Is the evil CEO/general manager gimmick overplayed at this point?

[Hollywood Naitch]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the time that we've seen figureheads that range from evil, good, good and competent, evil and STOOOPID, and insufferable tweener... have we seen a genuinely evil figurehead that was frighteningly GOOD at both his job and being evil?

Because you'd think THAT role was tailor made for HHH if he could just bite the freaking bullet and get off the fence. Shit, look at the storylines from Summerslam onwards- they are just SCREAMING for the type of Evil Genius that could've puppeteered his roster of wrestlers against each other while assembling his 'Face of the Brand'. Think Mr. McMahon with GREATER sense and a more dialed-down approach to his villainy.

YES 100%

Long before "The Authority" storyline began in WWE, I remember having a conversation with my friend about how we would change WWE, and I brought up how great the "evil authority figure" was when Vince was leading The Corporation faction, I thought it was fantastic.

Knowing Triple H's ties to the McMahon family, and how his career in the ring is winding down, I suggested reforming a corporate-style faction with Triple H as the evil authority figure, hand-picking a new Corporate Champion (like Vince had The Rock as his star man back in the day)- and Randy Orton was my pick, as he has the look, ability and past history with The Game. The Corporation would constantly screw over the popular face who was opposing Orton, helping their champion retain the belt before the good guy eventually came out on top- making a new major star.


Alternatively, I suggested having Triple H as the guy controlling the company but with his Corporate faction helping HIM retain the belt. As a big Trips fan, I would love to see him as Champion again. Again, the opposing babyface would eventually take the title from Triple H, with a top level star created from the feud (Daniel Bryan for example).

When WWE launched the Autority storyline I was really excited, thinking my perfect storyline was about to happen....but it hasn't ended up like that. Orton was the hand-picked champion as he should have been but he's been belittled, made to look stupid and hasn't been pushed as a Corporate-selected champion should have been. In my opinion, his title reign hasn't been a success and Triple H/Stephanie haven't been the evil bosses they could have been.

The "heel authority figure" character has been overused in wrestling in the last few years, with TNA especially re-using it over and over. It CAN work when done right (as I believe my Corporate storyline could have been), but there have been too many half-assed attempts at similar storylines in the last few years, the current WWE and TNA examples are just 2 of these.

 

[LBGetBack]

Yes, and no.

I feel like Stephania McMahon is the first great heel authority figure since Vince in the late 90's-early 00's. It's been done to death since then, and it was always boring.

Stephanie is not clownish or cartoonish in the role. She's putting a new spin on it, and it's getting legit heat in a whole new way. Vince would take beatings and everyone wanted to see it.

What's going to happen to Stephanie? Nothing, it seems. And she's so smug and bitchy about it.....I think people are legit pissed off. It's great!

Her reactions are fantastic when she's getting her own way......and her flipping out will be equally fantastic when something finally goes against her(Bryan winning, hopefully!)

I'm loving this storyline.