Post by The Eccentric on Jul 16, 2005 15:30:01 GMT -5
There are various reasons why WWE, and wrestling as a whole, are not as popular as they once were. Nearly everyone with any sort of interest in the sport, from fans to critics to wrestlers themselves, has offered his/her opinion on the subject, so it would be pointless to list all of the possible explanations. I would, however, like to explore one aspect of wrestling's recent decline which I think may be one of the most important factors of all. I'm certainly not the first to have mentioned this, but it would be cool to get a discussion started here at the board, so here goes.
As far as the general public is concerned, professional wrestling just isn't cool anymore. Back during the industry's heyday, in the late-'90s and continuing into the new millenium, it seemed to be just about everywhere. The local shopping mall was a sea of T-shirts representing the top stars of both the WWF and WCW. Wrestlers made regular appearances on talk shows and prime-time programs, and it wasn't just major stars like Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, and the Rock either. On the contrary, even lower-ranked superstars like the Big Show and Val Venis were given mainstream exposure. Kids at their school lockers would discuss the previous night's Raw, Nitro, Smackdown, and Thunder when they weren't jokingly threatening to "lay the smack down" on each other.
Now, fast-forward to 2005, and it's a much different picture. The only ones who wear wrestling-related items in public these days are diehard fans, and even that seems to happen less frequently. Aside from the occasional cameo, wrestlers don't appear on TV shows nearly as often as they used to. Furthermore, outside of WWE Films, they don't get many starring roles in movies either. The exception, of course, is the Rock...but by this point, he's a part-time wrestler at best. There is considerably less discussion of the weekly programs, and the number of those has been cut in half anyway. All of these things add up to the current state of wrestling.
Of course, this may change before long. It has been said numerous times that wrestling is a cyclical business, and it's about due for a resurgence in popularity. New stars such as John Cena and Batista have begun to emerge, and they have the potential to fill the void left by the Rock and Austin. WWE will also be returning to the USA Network in the near future, and that is essentially where it all began. It also has some legitimate competition in TNA and ROH, and it was the original Big Three alternatives of WCW and ECW which forced the WWF to greatly improve its product in the first place, so this may very well happen again. But ultimately, if pro wrestling as a whole is to experience another boom, it will have to be considered "cool" by the mainstream once again. Your thoughts?
As far as the general public is concerned, professional wrestling just isn't cool anymore. Back during the industry's heyday, in the late-'90s and continuing into the new millenium, it seemed to be just about everywhere. The local shopping mall was a sea of T-shirts representing the top stars of both the WWF and WCW. Wrestlers made regular appearances on talk shows and prime-time programs, and it wasn't just major stars like Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, and the Rock either. On the contrary, even lower-ranked superstars like the Big Show and Val Venis were given mainstream exposure. Kids at their school lockers would discuss the previous night's Raw, Nitro, Smackdown, and Thunder when they weren't jokingly threatening to "lay the smack down" on each other.
Now, fast-forward to 2005, and it's a much different picture. The only ones who wear wrestling-related items in public these days are diehard fans, and even that seems to happen less frequently. Aside from the occasional cameo, wrestlers don't appear on TV shows nearly as often as they used to. Furthermore, outside of WWE Films, they don't get many starring roles in movies either. The exception, of course, is the Rock...but by this point, he's a part-time wrestler at best. There is considerably less discussion of the weekly programs, and the number of those has been cut in half anyway. All of these things add up to the current state of wrestling.
Of course, this may change before long. It has been said numerous times that wrestling is a cyclical business, and it's about due for a resurgence in popularity. New stars such as John Cena and Batista have begun to emerge, and they have the potential to fill the void left by the Rock and Austin. WWE will also be returning to the USA Network in the near future, and that is essentially where it all began. It also has some legitimate competition in TNA and ROH, and it was the original Big Three alternatives of WCW and ECW which forced the WWF to greatly improve its product in the first place, so this may very well happen again. But ultimately, if pro wrestling as a whole is to experience another boom, it will have to be considered "cool" by the mainstream once again. Your thoughts?