Offseason

[Max Headroom]

With the recent news of John Cena being injured and out past WM32, along with Rollins being out after a nice title reign, Daniel Bryan still being out, and all the other injuries we've seen lately, it's clear these guys need a break from time-to-time. I think it's time WWE starts looking at a way to minimize this from happening more in the future.

The roster is thinning out at a time when there aren't many fellas to take the spotlight, and that's not good. From constant house shows, a 3-hour RAW weekly, followed by Smackdown tapings, the other shows, and public appearances all year-round, these wrestlers just can't catch a break, and it's starting to catch up to them (they also need to find time around all this to train). Pair this with the fact that many fans are saying it's too much TV in one week, and we have an even bigger problem: the wrestlers are being overworked and getting injured while performing for fans that are generally asking for less. The wrestlers need less, the fans want less, so why not introduce a legitimate offseason in the WWE?

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. An offseason would not only be amazing for wrestlers to heal up, visit friends & family, and generally get themselves back together. It will also make the fans more accepting to wrestlers and stories, as everything will seem much more fresh after a break/offseason. Other sports do it, and their business doesn't falter because of it. If they want constant programming on Monday night, shift NXT to Monday night during the offseason to really showcase the talent that will eventually be on the main roster.

The main question here is, do you agree with the aspect of an offseason? How would you go about implementing one, and when would it be/how long would it be? Would you break the offseason up into separate parts of the year, or have it all at once? For me, I think it should take place a month after WM. Let them do WM, have the RAW after, and build a few weeks up to the post-WM-PPV, then take 4-8 weeks off. When they return, they can start building up to MitB. Maybe give them a 2-3 week break during Xmas as well, then resume during a build up to the Royal Rumble.

Tl;dr: the wrestlers need a break, so do the fans, absence makes the heart grow stronger, what do you say?

 

[J.J.]

The wrestling world seems to always spin round and round ad nauseam. But for all the complaining and self-aware, ironic booing of wrestling fans, we never stop caring about the product, obviously. It's safe to say we can’t ignore that wrestlers need time off. But that becomes up to the person behind that character and company. That's something I don't even phantom to concern myself with. We all know the schedule is grueling, and largely question if it's unnecessary. It’s institutional, sure, but institutions evolve.

WWE is dependent on the steady stream of television and house-show revenue to alter its schedule. The networks count on WWE for steady content and the fans have been conditioned to expect never ending entertainment. You cannot treat this like a traditional sport, and it probably doesn’t need a traditional offseason. An offseason isn't realistic in a world where athletic endeavor is characterized as much by personal animosity as by competition.

The life of a pro wrestler has always came with bumps, bruises and travel. Definitely not something they're unaware of going in. Don't take this as a pun towards you but I think fans should just be fans and leave situations like this and the never ending-eye rolling ratings discussions up to the company to worry with. My stance here is to be a fan and enjoy the product while discussing the characters before the person.

 

[Loveless]

The main question here is, do you agree with the aspect of an offseason? How would you go about implementing one, and when would it be/how long would it be? Would you break the offseason up into separate parts of the year, or have it all at once?

Absolutely. These guys get worked into the ground all year round with no time off unless they're injured and that just doesn't make sense for anyone. Wipe the December schedule, let them spend a month at home healing up.
If someone requires surgery, you can basically give them 7 weeks to recover and then drop them into the Rumble. It'll lead to a situation where you've a far fitter, fresher roster going into Wrestlemania and, just as importantly, it'll give creative time to come up with something that isn't utter bollocks.

 

[TDFG]

The Raw before Christmas should be the last show with WWE taking a break until the first Monday of the new year which would be the first show.

For instance the recent break would have been from Raw 21st December 2015 - Raw 4th January 2016, your giving the roster a couple of weeks off to rest and spend time with their families, fill any tv time with specials or best offs as over the Christmas holidays, your not going to have record ratings anyway.

 

[TheLogan27]

I'm a huge fan of WWE so honestly i selfishly wouldn't want them to have an off season but I do understand that these guys need a well deserved break. I see it as 2 possibly outcomes:

1. Give these guys more scheduled breaks. Maybe we dont have so many house shows and replace them with more appearances (autograph signings, talk shows, Be A Star. Etc) that way the job isn't as physical.

2. Build other stars that way they can share some of the load. There's a reason why people like Heath Slater, Fandangoo, and Zack Ryder dont get hurt. Maybe even bring back the brand split.

I do agree that the WWE needs a lighter schedule or maybethey dont need every Monday night to be live. Have some recorded episodes for a month straight and give these guys a break

 

[Rayne]

Try telling that to your television partners; they'd squeeze your balls over the lost potential income at the next renewal, and that's not a position the WWE can afford to take these days.

The issue is the absolutely brutal touring schedule; five nights a week was doable in the days where the WWE was turning a blind eye towards people self-medicating with horse tranquilizers and growth hormone, but it's just not the kind of schedule a human body can take without these kind of injuries popping up. Add that to the fact that many of their performers are coming in with severe recurring injuries to begin with.

The WWE tries to rotate performers on and off the schedule; sort of an 'individual off-season', but the schedule they work and the nature of the job ensures that these kind of injuries are going to happen.

 

[Dysturbed]

I do think that everyone, especially the heavily used performers, should get breaks, but am not sure if they should all be at the same time unless it's just a couple of weeks, as opposed to 4-8.

absence makes the heart grow stronger,

Generally speaking it does, but in regards to WWE, if the wait is anymore than a couple of weeks, I don't know if the absence is actually beneficial from the perspective of a portion of the fans (as I will explain in a moment), even though it definitely is from a performer perspective since their health is of course very important. It definitely isn't beneficial from the standpoint of WWE making money in certain regards or for a network like USA.

The following only potentially applies if the off season would be a consecutive month or two, or even three (as some of suggested in the past). If WWE returns and uses the same exact philosophies that so many people complain apart such as 50/50 booking, overly scripted promos, "not listening to the fans", and so on, then a lot of fans (at least the more negative ones) may feel like the suddenly "stronger heart" from the absence instantly becomes weak.

As it stands, a lot of fans speculate about what will actually happen or envision what they would prefer happen. Extended time off could enhance the amount of speculation, rumors, and discussions since the wait for possible resolutions will be a little longer in some cases. That can lead to greater disappointment. Of course disappointment means nothing if fans will watch anyway but...

If there was a break, it's possible that those who watch more out of habit than desire (I assume a minority), will actually back up their claims that they'll stop watching, since they'll temporarily lose the ability to do so in the first place. Upon WWE's return they may be used to not watching and therefore not resume watching.

No matter what something needs to be done though!

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Or maybe instead of a offseason because that would probably never fly, try and got the route of pitchers in baseball and set some sort of minutes cap per week for every wrestler. After conducting a study of just how much time each guy spends in matches per week and compare that to injuries to see if there is any correlation WWE should be able to place some sort of cap for wrestlers as it relates to their time in matches.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Try telling that to your television partners; they'd squeeze your balls over the lost potential income at the next renewal, and that's not a position the WWE can afford to take these days.

The issue is the absolutely brutal touring schedule; five nights a week was doable in the days where the WWE was turning a blind eye towards people self-medicating with horse tranquilizers and growth hormone, but it's just not the kind of schedule a human body can take without these kind of injuries popping up. Add that to the fact that many of their performers are coming in with severe recurring injuries to begin with.

The WWE tries to rotate performers on and off the schedule; sort of an 'individual off-season', but the schedule they work and the nature of the job ensures that these kind of injuries are going to happen.

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

One reason why so many can make so much more money in WWE is due to the rigorous touring schedule. There are guys on the roster, significant names, who have downside guaranteed in the mid to even upper six figures and touring, television rights fees, network subscriptions, merchandising, ppv bonuses, etc. is part of how guys in WWE get paid. WWE also has commitments to sponsors and TV partners to keep, so just deciding to essentially close the business down for a few months results in the potential loss of millions of dollars.

Realistically speaking, probably the biggest change that could be made would be the touring schedule. Monday and Tuesdays are when they have TV tapings, so that leaves Wednesday and Thursday free. Have some house shows on Friday and Saturday and take Sunday off. Would it cost them money? Sure but not remotely as much as just shutting down operations for a few months because that's just not going to happen.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

As Rayne said, due to deals WWE made its impossible to do that. Would be nice for wrestlers to have some sort of vacation days they can take in a year with offcourse WWE permission. Could solve a thing or two regarding need of rest when a wrestler needs it.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

No. Not at all. Don't even think about this. This is one of the best things about WWE - it's on every week. Just cut back on the shows.

2 hours of Raw live on Monday and 2 hours of Smackdown taped on Tuesday (aired on Thursday)

Live events would be on Friday and Saturday night. Maybe split the talent up? That would help.

WWE would still make just as much money, and the performers could get a break. An offseason isn't possible and shouldn't happen.

Another thing WWE can do to give their wrestlers breaks and vacations. Do fake injury angles.

Simply have one wrestler take another wrestler out. This not only gives wrestlers breaks but adds to the story and we could get a memorable return to a huge pop.

 

[Navi]

I have to agree on the touring schedule being probably the hardest part of it. If you look at the wwe house show schedule, they are booked in almost a different city each night. That must play hell on the wrestlers, their bodies and their relationships with their families.

I agree with what someone else said. Do RAW on Monday, tape Smackdown Tuesday, and then a house show on Friday and then another in the same state or province on Saturday. Or better yet have the NXT guys take over part of the schedule. Let the main roster do the Friday shows and NXT do the Saturday shows. They tape a month in advance, so they can be on the road a little more often. It would almost be like a brand split but not really.

Besides I wouldn't mind seeing an NXT show here in Toronto, we haven't had one yet.

 

[lil steroid meat]

An off season is a great concept.

They could start after Survivor Series and pick up on whenever the first Monday or Thursday of the new year is. And in the meantime show NXT in their television slots. Maybe do the Slammys on the last RAW of the year. Maybe the RAW after Survivor Series doubles as RAW and Tribute To The Troops and then they get a month off.

But then again, I'm not a financial analyst to say how not doing house shows for a month would affect their bottom line; I'm not a lawyer to say whether they're allowed to do this in their contractual obligation with USA; and I'm not a personal trainer or doctor to say whether a month off would actually do anything as far as taking some of the physical toil off from the superstars.

Maybe it would be more practical for them to rotate stars in and out. Have maybe 5-7 guys constantly rotate on 60-90 day breaks. This would give them time to rest and keep the title scenes and feuds fresh.

 

[Hyorinmaru]

An off season would be helpful to the superstars both physically and emotionally but I don't see it ever happening.

They would lose a ton of money. No house shows and no RAW/Smackdown means no ticket sales. No shows also means a huge decrease in merchandise sales.

Vince will never do anything that will reduce the amount of money going into his pocket and the superstars know the schedule going in so it's not a surprise to any of them either.

 

[MERPER]

One of the issues against this is that injuries come in all forms and there's no way to completely eliminate the spontaneous ones. Rollins' torn ACL was a spur of the moment thing and could happen even with an offseason.

However, many injuries (tears especially) are the result of over work. So, maybe not doing an offseason but just make sure that in every calendar year each wrestler take something like 2 months off either consecutively or broken up into parts (8 1-week vacations, 4 2-weeks, etc.) to keep refreshing their bodies and re-charging the battery if you will.

Another more in-depth way to look at it would be to determine a percentage of events worked/missed. Some guys may not require that much time off because they don't wrestle enough, while others would require more time off from wrestling constantly.