- Vince McMahon retires – I realize we are talking about the patriarch of the WWE but it’s become obvious to me that it is time for him to hang it up. Vince has long been fond of the muscle-bound big man, which ironically looks a lot like Hulk Hogan looked for him back in the 80-90’s. He struggles to let guys like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels get over because they weren’t big enough. And they are two of the best wrestlers ever, in my opinion. Even recently he had to cave in to fan support for Daniel Bryan even though Vince wanted Batista vs. Orton to headline WrestleMania XXX. You would have thought he’d learned his lesson, but the WWE is continuing to push Roman Reigns into the spotlight so he can take on Brock Lesnar in the main event at WrestleMania XXXI. The fans protested and they were appeased for a while when Bryan faced Reigns at FastLane for the chance to meet Lesnar at WM, but Vince won out (he does, after all, own the company) and Reigns v Lesnar is on in Levi’s Stadium. The problem here is the wave of wrestling talent working their way to the top is the athletic type. Bryan, Rollins, Ziggler, all of NXT for crying out loud (and I’ll get to them later). You’ve got to understand and have the pulse of the landscape and the audience and I believe Vince has lost it on both accounts. Move into retirement Vince and let HHH take over.
- Speaking of big, burly dudes – put the Heavyweight Title on someone who appears on TV more than once a month. I can understand to a point why Lesnar was given the belt, but at this point, it’s gone too far. The champion is the face of the company. Promoting the company is of the utmost importance to the WWE as they rely on those promotions to lead to ticket sales, WWE Network subscriptions and viewers of their shows. If the “face of the company” isn’t on television or at live shows every week it diminishes the title…and the company. Don’t get me wrong, Brock is a beast and I love every moment of every Paul Heyman promo. But the main guy has to be the main guy. It’s difficult to tell stories about the chase for the belt without the guy holding the belt even being there. WrestleMania has to produce a change in the title picture – whether it’s Reigns winning the belt or Rollins cashing in – it needs to happen.
- While we’re on the topic of belts…jettison the US Title and create a Television Title, which is defended EVERY week on television. You’ve got TWO television shows on cable each week. You mean to tell me you couldn’t create a stable of performers who could view for the belt week in and week out? Create an atmosphere of reverence for the main titles by having them defended rarely on television. It makes the pay-per-views (if that’s what we’re still calling them) more appealing (which leads to more network subscribers). I know I’d be more apt to watch the shows live if I knew a title was going to be on the line before I even tuned in. And with the depth of the current roster, there are plenty of guys who you can slot in this title picture to make it intriguing At the same time, the WWE is giving guys a chance to prove themselves on a smaller scale to ascertain if they are worthy of being moved up into the Intercontinental or Heavyweight Title pictures. It just makes sense!
- Build the Tag Team division. It needs to have significance again. Back in the day there was the Hart Foundation, the Bulldogs, Demolition and others all vying for the belts. It was a great scene and those matches could headline PPV’s they were so good. Somewhere along the line the Tag Team division got lost in the wayside. Again, harkening back to my previous point – the talent base has such depth that it’s possible to grow the division. I love the Uso’s, but to be honest, I’m sick of them. Give us other teams thrown into the mix. The WWE threw together Cesaro and Kidd and look what happened. There needs to be a multitude of tag teams to make the division strong and healthy. It’s almost as if the WWE throws tag teams’ together just so they can break and have a singles push. That’s NOT THE PURPOSE OF TAG TEAMS. Give me the days where I rooted hard for Windham and Rotundo to get their shot at Volkoff and the Iron Sheik; or the Bulldogs taking down Beefcake and Valentine (yes, I’m aging myself here); or Demolition getting a shot at the Hart Foundation. Please, I beg of you – build the tag team division!
- Decide on NXT. Is it going to be a feeder system for RAW and Smackdown or is it going to be a brand/entity unto itself? From all the news I’ve seen, NXT is having better shows and matches than the big boys on the main roster. We’ve been through the Raw v Smackdown brand split and that didn’t work. Does HHH think that NXT has enough stroke to live on its own? That’s the question they have to decide. Because if it is a feeder system, it’s glaringly obvious that certain superstars need to be on the main roster; especially within the women’s division. If it is to stand alone will it be a purely WWE Network entity or will it eventually get a cable TV slot? Will it have monthly PPV’s? Yes, they have run some special shows as if they were PPV’s but without the grandeur of the main roster. I don’t know about you, but I’d love to see Kevin Owens, Hideo Itami, Finn Balor, Charlotte, and Sasha Banks, etc face the current superstars preparing for WrestleMania.
- While we have the thought of Charlotte and Sasha Banks fresh in our minds, make the Women’s division a true wrestling division. Enough of this Diva crap. Either they’re wrestlers or they’re divas – one or the other. Granted, “Total Divas” is a huge coup for the company, but the only “real” wrestler in my opinion is Natalya. The others are eye candy that they’ve tried to train to become wrestlers so they can get TV time. It’s not working! Look no further to NXT to see the women who are true wrestlers. And guess what?! They’re attractive too. Funny how that works. Put the Bella’s as managers or reporters, keep Nattie, Paige and AJ Lee and jettison the rest unless they can cut the mustard on the mat. And change the belt while you’re at it to a legit belt. The image girls are looking up to now is Ronda Rousey. Get with the times and make them legit performers who are strong women.
- Take some of the old horses out to pasture. Yes Kane, Big Show, Christian, Goldust, and Mark Henry, I’m talking to you. You’ve been great performers over your careers and we thank you for your service, but it’s time to move on. Remember back into 1997, when the then WWF was struggling to gain traction against the ever-growing power called WCW? Vince had just told Bret Hart that he couldn’t abide the 12-year contract Bret had signed because it would put him in “financial peril”. Fast forward to Survivor Series, the Montreal Screwjob happens, Bret leaves, Shawn Michaels is the main guy, he hurts his back severely and the WWF needs new guys to build their brand on. Who do they look to? The young guys at the time. Some of these names you might recognize – Steve Austin, The Rock, and HHH. Yep. Vince had no choice but to give them a chance and they took the ball and ran with it. Do that again Vince, er, HHH (see point #1). It doesn’t have to be the Attitude Era again, but the WWE has a lot of young talent waiting for that chance.
- Three hours is too much content, so scale RAW back to two hours. It is a LONG time, three hours. I was fortunate enough to have a weekend radio show on the Internet for a few months as a test and it was a three hour show. Could we fill it? Yes. But we had umpteen different sports we could talk about and that made it easier for us. The WWE only has so many storylines to choose from for RAW. And lately it feels like they are just stretching the show out until the pinnacle of the show (right before 11pm). I want two things in my wrestling shows – wrestling itself (novel concept, right) and crisp, concise promos. Here’s where they lose me. We don’t need 20 minute promos for content they can condense into five minutes. WAY too much talking. Add to that the fact that many of the guys aren’t the best at promos (I’m looking at you Roman Reigns and Randy Orton), yet the still keep forcing them down our throats. Go with the good talkers, shorten the promos, give us quick, efficient matches and go home. I would be infinitely more willing to watch two hours live, than taping the current three hours and fast forwarding through the boring segments.
- Smackdown has become the forgotten show for WWE; it’s not “must see TV” as it used to be so I think that Paul Heyman should return to writing Smackdown. If you’ve watched the DVD “Ladies and Gentlemen, My Name is Paul Heyman” you watched as he described his time writing Smackdown (and if you haven’t watched the DVD and call yourself a pro wrestling fan – shame on you. It’s fantastic). Not coincidentally, the Heyman-Smackdown era garnered the best ratings in Smackdown history. The storylines were tight and exciting. He was building new starts like John Cena, Batista, Brock Lesnar and Edge. Pretty impressive resume builder there for Mr. Heyman. Let’s be honest – all the writings teams could use an overhaul. However, if Smackdown starts to bypass RAW in the ratings then RAW will become competitive and raise their game. It’s a win-win for everyone.
- Finally, and this one is a tough one to swallow, but get rid of Michael Cole as the head announcer for WWE. An issue we’ve all noticed lately is a change in the announcing teams for the television shows. Jerry Lawler was moved off of RAW and on to Smackdown and Booker T was added to RAW. I don’t think that’s the problem. I believe Michael Cole is the problem. First, I’ve have no ill will towards Cole. I’m sure he’s a great guy but announcing for wrestling needs a certain set of talents which I don’t think he has in his arsenal. The crux of the issue is storytelling. This is the most important attribute an announcer can have – to help convey the storyline through their announcing. Very few men have been able to master the trait – Jim Ross is the best. Gordon Solie (what little I saw of him) was fantastic and someone that is extremely underrated was Joey Styles in ECW. All of these men were able to add to the match and the story being told. I don’t believe Cole does that at all. It’s almost as if he’s just a shill for the WWE Network most times. Again, this isn’t a character assassination. It’s about the business and I deem it necessary for changes in the lead announce position for someone who can add to the show and allow viewers to really dive into the storylines.
Now on to fixing my favorite sport, MLB….
Until next time,
Shawn
1 comment:
You've made some interesting points. Vince certainly needs to move on to enjoy retirement and his grandkids. I think NXT works just fine as the little feeder that could. They are great at allowing guys to hone their craft in front of a camera. It reminds me of watching Dick the Bruiser's promotion on Channel 4 when I was a kid. They're not all winners but some definitely have potential. The Divas do need to be gone. Sasha, Charlotte, Bailey, Becky Lynch, Paige and AJ Lee are a great stable of competitors. I don't think you can put the old studs out to pasture. They are a proven commodity that can be plugged in with little prep or promotion. You don't have to take time to build a character in the storyline, they're already known. As far as Michael Cole goes, I'll do you one better. Cole, JBL, the King, Byron, and Booker should all be gone. There has to be something better. I know JR and others have complained about Vince in the headset but the announcers were much better when he was there. Love ditching the US Title and REALLY love the idea of a TV Title. I would add a twist here, make the TV Title a Cruiserweight Title and bring back the Cruiserweight division like WCW had. It was probably their best idea.
Post a Comment