Posted By: natedoggcata (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 07:11 PM
The only way the WWE can increase ratings is by the return of the HARDCORE TITLE!
Posted By: Matt P (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 07:11 PM
why cant wrestling fans let go of the past?
the hardcore title was a joke. you had wrestlers with more title reigns than ric flair.
the hardcore title is dead. GET OVER IT.
Posted By: rey (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 07:24 PM
~The only way the WWE can increase ratings is by the return of the HARDCORE
TITLE!~
yeah, i find flaw to that logic. if that were true, ECW would be taking over the ratings...
Posted By: hexedfrontman (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 07:29 PM
I guarantee if the brand extension ended and that element of surprise came back, the ratings would increase
Posted By: natedoggcata (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 07:30 PM
Cena = RATINGS
Posted By: Smart Smark (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 07:52 PM
Sorry to break it to you hexedfrontman, but there is nothing extreme nor hardcore about the new ECW.
Posted By: Huzzah! (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 08:11 PM
Yeah I can see Cena made a huge difference in ratings I know I know he did raise it a .1
Posted By: Smart Smark is a fool (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 08:17 PM
Yeah Cena=Ratings, he equals a whole massive 0.1, what a Ratings Draw, lol
Posted By: Cena=Ratings LOL (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 08:19 PM
They don't count in the "taped" dvr shows. May not be a huge difference but iirc, RAW is one of the most dvr'd shows as well.
With that said, GO CENA GO!
Posted By: Cena Raw still outperformed (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 08:34 PM
the fact that face Mr. Kennedy and King General Manager William Regal didn't increase the ratings significantly should show that quality will never equal the actual ratings (see: Raw 1997)
Posted By: markhenrysquash939 (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 08:45 PM
It's amazing to see how people failed to see the sarcasm in Matt P's post.
Posted By: JJ (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 08:48 PM
It's still real to me damnit!
Posted By: Tool Shed (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 09:03 PM
Yes, bring back the Hardcore Title and have Cena win it at Waffle House when he pins Jeff Hardy after giving him the FUscatteredsmothered andcovered.
Posted By: Scrotum Pole (Registered) on May 13, 2008 at 09:12 PM
"It's amazing to see how people failed to see the sarcasm in Matt P's post"
i was thinking the same thing
Posted By: Litas Biggest Fan (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 09:22 PM
Once again, the late 90's ratings are an unreasonable measuring stick.
The landscape is completely different.
The ratings boom was due to the nWo explosion which led to the Attitude Era which birthed SCSA and the Rock, DX, etc.
They didn't replinish those stars very well at all.
The problem is that now they are having to build these new stars and their booking isn't drawing on any kind of human emotion to produce the resulting rise of ratings.
There are millions of people that used to watch when it was good that are not being tapped into.
What's the answer? That's the question. We keep talking about the problems but someone in WWE or TNA needs to come up with the next big idea.
I was watching Bobby Heenan's shoot from a few years back and he said a few times that the "magic" is over, they showed how they did all the tricks. Maybe there is something to that? Maybe that is why the UFC is gaining in so much popularity.
I miss angles like the Von Erich's / Freebirds, nWo (in the beginning) etc. I guess those days are gone forever.
As an aside, if WWE is doing 3.2-3.5 and TNA is doing 1.0 - is it really that bad for a 6 year old company? It really isn't considering the history and brand of the E.
But bashing TNA is the new thing to do.
Peace.
Posted By: JT (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 10:25 PM
Cheers @ the sarcasm of the hardcore title comment.
Cheers @ the hope of ending the brand extension.
(watching the last few weeks, its been quite blurred anyways.. so just end the dam thing all out !)
(its causing too much stagnation)
and to boost ratings..
they need a story.
they need "epicness"
The "just a man chasing a title" isn't enough these days.
there needs to be more plots and threads..
there needs to be a reason why i care if wrestler X beats wrestler Y.
Other then the Flare farewell, when was the last time you can remember any true storyline ?
even built in story lines get dropped after fate -hands- it to them on a solid platter.
Ashley and the escort scandal.
How did Cena return so fast after what was supposed to be a year long recovery ?
Do a roid's story line.. have CM Punk start to question how he returned so fast..
the "Straight edge superstar" casts doubt upon the phoenix that has risen.
its a way to turn him heel, which i think would be great for punk..
it gives vince and cena a way to flip off cnn and make light of there
"interview" last year..
hell, start it off by cena winning the belt,
then punk "Mitb'ing" him out of nowhere.
I see it now,
Cena Hunter II
for weeks punk does teasing that he's gonna cash in the mitb on hunter..
hunter finally has enough of it and pedigrees punk. lays waste to him
punk makes friendly with cena and roots him on in his corner..
cena and hunter go a solid 28, 34 minutes.. blading, chairs..
a real hunter 2000 / 2001 match.
Cena pulls it off after some hijenks with hunter going after punk
on the outside..
punk comes in.. Mitb in his right hand, raises Cenas hand with his left
Cenas music playing loud.. Lilian begins to announce
"And New World Wrestling Entertainment Heavyweight Cha.."
and then "BOOM" case, right in the face !
punk cashes it in.. 1, 2 , 3..
ppv ends with punk standing over cena.. belt in one hand,
Mitb case with cenas blood over it in the other.
"Why Punk.. why"
then go on to the Roid's story line.
"I've been watching how the "Franchise" superstar has been conducing
himself over the last year.. and there are just too many questions
that haven't been answered.. i can't allow this company to have
a roid popper as its poster boy ANYMORE !!"
lol.. or something like that.
(and no, i don't think cena's popping roids but i think it would
make for some good tv)
Its a Classic Vince Story,
in the Crazy vince era.
Posted By: DumDum (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 10:44 PM
J.T., I think you, me and my lil bro are the only ones who agree about the ratings deal with WWE and TNA. Everyone bashes TNA for their lack of ratings growth, but the WWE has seen more declines in their ratings than TNA. Thats not by happenstance. If you compare the tenures of both companies you'd realize just how much of a baby TNA still is. Sure, I'd like to see TNA stay more consistent with sensible booking, but for a six year old company, they are doing exceptionally well. Heck, I'd go as far as to say they are doing alot of things better than WWE(Women's division, midcard and tag titles). I really think a Kaz/Joe or Storm/Joe world title feud and a A.J./Angle feud would do wonders for the company. Throw in LAX/Machineguns, Petey/Lethal, Kong and Gail, ODB, or Roxxi and you got yourself some great potential matches with alot of non-WWE/WCW stars. Guys like Sting and Booker are there to help the company grow. They're not cancers like the Hogans of the World. Nash isn't needed. Rhino, Christian and others still have plenty of gas in the tank and I think a returning Abyss and the unmasking of Curry-Daniels could be intriguing. TNA has so much to offer us. Here's hoping they realize it before its too late.
Posted By: Brady (Guest) on May 14, 2008 at 01:17 AM
I agree. I hate it when people say, "Well how's TNA doing with those 1.0's?" TNA has grown in the last 6 years while WWE has lost half of its fanbase.
Posted By: JJ (Guest) on May 14, 2008 at 04:16 AM
Up is still better than down.
Posted By: T.G. Corke (Registered) on May 14, 2008 at 04:19 AM
EPIC SUCCESS!!!
Posted By: nuff said (Guest) on May 14, 2008 at 06:08 AM
No European title= NO RATINGS! Have Mercaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
Posted By: Jake_Fury (Registered) on May 14, 2008 at 08:31 AM
I understand that this rating, as well as recent ratings are not the best in the world, but still very good for the product WWE produces, and recent ratings are obviously not on parr with the ratings from 1999-2000. Now, if RAW dips BELOW 3.0, that's not good.
Posted By: MrMaye625 (Guest) on May 14, 2008 at 11:47 AM
"if RAW dips BELOW
3.0, that's not good."
didn't they do that already a couple weeks / months ago ?
Posted By: DumDum (Guest) on May 14, 2008 at 12:34 PM
Man I came across some ratings data from 7-8 years ago and it was literally more then twice these numbers. How do you alienate MORE THEN HALF of your fanbase??? Jeez. This generation of superstars just ain't getting it done.
Posted By: psych (Guest) on May 14, 2008 at 02:46 PM
snitsky = ratings
Posted By: Guest#9653 (Guest) on May 14, 2008 at 03:06 PM
"I agree. I hate it when people say, "Well how's TNA doing with those
1.0's?" TNA has grown in the last 6 years while WWE has lost half of its
fanbase."
ummm...i am not sure how that is true...oh wait...it is an uninformed opinion not based on any real provable facts and only hyperbole?
must be JJ again, playing 'smart'
Posted By: Darth Mortis (Registered) on May 14, 2008 at 03:26 PM
psych - it has nothing to do with alienating 1/2 the fan base. it has everything to do with
(1) no head to head competitive wrestling program
(2) increased competition from other cable networks
(3) time shifting
(4) NHL and NBA are in their respective post seasons and MLB is just starting up, and there is enough there to drag numbers down on their own
and
(5) an aging fan base.
as wrestling fans age, many of them leave the product altogether, some remain casual and the rest the die hard fans.
that is why the WWE is trying to secure the youth market now. if they can get the 6 year olds into it, then they can reasonably count on another 10 years of stability.
Posted By: Darth Mortis (Registered) on May 14, 2008 at 05:00 PM
Darth, this very day Dave Meltzer did a report on the fact that most wrestling fans who have stopped watching Raw would say they lost interest because of the show's decline in quality, and he points out that those excuses like NHL/NBA, other networks, lack of competition, etc... are just cop-outs. Maybe the products is lacking because of lack of competition, but people aren't watching because the product is lacking.
Posted By: psych (Guest) on May 14, 2008 at 09:18 PM
Was that supposed to be a comeback Darth Mortis? LOL that was awful your sorry company has lost half of its fanbase that is a fact. I know one you WWE marks don't want to face but it is reality.
You guys think of yourselves as the standard bearer but you have done nothing but take HUGE steps back since the beginning of this decade but keep telling yourself the WWE is having great ratings its funny as hell.
Posted By: LMAO At darth mortis (Guest) on May 14, 2008 at 10:15 PM
