Cross Face Chicken Wing Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 You're on an elevator with a dude who used to watch WWF fairly regularly during the Hulkamania years and the Attitude Era. He's now 35 years old, has a wife, a couple of kids, a white-collar office job and lives in the burbs. He has fond memories of his years as a wrestling fan, but due to his life changing and wrestling "just not being what it used to be," he hasn't watched the modern product more than a handful of times since the WWF/WCW merger. What would be your 45-second elevator speech to try and convince this guy to watch modern WWE again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantastic Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 Honestly? Given my own dissatisfaction with the product and the fact that there doesn't seem to be anything must see anymore, along with the superfluous 3 hour Raw marathons, there is no way I could be a proponent of the modern product. The things I do like about modern WWE (Brock Lesnar, Daniel Bryan, Cena's big matches) are quite different to what a Hulkamania and Attitude Era stalwart loved about the brand (there were no freak athletes like Brock around, production was modest, storylines didn't go beyond simply setting up a match). I myself only got into WWE during the later parts of the Attitude Era so I experienced the transition between that and the "Ruthless Aggression" era and learned to like what I like without having the nostalgia of the golden age of WWE before it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 That guy should watch Wrestlemania every year - all his favorites from the Attitude Era will show up and it's as good an excuse to have a party as the Super Bowl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmmnx Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 I have friends and a few cousins who fall into the demo you're talking about Cross Face, and my pitches are usually Brock is awesome, and their developmental show smokes Raw. I really couldn't recommend 3 hour Raws to anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badlittlekitten Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 Faster paced, action packed, exciting wrestling with premium production values. Honestly? Given my own dissatisfaction with the product and the fact that there doesn't seem to be anything must see anymore, along with the superfluous 3 hour Raw marathons, there is no way I could be a proponent of the modern What's the point in this post? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WashingtonFB Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 I'd recommend watching Wrestlemania to see all of his favorite nostalgia acts and Summerslam to see the current wrestlers at their best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidebottom Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 "If you start watching again, maybe I could come visit your house in the burbs and watch wrestling on your big screen TV, all the while catching a naughty glimpse of your wife." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shining Wiz Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 If you liked huge, exciting, larger than life personalities doing unpredictable things, then there's not much you'll enjoy right now. The storylines are actually probably better than they were back in the day (or at least more sensidical), but not enough that you won't detach a retina because of all the eye rolling and the fact that the personalities aren't big enough to make you not care about the stupidity. But if you like actual wrestling......god damn it blows away just about any era that came before it. Seriously - WWE has the deepest, most talented roster probably ever assembled as far as in ring talent. Now, that doesn't mean that everyone is great, and that wrestlers who are complete shite or not that great aren't all over the place just because they look good, but you might get a throw away match on a throw away show between two guys they don't know what to do with that ends up being a match of the year contender. And Brock Lesnar decided to be the best wrestler in the world every three or four months when he shows up, and it's awesome. And if you're really old school, and remember what it was like watching your local territory on tv Saturday's at midnight.....NXT. They take away all (alright, it's still wrestling...MOST) of the stupid, and basically make it all about "I want to beat you because I can get into contention/get a title shot/win the belt". It's GLORIOUS. And the wrestling is great, and the show is on a smaller scale. Seriously...you should check it out before they ruin it by thinking of ways to make it 'better'. Oh...and the BEST thing.....do you have a DVR? Great. That way you can tape RAW - did I tell you three hours of RAW is about an hour and half too much? - and skip the stupid stuff. Sometimes you actually get through the show in 30 minutes and don't really miss anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fakeplastictrees Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 I hate to say it, but I would tell him that the modern product is more reality based and not in a WWF 1994 'everyone has a real job gimmick' either. Punk's pipebomb, The Daniel Bryan Saga, former UFC Champion Brock Lesnar returning, etc. The sell would, and again I hate to say this, would be how meta the WWE product is today. Pretty much it will be a HHH shill of 'The Reality Era'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badlittlekitten Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 So none of you network owners have thought about the shill of your lifetime? Disappointed in you guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 Who talks to people on elevators? 😃 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cross Face Chicken Wing Posted April 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 Who talks to people on elevators? You're one of those people who stares awkwardly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 Who talks to people on elevators? You're one of those people who stares awkwardly? 1. I'm from New Jersey. 2. I don't talk to people on elevators because no one wants to talk on an elevator. The only acceptable convo is "What floor?" and the response if you're in charge of the buttons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petey Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 I think it'd be a hard sell. I'm almost 28 and checked out of WWE from like 06-13, checking in every once in a while during the Nexus angle and Punk's pipebomb. WWE's presentation is so different than it was when I first started watching (early 90's... I started young) that it took me a while to just kinda accept that WWE's 'style' had changed and wasn't gonna present itself the way it was in 2000. There's still guys going out and wrestling in a wrestling ring but the commentary, the backstage promos, so much of it feels like reality TV as opposed to pro wrestling. For a lot of people, I'm not sure they'd be able to get past that unless they've always remained a big wrestling fan in one way or another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man in Blak Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 You're on an elevator with a dude who used to watch WWF fairly regularly during the Hulkamania years and the Attitude Era. He's now 35 years old, has a wife, a couple of kids, a white-collar office job and lives in the burbs. So, you're basically on the elevator with me. And the things that drew me back into watching WWE last year were: - Morbid curiosity about the CM Punk situation at the Royal Rumble. - American Dragon not only being in WWE, but hovering around the main event in a great meta-narrative vs. Triple H. - The WWE Network just came out, including an indies-ish "NXT" promotion that had the audacity to have a great women's division. - New characters like the Shield, Bray Wyatt, and Cesaro seemed interesting. If you compare those points against where we are this year, you have: - CM Punk has left to get pounded in MMA, burning virtually every bridge possible on his way out - Daniel Bryan is effectively relegated to Smackdown - NXT is stlll around and thriving, thankfully. - Even though Rollins and Reigns are hanging around the main event now, virtually everybody mentioned here is either treading water or considerably less interesting now than they were a year ago. NXT is great, but it wasn't enough to deter me from cancelling my WWE network sub right before Wrestlemania. That's just me, though. Maybe a pitch that centered around NXT (which is still great) and the ability to revisit old content on the WWE Network would work for other people in my situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenjo Posted April 8, 2015 Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 Why would you want to convince random 35 year olds on elevators to start watching WWE again? If you're on commission for recruiting new fans then you're better off targeting kids. But then again you're less likely to be arrested for the first one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cross Face Chicken Wing Posted April 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 You and Johnny win the "Takes Thread Titles Way too Literally" tag team title belts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.