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WWE's Marketing of Summerslam
A BADSTREET PERSPECTIVE ON WWE'S MARKETING OF SUMMERSLAM
by Dave Whitaker 8/21/2003 1:17:00 PM
One of WWE’s big pay per views of the year is this Sunday. What? You didn’t know it was SummerSlam? Don’t feel bad. It’s not like WWE has done the most to get people interested in the show. I can remember in past years, SummerSlam was a can’t miss. In 1994, some friends and I got together, I’d buy a Domino’s Ultimate Deep Dish Pizza or two, and we watched the Undertaker make his triumphant return and destroy the fake Undertaker played by Brian Lee. Oh, how times have changed since then. Not for the better either.
There is absolutely no reason for the poor way WWE has failed to build up this show. With no competition, and separate brands, the creative teams should’ve had plenty of time to plan matches and storylines for Sunday. The ironic thing here is that it seems like WWE has gotten worse at long-term planning or any sort of organization since they’ve taken over the wrestling business. What’s even sadder is the way they did a lot to make people NOT want to buy the show by the way Raw was done this past Monday.
Does anyone think Rob Van Dam has a snowball’s chance in Hades of competing against Kane? While I was all in favor of him getting this match, isn’t it sad that Rob is being buried simply because he told the truth about the way things are backstage on Raw? What about the glaring lack of logic from Kane? I am quite sure that even the diehard WWE fans who hate smart marks and hate Rob Van Dam simply because he’s liked by smart marks wanted to see him get burned. So Kane did do what “they” wanted him to do.
Is it any more obvious how protected Test is? Even with Stacy Keibler, Test remained about as over as Yasser Arafat at a Likud Party meeting. But he gets Stacy back, and now we’re supposed to feel sorry for Stacy because Test mistreats her, and boo Test. Never mind the fact Stacy was the one who accepted the match in the first place. Besides that, there’s nothing else that can be done. It’d be hard to believe Test would be stupid enough to put Stacy up in another match.
Let’s not forget Hurricane and Rosey. As a wrestling fan, I thought the whole concept of Rosey “flying” up to save a cat was ridiculously unbelievable. (Would you believe that J.R. Ewing could walk through a wall, speaking again of storylines that make sense.?) As a former cat owner, I was insulted at how the whole thing ended. Not to mention Hurricane, who happens to be a good wrestler, has no opponent for SummerSlam this Sunday. Poor Rosey, a big guy who can move fairly well, is being made to look like a total schmuck.
Then there was the whole Eric Bischoff/Linda McMahon angle. You know what’s been pretty much lost in all this (except for Jess McGrath’s hotline report?) That it made PERFECT sense for Eric Bischoff to cut a promo ripping Shane for owning WCW. I applaud the creative team for showing some remembrance of the past and using it in a current angle. However, that’s about as far as my praise goes. Because the entire ordeal with Eric Bischoff trespassing, sexually assaulting Linda McMahon, and being able to control her so easily, is just as insulting as it is disgusting. Linda didn’t threaten to fire Eric, didn’t do anything. When most women would be screaming for help, or at least, saying that if he didn’t leave, he’d be fired right then and there. The lack of simple logic is fascinating.
But we can’t forget Smackdown. Kurt Angle VS. Brock Lesnar has the potential to be an instant classic. However, what do you want to bet it won’t be? Given how the McMahons (especially Vince) seem to be involved in this feud already, would it surprise you if both McMahons got involved in this match? Zack Gowen VS. Matt Hardy could be a good match if given enough time. However, with the elimination chamber, and WWE’s disdain for workers that aren’t 6'8 and 300 pounds, something tells me their match will get ten minutes max. Undertaker VS. Albert, do I even need to go into detail? That match has about as much interest to me as a series between the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Detroit Tigers.
There’s a really simple reason why SummerSlam has been so poorly booked, and has had such a lousy buildup. When you take over the wrestling business, but have an ego the size of Rosie O’Donnell, lose touch with your fan base, and keep doing the same stuff you’ve done for six years, you get PPV’s that are more must miss TV than must see TV.
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