Jim Cornette - "Wrestling is Dead."

[Bobby Boulders]

Yeah I saw that Mass Transit incident too. Apparently his Dad was in the front row watching that shit happen as well, brutal!

Christ... How could you let your son do that shit? Especially when knowing that New Jack is unstable... If the kid is running his mouth about Kowalski and his dad is in the stands, they were obviously hip to how crazy New Jack is. That's kinda upsetting.

 

[Brampton_Boy]

Is wrestling still as popular as it was in the mid to late 90s? I kind of got out of it right around the Attitude/NWO era, but it was insanely popular at the time.

I remember going to school and almost every kid having NWO written on their binders. Degeneration X was also a really big thing.

Have they cultivated any new talent/superstars? (and not just recycle guys like the Undertaker)

To be honest, I don't know that many people that watch MMA anymore - the sport is also very "star driven". Yes, you have your hardcore fans, but the average guy tunes in to watch the GSPs and RRs of the world. Take away the popular figures, and nobody cares - which is completely unlike other major sports.

 

[electricfuneral]

Is wrestling still as popular as it was in the mid to late 90s? I kind of got out of it right around the Attitude/NWO era, but it was insanely popular at the time.

I remember going to school and almost every kid having NWO written on their binders. Degeneration X was also a really big thing.

Have they cultivated any new talent/superstars? (and not just recycle guys like the Undertaker)

To be honest, I don't know that many people that watch MMA anymore - the sport is also very "star driven". Yes, you have your hardcore fans, but the average guy tunes in to watch the GSPs and RRs of the world. Take away the popular figures, and nobody cares - which is completely unlike other major sports.

No. Mainstream wrestling started openly targeting younger audiences and abandoned most of the sexual story lines.
Wrestling in the last few years can be broken down into three main eras as far as the WWE(F) goes.

Attitude Era: This is also called crash tv. They are semi realistic, ultra violent story lines that are hyper sexual. The stories usually flesh out quickly because the writers thought we had attention deficit disorder. This era had many good guys turn bad. This era earned wrestling a more mature audience on TV. The big star of the attitude era was Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Rock was the number 2 guy at the time.

Ruthless Aggression Era: This era toned down some of the sexuality and swearing but cranked up the violence. This era saw some of the old WCW start begin to really shine and grow into main card wrestlers. Ruthless aggression begin the rise of John Cena. Brock Lesnar was a big feature for the Ruthless aggression era. Chris Benoit and Batista were big in this era too. Edge was also a main guy in this era.

The PG Era is still going on now.
The company has now gone public and panders to a younger audience. John Cena is the main character. This era focuses heavily on merch sales, and plugging their subscription based service. This era basically ignores its old fan base and focuses on the young audience. Oddly enough, Brock Lesnar is becoming the best part of this era too. In the PG Era, WWE still does well but attendance is down, the WWE network is under performing and WWE is bleeding money. They lost almost 400 mill last year.

 

[wellz6]

I don't know if it's dead. But I do know it's fucking retarded.

Haha Pretty much this

 

[RedRocket44]

I truly, honestly can't comprehend how wrestling is so popular. I loved that shit... until I turned 11 and realized it's fake. How the hell does anyone past that age find it interesting?

If you want real fighting, there's boxing, MMA, kickboxing, college wrestling, etc.

If you want fake fighting with written scripts and characters, there's action movies.

Yeah it was about 13-14 for me, right at the start of the attitude era, when they almost full on embraced and accepted the fact that it wasn't real. I remember half watching when HHH got injured (quad muscle I think?) and they started the whole "it is real" campaign or whatever that slogan was on promos and commercials. Just started to get to cheesy for me, for a lack of a better word.

I think a lot of people my age (late 20s-early 30s) simply grew out of it. People call it a male soap opera and it's hard to say it's anything other. Around the same time my mom used to watch soap operas, and now she can't stand them. No difference in my mind.

That's not judging adults who like pro wrestling either, I tried to get into it later on but I just couldn't, just people grow out of it, and the same people probably think some of the TV shows I probably obsessed a little too much over (24, The Shield, etc) are stupid.

 

[My Spot]

I truly, honestly can't comprehend how wrestling is so popular. I loved that shit... until I turned 11 and realized it's fake. How the hell does anyone past that age find it interesting?

If you want real fighting, there's boxing, MMA, kickboxing, college wrestling, etc.

If you want fake fighting with written scripts and characters, there's action movies.

lol
I bet you still think Pride was real too.

 

[My Spot]

A lotta insecurity in this post

It's funny how so many posters on here are so insecure when it comes to wrestling. "HEY YOU KNOW IT'S FAKE RIGHT LOLZ!" Especially when the same people worship Pride and Sakuraba.

 

[HereticBD]

If you want real fighting, there's boxing, MMA, kickboxing, college wrestling, etc.

If you want fake fighting with written scripts and characters, there's action movies.

And if you want to hear an insecure, over-compensating, keyboard warrior talk shit about PW because he thinks it makes him a man, there's Sherdog.

 

[Kingz]

Christ... How could you let your son do that shit? Especially when knowing that New Jack is unstable... If the kid is running his mouth about Kowalski and his dad is in the stands, they were obviously hip to how crazy New Jack is. That's kinda upsetting.

His dad vouched for him to Paul Heyman i believe. Personally, i don't think they ever bought that he was a trained wrestler. They saw some douchy fat kid and decided to let New Jack go ape shit on him. Apparently the kid didn't help himself when he asked New Jack to bust him open before the match.

 

[HereticBD]

His dad vouched for him to Paul Heyman i believe. Personally, i don't think they ever bought that he was a trained wrestler. They saw some douchy fat kid and decided to let New Jack go ape shit on him. Apparently the kid didn't help himself when he asked New Jack to bust him open before the match.

The story goes...

The kid stepped in for some wrestler who didn't show up. Kid was supposed to basically do a quick job. Kid goes into the back and starts telling the Gangstas what he wants to be done in the match, like he's actually on the roster and has a say in the matter. New Jack takes offense, and proceeds to fuck him up.

New Jack is a genuine psychopath. If you want an example, type in "Gypsy Joe" over at youtube. In short, you'll see New Jack assault a 70+ year old man with an aluminum baseball bat.

 

[Bobby Boulders]

His dad vouched for him to Paul Heyman i believe. Personally, i don't think they ever bought that he was a trained wrestler. They saw some douchy fat kid and decided to let New Jack go ape shit on him. Apparently the kid didn't help himself when he asked New Jack to bust him open before the match.

I watched pieces of it earlier today. I'd never actually watched it before. Jesus... Two things I can't get over, how big that kid was, and the complete beating he took. New Jack made sure he'd never step foot in a ring again. One of the clips I saw was a death metal song, actually titled "Mass Transit Incident," with clips of the kid getting sliced up and beaten to go along with the disturbing song. It was pretty unsettling, all around.

Also watched his match with Gypsy Joe, which I'd seen before. Can't believe he'd go that crazy on an old ass man. New Jack is, maybe, the craziest man to ever step foot into a squared circle.

 

[ajwbjj87]

So he is basically saying that WWE killed wrestling just like Walmart killed mom and pop shops. That's globalization/corporate culture and not necessarily any particular person's "fault".

That being said, the monopoly created by WWE and the awful, awful PG era should deserve blame for a lot of people being uninterested with the business.

WWE did kill wrestling, infact Vince McMahon killed it by allowing TUF to come on after RAW,once his adult audience discovered mma and migrated over they were forced to move to PG which IMO is a complete disgrace to the spirit of the of the golden days of wrestling

 

[My Spot]

They moved to PG because that's what the market dictated. Kids buy more merchandise, period. Why do you think Cena will never turn heel?

 

[HereticBD]

They moved to PG because that's what the market dictated. Kids buy more merchandise, period. Why do you think Cena will never turn heel?

Pretty sure Austin sold his fair share of merch. Rock too. It was during the most popular and profitable era of PW ever.

The market never dictated the move to PG. Chris Benoit killing his family, a Mattel toy deal, and the company going public did.

 

[My Spot]

Well yeah that too. But this notion they went PG because of the UFC is wrong imo. I somehow forgot the Mattel deal which is probably the main reason.

 

[HereticBD]

Well yeah that too. But this notion they went PG because of the UFC is wrong imo. I somehow forgot the Mattel deal which is probably the main reason.

Don't forget about Linda Mcmahon running for office.

They didn't go PG because of the UFC though. That's just retarded.

 

[Kingz]

Pretty sure Austin sold his fair share of merch. Rock too. It was during the most popular and profitable era of PW ever.

The market never dictated the move to PG. Chris Benoit killing his family, a Mattel toy deal, and the company going public did.

I think it did. The Hogan era of the late 80's/early 90's was pretty much the same group of fans from the Attitude era. Just by around 93 those fans weren't watching anymore. Once those fans got a little older, still kids but not the type of fans 80's/early 90's WWE targeted. When Hogan became a bad guy, Stone Cold started beating up his boss, and Shawn Michaels started doing crotch chops it appealed to the teenage WWE fan. That is how it worked for me. I loved wrestling when i was a little little kid when Hogan was the man...then Bret Hart was the man. Then it just got boring and i stopped watching. I started watching again in my teens when Hogan became a bad guy and we got the anti-heroes.

I think WWE's move to PG was grooming the next generation. I think we'll see them move to a more "edgier" product when they think it will keep those kids watching when "superheroes" and "good guy vs. bad guy" is considered little kid shit and they want to see Cena tell fans to go fuck themselves. I think it was an accident in the 90's, but now i think the WWE is making an effort to push the envelope to where it will continuously appeal to this current generation of fans until it's time to appeal to the next one. Then, they will start the cycle again.

 

[HereticBD]

I think it did. The Hogan era of the late 80's/early 90's was pretty much the same group of fans from the Attitude era. Just by around 93 those fans weren't watching anymore. Once those fans got a little older, still kids but not the type of fans 80's/early 90's WWE targeted. When Hogan became a bad guy, Stone Cold started beating up his boss, and Shawn Michaels started doing crotch chops it appealed to the teenage WWE fan. That is how it worked for me. I loved wrestling when i was a little little kid when Hogan was the man...then Bret Hart was the man. Then it just got boring and i stopped watching. I started watching again in my teens when Hogan became a bad guy and we got the anti-heroes.

I think WWE's move to PG was grooming the next generation. I think we'll see them move to a more "edgier" product when they think it will keep those kids watching when "superheroes" and "good guy vs. bad guy" is considered little kid shit and they want to see Cena tell fans to go fuck themselves. I think it was an accident in the 90's, but now i think the WWE is making an effort to push the envelope to where it will continuously appeal to this current generation of fans until it's time to appeal to the next one. Then, they will start the cycle again.

That's a good theory, but they're never going back. The company is publicly traded, and Vince, like every other business owner, is afraid of pissing off the PC police that run the world. The Attitude Era suited the 90's. Today, it wouldn't fly.

Best to hope for is something like NXT, which manages to make a PG product not completely suck. That won't happen until Vince dies.

 

[matburn H]

The NWO era in WCW and attitude era from WWF was when wrestiling was insanely fun to watch. EVERYONE watched that shit. Hell my high school soccer team all had NWO wolf pack shirts we used to wear on game days in school.

 

[rdchili420]

I love how dumb you people are. Outside of the Attitude Era (Which was an era that lasted an entire 5 years in a company who has been going on for decades)) , WWE was always "PG" (Even when the rating system did not exist, they still catered towards kids and families. The 1980s would be considered PG and that was the Golden Age of wrestling.

I also think it's so damn funny how people romanticize the AE, forgetting stuff like Mae Young giving birth to a hand, Sammy The Tranny, "Choppy Choppy your Peepee", etc... it wasn't all sunshine and roses despite the TV 14 rating.