State of Professional Wrestling

[A.J.]

I just want to first off hope this hasn’t been done before but today I was thinking about professional wrestling and that state it is in currently. Now this includes all types of professional wrestling from WWE, TNA, ROH, and independent scene and hell even the overseas stuff. The reason I bring this up is that lately wrestling seems to have become stale especially with WWE as there’s nothing new creatively and the hope that TNA and ROH make big strides and challenge WWE so it be like the mid and late 90’s all over again is wishful thinking so that WWE will do their best to be creative again and bring wrestling out of this “stale” mode it is in now.

Now I’m just not saying that WWE needs to improve but I think wrestling as whole needs improve as professional wrestling is falling off the map in people’s eyes. Look at the ratings the last few years and PPV buy rates they have drastically gone down and counties to each year. Why I bring this up is that UFC is now becoming a huge attraction to everyone nowadays. Just last year they beat WWE by about 30 million in PPV buys and UFC only had 10 PPV’s while WWE had 16 and only managed for the year 200 Million buys.

I just think the Professional Wrestling especially with the downward slide it has been in at this moment in time is not good from any way you view it. UFC was even on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week and is receiving wide spread media all across the world as is viewed as real fighting with no scripts like professional wrestling. UFC is the new rival for all professional wrestling not just WWE but all companies’ across the world.

That’s why I feel that right now the state of professional wrestling is in danger as if UFC continues to grow and gets a better TV deal then what it has now it can eclipse all professional wrestling. Do I think it can happen I don’t think so, but I know that UFC is here to stay and revival all professional wrestling just as MMA is as well. I think the state of professional wrestling is in danger but it can overcome it.

So what do you all think of the state of professional wrestling good, bad or in jeopardy?

 

[pugsley88]

Its definatly bad right now. TNA tries to be the alternative but always falls short when it counts. Hopefully something will change somewhere hopefully for WWE and TNA. Everyone knows something needs to happen to change. Maybe ROH's PPV deal can dish out some good stuff.

 

[Slyfox696]

Actually, I think that wrestling is an upward swing of the business cycle right now. There is no real hot wrestler at the moment which will drive it to another boom period, but signs point to increased popularity from just a few years back.

First, TNA has firmly established itself as the number 2 promotion in America. They have a weekly TV deal, and this elusive second hour seems to FINALLY have a date. Their ratings are consistent, and every year they seem to grow a little bit more, both in popularity and respectability.

Second, the WWE is definitely experiencing a growth. Revenue for 2006 was up from 2005, as was live show attendance, PPV buys and average buys per PPV, ratings for Raw have been steadily climbing since 2004 (can't really judge Smackdown because of the move to CW), and they have a firm number 1 guy, with great marketability and credibility as a champion. Merchandising is up, the DVD sector of the company has been near flawless, and Wrestlemania just did the greatest number of buys for any wrestling PPV ever. Traditionally, merchandise sales and house show attendance have been the forerunners to a growth period, and both of those indicators are strong.

As far as on-camera product, I really think that wrestling is holding itself back. I think the WWE, in particular, over-exposes itself which waters down the product and the kills the special feeling that an individual gets from purchasing a PPV, which is a big source of revenue for the WWE. If the WWE wanted to improve the quality of the product, I would suggest they cut the number of TV hours from 5 to 3, with ECW completely gone, 2 hours for Raw and one hour for Smackdown. This would cut down on the great matches given away on free TV, and make those PPV shows feel more important. And, if speaking specifically on quality of product, cutting PPVs from 16 (well, 15 now since December 2 Dismember is gone) to 12 would help a lot. However, I just don't see that happening.

TNA, on the other hand, NEEDS another hour. Right now their biggest problem on Impact is rushed TV shows, which really hampers the one thing they do better than the WWE which is quality wrestling. TNA needs to go the WCW route with their TV show when they get two hours. Feature a lot of fast-paced undercard action, and few main-eventer matches. This would allow the X-Division and the tag division get over and keep the big moneymaking matches special come PPV time.