Taking A Simple Look at WWE

October 27, 2011 by Kane987245 » 22 Comments

Hello, the name is Robert Knight. I go by the name Kane987245 and Kane987321 when my other name gets disconnected for a time.

I did something for a few months on Bleacher Reports that I am now going to do here; blog about wrestling.

My entries will always vary on length depending on what I will be discussing. I hope to get out at least one post per week and that over time there will be a decent amount of people who will read them.

With that said, let the show begin.

Over the past couple of months WWE has improved their product. They have not had a bad PPV since Extreme Rules, wrestlers are getting pushed who were not before, the storylines are fun to watch, and it seems like chaos and unpredictability are now welcomed back in open arms.

People will immediately point to C.M Punk as the man who perpetrated the change. Others would go back further and point to R-Truth when he began his heel change and went after the "PG Poster Boy" John Cena.

Whatever the point people would like to go to WWE has made a great change. They are still PG but are less kid friendly and that alone has caused fans to return and watch WWE. Curse words are used more frequently, chaos is always part of the storyline, unpredictability is apparent, and most importantly WWE seems to be going back to the old way of doing things by having storylines planed out in advance instead of guessing every month.

Months ago when WWE was the kid friendly PG version they did nothing but stay safe and keep the title on John Cena. Every PPV main event would end in the same formula like clockwork; John Cena gets beaten up for a good ten-fifteen minutes, John Cena does his "5 moves of doom", end of the match and John Cena wins in about three minutes after his beating. He would act as if nothing happened to him and he decided to take a nap the entire match before doing anything.

WWE did this for not just months but years. Fans would consistently cry out that WWE is predictable, safe, and most importantly crap. Even the most loyal of fans would start walking away from the product when WWE did something else for years on end--abuse the real talented wrestlers and let them go for no real reason other than lazy writing. The wrestlers themselves grew tired of never getting a break, never being used right, and simply being completely underutilized. If WWE was not releasing them they would demand for it.

All of that was many months ago as WWE has been shaping up rather well. When C.M did his worked shoot that caused the IWC and all wrestling fans to go into a stir WWE suddenly was thrown back into the media light. People where wondering what was being done and what would happen next. Eventually after countless and perfected other worked shoots "Money in The Bank" would become the must see PPV of the year. Was C.M Punk going to walk out with the title and out of the company and in his hometown?

When the Ref counted three and C.M Punk had won the title the IWC and all wrestling fans alike celebrated as it seemed that WWE had officially signaled a new type of era in the WWE. No longer would they play it safe and not take risks. Now WWE is taking more risks than they had in years and their storylines are not short, predictable, and dull. They are making the effort to keep fans guessing, intrigued, and some wrestlers who were not even given a second thought have been thrown into the spotlight.

The biggest examples of those are C.M Punk, R-Truth, The Miz, and the biggest beneficiary, Zack Ryder. WWE is listening to their fans again and while they do not do everything that they may want and ask, they consider a lot of what is said. WWE still has a long way to go and still have problems they need to deal with like the Divas division and the mid-card just to name a few.

However for WWE let them take their problems on one at a time. They already have done a lot and it does not seem they are slowing down their change any time soon. Good Luck WWE many fans are hoping that the best is yet to come.

Thu, 10/27/2011 - 13:51

Duck56k

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WWE has no future, in my opinion but if they did and to save themselves, they would need to return to an M rating, or even jump to AO.
It is probably wise to quit the absurd, soap opera style story-lines, with people that can't act and try putting in more effort than cycling the heels and baby faces - The stupid old absurd story lines worked in the nineties, as the characters were equally, if not more extremely nuts. In contrast, now, all of the characters are just.. clones of a few wrestlers that did well in the transition of late 90's to early 00's.

That is part of what I think, any way.

Thu, 10/27/2011 - 14:28

(Reply to #2) #3

Reese Kaine

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Vince needs to realize that either A) It's kinda lonely at the top, and maybe help others up so that people will have a choice again between shows (Reason, because Vince THRIVES on competition*), or B) that his show has become absurd as all fuck and embrace it (Having the new Disney style of Muppets hosting Raw is a start). Maybe shake the camera when the Big Show does a chokeslam. Just overall pretend that we forgot about Wrestling Society X and simply emulate that.

I said in the chat, and I'll say it again: Digging back to the 80s for ideas, I would suggest devoting a weekend show to promos and highlights, and have the flagship show focus entirely on the wrestling. Maybe have the talents beat down on rookies again, week to week, getting fans interested in seeing the PPVs. Because what's happened, IMO, is that we've become desensitised to the PPV-quality matches by having PPV matches on cable every damn week, it gets kinda old. I remember back in the day when a tag team title match was the main event at a WWF show.

Hell, I remember being at a Wrestling Challenge taping where the Road Warriors debuted (Gene Okerlund was interviewing Demolition and they stood there and watched as Hawk and Animal worked the match). BTW, the main event was a mixed-tag between Savage & Sherri vs Dusty and Sapphire (With Elizabeth).

Yeah, I just namedropped a fat guy surrounded by corpses. What?

All in all, the problem has become, in my eyes, that we've been having steak and wine every damn night, and we've gotten bored.

*Fun story recalled from Paul E. Back during the ECW invasion, before the show, Paul was looking for Vince, and found him backstage getting ready, using an electric razor. Sounds normal, right? It would have been normal if Vince wasn't GRINDING IT INTO HIS FACE; Paul.E thought he was trying to hurt himself. Then Vince sees Paul and goes "My daughter tells me I compete with my own beard! HAHAHA!" Evidently, Vince can't stand not competing with somebody.

Thu, 10/27/2011 - 15:12

(Reply to #4) #4

Kane987245

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Another comment i strongly disagree with. I think people here are too longing for the past. It is not going to happen. WWE has talent and has treated them much better than in the past years. The fact that matches are good during the cable shows are never bad.

Thu, 10/27/2011 - 15:07

(Reply to #2) #5

Kane987245

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I strongly disagree with you. WWE has never been an M rated show and does not need to near as as that to get people back. They are growing at a slow pace and people are paying attention to what interest them and if WWE had a decent middle card their shows would have strong ratings all around in the show.

Thu, 10/27/2011 - 14:28

greatbeavers

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I have to admit. I am a wrestling fan myself and I used to watch WWE and such until The Time John Cena gotten into WWE. At the time I gotten bored of it completely and well hearing TNA at what they're doing wasn't helping much either. It is good to hear WWE is getting back to the old roots that made them awesome yet they do have a long step to get really good.

I've been hearing alot about CM Punk and such and I'm getting to the point that I want to see what WWE has truly improved on. Knowing WWE and well the stuff they have to deal with that I don't really know, it be hard for WWE to bring back Nudity to even a PPV. I feel bummed out at the time The Godfather and The Ho Train got discontinued and well The Godfather wasn't as hilarious and awesome as he was after that part of WWE happened. I do believe if WWE used some women atleast with the formula they have now, that be really good and well maybe one step closer to atleast something raunchy to Nudity but then again, Television now days are playing safe since kids be watching and well possible lawsuits from anyone who takes offence too much.

If there be another thing that I noticed is that some of the old time favorites doesn't really wrestle much but then again this is the now and well hearing about TNA, The idea of having the same old storyline and wrestlers sucks. So Newer wrestlers is most likely the case counting if they can do whatever the fans would love them for. Not beating on the old timers, it's just hard for them to be wrestling when they get at a age since any wrestler is recommended to be at tip top shape for what they go thru. If the fans loves them regardless, that be their strong point.

I may not be right on key with many parts of what made WWE great or if I sort of said something wrong, but all I know is that hopefully WWE is really gonna be as great as they used to be in the old days but with a formula that's between WWE and the fans. I said alot since this Blog caught my eye very well.

This Blog I give huge respect for how well it's pointing out at WWE and the history of what WWE be doing years ago and now showing a big difference of WWE's change to hopefully they get better over time. And thus The Blogger diserves some Ice Cream or Cookies :)

Thu, 10/27/2011 - 15:15

(Reply to #3) #7

Kane987245

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At least you are not suggesting such absurd things has spiking up to an M rating or longing for WWe to return to their past. It is not going to happen and does not need to happen. WWE has a great talent line up and WWE is starting to ultlize them. WWE is backing away from Super Cena and are letting others get the spot. The tag team division is heating up and we get good matches from them and the only real thing they need to make over completely is the Divas division.

Cookies and ice cream1!?!?!!? =D

Thu, 10/27/2011 - 18:58

(Reply to #7) #8

Coldbleach0

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Completely redo the Diva division is a bit of an understatement. I think what had worked before in the Diva division was the fact that there where all off...6 divas, Tori, Stacy, Lita, Trish, Chyna and...uhhh...Molly Holly...wow that was a stretch. While we knew Lita, Trish, Chyna and Molly (thanks to her brothers) could wrestle, Tori and Stacy were more of the Kelly Kelly's. But the fact that there was such a tightly knit group, their skills improved a lot to the point that Stacy went from just legs with a face to a passable wrestler. Now...there's so many diva's it's hard to keep track of them on top of the fact that the talent isn't as...good. They went from sexy and athletic to just sexy (though I still say Lita looked a bit like a man...which Beth Phoenix is the new Lita)
And a reworking of the mid cards would be nice but I think they should also try fixing up the low cards. Have a way to start off the show or fill a spot that won't make us change the channel. I say bring back a Cruiserweight/lightweight title. Something like that will give the lower cards a chance to move up to midcard and a way to lower midcards without just ruining them (aka John Morrison)

Thu, 10/27/2011 - 19:08

(Reply to #8) #9

Kane987245

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The Cruiserweight title should be brought back considering WWE has MANY lightweights and nothing to do with most of them. Bringing back the title automatically gives those guys a chance to shine and both of the Sin Cara's to shine.

Fri, 10/28/2011 - 14:00

(Reply to #7) #10

Duck56k

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Slow down your enthusiasm buddy. It is not absurd. I want to see barb wire and thumb tacks, fake blood and I want to hear swearing and pissed off crazy murderers. I don't care about the little Jimmies and there are more than one show under WWE, raw needs to be M, smackdown needs to stop being the retarded little brother (talent wise) and just be an awesome PG show.

Thu, 10/27/2011 - 20:27

#11

achilles

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Nice article Kane, we should totally talk about this if we are ever on the LK skype call again.

Thu, 10/27/2011 - 22:57

(Reply to #10) #12

Kane987245

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Much agreed man. Oh,and thanks for suggesting me blog here. It what really got me thinking about it =]

Fri, 10/28/2011 - 11:42

#13

Foglegs

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I'd sort of fallen out of wrestling for a long time and oddly I fell back in around the time of the Extreme Rules PPV. From what I've seen since then I'm honestly curious as to what you think WWE had improved on.

From my point of view they've done some good stuff (CM Punk and the lead up to Money in the Bank, R-Truth's amazing heel turn and MARK HENRY) but a lot of that is undermined by the bad thing they've done (Shoving Kevin Nash and Triple H into the spotlight, Triple H as COO, the laughable walk out, utterly abysmal commentary and bizarre stop start pushes) but I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts. I think Money in the Bank was a fantastic PPV and everything since then has been pretty much downhill. Except MARK HENRY who has been amazing.

Anyways, looking forward to reading some more and for your first post I'm going to avoid complaining about Triple H. For noooow.

Fri, 10/28/2011 - 12:45

(Reply to #12) #14

Kane987245

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I disagree that things have been going down hill. I think WWE has had a roller coaster ride with it since MITB. They have mostly done some good things but like i said, there is plenty ti improve. I hope Cole leaves so I dont have to hear him again. He went from funny to annoying as hell.

Fri, 10/28/2011 - 14:11

(Reply to #13) #15

Duck56k

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That is Cole's job. That is the character. A common enemy for everyone to band together and hate against. He does it well and it is always satisfying when he gets what he deserves.

Antagonists rule.

Edit: I do agree that they got a bit to excited with his success and ran him too much. I'd say they should tone him down but I doubt they can. He is just so good at the role. Asking him do be less annoying is like going back in time and asking the UWarrior to be less batshit insane.

Fri, 10/28/2011 - 17:20

(Reply to #15) #16

Kane987245

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I dont think he is too good at the role, i think he exguasted it to the point that no one really cares that much about what it is and just wish's it would stop. Not because he is good but because he passed the line of over the top and onto just pure annoying. A great heel knows how to get their heat but not look stale in the process.

Fri, 10/28/2011 - 20:21

(Reply to #16) #17

Duck56k

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Show me a great heel and I will show you a century that is not this one.

Sat, 10/29/2011 - 08:32

(Reply to #17) #18

Kane987245

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Dude.... i think you should reword that. You got me confused here

Sat, 10/29/2011 - 08:46

#19

Foglegs

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For so long it felt like they were getting Michael Cole ready to be a heel manager, probably to Swagger. But then that never happened and he just... stayed there. I don't mind him being a heel but he refuses to call matches, he shouts down the other commentators and continually buries the wrestlers in the ring. He damages the show, it's actually better to to listen to the show on mute because the commentary doesn't just add nothing it actually takes away from the match. Last night's Smackdown Wade Barrett had a match with Trent Barretta and despite the fact they're clearly trying to build up Wade Barrett Cole spent most of the match yelling about the Michael Cole Challenge and heckling Booker T. It was distracting.

Also, I will never not love heel Miz.

Mon, 10/31/2011 - 08:20

(Reply to #19) #20

Kane987245

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Face Miz should never exist Him as a heel is gold and should never change. Same thing with R-Truth. You are exactly right with him being a distraction. Thank God the wrestlers dont have to hear this crap.

Mon, 10/31/2011 - 16:52

#21

giantgram

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To me WWE has never been a promotion worth watching. They have had great matches and they have had good wrestlers, but lack the athletic part of Pro-Wrestling to keep me interested. To me its not about how well you can cut a promo or what flashy moves you can do, its about if can tell a story in a match and how well you do it. It annoys me that so many people just settle for whats current and whats in their country, instead of looking into the past and looking at the other promotions in the world as well. there is so much good wrestling to look for instead of watching WWE, TNA, or ROH.

Mon, 10/31/2011 - 19:18

#22

Kane987245

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So you are telling me we need to dwell in the past instead of supporting the future and hence screwing anything positive it could bring by trying to change today? Your idea IS the reason why WWE does not change what they do today.

Mon, 10/31/2011 - 20:06

#23

giantgram

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I meant to say do not just watch current wrestling,but look at Classic wrestling also. I was not trying to say do not watch current wrestling.

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