WWE Gauging Fan Interest In Another Animated Program such as HE-MAN !!

[Metalogan]

Gimme wrestling from the 80s mixed with He-man - and that would be silly and badass

Hulkster and He-man to team up against Roddy Piper and Skeletor
Andre the Giant vs. Beastman would be a great matchup
Bobby " the Brain" Heenan manages all the villains and commentates the fights alongside Gorilla Monsoon
Ultimate Warrior assists he-man and the hulkster for an all out battle royal.
Hulkster or "Hulkstor" can visit the Macho King and Queen Elizabeth in Macholand in order to get assistance to defeat the evil King Flair that lives on Space Mountain.
Then you have wrestlers like the Legion of Doom, Demolution, Berzerker, Kamala that totally could have worked
Who doesn't want to see Hacksaw Jim Duggan riding a Windraider screaming " hoooooooooo". Both he and ram-man would face off in a battle of wits!

Thats when wrestling had personality. That's when wrestling mattered.

Now its a bunch of lame, generic, underwear garbed pretty boys that care too much about their tan and tribal tats whilst wrestling on the floor greased up and denying their sexuality to each other.

Yeah this show is gonna suck!

[Clawful Ofit]

^ Filmation He-Man + Hulk Hogan's Rock 'N Wrestlin' = Pure Gold

[Berserker79]

This is quite possibly the worst idea for MOTU I have ever heard. I didn't think it was possible for there to be a MOTU product/movement/special I couldn't support, but here it is.

Agreed.......

[Wulff]

No to WWE producing a He-man cartoon.

And hells no to WWE actors playing characters in it (whether they play themsevles or or).

[Mern-Ra]

I've said it before and I'll say it again and again and again, I don't ever want the WWE involved with MOTU in any way.

[Krueger]

I've said it before and I'll say it again and again and again, I don't ever want the WWE involved with MOTU in any way.

I completely share that sentiment when it comes to anything live-action, like a movie. I've said it before and I'll say it again: no wrestlers, body builders or any sort of sportsmen should be allowed anywhere near the casting couch for the live-action movie. However, for animation, I don't mind. Likely it would just be a one-off thing. Might be fun. I think it could do good for the brand.

Actually, talking about the live-action movie raises a point. Can this actually be done? What about Sony Pictures who are working on the (real) movie? I mean, I have no idea how these things work, but I would have thought Sony Pictures wouldn't be too happy about this. Or maybe it’s just something completely different and I’m entirely barking up the wrong tree?

[Clawful Ofit]

It's not for me like I said, but I really was expecting a warmer reception to this. I just thought people would be all for this.

But if we look at it from a purely marketing perspective, it seems logical. I don't watch wrestling anymore, but I know it's popular with kids. Mattel owns He-Man & makes WWE toys. We just had the 30th, a decent amount of new product has come out, comic series, movie talk... retail 2 packs? Sure by our adult eyes it would probably be bad, just god awful bad, but I bet the kids would love it. That is the target audience. It couldn't hurt the brand, sure some (me included) would be grumpy cynical adults, but no real harm that I see.

[Greyskull]

Just knowing that a WWE and Masters Of The Universe crossover is possible makes me feel sick.

[Drewsky]

I agree that people are reading too much into this. It only asks about doing crossovers with three cartoons only(Smurfs, Looney Toons, and Flintstones). It says nothing about a crossover with He-Man or even that the WWE superstars would be doing voice-overs for it. That's always been a constant problem on forums is that some sort of news happens, people start assuming this and that. Wait for an official announcement then make your opinions on facts, not assumptions.

Drewsky...

[Brian Ozone]

I hate Vince and wwf. No way hope it never ever happens.

[Stinkor's Only Fan]

If I can get Kaitlyn in a She-Ra or Teela costume, sign me the h*** up!!!

[Greyskull]

Just the thought of WWE being involved with any classic cartoon disgusts me.

[wyldman11]

In my opinion, a brand that has to piggy-back off another brand doesn't seem very strong. There are a few exceptions, Scooby-Doo has always done this successfully because all their characters (theoretically) live in the same world as the Harlem Globetrotter's or Don Knotts. Batman was a bit of a stretch but we're talking about a whole new era and cartoon series. I doubt DC would license it today as a crossover. At least, not with the gritty realism the movies and comics try to portray these days. Gone are the days of Batman "camp" that matches the zany antics of Scooby-Doo.

In the current Scooby Doo series called Mystery Inc. Blue Falcon shows up with Dynamut in a very Batman style role.

[Stinkor's Only Fan]

In the current Scooby Doo series called Mystery Inc. Blue Falcon shows up with Dynamut in a very Batman style role.

I remember the episode with Jabberjaw,Captain Caveman,Speed Buggy and who knows how many others all in the one episode.

[Nephilim]

It's not for me like I said, but I really was expecting a warmer reception to this. I just thought people would be all for this.

But if we look at it from a purely marketing perspective, it seems logical. I don't watch wrestling anymore, but I know it's popular with kids. Mattel owns He-Man & makes WWE toys. We just had the 30th, a decent amount of new product has come out, comic series, movie talk... retail 2 packs? Sure by our adult eyes it would probably be bad, just god awful bad, but I bet the kids would love it. That is the target audience. It couldn't hurt the brand, sure some (me included) would be grumpy cynical adults, but no real harm that I see.

I agree 100% with this.

I actually read about this on a wrestling site I frequent on a regular basis and considered posting it here, but anticipated the hostile reaction so didn't bother.

I think people need to lighten up a little bit. After all, WWE is a media and marketing juggernaut and if they got behind the He-Man product, they'd hype it to death and communicate the MOTU brand to a whole new generation of young fans in a way that Mattel never could. I'm not saying I'm thrilled with the idea of He-Man teaming up with John Cena to thwart a plot by Skeletor and CM Punk but they might choose a different approach and opt for something that could possibly appease us from a creative standpoint rather than just making a silly parody. The WWE do have their Network coming out soon and it's well documented that their looking for various types of content to broadcast on their channel. I don't see why that couldn't include a He-Man cartoon? For all we know, Masters of the Universe and the WWE Universe might never collide and they'd keep the show entirely autonomous. There are plenty of parallels between WWE and MOTU (musclebound warriors in testosterone-charged battles) to justify why one brand might naturally gravitate towards the other without making it as ridiculous as the above example though. WWE have long since differentiated themselves as more than just a wrestling organisation and have for a number of years sought to promote themselves as an entertainment company foremost, so they could just be satisfied with financing new animation and making a profit off of DVD's and distribution? Obviously I'm only speculating. Using their movies as an example, you often see the wrestlers contextualized to fit with the story being told. Triple H played a father who had spent time in jail in one of their films and wanted to reconnect with his daughter. To the best of my knowledge there was no mention of his wrestling character.

The ideal scenario would be to have no overt reference to WWE and if their performers were incorporated; only in a voice acting capacity and even then, playing established characters from the lore. Obviously that would still irritate a lot of people who'd prefer theatrical actors but in return we'd probably get a line of figures at retail. Especially considering how many WWE toys are on the shelves presently - they pretty much dominate an entire aisle in most stores.

Either way, I don't see the harm. Especially if it gave He-Man some mainstream exposure.

[Toymaker]

I think a WWE and MOTUC working together would give MOTUC some great mainstream publicity. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people watch the WWE, and if some of them become MOTU fans surely that's a good thing?

[King Tamusk]

I think you guys are reading this wrong, the MOTU animation wouldn't be a crossover, it would just have some wrestlers as voice actors. And I'm not sure but it sounds like its the same thing for Scooby. I can't say that that would be good or not but anything is good for the brand

The way I interpreted it, the Wrestlers were themselves in a Scooby Doo cartoon, helping the gand solve a mystery.

I imagine they would be doing the same in MOTU. Which would be very stupid, unless handled in a way that made itself aware at the absurdity of it all.

[skeletor73]

Either way, I don't see the harm. Especially if it gave He-Man some mainstream exposure.

I don't think it would harm, per se, I just think it would be a terrible product. I just don't see the supposed 'help' everyone keeps referring to? (And Nephilim, I'm not debating with you personally, I just keep seeing people post this same argument and thought process over and over again, so I quoted your post.)

To everyone with this train of thought, what benefit does MOTU get from WWE? Toys? We have them (just not at every Walmart in America). Cartoon series from a one-off? No chance. Go back and re-read my explanation in my post. DVD's of the old shows? Mill Creek has you covered. New Live-action movie? Sony already has it in the works. Comics series? DC has it, done. Blu-Ray version of the '87 movie? Warners released in October. What more do we need? Bobble heads? Got 'em! Paper Weights? Done. Biz card holders? You betcha'! Sword shaped letter openers? We've got the power! Halloween Costumes? Ready for people to dress up, look silly, and trick 'r' treat. And the long coveted Castle Grayskull playset for MOTUC? In production. How much more mainstream do we need this property to be? Clearly, Mattel is making some money or there would be no He-man to be found, at all.

So we gain more exposure and more fans? Ok, great! Say this animated, wrestling crossover fiasco is made. Young kids are still not going to buy MOTUC toys. They are hard to get and too expensive to collect. Toyguru has pretty much said not to expect toys at retail till we hit a movie. Hasn't he also said that there is no new cartoon series in the works? So there you go. No retail level figures and no new series. So we hook a few more kids (which I'm totally in favor of btw) and then what? Until that live-action movie hits we don't have a lot for 'em aside from comics and expensive collectibles.

Lastly, with all these marketed products listed above why does everyone think that most WWE fans have no clue already, who He-man is and needs to be clued in by a new cartoon movie featuring John Cena, CM Punk, The Rock and company? Chances are, if they like muscular guys, dressed in tights and briefs, oiled-up, rubbing up against each other, pinning each other to the floor, they either have heard of He-man and like him, or are too cool to watch a cartoon, 'cause they are too busy watching grown men overact. If they collect comics, actions figures, or just plain like He-man, chances are pretty good they are already fans collecting this stuff and know about it. Reality is our fandom just isn't that big.

The last thing that has me baffled- people keep talking about how WWE is all "PG" now. So that means mostly teens, young adults, and adults watch it. Sure some kids but not really youngsters. Very few teens, adults/young adults haven't heard of He-man these days, even if they didn't grow up in the 80's. They've at least heard of him. His last animated incarnation was 2002 for crying out loud (shortlived as it was). The WWE is skewing younger making this Scooby Doo crossover, so I'm not sure what point people are trying to make by mentioning how "mature" WWE is. For those in the know, Scooby-Doo's target demographic is 6-11 year olds. I wouldn't call that PG. I'd call that G, though I'm sure kids are watching PG programming. I'm just saying, I doubt there is this brand unawareness that people keep talking about that suddenly needs to be made more "mainstream" to enlighten the unaware general populace or WWE fans.

Or lets turn it completely around. If people's argument is that they want Mattel to hook more kids they need to focus on marketing to the kids with affordable action figures at retail, comics, and cartoons, not the adult collector, which is what is happening now. You can't blame kids for not buying toys or watching cartoons (brand unawareness) if you don't produce them.

[Dr Kain]

If I can get Kaitlyn in a She-Ra or Teela costume, sign me the h*** up!!!

Who's Kaitlyn?

[hadley]

I used to be a gigantic wrestling fan and fell off around the time Eddie Guerrero died. I don't know what's going on or what the big characters are these days.

I think this could be cool if it went with the heavy fictionalization of the WWE characters. Like the Undertaker is the dead man from the dark side, come to Eternia for some new souls. He-Man must find a way to neutralize the new threat, but then he discovers that the Undertaker is ultimately a force of good and they come together to stop the manipulations of Skeletor.

I don't know if they have characters like that anymore, the last time I saw any WWE it was just all skinny guys with short hair, I couldn't tell any of them apart. This would have been much cooler 15 years ago when the WWE really was a live action cartoon. Now I think it's a bit too self-serious for this to work.

[Greyskull]

I think this could be cool if it went with the heavy fictionalization of the WWE characters. Like the Undertaker is the dead man from the dark side, come to Eternia for some new souls. He-Man must find a way to neutralize the new threat, but then he discovers that the Undertaker is ultimately a force of good and they come together to stop the manipulations of Skeletor.

That idea just made me throw up in my mouth a little.

[Stinkor's Only Fan]

This is Kaitlyn. She's one of the WWE Divas.

[CanadaClassics]

WWE ruined professional wrestling...I don't want them anywhere near MOTU...no good can come of it...

[CptSpandex]

I absolutely HATE wrestling and would rather not see He-Man in another animated adventure than see MOTU teamed with something like this. No thanks!

[Jedi_Master_Jeremy]

Oh dear God! I'd rather do without than have WWE in charge of a MOTU movie!

Yes ...this!