The rise of a reality-based WWE product

Definition by the great landscape of wrestling dictates changes, both in tide with life around you and your most valued fan-base. For example, the rise of Hulk Hogan happened in a climatic family-dominated landscape, thinking of the fact that the majority of the fans stemmed from household families that enjoyed the product together. Of course the rise of Hogan can be linked to the rise of wrestling on both the national and international stage, and its climate and landscape in general can be seen as similar to the one WWE is operating in today.


But for great entertainment to stay relevant and not be "forced off the bridge", it needs to change in tide with time and spot out the defining factors dictating its failure or success. Such as WWE was forced to change its climate from a family-friendly product to a more edgier and unpredictable product in order to beat out their rival at the time WCW.


This has been the inept ability of Vince McMahon and his powerful company. No matter the challenge, they always find ways to beat the odds and destroy the so called "barriers" of what should be expected from them. Just look at how their flagship show Wrestlemania changed the projected "maximum" barriers of what one could expect a wrestling show to generate in mainstream attention and income.


But everyone and everything has a limit, as no one can never be able to "develop" for eternity. One could say WWE peaked in popularity at the late 90th's or early 2000's, in terms of viewership and so forth. But in terms of generated income, one could say WWE reached their potential just a couple of years ago, which prompted the motivation for me to write this article. I am of course thinking about the WWE network. In terms of potential income, WWE had to reinvent themselves again, also to gain more stable PPV numbers. In steps the WWE network, which has changed the landscape of this wonderful promotion once again.


The idea of WWE creating their own network was based on the development and expectations of their fans. No longer are the fans (mainly the hardcore followers) satisfied with just watching the scripted shows and their planned results. No, the hardcore fans and a big chunk of the "general" fans wanted more. They wanted the inside stories, they wanted to know how the wrestlers "acts" out of character, and how the promotion works in general. The WWE network was the best way for WWE to invite their fans to get a closer view of their wrestlers behind the scenes. And such came the rise of what I like to call the "reality-based" product of WWE. Yes, it is still a family-friendly show, with a few exceptions per year, but the whole "promotion-formula" has been changed radically. As of right now, WWE are still in the middle of the transition from the "good guy vs bad guy" formula that has dominated the company for years, in to the "pick your favorite good or bad" kind of era that we are ushering in now.


Iv'e got plenty of examples to show you;

1. Owens vs Cena
Originally you could say that Owens works as the classical "heel" in terms of some of his heelish actions against John Cena. But no, they are not going by that formula anymore. Instead of just making Owens a classical "bad guy", WWE has instead focused on the actual traits of the actual man portraying Kevin Owens, yes I am talking about the man behind the man, Mr Kevin Steen. Everything from heartfelt interviews, to backstage videos, and to incredible personal promos, WWE has in fact allowed us to get a personal look of the man behind the man, giving us the option to in fact judge him for who he is for ourselves. Of course, we will never truly know how Kevin Steen actually is behind the scenes for real, but we get a pretty good glimpse into his actual life, which makes it so much more compelling for us fans. By feeling like we actually know this person for real, we are left with the decision of cheering or booing his action, whatever they might be. It will be up to us to judge weather or not we in fact approve everything he does on screen. As Vince said in one of his interviews back in the days, he would actually prefer a half full arena of fans chanting and booing on the guys WWE wanted them to chant and boo on, instead of a full arena of split fans chanting and booing on who they felt like chanting or booing on.


2. The story of Daniel Bryan
Bryan Danielson, a true underdog by definition. An amazing performer, with heart and love for this business, but with the look of regular "average Joe", and not a larger than life superstar. We all know the story that happened on screen. But not all know the story that happened behind the screen. The officials within WWE was incredible split in judgement of Bryan. Some felt like no matter how hard fans chanted for him, he was in no way the guy who could carry the company on his back, because of "lacking personality" and "no looks". But Bryan just kept doing what he was told to do, and for two years one after one kept jumping on the "Bryan-train". For a long while even before his match against John Cena, WWE kept helding Bryan down, hoping that fans would let him go. But no the sympathy and love for Bryan just kept growing, and in the end WWE had no choice but to give him his due. But WWE chose wisely and made "the on screen" life a living hell for Bryan, which felt so real for the fans that their love for this underdog just kept growing. The big pay off came at Wrestlemania 30, where Bryan had one of the best feel good moments in the history of wrestling. But what happened afterwords is what defines this amazing story. Bryan got injured, and the injury might have ruined his wrestling career. This on-screen underdog actually became a real-life underdog as well, which got to fans in ways that can't be described. When Bryan returned this year, he got another feel good moment in the opening match of Wrestlemania 31, but in fact this might have been his last moment of glory, as he still struggles with the injury. His promo after extreme rules and the "thank you Bryan" chants just tells you how the actual real life struggles of these perfomers has a much bigger impact than anything else. Bryan and Punk both had a huge part of changing the landscape of wrestling, in terms of changing the formula from "scripted" to "scripted by reality".


3. Brock Lesnar
When Lesnar returned after Wrestlemania 28, WWE was still going by a simular formula that they had been following for 5-6 years. Brock became a part of that formula for his first year, suffering losses against Cena and Triple H both in grand matches. But after Wrestlemania 29, WWE knew they had to incorporate more of the actual real life beast Lesnar is. This became the start of the incredible run Lesnar is on now. He ended the streak, he demolished John Cena, he demolished Roman Reigns, albeit suffering a loss when Rollins inserted himself. Lesnar doesn't go by any particular scripts, he doesn't pander to the fans, he just comes in and does his job, giving ass-kicking's left and right. WWE intended him to be a heel, but everyone knew by now how the actual Lesnar is in real life, and fans just kept falling for his massiveness, which is something WWE has built on now, yet again incorporating reality to the screen-stories.


Recapping
My point is quite simple. WWE knew they had to please more than just their younger fan-base, as about 35% of the fan-base are people at the age between 16-40, and a lot of these fans simply wouldn't be satisfied with the on screen stories anymore. By launching the network, and giving us more insight to the actual real life stories of the performers, we are given the insight that will impact our feelings of a wrestler on a much higher level than any of these on-screen stories can do to us (there are a few exceptions, for example: Mick Foley).

In conclusion one could say that WWE has changed the formula, and once again adapted to the actual needs of their fans. How this will end, only time can tell.

Twitter update!

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Talking about the debut of the Wyatt family

It finally happened this past Monday on Raw. The long waited debut of the Wyatt family. I thought I would write abit about what I thought about their debut and then you can all leave us a comment or tweet us and let us know what you thought of it. 1. Their entrents. This I thought was really awesome, It was so different and I never saw an entrents like that before in the WWE or in any wrestling company. I also thought it was pretty cool how the light kept going back and forth between Luke Harper and Erick Rowan faces. I thought it was really cool. 2. The attack on Kane. At first I didn't like the idea of the Wyatts attacking Kane because that has already been done with the Shield over and over again. I wanted to see something different for the Wyatts but this was put together really good I thought. I liked the way Bray just sat there in the rockingchair while the other two went and destrode Kane. 3. What I thought about the hole debut. I am a big fan of Bray Wyatt and from what I saw on NXT from Erick Rowan and Luke Harper they are a pretty good tag teambut I did expect a longer debut like for an example, I thought they would have came out to the ring, beat someone up like what they did to Kane and then I wanted to see Bray Wyatt kut a promo. I thought it was a good debut though because a lot of wrestling fans like me were left wanting to see more from the Wyatt family. I really hope WWE does something good with these three guys because I don't want to keep seeing three on one or two on one beat downs like the Shield did for awile. Leave a comment or tweet us what you thought about the Wyatt family debut. Follow and contact us on twitter: @Dylan_4life and @Hjo_4life

Is Sheamus becoming to stale?

Sheamus used to be one of my favorite wrestlers, especially when he first came to the WWE and put John Cena through a table to become the first ever Irish born WWE champion. I have been watching a lot of his matches lately the past few weeks when he was wrestling Cody Rhodes and Damian Sandow, and I started to think "wow Sheamus is boring now". His match on Raw last night against Daniel Brian was still the same old moves and he is getting really boring. I think that WWE should really make him do some kind of a different gimmick or something because he used to be one of the top stars in WWE and now a lot of wrestling fans I have talked with, says basically the same thing I am writing about. "Same old shit" I would suggest a heel turn but I don't think that would be the right move, because I think there is more guys that really need to go heel before Sheamus does. Stars like Randy Orton, Kane and so on. I think maybe the right thing that WWE should do with Sheamus is to make him more serious and not "comedic". He could still be a face but just be a bit more serious and vicious in side the ring. He showed his best side as a face during his feud with Big Show at the end of last year! Sheamus was really impressing then and got the fans behind him, even though he lost three matches against Show (two clean losses). Tell us by leaving a comment or tweeting us if you think Sheamus is getting stale and if would like to see him do some kind of a change to his character. Also follow and tweet us on twitter: @Dylan_Corcoran_ and @Hjo_4life

Curtis Axel speaks in an interview!

- WWE Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel recently spoke withNorfolkNavyFlagship.com to promote the upcoming WWE live event in Norfolk. Here are some highlights:

JM: How does it feel to be one half of the first ever father/son pairing to win the Intercontinental Championship?

CA: Leading up to that whole pay-per-view, the whole week before, the thoughts going through my head were, “What was going to happen if I were to win? What was I going to be thinking?” My grandfather (Larry “The Axe” Hennig”), I talked to him about it. When I finally won at Payback, man – I just couldn’t stop thinking about my dad (“Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig). Holding that same Intercontinental Championship that he held. He would bring (it) home and I would hold it and wear it as a kid. I now possess this thing. I had goose bumps and was pretty emotional. My grandfather and mother were emotional about the whole thing, too. (My father and I) never got to stand in the same ring as each other, but now I feel honored that I get to stand in the record books with him.

JM: As “Michael McGillicutty,” your heritage wasn’t a major focus. Now that you’ve become “Curtis Axel,” does this allow you to become more of yourself and tap into a different side of your character?

CA: At first, they (WWE) didn’t want to bring up where I came from – which they have totally 180’d on. If I incorporate moves that my father and grandfather did, it’s to pay homage to them – to my family. Family is number one and will always be number one to me. Even as Michael McGillicutty – I still wrestled as myself. I think it was a good thing – even though that name sucked. I hated being Michael McGillicutty and having to tell people my name. It was embarrassing. Even signing that five-syllable name is ridiculous. I always wanted to be “me” in the long run.

JM: Who are the guys, now, that offer up the most advice about your matches and your promos?

CA: Paul Heyman. Just being with that guy – listening to him before the show and after the show, riding up and down the roads with him between events. He has so much information. He’s like a library – he’s got stories, and if you have questions, he has answers. He is the best tool I’ve got right now. When I am off the road – my grandfather. I talk to him two or three days a week. He has critiques of my work. He is super old-school, which I have to take into consideration, but he is a beast.

JM: You were on NXT Season 2. Being in that kind of environment, being introduced to the world in this reality show of sorts – what are some lessons you learned from that whole experience?

CA: NXT was a nightmare. I was really excited to be brought up – I knew I was ready. I saw what those kids had to go through in season one – getting the microphone shoved in your face and doing these stupid challenges. I was kind of bummed, but at least I was being brought up. Then they told me my name was Michael McGillicutty (and) it broke my heart. You never knew exactly what was going on. They said, “OK, you guys have a match, a contest – here’s the microphone.” It was a surprise every single week. You had to stay on your toes – it was scary ‘cause everyone in the back and everyone at home were watching. I think being involved in that atmosphere – it kind of toughens you up. I feel, now, that I am prepared for anything.

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Antonio Cesaro impresses on house shows!

Fan reports for those who has been on WWE's houseshows lately states that Antonio Cesaro has "won the fans over" after great 20 min + matches.

Apparently his performances in matches with Sheamus and others has made him very popular on houseshows. In Japan it was reported that Cesaro won over the fans in his impressive 24 minute showdown with Sheamus. Apparently Sheamus won the match, but Cesaro won over the crowd.

This has not been going on "unnoticed backstage, since it has been going on for a while on live shows. Apparently this is one of the reasons why Cesaro has been granted with Zeb Colter as a manager, and lately he has been billed as a power-house heel. He is currently on a winning streak both on Raw and Smackdown.

This is off course great news for Cesaro fans, and personally I think that he has the potential to become a huge star in WWE!

Contact or follow us on twitter:  @Hjo_4life    and      @Dylan_Corcoran_

Have a great one!