*Official* Pro-Wrestling Thread II

[sledger]

I'm not applying the following for that specific instance on this week's Raw, but do the WWE genuinely need that one individual "poster boy" as Cena is?

In terms of making money, yeah, they do.

 

[andmark]

I'm inclined to agree, but the IWC throw around an idea of building multiple stars. But then that would make it harder for the WWE to market (as it's obviously easier to market one guy massively than it is to market several guys big but not as massively)

Backstage News On Sami Zayn And Kevin Owens In WWE NXT, Rumble Entrants On RAW, Cameron - WrestlingInc.com "Zayn could be in NXT for another year". The nature of NXT really has changed. It doesn't seem to be just the area where the young guys train, rather an actual entity ran by the young guys. Zayn is probably nearly entirely the cause of this.

 

[Manee]

I'm not applying the following for that specific instance on this week's Raw, but do the WWE genuinely need that one individual "poster boy" as Cena is?

It is an interesting point. Almost definitely not a 'permanent' one. It used to rotate quite regularly, no? We had Shawn Michaels in 1996, no one really in 1997, Stone Cold in 1998-2000, The Rock in 2000-2002 and then a gap and then the John Cena era. Fans even got tired of Stone Cold and The Rock after 3 years on the top. They need to be more ruthless in turnover of superstars. Hard to believe it was the same Vince McMahon that put Mr Perfect and Macho Man on commentary because they were too old and past it.

 

[andmark]

I suppose the major long term "poster boys" (for lack of a better term) have been Sammartino, Hogan and Cena which is a solid list, even if the shows are unfortunately predictable that at the end the poster boy will win

 

[sledger]

The people watching wrestling and the general target audience of the WWE "product" is drastically different at the present than at any other point in history. To the present target market, nobody is more appealing than Cena, and that is probably outside of the E's control. Nobody would shift as much merch as him, and that's regardless of whether the E tried to make someone else the face of the company.

 

[Goughy]

The people watching wrestling and the general target audience of the WWE "product" is drastically different at the present than at any other point in history. To the present target market, nobody is more appealing than Cena, and that is probably outside of the E's control. Nobody would shift as much merch as him, and that's regardless of whether the E tried to make someone else the face of the company.

Unless you mean that Cena is aimed at the older crowd then the idea that people watching WWE now is different is a myth

The average viewer (for the three shows) is 41.4 years old. The report indicates that viewership is getting older instead of younger.
The viewership for three shows is less than 19% under the age of 17. 22% of the viewership is between 18 and 34, and 22% between 35 and 49. 37% is over the age of 50.

411MANIA | WWE Viewing Demographics Breakdown Released

I take your point about merch though.

 

[andmark]

The accuracy of those figures have to be in question though. I mean, it's not typically 41 year old men who are the members of the Cenation who buy $100 million worth of Cena's merchandise, and so it's possible that those statistics don't reflect the true viewership

 

[Goughy]

The accuracy of those figures have to be in question though. I mean, it's not typically 41 year old men who are the members of the Cenation who buy $100 million worth of Cena's merchandise, and so it's possible that those statistics don't reflect the true viewership

It is ridiculous that you question the figures because it doesnt fit your preconception. And yes, it is the 41 year old men buying the Cena merch. Not for themselves but for kids who have a passing interest in wrestling. My kids have a lot of merch and they like wrestling but you cant get them to watch a 3 hour Raw. Also, Cena merch is by far the biggest seller at live shows. The shows are a fantastic family day out and the demographics there are very different to those who tune in to watch Raw and Smackdown on TV.

 

[andmark]

It is ridiculous that you question the figures because it doesnt fit your preconception. And yes, it is the 41 year old men buying the Cena merch. Not for themselves but for kids who have a passing interest in wrestling. My kids have a lot of merch and they like wrestling but you cant get them to watch a 3 hour Raw. Also, Cena merch is by far the biggest seller at live shows. The shows are a fantastic family day out and the demographics there are very different to those who tune in to watch Raw and Smackdown on TV.

Did I offend you or something? Can assure you my motivations behind that post were as Sledger notes below.

Yeah, I can see how kids would struggle to get through 3 hours of Raw, 2 hours of Smackdown along with the other, lesser, shows whilst older perhaps more "hardcore" fans would and pull up the average age of the viewership.

I noticed what you mean with the live events/ TV tapings audiences being different to those figure with a 41 average aged TV audience when I went to Smackdown in November. I'd estimate that around 1/3 of the audience were kids, and probably an extra 1/3 or so being parents. It was noticeable when Sami Zayn was wrestling and there were few "ole" chants, when an older audience may have been aware firstly of Zayn and secondly of the "ole" chants.

 

[sledger]

Tbf I think Andmark is right to query the figures to some extent. Cena's main fans are supposedly children and women, and so the fact that 41 is the average age of a viewer is not necessarily here nor there when it comes to the point I was trying to make.

And as with Andmark, though this is only anecdotal, the audiences at shows I've been to have largely been made up of parents with their children.

 

[OverratedSanity]

It is an interesting point. Almost definitely not a 'permanent' one. It used to rotate quite regularly, no? We had Shawn Michaels in 1996, no one really in 1997, Stone Cold in 1998-2000, The Rock in 2000-2002 and then a gap and then the John Cena era. Fans even got tired of Stone Cold and The Rock after 3 years on the top. They need to be more ruthless in turnover of superstars. Hard to believe it was the same Vince McMahon that put Mr Perfect and Macho Man on commentary because they were too old and past it.

Yeah, agree. I also don't buy the assertion that no one has been good/ambitious enough to be the next top guy in the company. The simple reason is that WWE just doesnt need to keep things fresh anymore. Their competition is a million miles behind them, and they can afford to play safe. Cena came in at the right time.... WWE's competition was all but dead, they needed a proper long term top guy because Brock was leaving, and when the belt was put on him, he was red hot. For the next decade, they just didn't build anyone up remotely to the same level for any length of time, because they didn't need to.

 

[duffer]

Yep they've found themselves a niche position. No need to shake things up while the current position is profitable. Boring for us adult smarks but what the hey.

edit: At least it's still watchable unlike TNA which is pure cringe.

 

[Jono]

You roll the dice though if the guy cops a serious injury ala Michaels hurting his back on the casket or Trips tearing a quad etc. In no way am I commenting on whether its the right or wrong move by WWE etc as I haven't watched since 2006. Just saying it seems risky. Compare it to Austin disappearing circa 2000 and how much cover the WWE had at the time (obviously they had the competition incentive).

Cena from all reports is also well behaved but you wouldn't want your sole top guy getting into a scandal etc.

Basically you're putting all your chips on one guy. For the WWE its paid off obviously.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Cena's some sort of genetic freak though... he's hard supposedly long-term injuries several time where they announce he'll be out for months. But every time that happens, he goes all Wolverine and comes back fully fit in like 5 weeks.

 

[duffer]

Just like John Terry. He just won't die no matter what happens.

 

[sledger]

Tbf though, I don't think the WWE really ever did put all their eggs in one basket. Sure, Cena was defo the top of the top, in their eyes, but we must not forget that over the course of the last decade guys like Batista, HBK, Edge, Orton and to some extent Taker featured very heavily.

Edge held the world title more than anyone, for instance, and I think Batista mainevented more PPVs than anyone over a course of several years, so I don't think it's really fair to say the E didn't bother building up anyone else.

 

[Goughy]

Did I offend you or something? Can assure you my motivations behind that post were as Sledger notes below.

Yeah, I can see how kids would struggle to get through 3 hours of Raw, 2 hours of Smackdown along with the other, lesser, shows whilst older perhaps more "hardcore" fans would and pull up the average age of the viewership.

I noticed what you mean with the live events/ TV tapings audiences being different to those figure with a 41 average aged TV audience when I went to Smackdown in November. I'd estimate that around 1/3 of the audience were kids, and probably an extra 1/3 or so being parents. It was noticeable when Sami Zayn was wrestling and there were few "ole" chants, when an older audience may have been aware firstly of Zayn and secondly of the "ole" chants.

Nah, not offended.

 

[duffer]

RAW and Smackdown live in India from now on. PPV's as well. Seriously awesome. Loved todays episode as well.

 

[OverratedSanity]

RAW and Smackdown live in India from now on. PPV's as well. Seriously awesome. Loved todays episode as well.

Awesome.

Still remember that day when I looked up raw results for the first time on the internet and realised I was 5 weeks behind schedule because of the ridiculously delayed telecast.

 

[sledger]

Vince McMahon Reportedly Not High On NXT | eWrestlingNews.com

"Sources have described Vince McMahon as being “very grumpy” lately and it’s said that he does not like the perception that NXT is putting on better shows than the main roster is...Vince is said to be very distainful of NXT’s success and reportedly feels that some of the NXT stars are overrated."

Pretty dire if true.