Program Fatigue
In July 2012, WWE expanded Monday Night Raw to 3 hours. Initially it was looked at as a good thing as it was sure to give more time to less-represented stars, or give us more of the stars that people wanted to see. However, it slowly turned into a marathon that the average fan could get burned out on very quickly.After SummerSlam in August, WWE Raw’s 3 hours can be some of the most difficult television to sit through, as it is seen as the muck before Wrestlemania season fires up again.
In addition to Monday Night Raw being 3 hours, keeping up with the vast amount of programming WWE produces can be a major chore for even the most diehard WWE fan. For fans who can’t keep up with each show, (even though Michael Cole beats what has already happened into the ground at times) they may feel like it’s easy to fall behind, which leads to falling out altogether.
Change In Product Focus
As each era of wrestling emerges, it must replace the current status quo. If that next phase isn’t sold well enough to the current crop of fans, typically a drought will occur. When golden era performers like Hogan, Savage, and Warrior faded from the picture and left WWE, many fans left with them.
Emerging in those ashes, was the foundation of the New Generation Era, led by stars like Bret Hart, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Diesel. None of those guys were like what WWE was using for the last decade. From there, they had to rebuild, and retrain the audience as to what the new standard of wrestling was, but in the process public interest and their bottom line took a hit.
Luckily those guys kept the wheels from completely falling off while they marched on.
With that forward momentum, a short nostalgia period of WWE’s golden era picked up in WCW, while WWE reloaded with Stone Cold, The Rock, HHH, and women getting half naked.
Subsequently, when this successful era ended, WWE once again ran into the issue of changing their focus. Pressures by sponsors, and becoming a publicly traded company led to the PG Era being created. While this isn’t the space for a PG Era vs Attitude Era debate, resistance or less fan support while establishing a new standard is clearly part of wrestling history.
People will stop watching WWE at some point because they always have when an era changes. What WWE counts on is replacing that fan. They just have to pick the right approach to replenish them.
Favorite Wrestlers Retired/Talent Pool Dried Up
As referenced in the beginning of this piece, this type of thing will always be said: “I used to watch when Austin/Rock/Hulk Hogan/Ric Flair/Shawn Michaels (you get the point) was on!”
Well, those people aren’t saying anything particularly bad, but look at those names listed. Those guys are retired, deceased, movie stars, or way too injured to ever wrestle again.
The cyclical nature of wrestling led to icon status for most people’s favorite wrestlers of yesteryear, and when they were no longer able to stay at that level due to injuries, career opportunities, or age, Wrestling just wasn’t the same in some fans’ eyes. In romanticizing ones youth, wrestling tends to be looked at with an childlike innocence.
Furthermore, it isn’t the job of those fans to understand the peaks and valleys of a wrestler’s career. Once the wrestlers aren’t entertaining them anymore, and there isn’t a sufficient replacement, one could imagine interest in the product could wane easily.
Waiting for the next luminary to show up isn’t exactly the easiest thing to sit through. While Brock Lesnar was instantly given the throne, imagine watching in 2002, when generic John Cena and Deacon Batista showed up? Who would have called those guys being long-term aces back then?
Transitions In Life
One of the most common reasons people stop watching wrestling is because they find new interests in life. A common time to fall out of being a wrestling fan is during a transitional period such as elementary to middle school, or high school to college.
With increased workloads in school or work, and new relationships that are formed in all avenues, wrestling tends to mean a lot less during those times. Not to mention the fact that there’s less time to watch it.
While focusing on the next stage in life, or pursuing passions and talents, getting invested in what good guy will try to win the belt from the champion doesn’t exactly measure up after a while. Once those interests and transitions are fully managed, it may leave room for wrestling to re-enter their consciousness at a later age.
Same Ol Sh**
“___________ never loses! SAME OLD SH**!!!!”
In wrestling there are many formulas promotions use to ensure success. A long running heel champion running roughshod over a company, such as HHH in the mid 2000’s, while a crowd favorite is built to challenge him is one of the oldest, a time-tested device used to build a new star.
What promotions have to be careful of, is showing their hand too early with a push, or re-doing the same stories and matches over and over within a short time period. How many times did Roman Reigns fight The Big Show this year? When something “new” feels like a re-run, it leads to chronic apathy or even worse, tuning out completely.
This practice became evident in WCW starting in 1999. However, this doesn’t just apply to promotions; this can go for wrestlers as well.
It’s no secret the very best guys all have their routines within matches. Where the most elite stars standout, is finding a way to blend those familiar sequences with innovative new ones to make sure we never see what’s coming.
Over the years fans have made no secret of their desire to be impressed. “Same Ol’ Sh**” should be the scariest chant to hear for wrestling promotions, because when people are seeing the same thing again and again, they are more likely to tune out.
Chris Benoit
Without question, doubt or a moment of hesitation, Chris Benoit is one of the greatest in-ring performers to ever lace up a pair of boots. He was a world-traveled athlete who rose through the ranks of international competition, WCW and later WWE despite his lack of a dynamic personality. He’s arguably the best technical wrestler to have graced the squared circle as well.
Nevertheless, none of that is mentioned when his name is spoken, and for great reason. Chris Benoit cast a dark cloud over the wrestling industry in June 2007 when he killed his wife, son and then himself in a shocking double murder suicide. It was a disgusting act that will vilify, and taint his legacy until the end of time.
There has been research in recent years which suggests CTE played a role in this heinous event. Chris Benoit’s brain was concussed to such a degree that it resembled an 85-year-old Alzheimer’s patient’s, according to a study carried out by the Sports Legacy Institute.
The negative media coverage didn’t make it the easiest time to be a wrestling fan. Many fans threw in the towel, unable to come to terms with the fact that one of their favorites had turned out be a, to quote Vince McMahon, ‘monster’. Being a wrestling fan can be hard at the best of times, but with the rest of the world condemning it, it’s even harder.
People Grew Up
For the most part, pro wrestling is aimed at children. Those same children, who think Santa Claus is real, are the perfect targets for an industry based on, let’s face it, an outright lie.
Typically, before the average youngster is wised up to the less than honest intentions of pro-wrestling, larger-than-life characters performing feats of amazing strength, athleticism or endurance, is one of the most captivating things for a child to witness.
However as soon as that love sets in, usually an older person will start to ruin that perception, by suggesting or flat out declaring everything to be FAKE!!
That’s hard for a kid, used to suspending his disbelief, to accept. From that point on, their once bright-eyed perspective is clouded by doubt, and the child will start to hunt for inconsistencies within the product. For some kids the deception leads to resentment, which in-turn causes them to ruin the magic for other people.
The simplified stories and superhero characters sometimes only appeal to children, and once that period of adolescence is over, it can be hard to keep the attention span of a kid when many other special interests start to overtake wrestling.
They Watch UFC Now
Another major entity stealing away fans who used to watch wrestling is UFC. MMA has gradually risen in popularity since the late 90’s, and has grabbed fans that were “looking for something real.”
The explosion in UFC programming which started with The Ultimate Fighter reality series, has created a more visible product than their early days of being available only on PPV. As MMA has moved closer to the mainstream, they churned out their own megastars such as Ronda Rousey, Jon Jones and Anderson Silva.
Many people now see UFC as the premier outlet for combat sports, and don’t want to waste time with the pageantry of the “fake sport” that is WWE.
Vince McMahon claims UFC isn’t his competition and, in a traditional sense, he’s absolutely correct.
But in today’s world of competition from all angles, UFC is not only a competitor, they are a sleeping giant who possess the type of legitimacy pro-wrestling can only dream of.
The WWE Monopoly
When WWE purchased WCW and ECW, they left behind a legion of fans who were loyal to the them. There are longtime NWA/WCW and ECW fans that never wanted to make the crossover to watching the “cartoon” wrestling of WWE.
When WWE became the only major game in town, many folks were disenfranchised, and upset their side lost. It was pretty much the civil war of pro wrestling. While there are other options in wrestling such as Ring Of Honor, TNA or Lucha
Underground, it’s taken so long for them to penetrate the consciousness of the average viewer, that many of those fans who supported Sting, Ric Flair, The NWO and more, won’t commit because they have been out of watching wrestling for so long.
WWE picks up the best talent in those companies anyway, so to some it isn’t worth the commitment.
Unquestionably, as new wrestling fans are created the old ones will go on to other forms of entertainment. Pro wrestling has been around for over 100 years, and has reinvented itself in many ways. What will be the thing that grabs the next generation of fans?
