The Little Things

[Guest Goodear]

You know, every once in a while, I see a few people around here saying how WWE really needs to keep an eye on some little things that would make the product better. So I submit to you, the little thing thread... a listing of all of the little things WWE could do to make a better show.

 

Now, just so we're all clear, this is not the FIRE TRIPLE H thread... that's a big thing. This thread is about little tiny things that you notice that either stick in your craw, or you think would be a minor improvement. For examples...

 

1) Okay, Unamericans, you have a T-Shirt and everything now, so you can officially be called a team. And if I have any say over the matter, teams should have a unified look. Christian, Lance, and Test have all been wearing the same basic outfits for years now so why not make some changes? I propose a set of long tights that have upside down flags in a black and white design... maybe having a few rips going through the flags, something like that. I suppose that there could be a leather pants variation for Test if he has really knobby knees now or something. Oh, and Christian should drop that mesh shirt he's been wearing forever... it just kind of looks odd now.

 

2) Tag ropes. Man, there have been some really nice tag matches lately. I always found that the tag ropes help add to the drama by having the guy on the apron trying to get as close to his partner as possible while being attached to something. Honestly, right now, what keeps wrestlers from moving closer to their partner to make a tag? Tag ropes solve this problem.

 

3) Hardcore title... can we just have a belt that either doesn't have a big Texas sticker on it or isn't broken?

 

So, what do you got?

[Guest chirs3]

----> Jericho hasn't hit a Lionsault in months. It's getting kinda silly.

 

----> The People's Elbow needs to become like the Rolling Thunder. The crowd marks for it, but it people should believe it CAN finish a match (9 out of 10 times the crowd goes "Awwww" when someone kicks out of the Rolling Thunder), but it never should.

 

----> I second the notion on the Hardcore title. Get than damn texas sticker off.

[Guest BionicRedneck]

I 100% agree about the UnAmericans ring attire

 

Michael Cole calling John Cena (amongst others) "Rookies" a 1000 times every time they wrestle. I know its just a little thing, but it seems Cole is intent on reminding us that Cena is a "Rookie" and making all his victories sound like flukes.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

People's Elbow almost never hit in 2000. Or most of 99.

 

So, so many times he'd get pulled out, or chaired, while doing that retarded little run around.

[Guest DeputyHawk]

Let the Cruiserweights work to their strengths a little more and create some genuine excitement around their matches.

 

Give more little interview spots for nearly every match like they used to do back in the 80's. Little 10-second vignettes or something. Will improve mic skills for if they ever make it up the card far enough to cut the 20-minute promo-uh.

[Guest Goodear]

Okay, here's one. If you are turning someone heel or face. You should be able to tell by watching their matches that something has changed. Like, for instance, the last time Matt Hardy turned heel you couldn't tell that it happened because he wrestled and looked EXACTLY the same... same thing with the Triple H face turn. Now look at what happened when Shawn Michaels turned on Jannetty... his character as a whole changed a whole lot. His style and look both underwent a major overhaul, and it made the turn effective.

[Guest the incomparable]

When someone has been a face or heel for a long time, and then the make a turn, all the issues that they had with people in the past should not be forgotten immediately. I remember a Smackdown in particular in 2000, where Chris Jericho teamed with Eddie Guerrero short months after Chyna turned on Chris and joined Eddie. The announcers made no mention of it whatsoever like it never happened and I am thinking to myself, this makes no sense. I hate it when the WWF insults the fans intelligence like that.

[Guest DeputyHawk]

good point about face/heel turns. austin at the beginning of 2001 and taker towards the end of that year both kept the same music and entrance rituals they had as faces. when fans are trained up for pavlovian pops each time their faves music hits, they are going to continue to do so for a while, no matter what the storylines are.

[Guest AnnieEclectic]

unfortunatly that's not a sticker. I got a good closeup look during Dreamer's defense on RAW and the word 'Texas' is clearly engraved on it. The 'sticker' part is actually part of the belt. It's the Texas Hardcore Belt.... and someone make a real one please, Tommy Dreamer deserves better.

 

-Annie

[Guest Spaceman Spiff]

This shouldn't be a "little" thing, but have the announcers concentrate on the match going on in front of them. And maybe, just maybe, put over the guys performing in the match. And their moves. It pissed me off to see Jericho, who has a feud starting up w/ Flair and most likely a match at SS, get a submission on Bubba, only to have JR put over Bubba instead of Jericho.

 

And while we're on the announcers, pull Lawler aside & tell him if he wants to keep his job, he'll be a 100% heel announcer & cut out the "Puppies!" bullshit. Otherwise, have fun in Memphis.

 

I second the tag ropes. Besides the "can he make the tag" issue, the heels can use them to choke the faces. Just another way for the heels to get some heat.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

-The whole 'camera 1, camera 2, camera 1' things REALLY gets annoying, because they are like clockwork... Honestly, for the most part, you can count '1,2,3,-switch!-1,2,3,-switch!). How about you let the camera catch the contact?

 

-No Contact in the strikes. Is there anything worse than a watered-down punch? And furthermore, a watered-down brawl?

 

-Announcers talking about history. Would it hurt for them to talk about the history of a title, or a wrestler, or anything? Where the fuck is Mike Tenay?

[Guest razazteca]

during the interview segments by Terri or Coach or whoever, have the wrestler look at the camera not the interviewer.

 

no more weapons under the ring during the Hardcore matches, no more shopping cart of plunder either.

 

do the Island Boys talk?

 

can the Heat regulars have personalities......the rookies need more than just great move sets, can they have interviews also

[Guest Will Scarlet]

I also second the heel announcers idea. It pissed me off the other week when Brock was doing whatever to Hogan after the match, and Tazz was saying, "Oh, come on, Brock. This is just too far!" Please. A real heel announcer would probably have said something along the lines of "Hogan is finally getting his." or "Brock is sending a message to Rock" or something.

 

Clearer distinctions between heels and faces. Why should I cheer for one guy and boo the other? Why exactly should I hate Chris Nowinski or cheer Spike Dudley? Why should I go from hating the Undertaker to liking him even though he has not done anything to change his character from heel to face? Why should I cheer Lita for interfering in a Hardies match, and hate the bad guy when he tries to beat on her? Conversely, if I am cheering Lita for interfering in a match, why should I hate, say Molly, for doing the exact same thing and cheer the good guy on for getting revenge? If they did something to better explain these things, it would certainly make it easier.

 

I also agree about the past issues being forgotten, like when Austin turned face, and JR is all like "Austin is great! Austin is wonderful!" and I am thinking, "Austin beat up JR a few months ago. Why does JR suddenly love Austin?" It was especially confusing because I cannot exactly remember why Austin turned face to begin with, other than he turned on McMahon, joined WCW, WCW closed, so McMahon was extracting his revenge on Austin for screwing him over, or something. It is not like it was even that strong of a reason to turn face to begin with. It reminds me of this E-Fed I was in, where the top heel in the fed turned face, then had to team with guys who he had screwed over and used to get ahead when he was a heel. They distrusted him, and basically ignored him the entire match refusing to tag him ito the match, basically saying, "We do not buy your 'You can trust me becase I'm a good guy now!' act." Little character nuances like that are stuff that I miss about the WWF. At least during the Alliance days, they did stuff like a little better, with guys basically hating each other, but trying to fight towards the common goal of saving the WWF from the evil Alliance.

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

If you're going to have a face go heel, make him like Foley was to ECW in the mid-90's as the heel Cactus Jack: a complete and utter sell-out. Nothing about him was redeemable, and he did it on purpose. This goes with what Goodear said about a person doing a face/heel change and being able to see it. Example: Steve Corino in ECW.

 

He started off as the old-school heel: cowardly, arrogant, and a prick. He'd talk shit to people's faces, then have his cronies beat on them and take the credit. He once went for a chair to hit Balls Mahoney with, but in mid-swing he stopped, set up the chair, and took a seat to apply a reverse chinlock. THAT is being a good prick heel: make the fans expect your typical face spot, but then stop mid-move, flip people off, tell them to go fuck themselves, and then be a sadist in minor holds (rest holds at times).

 

Speaking of heels: not every heel is the same and hates America, okay?

[Guest deadbeater]

1. Let the women again try out at least one, never before seen, new move each match, like they did last year.

 

2. Allow more mat-based moves in this WWE style.

 

3. All tag matches Texas Tornado. None of this house of fire guy getting laid out after two moves nonsense.

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

For a while the WWE was taking a commercial break in the middle of the main events on RAW and Smackdown, and it allowed them to go an extra couple of minutes.

Thats a really cool idea, instead of having 1 whole segment of interviews and stuff before the main event.

 

The legal vs illegal man issue in tag matches needs to come back.

[Guest jester]

during the interview segments by Terri or Coach or whoever, have the wrestler look at the camera not the interviewer.

How about letting an interviewer finish a freakin' question?

 

Seriously, watch: about 99% of the interview on Raw and Smackdown go like this:

 

Coach: Excuse me, Rock. Brock just snuck up on you and-

 

Rock: [Holds up hand to silence Coach] Brock Lesnar. Brock Lesnar. The people's champion blah blah blah

 

Terri: Undertaker, how do you feel about Test pinning

 

Undertaker: How do I feel? How do you think I feel? The sneaky SOB...

 

Interviewers are basically sounding boards for threats and lame cow jokes. If one of the interviewers had interviewing skills (who can tell because they never get to ask a question), they might be able to help with the promos of guys who can't carry one like the Rock.

[Guest notJames]

Definitely need heel announcers again. I still have no idea why that went out of style. The face/heel announcer dynamic adds so much to the program. Is there any wonder why guys like Ventura and Heenan are lauded as two of the best colour men the sport's ever seen?

 

Give the new guys some finishers that actually, you know, finish a match. No more bullshit fluke schoolboys. (Yes, Cena and Orton, I'm looking right at you...) Same with the uppercard guys; too many rollups and not enough convincing wins, specifically with guys who use submissions.

 

Tag team maneuvers... how in the world did they ever die out? That's what made tag team wrestling so awesome. Thank god Chuckabilly's started the ball rolling again with their Code Red. Hopefully this trend will grow... provided we get some actual tag teams going.

 

Too many guys are using superkicks. There's about a million wrestling moves you can do, and yet everyone and their brother has to use a superkick. And now that JR is saying they're all doing it as an homage to Shawn Michaels, it's making me sick. Gentleman Chris Adams must be rolling in his grave...

 

Lillian, Fink, say it with me... Toronto, ONTARIO, Canada.

 

I'm sure I'll come up with more later...

[Guest Strike Force!]

Okay, here's one. If you are turning someone heel or face. You should be able to tell by watching their matches that something has changed. Like, for instance, the last time Matt Hardy turned heel you couldn't tell that it happened because he wrestled and looked EXACTLY the same... same thing with the Triple H face turn. Now look at what happened when Shawn Michaels turned on Jannetty... his character as a whole changed a whole lot. His style and look both underwent a major overhaul, and it made the turn effective.

I agree with this 1000%!

 

This is exactly why face/heel turns are so ineffective these days. Nothing changes. In the old days, if a guy turned, he would totally change. One thing I loved back then is when a guy started growing a goatee and wrestling more aggressively, you knew he was going heel even if he hadn't made an official turn. Now, a guy stays the same all the time no matter what.

 

Man, wrestling sucks these days.

[Guest PlatypusFool]

I'd just like to congratulate this thread in spotting that it is the little things that matter in the WWE at the moment. They have the talent, now all they need is the little things.

 

IMO, the biggest little thing that needs to be done is to bring back legitimacy. Since the fans do not believe that wrestling is real anymore, and this is really hurting the overall impression of wrestling, little things to increase the illusion of realism need to be done. I'm talking about things like announcing the wrestlers AFTER their entrances. I'm talking about the referee ALWAYS checking for concealed objects on everybody, every match. I'm talking about the comentators talking about fighting styles rather than how many pounds a particular HOSS weighs. I'm talking about TEACHING THE WRESTLERS TO MAKE THINGS LOOK REAL, things like punches look like shit these days. I'M TALKING ABOUT STOPPING WUSSY 'WRESTLERS' LIKE HHH BITCHING ABOUT PEOPLE BEING 'TOO STIFF' ON THEM... WRESTLING IS ABOUT FIGHTING, STOP WHINING ABOUT THIS!!!

 

Let me take a breather here...

 

... sorry for the rant, but this really pisses me off.

[Guest notJames]

...I'm talking about TEACHING THE WRESTLERS TO MAKE THINGS LOOK REAL, things like punches look like shit these days. I'M TALKING ABOUT STOPPING WUSSY 'WRESTLERS' LIKE HHH BITCHING ABOUT PEOPLE BEING 'TOO STIFF' ON THEM... WRESTLING IS ABOUT FIGHTING, STOP WHINING ABOUT THIS!!!

Hear hear!

 

In the words of Good Ol' JR: "This ain't ballet."

 

They should try acting like it isn't.

[Guest godthedog]

have commentators put over psychology once in a while. remember those good old announcing days, when heenan & ventura would actually talk about STRATEGY and HOW TO BEAT THE OTHER GUY? since the commentators stopped talking about it, fans stopped caring about the psychology. now they just want to see cool moves & near falls. when 2 guys wrestle nowadays, it doesn't look like they're trying to win. it's plainly obvious that one is taking over the offense until some designated point where the other guy takes over. the last example of true psychology in a wwf match was probably austin/angle at summerslam '01, and i can't even remember a recent match before that one. and psychology does not consist in working a body part & near-falls. there's a lot more to it, with long-term selling, timing, letting a match actually go back & forth, & a ton of other things. a match is supposed to tell a story, with a beginning, a middle & an end. and the commentators are supposed to point it out as such.

[Guest notJames]

To be fair, JR talks about the psychology of a match more times than not on PPVs. And I've noticed that some of the B-team announcers will sell a wrestler "working over a body part".

 

I think the main problem is two-fold: the matches on free TV are too short, and the announcers are saddled with having to hype everything else but the match. It sucks, but unfortunately, it's how the wrestling game has evolved.

[Guest The Amazing Rando]

it would make some sense to build up a certain section of...say...the RAW roster to fight one week while another part hypes matches for the next week. Maybe a few wrestlers might go two weeks in a row fighting, but it will be because the match they have just makes the fans WANT a rematch...whilst some of the other wrestlers who didn't wrestle try to get matches for the following RAW, and make it seem like they want to go out there and fight and they want to win and move up in the GMs eyes...

 

this could have been started with Matt...he was ignored by Bisch...so he went out and made himself known by interfering in a fan favorite match.

 

If a wrestler isn't getting any TV time...giving him a run-in for the HC title won't help...that wrestler needs to run in and say "Hey Eric...give me 3 minutes...i'll entertain the sh*t out of you"

 

it's fucking logic....

 

of which WWE seems to have less and less of as time passes

[Guest nl5xsk1]

It's always bothered me that the camera is EVERYWHERE in the back ...

 

if Vince was really hiding in a closet to grope Torrie Wilson, why would he allow a camera to be there?

 

Or if Booker is hiding in a confessional, how is there already a camera there to record both sides of the conversation?

 

If (person X) and (person Y) were conspiring to beat the hell out of (person A), why would they allow a camera to see them talk?

 

I know we're supposed to suspend disbelief, but for some reason it always pissed me off.

[Guest The Amazing Rando]

yeah....and when the camera is there....and it's two wrestlers by themselves...they don't need a mic....

 

but when an interviewer is there they need a mic in their face...

 

THIS ONE HAS BEEN COVERED BEFORE....but it counts...

 

 

and there is always those matches where guys come in through the crowd, and security doesn't even try to stop them....when maybe they should try to stop ANYONE from interfering in a match...even if it is another wrestler.

 

But if Vince/Eric/Steph/whoever wants someone arrested....BOOM! they are gone...at least till the Main Event...where they make the triumphant return to do battle against EVIL~!

[Guest Austin3164life]

One thing that's ticked me off many times is that everyone kicks out of their opponents finishers. It's annoying. Finishing Maneuvers should be the moves that puts their opponents out for good, enabling a three count. Angle kicked out of the Stunner three times, and barely anybody has tapped out to the Walls of Jericho. When a finishing move is coming, you know the match is almost over. The only time someone should kick out is at a big match at one of the big 5 ppvs. The way the guy should kick out is if the guy who nails the finisher is fatigued and can't execute the cover, then the other guy has time to catch his breath/wind and possibly kick out. Too many guys have countered/kicked out of their opponent's finisher's, and it devalues the moves.

[Guest I Fear Hogans Air Guitair]

One thing that's ticked me off many times is that everyone kicks out of their opponents finishers. It's annoying. Finishing Maneuvers should be the moves that puts their opponents out for good, enabling a three count. Angle kicked out of the Stunner three times, and barely anybody has tapped out to the Walls of Jericho. When a finishing move is coming, you know the match is almost over. The only time someone should kick out is at a big match at one of the big 5 ppvs. The way the guy should kick out is if the guy who nails the finisher is fatigued and can't execute the cover, then the other guy has time to catch his breath/wind and possibly kick out. Too many guys have countered/kicked out of their opponent's finisher's, and it devalues the moves.

I agree with that 100%. I don't remember a time that Edge has not kicked out of an Angle Slam unless Angle has already hit him with it Twice. If Finishers were only kicked out of every once in a while rather than all the time it would mean a hell of alot more.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

I am at the opposite end of that. I think people kicking out of finishers and getting wins with roll ups is fantastic. I hate the KICK-WHAM-STUNNER! mentality the Wwf used to have, where Austin could get his ass kicked for 15 minutes, hit a stunner and it would be over. The ONLY way a 'finisher' could be used like that is if it were a submission move where you don't need a lot of wear-down to be able to get a tap.

 

It gives the match drama. If you have a signature move that gets the job done most of the time (rather than a finisher), then there should be no problem. IN FACT, guys should have at least 3 signature moves that could get a win, rather than one finisher. Which is why I like what Edge (was) doing; he was winning with a variety of holds. The Edgecution, the Spear, the Figure 4 Edge Lock, the Downward Spiral, all make for believable falls.

 

I would like to see say, Angle hit the Olympic Slam, the guy kicks out, Angle hits it again, and gets the pin.

 

I totally agree with Platfool, however I believe that the 'big introductions' should be saved for the big matches. Have the guys enter the ring first (it would be cool if they had an entourage), the ref checks them, tells them the rules, the announcers go over strategy, there's the staredown, and the announcer introduces both men. It makes a match see Epic, it makes you more interested in who will win. (Hell, why don't we just say that the Wwf should be more like Japan )