The Wrestling Thread's got...needs - Part 216

[Dr. Evil]

I just feel like we're too close to Wrestlemania, and the big pop they like to give the fans would be to see Banks as champion.

The only thing that I see preventing that is the rumor, that Banks apparently debunked, that Sasha is injured and hasn't been on TV for a few weeks, unlike the month before where it seemed like they were setting up something with her.

The latest is that she is injured, but it's nothing serious that will keep her out of WrestleMania.

She has stated that being in the WWE has been a dream of hers. She needs her WrestleMania moment, but I don't think she gets that this year. I think it'll be Becky vs. Charlotte vs. Paige.

 

[famicommander]

Impact on Pop did 288,000 viewers last night, which is up 33,000 from its live premiere last week.

Still a pretty low number. According to this nice article:
http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2015/09/08/tv-viewership-wwe-roh-tna-lucha-underground-njpw-on-axs/

ROH does 420,000-555,000 on Sinclair stations alone (the article runs through September, and does not include Comet TV, DVR viewers, NESN, or rohwrestling.com; back when Destination America was included the average was between 600 and 850K)
Lucha Underground does around 242,000 on average, including Unimas and El Rey
NJPW on AXS averages 200,000

And of course Raw and Smackdown dwarf them all at 3.8 million and 2.5 million respectively, but both are contracting versus previous years.

Hard to believe that six years ago there were four shows comfortably averaging over 2 million (ECW and Impact in addition to WWE's big two).

Not hard to imagine Lucha Underground season 2 passing up Impact this year, but we'll see if TNA can keep growing its audience in the coming weeks.

 

[Pink Ranger]

I think Bray has stagnated as a character, quite honestly. His promos sound great and he's a great speaker but I think he's so focused on using big words that loses sight of getting people emotionally invested in his feuds. He should study old school Jake Roberts promos. Jake was a great speaker but he knew how to boil down and simplify his promos so the common fan would understand/feel what he's trying to say. I think Bray isn't always very good at doing that.

Bray is boring in the ring and he cuts the same promo every single time. He has charisma but that only gets you so far.

Bray is severely constrained by the kind of company WWE is now. Kane set people on fire. Undertaker crucified Steve Austin. Bray can't do any of that, which makes it harder for him to be a supernatural threat.

 

[famicommander]

Bray is more Charles Manson than Undertaker, which, as you said, is really limited by a TVPG format.

And rooty tooty booty? What have they done to you, Jericho?

 

[TheCommissioner]

to be fair, Taker was introduced in the kid friendly WWF era, and already had a rep established WELL BEFORE the attitude era

 

[TheCommissioner]

I hate this romanticizing of the Attitude era as a cure all

Hogan made the WWF when it was kid friendly

 

[famicommander]

There's a difference between kid-friendly and kid-focused. Nobody said getting rid of TVPG was a cure all, but it's clearly one of a laundry list of problems right now.

I wouldn't have thought "rooty tooty booty" was cool or entertaining at any point in my life. Least of all as a 25 year old.

 

[Dr. Evil]

 

[SpideyVille]

The latest is that she is injured, but it's nothing serious that will keep her out of WrestleMania.

She has stated that being in the WWE has been a dream of hers. She needs her WrestleMania moment, but I don't think she gets that this year. I think it'll be Becky vs. Charlotte vs. Paige.

Sigh, I fear you're right. Paige has also been noticeably absent from TV as well. In fact, other than Becky and Charlotte, it's been a while since we've seen anyone else other than Brie briefly this week.

to be fair, Taker was introduced in the kid friendly WWF era, and already had a rep established WELL BEFORE the attitude era

I hate this romanticizing of the Attitude era as a cure all

Hogan made the WWF when it was kid friendly

After watching the Monday Night Wars, I've come to realize that the biggest issue in today's product isn't that it's PG, it's in how stories are told and characters are created.

You can't expect people to fear someone like Bray when he comes out on the losing end on just every feud he has on his own.

Not to mention, the biggest reason why we still remember characters like Goldust, Godfather, D'Lo Brown, Test, Steve Blackman, etc is because they were characters, not gimmicks. Undertaker evolved from a gimmick to a character. HBK evolved from a gimmick.

While we don't have gimmicks as much today, we also don't have characters. We have outfits and flashy entrances, but nothing inside the person, and that affects nearly every star on the roster, with a few exceptions.

 

[TheCommissioner]

I would agree with that

 

[Dr. Evil]

WrestleMania is probably headed back to Los Angeles soon.....and not at the Staples Center.

 

[TheCommissioner]

oh yes, I gather Mania will be in the new NFL stadium in Inglewood probably 2019-2020

 

[Pink Ranger]

oh yes, I gather Mania will be in the new NFL stadium in Inglewood probably 2019-2020

Just in time for Triple H to pin Chad Gable cleanly to retain the world title.

 

[Bat Brain]

Big fan of Billie Kay. Big big fan.

 

[TheCommissioner]

is that hot Jersey girl gonna be in it?

 

[Pink Ranger]

Emma looks like the kind of Secret Service agent who would guard President Trump.

 

[TheCommissioner]

Eva Maries heat level is not quite at Vickie Guerrero levels, but its getting close

 

[Bat Brain]

Emma looks like the kind of Secret Service agent who would guard President Trump.

All she needs is a beret

 

[Lead Cenobite]

Oh there is.. There is..

Spoiler

Other than him.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Just catching up on RAW. What the heck is with that all time Jobbers group called The Social Outcasts? I mean Hype wrestling thread group could beat them.

 

[Warhammer]

After watching the Monday Night Wars, I've come to realize that the biggest issue in today's product isn't that it's PG, it's in how stories are told and characters are created.

You can't expect people to fear someone like Bray when he comes out on the losing end on just every feud he has on his own.

Not to mention, the biggest reason why we still remember characters like Goldust, Godfather, D'Lo Brown, Test, Steve Blackman, etc is because they were characters, not gimmicks. Undertaker evolved from a gimmick to a character. HBK evolved from a gimmick.

While we don't have gimmicks as much today, we also don't have characters. We have outfits and flashy entrances, but nothing inside the person, and that affects nearly every star on the roster, with a few exceptions.

Oh my brotha, testify.

You nailed it about Bray Wyatt. He is stale because the dude keeps getting his ass kicked. How can he be the new face of fear when he's a chump? This is why he should have beaten Cena at Wrestlemania. Not for the moment but for further down the road, he can be credible. This is why you don't have him and his whole family lose to Undertaker and Kane.

 

[SpideyVille]

Oh my brotha, testify.

You nailed it about Bray Wyatt. He is stale because the dude keeps getting his ass kicked. How can he be the new face of fear when he's a chump? This is why he should have beaten Cena at Wrestlemania. Not for the moment but for further down the road, he can be credible. This is why you don't have him and his whole family lose to Undertaker and Kane.

I haven't seen too many of his matches, but I feel like I've seen him lose at the end of every feud with the exception of the Dudleys, who are basically jobbers at this point anyway.

But like, look at how differently Brock has been booked since beating Taker at Mania. I don't think Bray should have won last year, but Taker is supposed to have a reputation of "making" stars out of his opponents and that just hasn't happened with Bray. I think they have a lot of nice pieces there, he's got a cool entrance, he cuts good promos, he's the leader of a faction .. but there's just something missing. That's why I could never really see him in the championship hunt.

 

[Warhammer]

Had he been built up right, he could be a contender right now. He could have faced off against Reigns instead of Sheamus for the title. Vince McMahon wouldn't have to be on television trying to make Reigns a new version of Stone Cold.

 

[Wheels]

Undertaker isn't some big star maker. He usually feuds with young guys, beats them, then it takes at least three months for a character to recover. The Shield are the only guys to escape this pattern in recent memory. Undertaker as a star maker is an illusion in many cases. He hasn't made someone since his Deadman return. The last guy he really made was Lesnar. Orton didn't get really hot until the Viper gimmick in 2009. He was basically struggling like a Del Rio or Wyatt before that.

 

[Dr. Evil]