How come the WWE doesn't get the pops it used to? (Read the details before answering)?

Question

A few minutes ago I was watching a match from back in 2002 on YouTube. It was Brock Lesnar vs. Matt Hardy and in that match Lesnar made clean work of Hardy; in other words it was a squash match. Here is the video for your consideration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVWSGZNOAfM&NR=1

What I found curious was not the fact that it was a squash match but the fact that the crowd went (for lack of a better term) apesh*t during the match even though Hardy jobbed to Lesnar and it was over in all of four minutes.

I was really amazed by how much things have changed since then. From what I can remember (although I could be wrong), a couple of years back, most wrestlers and almost all matches got pretty huge pops regardless of who would be wrestling.

Now there are times when the crowd is dead whenever a wrestler comes out and there are also many times when a crowd is totally silent throughout the entirety of a match. Even the biggest pops are very restrained. Why is this so?

OK, I know the sloppy storylines have had much to do with it, as well as the crowd's general disdain for wrestlers with little personality, but I'm pretty sure there are other, bigger reasons. How come today's wave of WWE fans seem more half-hearted than the fans of several years ago?

Answer 1

Not many things interest fans these days, it seems.



Very few of the wrestlers today interest people, and most of the people that get a huge reaction from the crowd typically get booed (John Cena, Vickie Guerrero, Batista, sometimes Rey Mysterio and CM Punk). Also, back in the past, a lot of characters, good and bad, were better developed over time, and often it seems like a majority of the characters in the WWE today just don't have much substance to their personalities.



Matches in general don't interest people these days unless someone looks like they almost died during it, or it features a main-eventer. No one talks about two guys that work well together from beginning to end and put on a good match, but rather talk about not just the high spots in the match, but mainly the end result.

Answer 2

The basic reason is, there aren't as many big stars today as there were a few years back. The big name wrestlers today are not as popular as the ones before were. Brock, though some people don't like his wrestling, some do, overall was pretty popular at that time. A lot of casual fans were still leftover from the Attitude era during that time that were still watching.

The casual fans from back then have basically stopped watching wrestling, at least the majority, mostly because there aren't as many big name stars that are of interest to them. The pops were for the huge stars that the fans loved, like Austin, The Rock, Mick Foley as Mankind got them. But todays big names just aren't on their level of interest to the casuals. Thus the reason the ratings aren't as high as they used to at that time also.

As soon as there is another wrestler, who is a big star again in the future, those pops will come back, a number of casual fans will come back, and you will see crowds go apesh*t again.

Answer 3

The wwe is more child orientated these days so many of the parents just takin their kids along wont cheer at all; the kids only like big spots or finishes.

So back when wwe was less child friendly more 'real' fans were going and cheering.

NOTE: check almost any old ecw video, (particuarly one night stand 2005) the crowds there are brutal and cheered good wrestling

Answer 4

Its because a lot of fans do not appreciate wrestling these days, a lot of fans just want to pop for the backstage stuff, the old school fans like myself will still make our voices heard but unfortunatly the new school wrestling fans just dont appreciate wrestling, for example, Survivor Series, Kozlov and Triple H had a great wrestling match and fans chanted boring, fans just dont turn up for the wrestling side of it anymore

Answer 5

Today's fans don't like the wrestling aspect of a sports entertainment show. Fans of yesteryear loved their superstars where these days, fans don't appear as rowdy as kids of past years. Also, teenagers have gone of WWE-style wrestling, going over to TNA where wrestling is more appreciated. Also, the internet has become a big factor

Answer 6

Now, everyone knows that WWE is fake.

Answer 7

coz they make it look to fake!