Slowing Things Down

by Jack Windham
September 28, 2008

WWE will be slowing things down and stretching the storylines out for longer than normal.

Slowing Things Down

Over the last couple of years, WWE has made it a habit of running a storyline for four weeks and ending it.

They basically went from one pay per view to another with the storyline.

Now, however, you can expect to see storylines being stretched over several months at a time.

Fewer Viewers

One of the main reasons why WWE has decided to slow things down is because fewer wrestling fans are tuning each and every week.

During the height of the Attitude Era, wrestling fans would anticipate the weekly shows to the point where they would be devastated if they missed an episode.

That excitement is no longer there today, and most people skip shows on a regular basis.

By slowing things down, WWE allows those fans to be able to keep up with the storylines better.

Negative Reaction

The majority of wrestling fans today aren't accustomed to seeing long drawn out feuds and storylines.

Unlike during the 1980s, feuds today rarely last more than a month or two.

You get the exception here and there. For example, Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels have been feuding for several months now.

You can expect to see some negative reactions from wrestling fans over this slowing down process.

The complaints are going to be that things are dragging out way too long.

Selective Slowing Down

Personally, I believe that only the successful storylines need to be drawn out.

Remember when Batista was on the verge of leaving Evolution? That deserved to be drawn out.

Remember when Steve Austin and Vince McMahon butted heads on a weekly basis? That deserved to be drawn out.

Only the interesting storylines need to be drawn out.

If you draw out the storyline between Jamie Noble and William Regal, you're going to end up getting more complaints than anything else.

As talented as those two are, wrestling fans simply do not have the patience to see them feuding with one another for months.

Closing Thoughts

This is going to be an interesting experiment for WWE. I personally think they'll drop the idea within a couple of months.