Comments on: Mooney to return?

By: nwa88

nwa88 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:50:53 +0000

It is an interesting theory (the wrestling is cyclical theory and the superhero into heel reinvigorates business) and I agree with it in principal in terms of helping ratings/buyrates/attendance on a smaller scale – within the core audience of wrestling fans, sure. From a dramatic standpoint it is interesting, and in that sense a universal story to be told that will always have mileage, but I guess where I differ is in the idea that it has anything to do with wrestling finding wide mainstream acceptance. In my mind, Hogan getting over big with people had little to do with the fact he was “the ultimate good guy” as much as it did the other things I pointed out. I think that if Hogan had turned heel in 1994 or 1995 that it wouldn’t have done great business at all, but after WCW was already riding the wave of interest that Nitro itself brought, in spite of the fact that Hogan was basically tanking as their main face, then they could pull off the Hogan and enhance the business along with everything else going on. The primary interest was in Nitro and all the exciting things that were always happening, and not on Hogan, the guy WCW fans had spent the last year being sick of and booing already. I think you’re right though, you have to take what you can get. I think wrestling is going to have to reinvent itself yet again and I don’t think there is any real formula to massive success, it’s got to be out of the box thinking and frankly a lot of good luck.

I do see the comparison of Hogan/Andre though in terms of the characters, it’s pretty damn good casting.

By: dbm

dbm — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:21:57 +0000

An encounter. Good one from Mooney. He should come back if we are going to do our Hogan vs. Warrior for this generation (Hey, it is 20 years later).
Yes, some in the crowd will boo Cena. But I generally agree, kids will be split on this the way they were for Warrior/Hogan. Austin and Rock and Wrestlemania X-Seven should have had that face vs. face vibe, but it did not come off that way. Maybe because they had several “encounters” before.
And finally, the odd thing about Cena being a heel is that I think he might get more cheers. Kind of like the Rock. Did anyone else ever notice that he always got booed as a face and cheered as a heel? Well, not always in either case, but he worked his way to it eventually.

By: Alexander

Alexander — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:55:47 +0000

One of the things I love about a potential Cena-Taker “encounter” to quote Mooney is that it would be the one match to make the kids–who are Vince’s primary target these days–split. It would be borderline excruciating for them and would enhance the spectacle of the match, a bit more like Warrior-Hogan than Andre-Hogan, perhaps.

I’m rather certain, however, that Taker will receive bigger pops than Cena at WM XXVI because Cena seems to always be booed at Mania. It would be refreshing if they actually planned ahead for that and just have Cena play heel in the actual match despite the build being thoroughly face vs. face.

By: dbm

dbm — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:49:53 +0000

Taker vs. Cena would be almost like Andre and Hulk for a new generation.
They said Andre was unbeaten for 15 years (he wasn’t, but whatever) and now they can have the streak be that for Taker.
The only difference here is: does anyone think that Undertaker might get bigger pops than Cena? He seemed (to me) to be a little more over at WM XXV than Shawn. That would be interesting, if Cena got booed for ending the streak.

By: The Fuj

The Fuj — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:14:35 +0000

You have to take what you can get at this point. With all the PPV and TV these days, the fresh matchups are few and far in between that are “WM worthy.”

We all know that the name WM draws, but the only real legit draw they have is face Cena vs. the streak.

I mean, other than merch sales, why not turn Cena even for a month? Like they do with Big Show? Why not just do a test run to see what happens? They do it with everybody else.

I believe they have a bigger plan with Cena. Everybody claims wrestling is cyclical, but nobody can tell you why. It just is. I honestly believe that a combination of:

kids believing in superhero face for years +
kids growing up into rebellious teenagers +
turning superhero face heel +
youth movement breaking glass ceiling +
gearing towards edgier product =

upswing in business.

I honestly believe that what is old becomes new again (with tweeks due to society) and that the WWE has people that is looking at the same thing that I am saying. I think its a formula.

By: nwa88

nwa88 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:17:29 +0000

I think Cena/Taker would probably be a biggie internally to the WWE, but comparing it to Hogan/Andre, which coincided with wrestling’s zenith in appeal to a large portion of the entertainment world seems to laud too much praise upon it. Maybe that’s not really what you meant though.

Also — I still don’t buy the whole argument that turning Cena heel is magically going to reinvigorate the business and usher in Attitude 2.0, although again I may be reading too much into what your saying. I guess the broader point is that wrestling hit big-time popularity in the 1980s by catering to the conservative tidal wave in American politics, our Xenophobia and the general fear of potential foreign threats, and then mixed it with something pretty innocuous (mainstream music) in order to achieve acceptance. I think a lot of the reason the “Attitude” era was so big was because the Austin/McMahon feud came right out of the general trends of cynicism and questioning of authority that started to pop up in culture in the early 1990s and became particularly prevalent in mainstream culture in the late 1990s.

I don’t think it had a lot to do with the core of teenage wrestling fans getting “bored” with their good guys and bad guys, so much as it attracted an entirely new audience by reflecting the mood of the country, by articulating the rage and cynicism people felt about the direction of the country, the behaviors of the president, etc.

By: Darryl The Hitman

Darryl The Hitman — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:56:38 +0000

As ever, who knows how true it is but in the newz today:

Sources say that Michael Cole has some major heat on him right now from within WWE. The feeling is that he isn’t taking his job seriously anymore and officials aren’t happy with some of his “stupid” comments made on TV lately. They also feel that he is no longer putting the company first.

There may be another shuffling of announcers soon as Jerry Lawler being attacked on RAW Monday night and Matt Striker filling in for him was done so WWE could test the waters to see how the different announcers work together. Vince is said to be very high on Matt Striker at the moment.

Word is that several people who had been trying out for the new WWE announcer spot were contacted this past week and thanked for applying but were told that someone else had been hired.

There are also rumors that Sean Mooney has been re-hired by WWE although I have been unable to confirm that just yet.

By: flair4dagold

flair4dagold — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:32:35 +0000

Heh…watching ECW for kicks…did I just see that Punk has been booted back down to ECW??? WTF??

By: alekhidell

alekhidell — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:13:30 +0000

Haha, I can’t believe I got this far down the thread before someone posted that. Good work.

Maybe he can even pull the Ian Mooney trick.

By: cactusland2

cactusland2 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:13:18 +0000

I’ll mark the eff out if Sean Mooney starts introducing RAWs from a studio each week. When I was a kid, all I watched were Coliseum Videos and he was all over them. Then all they will need is the wrestlers giving spazzed out promos for their action figures.