The Internet and the WWE

After watching Matt Hardy use his message board against us, I was thinking about how the WWE has been doing that lately also. So with that in mind, here's my mini-rant on the subject. Hope you enjoy it and that it brings a good discussion.

The WWE has always had this stance of being completely against the internet, mostly because it's the home of us, the Internet Wrestling Community. But over the past year, the WWE has started putting such an emphasis on it's website that it is hard to beleive they are not catering to us more now than before.

It all started months ago when they started playing backstage extras from RAW, which were slightly advertised. Sure we might have gotten an occasional match from ths, but nothing to the point that wwe.com became a place we had to go to.

That all changed over the past few weeks where wwe.com has become a vital source of information to the point where it's now playing with it's fans. The "blockbuster" draft trade was announced exclusivley on their website and remained there as no one on WWE TV mentioned who were the participants until one of the 11 showed up. Brock Lesnar's return was rumored until the WWE gave an up-to-the-minute report of everything going on, even getting quotes from all parties involved. As some of our favorite wrestlers were released this past week, the website also got quotes from the wrestlers to give the story a more official look.

All this teasing has basically led us to this moment. An amazing work of an angle spanning 2 websites (wwe.com and thematthardy.com) where we were all played and just made the reappearance of Matt Hardy that much more amazing. Like any good website, the WWE has a story of Matt "interfering before being escorted out of the building by police" where his post on his message board is a link on the WWE story.

Have we finally come to a point where Vince and the WWE are finally using the internet to their advantage? I for one hope so as the past couple of weeks, while not the best television, have brought along some of the best moments on RAW in a very long time.

Good stuff, and it's funny, because I remember when JR used to badmouth the internet wrestling fans and website operators, but Vince is a smart guy, and though it's taken him a while, I finally think the WWE is realizing the potential of the internet. It's especially made them very aware of how much we know about the backstage politics. Hardy-Edge would be non-existent 12-15 years ago. Heck, maybe even 8-10 years ago, considering most people weren't heavily into the internet until recently. Hopefully we'll see more surprises on RAW like this past week.Harding19

A lot of the wrestlers that aren't under WWE contract talk about how much the internet has taken over and it's been said a lot how much the WWE hates the internet. 8 - 10 years ago, this was the type of stuff that made Vince Russo look like he didn't know what he was doing in WCW. The WWE badmouthing the use of the internet at the time is what's making this 180 all the more interesting. I wonder whose idea this was because I think it's been quite succesful.

After watching Matt Hardy use his message board against us, I was thinking about how the WWE has been doing that lately also. So with that in mind, here's my mini-rant on the subject. Hope you enjoy it and that it brings a good discussion.

The WWE has always had this stance of being completely against the internet, mostly because it's the home of us, the Internet Wrestling Community. But over the past year, the WWE has started putting such an emphasis on it's website that it is hard to beleive they are not catering to us more now than before.

It all started months ago when they started playing backstage extras from RAW, which were slightly advertised. Sure we might have gotten an occasional match from ths, but nothing to the point that wwe.com became a place we had to go to.

That all changed over the past few weeks where wwe.com has become a vital source of information to the point where it's now playing with it's fans. The "blockbuster" draft trade was announced exclusivley on their website and remained there as no one on WWE TV mentioned who were the participants until one of the 11 showed up. Brock Lesnar's return was rumored until the WWE gave an up-to-the-minute report of everything going on, even getting quotes from all parties involved. As some of our favorite wrestlers were released this past week, the website also got quotes from the wrestlers to give the story a more official look.

All this teasing has basically led us to this moment. An amazing work of an angle spanning 2 websites (wwe.com and thematthardy.com) where we were all played and just made the reappearance of Matt Hardy that much more amazing. Like any good website, the WWE has a story of Matt "interfering before being escorted out of the building by police" where his post on his message board is a link on the WWE story.

Have we finally come to a point where Vince and the WWE are finally using the internet to their advantage? I for one hope so as the past couple of weeks, while not the best television, have brought along some of the best moments on RAW in a very long time.

DuckSol

All of this is true because thematthardy.com isn't available (anymore) to visit: www.thematthardy.com they did something to it because I can't get to the page :|

*bump*

I think this could be a great thread

I agree with your theory!

I only have one thing to say: it is about time!

WWE has finally realize that can use the internet to their advadge and trick us fans, I love this out-of-the-box thinking they are doing. This is the kind of story-lines we loved back in the Attitude era, the one's that shock and suprise us and the one's we do see coming. I hope WWE does more using the internet against, it is great way to make good story-lines and surprise us fans. IMHO, that is what they did with the Blue-Meanie and JBL backstage drama, it just did not work nearly as well as the Matt-Lita-Edge story-line.

I agree with your theory!

I only have one thing to say: it is about time!

WWE has finally realize that can use the internet to their advadge and trick us fans, I love this out-of-the-box thinking they are doing. This is the kind of story-lines we loved back in the Attitude era, the one's that shock and suprise us and the one's we do see coming. I hope WWE does more using the internet against, it is great way to make good story-lines and surprise us fans. IMHO, that is what they did with the Blue-Meanie and JBL backstage drama, it just did not work nearly as well as the Matt-Lita-Edge story-line.

Link256

I completely forgot about the Blue Meanie and JBL. That's a good one too because it was all over the internet, then wwe.com reports it and the next thing you know they're having a match on SM. It didn't work as well as it could have (I blame the fact that they were in California, which isn't known for it's wrestling fans).

Quite interesting if you think about it..Dark_NoobSaibot

Yes it is, I love that the WWE is using the internet against us.

[QUOTE="DuckSol"]

After watching Matt Hardy use his message board against us, I was thinking about how the WWE has been doing that lately also. So with that in mind, here's my mini-rant on the subject. Hope you enjoy it and that it brings a good discussion.

The WWE has always had this stance of being completely against the internet, mostly because it's the home of us, the Internet Wrestling Community. But over the past year, the WWE has started putting such an emphasis on it's website that it is hard to beleive they are not catering to us more now than before.

It all started months ago when they started playing backstage extras from RAW, which were slightly advertised. Sure we might have gotten an occasional match from ths, but nothing to the point that wwe.com became a place we had to go to.

That all changed over the past few weeks where wwe.com has become a vital source of information to the point where it's now playing with it's fans. The "blockbuster" draft trade was announced exclusivley on their website and remained there as no one on WWE TV mentioned who were the participants until one of the 11 showed up. Brock Lesnar's return was rumored until the WWE gave an up-to-the-minute report of everything going on, even getting quotes from all parties involved. As some of our favorite wrestlers were released this past week, the website also got quotes from the wrestlers to give the story a more official look.

All this teasing has basically led us to this moment. An amazing work of an angle spanning 2 websites (wwe.com and thematthardy.com) where we were all played and just made the reappearance of Matt Hardy that much more amazing. Like any good website, the WWE has a story of Matt "interfering before being escorted out of the building by police" where his post on his message board is a link on the WWE story.

Have we finally come to a point where Vince and the WWE are finally using the internet to their advantage? I for one hope so as the past couple of weeks, while not the best television, have brought along some of the best moments on RAW in a very long time.

tripleryan2004

All of this is true because thematthardy.com isn't available (anymore) to visit: www.thematthardy.com they did something to it because I can't get to the page :|

well if anyone hasn't seen it yet.......... www.thematthardyshow.com

[QUOTE="Dark_NoobSaibot"]Quite interesting if you think about it..Link256

Yes it is, I love that the WWE is using the internet against us.

Just adding to how my wwe.com rant. They seem to be becoming a better source for news than some websites, they have an interview with Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten about how they did in their dark match/WWE tryout.

Balls Mahoney was in absolute shock when he got the call about trying out for WWE officials, "The Talent Relations department called me up and asked what I had going on Monday and Tuesday night. And I said, ‘Wait a minute, okay, stop. What’s going on, is this a joke?’ And they said, ‘No, we’re serious; we want to take a look at you.’ So, I said, ‘Okay. Yeah! Twist my arm. Sure. What do you think I want to do with my life?’

Axl Rotten spoke very confidently about the impression his match left on fellow wrestlers.

"The consensus is that it was very good," Rotten told WWE.com, "and from our point of view, from being out there and competing in it … we’re never going to say that it was great because we can always do better, but everyone we spoke to enjoyed it, and we know the fans had a blast because if it’s one thing that Balls and Axl do when we go to the ring is throw a party."

Both Mahoney and Rotten were also confident about the prospect of working future shows with WWE. Rotten also put over the ECW PPV:

"You know, the thing was, it validated us in the fact that we realized that we didn’t work eight or nine years in vain. We actually built something with ECW, and with the culmination of that pay-per-view showed that Balls and Axl are not dead, ECW’s not dead, and the fans still get behind us and believe in what we’ve done."wwe.com

At least we know there's a good chance we'll have another tag team to add.

Just adding to how my wwe.com rant. They seem to be becoming a better source for news than some websites, they have an interview with Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten about how they did in their dark match/WWE tryout.

[QUOTE="wwe.com"]
Balls Mahoney was in absolute shock when he got the call about trying out for WWE officials, "The Talent Relations department called me up and asked what I had going on Monday and Tuesday night. And I said, ‘Wait a minute, okay, stop. What’s going on, is this a joke?’ And they said, ‘No, we’re serious; we want to take a look at you.’ So, I said, ‘Okay. Yeah! Twist my arm. Sure. What do you think I want to do with my life?’

Axl Rotten spoke very confidently about the impression his match left on fellow wrestlers.

"The consensus is that it was very good," Rotten told WWE.com, "and from our point of view, from being out there and competing in it … we’re never going to say that it was great because we can always do better, but everyone we spoke to enjoyed it, and we know the fans had a blast because if it’s one thing that Balls and Axl do when we go to the ring is throw a party."

Both Mahoney and Rotten were also confident about the prospect of working future shows with WWE. Rotten also put over the ECW PPV:

"You know, the thing was, it validated us in the fact that we realized that we didn’t work eight or nine years in vain. We actually built something with ECW, and with the culmination of that pay-per-view showed that Balls and Axl are not dead, ECW’s not dead, and the fans still get behind us and believe in what we’ve done."DuckSol

At least we know there's a good chance we'll have another tag team to add.

So, they fire Akio and Haas and we get Blue Meanie (though maybe he's temporary) and Axl Rotten! WWE really needs to get their heads checked.

Balls can actually go in the ring, which is why I didn't include him, as I'd like to see what he can offer, and might actually catch on with the audience, but Axl wasn't very good when he was in shape, much less now, when he's not.

So, they fire Akio and Haas and we get Blue Meanie (though maybe he's temporary) and Axl Rotten! WWE really needs to get their heads checked.

Balls can actually go in the ring, which is why I didn't include him, as I'd like to see what he can offer, and might actually catch on with the audience, but Axl wasn't very good when he was in shape, much less now, when he's not.

The_Dude14

I agree with you The_Dude14, especially with Hass. While he was only a low-card before he got released, I thought that if he would have been given the right push and direction, he could have become a good US champion prehaps and eventually might have became one the top superstars on SmackDown, but maybe I am over hyping him. I do not know, I just thought he had some potential that he did not have chance to bring out, that could have made him more than he was. What do you think The_Dude 14, am I right or am I over hyping him at little too much?

I also think that the WWE is using the internet ti thier advantage. This is an interesting subjectnellyg619

I agree with you The_Dude14, especially with Hass. While he was only a low-card before he got released, I thought that if he would have been given the right push and direction, he could have become a good US champion prehaps and eventually might have became one the top superstars on SmackDown, but maybe I am over hyping him. I do not know, I just thought he had some potential that he did not have chance to bring out, that could have made him more than he was. What do you think The_Dude 14, am I right or am I over hyping him at little too much?

Link256

Not at all. Look at what one win did for Shelton Benjamin. That one victory over Triple H took Shelton from the exact same spot as Haas and made him a name on Raw. Its not beyond the realm of reason to say that, had it been Haas who had been drafted to Raw, not Shelton, then their respective roles would be reveresed.

Haas was a pure talent in the ring, whose potential had not even been reached. I honestly think that a Team Angle (involving all three) feud could have established him as one of the WWE's go to guys, a solid mid to upper card talent..

I actually liked Haas cause I like those technical types of wrestlers like Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle.Chicago_Nut

Posted edited by Mod Link256, since I cannot delete it for some reason.