BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) THE CHAMPIONSHIP BELTS
Boxing and other sports have had championship trophies, medals, and prizes. The belt is king. The craftsmanship, the feel of holding it, and the cool look of a cool belt is unchallengeable. The coolest symbol of victory is the championship belt. This is why other sports see their champions showing up with WWE Title belts as they celebrate. Instead of getting championship rings, why not give them the option of having a championship belt? The replica business on them alone would make a mint.
(THREE) DISCOVERING NEW TALENT
I suppose this is something folks on all levels of fandom can appreciate. When you only watch the one mainstream TV show you’re not exposed to the indies and you miss out on the majority of someone’s evolution to the big show. But at same time, I guess when someone new debuts you can then decide if that person is cool or not or if you think they’re a “blue chipper” or not. Even if you follow an indie guy from ring crew to World Title status or if you follow someone from WWE vignette to World Title, it’s still an invested venture. It’s just always cool to legitimately be able to say you were a fan of someone “from the start”.
(TWO) OBNOXIOUSLY PASSIONATE FANS
There are fans, folks who have never stepped in the ring, who are really bitter for no reason. I’m talking about those certain people who post in the feedback comments or on forums. Not the rational fans or even the trolls… I’m talking about the angry dude. The guy who HATES Vince McMahon and constantly talks about what the WWE, Vince, Triple H, the writers, and everyone with any power in wrestling are doing wrong. They’ll specifically say things TO Vince as if he’ll ever read or care. These people are depressing. It’s cool to have a passion for something, but you have no right to hate a man for running HIS business the way HE wants to. If you don’t like it, don’t watch. You are one of millions of people who take in their product. You are one grain of sand in an ant farm. You’re not even the fucking ant. Off the bat you’d want to be annoyed by this, but take a step back and just laugh at it and ignore them. It’s hilarious to see everyone get worked up over things. You’d think the WWE is doing a GREAT job if Joe Schmoe is raging out in a passionate internet post about their product.
(ONE) THE CLIFF HANGERS
The big finish in a big match is always a great way to end a story, but the story has to be hot for that match to have the extra emphasis of emotional investment. People will bitch and complain about cliff hangers, but in a TV wrestling world you need the person to want to tune back in. There is always something going on next week. The better it’s played out and built up, the bigger the anticipation to the next week… for ultimately the next cliff hanger. It’s a rinse and repeat business model, but if the cliff hangers are intriguing then business is typically good.
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