If YOU were Vince McMahon, what would you do

[Guest GameCop]

For instance, how would you book this monday's RAW?

 

How would you book the Survivor Series? Royal Rumble 2003? Wrestlemania 19? Summerslam 2003?

 

Which wrestlers would you push to build for the future?

 

What kinds of innovative angles will you attempt to get over?

 

If we can get a nice batch of ideas together, my plan is to send this thread to WWE. As stated before, WWE is desperate; they will peruse any idea(s) that might bolster the company. Let's book WWE. Let's expose Stephanie McMahon and her "writing" staff for who they truly are - incompetent, inept fools.

[Guest Kingpk]

Fire the whole writing staff, step down from the company and give it to Shane.

[Guest AndrewTS]

Do you mean if we owned the WWE?

 

Because I'd have to lobotomize myself to think like Vinnie Mac.

[Guest GameCop]

you don't have think like Vince McMahon. The idea here is to envision yourself in a position of power so that your opinions would matter.

[Guest Ravenbomb]

if I were Vince, I'd jump off Titan Towers and leave it (WWF)to a nice but nerdy 16 year old boy named Stephen Jones in my will.

 

As owner, I'm sure he'd be more than willing to sell it to Shane (not steph) after he made a few changes and guarantee a couple wrestlers some well-deserved pushes or de-pushes as the case may be.

[Guest TheAnvil]

I'd bring back the Survivor Series' old format. It'd be 5 man elimination tag format. OLD SKOOL.

[Guest Eagan469]

As sad as it sounds, I would bring back Russo and the rest of the writing team from circa-2000

 

oh yeah, Austin needs to come back ASAP

[Guest Anglesault]

I'd give Kurt Angle the title. I'd have him feud with benoit and Guerrero. I'd make Brock more of a lower midcard monster, the mystery partner type guy. Rob van Dam would be the top star on Raw, feuding with Jericho and Booker up there.

[Guest GameCop]

here's how I would book SSeries:

 

Brock vs. Edge - WWE Title

HHH/Flair/Steiner/Batista vs. RVD/HBK/Kane/Hurricane-Elimination Chamber

Angle/Benoit vs. Guerreros vs. Edge/Rey vs. V1 & V2- Tag Titles (Elimination)

Y2J/Christian/Storm/Regal/Nowinski vs. BookerT/Goldust/Bubba/Spike/Snow

Trish vs. Victoria - Women's Title

 

Royal Rumble:

Brock vs. Rock II

Angle/Benoit vs. Jericho/Christian

Final 4: HBK, RVD, Steiner, Edge

winner: HBK

 

WrestleMania:

HHH vs. HBK - World Title

Angle vs. Brock - WWE Title

Booker T vs. Scott Steiner

Y2J vs. Eddy Guerrero

RVD vs. Edge

Benoit vs. Rey Mysterio

[Guest IB2BLACK]

No Rock at Wrestlemania?

[Guest GameCop]

Rock vs. Hulk Hogan II

[Guest IB2BLACK]

Who's the heel? Also, do you let Hoagan beat Rock?

[Guest AndrewTS]

I'd have a mix of writers who actually know about WRESTLING! Paul Heyman would lead, and have guys like Cornette and Flair on there as well. I'd hire back the old writers from the 2000 year, etc.

 

There'd be a focus on wrestling, but the skits and details of the angles could have some ideas added by other writers. Comedy angles/roles would be a minor portion of the show.

 

Oh, and I'd let Big Show and Mark Henry sit out their contracts, and knock HHH down to a midcarder role.

 

 

NO NECROPHILIA EVER AGAIN!!

[Guest AndrewTS]

Oh, and another thing...I'd have Taker come back as the dead man, and maybe after a Hogan/Rock II, have another Taker/Hogan program (hear me out) ending at WM.

 

Good just for nostalgic mark out purposes, and not the main event. Just an undercard bout that wouldn't waste much time. After WM, they'd fade off into the sunset, putting over a few midcarders on the way.

[Guest thebigjig]

I would first and foremost give main booking power to Paul Heyman, placing Stephanie as the head of the advertising department or whatever. Gershwitz might make a fine addition there as well or possibly as the editor of WWE magazine. Oh yeah and offer Mick Foley a really PHAT contract to help with the creative team as well as a nice book deal so that he can continue writing his novels with a national media powerhouse backing him

 

As for direction... I've been watching alot of old school mid 80's NWA stuff as well as tapes from Midsouth and WCCW and I'm amazed at how cool and ahead of the time these promotions were. Gritty, dark, and an "attitude" like atmosphere before the phrase was coined by Vinny Mac. I say make the writers watch some of this old NWA footage and take notes. Blood feuds like Blanchard/Magnum TA and Freebirds/Von Erichs... this stuff is amazing! If McMahon wants to reinvent attitude, why not start with an old school approach with old school storytelling as far as angles go and in ring action with the best of the best at the top? Wrestling needs to be the main focus. They're slowly doing this on the Smackdown side of things. Matches like Benoit/Angle from Unforgiven broadcast on a regular basis will train the marks to like in ring ability just like they did when Bret Hart ruled at the top

 

The split is dying... the whole point is stupid. You have a World title and a WWE title, even though both are technically WWE titles... same goes for the tag titles. It's confusing to the average fan so it's time to completely split the rosters into two seperate companies (WCW or an entirely different promotion/WWE) or give up on the split idea. But if they give up, then it really creates an even larger mess. I say completely split the companies.

 

Build WCW and the main event scene around Booker T, Steiner, RVD, Edge (traded), Bautista, HHH (a less dominating HHH), and Christian

 

Build WWE around Angle, Benoit, Lesnar, Guerrero, Matt Hardy, Lance Storm (traded)

 

Fire Albert, Faarooq (or demote him to simply road agent) Godfather, Hardcore Holly, Mark Henry, Rikishi, Scotty 2 Hotty, Bossman, Bradshaw, and Jackie Gayda to name a few

 

Keep the 12 ppv's a year but split them up between the two "companies" so that each have 6 a year.

 

Stop trading so damn much. Decide who you want to have on each show and keep it there not making a single switch unless absolutley necessary.

 

These are things that I think would work perfectly. Even the WCW brand could be reinvented if handled properly and treated seriously. Either way, I don't care as long as the in ring stuff is pushed like it has been on Smackdown, and the stupid ass HHH/Kane storylines stop immediatly.

[Guest GameCop]

Yeah, The Rock would be the heel. Hogan wins after Goldberg runs in and spears The Rock.

 

SummerSlam 2003

 

Rock vs. Goldberg

 

 

Oh, and did you notice that according to my SurvSeries card, Edge would wrestle twice? That's because Big Show will slip on a banana peel and crack his skull as he's walking to the ring.

[Guest Dangerous A]

For instance, how would you book this monday's RAW?

 

How would you book the Survivor Series? Royal Rumble 2003? Wrestlemania 19? Summerslam 2003?

 

Which wrestlers would you push to build for the future?

 

What kinds of innovative angles will you attempt to get over?

 

If we can get a nice batch of ideas together, my plan is to send this thread to WWE. As stated before, WWE is desperate; they will peruse any idea(s) that might bolster the company. Let's book WWE. Let's expose Stephanie McMahon and her "writing" staff for who they truly are - incompetent, inept fools.

The problem with your last sentence is Vince is actually exposing himself as the one who is and incompetent fool. HE IS CREATIVE! When you see the skits, you see fingerprints of Heyman and Gerwitz's writing, but in the end it's Vince who is telling them what he wants.

 

 

I think a lot of people think that the writing team brings ALL the ideas to Vince and he approves and disapproves.(which sometimes happens) But for the most part, Vince tells them what he wants and what he is looking for and if they get it, then it goes on tv. If he doesn't like what they have written, he nixes them and goes back to the drawing board.

 

 

Another person who needs to be looked at in regards to responsibility is Kevin Dunn. According to the Observer, he is the one who proposed that soap opera angles take to the forefront of the shows and that'll bring back the casual fans they lost, and Vince bought into every bit of this pitch and is going ahead full throttle. I put most of that on Vince because he could've just said one simple word: NO.

 

 

This is what happens when there is no competition. Yes, WCW was bad at the end, but it kept WWE on their creative toes some. The last day of Nitro is my Ground Zero of Wrestling. I think it's showing to be more and more prophetic when we are forced, as wrestling fans, to watch Vince's "vision" of what wrestling should be- entertainment?

[Guest IB2BLACK]

Cornette doesn't want to leave OVW, he's happy there. When did Flair become a writer?

 

Mark henry & Big Show are not the focal points of any shows. So sitting them down would be silly. If you're paying them, let them work. They are not taking anything away from anyone.

[Guest GameCop]

Dangerous A: Yeah, you're right; I forgot to include Vince.

 

Vince is not a "genius" by any stretch of the imagination. In the past, Vince Russo, and Jim Cornette steered his ship; now it's Heyman. Vince is incompetent; he depends on other people to ameliorate his product, and he's cognizant of the fact that he is useless, in terms of concocting storylines. Why do you think he immediately accepted Kevin Dunn's ideas? Because Vince knows that he is an utter fool. If Vince didn't have anyone to balk at his ideas all these years, WWE would've died in 1992.

[Guest IB2BLACK]

Vince is by no means incompetent. He is extremely talented in what he does, and that is wrestling/entertainment. Of course in his postion, will have a bad ideas here and there, but overall he's succesful. Barry Bonds doesn't hit a home run every time he steps to the plate, he's gonna strike out, pop up, or ground out to the infield, but who's the best player in baseball?

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

I think it's been said before. Vince got lucky. Vince is a good risk taker thats all. He took some risks, had some good people backing him, and got lucky. Now he has lost control over certain aspects and Steph, HHH, and Kevin Dunn are running away with the ship. Vince think's it's fine cause anything for Daddy's little girl.

 

I'd put together a writing team of Heyman, Foley, Shane, and Cornette, with Malenko, Arn Anderson, Fit Finley, and DDP as road agents. Gerwitz would be gone or reduced to some meaningless job. Steph could work with her mom on some business aspect since she's supposedly good in that field. I'd force HHH and Stephanie to break up, or sabotage the relationship cause it's hurting the WWE.

[Guest Dangerous A]

I don't think it goes down like that. I think Vince is the one who is corrupting Steph into the "entertainment" that you have been seeing, not the other way around. Vince is the one who is telling these people what is right, they are just his foot soldiers in his war against the media to be seen as a legit entertainment company.

 

You see, Vince wants all the coverage of mainstream sports without being called a sport and wants to be seen as entertainment without being all "Hollywood", but needs to realize he can't have it both ways.

 

 

Steph and HHH don't help matters, but by no means are they the root cause, it's Vince and his "vision". His "vision" entails big men and badly acted skits, some of which are borderline offensive.

[Guest IB2BLACK]

It's been his "vision" for the last 20 years. While others have came and went, he's still here.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

At what expense? He milked the industry dry.

[Guest papacita]

First, I would split the IYH PPV's up between Raw and Smackdown so that they'd have more time to build towards the shows. They'd continue to share the Big 5.

 

Second, I'd make better use of Heat and Velocity. It's good that they're using the shows to get younger talent over, but they really don't give fans much incentive to watch. If I were Vince, I'd start involving the Heat and Velocity wrestlers in more complex storylines to allow them to better develop their characters and feature ME matches involving wrestlers from Raw's and Smackdown's upper midcard in order to attract viewers until the younger guys are established enough draw on their own. That way, the younger guys get more exposure and it becomes easier to transition them onto the main shows.

 

Titles: I would bring back the I-C Title for Smackdown and a TV Title for Raw.

 

Storylines: I dunno if I'd really try and do a lot of innovative stuff off the bat. I'd concentrate on building solid, sensible feuds and rivalries based around the title belts in order to increase their importance. I wouldn't mind dabbling in the soap opera side of things when appropriote, but no stupid Jerry Springer type stuff. I would rely more on wrestler history to aid storylines rather than distorting or blatantly ignoring it like the WWE does...for example, in promoting Jericho/HHH for Wrestlemania, in addition to saying that it was Jericho who injured HHH's quad, I'd also bring up the Phantom title switch from 2000 to explain the legitimate hatred between the two. And I'd try and get the women more involved in meaningful angles instead of just sticking them in bra and panties matches and stuff like that, and rely less on authority figures like Vince, Steph and Bischoff (as much as I like him).

 

That's about it.

[Guest IB2BLACK]

At what expense? He milked the industry dry.

 

It's not his fault he's lasted, while other haven't. Wrestling will always be around. There is still money to be made.

[Guest Ravenbomb]

WHY do people keep putting Heyman and Cornette on the same booking team? Has everybody forgotten that they HATE each other?

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

Vince has done some things that have set the industry back decades. Money *can* still be made - but not a lot of it.

[Guest thebigjig]

WHY do people keep putting Heyman and Cornette on the same booking team? Has everybody forgotten that they HATE each other?

I'm sure that if it came down to it, they would work together. Alot of people in WWE hate each other but they deal with it

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

I'd say it will take wrestling a decade after the WWF is dead to recover... Maybe even more.