A little less conversation, a little more action

[Planty]

TALK SHOWS!

There's been so many of them spontaneously coming back from time to time on WWE programming in recent years.

I remember the good old days of Piper's Pit etc and The Barber Shop. But come on!.. this is absurd.

In recent times there's been:

The Highlight Reel (Entertaining until ended, because Jericho was the host).
The Peep Show
MVP's VIP Lounge
The Cutting Edge
Carlito's Cabana
The Dirt Sheet (When done live)

There's probably even some I've forgotten about.

The point is, recently, just this week on WWE programming even, has there been too many throwaway talk show segments where wrestling could have took place?

WWE Superstars: The Cutting Edge. W/ Jeff Hardy
Superstars is a great way to show off more wrestlers from any brand. It could be argued this show could have had a decent good ol' wrestling match-up in place which wouldn't have been seen on storyline-driven main shows.

WWE Raw: MVP's VIP Lounge W/ William Regal (Also featuring Matt Hardy and Kofi Kingston)
In this case it was a nice way to build up some real contention for the US Title and start up an impromptu match. But a tag match could have easily just been made before RAW with the announcers recapping last week's matches. Considering that The Brian Kendrick vs Carlito only lasted around 1:45 tonight, it would have been better to make their match longer to give a bit more credibility to the tag division (even though it's a single's match, granted), then maybe they could have just had the MVP/Kofi vs Regal/Hardy tag match without the VIP Lounge buildup beforehand so that time was freed up.

ECW: Christian's Peep Show.
Jack Swagger as a confirmed guest tonight.

Most of these segments just lead in brawls / beatdowns. It ends up with one wrestler coming out on top, the same as a wrestling match except with the competitive wrestling action scrapped before the conclusion. This wasn't the case for the VIP Lounge last night as a match came out of it which thankfully gave a little less unpredictability from what we've seen a lot recently.

Thoughts?

 

[D-Man]

Maybe this week there were too may for your taste, but I don't think they're overused. We can't look at the coincidence that 3 "talk shows" happened in one week and say that it's absurd. Talk-segments are the things that fuel the feuds on television. Without talking, there would only be wrestling. Wrestling tells a story in the ring, but can't be the ONLY thing used to build a feud. There needs to be a mix, and that mix can't be the same formula week after week after week.

I believe that "talk shows" are primarily used to give the audience 100% focus on an important skill in a superstars arsenal... the art of the promo. They take the guys that can really work the mic (i.e. MVP, Christian, Edge, etc) and pair them up with either their new opponent to stir up the feud, or just someone that needs some microphone time but can't do it on their own. If you take that away from them, you will absolutely DESTROY their character.

Kudos to Roddy Piper for creating the O.G. of the talk show... Piper's Pit. It paved the way for many wrestlers to have an excuse to get in front of a microphone and show the audience who their character is by doing more than just throwing a punch or delivering a suplex.

Let's go with your theory and take away "talk show" promos. Then what?!?! How do you expect to build a feud? Whether it happens in the ring as a "talk show" or backstage in front of the red curtain, it is a vital part of the character and feud-building process. If you take that away, we'll go back to the 1970's where wrestlers hardly spoke, just wrestled matches, and the audiences never related to the charaters thereby never motivating them to purchase the wrestlers' merchandise.

The business of professional wrestling is a chess game. If we don't think 10 steps ahead, we'll be crushed.

 

[SenorAmazing]

I think that these talk shows are beneficial if done right. Look at some of the classics like piper's pit and the barber shop and the heartbreak hotel. They did wonders because of the incredible charisma from each host. I think they should keep them but limit it to one (MAYBE 2 cuz there are 4 shows now) a week. NO MORE. I think having the Peep Show is a good idea because he is after all captain charisma. Cutting Edge is awesome cuz of edge. And the highlight reel was epic. Those should be the only ones with an occasional VIP lounge (although he, because hes black, is stereotyped)