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With everyone complaining about the TV-PG regarding WWE, I personally see it a different way. I remember getting the "sickness" back when I was 8-9 in about 1990, and the product was similar. Hell, I remember being actually scared of Papa Shango. I foresee WWE looking to obtain a new audience, such as my son, and as they age, changing with them. Now I believe they should use all three brands differently, with RAW being the adult show, ECW being for the smarks (smaller venues and basically back where it belongs, hardcore), and SD being geared towards the younger demographic. But with that not a possibility, could that be the true plan, to grow with their audience? I know I wouldn't let my kids watch half the RAWs from the late 90s.
I think that is probably exactly what WWE is hoping for with going TV PG. The only problem with that line of thinking is that the early 90s were not a good period for WWE. Why would they want to repeat that? I think it's clear they are going for the 80s, with John Cena in the Hulk Hogan spot. Cena is not Hogan.
Given that they promote joint PPVs, it's kind of hard to have different audience for the three shows so they have to be somewhat consistent. If they choose to go TV PG, that still doesn't mean that creative has to check their brains at the door on Monday nights. But, what do I know.
I remember Raw is War. Then came Raw is Jericho. Now it has just become Raw is Stupid. And Bob Barker is the perfect host.
Ouch. But to be fair, Barker did a great job. I feel your pain though. I too wish WWE could get back to the days when Raw was a must watch show every week. I don't think it would be that hard to do either. Vince McMahon would just have to agree to let other ideas come to the forefront and then be receptive to them, even if it's not personally what wants to see.
Out of the following people , assuming that whomever they did it with matched their asking price, who can you see ever doing a taped "shoot" interview that is outside of the WWE "control"? (ALA what RFVideo and Highspots.com do): Vince McMahon, Linda McMahon, Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, and/or Triple H? And assuming they ever did it, how honest do you see them actually being in it? (IE separating real life/truth from storylines/what they think people will want to hear?) I understand that if they ever DID do that, we are a long time coming before it ever happens but I figure if Ric Flair can finally do one, why not those guys?
As long as Triple H stays married to Stephanie, none of the would ever do a shoot for an outside company. Why not? THEY OWN THE COMPANY! They have merchandising arm of their company that blows away the people you mentioned. Plus, they have a hit TV show to market it on and a website to sell it. If they were going to do the DVD, they would do it for themselves and cut out any middleman. Flair needs money, the McMahons don't because they own WWE.
I have been watching the rise and fall of WCW DVD. The documentary section was good aside from not really giving a coherent time line of the events and the omission of the fact that JCP was expanding so fast to compete with the expanding WWF. They also stated that Nitro was top in the ratings up until April 98, but concentrated a lot on the problems and bad story lines that happened well after that point. What do you think was the reason for the ratings change. Austin's first title win which was at that WrestleMania... the talent that was never used in WCW that jumped to WWF, Jericho, Giant, Eddie Guerrero etc... McMahon making himself into arguably the most hated heel in wrestling in no small part of to the Montreal screw job or the fact that by April 98, almost all of the old top guys were gone, Taker being the lone remaining and that allowed a very talented group to take over, Austin, HHH, Rock, Mick Foley, your thoughts.
I think all of those reasons are valid. I think the biggest reason for the ratings growth however was that the company totally changed its approach to how it presented the product and by doing so tapped into a group of people who never watched before (and now don't watch today). They were also blessed with an amazing roster of top tier talent, which was at the height of their careers during that time. It was a perfect storm for WWE.
Will we ever see a day where Vince McMahon makes a large donation to the World Wildlife Fund, and possibly gets them to agree to let him use his old footage unedited on DVDs? I hate all of the blobs covering the scratch logos, it takes away some of the enjoyment of watching older WWF for me.
Honestly, if a settlement was going to happen it would have by now. Since it hasn't, I don't see it being on the horizon.
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