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AN OPEN LETTER TO THE INTERNET WRESTLING FAN AT LARGE

An Open Letter to Internet Wrestling Fans

 I have seen so many “open letters” written in the direction of the McMahons lately that I figured it was time for one to be written in the opposite direction. 

 However, before I start, let me just make it clear that I do believe the McMahons have allowed their product’s quality to fall drastically and they need to re-think some of their philosophies, but remember they are still making millions upon millions of dollars and must be doing something right. 

 Now, go to any wrestling forum on the internet and post a topic entitled “What is wrong with the WWE?” and there is little doubt that you would get nearly 50 pages of responses.  Between the direction of ECW and miserable creative process on Raw, the discussion could go on for hours. 

 What is really starting to become annoying however, is when the same fans who complain suddenly claim they “are never going to watch _____ again”, whether its Raw, Smackdown or ECW.  Really?  As awful as Raw has been lately, the ratings have been steady.  Smackdown’s ratings have actually are beginning to show an upswing and ECW is not what it was over the summer, but have always stayed within a 1.5-1.8.  Shockingly, even after the awful December to Dismember, the rating went up.  Some may argue they tuned in solely to see how the Heyman situation would be handled, but the show was taped and clearly the issue was not addressed. 

 So if the product is so bad, and the E is turning off viewers consistently on a weekly basis, why are ratings remaining steady?  I do not buy into the idea that the online fan makes up an insignificant amount of fans, if anything the ratings the WWE gets now are likely made up mostly of smart fans.  I can hardly find many people who truly take time out of their nights to watch wrestling anymore outside of die hard fans.  Additionally, the people that tune off the WWE claim they are tuning into TNA.  Yet the ratings for both have remained steady the past few years.  The bottom line?  Everyone is saying one thing yet doing the other. 

My message?  It’s put up or shut up time.  If you are so disgusted with the WWE, actions speak louder than words.  Watch TNA, do not watch the WWE.  Everyone enjoys saying “Vince thinks he knows what we want better than we do,” with contempt and disgust.  Well when we all claim that Bobby Lashley as ECW Champion is a travesty, yet the re-match between him and the Big Show is the highest rated part of the show, (over the tag team match featuring ECW golden boys RVD and CM Punk), we make Vince feel like the genius he thinks he is. 

There is a loud outcry for competition in the form of TNA.  That it could be WCW done right.  Well, WCW only became competition once WWE fans abandoned Vince and turned on TNT every Monday night instead.  Only once Vince saw his wallet lighten was he compelled to make a change in his philosophy.  Unfortunately, now with so many different revenue streams that did not exist back in the mid 90s, Vince has money coming in various ways and can spin that business is fine by pointing to things such as DVD sales and the skewed PPV profits that are the result of having 125 PPV’s a year. 

So if TNA is so great, why hasn’t there been the mass exodus of WWE fans to TNA?  Is everyone afraid that TNA will go the way of WCW if they dare threaten the E’s spot at the top of the mountain?  Would everyone rather just enjoy having an “alternative” to tune into sometimes rather than letting TNA become true competition and risk seeing it fail?  I’ll pose these questions for everyone and hope that someone can give me their perspective whether it be through a response column or e-mail.  Thanks for reading.

Joe Bellear

E-Mail- joseph.bellear04@STJOHNS.EDU