Would these three things make WWE better?

[Radical]

Saw an interview by Paul Heyman today and it reminded me how clever Heyman really is about the pro wrestling business and how complicated things are often made in WWE because they don't follow three simple guidelines often enough.

Heyman said it best:

1.) Who are these guys?

2.) Why are they fighting?

3.) Why should I care?


Probably half of the complaints fans have with WWE could be solved by following these simple guidelines.

Fans have issues that certain Superstars aren't built up well or that certain title belts are losing prestige or that there isn't enough development of the mid-card talent, etc. etc. ...

Well, I think by following these three guidelines the programs would be even more compelling.

That's the problem with almost any match on WWE except for the main events ... the fans don't really know who are these guys, why are they fighting and why should they care.

Take the Intercontinental Title match ... now on the WM PRE-SHOW as an example.

Wade Barrett (c) vs The Miz ... and ask the 3 questions ...

1.) Who are these guys?

Ok, regular fans know The Miz who has been around a while and Barrett is been around long enough. This isn't like if Barrett was facing Yoshi Tatsu ... if that was the case they would need to do at least a couple promos/video packages trying to show the fans the history of Tatsu (TRY and find highlights) to show fans who he is.

For the current feud... Miz and Barrett fans probably know the guys are from different countries and are both former IC Champs so I'll give them that. But the next few questions is where it falls apart ...

2.) Why are they fighting?

Why? Just for somethin' to do, I guess. Maybe they are fighting because Barrett is IC Champ now and Miz used to be IC Champ and he wants to be IC Champ again ... but who doesn't? Is he the ONLY one on the roster who wants to be IC Champ? No. Certainly Kofi Kingston or Christian or even Zack Ryder would like to be IC Champ so the problem with this feud is we don't really know why MIZ is the one who gets to have the title match with Barrett?

3.) Why should I care?

Indeed. Good question. I don't even recall Miz having won a #1 Contendership match to get this opportunity. AT LEAST if he won a damn Battle Royal (laziest way to build the storyline) it would show HE is hungrier than X amount of other guys to win the title.

Also, there is no further stakes involved. I mean, so what if Barrett wins? He stays champ, but what will that mean? Couldn't he at least be continually saying that he will stop at nothing to be the longest reigning IC champ in history? Sure, that CAN be the stakes but does anyone know it?

And for The Miz, what are the stakes? If he loses, big whoop, he can just try again later. How about ... if Miz loses then he doesn't get another IC title match as long as Barrett is champion? That way Miz could continue the feud by trying to coach/help other Superstars to take out Barrett and win the title just so he can finally get a shot.


Paul Heyman said it. It's simple. But people make it too complicated.

What do you think?

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

Way too much thought put into a throwaway WM match. Every WM has a few of them.

 

[oneofakind318]

Heyman is right. I heard Stevie Richards say the same thing in an interview recently too. Booking professional wrestling really isn't that difficult when it comes down to it. But the problem with WWE is - and they say this all the time - they aren't in the wrestling business. It's frustrating, and I think they'd actually stand a better chance at drawing in the casual fan if they focused more on being pro wrestling. But they'd rather continue struggling to be something they aren't rather than embrace what they should be. Maybe someday they'll have to change. Maybe not. All I know for sure it has or nothing to do with PG. They can present a good PG product if they're focused.

 

[Pedigree1]

I like this topic. Hopefully i make sense and hopefully the MODs dont ding me. I will take the Barrett Miz match because well thats a good example.

1. Easiest to answer here. Barrett is a future world champ in the making and a future WM headliner soon enough. He has all the tools size strength and believe ability to make it all happen. The miz is a former WWE champion holding the title some 160 days and quite possibly the weakest WWE champion i can remember. His defenses included who exactly Jerry Lawler? Fans who have been watching the product for at least 4 years now can easily answer who these guys are.

2. Why are they fighting is beyond me. Miz former IC champ and Barrett current IC champ. There was no feud to this match no buildup to my memory to me you cant treat the IC title as a throwaway match on a pre-show WM show. Its disrespectful to the prestige of the IC title IMO and the past champions who have held the belt. This particular match makes no sense miz didnt win a no1 contender match or a cheap battle royal win. There just fighting to fight i guess

3. Why should i care? First of all Barrett wont be the longest running IC champ in history he doesnt need to be. The guy is gonna be world champ IMO in the year 2014 so he doesnt need the IC title that long. If Wade wins,then he keeps the title big deal. If miz loses this match then to me it doesn't hurt him at all. It would have made more sense if Miz challenged Cesaro for the US title wanting to get revenge for Cesaro hurting him some weeks back. That feud is still fresh in peoples mind

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

Part of the problem is that many of these guys are indistinguishable from each other in their personalities and characters.

Barrett is as cocky as the Miz who is as cocky as Ziggler who is as cocky as Cesaro who is...yada yada yada.

Look at others on the roster though: Bryan has crafted himself an original character (and if you think that was Creative's doing, you're crazy).

Jericho works hard to find an original slant on his character each time, but even he sometimes falls back into generic babyface/generic heel territory. But he know when to bring on personality and start creating something bigger.

Punk finally found his groove and look where it's gone with him.

Dean Ambrose has a different kind of cocky...it's almost kind of a crazy look to him, and it's working (for now). Gotta see where he goes with it. However, Reigns and Rollins? Generic City.

Ryback filled a need for a big dominant monster, but that will last only so long.

Sheamus has fallen in my eyes since he became a face. "Hey Buddy" isn't a character trait. It's not even a tagline.

I could go on and on. If these guys could start developing some character traits, all of that stuff mentioned in the first post would fall into place.

 

[Wald]

A lot of this could be settled if the WWE actually tried to work itself like the episodic, weekly TV show that it always says it is.

They should look at their product in seasons, each beginning the night after Wrestlemania, and decide beforehand who they are going to feature prominently this season, what story they want to tell and where they want the story arc to end at Wrestlemania.

Lets say 25 wrestlers will feature on the Wrestlemania 30. Those 25 should be set in stone by today and there should be a story arc for each one to get to Wrestlemania next year that will play out throughout the season. Everyone else on the roster is simply foil to get them there, with 5 or so being protected enough in storylines so they can slot in as replacements should injuries etc. happen.

That would answer the three questions Heyman posed easily. WWE would also have the advantage over other shows in that they can change things up if storylines really aren't hitting home. But that should be the exception, and should only happen if the storyline is completely bombing, not the rule that it currently is.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

1.) Who are these guys?

Ok, regular fans know The Miz who has been around a while and Barrett is been around long enough. This isn't like if Barrett was facing Yoshi Tatsu ... if that was the case they would need to do at least a couple promos/video packages trying to show the fans the history of Tatsu (TRY and find highlights) to show fans who he is.

For the current feud... Miz and Barrett fans probably know the guys are from different countries and are both former IC Champs so I'll give them that.

2.) Why are they fighting?
You probably skipped some Monday Night Raw's... It all started with Barrett being so proud of his movie Deadman Down, that he crashed into an interview that Chris Jericho had for Marine's star The Miz. They had a three way match, after Jericho and Miz tied in a singles match for the 1# contender spot. In that three way match, Miz had the title won cleanly, if not by Barrett stole it with a roll-up (usually means a lucky win).

So Miz didn't like that, and started to explain his view on Main Event that Barrett stole it and didn't really defeat it. Barrett on the other hand humiliated Miz by throwing at his face that he is still the IC Champion.

They had a singles match, non-title of course, where Miz defeated Barrett cleanly, therefore winning another shot at the championship at WrestleMania and trying to once and for all take the championship gold to his waist and prove that arrogance isn't good.

3.) Why should I care?
Why should I care for wrestling anyway? I like the match, it's unpredictable. They are in the same card status, mid to uppercards. Miz is undefeated at WrestleMania, I want to know if they'll let him stay that way. If not, I want to know if Wade Barrett can hold his grounds on his first singles match at WrestleMania.

Did I pass the test?

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

2.) Why are they fighting?
You probably skipped some Monday Night Raw's... It all started with Barrett being so proud of his movie Deadman Down, that he crashed into an interview that Chris Jericho had for Marine's star The Miz. They had a three way match, after Jericho and Miz tied in a singles match for the 1# contender spot. In that three way match, Miz had the title won cleanly, if not by Barrett stole it with a roll-up (usually means a lucky win).

So Miz didn't like that, and started to explain his view on Main Event that Barrett stole it and didn't really defeat it. Barrett on the other hand humiliated Miz by throwing at his face that he is still the IC Champion.

They had a singles match, non-title of course, where Miz defeated Barrett cleanly, therefore winning another shot at the championship at WrestleMania and trying to once and for all take the championship gold to his waist and prove that arrogance isn't good.

Your retelling of all that actually sounds better than what they actually showed on TV.

I think this kind of underscores how WWE Films has failed in regards to raising the profile of wrestlers. They've tried to hype Kane, Orton, Kennedy, Miz, and Barrett through these movie vehicles, and it's just never clicked. No one cares. It doesn't make the onscreen RAW product better, if anything, it takes away from it. Barrett in Dead Man Down Vs. The Miz (Star of Marine 3) over the who is the bigger star does not a feud make.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

Your retelling of all that actually sounds better than what they actually showed on TV.

I think this kind of underscores how WWE Films has failed in regards to raising the profile of wrestlers. They've tried to hype Kane, Orton, Kennedy, Miz, and Barrett through these movie vehicles, and it's just never clicked. No one cares. It doesn't make the onscreen RAW product better, if anything, it takes away from it. Barrett in Dead Man Down Vs. The Miz (Star of Marine 3) over the who is the bigger star does not a feud make.

They actually showed what I told there, it's the background of the match and you don't need to remember specific words or things like that, the question was: Why are they fighting? I just gave the answer and it's a correct answer, that's what they are trying to sell.

No one cares? I quite frankly find it a good storyline, very PG of course, but at the same time puts the spotlight on them. WWE can't have everything for the die-hard fans, they are trying to approach all kinds of audience, since little kids, to teens, young adults, elder people both female and male. So they can't have everything for you or me. I for once can't really care about the match between The Undertaker vs. CM Punk, and some people really do and believe that it could be the main event and stuff like that. Some people really care for the Jack Swagger vs. Alberto Del Rio, because it's very political it's being sold to adults in some way, it's a very controversial subject they are going to fight about, on the other hand, kids don't give a crap about that, it was not meant for them.

Fandango vs. Chris Jericho is being sold to a female audience, it's a very arrogant guy versus a talented and versatile man that people know that participated in Dancing With The Stars. Some hardcore fans are also enjoying it, but it's not really meant for them. Think outside the box, try to figure out what they are selling and for who, and you'll be able to be a lot more pleased with the product as a whole, believe me.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

No shit Paul Heyman. It's a simple formula, it applies to most any story. The challenge isn't answering Heyman's questions, it's all execution. The Miz/Barrett feud answers all the questions, it has just failed in execution to the OP and many others including me. Either the OP doesn't watch enough WWE programming or doesn't pay enough attention when Miz and Barrett do their thing. I don't watch Main Event very often and I tend to tune out or fast forward when they have been on-screen.

Fortunately for WWE not only can I and others answer the question for UT/Punk, Rock/Cena, and HHH/Lesnar but I am interested in how things get answered.

 

[#tamale]

Exactly what GSB said. WWE follows those guidelines with every feud they have. They just lack execution in some. In others; the issue is that the characters aren't interesting enough and therefore do not captivate the audience.

And Paul Heyman saying wrestling is simple...yeah...that guy would overbook a freaking worthless midcard match on a PPV.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

Fandango vs. Chris Jericho is being sold to a female audience, it's a very arrogant guy versus a talented and versatile man that people know that participated in Dancing With The Stars. Some hardcore fans are also enjoying it, but it's not really meant for them. Think outside the box, try to figure out what they are selling and for who, and you'll be able to be a lot more pleased with the product as a whole, believe me.

I'll go back to my statement about characters and say that Fandango Vs. Jericho is a lot more interesting to me than Miz Vs. Barrett mainly because Fandango has a character that goes beyond "I am cocky and arrogant".

 

[TempestH]

Why are The Miz & Wade Barrett fighting?

They've both already been established with previous main event storylines, and are now too high up the pecking order to NOT be doing anything.