Ex-announcer on why WWE goes against the fans
Mar 28, 2017 10:46:53 GMT -5
Death From Above, adzy, and 5 more like this
Post by Will on Mar 28, 2017 10:46:53 GMT -5
Former WWE announcer Justin Roberts did an interview with MemorabiliaGuy.com and here are some highlights...
On WWE not caring what the fans think: "When you do a live wrestling show you have a live audience telling you what they like and what they hate. Instead of appeasing the fans and writing the show the fans like, and believe me they have some of the greatest minds and talent in wrestling, they could put on a Wrestlemania every week. Like the attitude era. You watch it now and its really flat for three hours and once in while the crowd kind of like some of it. It’s not the talents fault. As an example, say the crowd really like Cesaro but the company wants you to like Sheamus so they are going to give you Sheamus until you like him in the same way you like Cesaro. Look at Roman Reigns, the company wants you to accept him, but if you like someone else, no you have to like who the company wants you to like. The fans aren’t getting a show that is catered for them, it’s catered to running with the guys who they want to push."
Why WWE doesn't cater to the fans: "The higher-ups at that company are the sort of people who say, “You’re not going to tell us what to do. This is our company and we will run it how we want” – that’s it. Wrestling fans are so loyal they will find one or two things every week that they like about a show, even if they hated everything else. Its unfortunate and I want WWE to thrive. I just want the fans to have great shows and the shows I had growing up. I loved wrestling as a kid because it was great, and I want it to be the same way for current fans. I want the business to keep going strong."
The current product: "Even when I was there some of those three hours Raws were hard. The same stuff every week and it just wasn’t entertaining. Again nothing on the talent but what they were booked to do just wasn’t entertaining. I felt bad for the fans as I sat there and watched the shows just like them. Since I left there have been some opportunities, like with the draft, to freshen it up. They are acknowledging in the story lines that the shows haven’t been great. Instead of fixing it they will pretend to fix it for a week or two and then it goes back to doing the same thing. The storylines aren’t playing out to make sense because they aren’t booked in advance. Instead of those storylines paying off it changes week to week. When you add it up, it doesn’t make sense, they aren’t thought out like the way they used to be. No one’s a babyface, no one’s a heel. You have authority figures that are sometimes babyface sometimes heel. Look at Triple H he is this big babyface with NXT and on Twitter, then he is this heel on Monday night Raw. Stephanie McMahon is this horrible person on the show but then she’s showing how great a person she is on social media. It’s really hard to follow and it’s hard to get behind these characters."
On WWE not caring what the fans think: "When you do a live wrestling show you have a live audience telling you what they like and what they hate. Instead of appeasing the fans and writing the show the fans like, and believe me they have some of the greatest minds and talent in wrestling, they could put on a Wrestlemania every week. Like the attitude era. You watch it now and its really flat for three hours and once in while the crowd kind of like some of it. It’s not the talents fault. As an example, say the crowd really like Cesaro but the company wants you to like Sheamus so they are going to give you Sheamus until you like him in the same way you like Cesaro. Look at Roman Reigns, the company wants you to accept him, but if you like someone else, no you have to like who the company wants you to like. The fans aren’t getting a show that is catered for them, it’s catered to running with the guys who they want to push."
Why WWE doesn't cater to the fans: "The higher-ups at that company are the sort of people who say, “You’re not going to tell us what to do. This is our company and we will run it how we want” – that’s it. Wrestling fans are so loyal they will find one or two things every week that they like about a show, even if they hated everything else. Its unfortunate and I want WWE to thrive. I just want the fans to have great shows and the shows I had growing up. I loved wrestling as a kid because it was great, and I want it to be the same way for current fans. I want the business to keep going strong."
The current product: "Even when I was there some of those three hours Raws were hard. The same stuff every week and it just wasn’t entertaining. Again nothing on the talent but what they were booked to do just wasn’t entertaining. I felt bad for the fans as I sat there and watched the shows just like them. Since I left there have been some opportunities, like with the draft, to freshen it up. They are acknowledging in the story lines that the shows haven’t been great. Instead of fixing it they will pretend to fix it for a week or two and then it goes back to doing the same thing. The storylines aren’t playing out to make sense because they aren’t booked in advance. Instead of those storylines paying off it changes week to week. When you add it up, it doesn’t make sense, they aren’t thought out like the way they used to be. No one’s a babyface, no one’s a heel. You have authority figures that are sometimes babyface sometimes heel. Look at Triple H he is this big babyface with NXT and on Twitter, then he is this heel on Monday night Raw. Stephanie McMahon is this horrible person on the show but then she’s showing how great a person she is on social media. It’s really hard to follow and it’s hard to get behind these characters."
ed up that they can stubbornly tank their own shows for years on end and still make millions.
