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How did the WWF/WWE become so successful?

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entremet

entremet

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I was WWF fan all the way to the Attitude Era, where I just stopped. But for being a ''fake'' sport, what McMahon has done to market and grow his product is outstanding. Yeah, the XFL was a joke, but the fact that they continue to sell out events, get new talent that succeeds to break into new mediums, and make tons of money via TV deals and PPV is a testament to his business savvy.

What's his secret sauce?
 
Fake violence is still violence.

NFL
MMA
Boxing

We love this shit. Then he flipped the script by going 'PG'. Yes, World, your children can enjoy a certain level of violence too.

I love it, btw.
 
entrement said:
I was WWF fan all the way to the Attitude Era, where I just stopped. But for being a ''fake'' sport, what McMahon has done to market and grow his product is outstanding. Yeah, the XFL was a joke, but the fact that they continue to sell out events, get new talent that succeeds to break into new mediums, and make tons of money via TV deals and PPV is a testament to his business savvy.

What's his secret sauce?
Click to expand...

XFL was not a joke!
 
jordan0386 said:
Fake violence is still violence.

NFL
MMA
Boxing

We love this shit. Then he flipped the script by going 'PG'. Yes, World, your children can enjoy a certain level of violence too.

I love it, btw.
Click to expand...

WWF was PG. Hogan and those dudes in their primes. They even had a cartoon. So he went back to those roots.
 
The wrestlers/performers have tons of charisma. Every once and a while they can stumble upon a fairly compelling storyline, as well.

Just look at the love for wrestling gifs on this forum. If your able to suspend you disbelief wrestling is about as entertaining as something can be.
 
Escape Goat said:
who doesn't enjoy oiled up muscular men touching each other?
Click to expand...

Precisely. Whether your dick gets hard seeing it or if you have an appreciation of the male physique, modern-day WWE Sports Entertainment is the cure for the common limp dick.

ihS5ty5z1xG0o.gif
 
Soap opera for men. It's pretty exciting and can really grab your attention. Strong characters and personalities, non-stop action that you have a certain level of control over. It's all pretty amazing when you think about it. I stopped watching but I'd still check it out here and there out of curiosity.

What shocks me the most is that they can still find people to do it. Historically, life after wrestling is pretty sad and depressing for the most part. There are some successes I'm sure (The Rock... my god) but that seems rare. I'm always surprised that they can still find people that want to do that for a living. Even GETTING there is a painful journey.
 
Well it's not like he invented the medium. The reason Vince was so successful was because he broke away from the older system (promotions only running in small territories with local television coverage) and broadcast his product nationwide.

Over the decades since he's had boom and bust periods which have caused him to evolve the brand - the most obvious time was when they were losing a ratings war to WCW and created the Attitude Era. More recently they've responded to declining ratings by retargetting their product to younger audiences/families and have made more through licensing and merchandising.
 
In his prime he was a very good promoter (for pro-wrestling anyway), and inherited a company that already controlled the Northeastern wrestling market from his father.

They've always hired really good production, etc business folks to run the business outside of the actual wrestling book side of things. Their TV folks are top-notch, for instance.
 
Even if it was fake, it was entertaining. The fact that we see things that happen in wrestling that wouldn't happen is a real life situation was what made it popular. People liked the fact that Austin was kicking the boss's ass. The Wrestlers, Story lines, Commentators, and writers are all the reasons why the WWF/WWE is successful.
 
.GqueB. said:
Soap opera for men. It's pretty exciting and can really grab your attention. Strong characters and personalities, non-stop action that you have a certain level of control over. It's all pretty amazing when you think about it. I stopped watching but I'd still check it out here and there out of curiosity.

What shocks me the most is that they can still find people to do it. Historically, life after wrestling is pretty sad and depressing for the most part. There are some successes I'm sure (The Rock... my god) but that seems rare. I'm always surprised that they can still find people that want to do that for a living. Even GETTING there is a painful journey.
Click to expand...

I remember watching a documentary on hopeful young wrestlers. Just like any type of performer. The big break is what they seek.
 
He repackaged soap opera, basically. Except Soap Operas typically don't feature asswhippings.

The fandoms are REALLY similar, down to the enthusiast press for both.
 
.GqueB. said:
Soap opera for men. It's pretty exciting and can really grab your attention. Strong characters and personalities, non-stop action that you have a certain level of control over. It's all pretty amazing when you think about it. I stopped watching but I'd still check it out here and there out of curiosity.

What shocks me the most is that they can still find people to do it. Historically, life after wrestling is pretty sad and depressing for the most part. There are some successes I'm sure (The Rock... my god) but that seems rare. I'm always surprised that they can still find people that want to do that for a living. Even GETTING there is a painful journey.
Click to expand...

It's like most "glamour" jobs. Everyone is reaching for the handful of spots where they can make it big, so they ignore the fact that getting there can be treacherous. Having said that, they've cleaned up a lot since the 80s/90s so I think the current generation will have a much better lifespan than their predecessors.
 
entrement said:
I was WWF fan all the way to the Attitude Era, where I just stopped. But for being a ''fake'' sport, what McMahon has done to market and grow his product is outstanding. Yeah, the XFL was a joke, but the fact that they continue to sell out events, get new talent that succeeds to break into new mediums, and make tons of money via TV deals and PPV is a testament to his business savvy.

What's his secret sauce?
Click to expand...
Sports entertainment gets people watching. Plus, the PG rating did help WWE although the internet smarks tend to hate it.

McMahon is a genius, no matter how crazy some of his ideas may be.
 
entrement said:
I was WWF fan all the way to the Attitude Era, where I just stopped. But for being a ''fake'' sport, what McMahon has done to market and grow his product is outstanding. Yeah, the XFL was a joke, but the fact that they continue to sell out events, get new talent that succeeds to break into new mediums, and make tons of money via TV deals and PPV is a testament to his business savvy.

What's his secret sauce?
Click to expand...

Balls the size of grapefruits.

Kidding aside, he does take risks which have paid off for the most part. He turned wrestling from a regional thing to something that's national, then later worldwide. He helped in making PPV into an important part of wrestling. There was also the whole Rock and Wrestling and Attitude era which helped bring wrestling into the mainstream.

These days, it's not as big as it used to be, but there's no competition, and there's a demand for wrestling and WWE is pretty much the only one that can reach a wide enough audience.
 
I stopped watching when the attitude era started, even though all my friends pretty much got even more into it at that point. I liked the Undertaker/Papa Shango/Ultimate Warrior stuff. Recently I tried to watch Monday Night Raw, and it felt like the characters of the attitude era with the style of the pre-attitude era, without the silliness. I couldn't watch more than a few minutes, it's a middle line that just doesn't work to me.

WWE pays a big dividend, and the stock has been going up steadily over the past year, that's all I know now:p
 
Wrestling has always been way more popular than people like to admit, because so many people are embarrassed to tell others they watch pro wrestling. It's probably the same reason why shows like Jerry Spring and Maury have been on for 15 plus years.
 
It's a form if entertainment with larger than life characters acting ridiculous while performing creative stunts. What's not to love.
 
It was great when I was a kid with the Rock, HHH, Kane and Stone cold etc, but i couldn't imagine watching it as an adult. Seeing all the grown ass men in the crowd is kinda cringe.
 
You watch as a kid because your dad or someone older was watching. Then you tune in as an adult to see what's going on, cycle continues. Except we tune in and wonder why they aren't cool characters like Nailz or Mr. Perfect, and kids today are sad enough to find Del Rio entertaining.
 
It's entertaining. Doesn't matter if it's fake if the characters and performances are gripping and believable.

As for the Attitude Era... Stone Cold was the embodiment of 90s attitude. Everyone wants to punch the boss in the face. People lived vicariously through Austin. He was surrounded by veterans of the industry, new starts that just had "it", mid carders that could hold their own and all had unique, likeable personalities, and the booking and writing the best it ever was. It was like reality TV before reality TV really blew up. Between Raw and Nitro, over 10 million people were tuning in to wrestling every Monday night in the United States.

I'm sure I can write an essay on why WWF was such a cultural phenomenon between 1997 and 2001. Perfect timing on a lot of things.
 
When there's a great spot or storyline, it's completely worth tuning in week after week and suffer through John Cena moments. I also enjoy a lot of the upcoming talent.
 
It is just simple and great entertainment. You got tragedy, comedy and athletics in there. That's a fun mix to watch.
Just don't go into it thinking you're watching a sport event.
 
Wrestling is basically a real life superhero comic. Constant action, exaggerated characters, good guys and bad guys, storylines that stretch out for years, revamps and rehauls of certain characters, returns of past characters etc.

Also:

4dmzrIK.jpg
 
Forkball said:
Wrestling is basically a real life superhero comic. Constant action, exaggerated characters, good guys and bad guys, storylines that stretch out for years, revamps and rehauls of certain characters, returns of past characters etc.

Also:

4dmzrIK.jpg
Click to expand...

This is the best kind of insane.
 
It's just that saying wrestling is gay is dumb. It's great if you're gay, sure. I'm not even saying that they don't intentionally put in fanservice for their gay audience either, because they do. But that's not why it's successful. Tons of kids watch, it's not like they're doing it because they're drawn to homoeroticism, even subconsciously.
 
Like most businesses it was all about location.


Back in the 60's and 70's wrestling was regional and promoters had tie-ins with specific arenas, performers, radio stations, etc. Everyone respected these boundaries and few stepped over the lines. WWF of course, was located in one of the wealthiest, most populated parts of America. So, they eventually leveraged that advantage into buying up talent from other promotions and muscling them out of their arenas and television deals. Their only real competition was the AWA, so once they faltered, the WWF was there to pick up the pieces. Then Hulkamania happened.


So, he's continued to use that leverage to continually force others into spending more and more on talent and television until they finally crumble.
 
Matthew Gallant said:
It's just that saying wrestling is gay is dumb. It's great if you're gay, sure. I'm not even saying that they don't intentionally put in fanservice for their gay audience either, because they do. But that's not why it's successful. Tons of kids watch, it's not like they're doing it because they're drawn to homoeroticism, even subconsciously.
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone is suggesting that.

Come on. Come to the big red p... machine.

Kane_Daniel_Bryan_WWEHug.gif


There we go. A good old, hetero man hug. It's all good.
 
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