Keith Watanabe * NET 2.0

I noticed that the WWE recently hit Budokan and Ariake Colliseum and did rather mediocre numbers.  While doing shows on the week days aren't really the best (especially when one day is Valentine's Day), I think it's showing that numbers for puroresu in Japan are down.  NJPW also hasn't been doing so well with the Tokyo Dome flop.

At work too, I noticed most people don't care about puroresu and that the whole puroresu vision has become skewed in that most people consider it just a silly show.  Hustle and the WWE have done quite a bit to hurt the perception of wrestling in Japan so now people simply more realistic fighting shows like the K-1.

Of course, there are more traditional fans (outside of myself) here that still enjoy wrestling.  But the fact that it's viewed as more of a stunt show or (worse yet) a talk show demonstrates that the whole overemphasized skit segments have irrevocably damaged the credibility and more importantly, the believability in wrestling.

It's obvious that the WWE will never move back towards the more purely athletic aspects of pro-wrestling.  However, I think TNA should really start re-examining their product and realize the silliness produced simply undermines fans' confidence in the business.