Could the Boot Room work in WWE?

[gasM]

In England, football (or soccer to some of you) is the number 1 sport in the world.
Back in the day, my home team Liverpool dominated then-Division One (now the Barclays Premier League). Working class manager Bill Shankly turned a mediocre team into English and European champions, and up until the 90s his successors were able to continue his work.
Shankly used a concept known as the Boot Room. He held his tactical meetings in the room where the players' boots were stored and cleaned, where he'd crack open a bottle of whisky and talk to his four trusted advisors - 3 of which later became successful Liverpool managers in their own right.
The whole idea is that he taught them how to conduct themselves, how to run the club, and how to win trophies. In essence, he taught them "the Liverpool way". The point of this was to promote from within; after each manager left, a member of the Boot Room would take his place, ensuring a smooth takeover with a homegrown, established manager who could continue the club's success.

Could this work in the WWE?

One of the biggest gripes in today's product is poor writing. "Hollywood writers" come up with implausible storylines, basic wrestling booking is substituted for soap opera melodramas, and Vince McMahon makes too many poor decisions that are taken as gospel.
However, I think that if Triple H does indeed take over - or at least become head booker - the Boot Room technique could work for him.
Head - Triple H. He came up through WWE's boom period, the Attitude Era, and has been married to the boss's daughter for years. He knows "the WWE way" better than anyone.
Deputy - Jim Ross. He has even more experience in the business than Trips, but is perhaps too Old School to be the top booker.
John Cena - Also familiar with the system. He could learn how to book the whole card effectively from top to bottom whilst winding down his own career, and possibly take over when Trips retires or focuses on the business aspect of the E.
Sheamus - Trips' personal protoge. He could well be a franchise player at this point, so he'd be in the locker room itself and be something of a leader anyway. Gaining valuable insights and knowledge from the booking team could improve his performance and make him a good future booker following his retirement in the future.

What do you think? Could the Boot Room be replicated in the WWE? Why/why not? If so, who do you think would do the best job? Why?

 

[Skinsley]

Same old Liverpool fan always living in the past.
The issue with the boot room technique is that football is now a business much more than it is a sport. Just as WWE is a business and not a sport.

These managers all inherited a good developed team who already knew them well and they all learned the same tactics and ways of doing things as the previous manager did. They were also given a hell of a lot more room for error than the current crop. But what happened when “King Kenny” returned? Same manager, different team….. sacked within a year and a half.

Just as Manchester United will likely fall midtable once Sir Alex leaves and just like Newcastle fell from grace when the late Sir Bobby also left, it does prove to an extent that the boot room did indeed have its great upsides…….it doesn’t work in business.

Tripple H will take on the WWE and I think will do a fantastic job, and the next person to take over from him will have inherited a better product than the one VKM is currently holding. However this person will also have their own ideas and the audience is changing constantly…a writer that does a fantastic job in 2020 could be outdated and future endeavoured by 2030.
And who is to assume that John Cena…and SHEAMUS of all people would be Tripple H’s right hand guys in this situation?

In most places at some time or another friendships develop and little groups form….it would be no different in WWE unless it was kept under control. The Clique, as it was called which consisted of TrippleH, Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels, Scott Hall & Xpac and they between them rallied around Vince constantly manipulating stipulations, match outcomes and even match participants.
So no, a “boot room” style system would not work in WWE…but is probably happening in WWE right now for all we know, and may be the source of the garbage TV they have been spluttering out lately.
Such things develop favouritism especially when current stars are involved….nobody on the active roster should be able to sway backstage decisions in any way other than by performing well and getting the crowd on their side.

 

[TUFFY54]

Interesting thoughts. However, I think the question is should the WWE go back to the "boot room". (As an American who doesn't watch soccer, I've never heard of this. But it sounds like a good idea).

I'm a big fan of shoot interviews, especially the Kevin Nash ones. He has said many times that the main problem with the WWE is that it is written by outsiders. Hollywood guys might be able to write great sitcoms, but wrestling isn't a sitcom. Nash has often said that the WWE creative was basically a "boot room". Everything was written by Vince, Pat Patterson, and a couple other senior agents. Nash said that they would have lose plans for three or four months and change them as needed based on how feuds were going and guys were getting over.

Unfortunatly, for the last few years Vince has become OBSESSED with mainstreaming his company. He could go back to the old ways in a heartbeat. But he wont. Vince would gladly throw away six months of storylines and do something that made ZERO sense to get a 30 second piece on entertainment tonight.

The guest GM concept is a perfect example of this nonsense. Whole episodes of RAW were centered around people that had no business in a wrestling ring. Fucking Jewel was a guest GM. Did Vince actually think her country music fans would start watching RAW and buying John Cena shirts because she was the guest host? Of course not. However, he knew he would get a blurb in the entertainment news if she was on the show.

No strategy will work unless Vince wants to go back to an old fashioned, hard hitting, wrestling show. Sadly, thats the last thing on earth he wants to do.