WRESTLING COLUMNS

Is Wrestling Dying" - by Larry Watson

I have read all of the reports that have been going around as of late about the decline of wrestling at the bottom line, the ratings. A few short months ago a 6.0 rating for Raw was a regular thing. Now they are barely breaking 4.0. People seem to be becoming less and less interested. Why" Is it the storylines" I think that's a huge part of it, but not the entire thing. Lets take a look at this from another point of view.

Way back in 1992 wrestling was all but dead. A 4.0 rating was unheard of. A 1.4 rating was about all the WWF could muster at the time. Then WCW, headed by Eric Bischoff, made their run in 1996 and succeeded in making Vince McMahon blink. He was developing a more solid program than Vince was and Vince was forced to play catch up. Does anyone else see what I am talking about" There is no competition for the WWF so the storyline writers see no reason to waste their greatest storylines because they have no one to beat. Just like in 1992. The storylines are way too boring and Austin, and Triple H and the rest cannot make a terrible storylines great, although they are trying. So what is the solution" BRING BACK WCW!!!! With Shane in charge it should be an exciting show as he has a reputation of not expecting more out of anyone than he puts out (which means some HUGE bumps). But after a while and the huge Wrestlemania that is probably going to feature WCW vs. WWF in each match what else is there to do" There is still no competition. Enter Eric Bischoff. Sure he seems to the one hit wonder with the nWo but you know that he was starting to bring back up the ratings in WCW right before Fuisnet Media backed out of the deal to buy WCW. The wrestlers actually looked as though they actually wanted to work. There are going to be some great wrestlers without contracts as well as the great crop of indy wrestlers that are already around. So I say bring back the Bisch!!! Sure he's a coward and has the business practices of an alley cat but he is the only one in 20+ years to make Vince McMahon blink and lose the #1 status that has been his birthright thus far. What do you watch wrestling for" The competition right" So what will bring us back and get us glued to our T.V. for Raw again" Bring back the competition between wrestling promotions because so far the only one who has won in the WCW buyout has been Vince and we, the fans, have been forced to suffer. wrote: If you have any comments, reactions, rebuttles or thoughts on this column, feel free to send them to the email below, If your email is intelligently written, they will be posted underneath this messege.. We at OnlineWorldofWrestling want to promote all points of view, and that includes YOURS.