WWE: We never have off-seasons

[Gert T 0]

I'm sure this has been debated before, but I am wondering if it would be beneficial. Maybe 8 weeks off, not even really that long. That way there would still be the big 4 PPV's and 3 brand exclusive PPV's

 

Possible Pro's

 

Rest & recouperation - For the wrestlers sake's 8 weeks off would work wonders for them physically, the rest would probably raise morale too.

 

Writers - While the writing has been bad lately, if they had more time to create ideas and less hours to fill it may get better.

 

Fans Anticipation - If the fans know the "season finale" is coming up soon it may generate a lot of interest, and if they finish strong, many will be ready to come back.

 

Marketing - By showing reruns in the 2 month space, they can haved themed shows, or show edit shows to take out what didn't work the first time. Maybe tape vignettes talking about the upcoming "season".

 

More training time for OVW - With the two months off it will give the rookies more to wrestle and polish their mic skills.

 

 

Possible Con's

 

Losing 2 PPV's - Obviously this is one as the McMahons would not like to lose money that is always there.

 

Independent Contractors - With a lot of the wrestlers having contracts with the %'s of house show sales, they lose about 40 days of potential pay, not to mention PPV bonuses they lose.

 

Fan Interest - This gets a bit clouded as people will watch re-runs of shows, but hardly anyone watches a replay of a sports game. And without a new product for a long time, there could be people that wouldn't come back.

 

 

Well, I gotta run, and I'm not really sure if it would work, but I do not think it could hurt right now.

[jester 0]

I think that they are better off being continual.

 

If you give people a break from wrestling, they might realize they don't need it.

 

Especially with the product in its current state.

 

This way, a constant source keeps the habit fed.

[haVoc 0]

Time off could be a great & bad thing. Some guys you know would continue to take care of themselves. Work out, rehab, put on weight or take some off and just heel up old nagging injuries.

 

See; Benoit, Jericho, Eddie, Angle, etc.

 

Others would come back out of shape, way over weight and even more addictive to alcohol and drugs then before since they had all the free time at home.

 

See; Big Show, Bradshaw, Austin and even Stephanie McMahon.

[Styles 0]

Highly in favor of it. If you haven't read Ken Anderson of 411's columns on how to save wrestling this is his top idea:

 

10. Give Wrestling an off-season:

 

The biggest problem in wrestling today is overexposure. One of the main reasons the general public lost favor with wrestling so early into it's boom period to begin with was overexposure. This is the reason that the last wrestling boom lasted only two and a half years, as opposed to the six to eight year boom that Hogan initiated. There's only so long you can watch the Rock come out three times a week, spout off the same catch-phrases, and have it remain fresh. We've seen it all.

 

Both current brands reek of stagnation.

 

I haven't watched RAW or Smackdown regularly in almost a year. I catch bits and pieces if I'm home, and if not, it's not the end of the world. Maybe I'll read a recap, maybe I won't.

 

In the last twelve months, nothing has really happened on either RAW or Smackdown. You could easily miss four or five weeks here or there and literally not miss a THING. A far cry from the "Anything can happen in the WWF" days.

 

The brand-split, designed in large part to alleviate the repetitive nature of WWE storylines, has actually made the problem even worse. The Smackdown main event scene hasn't changed ONE BIT in the last year and a half. That's pathetic. That's lifeless. That's going to kill the brand. The same goes for RAW. We've all watched nearly TWO HUNDRED hours of "WWE action" in the last eighteen months, and it's all been the EXACT SAME THING.

 

In order to keep things fresh, wrestling needs an off-season.

 

Here's the best way for that to happen:

 

-Summerslam will be the "season finale" for the WWE. Huge feuds will be blown off, cliff-hangers will arise, and the WWE will say goodbye until the Fall.

 

-For the next two months, WWE reruns, specials, and whatever else the networks see fit will air in the place of the regular programming. Wrestlers will be given a desperately needed opportunity to slow down, allow nagging injuries to heal, spend time with their families, and just generally recharge their batteries in order to have the ability to go full-force when things resume.

 

Meanwhile, WWE creative will use the time off to brainstorm, create great new angles for the fall "season," scout new talent, and carefully evaluate the current roster. They will also have the much needed chance to think things out and make intelligent, long-term decisions about angles, rosters, and talent.

 

In mid-to-late October, the WWE will go live with a massively promoted "season premier," resolving old issues, posing new questions, and introducing fresh talent and angles immediately.

 

Instead of going head-to-head with Monday Night Football and Friends with a stagnant, tired product, Vince will be directly competing with the fall lineup by presenting fresh ideas, new faces, hot wrestling-hungry crowds, and infinite hope.

 

We, as fans, need time off. We need to crave wrestling again.

 

Seinfeld, Friends, ER, and even NFL football would be dead if their fanbases never had time to stop, catch their breathe, and truly desire fresh, new television.

 

I haven't had a week off of the WWE product in 17 years. It's no wonder it seems so stale and lifeless.

 

In order to survive, wrestling needs an off-season.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

I wouldn't be in favor of an "off season", however you could cycle guys off TV and house shows to give them a break & keep them fresh. Give wrestlers X, Y, Z some time off - lets them get some time off, while others keep working. X, Y, Z come back, and then A, B, C get some time off.

 

Much better that way - only a few guys at a time miss getting paid (maybe give them a minimum amount), plus you can build up anticipation when they're ready to come back.

 

The last thing you want is somebody getting really over w/ the fans, only to have the WWE shut down for a few months.

 

EDIT: I should mention Loss4Words (among others) is a big proponent of staggering the off-time, so this is basically his (and their) idea (lest I be accused of ripping anyone off).

Edited November 3, 2003 by Spaceman Spiff

[the pinjockey 0]

I think an offseason would be a good idea. At first I though about jester's point (people might realize they dont need it), but I think the rut they are in now needs solving. At this rate they are going to stay in the 3.0-3.9 ratings range forever. Is there a chance people will tune out? Yes. But I think you need to take the gamble and come back fresh.

 

It should result in better matches due to people being healthier.

 

As well as giving new guys a built in reason to care about them. With a season set up you could present the new guys as actual rookies, like in regular sports. Instead of just having them appear out of nowhere, with no purpose, this gives people at least some reason to care. Look at regular sports, people are interested to see the incoming rookies, see how they do, see who ends up Rookie of the Year.

[jester 0]

I prefer the idea of cycling guys around.

 

Another reason you can't do an off season is because what would the lowcarders do all that time? They get paid to wrestle and if they're not doing it, they're unemployed.

 

The big stars could handle two months without wrestling income (and could probably get it elsewhere anyway, like with a movie role), but what would guys like Shannon Moore do?

 

Unless Vince allowed them to work TNA or Indie gigs...

[Jobber of the Week 0]

To me, September and October always bring the worst in angles and workers. It's like the writers run out of clues.

 

If they truly split things they could have each brand have an off period at different times keeping the product in everyone's minds without it being overexposed.

[the pinjockey 0]

Part of their contracts is guaranteed, isn't it? So that should provide a paycheck during time off. I would let them wrestle minimally, maybe like one indy show a week. I want them getting healthy.

 

And the problem with cycling is they are struggling for star power as it is. I don't know if they could get people out, without ending the split.

[Austin3164life 0]

It would be a risky thing. Something that is that major of a change might make the WWE fall on their faces. I'm not sure, with the creative team that's operating as of now, they could pull it off. It sounds like a promising idea though.

[Vyce 0]

I think offseasons are a BAD idea.

 

For us hardcore fans, we will ALWAYS watch the product, so if the WWE goes on hiatus for a couple months, most of us will come back when it does.

 

But that's us.

 

I'm of the absolute opinion that if it was every done the casual fans would go away and many would STAY away.

[{''({o..o})''} 0]

An off-season would pretty much be the stupidest damn thing that they could do. The 3.6-4.0 audience they get are, for the most part, in a routine of watching wrestling. If you change that routine, and force them to find other avenues of entertainment, you will not get them back. Wrestling has relied on an episodeic format that is different from any other TV show, leave enough open possiblities to try to get people watching constantly.

 

WWE breeds the practice of making fans forget what happened a month past and there is no reason to believe that they would remember any storylines or any feuds that had been started. Plus there is the factor of lack of show revenue, slipping merchendice sales due to lack of exposure, and the resulting ringrust that would be quite obvious if they weren't able to wrestle any indie dates. If anything a cycle would be a good idea in theory, but then again, so would Communism.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

I think doing tours like Japan would be better for them. Still have shows every week but tape them pretty far in advance. The other advantage to this is if guys get hurt on a tour they won't miss as much tv time.

[Gert T 0]

I guess the reason I thought about this is (and sorry I hadn't seen Ken Anderson's article) was that I know I haven't seen any WWE for 9 weeks now as I've been going out for MNF and Thursdays. With Survivor Series I am getting a little excited, but really not enough to watch the shows every week. And I am a hardcore fan, I just haven't been interested to watch from what I read.

 

Cycling does sound pretty good too, but I have a feeling when guys get hot they would jump the gun and bring them back.

 

I think the real key is no matter what the WWE does they have to have patience, there will be early struggles in any plan, but you have to ride the course.

[Guest Brian]

I think it works better as a continuous thing. You get momentum, you keep going with it. You have to bank on what is generally a shorter attention span, and losing time wouldn't work. If guys get house shows off, they lose money there plus don't get a chance to practice with their opponents.

[cynicalprofit 0]

ive always said a cycle would be good because it gives time for multiple guys to shine and allows guys to heal up. i mean right after ur 3 month feud with whoever u can slip away and take some time off and heal up and come back fresh.

[Guest Duncan Eternia]

I think that they are better off being continual.

 

If you give people a break from wrestling, they might realize they don't need it.

 

Especially with the product in its current state.

 

This way, a constant source keeps the habit fed.

Yep...WWE is like crack!

[Guest Kamui]

I can't believe no one's brought this idea up yet- with two seperate brands, why not do two seperate two-month offseaons for each one? So while RAW's on its off-season, Smackdown is still running, and vice-versa. That seems like the best way to do it, at least to me. You get all the pros of having an off-season without the big, negative con (no new product).

 

-I'm not here

[The Czech Republic 0]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

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HHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOW MANY MORE OFFSEASON THREADS CAN THIS FORUM TAKE???

[Slayer 0]

HOW MANY MORE OFFSEASON THREADS CAN THIS FORUM TAKE???

Maybe TSM will get an offseason of it's own...

 

...<looks around>

[The Czech Republic 0]

HOW MANY MORE OFFSEASON THREADS CAN THIS FORUM TAKE???

Maybe TSM will get an offseason of it's own...

 

...<looks around>

If you want an offseason from TSM, all you have to do is go to UGS. In fact I recommend it so that Banky n' Friends stop post-whoring about the damn place.

[{''({o..o})''} 0]

If you want an offseason from TSM, all you have to do is go to UGS. In fact I recommend it so that Banky n' Friends stop post-whoring about the damn place.

 

Hey, we don't post whore...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

+1

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

A Wrestling Off Season?

 

 

April 26,2003

This subject has been coming up a lot lately. I’ve received email as well as comment board posts about it, so I figured I would look at some of the plus and minuses involved with a Wrestling “Off Season”. Wrestling is really the only sport, which does not have a designated season, and thus a corresponding off-season. Is this Good or Bad? I honestly don’t know. I can see both sides of the argument and the most important factor (the effect on business can only be speculated)

 

Business: How would down time effect the wrestling industry? Wrestling having 51 weeks of original programming (recap show between Xmas and New Years) is obviously a big attraction to our network. Giving this up for an off-season is a huge financial down turn from a TV stand point. Even a 2 or 3 month off-season would create a 8-15 week void in programming and a huge cut in ad revenue and sponsorships. This is something that often gets over looked when an off-season is mentioned. As far as ratings and arena attendeance, there are two possibilities. An off-season may rejuvenate an audience. Fans can get burned out watching each week, forever, with no break. This may be the cause of the cyclical nature of our industry.

 

Fans may get tired of keeping up every week and simply tune out, and effectively create their own off-season. With a definite season, anticipation of each new season may remain strong as well as a fans willingness to stick it out through each full season. (I was always so excited about the start of the new Saturday Nights Main Event season as a kid) The opposite effect might also be true. People are creatures of habit. A couple months off without wrestling and fans may find other interests and be less apt to tune in next year. Out of site out of mind is definitely a possibility.

 

This is a huge gamble in that rejuvenation, should it occur, might only make up for the loss during the off-season. (Booming business for 9 months may not be better than 12 months of decent business). If rejuvenation does not occur you’ve cut your revenue 25 % and risk fans finding other interests in the off-season. Head you lose, tails you break even. (I’m not sure I flip that coin)

 

The Boys: An off-season definitely sounds like a plus from the boys standpoint; a definite break in the travel schedule to be with our families and rest our bodies. Truth is however even that statement is only true on the surface and may not be a definite plus. While I’ll be the first to admit that having an off-season to spend with my family each year would be great, there is a huge price for this. If we don’t work for 2-3 months each year we are going to be making less money. 3 months of is a 25 % decrease in the number of events we work. (You didn’t think the office was just going to keep paying us as if we were working 4 shows a week did you). If I earn 25% less each year I’m going to have to extend my career in order to make that up and be able to retire. A longer career is then going to take me away from my family again (a double edged sword). Now granted if the off-season rejuvenates our fan base and keeps the other 9 months “hot” the 25 % figure may be reduced (Huge speculation here).

 

Injuries and our Health: Now this has to be a no brainer, right? An off-season would definitely be good for your body. Even this isn’t completely true. Now granted after just having last week off my body feels 100 times better, but 3 months is a long time and wrestling has a weird effect on your body. There is this strange 2-3 week time period that your body has for adjustment. When I first started working full time (everyday) I thought I was going to die. Everyday my body got sorer and sorer. After a week or 2 my body was killing me I didn’t think I could go on. Miraculously somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd week, I just got used to it. Your body develops some kind of callus and stops feeling every little ache and pain.

 

The same can be said for time off after working full time. If I take an extended break from work (I did between ECW and WCW and again between WCW and WWE) my back started to ache like crazy. After about 3 weeks my whole body ached like you wouldn’t believe. After constant abuse your body puts up some kind of shield against it. When the abuse stops so does your body’s ability to ignore it. (I can’t explain it but I’m not the only one of the boys to experience this) I’ve been working for 13 years now at least 10 to 11 of that full time and I’m still in pretty good shape. I’m not completely sure dealing with ring rust, and re-callusing my body each year would be less painful than just working year round, especially when you consider my career would likely have to be longer.

 

All in all it sounds like I’m against the idea of an off-season, which I don’t think I am. I’m just afraid of change and the unknown. I’m pretty happy with my career and the way things are going. Anything that “may” have a negative effect on that scares me. If an off-season rejuvenation would occur and business would be consistently hotter over the shorter annual season, then it would definitely be good. Annual incomes would not decrease, careers would not be lengthened by necessity, and perhaps dealing with ring rust and re-callusing my body would be worth the time at home with family.

 

The thing is, it’s such a huge if. If it had no effect or even a detrimental effect on interest a down cycle year would be financial ruin for the boys and the elusive year of retirement would be farther away than “Bin Laden/Hussein Appreciation Day” in the US.

 

Till next week

Lance Storm