FAngel
05-01-2006, 12:25 PM
I was going to post this under the Backlash comments, but it turned into a pretty long writeup, so now it's here for your reading (dis?)pleasure.
As we all know, John Cena retained the WWE Championship belt last night. Judging by the reaction, there's a lot of pissed off people all over the internet today about the end result. I thought a lot about this and suddenly realized why WWE is so brilliant at what they're doing.
Do you remember when the heel was the champion and, as a kid growing up, you wanted so badly to see him lose the belt, but he always found some way to hang onto it? You remember that feeling of bitter disappointment that you would have to wait until next time to see if somebody else could get the job done? That's one of the primal feelings you get as a wrestling fan that makes you love the sport. It caters to a passion inside of you that you can't find anywhere else.
Somehow, Vince and company have managed to make us feel that same reaction, only in a completely different way. Every time we want to see Cena drop the title and our hopes have been built up that, yes, this is FINALLY the night when it's going to happen, he manages to hang onto it again, and the "journalists" (I use that term as loosely as possible) explode all over the internet, ranting and raving about how he is overexposed, not a good champion and not deserving of the belt around his waist...and while all this banter spreads like a virus, Vince McMahon is probably sitting in his chair, reading articles such as this and smiling to himself.
This is why the man is a genius, whether you love him or hate his guts. Someone once wrote (this is paraphrased) that he "needed to find the pulse of the fans again." Well, he found it - right in cyberspace. He is taking the passion of the people and utilizing it in a brand new way. How many of the people who are whining and crying on the internet that this PPV made them "embarassed to be a wrestling fan" (get over yourself) were also the ones that forked over $34.95 to watch it? And even if you stole it from a torrent or something similar - same end result. Vince McMahon holds you in the palm of his hand.
Before the "Attitude" surge, we saw a mentality where a majority of the fans, suspended in disbelief that what they saw in front of them was real, wanted to see the bad guy lose. Now, in an era of "smartened" fans who rant about what "Booking 101" says, they want the opposite - the face champion who they're sick to death of should be dethroned. However, the end result is the same - the fans keep watching, World Wrestling Entertainment's income keeps growing and Vince McMahon further cements his place as a sociological mastermind.
As we all know, John Cena retained the WWE Championship belt last night. Judging by the reaction, there's a lot of pissed off people all over the internet today about the end result. I thought a lot about this and suddenly realized why WWE is so brilliant at what they're doing.
Do you remember when the heel was the champion and, as a kid growing up, you wanted so badly to see him lose the belt, but he always found some way to hang onto it? You remember that feeling of bitter disappointment that you would have to wait until next time to see if somebody else could get the job done? That's one of the primal feelings you get as a wrestling fan that makes you love the sport. It caters to a passion inside of you that you can't find anywhere else.
Somehow, Vince and company have managed to make us feel that same reaction, only in a completely different way. Every time we want to see Cena drop the title and our hopes have been built up that, yes, this is FINALLY the night when it's going to happen, he manages to hang onto it again, and the "journalists" (I use that term as loosely as possible) explode all over the internet, ranting and raving about how he is overexposed, not a good champion and not deserving of the belt around his waist...and while all this banter spreads like a virus, Vince McMahon is probably sitting in his chair, reading articles such as this and smiling to himself.
This is why the man is a genius, whether you love him or hate his guts. Someone once wrote (this is paraphrased) that he "needed to find the pulse of the fans again." Well, he found it - right in cyberspace. He is taking the passion of the people and utilizing it in a brand new way. How many of the people who are whining and crying on the internet that this PPV made them "embarassed to be a wrestling fan" (get over yourself) were also the ones that forked over $34.95 to watch it? And even if you stole it from a torrent or something similar - same end result. Vince McMahon holds you in the palm of his hand.
Before the "Attitude" surge, we saw a mentality where a majority of the fans, suspended in disbelief that what they saw in front of them was real, wanted to see the bad guy lose. Now, in an era of "smartened" fans who rant about what "Booking 101" says, they want the opposite - the face champion who they're sick to death of should be dethroned. However, the end result is the same - the fans keep watching, World Wrestling Entertainment's income keeps growing and Vince McMahon further cements his place as a sociological mastermind.