What Spoony and maybe some of you need to realize is that the WWE does not give a **** what people like us think of their product because we are not their target demographic. The WWE is not stupid and not everyone working for the company is clueless about the business. There are still lots of very knowledgeable wrestling people working for the company both as talent and as backstage crew, and that includes Vince. They know that their product sucks by our standards, but no amount of complaining by guys like Spoony is going to change the fact that the WWE thinks they can make more money with kid **** than with good wrestling. I know it's hard to let go but if you can't get any enjoyment from the WWE product then you really should just stop watching. Watch TNA instead. At least the matches are decent, even if the booking is all over the place. Or watch ROH, and Dragon Gate, and CHIKARA, and all the other independent promotions that cater specifically to fans like you and me. But don't watch WWE. It's not for you any more. And you will love wrestling a little bit less each time you tune in.

Lol, forgot entirely about that feud (easily forgettable).

I guess kayfabe is beyond dead.

You guys underestimate Captain Charisma's ability to bring people together.

Believe I read Jerishow was dropping the titles because Show needs knee surgery? But idk
Sheamus winning the title is great and all, I love the thought and if used correctly, could push him into becoming a solid heel fast, but how he won was just so awful I thought.
Christian/Benjamin was definitely awesome, it's sad how they're pushing so many of these new people through ECW and pretty much instantly right away going for titles. Push back up Masters, Guerrero (doubt that's possible now), and especially Bourne, how is he not feuding for the US title i don't get. He's huge over, a great new young face, and basically should be feuding with Miz already. Push Swagger first I think, he's shown he can fly up there as well.
I've only been able to watch ECW as of late, and from what I've read/seen on raw it's nothing new anymore. ECW is at least continuing feuds and making it still fresh, Hurricane/"Ripper", Christian/Benjamin, and Regal trying to get back into competing vs Christian, while his 2 comrades are feuding against each other, all while they showcase new characters slowly. Sometimes they fail, but it's still going very well I think, how they killed Raw so badly idgi

Austin and HHH coming together 1.5 years after both tried to commit vehicular manslaughter on the other was way worse.

When WWE catered to me over 10 year old kids they did double the ratings they're doing now. If they want to appeal to kids with dumb gimmicks like it's the early 90's (Bob "Spark Plug" Holly, The Goon, etc...) they can go do that and watch their ratings keep going in the crapper.

Are 12 year old kids even allowed to stay up until 11:00 when RAW ends on the east coast?

Ratings isnt the purpose of the WWE. Its not a TV show, like House for example, its a fully integrated business.

Vince thinks that the PG direction whilst shedding viewers is more profitable. Frankly i dont think anyone is in a position to judge without having first hand knowledge but the fact its a publicly traded company and they are accountable to the shareholders makes me assume they cant be far off from correct.

Maybe when Vince retires (or more likely dies whilst still in charge) things might change under the direction of Stephanie and Triple H, but i wouldnt bank on it, but either way PG is here to stay unless the market or company priorities shift.

I have no knowledge to support this, but maybe what WWE is trying to do is repeat what they did before...

The PG era is the parallel to the early 80's with Cena being today's Hulk Hogan. This era is meant to get the 5-11 year olds addicted to wrestling. Then as the audience matures, instead of continuing to target 5-11 year olds, they tailor the show to age with the audience into another Attitude Era. This is pretty much what happened to a lot of guys my age.

I thought of that, but it'd probably make more sense to stay at TV14 yet have a show that's in between PG and TV14.

That and the show should be TVMA if they're trying to change the show to the audience since the Attitude audience is grown up now. I don't even think there should be another Attitude Era, it was a little too much. (If old school best of 3 falls is a 1, WWE late 90's is an 8.5, and WEW is a 10; a 6-7 is fine enough.) (While at Suncoast I found out about WEW which is a women's fed out of ECW Arena where you have to be 21 to see the shows and they have pornstars as some of the roster)

Or they could just put on a good wrestling show with interesting stories,characters, and matches. **** that, let's have some dude from TV as the guest GM.

The are trying to increase ratings with the guest host, but that is compatible with the overall PG plan.

Increasing views is obviously a priority, its just not as high a priority that they will shift away from the PG writing even if it is frustrating a lot of fans and the wrestlers themselves (it was clear how pissed both Shelton and Christian were with their mini stoppage on Sunday) and ultimately it opens the door for TNA to make up huge ground - hell the only thing they dont have right now is a second show on a major network and great writers, the two things its the priority of Bischoff and Hogan when they take the reigns for real in the new year.

Fwiw i disagree with the notion of PG wrestling as a fan (even though i dislike a lot of things that happened in the Attitude Era and think there is a great middle ground out there), but its their prerogative to make such decisions.

Big Show actually had knee surgery a couple weeks ago. I dunno if he needs another, but i doubt it. Probably some crossed wires in where you read this.

Its pretty amazing he can get non invasive surgery to clean up his knees and be back working within a few days.

For the most part i agree. I like Sheamus and i agree the way he won just looked ****ing terrible, it was clear that Cena just randomly jumped through the table and its more amazing that King basically said this at the time in commentary.

As much as i like having someone new winning the belt, Sheamus i think is a poor choice. Has he actually been in a one on one in a PPV before that match? Going off memory he hasnt, but he certainly hasnt held any other belt and his total list of conquests was Golddust, a few jobbers, King, Noble and Santino. Hardy a glorious rise through the ranks, at least when the Goldberg did similar he beat real wrestlers first.

One of the problems they always find when pushing guys too fast is they pass their character level. There isnt anyone in the company who cant work higher than they do, but their on screen persona forces the level they work. By overpushing Sheamus they can easily make him look weak if he drops the title back to Cena at the RR (or even if he just takes a cheap way out like self DQ). The test of a person's push isnt at the peak but how they exit that feud and move on to the next one.

Time will tell how well this works out for Sheamus, but i know id personally be pissed if i was Miz who got squashed in 5 minutes by Cena after building some momentum off his back, or guys like MVP who have been in the company paying their dues and at the moment they build up for a run at the title its pulled away (he was beyond over when he got drafted to Raw, dont know how well the crowd pops nowadays since i dont watch Raw anymore but im guessing less than before).

Also the same goes for guys like Swagger and Kofi, though Kofi is being built up hard right now even with his loss the other night (which he looked pretty strong in).

The one thing they never dead in their careers was become close friends with Triple H. Similar can be said of Drew Macintire who has received most of his push from being close to Shawn Michaels.

For some reason they cant work out what to do with Bourne. The company is actually really high up on him and he is respected by everyone, but they cant find a good feud for him so he is kind of out in the cold right now.

Masters im not a fan of, Chavo i am but he is so buried that it would take a miracle feud for him to be a credible US Title holder, let alone anything resembling the big leagues. I assume Masters isnt getting a huge push because they are still wary of him, he is on 2 strikes of the wellness policy and they need to be absolutely sure he wont get his third. Frankly loads of people were against even hiring him back due to how risky a gamble it is that he wont third strike himself and bring loads of negative publicity against the company.

ECW is going to be the show to watch when Danielson debuts there. He is expected to debut at any point having skipped FCW but ive no clue if he will need to do a dark match or two first.

On a similar note Kaval (Low Ki) has been doing dark matches that have been well recieved and he is due to debut for real any time now.

i would club a baby seal to see danielson vs low ki again

they had a pwg match

(dunno if you are referring to this or their roh stuff)

bret hart wwe contract

I've heard of both of them and how high they've been hyped, never seen a match with either yet. And I'm shocked as well that they had Sheamus get it, at least Swagger has been ECW Champion with good feuds, or even Miz or someone else, but we'll see, who knows how long Sheamus even keeps it, and it could end out not being too bad

I'd guess if they want to push Hart Dynasty, how huge would it be if Bret Hart was in the corner, against HBK's team, and would easily get them right into that position. I doubt he'll wrestle much but we'll see (if he's even signed? haven't heard yet for sure, could just be a guest host or something)

i was refering to the roh stuff. what show was their pwg match on?

He wont wrestle at all, thats for sure. would still be sick to see him in WWE atm.

isaac yankem dds a.k.a. kane on the ground?

indeed yankem is on the ground there. god that gimmick was so bad. i can remember as a very young child being very very scared of him tho for some reason. i was so happy when bret hart pwned him.

BRET HART-WWE UPDATE
By Dave Scherer on 2009-12-16 18:17:14
We have gotten some email concerning an internet story (I don't know where it came from or I would cite the source) saying that Bret Hart has signed a four month contract with WWE, which would make him available to appear on the 1/4 Raw against TNA Impact. I talked to one person in WWE who told me that he heard though company channels that Bret would be in through WrestleMania but couldn't confirm it 100%. I have talked to a few people in WWE that have told me that they are under the impression that after having his name mentioned on Raw this week, they are moving forward as if he is coming in to work with WWE. So, while I can't confirm the story, I can tell you that my gut feeling is that Bret is on his way in to WWE.

According to Dave Meltzer the contract runs from Jan 1st to April 10, obv with a possibility to extend beyond that depending how everyone feels about it.

No details are known, but if true this means he will be doing the guest host slot when TNA is taking them on (Jan 4th iirc) and will be around all the way up to and including Wrestlemania.

He WONT be wrestling, he medically cannot, but the thinking is he will end up working with the Hart Dynasty (which was what got Bret first interested, basically to help two of his family and the family's close friend TJ to push them to the very top in an uber short amount of time) and they will be using this opportunity to push an upcoming Hart Foundation DVD that is currently in the works.

Again, details not known, but my own speculation is he will guest host Raw then get moved over the Smackdown, possibly as a replacement or an overseer/adviser of Teddy. It means Raw stays freed up for Guest Hosts which is confirmed as their plan for the foreseeable future, and it gives Smackdown its "new identity" that the company has talked about recently.

Edit, btw, its confirmed that Cena will not be on the show live on Jan 4th. He is doing a coin toss on some sports game somewhere else. Obv they could record something backstage and then broadcast it as if it were live.

Figured he wouldn't wrestle, but DX+Vince vs Hart Foundation at WM would be huge lol
Never have seen any of his matches, but definitely heard he was awesome. Maybe not as huge of a draw as Hogan was, so we'll see who win on the Jan 4th competition.
Not sure which I'd watch, if I can watch either, but TNA i've liked as of late, just that I work every week when it's on, but it's PPV's have been great unlike WWE.
Cena not being on that raw is so bad, but at least it'll hopefully give matches for other people, since most people are sick of seeing Cena in the same matches atm.
Has anyone even confirmed he's guest hosting the 4th anyway? lol

Damn! If that's true, I might have to go to that show (in Dayton where I live).

I can't see Bret working on SmackDown, and obviously that's where the Hart Dynasty currently reside. I have tickets to Raw in Minneapolis on January 11, if Bret's there it would be absolutely sick (and last year's DX reunion leading into the Jericho/HBK ladder match was pretty good itself). Having Bret back would be sick, but with the pops he's going to get, it would pretty much turn DX (especially HBK) uber-heel, wouldn't it?