(photo credit: thenewextreme.com)
My wish list for wrestling right now this holiday season is to just be enjoyable to watch. Right now, it simply isn’t and I wish it was. I have a feeling most people did not purchase ECW’s December to Dismember because it was no secret that not even a giant chamber gimmick match was going to save this (two or three advertised matches for a PPV they’ve had months to prepare for) show. For those of us who watched it, whether it be because of our jobs or utter boredom, were disappointed even though we had no expectation of it being a great show. You want a summary? The Hardy Boys and MNM were the match of the night. They gave the most effort, the fans seem to be awake for their opening match. They were probably just thrilled their names weren’t going to be tarnished if they had been in the main event that night. If you fell asleep for the rest of the show, then you would have been a more satisfied customer.
ECW and even sometimes TNA, to me are shows I catch, if I remember to watch. I think that’s the attitude of most wrestling fans who feel saturated by too many PPVs in a month and not enough time within wrestling programming and between PPVs to create good stories among limited rosters. ECW is a prime example of a brand that has suffered from good potential but a limited roster to work with. The fact it’s WWE’s ECW has been a hard aspect to look over and the lack of what ECW stood for originally being absent from the product, were the reasons why I believe that house attendance was down. If the WWE had kept ECW to what it was, I would be writing a more successful stance on ECW. As far as TNA’s ratings, they need to go head to head with the WWE to give viewers a choice, and to give WWE the burst of competitiveness they desperately need right now to revive a stale product across the board. TNA is in a risky position being on a Thursday night, competition with mainstream interests, especially since we’re approaching the NFL playoff season. I am hoping Heyman and others will make that leap to TNA, they need him to make things more interesting.
Right now WWE is missing the message because of stable ratings with RAW and the constant flow of viewer cash to WWE merchandise purchases. No matter what thousands of fans who submit ratings reviews or comments say that is negative, as long as people are buying Cena and DX jerseys, WWE will not wrap their head around the creative crisis that it’s in now. Right now, I think unless something changes the Tribute to the Troops show will be the saving grace for me at the end of this month. The Tribute to the Troops show is consistently good each year simply for the enthusiasm and joy it brings to our troops who serve overseas and the fact that the wrestlers who go seem to want to be there to send some good morale.
Always remember, for things to change, you have to make movement. Thanks for reading and for all the feedback, feel free to contact me anytime at Bam@4sternstaging.com.
