Why The Scooby-Doo/WWE Crossover Is A Good Thing!
Full disclosure: I’m a huge fan of both properties.
I’ve been a Scooby fan since ’98 and a WWE fan off and on my entire life.
And never once did I see this coming!!!
In recent years, WWE has been trying to go in a more kid friendly direction, turning away from the edgier content they produced in the late 90’s that brought them such high acclaim and condemnation. So back in August of 2012 I was a bit surprised when this was announced. Many WWE fans thought (or hoped) the PG era of WWE was just a fad but this has made it quite clear that they were committed to it.
When it was announced, one of the big things that I was stunned by was the anger and disgust I read…from Scooby fans!!! Internet Wrestling fans are notoriously angry and will trash anything without even giving it a chance, yet The majority of what I read from WWE fans was along the lines of “Scooby-Doo? That’s still a thing?”.
And its not just WWE fans, on twitter whenever I talk about Scooby, without fail, I always get at least one person that has no clue that Scooby-Doo is still a viable franchise. The majority of what I read from Scooby fans was along the lines of “WWE? This is gonna be horrible! This is the end for Scooby.” and wild speculation that WWE was going to force casting changes just because Freddie Prinze Jr works for them now. I’ve given this a whole lot of thought in the year or so since this has been announced and I’ve come to the conclusion that the Scooby fans are out of their freakin’ minds. This movie has nothing but upsides, especially for WB/Scooby and there is one big reason why.
Marketing!
The last time I checked Monday Night Raw gets just under 4 million viewer in the US alone.
Friday Night Smackdown gets around 2 million. Now if you conservatively factor in some crossover between the two, and I know for a fact not every wrestling fan watches both shows, that is over 4 million viewers.
Based on what I’ve seen, one third of that knows that Scooby-Doo is “still a thing” so you have 2.6 million people that remember Scooby fondly, again from my experiences, from their childhoods. Not realizing in the past 15 years there have been 20+ DTV movies, 4 Live-Action movies, and 3 animated series.
And with WB announcing a new theatrical movie, though it’s probably still two years away, this could bring Scooby back to the front of their minds in a way WB has struggled too. WWE is a global company that produces 5+ hours of TV a week, reaching 10’s of millions of viewers, and is expanding every year into new countries.
So in the end, WWE solidifies itself as a family friendly company and Scooby gets much needed exposure on a world wide stage to an audience that may not even know about it anymore.
I hope Scooby fans get over whatever hang ups they have and prepare for a potential Scooby boom! I also hope for a healthy respect for both IP’s. And believe me, once I see the movie, if that isn’t there, I’ll start lighting torches and buying pitchforks.
(0)Dislikes
(0)
When I talk about Scooby to people on chats they sometimes ask me why I bring it up? I never once question why a conversation is being made because ALL things are talked about yet when the conversation moves towards Scooby it's a problem for some people. Some people just have a big problem with it.
Those fans know Scooby is still around, they just think it should die. That's what it is.
WWE is not going to make a big deal out of Scooby. They will advertise the movie on RAW and Smackdown in "brought to you by" style between matches and that will be the end of it. Most people ignore sponsors.
The problem with the crossover is that they don't mix. WWE looks clownish and Scooby looks desperate. WWE fans don't want more kiddy stuff in the WWE, and I agree. The Attitude era was the best. I tuned out after that. As a Scooby fan I want the show to return to its roots and stick to the original formula with better storylines and character development. Going to the WWE doesn't accomplish this. Either it will be so far outside the formula by having the gang participate in the WWE show, or it will just be the gang doing the usual just with the WWE as the setting. In that case, why bother?
I just think they're focusing on gimmicks rather than quality storyline.
If the movie is going to be bad, then advertising it will be a bad thing.
I think the whole WWE crossover is a waste of time. I totally and fully agree with @The 13th Ghost. Do the writers and producers seriously think that Scooby Doo and wrestling go together??? Sure, it as kind of fun in that one WNSD episode, because they were just playing. The wrestling thing was fake! Here, it's a real wrestling company. Do you think that the crazy people who watch men try to kill each other in a ring with ladders and other stuff are gonna want to watch a nice little Scooby Doo movie??? They just don't go together. Now if they made a Scooby movie with another sport, say soccer, that would be totally fine because the sport is virtually harmless (except for maybe a concussion or fractured ankle once in a while). But wrestling? No, certainly and strongly, NO.
^^The people who think Scooby Doo sucks are going to rot for the rest of their life b/c they don't like classiness. Scooby is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!