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WWE’S PROBLEM MAKING STARS, AEW ON HBO MAX, HOW TO MAKE HOUSE SHOWS MORE ENTICING AND MORE

By Dave Scherer on 2020-05-31 10:00:00

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The NBA has proved that promoting a centerpiece megastar "above their brand", such as Michael Jordan, can elevate their entire industry by converting rabid fan interest into billions of dollars in broadcasting rights, merchandise, and apparel. Besides bland booking, having no full-time, mainstream superstars who regularly appear on Raw is causing massive fan disinterest. What do you think it will take for Vince to promote another superstar to a Hogan-type mainstream star that is on par with or even above the WWE brand? People connect with stars - not brands! The company would benefit immensely from the "rising tide of revenue" that a Hogan-level star can impact their business. Or, is Vince still bitter that Brock Lesnar left in 2004 after a lot of resources went into pushing him? 

You are preaching to the choir.  I have been saying for a decade or more that the main issue with WWE and the people who used to watch is that there are no real people or cool people to get into anymore.  Almost everyone is overscripted and speaks in ways that no human being would ever talk.  WWE needs to have people that fans can get behind and/or think or cool and/or like.  If Vince is still bitter about Lesnar he has a funny way of showing it since ever since he was brought back, he booked Brock the same exact way!  To me, the bigger issue is the control that he wants over the talent and what they say.  When you think of all of the great adlib moments of the past that never would happen today it’s just sad.

Edge is widely acknowledged as one of the good guys in wrestling and always seemed popular with his peers. My question is how is this the case? I only ask because of the Matt Hardy/Lita situation. Surely he got loads of heat due to that? 

There are three sides to that story and the people there know what those sides are.  Plus, even if you think Edge was a total heel it’s not like he killed someone!  Couples break up all the time.

Did AEW miss out on a chance to have Brodie Lee screaming at Jericho that "you ruined it" ala Vince during the Tyson and Austin pull apart?

In my mind?  No, I hate the Vince connection that they have had Lee do.  His character needs a reboot in my opinion.  He’s a big, strong guy that wrestles small.  I look at Lance Archer and see a guy that sized booked the right way, like a monster.  Lee should be booked that way as well.

HBO Max made a big debut yesterday and it was featured on the ring apron of last night’s AEW Dynamite. From what I have read, there is not any AEW content on the new service. This seems like a missed opportunity to reach cordcutters who don’t want to pay for live tv. How likely is it that AEW could have on demand episodes on HBO Max?

I would think at some point the content would get on there but AEW is important to TNT as well so they don’t want to make it easy for people to just go to MAX to watch it.  If it’s me, I don’t put anything newer on Max.  Maybe wait six months until after the shows air and put it there.  I would think that most cordcutters have a service that offers the basic channels, like TNT.

Do you think WWE could help their house show business when it starts back up by running it like TNA? Have wrestlers sign autographs somewhere before the show & have someone stay in the ring & do photos.

I think that would be a good thing to sell to people, sure.  Anything that they can do to make the events more enticing is a good thing because they have been trending down for years

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