as a singles competitor is such a slap in the face to Cena.
Cena carried the company for a decade after its two biggest stars, Austin and Rock, left. Nobody thought there would be a guy on their level ever again, but Cena found a way to do it. He kept the business from dropping any further than it did after Wrestlemania 17. And instead of a "New Generation" era where the WWE barely has a pulse, Cena's era had pretty solid business. Not the best, but miles away from the worst. Competent.
That's *bleep* incredible and Cena deserves every word of praise he gets for it.
And now WWE has built itself into this big thing that will draw no matter what. 100,000ish people will come see a 7-hour Wrestlemania where the biggest star is a 46 year old Triple H. Why? Because for the last ten years, they've had a top guy with no ego, no politicking, and an insane level of competence. And his reign allowed WWE to stop focusing on things like building new stars, and instead build their company and create a Network.
And they decide his successor should be Roman Reigns. Who is not a proven draw (nobody is nowadays because nobody is over), whose merch sales are good, but not great (#3 for 2015), who has not brought in an ounce of mainstream attention to the product, and who has probably not been universally cheered more than five times in two years.
And that's fine with WWE. That's good enough. That's all it takes to be a top guy now, according to them. You just pick a guy with a good look and athletic ability, disregard the fact that he can't talk, and you just push him for two straight years (longer than Luger or Diesel or any other failed top guy). You have him beat everyone. You never have him lose or even look weak. And then when he gets booed, you don't give a shit. You ignore it for months and months until one day you just shrug and say "Oh, people do it for fun."
Because the merch will sell no matter what. Whoever gets pushed, sells merch. Whoever gets pushed the hardest, sells the most. The tickets will sell no matter what. The arena will fill no matter what. It doesn't matter who the top guy is, if he's good, or if he's even popular. Literally anyone can do it. That's the mindset.
And that's bullshit. Because the only reason WWE has the luxury of keeping a guy like Roman Reigns at the top is because of the hard work and sacrifices of John Cena. The guy came back early from just about every injury he's ever had. He rarely takes time off. And he did everything WWE ever asked of him for a decade.
His successor is going to be a guy who would have fallen flat on his face in any other era. A guy who would have had a three-month monster run and then been defeated by a more talented, charismatic, and marketable babyface. But now they pretend that's all it takes to be the next John Cena. Is there anything Reigns can do that nobody on the roster can do? No. Is there anything they can do that he can't? It's possible they can have a more successful run on top than him, but they won't get the opportunity because he's good enough.
Good enough is all WWE cares about now. With the Network, WWE has a perfect product to sell. Hardcore fans will find SOMETHING on the Network they like watching, so they'll never get rid of it. And WWE itself is the draw now, so ticket sales are in no danger of dropping. All WWE has to do is put on a show that has an absurd workrate (because that's all hardcore fans care about) and then keep doing Hogan-booking for Reigns and they'll be fine. As long as they have those Network subs, they're good. TV ratings are important, but they're still head and shoulders above 90% of cable television. So they're fine.
And that's what WWE (and pro wrestling) is now. It's fine. It's not great. It's not popular. It's not mainstream. It's not culturally significant. It's just fine. And with Roman Reigns at the top, that's all it'll ever be.

One of the best post i've read in my life

[Onyx]

[RealGunner]

There is absolutely no way they will release Orton lol. Unless he leaves himself.


Sandow will probably do better in TNA.

Barrett might actually do something involving football as he talks more about football than wrestling lol

[RealGunner]

Seth Rollins is expected back on WWE TV shortly. Rollins has been filming WWE Studios' movie "Temple" in New Orleans.

Randy Orton's rehab is said to be going much slower than expected but he's recovering. Word is that Orton could start training for a ring return at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando in mid-June.

[zizzle]

Seth Freakin Rollins

[M99]

A potted plant got more over than Reigns.

[zizzle]

The WWE has zero incentive whatsoever to listen to the fans regarding Reigns, why? because of the Cena experiment, the guy has been getting one harsh reception after the other for years but he still made the most money/ratings/crowds.

[RealGunner]

I've said this before. Reigns has more of a Champion's look and aura more than majority of the roster. He even puts on good matches. But he should have gotten over naturally. Apart from Lesnar, i can't remember anyone being pushed this much in such a little time. And Lesnar was once in a lifetime talent so it was ok with him.

Reigns will win fans over with time.

[M99]

Reigns never got pinned clean one on one is his entire WWE career. Last person to beat him clean one on one was Adam Rose in FCW/NXT

[Onyx]

Cena was actually good enough to be in that spot. He's always been an elite talent, which is why he made money for the company and that's why he's a draw.

Reigns is essentially a nobody who's being shoved down the fans throats. Just because he gets heat, it doesn't put him on the level of Cena.

[M99]

Also Reigns is nowhere near Cena was. Cena was super over and popular with everyone. Fanbase turned on him after he buried three smark favorites in a row, Christian, Jericho and Kurt Angle.

Cena two months after he won the title.

Compare this to Reigns now.

[Firenze]

According to this guy there was a rumour of a 'summer of Sandow' story.

mans said summer of sandow

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

I've said this before. Reigns has more of a Champion's look and aura more than majority of the roster. He even puts on good matches. But he should have gotten over naturally. Apart from Lesnar, i can't remember anyone being pushed this much in such a little time. And Lesnar was once in a lifetime talent so it was ok with him.

Reigns will win fans over with time.

I hope most people start to see this, he's been in many great matches at this point that it's not even an issue. The issue is his personality just isn't connecting with the crowd.

[M99]

I've said this before. Reigns has more of a Champion's look and aura more than majority of the roster. He even puts on good matches. But he should have gotten over naturally. Apart from Lesnar, i can't remember anyone being pushed this much in such a little time. And Lesnar was once in a lifetime talent so it was ok with him.

Reigns will win fans over with time.

I hope most people start to see this, he's been in many great matches at this point that it's not even an issue. The issue is his personality just isn't connecting with the crowd.

The issue with his matches is the same issue people had with Cena on his early matches as WWE champion. On Payback for example, he took 3 Phenomenal Forearms, a tag team finisher, a 450 splash and killed Styles with one Spear. Same on Fast Lane, Brock put a Kimora Lock on him and he picked Lesnar up, then Ambrose hit him with a chair and two seconds later he got up, Spear, win.

Look at the KICK OUT AT TWO ridiculousness he did on Smackdown.



Makes his matches tedious and predictable at a certain point.

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

He didn't kick out of any of them though

One was a count out and the other was a foot on the rope, different to him kicking out of everything.

Also lets not act like AJ just took a spear and nothing else, he probably took more than any other Roman opponent has apart from maybe Brock.

[M99]

3 superman punches, hardly anyone got pinned by a superman punch.

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

Spinebuster and sit out powerbomb too among other things, because they are not his finish they still count imo.

Most Roman matches don't even have that Also his matches are going to predictable regardless because we all know how much WWE are pushing him lol.

[Onyx]

Aaron(Damien Sandow) ‏@TheDamienSandow  23m23 minutes ago
Wow! Trending worldwide for 3 plus hours. Sorry I didn't notice I was at @ChurchillDowns . Ok so here it goes.. BookingDow@gmail.com

If Del Rio can come back a year later after what he did, I see no reason why Sandow shouldn't be able to.

I would've said no to TNA, but they seem to have a good relationship with the WWE nowadays when it comes to signings. Lucha Underground would be a better option however since it would be more of a short term thing. Plus they focus a lot on promos/characters/storylines and those are the things Sandow excels at.

NJPW would probably be a long term choice, so not the greatest option at his age.

Lucha Underground, mixed in with a bit of ROH/indys would be a good route.

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

Obviously if he proves them wrong in their eyes he can always come back, i mean Gallows is Festus ffs.

Not sure the Del Rio comparison is apt though, they got rid of him because he attacked someone i think not because of any talent related reasons.

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