Sunday, September 30, 2007

Save Us

I hated wrestling the first time I tried watching it.
It's hard to believe that this could be true, but it definitely is. I knew what wrestling was, but I had never actually seen it (hey--I didn't have cable TV). I'm not sure whether it was seeing big brawny men hitting each other (err...performing choreographed moves) or strange looking characters talking about stuff I had no idea about, it just wasn't appealing. With that said, I totally understand how people feel when they attempt to watch wrestling for the first time--especially now.
As a dedicated fan I intend on standing behind what I enjoy, even if the quality can be somewhat lackluster at times. And I'm pretty sure that WWE is quite aware of the quality problem.

This week during Raw, a "cryptic" video appeared featuring a graphic saying "Save_Us.222". If watched in slow motion it's possible to pick out references that would make it seem as though the video pertains to Chris Jericho (a popular wrestler who took a few years off to tour with his band and write a book).

It's a known fact that WWE enjoys parodies and poking fun at situations, so why not make fun of themselves. The Creative Team knows that something needs to be done in order to gain new fans and especially to keep the current ones. Of course it will take more than bringing back a familiar face, but at least there's some effort being made to "save us".

1 comment:

Dale Jacobs said...

Do you think comparisons of wrestling to soap operas or serial drama (cliffhangers) are useful? In other words, these are ongoing stories with heroes and villains that build continuously from week to week and usually leave some unresolved tension at the end of each show? I wonder what kinds of entertainment they are drawing on (consciously or unconsciously).