Creative Control

[kingconor]

Alot of people talk of wrestlers having creative control and the ability to veto proposals for their characters. Many people associate his with WCW and people such as Hogan and Nash. But is this creative power somewhat exaggerated?

Throughout wrestling history, people have speculated on who should win the title or get a mega push and whatever and sometimes proposed plans from the past are discussed such as, say Hogan dropping the title to Perfect in 1990. Some believe this plan was nixed to to Hogan using creative control. What other examples of wrestlers allegedly using creative control to change plans are well known and how true to you believe the stories to be?

(Btw, sorry if this is in the wrong section but I was intending on answers being from the past, obviously. Move thethread if necessary.)

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Well the most famous example of creative control was in the Montreal Screwjob, where Bret didnt want to drop the belt to HBK at the Survivor Series, therefore utilising the creative control in the last 30 days of his contract. He wanted to drop the belt to Shamrock on the Raw the day after, but obviously Vince had other ideas....

I do not like the aspect of Creative Control in a wrestlers contract, it can only lead to trouble, as in this example and in Hogan/Nash having power over their matches in WCW. I think that if a big name wrestler has a problem with something they should sit down and discuss it with management like men, rather than just play the "creative control" card bullshit. All in all, they are employees playing a character and noone is really going to think less of Hogan/Nash/Bret if they lose a match, people arent that fickle

 

[Rasha]

I remember hearing that Goldberg had a lot of creative control when he signed with the WWE. I remember several stories about how he vetoed storylines that would either make him look weak or potentially cause him to look like a heel. He was extremely protective of his brand outside of wrestling and was pretty reliant on younger fans at the time.

Maybe it was all B.S., but it would make sense based on the circumstances.

 

[Karaoke Superstar]

Alot of people talk of wrestlers having creative control and the ability to veto proposals for their characters. Many people associate his with WCW and people such as Hogan and Nash. But is this creative power somewhat exaggerated?

Throughout wrestling history, people have speculated on who should win the title or get a mega push and whatever and sometimes proposed plans from the past are discussed such as, say Hogan dropping the title to Perfect in 1990. Some believe this plan was nixed to to Hogan using creative control. What other examples of wrestlers allegedly using creative control to change plans are well known and how true to you believe the stories to be?

(Btw, sorry if this is in the wrong section but I was intending on answers being from the past, obviously. Move thethread if necessary.)

It's not really exaggerated, they did have that power especially back in the day. Hogan and Nash definitely were loaded with it, even Russo gave into what Hogan wanted. Other examples include the Kliq (HHH,HBK,Nash,Hall) in WWE, Steve Austin, Undertaker. If a top star has all the drawing power and they know it then they would pretty much have control.

 

[Tech N9ne]

It is absolutely not exaggerated. That is why it is in their contracts. It gives them the right to decide how they should look. In a sense it is a good thing and also a bad thing. Sometimes "Creative" might be going on a whim or making a hasty decision that could make a guy look pretty bad.

There have been numerous instances on these exact situations. Some have been mentioned in this thread, and there are probably another thousand instances that we will never even hear about.

Good thing Goldberg had a decent hold on things when he was in WWE. I think they did a pretty shitty job with him. If he didn't have control, I wonder WTF they would have had him doing then.

Maybe he would have won almost 200 matches in a row and then a simple cattle prod shock would put an end to the streak. Oh wait, that was in WCW lol.

I really wish he had some say so back in those days. Kevin Nash really fucked that whole Storyline up that was more than a year in the making. It was one of the most intriguing things going on in wrestling at that time, if not ever.

WWE had alot of steam and truly began to move ahead of WCW. But the thing they still had going for them, because The NWO had become stale, was Goldberg.

That is an example where someone had too much control. Kevin Nash ruined that whole story and Goldberg basically became just another guy after that.

So I wouldn't at all say it is exaggerated. I think it is probably under-exaggerated, compared to what we all really know.

 

[deadtaker]

Most top guys have creative control even if it is not in there contracts. If The Undertaker, Triple H, John Cena don't want to do something they likely won't have to do it. They don't have that right in there contract to say no or change outcomes but usually when they say they don't want to do something or don't like how it will play out it likely will go there way.

The only thing that creative control does for wrestlers is let them abuse that power. They will almost always invoke creative control which takes away from storylines and potential booking.

 

[legendkiller1979]

I don't doubt that someone may have read somewhere that Mr. Perfect was supposed to win the belt from Hulk Hogan but I find this hard to believe for a couple reasons. One is that we were still in the era of the big men and Hennig was just too small to be champion. Two, he never got close to the title after the feud with Hogan. If Vince wanted Hennig to be champion he had plenty of opportunity.

I would like to add one more instance of someone refusing to do the job. The main event of summerslam 99 was changed to a triple threat because stonecold didn't want to drop the belt to triple h. This make alot of sense. Putting Mick Foley in that match made no sense from a storyline standpoint and Foley dropped the title to trips the next night. It makes me wonder why austin would not have wanted to drop to triple h. Did he not like him? Did he think he would not make a good champion? Who knows but it does make one wonder why this happened as it did.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

A lot of guys had creative control when they wrestled, sometimes it was just an awful thing. I mean, Goldberg should of lost to Sting on the New Year's Nitro, that would of been so much better, then the way he lost to Nash.

However, besides that goofy ass rant. I think they need to put some executive clause in those contracts to prevent stupid crap from happening. I mean, Hogan ran wild in WCW with his creative control. Yes, there's times when it's good to have. I mean, Hogan dropping a pin to Jarrett is and was one of the stupidest things anyone could of every thought up. Stupid shit like that shouldn't happen.

But, other times it's just dangerous. I mean, Hogan and Nash showed how bad of an idea that was. I mean, the finger poke of doom, and cattle prods to end great streaks. Let's see what else they had.

Hogan vs. Austin never happen. Due to creative control clauses. I mean, if it was a draw that would of been huge. But, neither came to terms on the match. Just awful for the fans.

Most top guys have creative control even if it is not in there contracts. If The Undertaker, Triple H, John Cena don't want to do something they likely won't have to do it. They don't have that right in there contract to say no or change outcomes but usually when they say they don't want to do something or don't like how it will play out it likely will go there way.

The only thing that creative control does for wrestlers is let them abuse that power. They will almost always invoke creative control which takes away from storylines and potential booking.

Most top guys do have that control, but the reason why they stay on top is because they know how to use it, and when to let the decision get made.

The Undertaker and Triple H have huge locker room respect because what they have done for the business, and what they sacrifice. I mean HHH got pinned by the Brooklyn Brawler for crying out loud.

I do agree with you on the creative control ruining story lines. Just an awful way to end a great feud or angle.

 

[zaculeh]

lol bret shouldve dropped the belt on shamrock that guy was so deserving of the title .. shame he was only in WWE for a few years it did more damage to his body in that time than in his whole 15 year MMA career