Sweettre15
Pre-Show Stalwart
IMPROVING WWE: YEAR ONE
Encourage Vince Mcmahon and Kevin Dunn to retire
This would be the most critical step one can make in improving WWE because those two are the biggest cancers to the product and have been for years now due to being out of touch, discriminatory and short sighted. Last thing we need is two racist old self serving a-holes ruining the chances of stars being made because their preferences aren't met by these talents. Talents such as Cesaro, Paige, and Emma in recent months/years have all been victims of being screwed over solely for being international, having accents, and not fitting Vince's mold. On top of that, it's like those two are a treasure trove of wasteful, unfunny comedy skits and convoluted scripts for the shows. It is also clear as a bell that as far as direction goes HHH would be better running this company here on out. NXT shows he can handle blending wrestling with "entertainment" in a well balanced way while keeping the storylines simple, focused and yet still interesting.
Cutting Down The Writing Team
NXT is proof that a small creative team is ideal because of there not being too many cooks in the kitchen. If you have a head writer and a writer under him then it should all be fine for the most part.
Plus every year someone from creative seems to get fired anyway. So just revert to a less micromanaging booking style and writing these shows will be easier to book.
Giving More Freedom to The Wrestlers
When I say this I mean both on the mic and in the ring. For instance, instead of forcing wrestlers to follow scripted dialogue verbatim at the risk of sounding stiff, start giving them talking points but allowing them to say it their way. Not only that instead of micromanaging how the wrestlers work in the ring, I'd just give them a small list of safety hazard moves and tell them "Put on the best match you guys can put on for this amount of time". Some will say "Psychology is what really matters" but with the limitations championed by the main roster they are almost limited to only the most basic form of psychology. I understand making every move count but not every wrestler needs to follow the "punch.........kick.........punch........resthold. .......stomp.........resthold.....5 moves of doom" format to put on great matches. Same thing goes for not needing a Dean Malenko like arsenal. Just strike a balance between having a somewhat diverse arsenal and maintaining good in ring storytelling. Because when in ring versatility and psychology is put together there are more possibilities for the types of stories that can be told in the ring. All That said, the above outline may work for certain wrestlers but they usually need the right mannerisms for such a thing to work well and not everyone is Jake The Snake.
Which brings me to.....
RING TIME
*This is something that can be saving grace to ANY wrestling show regardless of how weak the storylines may be because it's essentially the meat potatoes of the business. Call it "Sports Entertainment" if you want to but ultimately what the talents do is WRESTLE and when you let them wrestle good to great matches it can become a redeeming quality for a product because fans will know that have that to look forward to even when storylines become a mess. For example, when the booking went down the drain in the Fall/Winter of 2013, WWE had a great in ring product with several MOTY candidates happening throughout each week, either involving The Tag team division or whomever Punk and Bryan were wrestling. Along with Cena even adding to his own arsenal to fit in with what was going on.
Ultimately Good wrestling can be the glue than holds a show together because interestingly enough if you get a great promo but a weak match, everything will feel anticlimactic and disappointing but if you get Mediocre promos and story but a good-great match it'll feel like it's been redeemed.
Alongside that if every match on the shows are given 15 to 25 minutes. Raw is 3 hrs, that's just the right amount of time to put on good matches and develop all the necessary feuds simultaneously*
Taking more risks with the Format of the show
*One of WWE's biggest problems right now is the predictability regarding the show's structure. They often, open and close their shows the exact same way and we see the same type of segments throughout the show.
It's pretty much open the show with a lengthy promo, then have matches, backstage talking, run-ins to close the show. Rinse and repeat.
Why not begin the shows differently each week. One week a promo to open the show, next week a match opens the show, on a different week begin the show with a pre-taped "on-location" segment or a simple backstage ambush for example?
Hell....use "on location" segments more often in the show period.
Take the divas more seriously
This is one of the most aggravating aspects of the products, whether it's marginalizing the divas that can wrestle to emphasize the ones that can't, Total Divas, that ******ed looking championship belt or referring to them as "Divas" in the first place instead of letting them identify as Women WRESTLERS. The solution to this would be making every "Total Diva" not named Natalya or Summer Rae not wrestle and only be ambassadors for the division by appearing in Total Divas and promoting the product through interviews Etc. Not only that let divas like Paige, Charlotte, Natalya, AJ, Becky Lynch and the like be front and center in the divas division while having someone like Summer Rae or even Brie Bella be the stuck up girls that identify as divas and not wrestlers. But that would require referring to the division as the "Women's division" and bringing back the "women's title".
Alongside that let them be in wrestling oriented feuds and not daytime TV oriented feuds*
Long term investment in developing an undercard
Instead of depleting the tag team division and treating the US and IC title divisions like they don't matter, they should be building up and letting more guys in those divisions get promo and ring time. No more random start and stop pushes and no more breaking up tag teams with no real plan in sight. The more sources of income/star power the better. People need a reason to care about THE WHOLE SHOW not just parts of the show.
More "Grounded" interview segments
These work well in UFC, NXT, and even feuds of WWE past because it not only allows the performers to be comfortable in their own skin but it gives the viewers a more intimate view of who these guys are or atleast gives off that impression.
Make Championship belt feuds revolve around the title
The simple storyline of "who is better" or "You have this belt and I want to take it" makes the belt feel more important because it shows how much the wrestlers want those belts and how important they are to them. As opposed to the belt just being a subplot in a feud revolving around a handful of other stuff.
IMPROVING WWE: YEAR TWO
Let the Midcard titles headline PPVs
*This would be a good way to use positive momentum from Year One to resurrect the importance of the non World titles. These belts were at one point able to headline live events in their respective heydays(except the Women's title) and the IC title even closed a Summerslam once.
Not to mention that with the WWE Network, there is a significant amount of leeway to take more risks with PPV buys being less of a factor.
OFFSEASON for Performers
*To be honest this is more like making wrestlers sit on the bench for a while but anyway....
This is something that WWE has actually considered from time to time but don't have the star power to do but with the ideas from Year One that should be rectified. Which would also come into play with letting the other titles headline different PPVs. It not only recharges the wrestlers and reduces injury rate but it gives other talent chances to be in the spotlight and forces WWE to have put more effort into developing stars.*
Have all Titles defended simultaneously only once a year
When I say once a year, I mean once at Summerslam and once at Mania during the new year, if this is done in this way, having all the titles defended with a new prestige will make these big PPVs feel that much more special and generate more revenue due to the fans that are into what each title has to offer all paying to see said events.
So.....
1. What do you guys agree and/or disagree with here?
2. What would you guys do differently?
Encourage Vince Mcmahon and Kevin Dunn to retire
This would be the most critical step one can make in improving WWE because those two are the biggest cancers to the product and have been for years now due to being out of touch, discriminatory and short sighted. Last thing we need is two racist old self serving a-holes ruining the chances of stars being made because their preferences aren't met by these talents. Talents such as Cesaro, Paige, and Emma in recent months/years have all been victims of being screwed over solely for being international, having accents, and not fitting Vince's mold. On top of that, it's like those two are a treasure trove of wasteful, unfunny comedy skits and convoluted scripts for the shows. It is also clear as a bell that as far as direction goes HHH would be better running this company here on out. NXT shows he can handle blending wrestling with "entertainment" in a well balanced way while keeping the storylines simple, focused and yet still interesting.
Cutting Down The Writing Team
NXT is proof that a small creative team is ideal because of there not being too many cooks in the kitchen. If you have a head writer and a writer under him then it should all be fine for the most part.
Plus every year someone from creative seems to get fired anyway. So just revert to a less micromanaging booking style and writing these shows will be easier to book.
Giving More Freedom to The Wrestlers
When I say this I mean both on the mic and in the ring. For instance, instead of forcing wrestlers to follow scripted dialogue verbatim at the risk of sounding stiff, start giving them talking points but allowing them to say it their way. Not only that instead of micromanaging how the wrestlers work in the ring, I'd just give them a small list of safety hazard moves and tell them "Put on the best match you guys can put on for this amount of time". Some will say "Psychology is what really matters" but with the limitations championed by the main roster they are almost limited to only the most basic form of psychology. I understand making every move count but not every wrestler needs to follow the "punch.........kick.........punch........resthold. .......stomp.........resthold.....5 moves of doom" format to put on great matches. Same thing goes for not needing a Dean Malenko like arsenal. Just strike a balance between having a somewhat diverse arsenal and maintaining good in ring storytelling. Because when in ring versatility and psychology is put together there are more possibilities for the types of stories that can be told in the ring. All That said, the above outline may work for certain wrestlers but they usually need the right mannerisms for such a thing to work well and not everyone is Jake The Snake.
Which brings me to.....
RING TIME
*This is something that can be saving grace to ANY wrestling show regardless of how weak the storylines may be because it's essentially the meat potatoes of the business. Call it "Sports Entertainment" if you want to but ultimately what the talents do is WRESTLE and when you let them wrestle good to great matches it can become a redeeming quality for a product because fans will know that have that to look forward to even when storylines become a mess. For example, when the booking went down the drain in the Fall/Winter of 2013, WWE had a great in ring product with several MOTY candidates happening throughout each week, either involving The Tag team division or whomever Punk and Bryan were wrestling. Along with Cena even adding to his own arsenal to fit in with what was going on.
Ultimately Good wrestling can be the glue than holds a show together because interestingly enough if you get a great promo but a weak match, everything will feel anticlimactic and disappointing but if you get Mediocre promos and story but a good-great match it'll feel like it's been redeemed.
Alongside that if every match on the shows are given 15 to 25 minutes. Raw is 3 hrs, that's just the right amount of time to put on good matches and develop all the necessary feuds simultaneously*
Taking more risks with the Format of the show
*One of WWE's biggest problems right now is the predictability regarding the show's structure. They often, open and close their shows the exact same way and we see the same type of segments throughout the show.
It's pretty much open the show with a lengthy promo, then have matches, backstage talking, run-ins to close the show. Rinse and repeat.
Why not begin the shows differently each week. One week a promo to open the show, next week a match opens the show, on a different week begin the show with a pre-taped "on-location" segment or a simple backstage ambush for example?
Hell....use "on location" segments more often in the show period.
Take the divas more seriously
This is one of the most aggravating aspects of the products, whether it's marginalizing the divas that can wrestle to emphasize the ones that can't, Total Divas, that ******ed looking championship belt or referring to them as "Divas" in the first place instead of letting them identify as Women WRESTLERS. The solution to this would be making every "Total Diva" not named Natalya or Summer Rae not wrestle and only be ambassadors for the division by appearing in Total Divas and promoting the product through interviews Etc. Not only that let divas like Paige, Charlotte, Natalya, AJ, Becky Lynch and the like be front and center in the divas division while having someone like Summer Rae or even Brie Bella be the stuck up girls that identify as divas and not wrestlers. But that would require referring to the division as the "Women's division" and bringing back the "women's title".
Alongside that let them be in wrestling oriented feuds and not daytime TV oriented feuds*
Long term investment in developing an undercard
Instead of depleting the tag team division and treating the US and IC title divisions like they don't matter, they should be building up and letting more guys in those divisions get promo and ring time. No more random start and stop pushes and no more breaking up tag teams with no real plan in sight. The more sources of income/star power the better. People need a reason to care about THE WHOLE SHOW not just parts of the show.
More "Grounded" interview segments
These work well in UFC, NXT, and even feuds of WWE past because it not only allows the performers to be comfortable in their own skin but it gives the viewers a more intimate view of who these guys are or atleast gives off that impression.
Make Championship belt feuds revolve around the title
The simple storyline of "who is better" or "You have this belt and I want to take it" makes the belt feel more important because it shows how much the wrestlers want those belts and how important they are to them. As opposed to the belt just being a subplot in a feud revolving around a handful of other stuff.
IMPROVING WWE: YEAR TWO
Let the Midcard titles headline PPVs
*This would be a good way to use positive momentum from Year One to resurrect the importance of the non World titles. These belts were at one point able to headline live events in their respective heydays(except the Women's title) and the IC title even closed a Summerslam once.
Not to mention that with the WWE Network, there is a significant amount of leeway to take more risks with PPV buys being less of a factor.
OFFSEASON for Performers
*To be honest this is more like making wrestlers sit on the bench for a while but anyway....
This is something that WWE has actually considered from time to time but don't have the star power to do but with the ideas from Year One that should be rectified. Which would also come into play with letting the other titles headline different PPVs. It not only recharges the wrestlers and reduces injury rate but it gives other talent chances to be in the spotlight and forces WWE to have put more effort into developing stars.*
Have all Titles defended simultaneously only once a year
When I say once a year, I mean once at Summerslam and once at Mania during the new year, if this is done in this way, having all the titles defended with a new prestige will make these big PPVs feel that much more special and generate more revenue due to the fans that are into what each title has to offer all paying to see said events.
So.....
1. What do you guys agree and/or disagree with here?
2. What would you guys do differently?
