August 28, 2006 Observer Newsletter: Shamrock/Ortiz, WWE SummerSlam
If you want to know the 2006 definition of drawing money, we’ve got the answer loud and clear. It’s the same thing that has always worked.
A feud that involves strong personalities, over motivations and issues people both understand and believe, with the feeling that what happens is somehow important. Two tough guys who people believe hate each other, and believe the reasons why. It is the hype that sells, not the promise of a great match.
Our generation is not the generation of championship belts. That was the generation weaned on having one world champion in every weight class in boxing, and one local champ and one world champion in wrestling. By losing what made belts special, they’ve ruined them for the most part as draws, and now are simply props. Television exposure is, of course, a must. But the other big lesson of the year is that it is not exposure to the masses, but what you do with that exposure that counts.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.