What Would YOU Do?

[The Dames 0]

Alright...everyone knows that the product is in serious trouble. Ratings are down, house attendance figures are in the toilet these days...and it doesn't seem like things are getting any better.

 

A lot of people on the internet think that they can fix the problems plaguing the promotion and turn it around. The bottom line is, that company is being mismanaged internally and no one will really have an opportunity to take a long term approach to turning things around.

 

So I direct this question to you.

 

Assume the company were to hire YOU on the WWE Creative Team, but on a trial basis up until Wrestlemania 21. Since you're only a member of the team, not the head of it, you have limited input into the actual exectution of most angles and what really goes into the show.

 

Give me 5 to 10 examples of things you would do to turn things around before your trial on the Creative Team is over.

 

Keep in mind that you have to sell your ideas to upper management and the head of the writing staff, so I want detailed explanations as to why this would better the product. You have to make them believe it enough to have them go through with it. This is a BUSINESS, but it's a rather unique one, so play that up.

 

I'd like to see what you guys can come up with.

 

Dames

[iliketurtles 0]

These would be some of my ideas (off the top of my head):

 

I changed my thoughts...these are all ideas WITHOUT the brand extentsion ending and working with what we got right now, as of November 2004. Yes, there is rumors of the brand extentsion ending...but there was rumors of that 3 years ago when it started.

 

There is STILL money left to be made is this extentsion...

 

-Heavyweight Titles, Tag Titles will be unified. Titles are meaningless and they need to have credible champions with less belts floating around. When was the last time we've cared about the Tag Division? Late 2002. That needs to be fixed. I can't even remember who the tag champs are on either brands. I've a proposed Tag Title feud as well...read that below.

 

-Too many new guys have been developed on both shows and it's too much for the audience to handle. Look all the ones that have been this year:

 

Johnny Nitro, Mordecai, Nathan Jones, Matt Morgan, Carlito, Luther Reigns, Mark Jindrak, Heindirench, Eugene, Christy, Garrison Cade, Gene Snitsky, Simon Dean (Soon To Come), The Arab guy (Soon to Come), Tyson Tomko, Akio, Sokada, Doug Basham, Danny Basham, and probably more I've forgotten.

 

I mean...seriously. That's fucking insane. How do they expect the audience to actually care about these guys? It's too overwhelming. Most of them failed, too. They need to cut on making new stars and focus on the stars that are established right now.

 

-Have Booker win the Smackdown title from JBL at Survivor Series to start a feud with Kurt Angle that will end shortly before Wrestlemania. They had great matches in the summer of 2001, and this feud never really got jumpstarted. JBL's a failure at a main eventer player, and needs to be in a more realistic position: the midcard. Booker also may not be around for so such a long time, so it would be nice to give him one more big run.

 

-Build to a Shawn Michaels vs. the Rock program. Michaels has a few good matches left and I believe these are two of them. The Rock is good for a short term program going into Wrestlemania, and the odds are that HBK/Rock is only going to be able to happen for so long until it's no longer a dream match for the fans.

 

-Have Edge and Christian join Evolution, and build to a Benoit/Jericho vs. E&C feud going into Wrestlemania. It will immediately gain intrest into that brands title going into Backlash. Edge and Christian are both heels, and the idea has been foreshadowed to the fans. Evolution is short on members, and this would gain new intrest in that stable as well. You'd have the possibility of Evolution vs. Benoit/Jericho/Orton/Tajiri/Benjamin feud going into Wrestlemania.

 

-Have an Elimination Chamber on Raw. This is the type of match that people only expect on Pay Per View, but do you realize what it would be like to have on a live Raw? Instant fan interest. Have Bischoff announce it the night after Armageddon or something so it gives enough time to promote it and slow build to it. Prehaps the first Raw of 2005...and use the Elimination Chamber to promote the Evolution vs. RAW feud. This would also be a good time to promote the Pay Per View in P.R.

 

-Make Smackdown become live. It's at it's worst for ratings, the interest is in the shitter, it's treated as the 2nd tier show to Raw. That can't happen...they need to be on the same level if both are going to succeed. It's more money to produce live, but it's more intrest that could be created.

 

-Bring Shane McMahon back to manage any newer superstar on Raw. Shane's got a lot to offer, but not as a wrestler trying to defend his mother's honor like last year. When he was paired up with Benoit and a few other guys in 2000, it was kind of cool to watch. Maybe even have Shane join up with Evolution, but that might be a tad too much. His efforts could go towards someone who needs it, but make sure the guy deserves it. Example...Heyman (great manager) going with someone like Heidirench. He's no Brock Lesnar, as the fans can tell.

 

More to come...if I get time. But for now, that's all I got...in about a 15 minute time span, lol.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Are you looking for specific angles, or something broader in scope?

[The Dames 0]

Are you looking for specific angles, or something broader in scope?

Either or. Just 5-10 ideas that you think could help the business, whether it be from an angle standpoint, or changing the way matches are booked, etc. You're on the creative team, you have input, but you have to get it approved...

 

Dames

[The Dames 0]

Great start, HartFan. Just keep in mind that you have to sell these ideas to upper management, i.e The McMahon's, Triple H, Kevin Dunn..

 

Dames

[Guest MikeSC]

A few quickies:

 

--- Require people to get over by in-ring work before they get mic time. Nothing is worse than a guy who can talk well but can't work in the ring to save his life.

 

--- Keep the brand extension, no matter what. It doubles the possibilities of hitting a new guy as a star.

 

--- An annual PPV tournament between RAW and Smackdown could be money. Even better if you let a mid-carder win it.

 

--- Slash down the non-wrestling segments drastically. You're not very good at them right now, so seriously diminish them. No 20-minute promos. Fewer attempts at comedy. No Lita "acting".

-=Mike

[The Niggardly King 0]

1. Try to get them to go back to 12 PPV's a year. 1 for Raw, 1 for Smackdown, and then 1 big PPV with both brands.

 

2. Look into more thought out booking, that will lead to stuff that makes sense, and we see consistent character development.

 

3. Make Heat and Velocity seem more important.

 

4. Try to get a show seperate going for the Women's Division and Cruiser Divison.

 

More will come later.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

- Unify the World Title's, and Tag Titles to make belts more meaningful. Right now the world titles and tag team titles don't really mean shit. There is not enough tag teams in each divison to make a tag team divison on 1 brand.

 

- Push down Triple H after Wrestlemania 21. I know this will never happen, but HHH is really fucking stale right now. I had enough of him on my TV taking up so much air space. Take the title off him, ASAP and put him in a upper midcard fued, that doesn't take up so much air space.

 

- Go back to the orignal 12 PPV's, but make each of them both Smackdown and RAW brand like before.

 

- I like the idea of the Cruiserweight divison and the Womans divison on different brands. But they need to sign better workers for each divisons.

 

- On Smackdown side in the main event,..I would have John Cena come back at the Royal Rumble, and win the Royal Rumble. And goes on to beat the World Champion, Kurt Angle(won from Booker T at No Way Out) in the main event at Wrestlemania. In between Wrestlemania and No Way Out, John Cena would fued with Carlito Carribbean Cool.

 

- On the RAW side, Evolution would cost Randy Orton the Royal Rumble, causing Randy Orton's only chance to get a shot at the World Title. Eric Bischoff, sick of Evolution's antic's makes a match at Elimnation Chamber match to decide who faces HHH at Wrestlemania. Edge Vs. Chris Benoit Vs. Chris Jericho Vs. Gene Snitsky Vs. Batista Vs. Randy Orton. Meanwhile HHH fueds with Kane for the World Title. Orton wins the Elimnation Chamber, and goes on the beat HHH at Wrestlemania.

[JoeDirt 0]

1) Cut back on the amount of wrestling matches that go two segments. The casual fan doesn't want to watch a 20 minute match on TV, especially with little buildup. I love great wrestling just as much as you guys, but slow, long TV matches aren't the way to bring the fans back. Make the TV matches shorter (though not quite like crash TV with everything 2 minutes, more like 4-6 minutes), with a longer main event (10-15) each show.

 

2) Going along with #1, with a little less time for each match, this will allow time for more character development. Let's face it, we don't know anything about 90% of the characters in the WWE and have no reason to root for or against them. This has to change. I would propose going down the roster, both RAW and Smackdown, and giving each character a long term plan for the next six months at the very least, if not the next year. Decide where you want to go with characters, what type of character they will play, and then write segments to build that up and get that across to the fans. People will watch wrestling when they care about the characters, like any type of entertainment.

 

3) Work a little harder to make sure things make sense and don't insult the long time viewer. For example, why should the fans be expected to boo Kurt Angle for shaving the Big Show's head but forget about Show chokeslamming Angle on concrete? Things like that need to be avoided at all costs. The fans aren't as stupid as you think, and giving them a product that is intelligent instead of dumbed down will do great good.

 

4) Work on establishing CHARACTERS over GIMMICKS. Gimmicks may get a reaction at first, but they are so flimsy it doesn't get the fan to invest in the product long term. People watched back in the day because they cared about Austin, Rock, etc. They booed Vince because he was a great heel boss character, not some flimsy cardboard angry heel. Get rid of all the stupid gimmicks and once again, work on creating a CHARACTER for each guy on the roster.

 

5) Put talent in positions where they can succeed. If a guy is great in the ring but not on the mic, give him a manager and let the manager do the talking while stressing how great the guy is in the ring. If a guy isn't good in the ring but can talk, utilize that.

 

6) Do something so that regular TV matches matter. Whether it's a ranking system or keeping track of win/loss records, make it seem more realistic and the fans will respond to that.

 

7) Bring back King of the Ring, and make the finals of it a RAW vs. Smackdown match each year.

 

More to come when I think of them...

[cynicalprofit 0]

First and foremost I'd survey the wrestlers. Who do you want to work with, and when that questions answered, work storylines around that. Happy workers are better workers.

 

Fix the brand extension. I think its a good idea, but its been mismanaged. Treat it like a real competition. Have the McMahon show and the other one being Heymans, or someone not McMahon named. And let them do a different product. Hell give them something to do with Heat to make it interesting.

 

Wrestlings lost its ability to suprise you. We need to bring that back. An unexpected, needs to win the Rumble for start.

 

Other people besides the ME people need character development. Instead of having a 20 minute interview that doesn't do much, shave it to 10 minutes and use that additional time for someone else to develope.

 

Less PPVs. I know it doesn't sound smart, but you can charge more for less ppvs in the long run. Where as in the long run, people will just find something else to do isntead of spending 34.95 a month on a ppv. It also gives more time to let fueds develope.

 

Take Tough Enough off the show. While the Puder(sp) was cool, showing the show is that fake isn't a good thing.

 

Invest more in OVW. If thats where you're stars are gonna start, take better care of it.

[Guest Coffey]

Well, the VERY first thing that I would suggest would be less Pay-Per-View shows per year. A lot less actually. PPV's no longer seem important. Especially when you can just tune into Raw the day after and find out all the results. Not to mention you might even get a rematch! They cost $35, and there's one about every two weeks. It's like the PPV's are what Raw and Smackdown should be!

 

I'd propose dropping the number of PPV shows a year drastically. Say, from fourteen...to four. Just like how it used to be. I believe the only article that I ever had published on TSM talked about this...and that was MONTHS ago. Hell, that was back when WWF first changed their name to WWE!

 

Use the airtime to build up to PPV's. Not just "Hey, we have a match...and you hate him...so you should pay $35 to see if I can beat him" either. Elaborate storylines that playout over time and have a finish. Clear cut winners and losers. Advancement of storylines, etc. Make people WANT to watch the PPV. Make them special again!

• Royal Rumble - Should be like how it used to be. A 30 man over-the-top-rope battle royal as the main event...but don't be giving away the entrants numbers early. That's part of the appeal of the Rumble. Show the wrestlers on TV drawing their numbers, then let them tell us through emotion and facial expressions whether the number was high or low. We could have pre-Rumble promo's like they used to do. The high numbers should matter a lot more too. Has a number thirty EVER won? I know that the number one slot has won the whole damn thing more than once, but has number thirty ever won? I don't know how I feel about the winner going on to get a title shot at Wrestlemania either. I liked it when, in 1992, Ric Flair won the Rumble and he was the WWF Champion because of it. There was no "well, guess he's number one contender" BS. If you beat 29 other people...you shouldn't have to PROVE yourself one more time. Besides, if you know the winner is going on to headline Wrestlemania, that takes away the opportunity for non-main eventers to win the Rumble. They should return to two minute intervals too. They jump around a lot with the times nowadays. The only problem with this is it would seem unfair to the current champion. They'd have to know what they were up against beforehand though. That's part of being the champion.

• Wrestlemania - It still works for me. It's the big blowoff PPV where the majority of babyfaces go over. I don't really think it needs to be four hours long, nor does it need to cost more than the other PPVs.

• SummerSlam - the show that should define the year. The start of all BIG storylines and fueds. That's what it should be. Not just random matches that we seen about six months ago for free on Smackdown.

• Survivor Series - It should still be teams of four against opposing teams of four. The non-eliminated wrestlers go on to a battle royal at the end of the night to determine the "sole survivor." Ideally, I'd like the last survivor to get something, but I can't think of what. IC title maybe? That'd require the belt to be prestigious again however. Now, if the IC title holder was considered the #1 contender to the WWF title again. I'd put this PPV back on the day before Thanksgiving too. Who says PPV's always have to be on Thanksgiving?

That's it! That's the four PPV's that I'd have. People may dispute this by saying that WWE makes too much money off of the PPV's. Well, when you think about it, that's not really true. Especially with attendance and ratings down. Not as many people watch or attend, so they lose a lot of money there. They still have to pay for the arena and all the set-up and the live feed and all that shit though. They still have to give the wrestlers PPV paydays. So really, dropping the number of PPV's right now might be a good idea. At least it'd be more beneficial now than it would've been during a boom period.

 

The roster doesn't really matter. Good writers and some continuity can hide flaws. Paul Heyman pretty much proved that ANYONE can get over. Of course, with bad workers a blow-off match won't be as good as it could be with someone else, but it might be backseat to a storyline/angle anyway. Especially if a lot of charisma is shown. If it's a heel, they can hide behind cheating too. So, it doesn't really have to always be Chris Benoit Vs. Eddie Guerrero with Chris Jericho as the special referee.

 

With less PPV's, they'd seem like bigger events.

 

:: And of course people still shit all over it and talk about how "it can't work because WWE won't make enough money." Well, they have fourteen fucking PPV's a year right fucking now and they're losing a piss-fuck-ton of money. They can't cut anymore fucking corners, because they're all rounded already. They have to try something. Maybe interest would raise, attendance and ratings would grow and merchandise sales would increase. They wouldn't have to pay for as many PPV arenas to be set-up or for live PPV cable feed, etc. Who fucking knows, maybe they'd PROFIT from it? God forbid. ::

[iliketurtles 0]

Here's my thought on the ideas of PPVs...No Mercy and Taboo Tuesday did 2 of the lowest PPVs buyrates of all time.

 

But if you put them together, they did over 300,000, and that's DAMN good for October.

 

So you're losing way too much money to stop with the extras PPVs as of right now.

 

If the buyrates start to go under 100,000 for these PPVs...then you start thinking about it. But I'd say you are good for a few more months with the extras PPVs.

[JoeDirt 0]

So you're saying you could convince Vince to have FOUR PPVs a year?

 

Let's be realistic here, you'd be fired right then and there!

[JoeDirt 0]

Here's my thought on the ideas of PPVs...No Mercy and Taboo Tuesday did 2 of the lowest PPVs buyrates of all time.

 

But if you put them together, they did over 300,000, and that's DAMN good for October.

But it's also twice the costs to put on those two shows, so I don't buy that it was a damn good October for the WWE.

[Just call me Dan 0]

My 10 Changes:

 

1) Go with what Loss brought up a while back and give us the clean wins/losses for each match. This half ass booking is killing the WWE's shock value. Raw and Smackdown love to throw one on one matches out there (Ex: Benoit/Edge this week) to try and draw. What happens is guys go out there, hit all thier signature moves (work the WWE style) and then we get a screwy finish. Does it make the fans want to see a rematch? Maybe. Do you become callous to these Raw matches and care anymore? Yes. We need more big wins and shifts in momentum without being so protective over someone losing ONCE. There is a difference between losing and being BURIED.

 

2) Storylines need to be focused on competition and titles. Titles should NEVER take a backseat in a feud. If you have 4-5 feuds working during a PPV, make some storylines for the mid and uppercard feuds to help thier drawing ability. The titles speak for themselves. It's all about prestige. That is why all the WWE superstars are there.

 

3) Each PPV needs to have a gimmick attatched to it. Give us something that happens once a year. Hell if a TLC, ladder match, HIAC, EC, etc happens once a year, we'll all look forward to seeing who gets the nod to participate in this time honred event. You can elevate talent by having them compete in these matches rather than just throwing them out there at random during a feud's rematch. It's testes. Royal Rumble draws. You get to have a great gimmick match and other good title matches, etc.

 

4) Get rid of one of the tag team championships. Tag team wrestling is at an all time low. Get some teams merged and put them on one show. Until a team creates enough of a following or gets the fans calling for them to see some tag gold on the other show, they don't need to be champions just for the sake of having champions.

 

5) Retire the women's title. There is too much time being taken up for a division that is on again/off again. Are we supposed to take it seriously? Is it only there for T&A? They flop around with the principle of the division each PPV. Some of these women deserve time on shows and deserve angles, but having a title that means nothing and a division that creative can't come up with anything for yet tries to showcase each week is taking steps backwards.

 

5) No more brand specific PPVs. Each brand has usually 3-4 good programs going and a bunch of filler. Let's combine those good 3-4 programs and see if they draw better. We also don't need more than one PPV a month. Remember when PPV opening montages were almost breathtakingly well done? Production and marketability are plummeting because there is simply no time for anyone to give a shit.

 

6) Off season. Period. There needs to be a 3 month period where the superstars and fans alike can take a break. Cliffhangers at the end of the season will help. Wrestlemania = the Super Bowl? Fine. After 'Mania take a few onths off with the big changes that SHOULD go down at Manias taking effect during the beginning of the next season.

 

7) Dream matches (Yes, there have been discussions about what actually define dream matches, but this is the best we can do in the current state of wrestling) Too many matches CAN happen considering this is the same company, but may never get a chance to. Who knows how much longer guys like Angle, Taker, HBK, Benoit etc who have been around for quite some time and are wearing dwon will be as credible and capable as they are. Situations like Rock/HBK, HBK/Angle, Eddie/HBK, Cena/Rock, Orton/Rock, etc CAN be done, but aren't. (These of course are in my opinion. you get the point). We don't need anyomore Rock appearances. Current superstars should catch wind of his cutting in whenever he wants to and call him out.

 

8) Get Brock back. The guy could be a HUGE heel and probably could single-handedly save Smackdown. He has faced so few of WWE's current stars in PPV matches and well built programs the drawing ability is still untapped.

 

9) Take time on face/heel turns. If a guy turns heel, change him up a bit. Give him some new music, maybe a new look and slow build to it. Edge's turn is a good example of this. The fans called for it, they gave it a slow burn, he's got a new entrance, he'll do fine. Booker T, on the other hand, has just turned again for the 2nd time this year and is now headlining Survivor Series for a shot at the title. If you had these plans for Booker you should have done a lot more to prep him for this opportunity. We saw what buzz it created at Wrestlemania 19 when you just called him up for a title shot. None.

 

10) Last, but not least, Kill the order of operations WWE has going on job duty. There is almost an exact system as to who is in who's league and who can beat who. Could it be possible for one wrestler to have another's number? The booking of Benjamin right now (convincing wins over HHH, Jericho whilst they continue to be booked strong) is EXACTLY what needs to be done with the seemingly endless list of people being built up right now. We don't need all the Tomkos, Reigns, Jindraks, Heidenreichs, etc to be focused on as something serious only to be given a one month color by numbers feud with a top guy and lose.

 

Thanks for reading.

[iliketurtles 0]

Here's my thought on the ideas of PPVs...No Mercy and Taboo Tuesday did 2 of the lowest PPVs buyrates of all time.

 

But if you put them together, they did over 300,000, and that's DAMN good for October.

But it's also twice the costs to put on those two shows, so I don't buy that it was a damn good October for the WWE.

Actually, they also had a very successful tour of the UK. And I don't work in the financial department of the WWE, but I'm assuming the costs for running both PPVs will be smaller than the money made from concessions, merchindise, and buyrates.

 

Probably one of the best financial months in years. Remember...if they are making money, it's a successful quarter for them. Even if the angles are fucking horrible and TV is boring.

[JoeDirt 0]

Here's my small suggestion #8:

 

8) Stop with the "heel wins a match with a rollup using the tights/ropes for leverage". Finishing moves need to be established for all characters. Once again, it's something the crowd reacts to, something that gets the character over, even if a heel. I swear that heels win 90% of their matches these days with a stupid roll up move instead of an actual finisher.

[Fökai 0]

I don't think the company could sustain a profit by putting eight hours of original content a week to build to four pay-per-views in a year.

[Fökai 0]

EDIT: Board freeze.

[Fökai 0]

EDIT: Board freeze.

[iliketurtles 0]

Me either.

 

Me either.

 

Me either.

 

...just givin ya shit, man

[The Dames 0]

Joe is right. Vince wouldn't go for it because Mole is right in terms of the monthly revenue that's brought in.

 

Think about it. 300,000 in October on 2 PPV's. Assuming that WWE keeps those figures right where they are, with 3 months out of the year with 2 PPV's, that's an extra 900,000 of PPV revenue a year and that's WITH bad figures.

 

Dames

[Dark Age 0]

1. Try to get them to go back to 12 PPV's a month. 1 for Raw, 1 for Smackdown, and then 1 big PPV with both brands.

 

I don't think I can afford that.

 

 

Anyway, my ideas:

 

- Different presentation for both shows. Why should we care about the roster split when both shows are EXACTLY THE SAME. They were on to something when they moved King and JR in to the WCW Announcers position a couple of years back, but they never really added to it. Keep one show similar (but still a little bit of tweaking), but for the other, change EVERYTHING. Different camera angles, different set, different entrance, different ring, etc.

 

- Rankings system. Obvious one. Top 5/10 rankings for every title. Angles, matches, storylines, character development. You can get ANYTHING from a ranking system. It's so simple yet so effective, but they've never put it into place.

 

- Tale Of The Tape. It's the little things that count, and things like does, no matter how small, can really make a match seem much more important/ They started using it for a while on SD last year, but then dropped it for no reason at all.

 

- In Ring Interviews. Falls under the 'different presentation idea'. Only use this on one show. Maybe put Gene Okerlund on SD and rather than do the contrived 'superstar comes out, gets interrupted, match is made' segment, you can have an actual interview instead. Easy way to introduce new characters, get existing ones over, and, once again, start new storylines.

 

- Sit Down Interviews. Ala TNA. The in-ring segments are better at getting a character over, but these would be great for getting the 'wrestlers' over, for their character as well as their ability. This was missing from Benoit's title reign. Having JR sit down with Benoit for 5 or 10 minutes, talking about his life, his career, how much it meant for him to win the title, etc would have done wonders for him. Another: Use the black screen interviews that Benoit used 'back in the day'.

 

- Time Limits. Give's it a more 'sporty' feel. WWE booking is so wishy washy that no one really gets over, and they rely on non-finishes and DQs to protect their stars. Problem is, it doesn't help get anyone over, and only makes you realise what a waste of time the match was. Having a mid carder hang on for a 10 minute draw with a guy above him could put him over big, without the established star losing a bit of heat, plus the match wouldn't be a waste of time. It's an easy way to add heat on a heel champion, by having them seem on the brink of defeat before the time limit expires.

 

- Different divisions. SD has the cruiserweight division, Raw the womens division (who's got the better deal there?). Give both shows different styles. SD as a whole, not just the cruisers, should be fast paced and exciting with a technical style in the main event. Raw can be more about a traditional heavyweight style, with more emphasis on psychology, story telling and 'build'. Obviously, there will be exceptions on both shows, and everyone shouldn't wrestle the same, but the point stands.

 

- Speaking of which: No more WWE style! I can't stress that enough. EVERYONE WRESTLES THE SAME! Enough!

 

- Make titles mean something. Why is it that only the guy feuding with the champ wants the belt? Everyone should want to be World Champion, so why is it only Orton who seems to want to win on it on Raw, and Booker on SD? Shelton Benjamin won the IC Title - so what? Why is Jericho above him on the card? Why doesn't Jericho care he's lost his belt? Why has Benjamin not even commented on his title win? WHY does Orton want to be World Champion so much? Why did Orton win the title a month after losing the IC belt?

 

- Charcter development. Should be obvious, but as someone in this thread already said, more emphasis on characters than gimmicks. Heidenreich's a psycho. Why? What's his background? Mordecai wanted to do the Lord's work. Why? What's his reasoning?

 

The little things are what count.

[The Dames 0]

I want to make sure everyone understands the CONCEPT of what I'm asking for here.

 

Not just suggestions that you can think of, but REALISTIC changes that you can suggest to management that would take effect, working until Wrestlemania in either a creative or business way.

 

It's not what you can suggest, but what do you think you can get the company to approve to turn it around and HOW would you sell it to management to get it approved.

 

This is what those on the creative team have to deal with.

 

Dames

[The Niggardly King 0]

Let me add in

 

5. If there is a guy who is pretty good on the mic, but sucks in the ring put him in a Tag Team with someone who can carry him in the ring, while he does the mic work for both.

 

6. Every match should not end with a finisher, or a cheap win. Let some of the matches end with another one of the trademark moves of that wrestler.

 

7. And I'll just repeat planning well ahead of time when booking. Something logical would be refreshing, and character development must happen in every feud.

[AlaskanHero 0]

Smackdown

--------------

1.] First I would try to warm management to the Cruisers or at least Rey. I know they won't give all of them the push they deserve, but if I can get them involved in a Storyline and maybe even get Rey a decent push towards the US or maybe even World Title picture, then that'll work. When the crowd sees the cruisers getting more face time on Smackdown and putting on great matches or at least decent ones, their stock will increase and have more of a rub to give to those they get squashed to.

 

2.] Try to get someone over enough and talented enough to work a program with JBL where JBL's weaknesses can be covered up. Maybe I could pull Benoit over if I'm lucky. Benoit could in turn be a good transitional champ as he drops it to Angle or Taker. It would have to be a short reign as Benoit cannot carry the brand with his limited mic skills. But more than likely, they'll have a two month feud, Benoit winning the first match due to botched interference from OJ. Then JBL winning the next match clean after making OJ go to the back. Then after JBL wins, Benoit shakes JBL's hand, planting babyface seeds. That way Angle would be the heel with JBL being the "face". This would give JBL a nice boost from beating Benoit.

 

3.] If I couldn't do the above, then I would suggest giving Angle or JBL the Basham Brothers as bodyguards. It would work better with JBL. OJ as his advisor and the Bashams being his Coporate Bodyguards, always wearing suits and sunglasses and stuff. The two do have talent, but like Anglesault says, they are boring as shit. Give them some purpose and they may become a little less boring.

 

4.] Get Cena being a heel again. Don't confuse this with turning him. He can still be a face, but I would try to get management to let Cena unleash himself and rap like he did with a heel. And make him never make another gay joke again. The crowd responded better to Cena when he was a heel, but management wants him to be a face. So we let him rap heel-like, not playing to the crowd, but making fun of his opponants like he used to. Along with a slow push, we keep his momentum going until the crowd finds him in the Main Event going for the WWE title. Cena has the best chance at being the posterboy of the WWE just like Rock, Austin, and to an extent Brock were.

 

 

RAW

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1.] Keep HHH right where he is. Centerpeice of Raw. Before you kill me, just listen. The only way HHH will leave the spotlight is if he gets crippled and can never wrestle again. So, we need to keep HHH protected. Keep his heat invicible. But as he does his thing, we get a good, talented, charismatic face who can work the crowd well (say Eugene or Shelton) and push him. As HHH is doing his own thing, this face is getting more and more over and credible. Then once he's ready, the two face off. Hopefully, I could get HHH to be willing to job. Maybe if I begged he would. Anyways, the two have an epic match which HHH just barely squeaks out after the two are bloodied and beaten. That way neither are really hurt popularity wise. But so we can get a rematch, we'll make it a dirty win with cheating or something. Face clamors for a rematch and the feud is on. Once the rematch is announced, HHH shows why he's the cerebral assassin by picking off all the people who congradulate the face. Makes the face a pariah in the lockerroom, everyone afraid of conversing with him in fear of Evolution and HHH's wrath. Then the face wins after another long match in which both are bloodied. The entire lockerroom comes out to celebrate. The next night the face unloads his frustration by blasting the lockerroom for abandoning him and basically turns heel. Then HHH comes out alone and says that he doesn't care about the guys in the back, but that the face is a disgracing his title. The feud continues, the two trading the title every PPV, so it looks like either could hold it. Then the Hell in the Cell is announced, heel vs. HHH (face). Trips wins and hopefully, interest has been gained with HHH being a no nonsense, non sucking up face who only cares about the title.

 

2.] Try to get Heat more importance. Put some bigger names on it doing a match. Maybe a world title match every now and then. If the holder is up for it, he could come out for Raw too. That way people would be more willing to watch Heat.

 

3.] Retool Randy Orton. His gimmick, his whole look, all that stuff. HHH obviously views himself as the new age Ric Flair, so Randy Orton is his Sting. Soooo, after the two have a big match (after SurSer), we do an injury angle, a big one that makes it look like Orton is really fucked up and injured. He's gone for a month or so before Eric starts hinting towards a mystery #1 at the Royal Rumble. Come the Rumble, Orton comes out, looking different (now named RKO) and he wins the Rumble. Yadda, yadda, yadda, RKO beats (supposedly) beats HHH and since that's all my trial period is for, that's all they get. But with a cooler Randy Orton, the 18-25 demograph will be more willing to accept him. The people want someone to live vicariously through. Make RKO the guy everyone wants to be who's not impossible to be.

 

4.] Push more of the credible midcarders. Val won't get a push. Stevie won't get a push. However, Rhyno can get one. The problem is that there's such a large drop after the IC contenders when it comes to popularity. If Shelton or whoever's IC champ got more, new contenders then the IC title could mean more. Same could be said with the World Title. Even if they have no intent to give them the title, we could still give them a push, some matches, then a nice easy drop instead of squash. That way more people have more heat to give to the new OVW guys. This has already been seen with Gene Snitsky.

 

 

Assorted Suggestions

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1.] Allow workers who trust each other to work the match they want. If everyone wrestles the exact same, then HHH will just look like another guy and won't be impressive. If Benoit was allowed to bust out the Dragon Suplex against someone he's worked with a lot, like Jericho, then there could be some variety and freshness.

 

2.] Treat house shows as mini-TV shows. And I mean like Raw and Smackdown. Let's have the occassional title switch on one. Let's play up to the anything can happen in the WWE. When people see say the IC title switch hands on a house show, they'll tell their friends about it. Their friends will be upset at missing what happened and will be hyped when we come back through, willing to pay to see us.

 

How's that?

[The Niggardly King 0]

1. Try to get them to go back to 12 PPV's a month. 1 for Raw, 1 for Smackdown, and then 1 big PPV with both brands.

 

I don't think I can afford that.

Ah shit...

[JoeDirt 0]

- Make titles mean something. Why is it that only the guy feuding with the champ wants the belt? Everyone should want to be World Champion, so why is it only Orton who seems to want to win on it on Raw, and Booker on SD? Shelton Benjamin won the IC Title - so what? Why is Jericho above him on the card? Why doesn't Jericho care he's lost his belt? Why has Benjamin not even commented on his title win? WHY does Orton want to be World Champion so much? Why did Orton win the title a month after losing the IC belt?

I agree with this one completely. And I like the idea of each show having a completely different look and feel to it.

 

Here's another idea of mine, #9:

 

9) Use Heat and Velocity more effectively. Doing simple things like showing a clip on RAW where they say "this happened last night on Heat" and having some actual angle development, even if something small, on Heat and Velocity would be huge. Hype the shows on RAW and SD, it would only take ten seconds to do. Also, don't show us a full segment recap on Heat and Velocity. There's no need to show the whole segment when a very quick recap of the important stuff that happened would work fine. Use the extra time to let characters to INTERVIEWS. This would allow lower card guys to work on their mic skills on the smaller shows and once again work on developing more of a character. I would sell this to Vince by telling him to look at Heat and Velocity's current ratings and telling him that trying something like this couldn't hurt, and helping characters get mic time would be benefitial down the road as well.

[The Dames 0]

3.] Retool Randy Orton. His gimmick, his whole look, all that stuff. HHH obviously views himself as the new age Ric Flair, so Randy Orton is his Sting. Soooo, after the two have a big match (after SurSer), we do an injury angle, a big one that makes it look like Orton is really fucked up and injured. He's gone for a month or so before Eric starts hinting towards a mystery #1 at the Royal Rumble. Come the Rumble, Orton comes out, looking different (now named RKO) and he wins the Rumble. Yadda, yadda, yadda, RKO beats (supposedly) beats HHH and since that's all my trial period is for, that's all they get. But with a cooler Randy Orton, the 18-25 demograph will be more willing to accept him. The people want someone to live vicariously through. Make RKO the guy everyone wants to be who's not impossible to be.

You lost me after you wanted to rename Orton into RKO.

 

Dames

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

1) Time to deal with the World Title scenes, since they carry the company. I'll start with the WWE Title since it would ideally be the main event at Wrestlemania and then do the World Title as #2. First of all, I like JBL as champ, but the idea here is clear, and that is to get the belt on John Cena at Wrestlemania. He's the most over and clear example to be the next big face to build around. The crowd loves him, he's got great mic skills, and he will have mainstream exposure with his movie. Let him return to win the Royal Rumble. Now is the issue of who he beats at Mania. JBL/Cena is possible, but Angle/Cena has been building for over a year now and would produce the better match. I would do the ol' Double Switch that was done in 2002. Booker defeats JBL at Survivor Series, and then moves the belt to Angle at Armageddon to start the Cena/Angle feud. It is a natural rivalry between the arrogant amateur wrestler and the inexperienced street thug. It makes too much sense not to do.

 

2) The RAW situation is more difficult. Randy Orton just isn't progressing nearly as well as hoped, and it is time to jetison the idea of him main eventing Wrestlemania before it is too late. Then you look at what is currently the hottest thing on RAW, Edge, and pencil him in as winning the belt at Wrestlemania. This could make Edge the next big heel star, and with Cena winning in the main, would have little impact on the crowd leaving happy. HHH/Edge makes no sense, so HHH must drop the title quickly to either of Edge's ready made opponents, Shawn Michaels or Chris Benoit. Since Michaels is injured for the time being, so he is out of the equation. Benoit/Edge is another duo that has history going back to last spring. These two feuds are what the company should be built around for the next six months.

 

3) Keep the brand split. Although the idea of a Smackdown/RAW unification match is a good one, the two brands have not progressed to the point where it would have as much impact as it might have otherwise. Eventually, it should happen, but it is too early.

 

4) Use Velocity/Heat more effectively. You have three hours of TV time per week, per brand. It should be used. Right now the B-Shows are simply dark matches shown on TV. Velocity has made a step in the right direction with bigger names being on the past couple of weeks, but it is time to start working some angles into the show, featuring uppermidcarders or maybe even some maineventers. Also equally important, if anything important to storylines happens on the B-Shows it should be mentioned on Monday/Thursday. This makes both shows seem more important. The B-Shows will never replace the A-Shows, but they have value for workers who can't make it on the main shows due to time restraints.

 

5) Afterburn/Bottom Line. The format on these are just plain stale. I know the ratings are so bad, that it seems hardly worth worrying about, but these shows can fulfill a purpose if revamped. The main goal of these shows should be to get as many people as you can to order the PPVs and watch the main shows. Rather than simply having recaps from Smackdown & RAW, it should be turned into more of a roundtable discussion show with a cast of four or five. The first way to get fans to want to watch something, is to get them talking about it. Some highlights of important moments are still necessary, but the focus should be on discussion of the events and their implact rather than simply showing the events in question. You can also have a predictions segment for big matches and PPVs. The NFL has had enormous success using this same format. Ratings for these show probably won't improve greatly, but if you can get most of that audience to order a PPV the extra attention here will pay off.

 

6) Make some more PPV Specific matches in order to again, create a buzz surrounding a PPV. The most extreme example is the Royal Rumble match which has made that PPV the second biggest of the year. The intention is to get fans looking forward to a PPV long before any matches have been announced. Armageddon, for example, would be a good place to bring back the old 6-Man HIAC. Call it an Armaggedon Match or something, and make it clear that if this match is a success, then it will happen at Armaggedon every year. If fans want to see an Armageddon Match, then they have to order Armageddon, historically one of the lower bought PPVs of the year. Try to make as many PPVs as possible special in some way.

 

7) In a similar idea as #6, assign all the PPVs amongst both brands. Fans shouldn't need a scorecard to know which brand has which PPV this year. Try to keep it consistant. If RAW has Backlash, then it should have Backlash every year. There is a difference between being unpredictable and confusing the audience.

 

8) Build up the House Show market. In good times, you can ignore the house shows and sell out arenas across the country. Not so in a recession. Have announcers mention some happenings from house shows on TV (the new Afterburn/Bottom Line is a good place for this). The occasional title change on these shows wouldn't hurt either, although keep them limited and never the World Titles.

 

9) The titles should be what the main storylines are based around. If there is a title change at any point, it should be the first thing mentioned by the commentators at the next show. This will only take a few seconds, but is a big deal in terms of making belts (and thus the wrestler that holds them) seem important.