Oldschool
11-23-2018, 10:09 AM
Former WWE writer Brian Maxwell Mann wrote the following on Twitter regarding the creative state of the company:
WHY THE “BLAME THE FANS” NARRATIVE IS WRONG (thread)
if you look at the wrestling industry as a whole, creative has never been better. NXT can’t miss, NJPW is on fire, LU is pushing the boundaries, MLW is making new stars, even Impact is delivering at the moment.
Thanks to social media, it has never been easier for a promotion to connect with their audience and get real-time feedback from them. trends can be spotted more easily and earlier. ciampa’s Twitter game is a major reason he’s NXT champ today.
WWE has all the makings for another boom period - a fantastic crop of talent and unrivaled infastruture to deliver their product. however, largely because they are a monopoly and don’t feel the effects of their decisions overnight, they fumble a lot of opportunities.
WWE could learn a lot from Marvel. for decades, movie studios mistreated Marvel properties because they “knew better” when it came to mainstream entertainment. complex worlds were reduced to digestible stories because “only nerds” cared about all that stuff.
Then Marvel started making their own movies. they applied the same tools that created a generation of comic book fans to the big screen and converted even more people into passionate consumers of their brand.
Extending this metaphor to WWE, NXT is Marvel while the main roster is the big movie studio. Triple H has created a loyal customer base by scaling a “niche product” to the masses. meanwhile, Vince doubled down on the idea that “he knows best” when it came to the mainstream.
The result of this has been the slow bleed of casual fans to other properties or just general disinterest. so, WWE is left with a hardcore audience so jaded that they look past 90% of the booking to develop direct connections with the performers because it’s more believable.
These Takeover weekends have really exposed Vince’s incompetence. two shows - same building, same audience, same production - one gets over and one doesn’t. keep that in mind next time someone blames “fans these days.”
TL;DR REAL TALK CONCLUSION
Blaming the fans for rejecting a product they do not like is some Russo shit and you’d hope a publicly traded multinational company would be above that.
WHY THE “BLAME THE FANS” NARRATIVE IS WRONG (thread)
if you look at the wrestling industry as a whole, creative has never been better. NXT can’t miss, NJPW is on fire, LU is pushing the boundaries, MLW is making new stars, even Impact is delivering at the moment.
Thanks to social media, it has never been easier for a promotion to connect with their audience and get real-time feedback from them. trends can be spotted more easily and earlier. ciampa’s Twitter game is a major reason he’s NXT champ today.
WWE has all the makings for another boom period - a fantastic crop of talent and unrivaled infastruture to deliver their product. however, largely because they are a monopoly and don’t feel the effects of their decisions overnight, they fumble a lot of opportunities.
WWE could learn a lot from Marvel. for decades, movie studios mistreated Marvel properties because they “knew better” when it came to mainstream entertainment. complex worlds were reduced to digestible stories because “only nerds” cared about all that stuff.
Then Marvel started making their own movies. they applied the same tools that created a generation of comic book fans to the big screen and converted even more people into passionate consumers of their brand.
Extending this metaphor to WWE, NXT is Marvel while the main roster is the big movie studio. Triple H has created a loyal customer base by scaling a “niche product” to the masses. meanwhile, Vince doubled down on the idea that “he knows best” when it came to the mainstream.
The result of this has been the slow bleed of casual fans to other properties or just general disinterest. so, WWE is left with a hardcore audience so jaded that they look past 90% of the booking to develop direct connections with the performers because it’s more believable.
These Takeover weekends have really exposed Vince’s incompetence. two shows - same building, same audience, same production - one gets over and one doesn’t. keep that in mind next time someone blames “fans these days.”
TL;DR REAL TALK CONCLUSION
Blaming the fans for rejecting a product they do not like is some Russo shit and you’d hope a publicly traded multinational company would be above that.