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Is WWE doing better, worse or about the same when it comes to hooking new fans today than it did during each of the 1980s and 1990s boom periods?
It is hard to compare today to the 80s since they were undergoing their national expansion back then. People who had never seen the product were suddenly able to do so and obviously that meant that they hooked a lot of new fans. The 90s however are apples to apples. Back then, they did more viewers for their TV shows and had an extended streak of sellouts in major arenas so it's fair to say that they did a better job then than they do today.
With the odd exception of a few, is it possible for a wrestler from the UK to make it as a face in American pro wrestling? Just looking at the current picks from the UK, you have Wade Barrett, Mason Ryan, Drew Macintyre and Doug Williams all as heels.
I don't see any reason why not. Davey Boy Smith was pretty over back in the day. It all depends on how the company pushes them. If they push a guy as a face and he has the ability to get it over, there's no reason American fans wouldn't cheer for him. The UK is hardly a heel country over here. Just look at the recent Royal Wedding to see how much the US likes the Brits.
I don't get this. John Cena gets the hell beat out of him. By two people. For quite some length of time. And all of a sudden, he gets his STF locked in and like 1 minute later (if that long), Miz says I quit!. I know that helps the Super Cena mythology, but what does it do for/to the Miz? It seems odd that after all this time of building him up, they would tear him down so fast. And then on Raw. Jeez..where do you think they are going with this? Is Miz moving down to mid-card?
Creative doesn't look at it that way. Right now, they think heels have to cheat and act cowardly and can't be presented as an even match for a Superman babyface like Cena. They feel that Miz is over big right now, which is why they are using him to elevate Alex Riley. I agree with you though, I would like to see guys more evenly matched on the face and heel side. It makes the matches and programs more interesting. With that said, if Miz is in the mid-card by the end of the year, it will show that creative dropped the ball with him.
So, Truth wants his title match. Hypothetically speaking, he gets his title match and somehow ends up beating Thor Cena, and assume that he's somehow going to hold on to the strap for a month; how would that work considering Truth is not allowed in Canada, one of the bigger wrestling markets in the world? Or is that the reason why Truth hasn't become a world champion?
He worked in Canada last month so it appears WWE has cleared the issue up finally. I wouldn't say that isn't why he wasn't made champion until now though. The two aren't related.
ROH got their TV deal going now, and with Punk's contract and future in the WWE seemingly up in the air...what would be the odds that Punk ends up back in ROH? That would be hardly a game-changer, or landscape altering for the business, but that would still be a huge coup for ROH and Sinclair!
A lot of people are wondering that but I would put the odds at 5:1, at best. Punk seems to be ready to take a break after keeping a long, brutal schedule for years, kind of like other talents have before him. He has saved/invested his money from what I gather so he doesn't need to jump into something else. Another matter here is that ROH is not the company he came up in. No one really knows what it will be like with Sinclair in charge of the company now. I would venture to guess that even if Punk wanted to go there, he would want to see how things will be run before signing a contract with them.
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