I think the most telling part was that the crowd was at best lukewarm, if not increasingly hostile to Roman Reigns, and frankly, the face pop that HHH got for eliminating Roman Reigns. The crowd’s settled at a 50/50, love him or hate him for John Cena. But WWE’s attempts to make Reigns into the next Cena seems to be running directly into a brick wall at this point. I think the crowd wants a reason to cheer for him, but having him so obviously pushed down our throats as a Cena-lite is making the crowd reject him. There’s something to be said about letting the audience decide who the heels and faces and the main event guys are, and I think it’s the feeling of WWE audiences being outright ignored that causes Reigns to be a hate magnet.
Cena and Reigns have the same problem, one that Punk pointed out about Cena way back in the Summer of Punk II – they book them both like they’re underdogs, when anyone who has any memory at all realizes that when you are constantly overcoming the odds, you’re not an underdog.
In terms of the game, is there any way to simulate getting X-Pac Heat for being booked in a way that a character is being pushed to the high heavens despite a lack of crowd support?
+1 on the X-Pac Heat question.
I would say that, in the game, X-Pac was a guy with low Audience who was, despite this, being booked to win against people that had a higher Audience rating no matter the Role.
Maybe something like a move that allows you to alter the booking to a win against people with a higher Audience at the cost of your own Audience.
I have been pondering a similar situation, but the opposite one: The Rock, who was being cheered despite being booked as a Heel, and thus was slowly being turned into a Babyface despite still acting like a Heel. The game is set up with the Roles being more black-and-white than is often the case and I’ve been thinking about situations like this and how to model them in the system-
Some of the dissonance is that the Roles represent how I want wrestling to be, not how it (often) is, you know?
I also don’t really believe in X-Pac Heat, but that’s neither here nor there (if it’s heat, it’s heat – if you make people want to turn off the TV, that’s not heat, that’s just being a shitty entertainer).
But yeah, Creative can keep pushing something with low Audience all they want! That’s probably the closest way to do it without making custom Moves.
I think that’s closer to what I was thinking. Because in the case of Roman Reigns, it’s not that he’s an incompetent performer. Quite the opposite! Guy’s got a great look, is a very solid Main Event-style power wrestler and when he’s allowed to be off-script, he has charisma. I don’t want to turn off my TV when I see Roman Reigns; I want to turn off my TV because of how Creative uses, or more to the point fails to effectively use, Roman Reigns.
That said, in a perfect wrestling world, X-Pac Heat doesn’t happen. Or whatever you want to call what’s going on with Reigns, which is eerily reminiscent of the “Rocky Maivia” era of the The Rock. So I get not wanting to model it within the game. Though it could make for a good heel turn within the game – low Audience, get pushed as a face, make heel turn because of how the crowd’s “betrayed” you and are a bunch of ingrates. That’s a compelling story!
The Veteran moves Bury ‘Em and Put Over, Golden Boy’s special snowflake and a Giant move I can’t remember could all be used in some form or another to explain the X-Pac push
Im one of those people firmly in the camp that with Reigns, they should “go back to the well” and turn him heel, while he works on his skillset. Above someone mentioned the Rocky Maivia era rock, and it immediately rings parallel with me. He’s got to have some time as a stand alone heel and make that eventual face turn to salvage things. The problem is in the rush to make their next Cena/Rock, they’re forgetting both of them spent a considerable amount of time on the Heel alignment of the role spectrum first.
Here’s a link to a good blog with an interesting take on this exact subject..Good read.
For what it’s worth, Triple H, though what he’s saying is true, still hits me as a heel. He’s a man nearing 50 whose glory days have already happened, and he’s taking up tv time and opportunities from people he should be pushing. Plus, he literally gets to set whatever rules he wants, which he does with impunity and relish. Hell, I think the best heels are the ones who speak the truth…or more to the point, a truth that’s been twisted juuuuust enough to suit their own selfish views. Trips stating he’s doing what he’s doing for the good of the belt and what it represents has just enough truth to stick, but it’s also exactly what a grandstanding tyrant who built his Ruthless Aggression-era foundation on making other people look like crap and himself invincible would believe was true.
Which makes Reigns/HHH a heel/heel feud in my book. Old school bookers knew to avoid those kinds of feuds because it’s extremely easy for an audience to get fed up and decide “who cares, I just want them all to lose” and tune out. Which, given their ratings numbers at the end of the year flagging even by “offseason”, end of the year numbers, may be exactly what’s going on.
I’m just not sure Roman is the right horse to hook the wagon to… Perhaps the WWE is seeing that.
For the first time in YEARS though I am interested to see where it goes.
On the other hand, ratings for post-Rumble RAW were the best since last spring (IIRC). Just sayin!
Triple H is basically making a late-career specialization of trolling smart fans, and he’s really good at it. I honestly am more into seeing this than, I dunno, Reigns fighting with Sheamus for another 2 months…
Real talk, if 1/3 of the roster wasn’t injured, there’s no way this would be happening, IMO.
Very good point about the injuries.
Cannot discount the injuries. Trips is for now a very good failsafe plan as his generally non-working schedule means he’s not taking the bumps and dings of his employees, which means if you need a short run feud, he comes in fresh as hell.
I’m not taking too much from the Raw boost post-Rumble. There’s a boost every year immediately following the Rumble – partially because at this point, WWE has signaled to casual fans that the only time of the year that really matters is the Rumble through ‘Mania. It’s why SummerSlam is becoming the smark WrestleMania – the stories the more committed fans want to see tend to happen there (And now with Takeover coming the same weekend, SummerSlam is securing that perception. Plus you had the Rock drop by, which is also good for a good casual fan uptick.
I guess what I’m saying is that I’m not discounting the improvement in the ratings, but given the trends were downward even by end-of-the-year nothing-important-happens standards during the beginning of the angle, I think there just wasn’t much to compel people to go out of their way to watch The Authority vs. Reigns, since they both come off as unlikeable in their current forms. That Trips is generally less unlikeable, mostly because of his polish as a promo cutter and his very obvious passion for the business, is a serious problem if they want Reigns to ever work as a champion. Or if they care their “beloved” champion is getting booed, which they may have decided is a dissonance they’ll just live with.
So disappointed in that ending.
Legend Ace HHH
I think the most telling part was that the crowd was at best lukewarm, if not increasingly hostile to Roman Reigns, and frankly, the face pop that HHH got for eliminating Roman Reigns. The crowd’s settled at a 50/50, love him or hate him for John Cena. But WWE’s attempts to make Reigns into the next Cena seems to be running directly into a brick wall at this point. I think the crowd wants a reason to cheer for him, but having him so obviously pushed down our throats as a Cena-lite is making the crowd reject him. There’s something to be said about letting the audience decide who the heels and faces and the main event guys are, and I think it’s the feeling of WWE audiences being outright ignored that causes Reigns to be a hate magnet.
Cena and Reigns have the same problem, one that Punk pointed out about Cena way back in the Summer of Punk II – they book them both like they’re underdogs, when anyone who has any memory at all realizes that when you are constantly overcoming the odds, you’re not an underdog.
In terms of the game, is there any way to simulate getting X-Pac Heat for being booked in a way that a character is being pushed to the high heavens despite a lack of crowd support?
+1 on the X-Pac Heat question.
I would say that, in the game, X-Pac was a guy with low Audience who was, despite this, being booked to win against people that had a higher Audience rating no matter the Role.
Maybe something like a move that allows you to alter the booking to a win against people with a higher Audience at the cost of your own Audience.
I have been pondering a similar situation, but the opposite one: The Rock, who was being cheered despite being booked as a Heel, and thus was slowly being turned into a Babyface despite still acting like a Heel. The game is set up with the Roles being more black-and-white than is often the case and I’ve been thinking about situations like this and how to model them in the system-
Some of the dissonance is that the Roles represent how I want wrestling to be, not how it (often) is, you know?
I also don’t really believe in X-Pac Heat, but that’s neither here nor there (if it’s heat, it’s heat – if you make people want to turn off the TV, that’s not heat, that’s just being a shitty entertainer).
But yeah, Creative can keep pushing something with low Audience all they want! That’s probably the closest way to do it without making custom Moves.
I think that’s closer to what I was thinking. Because in the case of Roman Reigns, it’s not that he’s an incompetent performer. Quite the opposite! Guy’s got a great look, is a very solid Main Event-style power wrestler and when he’s allowed to be off-script, he has charisma. I don’t want to turn off my TV when I see Roman Reigns; I want to turn off my TV because of how Creative uses, or more to the point fails to effectively use, Roman Reigns.
That said, in a perfect wrestling world, X-Pac Heat doesn’t happen. Or whatever you want to call what’s going on with Reigns, which is eerily reminiscent of the “Rocky Maivia” era of the The Rock. So I get not wanting to model it within the game. Though it could make for a good heel turn within the game – low Audience, get pushed as a face, make heel turn because of how the crowd’s “betrayed” you and are a bunch of ingrates. That’s a compelling story!
The Veteran moves Bury ‘Em and Put Over, Golden Boy’s special snowflake and a Giant move I can’t remember could all be used in some form or another to explain the X-Pac push
Im one of those people firmly in the camp that with Reigns, they should “go back to the well” and turn him heel, while he works on his skillset. Above someone mentioned the Rocky Maivia era rock, and it immediately rings parallel with me. He’s got to have some time as a stand alone heel and make that eventual face turn to salvage things. The problem is in the rush to make their next Cena/Rock, they’re forgetting both of them spent a considerable amount of time on the Heel alignment of the role spectrum first.
Here’s a link to a good blog with an interesting take on this exact subject..Good read.
http://www.workofwrestling.com/wowblog/2016/1/26/the-raw-review
For what it’s worth, Triple H, though what he’s saying is true, still hits me as a heel. He’s a man nearing 50 whose glory days have already happened, and he’s taking up tv time and opportunities from people he should be pushing. Plus, he literally gets to set whatever rules he wants, which he does with impunity and relish. Hell, I think the best heels are the ones who speak the truth…or more to the point, a truth that’s been twisted juuuuust enough to suit their own selfish views. Trips stating he’s doing what he’s doing for the good of the belt and what it represents has just enough truth to stick, but it’s also exactly what a grandstanding tyrant who built his Ruthless Aggression-era foundation on making other people look like crap and himself invincible would believe was true.
Which makes Reigns/HHH a heel/heel feud in my book. Old school bookers knew to avoid those kinds of feuds because it’s extremely easy for an audience to get fed up and decide “who cares, I just want them all to lose” and tune out. Which, given their ratings numbers at the end of the year flagging even by “offseason”, end of the year numbers, may be exactly what’s going on.
I’m just not sure Roman is the right horse to hook the wagon to… Perhaps the WWE is seeing that.
For the first time in YEARS though I am interested to see where it goes.
On the other hand, ratings for post-Rumble RAW were the best since last spring (IIRC). Just sayin!
Triple H is basically making a late-career specialization of trolling smart fans, and he’s really good at it. I honestly am more into seeing this than, I dunno, Reigns fighting with Sheamus for another 2 months…
Real talk, if 1/3 of the roster wasn’t injured, there’s no way this would be happening, IMO.
Very good point about the injuries.
Cannot discount the injuries. Trips is for now a very good failsafe plan as his generally non-working schedule means he’s not taking the bumps and dings of his employees, which means if you need a short run feud, he comes in fresh as hell.
I’m not taking too much from the Raw boost post-Rumble. There’s a boost every year immediately following the Rumble – partially because at this point, WWE has signaled to casual fans that the only time of the year that really matters is the Rumble through ‘Mania. It’s why SummerSlam is becoming the smark WrestleMania – the stories the more committed fans want to see tend to happen there (And now with Takeover coming the same weekend, SummerSlam is securing that perception. Plus you had the Rock drop by, which is also good for a good casual fan uptick.
I guess what I’m saying is that I’m not discounting the improvement in the ratings, but given the trends were downward even by end-of-the-year nothing-important-happens standards during the beginning of the angle, I think there just wasn’t much to compel people to go out of their way to watch The Authority vs. Reigns, since they both come off as unlikeable in their current forms. That Trips is generally less unlikeable, mostly because of his polish as a promo cutter and his very obvious passion for the business, is a serious problem if they want Reigns to ever work as a champion. Or if they care their “beloved” champion is getting booed, which they may have decided is a dissonance they’ll just live with.