Loss

Some of the things mentioned about wrestlers I think they get. Part of it is the micromanaged house style. Wrestlers are specifically told not to sell injuries from previous matches because "no one cares about that stuff". The style also isn't one that allows for a lot of long-term selling. Some of this started under Russo in the late 90s, oddly enough. He set a rule that no one could apply a hold longer than 30 seconds, because of the feeling that if channel flippers saw a match with wrestlers not moving around, they wouldn't stay tuned.

Not to mention the cardinal sin of a company employee who doesn't face the public receiving and being proud of a prestigious award.

Sort of makes me laugh. The NWA was interested in Jimmy Garvin.

I mean less that in more of a sense that you can't do things (well, you can, but you know what I mean) like death. The villain more than likely has to be seen and heard from again. It's also harder to do stories with characters that shouldn't conceivably be having wrestling matches, like children or the elderly. There are limitations to what can be done between men and women. It's just not as wide open a medium as a normal TV show. There's something positive to be said for wrestling that takes a very straightforward and basic but logical approach. The WWF did this in their 1980s peak and brilliantly paired the simplicity with first-class production values. I'm not the first to say this but they sort of made it the story of a "town" where you had the barber and the warrior and the hammer and the snake and the giant and all these unique personalities, and then they'd mix them up. (And then late 90s WCW was sort of an unauthorized fanfic take on this, where all the people involved moved to a new town and had grown old and cynical). They also experimented a lot -- there were a lot more misses than people generally remember during both of their peak periods, but I think most fans are willing to tolerate some risks, especially if the overall average is more good than bad.

This won’t get me much love but I don’t think pro wrestling as a medium is capable of storytelling that’s as sophisticated as the best TV. And that’s ok. It is, however, great at delivering satisfying payoffs, and they could do a lot more there.

Some of the other industries millennials are hurting, or "killing" as this article puts it, although that isn't true of WWE: - Casual dining chains like Buffalo Wild Wings and Applebees - Beer - Napkins - Cereal - Golf - Motorcycles - Yogurt - Homeownership - Diamonds - Fabric softener - Department stores - Designer handbags - Gyms - Home improvement stores like Lowe's and Home Depot - Football - Oil

Dave is interesting pointing out why nostalgia won't save them this time on the latest WOR. Garrett suggested opening up the wallet for someone like an Austin to be on RAW once a month, but the issue is that most of their decline is happening in viewers under 35 years old. So we should be more specific in how we talk about this decline. What's happening right now is a failure to get young viewers.

I'm baffled that they are still going through with it considering that's the case. The whole explanation was that because it's a TV rights fees world now, Vince actually had a path to profitability.

I notice this a lot. Even little things in commentary can be said in passing like reminding people of how titles change hands, that the wrestler getting tagged in has to be holding the tag rope, etc. They don't need to become 1985 Mid South but as you said, it should always be accessible for first-time viewers. I've noticed that they also don't really plug the WWE Network much anymore. It's amazing how undisciplined they are sometimes.

Why is Daniel Bryan the only person who seems to fully understand what wrestling is?

Yes. That and its offshoots -- Strowman, Umaga, Rusev -- are the only type of push they've proven they can get right regularly in the last 15 or so years. It's been a long time since they've demonstrated that they can proactively get over a wrestler at that level who does normal wrestler things like sell and sometimes lose.

I really liked that match, but the three kickouts after Blue Thunder Bombs was a bit crazy. It made Kofi look great but are they planning on going with him for the foreseeable future? This week makes me wonder if they've changed their thinking away from him being a short-term thing. Clean pins in the main events on both of the big shows in long and competitive matches, and Bryan seems to be going in a different direction.

I will say this. I buy the possibility of a title change in every Kofi Kingston defense and bite on the nearfalls.

Probably early since people don't really have specific reason to cheer or boo yet and we don't know anything about his motivations other than that he seems to hate opening match comedy wrestlers and the Hardys because reasons.

Could turn into a Jerishow thing where the tag titles end up the top titles in the company, especially if they can go between shows.

The benefit of using Rhyno would be to do 10 minute opening matches on house shows with younger wrestlers who need ring time. Perhaps he should be back in NXT doing it though, since they don't seem to call up as many greenhorns anymore.

I raise everyone that John Cena once main evented a PPV in a match where he didn't even get in a single offensive move.

Bryan is back, which gives the company exactly one heel that is a bonafide top guy.

I really hate this shit of getting monsters over by having them come out when stuff unrelated to them is happening to destroy people. Why not just put them in squashes? This is what I was talking about in how they don't treat opening match acts with value. Just do a Lars-NWJ match and make it a squash.

Imagine viewing yourself and the people around you in such a way.

Vince put over the concept in such a self-deprecating way that I wasn't sure if he really meant it. I didn't get the sense that this is a new thing so much as Vince was making fun of himself for being out of touch.

Everything about her act is lame. I call it the Women's Right because I am a woman and it's my right hand.

A so-called Southern belle wearing black shoes after Easter is really horrible attention to detail.

I'm guessing that they still care more about bad Raw ratings than bad Smackdown ratings. Not for long, of course.

I said it on Twitter, but Sami Zayn is the perfect example of someone really needing an interviewer to act as a foil. The whole thing would play so much better with a Mean Gene or Lance Russell rolling eyes, sighing, arguing, and the rest.