WWE...

[RonL21 0]

With recent events...

 

how do you think the WWE will change in the coming weeks and into the future

 

Im sure that they will not condone Benoit Tribute moves

 

But what about the Wellness Policy, road schedule, maybe conselors on the road

 

Anything to keep something like this from happening again and maybe other

 

future drastic situations

[RonL21 0]

Is Taker gonna change his Tombstone signal?

 

Or will enough time have passed by the time he comes back

 

It's Classic you know...

 

I definetly think if he wasnt hurt he'd go back to doing the last ride regulary or just Tombstone people with no signal

[RedJed 0]

I think, so in the near future they can protect their ass a little more, it would be nice to see them test a guy for roids more often than every 3-4 months. Their argument that Benoit "just couldnt" be on roids right now because he was tested on April 11 is pretty much a joke.

 

I dont know if having mandatory psychiatric or psychological evaluations would work or not in the big scheme of things, because people can hide personal emotions pretty well. It's hard to say that anyone could have prevented this from happening, no matter what could have been done to prevent it. That in itself is why I feel WWE is not even close to responsible for this happening in any way, shape, or form. For all we know, Benoit could have went to sessions before, and just never really opened up.

 

I dont even see why Taker would need to change his Tombstone move signal. That wasnt ever an homage or nod to Benoit in the first place, Taker always did that. In fact, in retrospect, I'm shocked they LET Benoit do it ever since it was "copyrighted" somewhat from Taker.

[Timmy8271 0]

There's no doubt in my mind that Vince will be called in front of congress. The wellness policy will probably be more enforced. I expect lower teir guys that get caught will get fired if they are caught more than once. For example: Chris masters. They won't fire guys like HHH if he's caught.

 

Other than that, Nothing will change and we will start to forget this in a week or so. Not forget but not talk about it.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

Nothing is going to change. The WWE was headline news for a few days. Most people will forget these goofy wrestling shows exist.

If there is one thing about the wrestling business, no one ever learns from their mistakes.

[Mecca 0]

Nothing is going to change. The WWE was headline news for a few days. Most people will forget these goofy wrestling shows exist.

If there is one thing about the wrestling business, no one ever learns from their mistakes.

 

That's my opinion aswell.......people vastly overrate how much congress or average people really care. Congress would only care if they thought Vince was distributing that was why they went after him before.

[LooseCannon25 0]

I don't think a damn thing is gonna change. Maybe more strict testing by Vince and co for the next few months, but that'll come to an end and everything will go back to the way it was before.

 

I like the idea of an offseason though. Maybe a couple of months off during the winter or fall to let everyone recharge their batteries.

[spman 0]

If any influential journalist like O'Reilly, or Dobbs, or any of those muckrakers decided to grill WWE about this and about the massive number of deaths in Wrestling overall, and really made them answer the tough questions, which they seemed to at least briefly touch on in most of the media coverage I saw tonight, then I could see some major changes being made, but the fact is that the media is going to forget about this by tomorrow. RAW on Monday may see a reboot of most of the top storylines, but as a whole the promotion will go on like usual.

[Mecca 0]

I don't think a damn thing is gonna change. Maybe more strict testing by Vince and co for the next few months, but that'll come to an end and everything will go back to the way it was before.

 

I like the idea of an offseason though. Maybe a couple of months off during the winter or fall to let everyone recharge their batteries.

 

I don't think the WWE is up for losing months worth of revenue.....

 

I like the idea of cycling people where everyone gets 2-3 months off but they'd have to hire some more guys...and most guys would get mad and wouldn't like that it cut into the money they make.

[Chalmation 0]

maybe the economics of this won't work out to WWE, but what is the real need for house shows anymore??????

 

maybe cut back to one a week, raw on a saturday night and smackdown/ecw on wednesday night if they're absolutely needed

 

also keep them in the same geographical area

 

then you'd have four days off per week for the wrestlers

 

also the offseason ideas sound good

 

if there's enough other good wrestlers to watch (that's a whole 'nother topic), fans won't mind cena, edge, matt hardy, etc. taking six-week breaks once or twice a year

 

then again some ticket-buyers won't be happy if their favorite isn't there

[Mecca 0]

They'll never cut back on shows....house shows are important to the bottom line, and the wrestlers pockets.

[Guest shoryuken007]

Is anyone else into the idea of an offseason for the benefit of the fans? Not to sound callous, of course; it's just that I think a lot of people find things stale after too long, and this'd be a way to freshen it all up once a year. It wouldn't have to be long, just 2 or 3 months, maybe going from the night after 'Mania to, let's say Vengeance. Even push Vengeance back a little and run "One Night Stand" as a show with no angles, just matches.

 

Of course, this thread is about how WWE will change now that the Benoit tragedy has occured, and like many I don't think much will change at all. In a few months, this will be largely forgotten, sad to say.

[Nate 0]

i think in terms of how the product is presented there will be subtle changes we wont notice, now when it comes to internal and what wrestlers do in the off time they get, i see some major league changes i think we will see some sort of Government sanction on drug testing and regardless of a guy's place in the promotion i think the government would put pressure on WWE to do somethin or face major fines for refusing to do something about it, and i think there will be wheels put in motion to check the mental stability of the performers, i think it would also benefit to consolodate house shows to have all three brands and if anything run shows Fridays and Saturdays and if there is a PPV on that week no house shows, and tell the guys your not gonna use to stay home, and on the subject of PPVs, i can see this maybe not immediate but in the next couple years gettin scaled back to 8-11

[Chalmation 0]

if ever they were gonna do an "offseason", i'd say go through the holidays, starting after survivor series and come back at the royal rumble

 

reason why is that the royal rumble match doesn't need much build to it to be successful compared to a fresh start at any other time

 

one other change i expect is they're subtly gonna repackage the "Undertaker" character when he comes back

 

i know that's a long way away but the storylines will be lightened for a while.

[mysterious_w 0]

You're all under the opinion that it was the stress of the wrestling business that broke Benoit. Maybe it was the thing that kept him together until a couple of days ago.

[Human Fly 0]

What about storyline changes?

 

ECW is now without a top face. CM Punk can just slide into the top spot, but there is a big hole at the # 2 spot. Do you think WWE has called RVD yet?

 

Obviously the Vince storyline is gone.

 

Johnny Nitro how long can his title reign last with one legit in brand challenger? Will we see another "visiting superstar of the week" like we saw with Big Show?

 

The townspeople have lit the torches, it looks to me like the steroid witch hunt is on. I hope the E is ready because their policy is going to come under a lot of scrutiny.

[Ultra Violence 0]

I think they should cancel their timeslot on Sci Fi. Then rotate which shows use which timeslot providing each brand with 3 months rest and 9 months on TV. Have Wrestlemania be the only show where all three brands compete. At any one time one of the three brand / touring groups will usually be inactive apart from in the build to mania. Also this would keep crowds hot and provide boosts every time a brand returns and give scope for cliffhangers and storylines with clear conclusions.

[Karc 0]

WWE will never change, ever. The media is trying to link Benoit's death to steroids because it fits the stigma that wrestlers die young because of steroid use. If the incident is ever mentioned in something like a congressional hearing, WWE will win it.

 

What bothers the hell out me now is waiting for the inevitable exploitation of these deaths for a wrestling angle. Or McMahon returning from the grave to blast the media outlets that blame WWE for the deaths.

 

It's a very sad, and scary time to be a wrestling fan right now.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

It's the sorta time when you don't really want to be a fan anymore, but you realize you pretty much always will be.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I don't think that anything will change because no one in the mainstream "cares" about wrestling, the workers or the fans. If there was an understanding amongst non-fans what wrestlers go through on a week to week basis, we might see some change, but that's not happening now and it probably never will. The media is already using this as another opportunity to blast wrestlers as juiced up freaks and their fans as half-retarded hillbillies. Instituting change is something that needs cooperation and communication. Most people would rather the whole thing go away because they see it as a sideshow act that offers nothing to society.

[Craig Th 0]

It's the sorta time when you don't really want to be a fan anymore, but you realize you pretty much always will be.

Exactly. I don't watch wrestling anywhere as much as I used to, but I will always.

 

Even though they WON'T do this, they need to cut down on road schedule. Out of all the wrestling books I've read, about 90% talk about how tough it is and how many drugs they do to keep up. Maybe, now maybe, if they cut down on the schedule, they'll do less drugs.

 

Actually, they'll still do drugs. I really don't know what they can do other than test a lot more.

[Angle-plex 0]

I don't know how I feel about more of my tax dollars being poored into investigating steriods in a fake sport. I love wrestling as much as the next guy but there are more important things the gov has to worry about. Besides we already pay the police to investigate steroids.

 

As far as on screen I can't imagine retarded backstage segments happening for a month or so. If anything is going to break them out of this stale format it would be this. I will say I think Vince has been a real man over the past few days and has been respectable.

 

Also, I think internet fans might take into consideration why a guy like Benoit isn't getting a world title push or in the world title scene, as I'm sure we now all realize there is a lot backstage that we don't know about. Benoit was fucked up and I'm sure Vince wouldn't want to put a major title on a guy like that, regardless of his on-screen performance.

[Steviekick 0]

As for the substance abuse, what they have to do is test more often and enforce the rules.

 

I've always thought that a better way to give the talent time off as opposed to having an off-season would be to have them have a mandatory two months off each year. It could be spread out or lumped at the wrestler/managemen'ts discretion. No everyone would be off at the same time and they have more than enough talent that they could still run three television shows and two touring companies without much impact on the product's name value.

[OldSchoolWrestling 0]

I think the wrestlers are going to have to be willing to report other wrestlers who are hiding problems. If Chavo had any inkling Benoit was having problems he was no longer able to deal with, its going to eat him inside that he didn't do anything about it.

[CanadianChris 0]

It's the sorta time when you don't really want to be a fan anymore, but you realize you pretty much always will be.

Not me. Any wrestling fandom I had left in me is gone. Wrestling is dead to me now.

 

I just don't have it in me to waste my energy on this shit anymore.

[mysterious_w 0]

I'm not sure an offseason would ever work, but the WWE needs to give guys more time off. If you're not in the ME picture, there's no harm in not being on TV (and skipping that week's tour) once or twice a year. Those 10 day breaks could do so much.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

If it's true that Benoit used the crossface on his kid and the media the picks up on it, we may be in for a whole new shitstorm.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

I don't know how I feel about more of my tax dollars being poored into investigating steriods in a fake sport. I love wrestling as much as the next guy but there are more important things the gov has to worry about. Besides we already pay the police to investigate steroids.

 

As far as on screen I can't imagine retarded backstage segments happening for a month or so. If anything is going to break them out of this stale format it would be this. I will say I think Vince has been a real man over the past few days and has been respectable.

 

Also, I think internet fans might take into consideration why a guy like Benoit isn't getting a world title push or in the world title scene, as I'm sure we now all realize there is a lot backstage that we don't know about. Benoit was fucked up and I'm sure Vince wouldn't want to put a major title on a guy like that, regardless of his on-screen performance.

 

Don't be silly. It's been repeatedly said that the reason Benoit wasn't getting a world title push on SD! was because Micheal Hayes didn't think he had the promo skill for it.

 

Not to mention Benoit was supposed to WIN the ECW title at the ppv he missed.

 

Retroactively analyzing past events so you can go "AHHA! This PROVES Benoit was always evil!" Is silly.

[Boxer 0]

I think they should try to elevate more guys on the card. Maybe it's the death grip the top stars have thanks to the writers. If they created more main eventers the card would have more depth so when a few main eventers need a break there will be a few ready to take their place. Then again, if it comes down to the payday, most guys wouldn't want to be moved down the card for that.

[Guest Hasbeen2]

MVP, Matt Hardy, Kennedy, hopefully a couple more seem like they're being elevated. I think part of the reason is the risk of injury and how so many guys have been either out for a while or left the company completely in the last five years or so. Edge, Cena, Batista, etc might seem to be there for another 10 years but how many thought Austin, Rock and Foley would be gone when everything was going right. You always need new guys, maybe they caught on.