Could a superstar get over better by having multiple matches per night?

[VinnieSunshine]

We saw it over the summer and into fall with Dolf Ziggler...2 matches a night on 2 PPVs in a row...almost went for 3. Ziggler was at the top of his game, feuding for the tag titles and defending his US title against Ryder. Then WWE seemed to take it away. Bret Hart did the same thing back in his day.

Aside from the Royal Rumble, we don't really see ANY superstar in more than 1 match per night.

Could a superstar get over better or be taken more seriously by competing in more than one match per night?

Would you want to see it happen?

I personally would love to see this happen...especially with a heel. Dont overuse it though.

~If a heel is placed in more than one match and loses the last one, they can use it to their advantage that they had to fight extra hard in X# of matches.

~If a face is in more than one and loses, they can say they fought to the end.

Such is the case with JL. Its almost a sure bet he will take over both brands. What if he uses his power and puts faces in more than one match?

 

[midgensa]

I definitely think this could work.

It is kind of the force-feed approach, but if the person has talent and charisma it works.

I remember when Jericho was carrying the show back in his first run (as a face also) and he worked three matches one RAW and was all of the places many times ... I think it really helped elevate him to a new level in the fan's eyes and in the WWE's top brass' eyes.

Definitely a good idea with the right guys (someone like Ziggler, Rhodes, Bryan, Punk). Has to be guys who can actually do seriously good ring work and who are extremely good at pushing their bodies ... but it definitely could be done and work well.

 

[King Patrick Star]

I, personally, don’t like the idea of a SuperStar in multiple matches on one show, any show, PPV or Raw / Smackdown. I also don’t like it when a SuperStar competes in a match and then later in the evening competes in the Royal Rumble. The only real reason why I don’t like it, is because it’s not necessary. If they want a SuperStar to appear more than once on a show, there are multiple ways of doing so. What Edge did at the Elimination Chamber the year he won and lost a WWE / World Title is the only exception I would accept, due to the circumstances. Being scheduled for 2 matches is a waste in my opinion, and the spot could be used for someone else.

For example:

At Vengeance 2011, Jack Swagger and Vicki Guerrero should have looked for a 3rd member to their Stable instead of using Dolph to challenge for the Tag Titles. Mason Ryan comes to mind. He could have turned on them at the PPV instead of Raw a couple of months earlier.

At the Survivor Series 2011, anyone else could have been on Team Barrett instead of Dolph to face Team Orton. We could have gone with Drew McIntyre, or Jinder Mahal, or being that Dolph was eliminated in less than 2 minutes anyway, they could have inserted Christian into the match for the quick elimination. I’m sure an RKO would have looked believable on Christian with a neck brace on.

Point is, Dolph didn’t need those 2 losses, especially that early exit in the Survivor Series match.

 

[Champ1432]

It could definitely work with the right superstar. It would be a very thin line though, IMO. Overexpose someone for two seconds and the next thing you know, everyone is crying, "They're shoving him down our throats!!!!!"

It would probably be tough to find the right guy and the right balance, but with enough charisma, I think it could be pulled off well. It would probably work best for a guy who doesn't have the best mic skills, but still has in-ring charisma without speaking. Let him tell the story through his ring work, and get over that way since the mic isn't his strongest suit anyway. I think Ziggler is a good example of that type of superstar. Don't get me wrong, his mic work is definitely improving, but I think his swagger and charisma in the ring is a greater asset right now.

You'd have to be really careful to avoid that overexposure. You need the right combination of superstar/storyline/booking. But if done correctly, I think it could pay great dividends.

 

[xavyer]

It can work, but if it's done with the right superstar or the right angle, but if you just throw a superstar to work two or three matches in one night it's most likely that it will fail, it will have to be something like that superstar has something to prove, or loose because of cheating and later gets a rematch or like i said, the right angle with the right superstar.......

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

If it was a one off night like King Of the Ring, 1993, or 1994, then yes, but both Bret and Owen were over then. If the emphasis was on taking a bunch of midcarders, say 4, v lower mid-carders and having the semi-finals being made up of the best 4 mid carders then great. Have 3 really top notch matches. Winner gets over, and gets the other 3 over too. Make the lower 4 midcarders look good on the way out. Build it up as a ppv, over a month, go down from lower card stars. make each match competitive, and give each match a reason. Dont allow any outside interference after the final 16 are announced. Maybe work down from 32...raw and smackdown

 

[Natural Selection]

It can and has worked before. You have to set it up correctly though, something like this is very situational and as already stated it has to be a great in ring performer. I mean you could have The Great Khali compete in every match and squash everyone and he still wouldn't get over.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Under the right circumstances, like a King Of The Ring Tournament or having a high proifile singles match at the Royal Rumble and then putting forth a good showing in the actual Rumble itself (See Rody Piper, 1992) it certainly helps. I've always like the idea of Running The Gauntlet, having one supertar wrestle three straight matches. Obviously this works best if you have a massive good guy like Cena being fed to evil rulebreakers. Although it could have a huge effect on a heel, forced against their will to face 3 straight good guys, provided the heel found creative ways to win and didnt humiliate the faces. In that instance it would further the idea of the heel's ability to survive, his cunning, would have been good for Triple H in the day. Jericho could play this well now, maybe Orton.

Before live TV, it was common for wrestlers to perform multiple matches in the same night. I saw a WWE TV Taping in Erie, PA in 1992 where HBK wrestled four times. The matches were then edited and shown on different WWE TV programs over the following month. Back in the heyday of the house show circuit, Ric Flair and others would wrestle multiple matches in different cities on the weekends. Flair might do a match at the TBS Studios for a TV Taping at 9AM, travel to an afternoon show, wrestle, then travel to another city where he would wrestle on an evening show, all in one Saturday, then two shows in different cities Sunday. This is how these guys accumulated over 300 matches per year. The fact the guys dont do this anymore is really a relatively new phenomenon, since the advent of the live TV era in the mid to late 90s.

 

[OneTooManyPunts]

This depends soley on who it is wrestling more than once a night. WWE already tried this with Dolph Ziggler, and even as talented as he is in the ring, it did little to really get him over with the fans.

It is something that would be much better suited for a babyface, especially if WWE tries to push the 'underdog' gimmick with that person.

 

[ProWrestlingFan84]

I think that with wrestlers wrestling more than one match in an event was never done better then Bret Hart. It's the first person that came to mind when reading the OP's question and quite honestly for a good reason. Two examples that come to mind are KOTR 93 when he won it all and then in the Rumble of 94. Yeah there have been other examples but Hart just seemed to get over really well with the crowd at the time.

It seems today though maybe there is a reason why KOTR doesn't get brought back considering the last 'king' was maybe a bit of a failure in Sheamus. Also as another poster mentioned Dolph's had a couple matches in a couple recent PPV events.

A wrestler should get over more especially if they're a face and they run a gauntlet match or even a heel really but the latest example Dolph Ziggler didn't really succeed so not sure how others would get over well aside from Cena or an Orton whom are already well over.

 

[Paragon of Virtue]

No, but they can get injured. And that's a risk I would not be willing to take.

Well, unless it was Jericho, he could pull it off.

 

[flair4ever]

i think the guy has to be somewhat over already, like zach ryder or kofi kingston, if u booked them with 2 guys who can pretty much carry them the whole time like ziggler, bryan, cody, punk. Then it could be done. It was the same with the KoTR. remember when mabel(aka big daddy v) won, he only had 2 matches that night, savio vega had 4. and if u look at most of the past Kotr ppv winners they were all guys who could carry guys in the ring. so it can be done with the right guy and the right booking

 

[scragg23]

best example of this was kurt angle wrestling a kotr semi final, kotr final and a 30 minute street fight at king of the ring 2001. even though he was a heel, it really opened people's eyes. it resulted in kurt becoming the wwf's #1 face (before rock came back), challenging austin numerous times over the summer of 2001!

 

[logan_punisher]

some ppl give me a headache... yea your right i wouldnt risk it on any of the superstars cuz you dont know what could happen. now said somethin g about chris jericho could pull iy off. no he cant this iis why i have my head hitting the wall cuz he is getting up in age. do you think he can pull it off with his body starting to go down like undertaker and triple h dont get me wrong they can still perform just not 3 matches one night.

 

[Iversen]

Every now and then this kind of thing works. It worked with Ziggler because it allowed him to show off his athletic ability and just plain show off which is part of his character. However if there is no logical explanation for doing it and you do it every couple of PPVs it just becomes overused and loses any effect it might previously have had as it would seem like anyone can do it.

So yea for a character like Ziggler who's athletic ability is a major part of what he does then it works perfectly. However overuse or do it with the wrong people and it will lose that effect.

 

[Con T.]

Right now, WWE superstars are suffering from massive overexposure. They're on television every week, for about four hours, there are pay per views that happen once a month, the wrestlers all seems stale, because they're in front of us so damn often.

And your goal is for someone to have multiple matches, to become even more overexposed? Thanks, but no thanks. That gimmick is gonna get old real quick, especially when fans realize there's no need for the first match, because the guy is coming out again later in the night.

 

[Diet Soda]

Glad people are saying King of the Ring.

The Deadly Games tournament at Survivor Series '98 for the vacant WWF Championship also comes to mind. Yeah, I know the ending was a bit wishy-washy, but at the end of the day it was The Rock's first major title win and the beginning of the 3 year period of being the company's top dog.

 

[jrichardson25]

I don't gel on the idea. One reason: Over exposure. A slow burn as far as getting over is better than getting it all at once. Said star will eventually suffer from Cena-syndrome aka being shoved down the throats of the fans because of multiple matches... but if its one night for some storyline, it could work. Like i said... if it is one time only yeah, it would work, short term, over the long term it probably would not work nearly as well because of that over exposure issue.

 

[Hurricanrana Radio]

I think that is why Dolph Ziggler is as over as he is right now. His work has really put him over the top whether you like him or not. I personally do. The way he sells his moves is great. He could put on a great Iron Man match once he gets to the top