Guest Dazed Report post Posted May 25, 2004 WWE's creative department have taken a lot of crap over the last few years (deservedly or not, I don't want to get into that here), but one thing that really stands out is how they have a tendency to rework the same storyline points over and over. For example, the Evil Heel General Manager. This came about because of Vince's huge success in the role, and has been reprised by Eric Bischoff, Paul Heyman, Kurt Angle and so on. Booking faces into matches where they are at a clear disadvantage, granting favours to heels and so on, it's something that has been worn into the ground. Also, "you're suspended / arrested". All it serves to do is to get rid of the face for the rest of the night, and then create a pop when they "surprisingly" return later that night / the next week / two weeks later. There's never any repercussions or anything from them. In a similar vein, "you're... FIIIIREDDD". No, you're not. Nobody ever is. You'll come back soon, and everyone knows it. Nobody buys the line at all, and it inevitably leads to that bloody "na na na-na-na-na hey hey hey, go-od-bye" song. Any more...? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kardo 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 It's all about the arrested face. It happens once to every face champion. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Loss Report post Posted May 25, 2004 The Highlight Reel segment leading to a match after they clear the ring. Waiting for someone in the parking lot and inadvertently attacking the wrong person first. Eric Bischoff's existence. A wrestler's music playing every time they make an entrance, even if it's to do a run-in or save. Ghost cameramen. Backstage segments. Dueling promos. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ace309 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 Wacky Tag Partners Who Hate Each Other. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Salacious Crumb Report post Posted May 25, 2004 The evil GM. I'm sorry but this is such a lazy plot device. It worked ONCE for Austin, those days are over with. HHH/HBK. Most people were bored with this in 2002 and in May/June of 2004 the damned feud is still going on. Young kid wants a chance. John Cena, Eugene to a degree, Paul London, Spanky, Randy Orton and probably a couple I can't remember have all basically debuted this way. DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT!!! Suspended/Fired/Retired. Give it up already. Everyone knows it never sticks for more than a few months so stop insulting my intelligence with it. Racism. HHH, Orton and Bradshaw have all whipped this one out in the last year. Facing off with a minority always seems to bring the race card up. Ron Killings in TNA is the exception to the rule though. Odd Couple Tag Team Champs. This seems to happen with all the champs in the WWF now. Rico/Haas, Booker/RVD, etc. Gay people are evil or whacky. Vince seems to have a real hardon for this as we've had repeated gay gimmicks in a short period of time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Robfather 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 Rehashes of the Montreal Screwjob Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haVoc 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 I can't stand the damn face gets arrested storyline. Especially when it happens to the same guy more then once. Ref bumps need to be put to rest for a while along with wrestler comes out on ramp, dumbass turns around and then gets rolled up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fro 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 Gotta be the magical ghost cameramen... that's another fun thing about OVW is that there's an explanation for the camera being there (someone pulls the camera in a locker room to cut a promo, someone notices the cameraman and kicks him out after a few seconds, or we get footage a "fan" shot in the parking lot of an heel attack, for a few examples). It's not that hard to do. Evil heel authority figures are way too cliched now. A good heel stable (like Evolution) can perform the same functions as far as getting heat. Arrest angles are pretty stale. Music and Titantrons magically playing for everyone's entrance/run-in, even if it's someone completely new or a surprise comeback. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
edotherocket 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 Matt Hardy and Lita's on-screen relationship. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Dynamite Kido Report post Posted May 25, 2004 I HATE the evil foreigners. Honestly, when did Canada become America's most hated country? NEVER. It didn't make a lot of sense when they did it with the Hart Foundation stuff(even though it wasn't bad), but they keep doing it to this day. This angle doesn't really work well unless it was the cartoony 80's WWF where ALL FANS WERE MARKS(not every single fan, but the majority). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RavishingRickRudo 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 JR-("King, I'm not a")-Professional Wrestler Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jester 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 Question: has a HEEL ever been arrested? I can't remember ever seeing that happen, but it might be something a little different. I would think it would work particularly well with a wily, cheating face like Eddie. Imagine if Bradshaw went through some elaborate plan to discredit Eddie, only to have Eddie pull a fast one and get Bradshaw hauled out of the arena in cuffs while Eddie mocks him. Or did this actually happen on Smackdown? I haven't been watching it lately, I don't think anyone need guess why. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
edotherocket 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 The Mountie got arrested. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kahran Ramsus 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 Bra&Panties/Evening Dress/Bikini/Lingerie/Whatever type matches, especially with Lawler announcing. Six years have passed since they started them and not only have we seen it all before, but most of the audience from back then that was interested in them to begin with has moved on to porn. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Loss Report post Posted May 25, 2004 Matches are becoming really cliched. Do we have to have them on every show? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Salacious Crumb Report post Posted May 25, 2004 Matches are becoming really cliched. Do we have to have them on every show? Looks like Vince and JR have hijacked Loss' account. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RavishingRickRudo 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 In the same vein, do they really need the ring there? I mean, jeezuz, they've been doing that whole "ropes" and "turnbuckle" and "mat" thing FOREVER. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AlwaysPissedOff 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 Question: has a HEEL ever been arrested? I can't remember ever seeing that happen, but it might be something a little different. You know, I always wondered why no police arrested HHH for openly admitting he committed assault on HBK back when they first started this retched feud. Or why no one arrested Kane for admitting to involuntary manslaughter and molesting a corpse(is that an actual crime? I forget). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
reign 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 Tables that shatter when looked out the wrong way....and the fact that nobody can do any actual wrestling moves any more like variations of the pile-driver and high impact moves...most of the roster's moveset is pretty tired. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Loss Report post Posted May 25, 2004 In the same vein, do they really need the ring there? I mean, jeezuz, they've been doing that whole "ropes" and "turnbuckle" and "mat" thing FOREVER. Not to mention the whole "live crowd" thing. They've only been doing that for 100 years. Not tired at all. Nope. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RavishingRickRudo 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 Ok, here's what I'm thinkin. THUNDERDOME shell on the outside; complete with announcers, fans, wrestlers etc, hanging off of it, BLOODSPORT-style curved mat in the center; along with a throne for McMahon & Co to sit on. The mat is surrounded by trampolines and explosives... which may or may not be covered in barbedwire and thumbtacks. There will also be bungee chords, where the opponents can hook themselves up and go at it American Gladiator style. This whole "ring" (AKA "BATTLEZONE ZERO!") will be floating on a body of water. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BHK 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 In the same vein, do they really need the ring there? I mean, jeezuz, they've been doing that whole "ropes" and "turnbuckle" and "mat" thing FOREVER. that was quite amusing. and I agree with the montreal screwjob. Vince needs to stop fedding his own ego, or whatever re-creating it does for him. It's even worse when they do it and they're not actually in montreal. It worked brilliantly at the 98 Survivor Series with Rock/Foley(the last truly shocking turn I saw in WWE) but jeez, let it die already. To add my own, it was brought up by someone in another thread, but they need to stop using the same tag formula for EVERY tag match. Face in peril/hot tag ALL the time has gotten incredibly stale. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Loss Report post Posted May 25, 2004 Rudo, I'm in tears! Perhaps WCW was ahead of its time by trying to drive away fans. Fans have been around since wrestling begun and they were just trying for a fresh approach by turning them off to the product. It's too bad they'll never get credit for such a daring approach. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haVoc 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 TNA picked up right where WCW left off with their 6 sided ring. I mean, c'om! 4 sided rings are so 1900's. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RavishingRickRudo 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 This "no fans" approach has captured my interest. When I think about it, if there are no fans to watch it, then they could just insert their own cheers and chants and make every show an off-the-charts event. Hell, they don't even have to have actual wrestlers in there! CGI those bastards up and have them go at it in BATTLEZONE ZERO. Think of it, if the wrestlers aren't real, then there are no salaries, no injuries, no drug addictions, no quitting... well, I mean, they'd have to provide voices/grunts/trash talking, and do live promos, but other than that, it might cut down on expenses. Why, they could just loop the Ric Flair program over and over again and no one will be the wiser! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
humongous2002 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 Make it into an octagon ring and everybody will be happy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Loss Report post Posted May 25, 2004 This was an honest to God idea Kevin Nash expressed in an interview with Wrestleline shortly after the sell of WCW. I went to them about four months ago and said 'Why don't we do this: since it's a work, why not have 12 rows deep of people, and put green screens around them. Computer digitize the whole thing. Do it front of 400 people in the building, pay them $50. Now you go into your archives, take your beauty shots from different arenas, and tonight - from the studio, do the show. Why don't you just say you're in Tibet? Everything's a work, why can't that be a work? Now you put in a sound stage with your sets - commissioner's office, locker room. It becomes a television show, and that's what it is. The reaction to this idea was like I was speaking f*cking Latin. What I tried to explain to them was the reason why people don't watch our shows? Because the production quality is so bad, it makes everything else that shitty. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RavishingRickRudo 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 Wow. Just... I won't even get into the whole green screening thing, but SPENDING $20,000 (per show?) for fans to come in and cheer - which goes against the business model wrestling has been based on for a century (that is, the gate) - is absolutely, postively, without-a-doubt, fucking, brilliant! I mean, MY idea had the BATTLEZONE ZERO stage on a boat so it could move around from port-to-port and put on shows, but this idea... THIS IDEA... is so fresh and original and savvy that it can't fail. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Damaramu 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 A heel has been arrested once as far as I know. Steve Austin had Vince and Co. arrested one time.....that's about it.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dark Age 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2004 And yet Nash still wouldn't job in that environment. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
