WWE creativity gone to pot?

[LMaruko]

To some, I am but a fledgling that entered into the world of the WWE back in the Attitude era and I developed my knowledge around that day and age and understood the past of wrestling through other media, so in a sense, my post may be a bit inaccurate or misleading to some. In advance, I apologize. But I have been pondering quite a bit lately about the time I was introduced into the WWE and how I have developed and how the WWE has developed.

Back in the day when Austin was the baddest sonnamab*tch ever to drive a beer truck into a WWE arena, and when Dwayne Johnson (being politically correct people, don't mind me) made people take a walk down Know Your Role lane, even before fans didn't chant "You Suck" in Kurt Angle's theme music, it was the Attitude era. Many of you know the time when the storylines were great, and Vince had kept you on the edge of your seat wondering, "OMG! What's gonna happen next?!" Vehicles were destroyed left and right. Rivalries usually began with impossible-to-live-through feats like being hit by cars. And wrestlers being set ablaze, amongst other things.

What happened to all that? Where did the awesome creative team go to? I'm not necessarily saying that the WWE isn't horrible now, but it seems like the creative team has taken a substantial dive. In my humble opinion, there hasn't been anything outrageous to the point where I would go "HOLY SH*T!!"

Well, I take that back. The cancelled storyline where Vince got himself blown up was something I was glad to have happen because that had "Attitude" written all over it. And of course, that could have went somewhere. It was devestating, and people <i>believed</i> that happened. If Chris Benoit (bless his soul, R.I.P. Rabid Wolverine) had not gone and did the unspeakable, that limo explosion would have done the trick and got a lot of people back to watching. But then they would have to run with it accordingly.

But in any case, I think that the storylines should be looked over again, and take some new talent, and bring it up. Take some of the odd gimmicks like Jesse and Festus, or even develop Chuck Palumbo as a high carder. I don't think Palumbo has ever had a title shot, so maybe put him on ECW and have him go one-on-one against Kane. . Maybe even develop Gregory Helms into an awesome heel and have him take a run on Smackdown. The Hurricane deal, was pretty awful. Mr. Kennedy has a great push, and I think that he'd make an awesome WWE champion, and I did happen to come across an article here on WZ.com regarding a possible Mr. Kennedy storyline/push, and it makes quite a bit of sense. Even better, have Mr. Kennedy mad with power and become a face. Kennedy/Orton, Kennedy/HHH, Kennedy/JBL, hell, even Kennedy/Cena. We haven't had a face/face match since Hogan/Rock. But that was a icon/legends match, but even then, Kennedy is very versatile.

In short, has the WWE creativity gone to pot? I think it has made quite a bit of a steep downhill spiral, but then again, there may be something new.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

What happened to it?

The Brand Extension.

Right now, they have 5 hours of programming a week as opposed to 2. They have many more people that they need to write storylines for.

The reason the older WWE programming was more "solid" in terms of storylines was because they had all their eggs in one basket. Their best writers could figure out 4 storylines and they'd be covered for the next month or so. Now, they need 2 or 3 per show, with 1 or 2 side storylines as well. You boost yourself up from 4 to 10 or so, and you see where it can stray.

This is also the reason why the midcard and tag team divisions aren't as structured as before. Right now, if you were to have a merged singular roster, many guys would be demoted. You'd have your guys at the very top (HHH, HBK, Undertaker, Edge, Orton, Cena, etc), your midcard (Jericho, Hardy, Kennedy, Punk, Kane, MVP), and a SHITLOAD of tag teams and releases. The WWF used to exist of basically 5 things at a time..."WWF title feud", "Intercontinental title feud", "tag team title feud", "Undertaker's feud", and "other".

Ending the brand extension is a good idea for better programming, but it would have a lot of other problems (which can all be discussed in that proper thread, "Is it time to end the brand extension").

That being said, I think the WWE is finally starting to try a little harder. Even though the two main events (HHH/Orton/Cena/JBL and Undertaker/Edge) are very stale right now, they're trying to boost Kennedy and Burchill, they just introduced a feud for a newcomer (TD2), etc. I don't think pushing Palumbo is your answer as he doesn't get any reaction from the crowd. They need to push the people that get responses, downplay the ones that don't (like they've been doing with Cena. If you don't shove him down the throats of the audience, they tend to cheer him more). Kennedy's already a face, but pushing him too fast to the WWE title will backfire.

Wrestling, like anything, has its ups and downs. We had a serious down period in 2007 with all the suspensions, deaths, injuries, and the much-despised "unbeatable Cena" period, but they seem to be more willing to try things out nowadays, possibly because of the lower ratings and the suspension of Michael Hayes. Right now, outside of a few drawn out feuds, I'm enjoying the new stuff they're pulling out of their hats. Who knows, we may be on the brink of something that we'll look back on with admiration, like "Austin 3:16" or Hogan's infamous heel turn. Can't tell yet, so just take the ride.

 

[Trumike]

I think that NOFATE007 is right to a point. I mean there are more hours of television to write stories for. But each show has their own writers.So, that shouldn't be quite as hard. I mean I know I can't do it. No training. But what if they came up with one storyline for all the shows to see how it works for them all. What if they each had their champion. Right now its HHH,Kane, Edge or Undertaker. But what if all the talent was able to appear on any show at any time they wanted. Wouldn't that bring the element surprise back to tv. I mean Mr. Kennedy can show up to Smackdown to challange MVP like Dibiase Jr did last night on Raw. Unexpected. Then they could cut the draft every year and keep people wondering. I would watch that just to see what would happen. I think maybe all the writers should get together and come up with ideas for the WWE not just each brand.

 

[Dysturbed]

The main thing that I pinpoint is inevitability. The most successful of primetime programs eventually decline in ratings and/or quality or go off of television before they get a chance to do so but WWE keeps on going. There is nothing comparable to it as far as creating as much new programming per year for a scripted primetime program, at least in America. Soap operas are the only examples of scripted programming here that create more new shows per year but I'm referring to primetime. Also it's my understanding that daytime soaps also become repetitive and uncreative while recycling storylines.

So when a show has 52 shows per year with no repeats for this many years in a row, it's inevitable for creativity to lack imo. The fact that there are actually 156 new shows per year, not including ppvs adds to that inevitability. I am not suggesting that it's impossible for something new to happen but am suggesting that it's apparently very difficult for enough new things to happen to really make a longstanding impact.

Look at what happens when we do get new concepts like the Hell In a Cell years ago. People are shocked and enjoy new concepts and then the next time that they happen they (speaking for people in general) naturally expect them to be even better cause anything less is at potentially at least a little disappointing. At some point it became difficult to keep making each HIAC better so while it&#8217;s still cool and entertaining it&#8217;s not as fresh. That can apply with anything that WWE does.. Back in the day everything seemed fresh but after years of WWE continuing to exist that became difficult.

 

[LMaruko]

Inevitability is quite a big factor in a lot of scenarios, but what I myself have noticed is the lack of "noticeable" or "standout" elements. There are no more storylines where wrestlers are going above and beyond to put others out of their misery. The Rock (I believe) was thrown into an ambulance and driven away by the nWo, Austin had tossed Angle's gold medals into a river, Mankind was thrown from the top of a steel cage into a table. There aren't any more "big money" stunts, and I'm guessing that's possibly due to the fact that Vince is hoarding his funds.

What do wrestlers do to put others out? Kick them in the head. Put them on the shelves with a "legitamate" injury. Torn quads (mind you HHH had real torn quads, but it was an example), pectoral muscles, sprained knees, "Wellness Policy", whatever you name it, they are weak excuses. It makes wrestlers more human, and the Attitude era made it seem that the wrestlers were "characters" portrayed on soaps. Wacky and innovative storylines made it more interesting to watch WWE. Now... it's more of "I won my title." "I want my title back, but illgottenly." It all revolves around title defenses now, and that got stale.

And ECW itself isn't up to the name anymore. Make the idea where the most crazy superstars go there, and start up ruckus and mayhem. Make ECW non-sanctioned to where ANYTHING could happen. Make ECW the new Attitude.

 

[SpiralHands]

We all know the attitude era was the greatest period of wrestling ever but the thing is they did just to beat the competition which they did, they beat WCW, once WCW wasnt there anymore theres no need for them to do it so they dont, its wasting money otherwise. Then it went from WWF to WWE and with a change of name there had to be a chage of direction to carry them into the 21st centruy more and thats where we are now. I dont think the creativity will ever be the same again because theres no need for it, and mostly because everything has already been done. But watching last nights Raw and the whole 1 million dollar give away just seems to me a plee for more viewers. Why dont WWE spend that money on something useful? But non the less the attitude era is buried and will never be ressurected! And theres only so much you can do with creativity andf wrestling im afraid!

 

[The Moonsault]

The wrestling business goes in a cycle. There are always going to be period of times when it just seems wrestling television lacks creativity. And I think that the real reason behind it is because there is literally no break in the wrestling industry, as Klown pointed out. There never is a time when the writers and the wrestlers can recharge their batteries, and take a step back away from the action. If they would, perhaps it'll inspire them a little bit more, as they observe every day life. Another reason why WWE programming has been a bit dry is because there really isn't much competition. Say what you will about TNA, but I still really don't consider them much of a competition. As wrestling fans, I feel that we were spoiled 10 years ago. We had WWF, WCW, and some of us also had ECW programming to watch. Not to mention Smokey Mountain, USWA, and various of other "national" independent promotions.

Just give it time, in the next five years something will lure you back in as a proud fan. It's just the wrestling cycle.

 

[Dysturbed]

There never is a time when the writers and the wrestlers can recharge their batteries, and take a step back away from the action. If they would, perhaps it'll inspire them a little bit more, as they observe every day life.
.

The problem is that wrestling has to keep on going cause if it's off for even a few weeks it could be a turnoff for people. I know that "true fans" will watch anyway but it still could be a concern if people get too annoyed. As it is there are a lot of fans who get annoyed if their vision for how certain things should be don't happen so if there was time off it would give fans even more time to build up expectations, only to be annoyed with certain things. I do think that it would be a good idea for certain wrestlers to take a few months off from time to time for mental and physical purposes, but the show as a whole needs to keep going imo. I also think that it would be a good idea for writers to do that but with others that know what they're doing to step in and fill in during the other writers time off. That way your idea can happen but production will not stop and bring about a possibly negative outcome.

 

[JimmyTheSaint]

In my opinion what the WWE needs is an air of unpredictability ?

It would be nice if we watched raw and ther was a Title change that was unexpected.We find out shortly after a PPV what the matchup for the next PPV is going to be .So if we know Randy Orton is challenging HHH for the title 1 week after Wrestlemania then we know that the 3 other weeks before PPV is cast in stone ,HHH will not lose the belt ,and if he does by chance he will get it back before the PPV because posters are printed and sattelite tv guides already advertise Orton vs HHH for the title.Wouldnt it be great if Raw opened with "last night at a house show in the middle of nowhere HHH lost the belt to Jeff Hardy?" it would create a new buzz and pump some much needed energy into the company .