jdw Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 That is suspiciously similar to some other video in the past 6 months or so where someone lost their shit like that over something or other. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 I think anyone arguing "no one wanted Batista to come back" are clearly delusional. I think the huge spike in ratings last week proves that wrong. Just because he isn't the guy last night's crowd wanted to see the Rumble doesn't mean it was a bad idea to bring him back. As far as Bryan goes, WWE has the numbers. They know what his PPVs did, they know how his house shows do, they know how his merchandise sells. There have been guys in wrestling before that have a great connection with the live crowd, are always over, but never sell merchandise or draw tickets. Sid being my #1 example. Sid just managed to get more chances on top because of size and look. But the idea that Bryan is "buried" is silly. He's one of their biggest stars. He's been featured as much or more than anyone on their TV for almost an entire year now. They let him get a clean pin on John Cena! No he didn't get the fairytale ending, but he's very far from "buried." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 That is suspiciously similar to some other video in the past 6 months or so where someone lost their shit like that over something or other. John Yes that exact same loser had some crying fit over something CM Punk related. Possibly him losing to The Rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 WWE is trolling us. There's no way anybody in that company could have expected anything except that reaction to Batista winning. They HAVE to acknowledge this on Raw. No way Batista comes out and gives a "thank you for still believing in me promo" on Raw. I don't think they're trolling. I think they are completely tone deaf and lack self awareness. They wouldn't intentionally sabotage Sheamus, Langston, Batista, and Mysterio. They thought that match layout would work. And they likely won't concede that it didn't. They'll likely blame a rebel crowd. The old "vocal minority". We'll see tomorrow night if it's a vocal minority. My guess is that it is and Batista gets a very good response on RAW. Bwa ha ha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchistxx Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 That is suspiciously similar to some other video in the past 6 months or so where someone lost their shit like that over something or other. Yeah, it's the same guy who lost his shit over The Rock beating CM Punk. Probably a parody of the first one, given it is a year on exactly. Or they could both have been worked. Well acted if so. But the idea that Bryan is "buried" is silly. He's one of their biggest stars. He's been featured as much or more than anyone on their TV for almost an entire year now. Nobody is arguing that he is being buried. Just that he is ridiculously hot right now and the WWE are idiots for not capitalizing on it, and in fact seem to be willfully refusing to give their audience what it wants. And it is worth noting that although he is heavily featured on television, he is usually being mocked or humiliated or getting beat down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 Can someone PLEASE explain to me how this isn't WWE just working its fans? Yet again, from my perspective from the outside looking in, it just looks like a work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrainfollower Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 IIRC Steve Austin pretty much dissected the entire roster in the buildup to, and during, RR 98. I would be curious as to what happened to ratings if it became clear Bryan was going to be given that sort of rocket push. Bryan's looking more like the lovable loser that just come up short..again and again and again. But he's not a 6'3 bodybuilder so he is a loser in Vince and HHH's heads I guess. I don't know. This strikes me as "fine we will put him in the EC in the hope it shuts you people up since he's not winning anyway" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 Finally watching the Rumble - the Orton/Cena match is hilarious and fascinating. First, I really don't think there was any situation in which those guys were winning back that crowd. That reaction wasn't about the match itself - it was about the booking, and those guys weren't fixing that. That said, Orton was particularly bad, looking just totally lost out there. Cena at least broke up a couple of the chants with big moves, showing a decent feel for timing and how to pull the crowd back a little. It's a credit to Cena that that wasn't a *complete* disaster. Just, like, mostly a disaster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lust Hogan Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 So I know that the WWE will always have its core audience but do you think there is a point of no return for them as far as not listening to what the fans want? It seems as if they are holding back the Bryan push for their own reasons but also act as if they can just flip the switch with him and expect the fans to come back. Do you think there's a point when fans give up on Bryan? Will fans move on to the next under valued wrestler or will they feel burned by WWE management? This all seems so odd with the WWE Network coming so soon. You would think management would want to cater to fans and they seem hellbent on pissing them off. How do you think the current booking will affect network subscriptions?? Even with Wrestlemania bundled if Bryan isn't in a decent match do you think that will affect a segment of buyers?? These are thoughts running through my head at the moment..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup23 Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 Can someone PLEASE explain to me how this isn't WWE just working its fans? Yet again, from my perspective from the outside looking in, it just looks like a work. When else have they built someone else up to the main event level with this slow a build? I thought it was clear live that they probably knew going in they would be some Bryan chants but hoped the elevation of Wyatt, superman push of Reigns breaking the Rumble record (which I don't think many people got live), and fresh returns of Sheamus and Batista in ring after 4 years would counteract any Bryan supporters, that clearly wasn't the case and I think they had no idea that Big E would get silence and Sheamus and Rey would be boo'd out of the building along with Batista's eventual win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 Frankly, if you look at both the big picture and the little picture and all the backstage news, it's a lot clearer that they've changed directions a bunch of times and shifted gears based on ratings/buyrates/national news/what signings they could make or couldn't make/crowd reactions. It's not a straight line, but a crazed wavy pattern of doom. I can see how people who haven't been following the news/shows could think that it's all a slow build and a big plan but from those who are paying attention it's much more obvious that WWE is reactive on almost all of this, not proactive. They try to make what they feel is the best decision at each point, but how they got there is a jagged stumbling mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 I think they set out with a clear plan after SummerSlam, that was all supposed to lead into Vince vs. HHH/Steph and somehow that whole thing got screwed up and they just threw all the plans in a blender. Then we got Big Show being fired and coming back for weeks with music and no problem getting in the arena with no explanation because now we're not going to have Vince in the angle but we didn't rewrite the whole thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cross Face Chicken Wing Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 I watched RAW last night just so I could see what all the fuss was about. The arena looked full. Fans were wearing merch. I'm sure ratings will be about what they've typically been over the last few years. Until people stop going to shows, quit buying merch and watch something else besides RAW on Monday night, nothing will change. Most wrestling fans would rather watch bad wrestling and bitch about bad wrestling than not watch wrestling at all. WWE knows that so there's very little incentive to innovate or take risks. Same old, same old. I'm sure this whole process will be repeated again in six months when some other younger guy is showing promise and gets squashed down by 30-minute Triple-H promos, the return of some past superstar, and whatever rehashed feud John Cena is involved with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 Another thing that makes me think they had a plan that got thrown out the window is the people who were on TV right after SummerSlam and have disappeared. Suddenly Zach Ryder was back on TV and The Primetime Players were getting a push but they disappeared around the time things went off the rails and the focus suddenly switched to a really badly booked Big Show vs. Orton feud & Cena's return. I thought they had brought Zach back just so he could be the guy Randy Orton went nuts on and "put out" with a punt but they didn't even get anything out of him before having him disappear again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 Frankly, if you look at both the big picture and the little picture and all the backstage news, it's a lot clearer that they've changed directions a bunch of times and shifted gears based on ratings/buyrates/national news/what signings they could make or couldn't make/crowd reactions. It's not a straight line, but a crazed wavy pattern of doom. I can see how people who haven't been following the news/shows could think that it's all a slow build and a big plan but from those who are paying attention it's much more obvious that WWE is reactive on almost all of this, not proactive. They try to make what they feel is the best decision at each point, but how they got there is a jagged stumbling mess. And I think that's okay. In fact, having a long-term plan but not being so married to it that if something unexpectedly gets hot, then deviation from the plan is not an option is the mark of a good wrestling promotion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 Frankly, if you look at both the big picture and the little picture and all the backstage news, it's a lot clearer that they've changed directions a bunch of times and shifted gears based on ratings/buyrates/national news/what signings they could make or couldn't make/crowd reactions. It's not a straight line, but a crazed wavy pattern of doom. I can see how people who haven't been following the news/shows could think that it's all a slow build and a big plan but from those who are paying attention it's much more obvious that WWE is reactive on almost all of this, not proactive. They try to make what they feel is the best decision at each point, but how they got there is a jagged stumbling mess. And I think that's okay. In fact, having a long-term plan but not being so married to it that if something unexpectedly gets hot, then deviation from the plan is not an option is the mark of a good wrestling promotion. I don't disagree. I just think that the whole "WWE is working their fans!" thing might give them a bit too much credit in the set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 25, 2015 Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 I'm taking the liberty (I get one every now and again) to bump this because I think it's a timely and interesting read one year later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted January 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 I feel like we could have the exact same reaction to this show even down to the shitty New Age Outlaws appearance. The only problem is I don't think there is a Wyatt-Bryan match on the card to save the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted January 25, 2015 Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 As long as the Rumble is good, don't really care about the undercard. Watching with friends, which will help make the experience seem much better for even the worst show Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup23 Posted January 25, 2015 Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 One year later, I think this show is actually enhanced in importance than it was even at the time with what happened subsequently throughout the year, ditto with Brock in how he was booked, this being the last Punk match in foreseeable future, and the WWE debut of Rusev. Even minor facets like the tag belts never meaning as much after NAO winning them here seems like a talking point worth discussing. I went to Rumble and Mania last year and still am unsure in history which will end up being the most significant show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.