>>6139503That's sort of what I meant by undercard. They have 2-3 main program stories at a time, which they give segments and angles beyond interview promos, the rest feels like filler feuds or lowercard cameos. MJF/Wardlow, Punk/Hangman, Jericho/Kingston, BCC angle. Now they've rolled BCC/Jericho/Kingston into 1, Punk's gone and MJF is moving into the worked shoot role, Christian's turned heel so that's a vague program but otherwise they have 3 stories on the go at any time. It's very EWR where you have a cap of 3 main feuds and I think 5 minor programs.
>>6139519I think you missed the point I'm making.
No, CM Punk and Hangman Page's grandstanding didn't drive away 300,000 viewers. It's incremental things and an additive effect. That alone may have driven away a handful, a few hundred, maybe even a few thousand, but it will be an annoyance to people who don't want that as part of their experience whether they agree or disagree with the messages.
Add in the oversensitivity & almost spiteful defiance of criticism, that's another annoyance.
Add in niche programming or references which cater to already clued in fans with the expectation that casuals should spend extra time learning about who's who instead of the show demonstrating. That's now 3 examples of an attitude almost feeling like "We dont want YOUR type of fan", which adds up.
Add in the mixture of limited stories and predictable stories making surprise & investment difficult.
Add in the difficulty in getting attached to or invested in rolling undercarders due to lack of stable TV time.
Add in minimal character time further limiting personality engagement.
Add in over-reliance on WWE guys creating echoes of TNA.
No 1 factor is responsible for their ratings dropping but it's adds up, where sometimes 1 or 2 of these is the tipping point. Cutting back the virtue signalling won't bump the ratings up by itself, but it definitely has a cumulative effect in creating lots of small reasons why people are put off.
