Strummer Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 I've seen a few bits online saying Bryan has already jumped the shark. Damn he hasn't even got the proper push yet and turned into the typical WWE babyface. I thought it would be at least till summer before we started hearing this stuff. And from SD it looks like Shield are turning babyface. Maybe they have decided to keep them together or just a swerve and they break up at Mania Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Oh and apparently the Yes Movement was Brie Bella's idea and they liked it and went with it. She might have saved his push with that because they were able to use it for merchandise and branding him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Well they seemed to be focusing on the beard and goat stuff before that started Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeCampbell Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 A buddy and I were discussing this tonight, and here's what we came up with. 1. HHH over Bryan by cheating, just to break the fans hearts, and make them think they aren't getting the big WM moment. 2. Batista vs. Orton for about five minutes, which is sure to fucking DIE with a PO'd crowd who wanted Daniel Bryan. 3. Hogan reverses the decision to a DQ win (not unprecedented, Rock did something similar in 2011, with Cena/Miz) and adds Bryan to the match. 4. Bryan wins, and the show closes out like WrestleMania 10, with all the babyfaces celebrating with him in the ring like they did with Bret. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Redman Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Hogan walking out mid-match to reverse the decision of a match that ended an hour or so ago seems weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 I've seen a few bits online saying Bryan has already jumped the shark. Damn he hasn't even got the proper push yet and turned into the typical WWE babyface. I thought it would be at least till summer before we started hearing this stuff. I feel like that is only going to increase if he wins the title at WrestleMania. I just don't think the character is going to work very well as the Champion. Great underdog to chase the title, but what do you do with him after he wins? They pretty much are going to have to screw him out of the title shortly after having him win it and have him chase Batista for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 I think the overall problem is that the audience WWE wants to reach the most (kids) have the shortest attention spans. It took over a year of almosts before the crowds started seeing Lex Luger as a guy who couldn't get the job done, but now after a 2-3 month period people were already giving up on Bryan ever getting the title. I can almost get why WWE seemed so bullheaded to change plans, it used to be that screwing the babyface would get the fans all irate at the heel and get them amped to see the rematch. Now, if a guy can't win within a match or two fans seem ready to just resign themselves to thinking it's never going to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Don't know how accurate this is but apparently the company was legitimately hurt by what Foley said after the Rumble and the weeks after and contacted him to see what was up and urged him to watch the story unfold. Maybe they were working him or something but I have no idea anymore. Again I can't wait to hear a shoot interview to see what the hell has been gong on backstage lately Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 The problem in recent years is that most of the time, the heat goes on the promotion instead of the top heel because it's too transparent that the top heel is just playing a role. This time is working better than usual because the top heel is also "the promotion", so people have a place to channel their anger in a way that's productive. And even besides that, people have decided to project the world's problems on to Batista, which is great for him because it makes it so much easier for him to be a heel. I don't know -- all I can think when people are doubtful of WWE giving Bryan a chance is that WWE has them right where they want them. The more people convince themselves that Daniel Bryan's win will be less than they think it should be, the more it will mean when WWE gives a real satisfying payoff. And for all the worry about Bryan not hanging on to the top spot, I'm not sure he should. I think this storyline needs to be paid off convincingly and they need to let him run with the ball to see how successful he can be. But nothing suggests John Cena shouldn't be the guy anymore when looking at every possible indicator. For all the booing that happens on TV, he's a guy that typically receives a hero's welcome on house shows. This past weekend at MSG, Cena actually received a bigger babyface reaction than Bryan. For whatever reason, Cena is the guy who gets booed when the cameras are on but cheered loudly when they are off. That seems to be the house show norm. No way should Bryan play second fiddle to Batista or Orton, who are both fading by the week, but I don't really think there's anything wrong with him doing so to Cena. Wrestling fans can be demanding, flighty and impatient. We also tend to sometimes want things that directly contradict what other fans want. We also sometimes tend to give reactions that don't mean what they initially appear to mean. We're a tough bunch to figure out when it comes to big picture stuff. The positive right now is that people are emotionally invested in this storyline and they are building to the proper payoff on the right show at the right time. Why isn't that enough for now? The reason people are doubtful is because of WWE's spotty track record of coming through in the end. Yet the reason this is working is that people are doubtful because of WWE's spotty track record of coming through in the end. It just seems like they are using their past creative failures as a positive to generate investment in their build to Wrestlemania this year, which is fascinating to me. Pretty cool that booing the top heel since Summerslam and cheering the guy who has more or less been at or near the top babyface spot since Summerslam is seen as an act of fan rebellion against WWE. WWE briefly lost control around the time of the Rumble, but quickly steered back in a good direction after that. They haven't been surprised since. Every fan reaction since the Rumble has been one they've booked with the purpose of getting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Yeah Meltz mentioned Cena getting the loudest reaction at MSG on the show yesterday. Shows the power of the medium as they do the opposite when the cameras are turned on And yeah The Rumble was a horrible day. To be honest they have rebounded quite nicely since. But that was a black eye for the company Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 As bad as crowd reaction was at The Rumble, I actually think the way it played out will work out better for them in the long run than if they had gone with Bryan winning The Rumble outright. Then the crowd wouldn't have focused all their anger on Batista and Bryan wouldn't have a hot feud ready to go after WrestleMania. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FedEx227 Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Yeah Meltz mentioned Cena getting the loudest reaction at MSG on the show yesterday. Shows the power of the medium as they do the opposite when the cameras are turned on And yeah The Rumble was a horrible day. To be honest they have rebounded quite nicely since. But that was a black eye for the company I think Dave is also forgetting the diversity in who attends these shows. House shows as we should all know by now are predominantly children and their parents whereas Raws and PPVs will skew a little older with PPVs grading out much older. That could also be a huge reason for the difference in reaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Don't know where all this "Batista has to be champion when the movie comes out" stuff is coming from. When have they done this before? I doubt people watching the movie are gonna give a fuck who the WWE Champion is. And let's just say somebody watching GOTG decides to tune into WWE programming because of Batista. Are they going to change their mind because he's not the champion? I think as long as Batista is in a featured role, that's all that matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russellmania Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 regarding Cena at MSG, I think the New York crowd is a bunch of closet Cena fans anyway. I'll never forget the reaction he got at the 2008 Rumble when he was a legit surprise at #30. the crowd just totally marked out for about 10 seconds and then remembered that they're not supposed to like him and started with the boos. But, IMO that initial reaction really betrayed how much the smarks actually love him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FedEx227 Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Certainly. In Chicago, it's almost become a self-awareness from both the crowd and Cena that we boo him when he's on TV but it's a love to hate scenario. Once the cameras are off, dark show-wise, people cheer for him or at the very least don't boo and let the kids have their fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisZ Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 The rise of ADHD has changed the way things are done in a lot of entertainment mediums...wrestling used to be booked months and sometimes years in advance and you can't do that anymore. Real sports has been affected even worse as you can win a championship as a coach one year and if you fail to make the playoffs the next year then a chunk of the fans of the team want you gone. It's the classic case of what have you done for me lately Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerpride Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Anyone else thinks Kane turns face during the HHH-DBry match and they do the hug? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steenalized Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 He's overdue for a turn, so I'll buy that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexstar Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 From personal experience, when I meet up with my friends who watch wrestling and we go to a show, we boo Cena despite nobody actually disliking him. It's just fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 As bad as crowd reaction was at The Rumble, I actually think the way it played out will work out better for them in the long run than if they had gone with Bryan winning The Rumble outright. Then the crowd wouldn't have focused all their anger on Batista and Bryan wouldn't have a hot feud ready to go after WrestleMania. Loss mentioned about 4 or 5 guys Bryan could feud with and I added a couple of more. There will be no shortage of hot feuds for Bryan after Mania. Don't know where all this "Batista has to be champion when the movie comes out" stuff is coming from. When have they done this before? I doubt people watching the movie are gonna give a fuck who the WWE Champion is. And let's just say somebody watching GOTG decides to tune into WWE programming because of Batista. Are they going to change their mind because he's not the champion? I think as long as Batista is in a featured role, that's all that matters. It isn't a case of what movie goers want. I think the WWE wants the belt on display when Batista does all that promotional work hyping the movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 The rise of ADHD has changed the way things are done in a lot of entertainment mediums...wrestling used to be booked months and sometimes years in advance and you can't do that anymore. Real sports has been affected even worse as you can win a championship as a coach one year and if you fail to make the playoffs the next year then a chunk of the fans of the team want you gone. It's the classic case of what have you done for me lately Isn't this more due to the shift towards 4+ hours of primetime TV a week against actual competition instead of wrestling companies buying time in syndication? You have to do big stuff every week and it's harder to plan ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisZ Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 All of that is part of it but shelf lives of feuds and even wrestlers are way shorter now than ever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Feuds and title reigns tend to have more shelf life and longevity now than they did in 1998-1999. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Still to cement him as a top guy. One he must get the title at Mania. Secondly he must go over clean against top level heels like Batista etc. for the next couple of ppvs in the main event slot. He must not get the Misterio treatment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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