GOT Wrestle Fest Fan Thread

Mikey_Fitzgerald said:
It's always been that way

It's just that these days WWE has propagated a real life fans Vs company feud, so fans end up rejecting whoever the company pushes

There really is no reason to reject Reigns. He's really good in the ring and has a great look, but fans don't like him because WWE anointed him as the next guy

When Hogan, Savage, Warrior, Bret Hart etc were all chosen, fans went along with it. These days people want to be rebellious and boo hand selected guys, but some of the biggest stars in history were all hand selected
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See, I disagree largely. Hogan, Savage and Warrior aren't comparable because that age of wrestling has long gone and was rejected before the Attitude Era - the cartoon superhero face, kayfabe alive and well, buying into the Superman logic.

Bret Hart was accepted because he could go in the ring and was part of the 'New Generation' era.

Cena got away with it because his first gimmick was, for want of a better word, 'edgy', yet he's been unanimously panned since he went the 'Hogan' route with Super Cena.

The problem with Reigns is he's technically limited and has no personality, combined with a mega-push when he was still extremely green. That's the only part I agree with - that he's hated because he was 'anointed'. But your blame on the fans is far too harsh - the WWE chose to kill kayfabe in the 90s/00s; they can't expect the fans to roll the clock back just because they're now booking lazily. The blame lies squarely with WWE - he shouldn't be booked the way he is and was, because it doesn't wash and it insults the audiences intelligence.
 
Tubey said:
See, I disagree largely. Hogan, Savage and Warrior aren't comparable because that age of wrestling has long gone and was rejected before the Attitude Era - the cartoon superhero face, kayfabe alive and well, buying into the Superman logic.

Bret Hart was accepted because he could go in the ring and was part of the 'New Generation' era.

Cena got away with it because his first gimmick was, for want of a better word, 'edgy', yet he's been unanimously panned since he went the 'Hogan' route with Super Cena.

The problem with Reigns is he's technically limited and has no personality, combined with a mega-push when he was still extremely green. That's the only part I agree with - that he's hated because he was 'anointed'. But your blame on the fans is far too harsh - the WWE chose to kill kayfabe in the 90s/00s; they can't expect the fans to roll the clock back just because they're now booking lazily. The blame lies squarely with WWE - he shouldn't be booked the way he is and was, because it doesn't wash and it insults the audiences intelligence.
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WWE will of course take their share of the blame, but there's a specific breed of wrestling fan existing within the WWE fan base who seem to care more about getting themselves over than actually watching the show these days

My question to them would be this, what has the Roman Reigns character done to deserve all this hatred exactly? Forget that in real life WWE have said "we like this guy and want to push him", what has the character done that would mean he deserves to be booed?

WWE admitted in the 80's that it was all a work, but Hogan still got cheered, and you could argue that his character was much more of a hypocrite than Reigns has ever been. He'd eye gouge, back rake and act like a complete tit to his mates. Reigns the character has never done that. There's no reason to boo him other than as a way to stick it to the company, who will then push him even harder. It's an endless cycle that helps no one

Wrestling companies rarely if ever have given people what they want. They've told them what they wanted and then convinced them accordingly. The only exception I can think of is with the whole Daniel Bryan thing, where they finally relented and gave him the title. Outside of that it's almost always them giving you something and then convincing you that you'll like it. We're not even talking as far back as Hogan here, we're going back to Bruno and Backlund
 
I'm actually glad todays fans think for themselves, rather than just swallow everything WWE serves them without question. Nobody likes having their intelligence insulted. And I'm not even that intelligent. :P
 
Mikey_Fitzgerald said:
WWE will of course take their share of the blame, but there's a specific breed of wrestling fan existing within the WWE fan base who seem to care more about getting themselves over than actually watching the show these days

My question to them would be this, what has the Roman Reigns character done to deserve all this hatred exactly? Forget that in real life WWE have said "we like this guy and want to push him", what has the character done that would mean he deserves to be booed?

WWE admitted in the 80's that it was all a work, but Hogan still got cheered, and you could argue that his character was much more of a hypocrite than Reigns has ever been. He'd eye gouge, back rake and act like a complete tit to his mates. Reigns the character has never done that. There's no reason to boo him other than as a way to stick it to the company, who will then push him even harder. It's an endless cycle that helps no one

Wrestling companies rarely if ever have given people what they want. They've told them what they wanted and then convinced them accordingly. The only exception I can think of is with the whole Daniel Bryan thing, where they finally relented and gave him the title. Outside of that it's almost always them giving you something and then convincing you that you'll like it. We're not even talking as far back as Hogan here, we're going back to Bruno and Backlund
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The difference is kayfabe being viable. Back in the 80s, it was - it doesn't matter if you had some "smarks" at the time; it was still mainstream viable as a "fight" between a good guy and a bad guy and they bought into it.

Nowadays, you have people doing twin springboard moonsaults and whatnot which are basically glorified acrobatic performances, because the focus is on athleticism and "the look" over performance.

That's what's wrong with Reigns' character - there isn't one. People aren't buying it because he has no personality - there's no draw apart from "he's good looking." Hogan had personality. Hart was a technician with a good look. People were willing to latch on to them; they aren't with Reigns, because there's nothing to get invested in.

That's why MMA is exploding, because it has the element of realism and getting invested in characters. The likes of Conor McGregor are as over as Steve Austin, not just because of his talents in the ring, but because of his character. Rousey is basically retiring into the WWE apparently, because the crossover is now there. WWE has no advantage on MMA anymore - indeed, if MMA "worked" fights right now, there'd be little to no difference between that and old school wrestling.

So that's why it's not working - they're using babyface booking tactics from the 80s that no longer work, because wrestling is not what it was.

They should have learned from why the likes of Bryan, Cesaro etc. got over, because it was organic - they bought into their skill, passion and character. Instead, they're not organically doing anything; they're booking Hogans in an era where Hogan wouldn't work.
 
Tubey said:
The difference is kayfabe being viable. Back in the 80s, it was - it doesn't matter if you had some "smarks" at the time; it was still mainstream viable as a "fight" between a good guy and a bad guy and they bought into it.

Nowadays, you have people doing twin springboard moonsaults and whatnot which are basically glorified acrobatic performances, because the focus is on athleticism and "the look" over performance.

That's what's wrong with Reigns' character - there isn't one. People aren't buying it because he has no personality - there's no draw apart from "he's good looking." Hogan had personality. Hart was a technician with a good look. People were willing to latch on to them; they aren't with Reigns, because there's nothing to get invested in.

That's why MMA is exploding, because it has the element of realism and getting invested in characters. The likes of Conor McGregor are as over as Steve Austin, not just because of his talents in the ring, but because of his character. Rousey is basically retiring into the WWE apparently, because the crossover is now there. WWE has no advantage on MMA anymore - indeed, if MMA "worked" fights right now, there'd be little to no difference between that and old school wrestling.

So that's why it's not working - they're using babyface booking tactics from the 80s that no longer work, because wrestling is not what it was.

They should have learned from why the likes of Bryan, Cesaro etc. got over, because it was organic - they bought into their skill, passion and character. Instead, they're not organically doing anything; they're booking Hogans in an era where Hogan wouldn't work.
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But NXT, the product catered to the smark audience, does use traditional 80's booking and it's the best show they have

Drew's redemption arc, Strong the family man, Roode the extravagant heel, Asuka the machine who can't be stopped, Chris Hero the out of shape guy who knows how to fight

Aleister Black cuffing LEVITATES during his entrance FFS!

That booking does still work, heck it's basically the booking New Japan does, the NXT audience are just prepared to go with it whilst the main roster crowd aren't
 
ijjysmith said:
Can we talk about the fit ladies a bit more please?
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That Serena Deeb looks much fitter with hair I must say

deebmyc.jpg
 
Mikey_Fitzgerald said:
But NXT, the product catered to the smark audience, does use traditional 80's booking and it's the best show they have

Drew's redemption arc, Strong the family man, Roode the extravagant heel, Asuka the machine who can't be stopped, Chris Hero the out of shape guy who knows how to fight

Aleister Black cuffing LEVITATES during his entrance FFS!

That booking does still work, heck it's basically the booking New Japan does, the NXT audience are just prepared to go with it whilst the main roster crowd aren't
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Again, the difference is NXT and NJPW present characters and performances and invite the reaction, whether positive or negative. If they're flat for something, fine, dismiss, retune the character, go again. It's not what they do, it's how.

The main roster doesn't do that. They beat the same drum over and over again, regardless of the reception it gets. When Reigns doesn't have a character the audience are latching on to, repackage him, take risks, turn him heel... you know, book the show. Play it organically and don't assume you have it right straight away.

That's what I mean by WWE being stuck in a mindset - they believe they'll come up with something then it's down to the audience to react the right way. It's the opposite - like any business, you need to serve them products (characters) that they can get invested into so as to make money from the product. Reigns doesn't do that - sure, WWE is big enough to trundle on with him and he'll draw something no matter what because the business is huge, but it isn't optimal and that's why they are, in my view, becoming increasingly unwatchable and irrelevant.
 
Cena vs Reigns at.... No Mercy?! .....

Don't get that....by their own commentary that's a Wrestlemania match....maybe Cena ain't gonna be around much longer (or it's Cena vs Taker at Mania eek!)....

Enjoyed their promo, didn't like them then teaming together though (keep them apart and help fans buy into the tension between the two)....wonder how much off script they went (Cena in particular).....
 
N.S.N.O. said:
Cena vs Reigns at.... No Mercy?! .....

Don't get that....by their own commentary that's a Wrestlemania match....maybe Cena ain't gonna be around much longer (or it's Cena vs Taker at Mania eek!)....

Enjoyed their promo, didn't like them then teaming together though (keep them apart and help fans buy into the tension between the two)....wonder how much off script they went (Cena in particular).....
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I think they're doing it now because they wanna try and make the "B" shows a bit more important this time of year, plus i think they're a bit concerned about how long Cena has left so just doing it now while they have the chance.

Then if they want they can always do it again at Wrestlemania, won't really make much difference if they've already had one match before.
 
Seamus Colemole said:
I think they're doing it now because they wanna try and make the "B" shows a bit more important this time of year, plus i think they're a bit concerned about how long Cena has left so just doing it now while they have the chance.

Then if they want they can always do it again at Wrestlemania, won't really make much difference if they've already had one match before.
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This is pretty much Wwe's modern day version of Hulk Hogan vs Ultimate Warrior (except neither guy is popular outside of Vince's head)...... So really it should have been saved it for Wrestlemania...
Nothing is being saved anymore, everything is being rushed.... Heck Sasha banks not only lost the title again, but they even seemed to use that title match on RAW to make Alexa champ again and also move onto a feud with Nia (who were "best friends" apparently)...
 

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