10 Ways WWE's Current Product Mirrors That Which Killed WCW
7. Celebrity Segments
WCW tried different things to draw back the audience they had lost in the years before it went out of business; most of these things involved getting celebrities involved in their shows. While during the 80s WWE had proven that celebrities could add something and draw extra eyes to the product; WCW seemed to involve celebrities for the sake of having them there. From mini-concerts from Kiss and Megadeath (that drew some of the lowest quarter hour ratings of The Monday Night War) to Master P and his No Limits Soldiers taking on the West Texas Rednecks (the celebrity faction was meant to be the babyfaces in that angle; though the audience rallied behind the heels) to the travesty that was David Arquettes World Championship reign; WCW kept coming up with celebrity segments that seemed designed to do the opposite of what they were intended to do and draw higher audience numbers. While WWE pioneered celebrity usage; their recent involvement in the product has more often than not had the same effect as these spots did for WCW. Yes there is the odd moment that works such as Hugh Jackmans spot with Damien Sandows Magneto; but it seems that for every one of those there are dozens of Larry The Cable Guy spots that just draw audience apathy while bringing little or no bump to the audience numbers. The recent Kathy Lee and Hoda segment stands out as the prime example of this; with WWE having to pump in Adam Roses music to drown out the shower of boos from the live crowd due to the hatred this segment drew from them.
John is a hippie, Buddhist musician and writer from East London.
When he's not pondering about Wrestling, films, TV, video games, comics or music he can occasionally be found refereeing Dodgeball games around London and the South of England or wandering off into traffic muttering to himself...
