A storyline that might work

[Guest Kingpk]

Hey, don't knock this idea guys. Changing RAW to Nitro will draw that "Been living in a cave for the last 4 years" demographic (mostly in Afghanistan).

 

Why not tape shows at Disney again and have HHH tell the fans who to cheer (him) and boo (everyone else).

[Guest PhillyDogg]

Another thought that the pay per views can go like this Jan RR Feb Superbrawl March Uncensored April WM May Slamboree Jun KOTR July Bash At The Beach Aug Summerslam September Fall Brawl October Halloween Havoc Nov Survior Series and December Starrcade.

[Guest notJames]

The only way "WCW Raw/Nitro" would work is if the following happend:

 

etc. etc. etc.

The only way this would work is if every viewer was given a full frontal lobotomy and a good taste-ectomy.

 

Add this to the "No Flock/No Horsemen/No Goldberg/No Recycling" bin.

[Guest RedJed]

Don't discount this idea so shallowly guys, it COULD work, and probably easier than you thought. Here's a column I read at another board, I believe someone at 1wrestling wrote it......tons of good ideas here.

 

Glenn Harrison Has a Radical Idea for WWE

By Glenn Harrison

 

[email protected]

 

Can you believe that the brand extension is coming up on one full year? It’s hard to imagine that almost a year has past, and the experiment is still as much a work in progress as it was when it first started. We started with a Ric Flair-owned Raw versus a Vince McMahon-owned Smackdown to a the current GM angle, yet WWE continues its struggle to build up each brand as an independent entity. The problem is that this is not WWE vs. WCW. Still, fans could suspend their knowledge that both brands are WWE-owned if it was produced with any kind of believability. Yet, it is absolutely obvious that Vince McMahon and WWE own both RAW and Smackdown, the fans are not fooled at all into even remotely thinking that there is a legit competition between the two. Even the names, RAW and Smackdown, are so associated with the WWE brand that they are not fooling anybody. WWE makes no secret of the fact that it is WWE RAW vs. WWE Smackdown, not one company versus another company. The fact that both shows are reported on the WWE.com website, and that each show is even advertised and mentioned during the other show’s broadcast further the lack of believability to this “competition” angle.

 

One of the other main issues is the matter of the Pay-Per-Views. I have detailed in-depth in the past that in order to establish believability, that the two brands should not converge every month for a WWE Pay Per View event. Rather, it would make better sense for the brands to alternate PPVs, with each brand then utilizing 6 PPVs a year (with WWE Corporate still being able to maintain the 12 total with no loss in revenue). Furthermore, it would give each brand 2 months rather than 1 month to promote each event, and the PPVs might actually mean something again, as they once did years ago when they were actually given time to be promoted properly. Moreover, with each brand promoting its own PPV, it would give the brand a full card, thus enabling them to feature mid-card feuds in addition to the upper card and main event. Currently, with RAW and Smackdown splitting the PPV, each brand can only schedule 4-5 matches for its top tier talent. By splitting the PPVs, WWE would enable more wrestlers to achieve high profile PPV action, thus helping to build up new talent as well as distributing some PPV paychecks to lower talent as opposed to the same main eventers every month, which would surely boost locker room morale.

 

Now, the plan to make this all work. It has been detailed this past week that the UPN network is in financial peril and is desperate for the FOX network to maintain its contract for some of their large market affiliates. Furthermore, it is no secret that UPN has been dissatisfied with some of the content on WWE, and that it might not be so unlikely that UPN, should it survive its financial problems not renew Smackdown’s contract this August. If that were to take place, Smackdown would be left without a television program, and thus not be able to function. Second, Viacom just announced today its plan, particularly with TNN, to become more of a male-dominated media outlet. Viacom’s hope is that TNN and MTV will become the focus stations for the treasured 18-35 male audience. With that statement, Viacom is certainly committed to maintaining RAW and Sunday Night Heat, despite their sinking ratings, as WWE will always be one of the prototypical young male broadcasts on television, and would help to promote the brand image that Viacom is seeking for the networks. If Vince McMahon was smart, and if he put a little bit of his foolish pride to rest, he would see that he has the perfect opportunity to cash in on this potential opportunity.

 

First and foremost, WWE is missing the boat on one major thing- and that is its ownership of the WCW name. Die-hards can scream for ECW, but the fact is, that WCW is the only other brand that has ever been able to match up to WWE and the WCW and “Nitro” names still hold much weight with wrestling fans despite the company’s collapse two years ago. McMahon has been so hungry to destroy the WCW brand (one that he now owns as well) that he is unwilling to accept that WWE vs. WCW could still do more business than RAW vs. Smackdown could ever accomplish under one WWE umbrella.

 

So here is what WWE should do. Vince McMahon should be meeting right now with the new executives at TNN in an effort to secure additional television time for wrestling. With their new focus toward high-testosterone, male viewers, Viacom should be more than willing to cough up an additional few hours over the course of the week to secure the Smackdown brand from UPN, especially considering that the Smackdown brand has performed better than RAW in recent months. Next, if that goes through, I am sure that UPN would be willing to let Smackdown out of their contract a few months early considering their financial troubles and the fact that they paid a hefty sum to secure WWE programming during a time when WWE was riding much higher than they are now. All of this behind-the-scenes stuff should be kept as quiet as possible, so that it can play out best on TV.

 

Vince McMahon could make an appearance on Smackdown and inform Stephanie that WWE’s contract with UPN had run out, and that he would have no choice but to disband Smackdown. Stephanie then does her Daddy’s little girl routine and Vince agrees to some contest between RAW and Smackdown to determine who will maintain the last remaining time slot on TNN. Some Survivor Series-type match (similar to the end of the Alliance) could be set up between RAW and Smackdown performers on an addition of RAW, and in the end, Vince McMahon (perhaps with the aid of a returning heel Rock) could screw Bischoff’s team out of the match and ensure that Stephanie’s promotion will remain as the sole entity of WWE. Bischoff could threaten revenge, only for Vince to have him carried out by security.

 

Following the end of Eric Bischoff. Stephanie could return to her ultra-cocky heel persona and could proclaim herself the new General Manager of the entire WWE, obtaining the rights to both the RAW and Smackdown brand names for her programs. She could retain the WWE RAW name for Monday nights on TNN, and WWE Smackdown could air at its same time slot on Thursday’s, but only now also appearing on TNN as a result of Vince’s new deal with Viacom. However, Stephanie’s promotion (what is currently the Smackdown brand) would now be known as simply World Wrestling Entertainment, just like the old days.

 

Over the course of the next few weeks, former Bischoff-RAW brand and perennial WWE stars such as Triple-H, Shawn Michaels, and Kane could appear begging Stephanie and Vince for their WWE jobs back, and the McMahon’s will welcome their old faithfuls back home. Even Bischoff’s stooge Chief Morley could return as Val Venis and sell-out Bischoff to return to WWE, which would really sell Bischoff’s supposedly hopeless state. Meanwhile, former WCW stars such as Rey Mysterio, Big Show, Billy Kidman, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and Chavo Guerrero could secretly talk of how it was unfair how Bischoff was screwed as Stephanie becomes somewhat of a tyrant in running WWE. Eventually, Bischoff could return and in dramatic fashion, he could claim some sort of a loophole which enabled him to purchase back the dormant WCW name from the McMahon’s just prior to leaving WWE. Since Vince had considered it a dead entity, he could say he obtained it for next to nothing. Vince could play cocky and say the WCW name is worthless with no TV program, and Bischoff could state that he had reformed World Championship Wrestling and he had reached an agreement with MTV to once again re-air WCW Monday Nitro directly opposite WWE RAW on TNN! Moreover, Bischoff could state that he had come to an agreement with MTV to also secure the rights to Sunday Night Heat for WCW! Vince McMahon could look like he just got the wind knocked out of him and it could be another classic television moment. At that time, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin could make a dramatic return as part of Bischoff’s reborn WCW promotion to stun both McMahon’s and signal the re-birth of WCW Nitro!

 

Following the announcement, Bischoff could open shop with most of the former WCW wrestlers from the old RAW brand who had been fired along with him (Scott Steiner, Ric Flair, Kevin Nash, Chris Jericho, Booker T, Lance Storm, William Regal, Dustin Rhodes/Goldust). Moreover, the former WCW wrestlers in WWE (with Stephanie), such as Benoit, the Guerrero’s, Big Show, Mysterio, Bill DeMott, etc. could publicly quit the McMahon’s and WWE and return to join WCW! It would really be dramatic if WWE could schedule RAW and Nitro live from nearby locations, such as Madison Square Garden in New York and the Meadowlands in NJ- that way the defecting WWE stars could appear on the beginning of a live RAW and make their way to finish up with Bischoff on Nitro on the SAME NIGHT! This way, WCW would be able to maintain at least some degree of its history with its old stars, as opposed to simply splitting the current WWE roster in half. Additional ex-“Alliance” guys from ECW, such as Rob Van Dam, Rhyno, Tommy Dreamer, and the Dudleyz could be thrown into WCW as well to add depth. Plus, Bischoff could secure the “free agent” rights to his buddy “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan to return to WCW to “screw” Vince McMahon one more time! Austin would be the one mainstay WWE performer on Nitro so as to make sure to attract some of the hardcore WWE viewers to the “new” WCW. Moreover, Austin’s real-life heat with Triple-H could be averted by putting Austin in WCW.

 

As a result, the new rosters and shows would look something like this:

 

WWE

 

RAW- Monday 9:00, TNN

 

Smackdown- Thursday 8:00, TNN

 

The Rock

 

Triple-H

 

Shawn Michaels

 

Brock Lesnar

 

Undertaker

 

Kurt Angle

 

Kane

 

Edge

 

Batista

 

Three Minute Warning

 

Jeff Hardy

 

Matt Hardy

 

Christian

 

Randy Orton

 

Test

 

A-Train

 

John Cena

 

B-2

 

Rico

 

Crash Holly

 

Hardcore Holly

 

Billy Gunn

 

Rikishi

 

Mark Henry

 

Val Venis

 

Maven

 

Bradshaw

 

D’Lo Brown

 

Christopher Nowinski

 

Nidia

 

Trish Stratus

 

Victoria

 

Lita

 

Jazz

 

Jacqueline

 

Paul Heyman

 

Stephanie McMahon

 

Vince McMahon

 

WCW

 

Nitro-Monday 8:00, MTV

 

Sunday Night- Sunday, 7:00, MTV

 

Hulk Hogan

 

Steve Austin

 

Ric Flair

 

Scott Steiner

 

Kevin Nash

 

Chris Benoit

 

Chris Jericho

 

Booker T

 

Big Show

 

Eddie Guerrero

 

Rob Van Dam

 

Chavo Guerrero

 

Chuck Palumbo

 

Rey Mysterio Jr.

 

Jamie Noble

 

Nunzio

 

Hurricane

 

Shannon Moore

 

Dustin Rhodes (Goldust)

 

Tajiri

 

Torrie Wilson

 

Dawn Marie

 

Stacy Kiebler

 

Molly Holly

 

Sean O’Haire

 

Johnny Stamboli

 

Bill DeMott

 

Justin Credible

 

Lance Storm

 

William Regal

 

Dudley Boyz

 

Spike Dudley

 

Raven

 

Steven Richards

 

Eric Bischoff

 

This way, the WCW maintains sort of an “old” WCW feel to it, while also maintaining quite enough namepower in Hogan, Austin, Steiner, Jericho, and Flair (plus there is always the possible return of Goldberg) to combat WWE’s power guys in Triple-H, Rock, Lesnar, HBK, and Angle. Moreover, WCW should be made to look like the old WCW, with the old TV set, the same dark backdrop, the same ring, ropes, etc. to truly make WCW Nitro and Sunday Night look different from WWE RAW and Smackdown. Really make them look like they are different companies, even if they are all owned by WWE Corporate. Bischoff could bring back Tony Schiavone and Dave Penzer to give WCW its old feel.

 

Moreover, one might say that Vince McMahon would be crazy to put two of his brands up against one another at the same time, but remember, that was what truly stirred competition. That was when RAW was drawing a 7.0 while WCW was drawing close to a 5.0 at the same time. Now, RAW and Smackdown each can’t crack 4.0 on its own. The competition would spur on the writing teams, it would create better storylines. TNN would be portrayed as WWE’s channel while MTV would be WCW; however World Wrestling Entertainment and Viacom corporate would together bring home all the profits. As for the Pay-Per-Views, they could be split up as follows:

 

January WWE Royal Rumble

 

February WCW Super Brawl

 

March WWE WrestleMania

 

April WCW War Games

 

May WWE King of the Ring

 

June WCW Great American Bash

 

July WWE Summer Slam

 

August WCW Fall Brawl

 

September WWE No Mercy

 

October WCW Halloween Havoc

 

November WWE Survivor Series

 

December WCW Starrcade

 

This way, each brand has 2 months to promote their own PPV’s and the PPV events themselves will suddenly not seem so stale. Moreover, Vince could always have the option to do a crossover event every so often if he chose. If done properly, this angle could really re-create the WWE-WCW wars, this time with each brand starting on an equal plane. WWE Corporate could market WWE and WCW as different companies, with different web sites and promotions, while taking in all the profits at the top. As a matter of fact, WCW might actually have the initial advantage as they would be a novelty again and WWE fans would flip to see what was happening, as well as checking out the returning stars Hogan and Austin, who have also yet to square off one-on-one. WWE vs. WCW would create the feel that RAW vs. Smackdown has lacked and I truly believe that this would kickstart wrestling back to where it once was.

 

 

 

----------

 

Now as for my thoughts.

 

I've been one of a few to keep pushing the idea of bringing back WCW, and in most cases when I bring this up people immediately think that WCW is dead and buried and there is no way for it to be taken seriously at this point. With the right people now in the company from the old WCW, it could happen, and most likely MUCH easier than it was attempted to last time.

 

The idea of Austin returning to join WCW and playing into the controvesry of him leaving last year was something I posted about here months ago and I think it would really work wonders. I don't agree with Hogan in WCW though, Hogan and WCW was something that just never went together to me, and he would be much better off in the WWE brand if this went down. I would actually put Lesnar or Angle in the WCW brand just because if they want to differentiate the brands and make WCW the more wrestling based one (which I would assume) you need one of those guys in there, most likely Angle. Obviously another point in all of this is that bringing in Goldberg full time would all but solidify WCW as seperate, IMO. You immediately build a Goldberg-Austin program long term in the WCW brand and I definately think you'd have some major interest level there.

 

I totally don't get though why he brings up having Smackdown dropped from UPN voluntarily. That would be a ridiculous move on so many levels. What would be so bad with just keeping it on there? I don't know if WCW on MTV would work either, but considering the other options, I think that would be the best to make the brand split at least SEEM more legit and competitive. Too bad Viacom doesn't have some other side cable network of some kind, oh well.

 

The whole key here is seperation and competition, and to do that, not only would each brand have to be on a different network (or UPN and TNN with the WWE) and exclusively, but McMahon would HAVE TO give the reigns of the WCW brand to someone else to run, no questions asked. The first guy that comes to mind is Jim Ross as an executive producer of sorts, perhaps helping with booking but not full out. This position I would give to Heyman and Bischoff. Ross could just oversee everything much like Vince has always done in the WWE.

 

It would be a major risk but shit, what other options do they have left? Plus the fact of the matter is they spent a few million at least to get the WCW brand (not to mention the ex-WCW talent they've brought in through the past year and most likely will in the future), so they gotta at least give it a reasonable shot to make it succeed one more time. The last time just wasn't even close to a legitimate try, if you ask me.

 

I'd also change up the ppv scheme a lil bit how this guy had it, in fact the lineup PhillyDogg has for the year ppv schedule sounds pretty good to me.