WWE Network Idea: Roasts

[@smarkmouth]

With all the reality/psuedo-prank/awful etc ideas that have been flopped onto the WWE Network, I hope this idea is bouncing around somewhere at WWE HQ.

I'm a fan of comedy roasting, and with WWE continuing to pretend it's not a wrestling company (at least in mainstream limelight), this could be a happy marriage. Using the Network, I think a roast would be a fun and potentially entertaining context for a mishmash of wrestling talent and celebrity appearance. A context that doesn't waste our time on flagship RAW programming.

Personally, I think a roast of Vince McMahon would be something else to watch. Foley and Ziggler both fancy themselves comedians. Triple H has brilliant comedic timing with the right material. Paul Heyman could read a phone book and make it entertaining, so I'd love to see him rip Vince a new one. Let 'the boys' indulge a little in inside terms for the smarks to eat up. Beyond the roster, throw in any celebrity that WWE can get their hands on, to stroke their own ego if for nothing else. Let them poke fun at WWE in mainstream friendly terms and we might just end up with some truly remarkable television.

And if the Roast of Vince was a moderate success, imagine the coup for the Network if they landed The Roast of The Rock?

 

[boozinjedi]

I think it would be great!!
Especially around WrestleMania time,
When all the incoming Hall Of Fame inductees are around...
Tell some old stories,pick on the new guys,throw in a few of the regular comedy central roasters,
Even bring in "Roast Master General" himself Jeff Ross as the emcee...
Could be hilarious!!

 

[Brian440]

While this may come off idiotic, Even though I do have the WWE Network, I admit I don't really watch it. So, I don't really know the kind of "original content" they have but regarding a roast, I'm all for the idea but they must be able to get away with at least a TV14 rating. How could a PG style roast be entertaining? What could they do with that? Have Hornswoggle stand on a stool and call Cena a poopy head?

 

[LynchCats]

I absolutely LOVE this idea, as long as we keep Jeff Ross away from it. Jim Ross, maybe, but not Jeff Ross. His schtick is annoying as fuck. Make it a fun series. Swerved sucks balls. I don't watch Superstar Ink or that Corey Graves show, or Unfiltered. But a roast I would absolutely watch. As long as it's not overdone, like maybe once every few months.

 

[CrunKSinatrA]

The Rock NEEDS to get roasted!!!!!

Only wrestling fans know how hilarious the Rock LIVE is. And his rebuttal at the end of the roast will be the stuff of legends.

The Rock is the best $h!t talker ever. John Cena never stood a chance after the fruity pebbles putdown. And that was at the beginning of the feud! 3 years the feud lasted and John Cena could never dig his way out.

It can't be on the WWE Network though. The mainstream will avoid it like the plague. Also, Vince will be too controlling and prevent it from being free on youtube. Plus, we're talking about PG era WWE and a roast isn't a roast, if it's PG.

It HAS TO BE on Comedy Central. WWE won't be able to get the A-listers needed to set it off. The James Franco Roast was awesome b/c Jonah Hill and Seth Rogan being there made it awesome.

The Rock is well liked in Hollywood and some A Listers might make an appearance. But I think Comedy Central will be better at spreading the love, or a proper roast's equivalent.

Rhonda Rousey seems like the only A-Lister that the WWE can bring in. Vin Diesel owes Rock a favor for bringing the Fast & Furious from the dead/straight to DVD. While both are cool and seem funny in real life, I don't think they'll be good at being professionally funny.

The roasts that don't rely on comedians are rarely funny. Flava Flav, Justin Bieber, and Pamela Anderson all had lame roasts because they had musicians, athletes, and other non-comedians on stage.

But William Shatner had a great roast with sci fi actors. That roast got George Takei over and out of the comic cons to make ends meet.

A WWE-only roast would probably only have a few actually funny roasters.

Stone Cold and Paul Heyman are sure hits.

Mick Foley is funny when he's crazy, but he's too laid back now. I think he lost his inner Cactus Jack.

HHH and Stephanie McMahon will go on too long and are too smug to be really funny. They worked themselves into a shoot or they're truly unlikable people.

Chris Jericho, Edge, and Christian would be hit or miss. They might be the funniest ones or cure insomnia with a little maple syrup.

All the other wrestlers would be too corny or aren't roast worthy. Except for...

CM Punk would be only other wrestler that could be considered for a roast. But he's so persona non grata with WWE related events, that he isn't even likely in hypothetical dream roast.

Did anyone see the roast from the Legends House on the WWE Network? It was boring. The only funny part was when Roddy Piper thanked everyone for not airing each others' dirty laundry and then they all hugged.

It seemed like they were all on the verge of crying/anxiety attacks. Like every single one of them were truly worried and sick to there stomachs at the thought of what might have been said. But they all dodged a bullet and hugged in a moment of relief/reflection.

It's just funny b/c you wonder how awesome it would've been if they got drunk and cut shoot promos on each other.

 

[enviousdominous]

I honestly think the WWE could do this better than Comedy Central, in that I prefer roasts that aren't 99% focused on Lisa Lampenelli. Lisa does her god-awful set consisting of vulgar bullshit, and every other joke from everyone else is bounced off of her. I like vulgar comedy when it's intelligent and nuanced, Comedy Central ran the concept of roasts into the ground by making them about idiots and turning them into flaming shit-storms of human misery. The basic formula of a Comedy Central Roast: Failed comedians mocking the public image of b-list celebrities.

If the WWE did this, I hope that they would focus more on class. I remember watching the roasts of the members of The Rat Pack and Lucille Ball, successful comedians were making cracks at them that didn't seethe with sadistic hatred.

I realize that this idea was played with a few times by the WWE with disastrous results, but I don't think that the WWE put their full faith into those examples. If they hired writers and had a team completely focused on making this work, they would be sitting on a gold mine.

Roasting The Rock would put them well beyond ever having to offer another stupid free month of their network. These roasts could be a type of mild hazing ceremony for Hall of Fame inductees after their ceremony, if anything it'll generate buzz and get the publicity machine of human curiosity on social media cranking out free advertising.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I remember watching the roasts of the members of The Rat Pack and Lucille Ball, successful comedians were making cracks at them that didn't seethe with sadistic hatred.

True, yet I would think a lot of the cracks were rough enough in nature, but before the era of political correctness, people could accept them with good humor......while today, the same comments would have folks shrieking with outrage. I would think the folks who write the jokes have to be so careful about offending anyone that what winds up on the air makes it hardly worth staging the roast in the first place.

Of course, any pro wrestling roast held today.....real or kayfabe....would result in a Battle Royale amongst the roasters & roastee. Maybe a good zinger to Hogan about racism.....or a question as to his ex-wife's sex life.....would set off a shoot fight at the dais.

And for only $9.99 per month!

 

[whoopin' ass]

I don't think Vince could be hands-off enough to make it successful. As well, they couldn't get the guys in who they would need to make it a success - Ventura, Piper(obviously), etc. I think Vince would get his writers to work on it and it wold bomb because they would bounce between too weak to too mean.

Rock will get one at some point for his acting. I mean, the guy has made millions at the box office despite never having a real successful movie - there is tons to roast him about there. They could probably do the whole roast would the Tooth Fairy movie!

 

[agentmichaelscarn]

Since kayfabe is basically dead now anyway I wouldn't mind a show that is dedicated to behind the scenes. Show true backstage access like production meetings, creative decisions, agents going through matches with people etc etc.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

God...WWE can't do a roast in the PG Style era they are in...it would suck even worse than the stale, racist dripping crap comedy central spews out every year with roasts featuring comic greats like....Martha Stewart....for Christ Sakes...they actually thought having Martha Stewart was a good fucking idea. Are you kidding me ? WWE Original Network shows suck anyway. Cripes...give me more classic wrestling shows and ditch these god awful Swerved , Too Hot For T.V and Cheap Pops garbage. Does anyone even like that shit ?

 

[enviousdominous]

Of course, any pro wrestling roast held today.....real or kayfabe....would result in a Battle Royale amongst the roasters & roastee. Maybe a good zinger to Hogan about racism.....or a question as to his ex-wife's sex life.....would set off a shoot fight at the dais.

And for only $9.99 per month!

Honestly, I think pro-wrestlers know each other well enough to know what subjects are completely off limits. It might lack in quality and star power if they refuse admittance to anyone who's not part of the business, but I think it would be even more endearing to fans like us if we fans were being pitched jokes that only we would be able to catch.

I remember watching a roast of The Iron Sheik where they let a random comic take the podium, and he told an Owen Hart joke. Scott Hall (while drunk) rushed the guy and disrupted the ceremony, and while Scott doing that was unprofessional, I'm sure that you can understand where his rage was coming from.

I don't think that they would push any buttons that relate to current legal matters or situations jeopardizing the public image of the WWE, which probably sounds like it would dilute the production for those who prefer scathing wit. I think that if those involved were allowed to drop kayfabe for that night, it would be a respectful but abrasive night of fun for fans and wrestlers alike. I trust that they would know what lines they should never cross.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

God...WWE can't do a roast in the PG Style era they are in...it would suck even worse than the stale, racist dripping crap comedy central spews out every year with roasts featuring comic greats like....Martha Stewart....for Christ Sakes...they actually thought having Martha Stewart was a good fucking idea. Are you kidding me ? WWE Original Network shows suck anyway. Cripes...give me more classic wrestling shows and ditch these god awful Swerved , Too Hot For T.V and Cheap Pops garbage. Does anyone even like that shit ?

Would love it. Bitching about the "PG era ruining jokes", you're just dumb. If you need vulgarity or sexuality for humor, you are dumb. While I do love comedians like Anthony Jeselnik, Amy Schumer, and Louis CK, above all else, their humor is clever and smart. That transcends language.

How long ago did they have Martha Stewart on the show? How can WWE Network do "original" network shows of....classic shows? Maybe you don't know what original means?

I don't watch Swerved, Too Hot for TV (kinda surprising you don't like that since you hate PG so much), but I watch the hell out of old school stuff and classic shows.

Don't really understand your complaint at all.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I honestly think the WWE could do this better than Comedy Central, in that I prefer roasts that aren't 99% focused on Lisa Lampenelli. Lisa does her god-awful set consisting of vulgar bullshit, and every other joke from everyone else is bounced off of her. I like vulgar comedy when it's intelligent and nuanced, Comedy Central ran the concept of roasts into the ground by making them about idiots and turning them into flaming shit-storms of human misery. The basic formula of a Comedy Central Roast: Failed comedians mocking the public image of b-list celebrities.

I'm not going to get on you about what you do and don't find funny, it's all subjective. But the fact is that your assessment of the roasts is 100% incorrect. First of all, Lisa Lampanelli hasn't been on a Comedy Central Roast in years. I think her last one was the Trump Roast. Second, failed comedians? Every comic that has been on a roast in recent years are either firmly established comics or up and comers getting their first break. And Jeff Ross. Comics like Amy Schumer, Anthony Jeselnik, Hannibal Buress, Whitney Cummings(ugh,) and Natasha Leggero have all gotten their first big breaks on roasts and have all went on to be majorly successful in comedy. The rest of the dais is usually filled with the roastee's famous friends who, for any dummies who are unaware, don't actually write their material.

That said, I do think the WWE could put on a good roast if they got the right comics to come in alongside the WWE guys. There are several comics that are also big wrestling fans who could write great jokes and/or perform like Big Jay Oakerson, Dan Soder, Daniel Tosh, etc. But knowing WWE the way we do, they'd end up having their own shit writers do it.