Madden's "Russo Style" booking

[BestForTheBusinesso9]

The recent rant Mark Madden got me thinking a little bit about the current product and what we expect from it. If you have read it Madden suggested that the current "Russo" style booking in both promotions is not effective and bashed on it. I'm not attempting to bash Madden here but I'm going to give why I disagree and some of the problems that I find with the people who seem to think that wrestling is so bad today. Put this in the Raw section because I'm going to focus mainly on Raw because it it the product I'm most familiar with.

First off, Madden's article focused on the way the booking didn't make sense and how wrestling needs to go back to wrestling as the main focus and entertainment as a side dish. I really find this amusing considering the episode of Raw he is commenting on pretty much had non-stop wrestling from 9-11 and then concluded with the McMahon-Triple H angle. The matches were well done and given enough time and I believe gave the guys a chance to really show what they can do in the ring. At the same time, this was Raw and these are the guys that will make up the future of the WWE and since the creation of weekly television shows stars are not built on what they can do in the ring. I would like to see these guys get even MORE time on the mic so we know that even though R-Truth is facing off against Jack Swagger we are still not supposed to cheer for either one. Don't get me wrong, I don't love the style of booking he is referring to but in this day the matches will always be second to the characters and that is the way it should be.

I had planned to get to a lot more with this including how many people believe that new stars are not being developed like they used to and the previous rant Madden went on about the belt finally meaning something and ditching the part-time wrestlers. <= one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. I'll get to it in another post though.

I guess my basic question here is do you think that the negative wrestling fans like Mark Madden, which we all probably know others that no matter what look for the worst and want it to go back to the "good ole days" have a point or are we still watching basically the same thing with a little different landscape? and what is more important building characters and generating interest in matches and telling stories or what actually goes on in the ring in a physical sense?

 

[TM Punk]

For a guy who worked for one of the most poorly run wrestling organizations ever, he sure does have give a lot of critisizm huh? I like his articles, and I love his making fun of hogan on a consistant basis. But this past article just sounded like an old out of touch wrestling fan wanting things to go back to the way they once was.

Fact: WWE has ALWAYS been entertainment first, wrestling secong. If he wants it the other way around, than he should support ROH. But they probably aren't mainstream enough for him.

The only way MM will be happy with the product is if he were booking it. He is part of the problem with wrestling. People always want to sit back and critisize the product, even something so posative as the punk storyline, he always has to find negative within it. And its really just being nit picky.

And how could he NOT know that WWE has a board of directors.WWE is a publicly traded company. Meaning there are multiple share holders besides vince mcmahon who own the company. Sure mcmahon probably owns most of the shares, but this kind of thing COULD potentially happen. Did he know this when he was in WCW? Did they do ANY research on the opposing product? (Cheap shot, well deserved)

 

[ZUMBOdriver]

Obviously, you didn't read the article too closely because in the second line of the article Double M gives credit to Raw for being a decent wrestling show.

There is no doubt that character development is very important but I don't think character development and in-ring work should be ranked against each other. Getting fans into a certain character will help make that wrestler's matches better. Crowds have a lot to do with making entertaining matches. (A little off topic, but I think Cena/Rock @ WM28 is gonna be awesome and a lot will have to do with what I predict to be a very hot crowd.)

Also, good matches that tell a good story help tremendously with character development. When CM Punk comes back, his character will have evolved into something new thanks to his great match with Cena @ MITB. Obviously, his "shoots" or whatever you want to call them helped just as much, if not more. But, Punk & Cena delivered the goods in the ring as well, and that match not only helped Punk develop, but Cena as well.

To sum it all up, I feel that character development and in-ring work should be something that works off each other. They are equally important and good wrestlers MUST have both.

Also, I tend to agree with MM that the focus should be on more wrestling with entertainment used as a "sidecar". I think the WWE should focus on their strengths instead of the things they're not as strong at, i.e. acting. I'm sorry but a bunch of bad actors reading their over-scripted promos is a big reason why non fans take wrestling as a joke. Talking and "entertainment factor" for lack of a better term are very important in making a successful superstar, and I am by no means saying they should have a greatly diminished role in the product. What I am saying is that WWE should put more of an emphasis on what it does best...in ring action.

 

[Matt7584]

I am going to clearly define what Mark Madden was ranting on. He feels that we are smarter than the writers give us credit for. He wasnt dissing on the wrestling in both companies but rather the storylines. We all know vince hasnt stepped down and probaly wont for a while. His point is: that its not believable that Vince is gone, and Vince will be a prsence again in a month or so. We know HHH has backstage presence and is married to the bosses daughter, but all of a sudden the board of directors who we have never met is firing vince and making a HHH the boss. Do you actually believe it?

Mark Madden wants bookers to promote wrestling rather than fake storylines that will fall apart in a month. Look at the TNA situation between dixie and Hogan. Do you belive she actually lost control of the company. Madden wants believable storylines. To be honest we all do!!!

 

[TM Punk]

Just how is the board of directors relieving vince of his duties and replacing him with a young up and coming executive who we all know is going to run things in the future not believable? In reality it is something that happens ALL THE TIME! In business, and in sports. Florida state fired bobby bowden after 30 or 40 years of being a head coach. The guy has buildings named after him. But this isn't believable? Yikes. And again, when has WWE EVER put wrestling first? They haven't, at least not since Vince McMahon sr was in charge of thing. So why would they change thing up now?

Every company which is publicly traded on the US stock market has a board of directors. They also have multiple owner which is what shareholders are. So if a majority of these people aren't happy with the way things are being run or the decisions being made. They have the power to make the changes necissary. Learn something about economics.

You say WWE fans are too smart? Maybe not smart enough.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The thing about Mark Madden is that he's simply the ultimate smark. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to badmouth him or anything as he's entitled completely to whatever opinions he has. But the thing about being the ultimate smark is that he's impossible to satisfy. I agree with some of his articles about both TNA and WWE in the past but no matter what either company does, I don't think Madden will overly embrace what's put in front of him.

As far as wrestling storylines go, they're all "unbelievable" if you're someone that's not willing to suspend disbelief and the internet is especially full of smarks that don't want to do that. Back in the mid to late 80s in Jim Crockett Promotions, which would eventually be called WCW, there were four guys that dominated all aspects of the company. Those four guys came to be known as the Four Horsemen. They ran roughshod over anyone that got in their way, they dominated the title scene in the company and the company in and of itself. You want to talk about believability? How "believable" is it for four guys to overrun a wrestling company and decimate the other 40-50 guys that were working there at the same time? Wouldn't it be more "believable" for those 40+ guys to get together and take out these four guys that're "taking over"? And what about a storyline in which a certain beer swilling Texas redneck would come into the ring and, almost on a weekly basis, embarass and beat up the man who owned the wrestling company that he himself works for? Not exactly a realistic scenario, yet those two classic angles worked because we sat back, watched the show and actually tried to enjoy ourselves. The WWE is a publicly traded company and it's "Board of Directors" no longer had confidence in the decisions made by Vince McMahon. So, they replaced him with someone they did have confidence in. It's every bit as believable as those other two storylines, which are considered classics today, if not more so. Do we really believe Vince is gone? Of course not. If this was 1990, however, and they ran this exact same angle with Vince being "relieved" of his duties and someone taking over, it'd be heralded as genius.

 

[ZUMBOdriver]

I gotta agree with TM on this one. It's not that farfetched to think that Vinny Mac gets ousted as the boss for reasons previously described. I enjoy reading Madden's editorials, but he can certainly be over critical many times and perhaps he was too quick to judge the segment before the rest of it plays out. Although, there is one thing to remember.

Mark Madden is in the business of being over critical. He goes on air for his radio show and voices a strong opinion. People who disagree or have another bad opinion according to Mark go on to be verbally harassed. It's almost as if he takes on a heel persona while doing his radio show. It works very well for Mark who does great ratings in Pittsburgh. Same goes for his columns. I can almost hear Mark Madden narrating his editorials as if he were on his radio show when I read them. By intentionally starting conflict with callers on his show, I am not suggesting that he is just saying stuff to get under people's skin though. Mark Madden tells people what he truly believes, whether people will like it or not.

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

I'm going to get strait to the point. When I watch wrestling I don't watch for "Total Nonstop Talking" or "Raw Script Reading" or "Smackdown Your Voice", I watch for action inside the ring and promos that further feuds or enact change in the product. All of this stuff has to be done well or the product means nothing to me.

Over the last month I have gotten back into Raw, they have been extremely good for the first time in five years. I have been a TNA fan since 2006, they have always had great in-ring action and have really started to grow as their guys are developing better than expected. I like ROH, their product is a very strong product and a throwback to when the in-ring product meant something.

Unnecessary drama, brawling that means absolutely nothing in the end, stupid stunts, long winded promos that take someone ten minutes to say what should take two or three, these things have no place in a good product. I agree with Madden on that stuff, stuff he says is "Russo Like Booking" but what happened at the end of Raw is not "Russo Like Booking" because it has a point, it was well done, it gave many different options on how the product could go, and it got people asking questions. If it is handled correctly it will not be "Russo Type Booking".

 

[Awesome_Miz]

I just don't get how MM can be pleased with the product I have like some of his articles but as of late he just doesn't get entertainment comes first some how I think when everybody is happy with a storyline he disagrees but when the storyline is bad he loves it there is no way to make him agree with someone

 

[sTyLnK]

I am going to clearly define what Mark Madden was ranting on. He feels that we are smarter than the writers give us credit for. He wasnt dissing on the wrestling in both companies but rather the storylines. We all know vince hasnt stepped down and probaly wont for a while. His point is: that its not believable that Vince is gone, and Vince will be a prsence again in a month or so. We know HHH has backstage presence and is married to the bosses daughter, but all of a sudden the board of directors who we have never met is firing vince and making a HHH the boss. Do you actually believe it?

Mark Madden wants bookers to promote wrestling rather than fake storylines that will fall apart in a month. Look at the TNA situation between dixie and Hogan. Do you belive she actually lost control of the company. Madden wants believable storylines. To be honest we all do!!!

I do believe it because the reality is it will be happening probably within a year or so. Sure the angle doesn't seem "believable" in regards to how it actually transpired, but it is happening for real one day so that's why to me it is more than believable.

As for MM, well he's always ranting about the past, always saying he's a genius and can do things better than almost anyone. He needs a reality check. Wrestling has changed over the last 10+ years. He keeps talking about how this is how it should happen, but we aren't in any Monday Night Wars anymore. If you want a more edgy crazy type of wrestling go watch TNA because its' certainly more than the WWE. Oh wait he hates TNA and everything about it. And he hates the WWE on how it books as well. Good Lord all he does is bitch, moan and criticize. He's a bitter old man who just can't deal with the fact that when he speaks no one listens. And there's a reason for that. Don't get me wrong he is a knowledgeable guy sometimes, but there comes a time when he has to accept the fact that he's not as smart as he thinks he is.

 

[BestForTheBusinesso9]

I'll admit that some people who have disagreed with me have made some decent points but overall I still think in general the basic point is missed. Yes, I read the article and yes I saw where he said the show was decent but then he rants about how too much talking takes place. I know he wasn't referring to this show in particular but Raw had a ton of in ring stuff this week that was really good and honestly didn't put as much time as it should into the unfolding drama. I agree the McMahon-Triple H confrontation was out of place and didn't make sense considering whats been going on but I don't think that was the point MM was trying to make. Bottom line though I just think most of the time his points are a little rambling and don't really make logical financial sense. I enjoy his articles and definitely think he is entitled to his opinions though.

Here's the thing, I'm a pretty smart guy. I've been through business school in undergrad and for my masters and have a been a wrestling fan for a long time. Not as a mark, but as a person who enjoys wrestling for what it really is. Honestly, I think I could rip Mark Madden to shreds in a debate and I don't really find him all that knowledgeable when it comes to the business.