THE LAST OF YOUR LETTERS, THANK YOU
- 08/07/2007 (4:04:38 am)
- Georgiann Makropoulos
Few more added…….
First, I want to thank everyone who voiced their opinions and suggestions. It was very much appreciated. I want to let everyone know that I have emailed all your letters to the WWE. I told them that we all do care, that's why we took time to write.
These are the last few letters received, they were in my spam folder for some reason. Thank you all once again, but let's move on now.
I thought tonight's Raw was horrible. Will things ever change? Now I really doubt it. G
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Georgie, (A rebuttal of sorts, respectively spoken)
I appreciate you allowing fans to speak their mind here on your site. You've given a lot of people the chance to not only voice their opinion, but let off some steam regarding their frustrations with the WWE and wrestling in general. With that said, though, I have to respectfully disagree with what you deemed the "best" letter. While there's no denying the fan in question who wrote that letter was a passionate wrestling fan, it seems as if they (and a lot of other fans who vented over the last few days) fail to see something very important.
Times have changed a great deal since the days of the WWWF, the NWA and all the other regional promotions of yesteryear.
We no longer live in a world where you have three local channels to choose from when you turn on your television. Now there's a virtual multitude of cable selections -- and even more channels to choose from if you have a satellite provider like DirecTV or Dish Network. More choices mean entertainment providers have to go to drastic measures to keep their audience from tuning out of their product. If they can't keep that fickle consortium glued to their sets, their ratings will drop. Just look at how cable and satellite TV have affected daytime and primetime network ratings. It's a whole new ball game than when Mr. McMahon Sr., the Crocketts, Bill Watts and other promoters were doing their thing.
So, what's a promoter to do? How do they keep their audience from changing the channel? Well, considering today's mainstream TV audience has a much shorter attention span than twenty years back, it means shorter matches, for one. Throw in some "sports entertainment" elements (i.e. Diva Search competitions, the "murder" of Mr. McMahon) to keep the product in the same game as shows like Survivor, The Sopranos and other popular primetime shows and you have today's wrestling... and it's not just the WWE.
Anybody who watched last week's TNA Impact knows Kurt Angle was involved in a very sports entertainment-esque sketch involving his "family." Why didn't I see anybody complain about that? It was all WWE does this wrong, WWE does that wrong, etc. I realize the original nature of the letters was the slipping ratings of the WWE, but they're not the only promotion resorting to sports entertainment method of booking. TNA has been doing that quite a lot lately. Just look at the Angle sketch and anything involving Sting or Abyss.
What can be done? Oh, a lot can be done. Your readers pointed out a lot of wonderful solutions to keep ratings from falling to even lower levels. Will those things be done? Probably not. But, even if they were done, I hardly think it'd help. Personally, I think wrestling ratings are just slipping with the times, somewhat like soap opera ratings have over the past ten years. Essentially, it's not really the fault of the writers or bookers or whatever, it's just the times. They are a-changing. --
From: Nicholas Spears
Hi Georgie, OL SCHOOL !!
First thanks for giving the money and foundation of all sports entertainment the right to voice ourselves... And now the true secret to success I believe that lack in the WWE is the proper use of talent. Ok, I agree with a couple of the messages written. And even I am compelled to say that Cena as champ for almost 2 years is what's killing RAWS ratings. Don't get me wrong... I am a Cena fan, but that line is starting to bore me. On the subject of lines... That's it Vince! Storylines suck!!!!! See I like the old school days when there were no lines... Or storys for that matter. Just straight up feuds. Dusty vs. Flair for like 3 hours at a time... Who could ever get tired of watching those 2 light the ring up? I still love watchin' it! And to have people like Randy Orton and his headlocks come in and "kick them into retirement" Is really starting to make me sick. "OMG Randy Orton is so dangerous!" The only thing dangerous about Orton is the amount of TV time he gets. The point I'm making is the feuds thing was cool. Talk a little trash to hype up the audience before the show and let the stars go to work! None of this faking your own death crap. Mocking God. I still remember Joey Styles shooting on RAW awhile back. 100% true! Carlito was in the ring talking to Vince and the crowd. He said it best... We don't wanna see people talk. We wanna see these amzing athletes wrestle! Nobody cares if their bodies are jacked. True great champions of the wrestling days weren't ripped up. Flair and Dusty are prime examples. People like me weren't even born when these guys were champs, yet they're my favorites of all time. Now a day it seems that you gotta have a granite carved body to win a title. That and mic skills... Although Khali doesn't fit that profile at all and he's a World Champ... Never mind real talent like Flair, Chavo, or Matt Hardy that would make great champions no no... I don't think a man who chops people in the head and has no wrestling skills at all should be a World Title holder. The names that've held that title are amazing... Topped off by Great Khali? Again... Storylines. Get real. You couldn't sell Khali as a champ to my 6 year old nephew. Let the wrestlers go! The main thing is that the entertainment in the WWE is what runs the show. That little leprechaun on Smackdown as cruiserweight champ is sick too. That's pathetic. The stories are getting lamer by the minute.
What should happen is 1st and foremost, get in contact with real talent like Big Show, RVD, and Chris Jericho, bring them back and let them loose... The right way. You want ratings? Y2J and RVD can do it. Talent? Big Shows loaded! Get rid of the real jobbers like Johnny Nitro. Morrison? whatever! Kenny Dykstra. And let men like Finlay, MVP, William Regal, Carlito, and Chris Masters step up. Kane over Khali any day. Hell Fire Khali or down size his status a bit. Nobody would care. Oh Muhammed Hasaan woulda been a great name in the business too but we won't touch that one.
Vince, get with it man! You're a genius. Why not act like one? Ratings are dropping for a reason. Please ditch the Storylines and entertainment crap and bring on the wrestling. Hell in a Cells! Last Man Standings. Ladder matches. TLC's! That's what we wanna see. Not Cena vs. Umaga 100 times. And for the love of life, please bury ECW. The wonderful legacy of the old ECW is being killed by Viscera half naked and Johnny Nitro as champ. Just disperse the talent among the other shows, actually use them... (Cm Punk, Elijah Burke, The Alpha Male primarily) and just bury ECW. And the reason all the main roster is all out on injury is simply because they're used every week non stop! The RAW roster doesn't only consist of Lashley, Cena, Orton, Umaga, and Kennedy. Use the rest of your talent... Jeff Hardy, Carlito, King Booker. C'mon, WWE is slowly starting to die. Lets fire up the real wrestling and ditch the days of our lives lines.
From: animadoom21
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WWE has pretty much been on top forever in the wrestling
business. TNA is creeping up on WWE, to bite it on the butt. The WWE has
no respect for anyone, divas, Christians, or anyone else. They also have
no respect for good talent like Mr. Kennedy, MVP, CM Punk... They have
totally over used John Cena, Cena is good don't get me wrong, but he has
become so popular that you want to hate him. I used to like Cena when he
was US champ on Smackdown, and during his first wwe title reign. I mean
come on beating the likes of Edge, HBK, Triple H, Great Khali over and
over and over. I personally think that people are getting sick of him.
Cena is trying to become the next Hulk Hogan. If WWE wants to become more
sucessful, then let Cena lose the title .
I really enjoyed ECW returning, but the show can get extremly
boring. Personally the extreme expose is rediculious, and really is no
different than a short porno. The ECW originals are awesome, and so is
the new breed, but the WWE has misused them all. Something that really
was crappy was that they released Sabu. Come on Sabu is one of my
favorite wrestlers. This legend can actually wrestle, and I mean man the
WWE hasn't released the Miz. The Miz isn't too bad, but at the end of the
day, he sucks. TNA is filling up with some of my favorites that WWE
hasen't gave a flying crap about. Those like Team 3D, Scott Steiner,
Spike Dudley, Test, Goldust, Kevin Nash, Sting, Christian, Kurt Angle,
Raven, Jeff Jarett, BG James (Road Dog), Kip James (Billy Gunn). Also a
great young talent, Tyson Tomko. My cousin and I met him in Daton, Ohio
at Bob Evans, and he was a pretty cool guy. I mean the WWE didn't respect
him, and look at how much more exposure he has on TNA.
I sure hope that when Triple H, and Shawn Michaels are back that
DX is still together. Every partner that Triple H has been with, WWE
makes him srew them over. Those like HBK, Batista, Randy Orton, Ric
Flair, Chyna, X-Pac, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, and probably even more. I
think that the WWE should also go back to one show, three nights a week,
and cancel ECW, Raw, and SmackDown, and have only one roster. They should
get rid of the diva's becaus they can't wrestle worth crap, and plus they
look like tramps. Make them managers like the old days, and don't make
them look so skanky, even though they are pretty good looking. Thank You For Your time.
From: Brandon Saxton from Marion, Ohio
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First, Georgie, thanks for the outlet.
Something has happened in the world of wrestling that has made me
disenfranchised from it. I cant exactly put my finger on it, but something's
gone wrong.
I try to remember what made me get real into wrestling. When I started,
Hulkamania was at its peak and a young upstart by the name of Ultimate
Warrior was trying to dethrone him. So I can say that its not just
muscle-heads that are the problem. I have yet to meet a person into
wrestling between 1985-1990 that did not at one point like Hulk Hogan. He
was bigger then life, literal superstar.
What did Hulk Hogan have that wrestlers today don't? I'd say first and
foremost, charisma. Enough charisma that what lack of ability he had in the
ring made him look phenomenal. I think a big tribute to this was the
wrestlers then were given an open microphone with no script. That forced
them to actually become their character and believe what him or her was
saying.
Another thing that made wrestling then so popular was the influx of very
talented workers to make that one guy look awesome. Lets take the most prime
example I can think of for that era, Mr. Perfect. Now there was a wrestler.
He was cocky and arrogant and they backed him up with constant video footage
and promo's. He WAS perfect. He was so perfect, that was his name. He could
beat anyone. He was PERFECT. And he just flew around for whomever was the
good guy.
One of my all time favorite matches, from Summerslam, Mr. Perfect vs. Bret
Hart. Mr. Perfect made Bret Hart in that match. He threw himself completely
around and made Bret Hart look awesome. Not only was there that dynamic to
the match, there was also the fact that you had Bret Hart as the "take no
garbage, I'm just here to win" good guy vs. the arrogant cocky villain. On
top of all that, you had the amazing technical skill of the both of those
wrestlers. What a real match.
So what happened between now and then? The WWE turned, essentially, into a
machine. Not so much finding the one breakout amazing star, but more or less
just putting different people into an equation. It didn't particularly matter
if you were good or not. Look at how many "un-stoppable" bad guys that came
though. Snitsky, Matt Morgan, Test, etc. Where are they now? They're being
replaced by Khali, who's the new unstoppable heel in the equation.
I think a big problem is that WWE simply doesn't listen to crowd reaction.
WWE is too much of a machine. They don't take advantage of when a person has
a real following. My biggest example would be Gregory Helms. That man gets a
reaction. People care about Gregory Helms. You can do whatever you want with
him and people will be interested. Make Gregory Helms the US/IC champion and
I promise people will notice.
If I could have one thing to say to the WWE, just over anything else, it
would be listen to the fans, listen to who we cheer and boo loudest for and
follow them. Please, for all of us.
-Josh
Something has happened in the world of wrestling that has made me
disenfranchised from it. I cant exactly put my finger on it, but something's
gone wrong.
I try to remember what made me get real into wrestling. When I started,
Hulkamania was at its peak and a young upstart by the name of Ultimate
Warrior was trying to dethrone him. So I can say that its not just
muscle-heads that are the problem. I have yet to meet a person into
wrestling between 1985-1990 that did not at one point like Hulk Hogan. He
was bigger then life, literal superstar.
What did Hulk Hogan have that wrestlers today don't? I'd say first and
foremost, charisma. Enough charisma that what lack of ability he had in the
ring made him look phenomenal. I think a big tribute to this was the
wrestlers then were given an open microphone with no script. That forced
them to actually become their character and believe what him or her was
saying.
Another thing that made wrestling then so popular was the influx of very
talented workers to make that one guy look awesome. Lets take the most prime
example I can think of for that era, Mr. Perfect. Now there was a wrestler.
He was cocky and arrogant and they backed him up with constant video footage
and promo's. He WAS perfect. He was so perfect, that was his name. He could
beat anyone. He was PERFECT. And he just flew around for whomever was the
good guy.
One of my all time favorite matches, from Summerslam, Mr. Perfect vs. Bret
Hart. Mr. Perfect made Bret Hart in that match. He threw himself completely
around and made Bret Hart look awesome. Not only was there that dynamic to
the match, there was also the fact that you had Bret Hart as the "take no
garbage, I'm just here to win" good guy vs. the arrogant cocky villain. On
top of all that, you had the amazing technical skill of the both of those
wrestlers. What a real match.
So what happened between now and then? The WWE turned, essentially, into a
machine. Not so much finding the one breakout amazing star, but more or less
just putting different people into an equation. It didn't particularly matter
if you were good or not. Look at how many "un-stoppable" bad guys that came
though. Snitsky, Matt Morgan, Test, etc. Where are they now? They're being
replaced by Khali, who's the new unstoppable heel in the equation.
I think a big problem is that WWE simply doesn't listen to crowd reaction.
WWE is too much of a machine. They don't take advantage of when a person has
a real following. My biggest example would be Gregory Helms. That man gets a
reaction. People care about Gregory Helms. You can do whatever you want with
him and people will be interested. Make Gregory Helms the US/IC champion and
I promise people will notice.
If I could have one thing to say to the WWE, just over anything else, it
would be listen to the fans, listen to who we cheer and boo loudest for and
follow them. Please, for all of us.
-Josh
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Hope I'm not too late to offer these pieces of insight on WWE:
1-It's calling itself "World Wrestling Entertainment" and it's being scripted/written by a baker's dozen of Hollywood Writers.... So, I guess if we see our favorite Superstar do nothing more than recite a rhyme or a rap, or swipe a grown man's steak or boot a car--- it falls under "Entertainment" and thus, fits the bill for the show.
2-The Hollywood Writers operating under Stephanie McMahon have all been cited as overly experienced in writing Sitcoms, and Comedies and Dramas and Daytime Soaps..... I don't see neither of those terms in the word "Professional Wrestling".
3-Smackdown was 90% wrestling during the stage when Paul Heyman (a man with a mind for the sport) had the book. And since then, they have shunned Heyman, and shunned Dusty Rhodes and reduced some of our legendary Greats (Slaughter, Duggan, Rhodes, Race, and HBK) to nothing more than speed-bumps to an undeserving, immature, reckless and (seemingly) highly intolerant son-of-a-cowboy youth whom trashes a lofty hotel room and writes it off like just another psych episode.
4-The Rock goes on to movies. Austin goes into movies. Big Show gets onto SNL. It seems like having the influx of writers backstage seems to do nothing better than prepare the athletes for a career on the big screen??....
5-It used to cause my heart to skip a beat whenever I missed a recording of RAW or Smackdown (even by VCR Timer)... Nowadays, a missed recording just makes for more time spent with family and/or doing other things of importance...... like using the restroom.
Why bother with TNA? They --HAD-- something special going in the days of the X Division and the Lightweights and the AJ Styles and the Christopher Daniels and the Ron Killings and the Frankie Kazarians.... back long before Jeff brought in his loons from the asylum of WCW... The Heavyweights (namely Kevin Nash) are bringing down that ship and with each new (formerly of WCW) addition, it only continues to spiral downward..... and bears comparison to WCW in terms of boredom and lack of concentration on the Flyweights whom were enroute to making TNA a "standout alternative". Emphasis on "were".
WWF Loyalist since 1982. Fan of Vince too.
From: Carlos
I've not given up on them yet.... but I truly miss the days when our intelligence was not being insulted (.........yes, I miss Paul Heyman).
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Georgie [email protected]
myspace page: www.myspace.com/wrestlingchatterbox
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