An open opinion to Vincent K. McMahon.
I have been a wrestling fan-atic since I was 8 years old. I am 37 now, so you do the math! I have seen great matches in my time.....the Booker T. and Benoit series, The Road Warriors vs. The Midnight Express, Ric Flair vs. Sting, The Von Erichs vs. The Freebirds, Bruno Samartino vs. Larry Z., Sabu vs. RVD, The Eliminators vs. The Gangstas, Raven vs. Tommy Dreamer and more. The WWE had the attitude era in the late 90's to combat the monster WCW/NWO phenomenon. The days of DX, Stone Cold and others has diminshed. The days of ECW are really gone. The ECW product on TV now is a joke...a HUGE JOKE!!! The only time I get to go back to the good ole' days is by watching WWE 24/7, the greatest on demand channel in the world!!
Vince, bring back the attitude era. Screw the network and the potential loss of commercial revenue, go back to what made you the most watched program(s) on TV. You should have let ECW stay dead or use your head and bring it back to the way we all remember.....totally EXTREME!!! The current wrestling on TV today is predictable and boring. John Cena wins the belt at Sundays Survivor Series and guess what happens Monday....yup a rematch. Smackdown is a joke. Vicki Guerrero is a jobber and has no skills at all except her elementary School nun comment, "Excuse me"!! What a bore. Edge comes back and wins the belt. Whatever happened to building up the wrestler to get a title shot. This comeback from a long hiatus and win the belt is so dumb!
Vince, maybe you need to watch WWE 24/7 to get the gist of what your product(s) should be like. Why not do a PPV that resembles the NWA "Wrestle War". Two rings and two teams. You know Vince like the Horsemen vs. a Dusty Rhodes team. Why aren't these old school wrestlers who write for Vince open their mouths! Are they scared? They shouldn't be because guys like Michael Hayes and Dusty Rhodes know what it takes to put/write the scripts for good shows. Vince is going deaf! Listen to the fans Vince.
Wrestling will never be like the old ECW days, where Paul Heyman put on great shows with blood, barbed wire, fire tables and half naked chicks. Heyman revolutionized wrestling. He threw out the arm bars and headlocks and replaced them with top rope frog splashes and table tossing matches. Vince and Bischoff tried to duplicate the ECW product, but realized the wrestlers they had in camp were incapable of executing these matches. So what did they do? They raided ECW and threw money at Heyman's boys. Well Vince there are no more guys for you to throw money out to enhance your product, because you monopolized wrestling (TNA is an infant next to the WWE).
Here is what Vince needs to do!! First, goodbye ECW. Trash it! When ECW came back on TV I knew it was going to be crap. How??? When I see 6-7 year old kids in the audience at an ECW show and not those three clowns in the front row (the two drunk old guys, one guy wore a straw hat and the other guy had a gray mustache and sunglasses, and the black long haired Howard Stern look alike with dark sunglasses). How can you be edgy when you have young kids in the audience.
15 comments Last one added 7 months ago — Leave a Comment
Shane H. 7 months ago
interesting, very interesting. I agree with parts and disagree with parts.
Heyman did revolutionize wrestling as we know it but don't just think ECW was all tables and high flying spots. He brought in technical guys like Benoit and Jericho who did the mat wrestling and people loved that too.
I agree that too much is put into the GM position. Any knowledgeable person knows the GM isn't really making the matches so why have them there.
Yes, they need to return to some things done in the 90s: factions, tag teams, and managers. But we don't necessarily need to bring the whole Attitude Era back. TV and people have changed since then and you really can't do all the things that was allowed in the mid-to-late 90s. Plus, we complain about not seeing anything new today, wouldn't we suffer from deja vu if we saw similar angles from the 90s?
Edit Comment Cancel
Paul Vincent 7 months ago
Shane thank you for your comment. I realize that ECW had more to offer. Eddie Guerrero was another technical guy as was Maklenko, but ECW was really known for its over the edge style of wrestling.
I too agree that the whole attitude era doesn't need to be back, but some of that attitude needs to be brought back. If we did bring back the whole enchilada than it would be more boring than it is today! Thank you for reading my article and giving me your feedback.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!!
Edit Comment Cancel
AJ Jonsh 7 months ago
Shane, very good article....couldn't agree with you more. I was very disappointed seeing Cena and Edge win titles again. It's like back to the future....again!!
Edit Comment Cancel
Shane H. 7 months ago
hey A.J, this isn't my article. As much as I enjoy getting praise, this is Paul's work. But I'm sure he thanks you for reading and commenting.
Happy thanksgiving to you and to you too Paul
Edit Comment Cancel
Paul Vincent 7 months ago
AJ thank you! I appreciate that and Shane thank you again!! AJ I again appreciate the comment, even though you thought it was Shane..no offense taken. It is people like yourself and Shane that I appreciate. There are others who just want to rip and be negative. I guess I have to man up and deal with the bad as well as the good. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours AJ!!
Edit Comment Cancel
Mina 7 months ago
Hi Paul. Great subject matter, here. As I've said before to Andrew, there's a world of difference between an article that is simply an avenue to be negative and an article like yours which contains a great deal of passion for changes you feel would be positive for the product. I agree with the idea that the edgy attitude is what makes wrestling such a unique form of entertainment. I believe that the best of wrestling was encapsulated in the Shawn Michaels/Chris Jericho feud. Not only did we get amazing matches with two men who have indisputable chemistry, but we got several moments that will be remembered and replayed like the best of the Attitude Era.
I'm almost wondering if ECW needs to be renamed. It's fine for what it is; an area for newer stars to hone their craft in front of audiences and a place where wrestlers like Matt Hardy can prove that they can carry a brand. And lately, they've been putting on quality matches for the majority of the hour that they air. It's not the ECW of old, but it is a great starting ground to make new stars.
Tag teams and factions, and making the IC Title belt mean something again, are great ideas. I think that the WWE is possibly headed in that direction. The second generation stable is on its way to forming, the new Hart Foundation will be starting up on Smackdown - we just need a couple more factions to form on each show and we'll get some quality feuds.
Anyway, great article. :)
Edit Comment Cancel
Shane H. 7 months ago
possible names for ECW:
ECW: Redux
WWE: Superstar Initiative
The C Brand
Tuesday Night Wrestling
Smackdown Lite
Diet RAW
any of those strike your fancy?
Edit Comment Cancel
Paul Vincent 7 months ago
I thank you so much for you comments. I write because I just love to entertain people and when I get comments like yours and Shane's it drives me to do more. I can take the negative feedback, but if the negatives have validity! I agree with the Jericho and Michaels matches...classic wrestling by two proven stars!! I am psyched about the New Hart Foundation.
Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you again for the nice comments. I really appreciate the thoughts and comments!!
Edit Comment Cancel
jason savage 7 months ago
in honor of coke's newest soda i say it should be named WWE zero!
Edit Comment Cancel
Paul Vincent 7 months ago
Shane I like Tuesday night wrestling. Great name! I also like Diet RAW!! True indeed, hopefully help is on the way like Mina says! If you have any space for someone to write about wrestling or co-author something please let me know! I would be honored to learn/write with people like yourselves.
Edit Comment Cancel
Shane H. 7 months ago
gosh your too nice with your comments, but don't stop showering me with praise lol. Nah, I don't have any space or anything. As much time as I spend on B/R I ought to create my own thing. Its just going to be a helluva lot more work to maintain a site. But I'm always looking at sites to see if they need a writer. If you ever get one, lemme know dude
Edit Comment Cancel
jason savage 7 months ago
sad news for you man, WWE isn't looking for us 37 year old men. they target 18-34 men and male teens 12-18. we are out of their target audience.
also, ECW is now just a minor league for the WWE, a place for up and coming stars and once big names who they don't know what to do with.
Edit Comment Cancel
Paul Vincent 7 months ago
I did not know that was the age demographic rating for wrestling. You learn something new everyday. I appreciate the comment and new information.
Edit Comment Cancel
jason savage 7 months ago
yup! working in the media i know about "target audience" which is what it says the audience you target.
look at the advertising on WWE it is mostly for video games and who buys video games most? boys, teen boys, and young men. other big advertisers include fast food and auto parts stores, again places frequented by young men.
Edit Comment Cancel
Paul Vincent 7 months ago
Shane.... as a cancer survivor and a holiday season person...I tend to get Beaver Cleaver. My wife rips me!! I will let you know if I run into anything.
Edit Comment Cancel
Leave a Comment
You must register to post a comment.