What Would You Do....WWE Superstars.

[Madico_Fs]

Hi guys, im sure this is a topic that has been around a bit before but I will raise the issue again. I live in Australia, we get RAW on a wednesday, nXt on a thursday and Friday we have Smackdown (i think it is aired here b4 the US).

WWE Superstars is shown after the Raw Repeat on Saturday @ 2pm.

Now to my thread idea/scenario,

You work for the WWE creative team,

Your first task is that Vinnie Mac want WWE Superstars to gain more ratings, better exposure, and to not only put over lower-general mid carders on the show but have it as a show that a true main eventer (Cena, Edge, etc) can appear on as well.

Please also not that the first WWE Superstars (April 16 2009) had the following matches on the Card:

* Cody Rhodes def. Shane McMahon by disqualification
* Christian def. Finlay in the finals of the Elimination Chase to Backlash
* Undertaker def. Matt Hardy by count-out

and todays (10 Feb 2011) standards are:

* Natalya def. Alicia Fox
* The Great Khali def. The Usos
* Tyler Reks def. Curt Hawkins
* Jack Swagger def. Trent Barreta

What would you do?



*Me, I would try to get superstars to be 2 hours,
*Have Superstars taped before smackdown and have the brand extension mean nothing to the show let anyone turn up,
*have 5 matches on the card each week,
*little to no promo's
*have 2 Raw matches, 2 Smackdown Matches and say either a Raw vs *Smackdown main event or a Tag Team 1 guy from Raw tags with 1 guy from Smackdown to vs another combination.
*Throw in a United States or Intercontinental Championship or WWE Tag Team Title Match once in a while
*Dont use only lower card guys utilize all your assets.


Over To You Guys...

 

[hoppydude]

Superstars is a show that in and of itself is to give exposure to the lower tier performers in the WWE and its doing a fine job a good job with that. Considering the entire show is wrestling and wrestling by itself has never been a draw on t.v I would have atleast one promo per episode to get you to care for the wrestlers who are performing. Other then that Superstars is basically just another heat or velocity and the WWE knows that and is fine with it. The choices you gave are almost all wrong and i will tell you why

: Just doubling how long a show runs doesn't improve it, the WWE already has enough programming a week and making the show 2 hours would be a terrible idea because watching no named talent for 2 whole hours go out and wrestle would be very boring

: The brand extension does mean nothing for Superstars, the wrestlers you described on the last show are from both raw and smackdown

:Why have 5 matches and no promos, so you basically want fans to watch guys wrestle for 2 straight hours with no promos, good luck, wrestling is all about storytelling and you can't do that without promos, awful idea.

:Title matches may be a good idea once in a while but the problem is that the superstars audience is very small so not many people would see the title change and make the title change seems meaningless, make the champion and the belt look worse

:You have Superstars working 300 nights a year, they have already performed once or twice on the raw or Smackdown taping and you want them to wrestle on Superstars as well? sorry that doesn't make any sense, and taping superstars on any other night wouldn't work.

All in all, all of your ideas are flawed and Superstars isn't going to be changing, they had big names on the first show to get people to watch it then they slowly stripped talent off of the show. Superstars is just another heat or velocity, it gives a chance for younger talent to perform on t.v and that is all the WWE has in mind for that brand.

 

[TheViper723]

In my honest opinion: WWE Superstars...I would just get rid of it altogether. It's a waste of on-air time and also money the WWE can't afford to spend. I think with as many television programs the WWE has, WWE Superstars is useless. It's like a juiced up version of WWF Shotgun + WWE Sunday Night Heat. Raw, Smackdown, NXT, and now Tough Enough. That alone is enough. People are more into reality based shows. To be quite frank, WWE has way too many young un-established guys on TV right now and adding another show like Superstars really is punishing these guys as well as the company itself. Kill the show for the better of the company and send those "I NEED IMPROVEMENT" wrestlers back to OVW and FCW. But hey, its just IMO

 

[Heartachetonight926]

Here's what I would do with superstars if I was calling the shot's....

-1. Bring in FCW TAG TEAMS, and give them some TV time and build them up so they can be challenger's for the Tag team titles. Let's face it, The Tag team titles can't keep going back and forth between Nexus, corre and Santino and kozlov for the rest of eternity....Even if Vince hates tag team-wrestling, the audience loves it....he should realize that.

2. Don't have the same matches every single week like the have been doing latley, it's seem like every week we see Regal, Zack ryder, primo, the USO's, Alicia fox every single week....Change thing's up, have some more popular star's onto the show from time to time and rating's will go up.

3. Mention superstars on the Main-brands, promote matches for thursday night on Smackdown or RAW to boost interest.

 

[Rulk25]

If I was going to try to change anything(as I feel it does its job well) it would be to pull a WCW Saturday Night
For those not in the now back before there was Nitro and Thunder there was Sat Night each week you had a bunch of Name wrestler versus jobber, 2 or 3 Name wrestler versus name wrestler from the lower card and one match each week that featured either a main event talent, a big fued or a title match (usually the TV Title)
To me the main event each week would be the defense of either the US, IC or Tag Team Title and maybe an occasional Kane versus Zeke or Morrison vs Truth Match
That way people might at leats turn in for those as main events featuring Divas or Guys people dont realzie are even still working for teh company does not make a must see action

 

[xBANEx]

Leave it alone, for the most part, really.

Perhaps bring up some talent from FCW that are "close to moving up to the major leagues" just so they're put on WWE programming, get SOME recognition (not a WHOLE lot, but some people DO watch superstars along with raw/smackdown) yada yada.

 

[ramblinroy682]

Bring back the cruiserweight title. Make Evan Bourne, Tyson Kidd, Yoshi Tatsu, Chavo Guerrero, Primo, and Trent Baretta the stars of the show. Have it be the place to put over the smaller guys.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I think that Superstars is an excellent platform to showcase the talent who are not good enough or popular enough to be accomodated on Raw and Smackdown.

A few suggestions that I have are:

1. Have some Superstar exclusive feuds. Matches without there being an actual reason for the competitors to fight are just not interesting. Some of the lower midcard feuds could be resolved here. The likes of Zack Ryder will surely benefit from getting some time on the mic. So what I am proposing is that the show should have promos as well as matches and the workers should be given a story to work with.

2. Another thing that could be done is that Superstars could be used as a platform for lower midcarders to earn matches on the main shows. Each week you could have a mini tournament on Superstars and the winner of the tournament will get a shot at an opponent of his choice on either Raw or Smackdown if the said opponent has not been booked into a match already. It will also raise the prestige of the main shows if the wrestlers on Superstars have to earn their way into the main shows in this manner.

 

[ccotreau1]

The only change I would do to it is not with the programming itself, but putting in on a channel that more people can get. If more people had access to it, more people probably would watch it, even if it is the lower mid-card guys. I know I would watch it if there is not a show on at the same time I would rather watch.

 

[Zangash]

I think all they need to do are put more feuds in. For instance, Trent Barreta and Curt Hawkins have had a sort of mini-feud going on for the past several months, but they haven't cut any promos on it.

Shit, they could make Superstars THE tag team wrestling show and make it all tag teams... Re-create the division without "Wasting" TV time on the main shows.

 

[RatedRSuperstar]

The only reason the first WWE Superstars had main-eventers in it was to get people to watch the debut episode and get ratings. Superstars is really a show that showcases the lower-card talent. Althought I don't watch Superstars a whole lot, I remember when Trent Barreta and Curt Hawkins had their little series for a couple of weeks. Those matches were AWESOME! But anyway, lower-card talent stays on Superstars until the WWE thinks they're ready to start showing up on Raw or SmackDown, and give them a few minutes there. Then when they prove that they have it, start giving them more time on those shows.

 

[Green Bay Wisconsin]

The main thing I would do with Superstars is give them a Title to chase on that show. Give it some significance.

 

[aphazel1]

WWE Superstars needs its own title, much like WWE version of ECW. A "WWE Superstars Championship" could give the show and any push that wrestlers got on the show some significance, as well as, draw in a few new viewers. They need to give people, other than hard-core wrestling junkies, a reason to watch the show. A title and a few semi-big names (Christian, John Morrison, Evan Bourne, etc) that would exclusively work Superstars might be pretty cool.

 

[marklouis]

I would go a completely different direction with Superstars. I would use it to build the characters of the guys on the roster. I'd have maybe 2 matches on each show, 3 at the most. I'd use the rest of the hour to air long character promos and interviews, so the fans can actually learn about the wrestlers and maybe even care about them. Remember when Razor Ramon and Mr. Perfect did those promos that introduced their characters? Alberto Del Rio used this effectively last year. Then, when the guy debuts, we actually know something about them and care about them. This is what I would use Superstars for.

 

[VCUpkunk11]

I like the idea of bringing up FCW and other young guys.

Continue with the guys you have on Superstars normally.... Yoshi Tatsu, Chavo, Zack Ryder, and some of them who have some wrestling talent but not quite big enough to be on RAW or Smackdown yet.

Have some of them face the guys who are in the "minor leagues" so to speak, and see how some of these minor league guys do against the guys like Chavo, Zack Ryder, Trent Barreta, Primo and these other guys who dont appear on Raw or Smackdown much. After all its a good start for the younger guys who are trying to get to the big time on Raw or Smackdown. Plus it helps weed out whos ready for Raw or SD, and who needs more training. Another thing you could do is let the guys from NXT come to superstars and compete against the same guys. I agree with the occasional title defence of either US, IC, Tag Team or Divas title, but not too much.

 

[owen8472]

i like the fcw idea have them face guys lower to midcard guys on raw and smackdown since its taped during those times... you can have TE guys show up and NXT make it a whole show best on youth movement have them call out big stars even say its the training ground for young guys !! have nexus and the corre there recuitting guys to help take out the old guys . change the name to thursday night gladiators. who ever hold the title there gets a shot at every ppv to get a roster spot on raw or smackdown buy beating the ic or us champ.

 

[VCUpkunk11]

i like the fcw idea have them face guys lower to midcard guys on raw and smackdown since its taped during those times... you can have TE guys show up and NXT make it a whole show best on youth movement have them call out big stars even say its the training ground for young guys !! have nexus and the corre there recuitting guys to help take out the old guys . change the name to thursday night gladiators. who ever hold the title there gets a shot at every ppv to get a roster spot on raw or smackdown buy beating the ic or us champ.

I think the show would be enough w/ the current WWE superstars, NXT guys (or divas), and the fcw guys. While the TE guys could appear on there... dont make it until the end of the TE season because they're trying to earn a WWE contract, dont just put em in the spotlight on Superstars when the next week they could be gone for any number of reasons. Besides with Stone Cold hosting the show... they probabaly wont wanna go on Superstars right away.


Keep the nexus & corre off it at least in terms of trying to recruit people. Its one think if they're competeing as Tag Teams going for the title or even competeing against the young guys who r trying to advance, but we dont need the corre and nexus bringing their drama on to Superstars.

I dont think the name Thursday Night Gladiators would work ecspecially if its the younger guys who are trying to get up the ranks of the WWE.

WWE Superstars needs its own title, much like WWE version of ECW. A "WWE Superstars Championship" could give the show and any push that wrestlers got on the show some significance, as well as, draw in a few new viewers. They need to give people, other than hard-core wrestling junkies, a reason to watch the show. A title and a few semi-big names (Christian, John Morrison, Evan Bourne, etc) that would exclusively work Superstars might be pretty cool.

Only prob w/ the "Superstars Championship" idea is that it would basically be another Cruiserweight title which WWE got rid of. Plus if they brought that back, then whoever won it could go on the other shows because their are cruiserweights on raw n smackdown or w/e. So honestly the title idea is not going to work.

 

[owen8472]

I think the show would be enough w/ the current WWE superstars, NXT guys (or divas), and the fcw guys. While the TE guys could appear on there... dont make it until the end of the TE season because they're trying to earn a WWE contract, dont just put em in the spotlight on Superstars when the next week they could be gone for any number of reasons. Besides with Stone Cold hosting the show... they probabaly wont wanna go on Superstars right away.


Keep the nexus & corre off it at least in terms of trying to recruit people. Its one think if they're competeing as Tag Teams going for the title or even competeing against the young guys who r trying to advance, but we dont need the corre and nexus bringing their drama on to Superstars.

I dont think the name Thursday Night Gladiators would work ecspecially if its the younger guys who are trying to get up the ranks of the WWE.



Only prob w/ the "Superstars Championship" idea is that it would basically be another Cruiserweight title which WWE got rid of. Plus if they brought that back, then whoever won it could go on the other shows because their are cruiserweights on raw n smackdown or w/e. So honestly the title idea is not going to work.

1st of all calling it superstars is far from the truth most of the lower card guys on there are far from being superstars swagger is the best guy thats been on there in sometime.

the really need to change the name maybe bring back a old name like saturday night heat but it can be called thursday night heat. they can have big names build promos on it and have they young stars support it.

last people have to have a real reason to watch it since no big stars are on it.. maybe have a superstar guest host it each week or give them some titles to work with or superstar will be gone very soon

 

[reynolsg]

What I think Superstars needs is a focus. Obviously, as it is now it basically just throws guys in matches to evaluate and/or keep guys working on TV.

There is no storyline progression, there is no hook that makes me feel compelled to actually watch the show - what I do is read the results online and if there is a good match, I'll check it out.

I remember a couple of months ago, Curt Hawkins and Trent Barreta had a little couple-week program with a good match with plenty of time to blow it off, it just increased my interest levels in the show.

As JR frequently says on his blog, the best way to get people to watch and invest money in a product is to have strong characters that have an issue that needs to be resolved.

Also, plenty of Missing Link Darren Young, he could be a big future star in my opinion - if only he didn't resemble Fruity Pebble Boy so much!

 

[Yesiamaduck]

Do people not realise Superstars is just a compilation of matches that are on before Raw/Smackdown airs live? Hence why the ropes/announce team and audience changes... so it really doesn't cost the WWE much money at all to produce.

I really like Superstars, the is always a couple of 2 to 3 star matches in there although it has to be said it's turned into a bit of tag team experimentation show.... I sort of hope they stick with and push Primo and Ryder as they work together in classical vein heely fashion.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I don't think there is too much wrong with Superstars right now, but I have a few suggestions.

I remember when I used to catch WWF Metal or WWF Livewire years ago, you would occasionally see a developmental talent appearing, or someone on a tryout. I remember seeing AJ Styles once and perhaps CM Punk? Superstars would be a good place to give any FCW talent you are considering promoting a first experience of wrestling on TV, instead of throwing them to the wolves on either Raw or Smackdown. I think it would be a great experience and let the fans see the new talent early.

I would like to see Superstars have a couple of promo spots so the lesser-known superstars get an opportunity at mic time. You do not improve without practice so it is vital that these wrestlers get accustomed to cutting a promo infront of a crowd so that if/when they start appearing on RAW or SmackDown they actually have some confidence and mic skills and dont struggle. Plus, this would allow for some Superstars-exclusive feuds which will actually make the show mean something.

Occasionally, put a bigger name star on the show. If someone like Kane, Morrison or Sheamus has not appeared on the big shows that week, then let them main event Superstars against one of the up-and coming talents. Actually promote this on Raw or SD, have the announcers say during the show "don't forget to watch Superstars this week, where Sheamus will be in action!". Being in the ring with a major star will only benefit the lower-card talent and get them more experience and exposure.

The 1-hour show length is fine, noone wants to see a longer SUperstars every week, but perhaps a couple of times a year make the show 2 hours to "blow-off" the feuds that have been running on the show- kinda like a PPV for Superstars. I do not see how this would not work.

The concept of the show is also fine, it gives the lower-card talent some TV time and does the job well.