|
|
Post by Joey Cush on Jan 23, 2010 1:58:19 GMT -5
I rarely make a rant but I think many people will agree with me on this.
Back in the Attitude Era or the 'good times', WWE/F had something going that made the mid card look great. That was feuds with gimmick matches. Whether it was a Steel Cage, Ladder, Table, No DQ, etc.
You had these younger guys needing to prove themselves and get themselves really over with the crowd. Sure you can book them in a match with some one else, let them go for 10 minutes. But that is a long process. Where when you have a nice long feud between two guys and you end it in a gimmick match. It's no secret that fans love spots.
Looking at the Ladder match DVD, there are so many guys who were in the mid card at the time that were booked in the ladder match, had an awesome match, and years later are/were huge superstars. Guys like Edge, Christian, Jeff, Matt, Jericho, Benoit, RVD and Guerrero.
What I'm trying to get at is the guys in the mid card aren't nearly as over as they could and should be. Morrison, McIntyre, Ziggler, Miz, MVP, etc. Are some more over than others, sure. But they could be even more.
Reason for my title: Back in the Attitude Era, you saw a lot of mid card feuds with gimmick matches and the Main Event matches just regular matches. Let the younger guys please the crowd with some cool spots and then use the star power in the Main Event matches to please them in just one on one matches. These guys are established enough that they should be able to work a 20 minute match that entertains the crowd.
As opposed to today, the gimmick matches are used for the Main Event and we see more one on one matches for the mid card. Problem being, though they can still go; the main event today mainly consists of older guys like HBK, HHH, Batista, Jericho and Undertaker. As I said, all of them can still go, but you wouldnt expect anything unique or amazing out of older guys. But if they were in regular one on one matches, their credibility and experience alone would drag out a good match.
If the WWE would let the Main Event matches just be regular no stipulation matches and give more gimmick matches to the under card; WWE could be more entertaining.
If I could change one thing about WWE's TLC PPV it would be to have made Morrison Vs Ziggler (I know it was McIntyre, but this feud still had some juice left) in a ladder match. These guys had some matches prior and they were really good. They should have ended the feud with a ladder match. That is just one example.
Does anybody else feel the same way as I do?
|
|
|
|
Post by Byron F'N Saxton Fan on Jan 23, 2010 2:13:04 GMT -5
100% agreed. The usual Main Event in the Attitude Era saw Entrance Set destruction, Announce Table breakings, and some chair shots, so you were able to still get some hardcore flavor with the Main Event. I think that's why Mid-carder's are just guys who wrestle before The Undertaker and John Cena because of your point exactly, they wrestle in Singles Matches for a month or more(Morrison/Ziggler), then are catupulted into the Main Event with their claim to fame being they had beaten two people over 3 months in some good Singles contests.
|
|
|
|
Post by BØRNS on Jan 23, 2010 2:31:18 GMT -5
I totally understand what you're saying. In a perfect world, I would agree with you (trust me, I want it and agree with you) however; gimmick matches sell. I understand why WWE has these gimmck ppvs/matches for the main event and that is the buy-rate. If people think "hey, let's watch Cena/Triple H/Orton/Batista/Undertaker/Rey Mysterio/Shawn Michaels on Raw/SD! in regular matches, and then at the ppv's we can see them in a Hell in a Cell, Elimination Chamber, Ladder, Table, Chair, Street Fight, Iron Man etc, etc.
The weekly shows usually have a singles or tag main event match. The mentality is that if there is a "larger than life" gimmick match on a ppv, more people will buy. Get it?
I think these matches can really showcase the mid-card and their skill/ability. The main eventers are not capable of what they were capable of before. I completely agree with you, but I think the ppv buy-rate is more important to WWE... unfortunately.
|
|
|
|
Post by extreme on Jan 23, 2010 2:57:01 GMT -5
I wish there was no separate brands. Back then it gave much more time for a feud to build properly before a PPV (8 main Shows before each PPV for a feud to start and build up.) Now it just seems like the WWE is just rushing and cramming feuds with into the 4 shows before the PPV so in the end the feud is weak and ends prematurely. I rather have one good storyline feud rather than two crappy ones.
|
|
|
|
Post by wabarrett on Jan 23, 2010 8:09:47 GMT -5
I do agree with everything you've said. Obviously I don't think that these 'big-time' match types should be reserved for mid-carders, but they should be used for their feuds.
Another problem I'd like to add about special match types such as Elimination Chamber, Hell in a Cell and now TLC matches, is that they are gonna HAVE to be used at a set time every year for the new match-based PPVs. This means that sometimes there might not even be a feud personal enough or important enough to warrant having one of these matches, yet it's gonna have to be done.
I think specialty matches are no longer special because of the sheer amount that are used. It's overkill.
|
|
wwfalex04: OUC?
Main Eventer
I kNow This, Because I'm A Smark
Joined on: May 12, 2002 1:56:15 GMT -5
Posts: 2,722
|
Post by wwfalex04: OUC? on Jan 23, 2010 18:07:02 GMT -5
I personally think that the fact that the mid-card talent are actually wrestling it makes them more believable contenders. The main event guys are getting a bunch of the gimmick matches because they're the main draw - not the mid-card talent. If you put the main event guys in the gimmick matches (bare in mind of the PG rating) you get people (read: Kids - the target audience) to want to purchase the PPV's and want to watch Raw/Smackdown/ECW the following week.
With the younger talent showing off their wrestling ability it gives them a better chance to really mesh their own unique styles amongst each other and feed off one another in order to become a better wrestler. We all know, I think, that most of the mid-card talent have the talent to carry a good 20 minute match. What most lack, however, is the in-ring psychology to tell a story. They need to learn and develop their interaction with the crowd and how bringing them into the match will help write the story the match is trying to tell. Guys like The Miz, Drew McIntyre, John Morrison, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger et. al. all have the talent to go to the next level, they just need to learn how to really get the audience behind them - and that does not mean for them to go out every other day and take sick bumps. In today's era of Vince McMahon's wrestling, the target audience are looking for those big spots and heavy gimmick matches - but if you put everyone mid-carder in the gimmick match you lessen their ability to truly tell a story without relying on tables, ladders, and chairs.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Future on Jan 23, 2010 18:12:42 GMT -5
Well, also in some specific cases- the guys at the top of the food chain don't want two guys in their early twenties going out in the opening match and blowing theirs(quality wise) out of the water. The Hardyz, E&C, Benoit & Jericho used to always tear the roof off the place...but then you'd have that balanced out with a main event like 'Rock vs. Austin' or HHH and Foley. Nowadays, the established guys need to be given that gimmick to spice up their match, the younger guys? Not so much.
Still is enjoyable seeing them all given an enormous platform to perform each year during the MITB ladder match, though. At least we know they aren't trying to rob us of that anytime soon.
|
|
|
|
Post by marino13 on Jan 23, 2010 19:14:52 GMT -5
I agree with you but The Future has a great point as well. It would be nice to see the occasional gimmick match with mid-carders involved. Especially if the feud calls for it.
I admit I was scared when I saw the word "rant" in the title. Thought for sure it was about MVP.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Future on Jan 23, 2010 19:23:55 GMT -5
I agree with you but The Future has a great point as well. It would be nice to see the occasional gimmick match with mid-carders involved. Especially if the feud calls for it. I admit I was scared when I saw the word "rant" in the title. Thought for sure it was about MVP. Yeah, and throwing a bunch of stips in doesn't automatically make a less than main-event/midcard feud instantaneously gold either. Look at Matt vs. Jeff Hardy this past year...the 'I Quit' Match, ladder and stretcher matches...none of those were particularly show stealing and I feel if they just built up the hatred and aggression Matt had built up all these years inside of him, it could have played out better with a one-on-one matchup. Hurricane vs. Burchill, McIntyre vs. Morrison, Morrison vs. Rey, Sheamus vs. Goldust, Kofi vs. Orton- none of these fantastic midcard feuds have had, or had really needed high-profile match types to make them any better. They all did quite amazingly well just showcasing the guys' natural talents. Feuds like Orton vs. Cena, DX vs. Legacy, Trips vs. Orton and Edge vs. Hardy- THEY needed the stipulations to keep them fresh...to stop people from being tired of them by the time a PPV rolls around because of all the variations on them we had already seen. |
|
|
|
Post by King Bálor (CM)™ on Jan 23, 2010 19:46:56 GMT -5
I stopped reading when you said Attitude Era and rant.  |
|
|
|
Post by Joey Cush on Jan 23, 2010 22:04:35 GMT -5
I stopped reading when you said Attitude Era and rant. Seems impossible as said rant before I mentioned Attitude Era  Sorry, I didnt specify but you can really see what I mean towards title matches. Out of the ones you posted, Morrison Vs Rey really was only one match. So thats a little hard to call it a feud. And McIntyre Vs Morrison just scheduled a No DQ match on Smackdown! but looks like it wont be happening due to McIntyre's injury. When they announced it, I was extremely happy because they have built this feud up pretty nicely and could have had it end next week in the No DQ. BTW, I like the comments and long descriptions guys. Keep em coming  |
|
