Official WWE/ECW/WCW/TNA talk, or whatever v2

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by HitterD

I think at this point the entire board knows your position on the WWE product, no need to repeat it every day.

Thanks tips, but I'll stick to what I enjoy and talk about it as freely as I want.

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

People should support their local indies if they really like wrestling and want a fair ticket price.

The local Indies suck. No offense to people who like Dungeon Wrestling, but at $30 for a ticket their pricing is only $10 less than I paid to see Raw.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Inferno

The 300s is out of the question for me. It's either the field(which I know already will be too much) or lower bowl on the sides. I know it's all about the experience but I don't want to be looking at the screen the whole show.

I think I would suck it up and pay $2,000-$3000 for both shows because I'm good with only going to one WrestleMania but if it ended up being double that it would be tough to justify.

I miss the days when I paid $500 to go to SummerSlam in Toronto and sat in row 6 I think beside the ramp. It's 5k to do that for Survivor Series.

It's worth it to pay a bit more for better seats, but try to pay face value and not the "Platnium Seats" offers if you can.

I sat in 103 for WM 40 Saturday and paid $350 USD which was much cheaper than those seats had been a week earlier when they were still listed as "Platnium Seats"

For WM 40 Sunday I sat in C1 and paid $550 USD which was more than I wanted to pay but the person next to me had paid $800 USD when they were still Platnium Seats. It was $350 for seats in 239 in like the last row which would be a complete rip off IMO because you can't see much at all.

For me at the time it was worth it because I was guaranteed to see The Rock at WM (and rumors at the time were that there was a good chance Austin would show up), so it was a bucket list thing for me.

Honestly better off saving up another year for better seats and watching at home than you are paying that type of premium for the further away seats in a stadium.

Originally Posted by Inferno

The point is as long as people keep paying those prices they will stick to it and even experiment with going up. So the price for them is right.

What's needed is for fans to refuse to pay that but it won't happen because people want to go so badly.

I don't blame these companies, they saw what people were willing to pay scalpers who could do variable pricing and went "we might as well get some of that revenue"

And I do think things like the flex pricing for "Platnium Seats" has helped discourage scalpers for some events compared to just doing a flat pricings structure but in the end it still sucks because it just means prices a a whole go up still.

It would be nice if North America would follow many European countries leads and ban these type of practices. There was all this talk about how Taylor Swift tickets were so much cheaper in Europe and it was because they actually have better ticket practices to prevent re-selling above face value and re-sale.

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

For that product, not worth it. I'd need to see Hogan slam Andre for that price, and one of them has been dead for 35 years.

Based on your wrestling tastes I am shocked you'd pay that to see Hogan / Andre...I figured you'd hate the Hogan and Andre style of wrestling.

[Muta]

I love wrestling, but would never pay $2000 for a ticket to any single event. For that price, I can fly to Japan, stay there for several days and watch WrestleKingdom, and fly back

[Ozy_Flame]

More for the novelty of seeing an actual dead man wrestle. Then I'd pay good money.

[trackercowe]

AEW fans must be surprised when there's more than 3,000 in attendance for a wrestling show. Are they the only act booking 20,000 seat arenas and filling them at 1/10th capacity? This isn't considering the product, just the company itself. I think the Harlem Globetrotters are a bigger draw.



This is from last night. AEW has had some great wrestling the last little while, yet nothing is changing in terms of attendance or ratings. I wonder if their opportunity to become a legitimate contender is gone?

Oh and for the record AEW tickets aren't exactly cheap either, especially for a product with no demand.

https://www.ringsidenews.com/2024/09...ttering-photo/

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

More for the novelty of seeing an actual dead man wrestle. Then I'd pay good money.

Only problem is they could figure out a way to clone or bring a prime Andre back from the dead...and Hogan would still figure out a way to go over.

"I'm not lying down for no clone Brother"

[Ozy_Flame]

"Andre brother I love ya but the people want what they want"

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

AEW fans must be surprised when there's more than 3,000 in attendance for a wrestling show. Are they the only act booking 20,000 seat arenas and filling them at 1/10th capacity? This isn't considering the product, just the company itself. I think the Harlem Globetrotters are a bigger draw.



This is from last night. AEW has had some great wrestling the last little while, yet nothing is changing in terms of attendance or ratings. I wonder if their opportunity to become a legitimate contender is gone?

Oh and for the record AEW tickets aren't exactly cheap either, especially for a product with no demand.

I don't get why they aren't shifting back to smaller venues.

Rupp Arena holds 20k, and you are putting 3k people in there.

Means there is no incentive to buy tickets early (basic supply/demand economics), and makes for a ####ty fan experience because sitting in a 20k seat arena with 3k people is no fun either.

Even for Raw in Calgary...the crowd was really into it and loud. But when you have half of the entire 200 level tarped off it still feels kind of empty and that was with 11k people.

Edit: Forgot Dynamite this year was probably about the same and think they drew maybe close to 5k for that in the Saddledome when it was all said and done.

[Ozy_Flame]

To be fair, hard cam side for AEW has always been somewhat taped off.

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I don't get why they aren't shifting back to smaller venues.

Rupp Arena holds 20k, and you are putting 3k people in there.

Means there is no incentive to buy tickets early (basic supply/demand economics), and makes for a ####ty fan experience because sitting in a 20k seat arena with 3k people is no fun either.

Even for Raw in Calgary...the crowd was really into it and loud. But when you have half of the entire 200 level tarped off it still feels kind of empty and that was with 11k people.

Edit: Forgot Dynamite this year was probably about the same and think they drew maybe close to 5k for that in the Saddledome when it was all said and done.

Raw would have 100% sold out if the prices were reasonable.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

To be fair, hard cam side for AEW has always been somewhat taped off.

Yeah but it's getting worse for sure.

They sold 11.3k last year for Grand Slam Dynamite.

It's 13 days to the show and they are at 4.4k right now and only are set up for 5.7k. And tickets aren't even that bad. 100 level (2nd level) is $40, $85 for 1st level, and then looks like floor was $300. Plus looks like they have a buy 3 get 1 free deal too.

The in-ring product is good, but they have to change up what they are doing from a ticketing and promotion perspective if they want to try to get people into the arena's again.

I think getting in smaller more intimate arenas where the crowd feels right on top of the action would help the TV product too TBH.

Too many shows where the arena feels dead and that doesn't help the TV product or help sell tickets to future live events.

I've had friends who have no real interest in Wrestling who saw the crowd reaction / pop for Jey Uso on TV/Social Media this week and went "That looks fun I might have to go next time". AEW used to have those types of crowd reactions, they need to figure out how to bring that energy back into their live shows and I think smaller venues would help.

[Muta]

One thing I've noticed is that WWE promotes the individual more; AEW mostly promotes groups and alliances (except for MJF and a couple others). When a wrestler starts off RAW walking into the arena with music playing on the live feed, it builds up anticipation. WWE also puts more production into their backstage segments. And obviously, the booking is more long-term in WWE. This is just a style some things that are noticeable.

I'd like to see AEW reduce the amount of wrestlers on their roster and focus more on the individuals, WWE-style (and also return to developing their own internal prospects, like they did with MJF); on the flip side, there's some amazing factions in there like The Patriarchy that are being booked right, and WWE could learn from. I will say that I'm getting quickly tired oft the Judgement Day, WWE is completely overexposing them right now. They basically dominated RAW and I'm not sure that needs to happen.

[Blaster86]

AEW just needs to focus and spend time on people that fans actually want to see.


Enough with the Bucks. Accept Mercedes Mone was a mistake. Put a pin in Baker. Send Jericho to the farm. Stop trying to make Jack Perry cool. These are six people that most fans seem genuinely sick of seeing and yet see a lot of. They either get no response or go-away heat and they are taking up so much screen time and story line time for AEW every week.

[Ozy_Flame]

Yeah we've heard this many times before in here.

Tell you guy what, I'll let Tony know to can the Learning Tree if you guys let Triple H know to can the Howdy Half Dozen. Clean house together!

[SuperMatt18]

To me that stuff isn't even the biggest issue.

Just get rid of RoH...start with that.

To me there is a pretty clear start of the decline of the product that started when RoH infilrated the brand.

It's been better lately, but because there has been way less talk / overlap of RoH. But IMO it's still way too much.

That and just release the people you aren't going to use (ie. Keith Lee, Miro, Brian Cage, etc)

[CaptainCrunch]

Good wrestling might get you crowds initially, but good story lines and builds will create a stable fanbase.

While AEW does have some really good performers, just trying to do dream matches isn't going to bring people into the regular shows. It might pop a ppv, but eventually people realize that the PPV mean nothing without good builds and stories.

I do agree that Tony has to start shaving down his roster, there are too many workers on there that people have forgotten about, and they rot.

But I also am starting to think that some of the people at the top of the card are a big problem.

Frankly I used to be a fan of Jericho, but now he's just a leech, he can't work anymore and his character stuff is nonsense. Maybe he is the guy that needs a producer to filter his ideas, and put a brake on him.

I mean Omega is really really good, MJF is really really good, but in the two of them, your banking it seems on fragility. I've never cared about the Bucks, I always thought they were over rated as workers, and their storylines have been pretty poor. Bryan is pretty much done, and he's still a great worker, but I don't think you can bank on him.

Maybe the problem is that Tony, just can't seen to create mega draws, or must see story moments.

I don't think Mercedes is a mistake, I do think that her problem has always been her mic work, it was awful in WWE and phony, and its the same here. I loved her work in NXT, but I just find she flouders when she tries to sell on the mic.

I would agree with another comment here. They need to move the shows to smaller venues, It looks horrible, when your playing to a 1/4 full building and it kills the fans energy and sound.

I have heard from friends of mine that AEW ticket prices for shows verge on insane, and its driving fans away.

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Yeah we've heard this many times before in here.

Tell you guy what, I'll let Tony know to can the Learning Tree if you guys let Triple H know to can the Howdy Half Dozen. Clean house together!

I mean the thing is The Wyatt's are good as drawing crowds, and their gimmick is over with the live audience. Considering the silliness of their act I think the booking has actually been quite good. Many of us don't like them, yet I think the casual viewer quite enjoys them. They make for a visual experience, and I'm certain a part of the audience quite enjoys the horror angle. They're also in the midcard, and aren't featured heavily on Raw. The quarterly numbers for their segments have actually been quite good. People tune out for Jericho, Bucks, Banks, etc... The comparison just doesn't work.

Sort of like Jey Uso, his work isn't great but his act is insanely over. It's incredible really, and I don't understand it myself. They have to push someone like that for those casuals, even if his in-ring work is touch and go.

[Ozy_Flame]

Sometimes i wonder if some of the ratings experts in this thread actually enjoy wrestling or just care about the performance of wrestling programming!

Guess you can on Netflix in January and a new WBD/MAX offering for all of your top two promotions!

Or better yet, watch more indies for free on YouTube!

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Sometimes i wonder if some of the ratings experts in this thread actually enjoy wrestling or just care about the performance of wrestling programming!

Guess you can on Netflix in January and a new WBD/MAX offering for all of your top two promotions!

Or better yet, watch more indies for free on YouTube!

Maybe we just like talking about what we think makes the product better, or what has turned us off from certain aspects of products.

WWE and AEW both get praise and criticism in this thread when it's justified. I think WWE gets less right now because I think if you go look 3 or even 4 years ago in this thread many of the complaints about WWE from back then (nonsensical booking, short term decisions, no long term story telling, production / camera cuts) have actually been improved.

For AEW part of the problem is they have fixed some things people complained about (better long term story telling) but lots of things have not been addressed that fans have had issues with for about 2 years now (ROH presence, roster bloat, character decisions)

And it seems we aren't the only ones that share those criticisms because it's what is impacting both the ratings and attendance for AEW. You like the product and are happy with it, but more people seem to be frustrated and being turned off by the product than like it right now and it's fair to talk about it when they are drawing 3k fans in a 20k seat venue.

Nobody including AEW stans seemed to have issues talking about ratings or attendance when they were close to selling out or when they drew the huge gate at Wembley but now that they are struggling it's offside to talk about.

Honestly I think you're the only one who seems to have the Tribal "It's AEW or WWE" mindset in this thread, most people just like talking about wrestling and part of talking about wrestling is thinking you can do a better job than the bookers lol.