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I believe it's the show in general, i remember as a kid raw would finish and i could not wait for the week to pass to see what happened next. Now its like oh that was ok and that's it. You can have the best talent in the world but without a show delivering that wow factor like years ago people can't get behind the gimmick or the feuds.
The amount of the drive by IWC who will read this, realise it's them but still be in denial, will be enormous. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Playboy Stevie V
I wouldn't say i'm an older fan in my early twenties but i'm definitely a long term fan (since about four years old). I personally think it's the lack of characters and the movement towards realism that has slowly declined wrestling. It's gone from unpredictability and over the top characters to a product that is focused on providing "realism" that is scripted! It doesn't even have anything to do with PG. Most of the 90s was PG and I loved the Hogan/warrior era. 1995 is regarded as one of the worst years in WWF history and What were they doing back then? Putting pretty athletic shows; with more focus on wrestling/athleticism from people like Owen, Bret and HBK. Look at 2003 when your huge characters like Stone Cold and The Rock were winding down, and the Undertaker was still a Biker. Ratings started falling rapidly in this period with the characters disappearing and people like Benoit, Guerrero, Angle, Booker T starting to reach/currently occupying the main event scene. Purely athletic and technical wrestlers. Sure you had Hogan (who wasn't really a draw anymore in all honesty) and Triple H, but two men don't make a company. It's lost that "fun" factor from the early 90s and it's definitely lost that "edginess" from the late 90s that made it must see. Most people these days don't really want to see week after week of spot monkeys or average but athletic matches. I loved the variety; Attitude era had a lot, usually on one card; Great tag team matches, mid card fillers, Hardcore matches, (cat fight) divas matches with women actually doing something besides botching, unless it was malfunctions of course.Mid-card feuds would usually have people interested in them like they were title matches! You could two huge names going at it in a personal feud, outside of the title picture ended up in some kind of gimmick match.
For the past 6-7 years on Raw alone, you get the odd thrown together tag match, several squashes, the odd good main event, and 40minutes of adverts and the rare interesting promo.
The golden era even had Cages being introduced for the first time, casket matches, and was usually full of promos. But at least a lot of these promos had your attention, even if they were obviously pre-recorded. Saying that i was under the age of 10, so the wall probably entertained me, as did crayons.
Reading down i pretty much have a similar quarrel as Robstar; There's no kayfabe. At the end of the day, i'm not really that interested in realistic "fake" fights as much as I am actual, competitive sports. Wrestling entertained because it wasn't a "sport" and was never seen as such.
Wrestling is a soap for men, and the sooner Vince sees that, the better. He wants to be "entertainment", but he's pretty much had that for over 20 years! The moment he decided to step away from that and distance himself from the word "wrestling", his shows have pretty much done the opposite; been more focused on in-ring wrestling..
Even though i've pretty much slated the current product, it doesn't mean i don't like it. Yes, the idea of characters and kayfabe disappearing has ruined it for me; but i still like a lot of talent on the roster. I definitely wont sit there and bitch about somethings. I don't mind Cena, I really like NXT and all the young talent coming up/debuted over the past few years, (before losing his edge) I liked Orton. Punk was interesting for a while (until recently, he became Triple H from Evolution Era... come out and spend 20minutes talking about himself being champion). But i'd be a liar if i turned around and said I don't prefer seeing older faces that are still able to entertain in the ring over a lot of the current roster. That's where the problem lies. Goldust got a bigger pop (even from children) than most of the main eventers!??
There are certain guys who can appeal then there are certain guys the WWE just push one minute then job out the next....
I'm one of those older fans, who don't like guys being rushed.... You got to create character 1st then if they show promise in the mid-card like Ziggler, Barrett, Swagger and others push them..... If they don't hold them to mid-card level......
It's like when you played that N64 game as a kid and still say it was the shit and much better then the stuff on today. But then play it when you grown up and you find out it's not nearly as good as you thought it was. might be a problem with some of these AE guys.
Of course we can't forget that the past is always viewed with some sort of favourable tint. That's because you can be selective about what you remember and leave out all the boring bits or vice versa, depending on what affect you're after. Mark my words, in 20 years time the current generation of fans will do the same, just like the way every single generation thinks and says "NO! We will be different!" and truly believes it, yet when the sands of time have dropped and passed you WILL find yourself in that boat going "Man, I swore I'd never be THAT guy" while shrugging your shoulders in passive recognition and acceptance. *sigh*
it's not the talent, it's the promoter that is the problem
The problem isn't that they can't draw, it's that they aren't booked well...The product isn't competitive enough. Cough mid card championships cough
Back in the day, there used to only be a few main eventers and there seemed to be more guys battling for the mid card titles than there were in the main event. The main eventers feuded with main eventers or up and coming talent when they were not competing for the titles.
Main eventers need to leave the midcarders alone!
I agree with the OP
Don't get me wrong, watching today's superstars are very entertaining. The standard of wrestling has drastically increased, with younger more vibrant talent appearing on camera. We have multiple platforms such as NXT to display up and coming talent for the online community and also main event and saturday morning slam.
Similarly to one of the member of the IWC stated above, it may be due to our favourite wrestlers of our generation leaving, and creative somewhat trying to replace them. Its gotten to a stage of denial, where us as the more wiser wrestling fans who have been watching the sport for years, cannot handle that it will never be like it once was. Even if the technical level of wrestlers wasnt too great, nothing will ever compare to the wrestling we initially started watching, and I mean nothing. They could be doing 360 shooting star presses, or reverse tombstone pile drivers, the fact of the matter is, in our eyes, the generation of wrestling we watched was the best and will never be compromised. Similarly to the kids who are watching wrestling of this ERA; they will believe this is the best ERA and will whole-heartedly stick by that when this current line up of wrestlers leave. It is a continuous cycle, which professional wrestling has encountered.
Personally, I feel the passion or the tenacity to succeed in the business has changed. Changed in the sense, I feel that it is indeed lacking in today's industry. No one has that drive to become world champion. Yeah you've got the CM Punks, the John Cenas but what I could sense and ultimately feel from the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Kurt Angle, Triple H, Undertaker, Kane, Mick Foley and other wrestlers which defined that ERA, was they looked and felt like they loved the business and what they do. This may be down to the writers, or just their general mindframe, but they generally gave me the impression they were there for us, and not just the money. They ENTERTAINED me, not just a little "haha, that was funny", or "damn! that was cool" but like "OH MY GOD!! I DID NOT JUST SEE/ HEAR THAT" because they were believable.
I guess what we can muster from what I all said is
They made wrestling feel real, and not just a comedy skit/soap opera which I am experiencing today in watching WWE.
Passing of the torch... Such an outdated concept... Something that should literally make no difference. But I guess you could say that Rocly is going to pass the torch on now... Too bad they are booking so he passes it to the only guy in the company that doesn't need his help.