SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE has sent out a survey to their Fan Council asking them what they would most like to see in a House of Horrors match.
“Select from the list below the kind of elements (mood, setting, etc.) that would interest you as part of a House of Horrors match.”
Options: “Pitchforks, A Match Set Outside the Arena, Cage, Creepy/Scary, Fog, “Sheeple,” Projected Images, Darkness, Mirrors, Fire, Music, Other (specify), Nothing Different.”
Another variation: “What weapons/objects would interest you as part of a House of Horrors match?”
Options: “Bugs, Chains, Costumes, Chainsaws, Kendo Sticks, Tables, Chairs, Masks, Snakes, Axes, Fire, Other.”
Keller’s Analysis: This is embarrassing in and of itself. But worse, it’s symptomatic of WWE’s approach to booking. Bray Wyatt is sold to viewers on air as a devious, creepy, manipulative wrestler, but this Fan Council survey – which is being widely distributed (and mocked) on Twitter and other social media – means when fans watch the match, they’re not going to be thinking about Bray’s devious plans to shake Orton’s world and “make him devour his own soul” or whatever nonsense Bray said that no one believed he’d do to Orton. Instead, they’ll be thinking about how Bray announced that match without knowledge of what it’d end up being, and then WWE Corporate took a poll on what would “sports entertain” the fans the most, and then instructed the special effects team and wrestlers to do as they were told. The people in WWE who do this have zero clue why this is so detrimental to the overall fan experience where a little mystique and wonderment is still possible when it comes to the characters portrayed on TV. This is just an eye-rolling ugh moment.
If WWE wants to complain about fans trying to take control of shows and not “going with the program” (what Brian James called on Twitter the “anti-establishment minority”), giving fans this “power” to influence what happens in a match that a heel has already announced on TV is part of the reason. Instead of kicking back and enjoying the show, trusting that the WWE promoters know what they’re doing and have a vision and a reason behind their decisions, they send a message to fans that everything is up for fan input. What makes this even more ridiculous is that none of this matters. It’s not like chainsaws or masks will make a difference. Maybe it’s just a way to try to get a feeling for whether fans liked those “projected images” at WrestleMania without seeming to admit they are second-guessing themselves.
1)It clearly says in the image “sheeple”, not “sheepie”
2)Despite the morons critizing it, the poll does not imply they are asking for ideas for the match. It’s more like some of the polls this site does asking stuff like “who should face Fighter A?”. It’s obvious that the intent WWE is going for is that in terms of storylines, Wyatt proposed this match and WWE management doesn’t know what will be in it but wants to know what WWE fans would put in it if they were Wyatt.
Yes, agreed. Heck, the inability to tell that the thing says “sheeple” (I think we can all guess that it probably meant to mean the creepy people in the sheep head masks) automatically deducts credibility here.
They run polls all the time about stuff they have clearly already decided; it doesn’t mean that if we stuff the ballot for “pitchforks” they’re going to shove pitchforks into the match. Just as much about seeing what people’s expectations are (and whether they care), I would think.
Personally I think this whole storyline is stupid and we already had one stinker of a match from it at Mania, and this is likely to be even stinkier, but not because of a fan survey.
Best case scenario would be if it really was “Sheepie” and Wyatt brought an adorable sheep doll to the ring as a gift for Orton, followed by their calling off the match. Then in future episodes of Smackdown! Orton would be randomly seen in the background cuddling the sheep while other people were doing interviews.
I’d prefer not to see it at all. This feud sucks.