I believe the late great Owen Hart's signature catch phrase may suit the purpose of my article perfectly.
As a lifelong fan of WWF/E, I am finding it increasingly hard to find the programming as interesting as it once was. I began watching wrestling with Wrestlemania IV. I was hooked from then on. As an adult, it has blossomed into an escape from reality for a few hours every Monday night. The problem is that WWE no longer does anything that really captures the imagination. My purpose of this post is not to compare one era of wrestling to another, but simply to give some ideas of what I would do to change the state of the programming to give it a little more spark. I also would like to see what others feel I'm right or wrong about, and what you all think could be done to make things better.
For starters, I am not a writer in WWE, and will never claim to be better than those who currently hold that job.
The first thing I would change is the element of surprise. The last real surprise that we saw was John Cena returning at the Royal Rumble, when we all thought he was going to be out for another 4-6 months. That's the last time I got up off my chair and marked out to a non-responsive TV. I was shocked and happy to see him. They kept the secret of his return so well, and I just remember MSG going crazy when he came out. He didn't get any boos until he hit the ring. I miss moments like those. While I realize that you can't have surprises like that all the time, more than once every two or three years wouldn't be too much to ask for. In terms of pure shock value, I would put that night up there with Hogan joining the NWO, and Kurt Angle's "Coming to TNA" announcement. Not that they are in the same category of importance, but simply, nobody saw them coming. Hogan was the quintessential face, and Angle was on WWE TV just prior to this. The element of real surprise is very hard to come by these days with the IWC. I do still think it is possible.
When it comes to Cena, I think you can play it two ways. First is obviously to turn him heel. The problem is it's been held off for so long now, that everyone is expecting it. If he is going to turn heel now, it needs to be during a mark out face moment, when it is least expected. I'm just not sure it's doable at this point. The other possibilty to change him up is to keep him face, but make him "cool" again. He caters to kids now. I think Cena is great, and I am by no means a Cena hater, quite the opposite in fact. I just think his character is so bland and old at this point. It needs refreshing. He's only ever had two characters, rapper Cena, and Super Cena. Orton,for instance was the legend killer, then the psycho, then the viper. Give Cena some new material, and instead of over scripting his promos, let him be himself on the mic. Guys like Hogan, Austin, Rock, and HHH became superstars by being an extension of their real life personalities. Let Cena be Cena.
Next, is the case of Santino Marella. This guy has gone into relative obscurity, all the while is one of the best mic workers in the company, and he has got the crowd fully behind him. I think a great idea for him, would be for him to come out cutting one of his comedy promos, and say that while he loves getting laughs, and loves feeding off the crowds energy, he is being held back. Make it kind of a shoot promo. He says he hopes the crowd will support him when he tries to make a name for himself as a "real wrestler" too. Then, have a big time heel, like Sheamus come out and say if you want a challenge, you got it. At first, he can get his ass kicked by Sheamus, but the next week he comes back and says he wants another chance. Again he loses, but asks for one more chance. This time he wants it to be a fight. He says Sheamus may be bigger and stronger, but he has a secret weapon, and it's not the "Cobra". He asks for one more fight the following week. Sheamus accepts. The third and final match Sheamus starts beating on him, and Santino asks for a mic mid-match. He tells Sheamus that with all due respect he is going to kick his ass now. He then starts doing an MMA type bout with him, as well all know is his background. The key here is that Santino does not win the match, but he takes Sheamus to the absolute limit. At the end Sheamus acts like he's gonna take Santino out for making him look bad, but instead he shakes Santino's hand. He asks for a mic, and says, "Hey Fella, you almost got me, but you did something better than beat me, you earned my respect." With that you can have Santino continue to try to beat top names. Also, like they did with Jeff Hardy, give him the eventual win that everyone is looking forward to cheering for. Lastly, on this subject, have Santino getting beat up by heels (Nexus) once in a while, and have Sheamus come out and save him. This is a good way to eventually turn Sheamus face. EVENTUALLY!!! Sheaumus is over, and I think eventually could turn into a good face.
The last person who needs help in the creative department is The Miz. Mike Mizanin has a lot of natural charisma, and I think he can hold his own. I am not one of those that believes that Mizanin deserves a World Title at this time, but I do feel his is certainly a future World Champion in the making. His sink or swim time will be when he turns face and the fans are exepcted to cheer him. He is great on the mic, but just like Cena, I think he can do it without written material. He reminds me a lot of Jericho. Miz will inevitably get over with the fans. He is desitined to. He just needs time to do it. I think he will go the way of The Rock in that he will eventally just start getting cheered more and more, and he will be that heel that everyone cheers for. Let this kid run with the ball. He loves his job, and it shows. He needs to be given the chance to sink or swim.
Finally, if you really wanna get all these guys over, put them all in a John Cena led faction where they get all the gold and they all get equal mic time and have specific roles, much like Evolution. Like it or not, Cena is your "star maker" of this era.
Agree or Disagree? Please give me your input.
As a lifelong fan of WWF/E, I am finding it increasingly hard to find the programming as interesting as it once was. I began watching wrestling with Wrestlemania IV. I was hooked from then on. As an adult, it has blossomed into an escape from reality for a few hours every Monday night. The problem is that WWE no longer does anything that really captures the imagination. My purpose of this post is not to compare one era of wrestling to another, but simply to give some ideas of what I would do to change the state of the programming to give it a little more spark. I also would like to see what others feel I'm right or wrong about, and what you all think could be done to make things better.
For starters, I am not a writer in WWE, and will never claim to be better than those who currently hold that job.
The first thing I would change is the element of surprise. The last real surprise that we saw was John Cena returning at the Royal Rumble, when we all thought he was going to be out for another 4-6 months. That's the last time I got up off my chair and marked out to a non-responsive TV. I was shocked and happy to see him. They kept the secret of his return so well, and I just remember MSG going crazy when he came out. He didn't get any boos until he hit the ring. I miss moments like those. While I realize that you can't have surprises like that all the time, more than once every two or three years wouldn't be too much to ask for. In terms of pure shock value, I would put that night up there with Hogan joining the NWO, and Kurt Angle's "Coming to TNA" announcement. Not that they are in the same category of importance, but simply, nobody saw them coming. Hogan was the quintessential face, and Angle was on WWE TV just prior to this. The element of real surprise is very hard to come by these days with the IWC. I do still think it is possible.
When it comes to Cena, I think you can play it two ways. First is obviously to turn him heel. The problem is it's been held off for so long now, that everyone is expecting it. If he is going to turn heel now, it needs to be during a mark out face moment, when it is least expected. I'm just not sure it's doable at this point. The other possibilty to change him up is to keep him face, but make him "cool" again. He caters to kids now. I think Cena is great, and I am by no means a Cena hater, quite the opposite in fact. I just think his character is so bland and old at this point. It needs refreshing. He's only ever had two characters, rapper Cena, and Super Cena. Orton,for instance was the legend killer, then the psycho, then the viper. Give Cena some new material, and instead of over scripting his promos, let him be himself on the mic. Guys like Hogan, Austin, Rock, and HHH became superstars by being an extension of their real life personalities. Let Cena be Cena.
Next, is the case of Santino Marella. This guy has gone into relative obscurity, all the while is one of the best mic workers in the company, and he has got the crowd fully behind him. I think a great idea for him, would be for him to come out cutting one of his comedy promos, and say that while he loves getting laughs, and loves feeding off the crowds energy, he is being held back. Make it kind of a shoot promo. He says he hopes the crowd will support him when he tries to make a name for himself as a "real wrestler" too. Then, have a big time heel, like Sheamus come out and say if you want a challenge, you got it. At first, he can get his ass kicked by Sheamus, but the next week he comes back and says he wants another chance. Again he loses, but asks for one more chance. This time he wants it to be a fight. He says Sheamus may be bigger and stronger, but he has a secret weapon, and it's not the "Cobra". He asks for one more fight the following week. Sheamus accepts. The third and final match Sheamus starts beating on him, and Santino asks for a mic mid-match. He tells Sheamus that with all due respect he is going to kick his ass now. He then starts doing an MMA type bout with him, as well all know is his background. The key here is that Santino does not win the match, but he takes Sheamus to the absolute limit. At the end Sheamus acts like he's gonna take Santino out for making him look bad, but instead he shakes Santino's hand. He asks for a mic, and says, "Hey Fella, you almost got me, but you did something better than beat me, you earned my respect." With that you can have Santino continue to try to beat top names. Also, like they did with Jeff Hardy, give him the eventual win that everyone is looking forward to cheering for. Lastly, on this subject, have Santino getting beat up by heels (Nexus) once in a while, and have Sheamus come out and save him. This is a good way to eventually turn Sheamus face. EVENTUALLY!!! Sheaumus is over, and I think eventually could turn into a good face.
The last person who needs help in the creative department is The Miz. Mike Mizanin has a lot of natural charisma, and I think he can hold his own. I am not one of those that believes that Mizanin deserves a World Title at this time, but I do feel his is certainly a future World Champion in the making. His sink or swim time will be when he turns face and the fans are exepcted to cheer him. He is great on the mic, but just like Cena, I think he can do it without written material. He reminds me a lot of Jericho. Miz will inevitably get over with the fans. He is desitined to. He just needs time to do it. I think he will go the way of The Rock in that he will eventally just start getting cheered more and more, and he will be that heel that everyone cheers for. Let this kid run with the ball. He loves his job, and it shows. He needs to be given the chance to sink or swim.
Finally, if you really wanna get all these guys over, put them all in a John Cena led faction where they get all the gold and they all get equal mic time and have specific roles, much like Evolution. Like it or not, Cena is your "star maker" of this era.
Agree or Disagree? Please give me your input.
