In all seriousness, how would YOU heal WWE?

[Guest Downhome]

We all know something needs to be done to heal the wounds that have been bestowed upon WWE. The angles currently to me seem to be this one huge mess, with hardly any dirrection for anyone. I see on my TV matches that serve no purpose, promo's that go no where in terms of furthering anything, and just plain out horrible booking. So starting this Monday, where would you take WWE? What changes would you make, who would you push, and how would you do so in a realistic way? What would you do with Taker right now, along with Lesnar now that he is the KOTR champion? Where would you take the nWo to make them actually a credible force once again?

 

I know many of you would WANT to just take the nWo and dispose of them. I know many of you would just job out Taker to drop the title. I know that many would also just take Lesnar and demote him once again, but let's think realisticly. What would you do with the current product, to further everything, and to fix all of the wrongs?

[Guest DrTom]

1. I'd keep the split. Really, it hasn't had enough of a chance to succeed on its own yet. The poor way it was introduced, and the shoddy booking since, haven't helped it in the eyes of the fans, but I like the idea behind it, so I would keep it.

 

2. Retire the Intercontinental and European titles.

 

3. Start holding tournaments on Raw and Smackdown, for the new Raw TV Title, and Smackdown TV Title. Involve everyone but the jobbers, and have the semifinals and finals for each at Summerslam. This gives the roster on each show something tangible to feud over without tying an important belt to a particular "brand." Then make sure the belts are defended EVERY week. It's only important if you make it look important.

 

4. Allow the holders of the Undisputed World, Womens', Cruiserweight, and Tag Team titles to float between shows. This allows for the greatest variety of matches and makes both shows look equally important.

 

5. Elevate Booker T firmly into the main event. In fact, I'd make him the Raw TV champion at Summerslam. Given the chance, I think Booker could take Austin's spot as the flagship face of Raw.

 

6. Fire deadwood like the Godfather, Albert, Big Slow, etc. Eat the contracts; short-term financial loss is worth the long-term gain in product quality and the increased revenues that should result.

 

7. Remove all McMahons from television, and remove Stephanie as head writer. Make someone with an actual wrestling background (as in, an in-ring competitor, not the daughter of a promoter) the head writer for each show. Just as examples, Arn Anderson for Raw, Michael Hayes for SD. Use undoubtedly creative though questionably successful people like Vince Russo and Paul Heyman as idea men and consultants. Get rid of the soap opera crap, keep the necessary skits for storyline and character development, and focus on the FUCKING WRESTLING.

 

That's off the top of my head. I might come up with a couple more if I sit down and think about it for a while, but those seven look like a good place to start.

[Guest dreamer420]

take the title from taker and stick it on someone that the fans want to see on every show. rvd or kurt angle would probably be the best choices.

[Guest saturnmark4life]

have angle make taker tap out (essential) and win the belt, push booker to his level, push rvd to that level, have rock feud with eddy/benoit (have them DESTROY flair and bubba first to get their heat back after the horrible job at kotr) and you've got a whole fresh top card. but i'd say booker beating the nwo is pretty important to get done ASAP. And have hogan put jericho over, just leaving hhh to flounder around doing nothing. shame.

[Guest SuperTonyJaymz]

Listen to the fans

[Guest y2jailbait]

have angle make taker tap out (essential) and win the belt, push booker to his level, push rvd to that level, have rock feud with eddy/benoit (have them DESTROY flair and bubba first to get their heat back after the horrible job at kotr) and you've got a whole fresh top card. but i'd say booker beating the nwo is pretty important to get done ASAP. And have hogan put jericho over, just leaving hhh to flounder around doing nothing. shame.

Destroy Flair, i dont think thats such a good idea.

 

What i'd do is what most want to do. And thats fire Stephanie as head writer, and make Heyman or anderson or hell even someone like Ross as a storyline creative source.

 

The idea of retiring the Intercontenintal Title would be a very innovative idea, but its the WWE Tradition and seeing it gone would be very very harmful for the preservation of some of the WWE trademarks they have work so hard to establish. Even if you had a TV title for each promotion, whos to say it wouldnt be mishandled as much or if more then the IC? The IC should float, that would be the one thing that would make a world of difference storyline wise.

[Guest Anglesault]

Push Kurt Angle

[Guest Will Scarlet]

Well, here is what I do:

 

1) Give RVD the title shot at the next PPV. Have him and Taker get into a feud somehow, build up the history between the two, and have RVD get the victory over Taker in a hopefully, good, dramatic match.

 

2) More Goldust/Booker skits. About the only entertaining part of the show.

 

3) Either start giving Jericho clean wins over guys who he should be getting clean wins against, or make his matches longer, a bit more drawn out, so that if he does cheat to win, at least it will hopefully elevate him and his opponent(in theory.)

 

4. Vacate the IC belt after RVD wins the Undisputed title, and have a tournament to decide who gets it, most likely a Smackdown guy, probably Christian.

 

5. Keep the roster spilt.

 

6. D-Lo - Regal feud over the Euro belt.

 

7. Never mention the "Molly has a big ass" storyline ever again. Also, try to push the Women's division, Scott Keith had a good point about the women's audience. I know I have met more than a few females out there who watched wrestling because they were inspired by a Lita or a Chyna, so, heck, push a Trish Stratus or something in a role of "female who kicks ass" or something like that.

 

8. Push Tajiri.

 

9. Stick longer matches on Raw and Smackdown.

 

10. Try to give new characters something to work with personality-wise, instead of Brock Lesnar that really big guy, Randy Orton that young guy who women supposedly find attractive and who tries to do the right thing, Deacon Bastista that guy who helps D-Von, and so on.

 

11. After what he did on Velocity, push Rob Conway.

 

12. Find some way to make Brock Lesnar interesting. That might take some thought.

 

13. Slowly eliminate McMahonmania from my tv.

 

14. WWE = going bye-bye. Guys like Benoit, Eddy, RVD, Kurt Angle, etc., are the future stars of the company. They do not need a defunct brawling style to help them get over. They can do it just fine by going out there and wrestling, so instead of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, just get rid of the old style, and let the wrestlers wrestle.

 

Purely for my own enjoyment:

 

15. Push Funaki.

 

16. Push Test.

 

17. Hire Leia Meow, and put her with Tajiri or Funaki or something.

[Guest Anglesault]

Purely for my own enjoyment:

16. Push Test.

 

You mean you will be humored when Test blows ANOTHER push, right? But isn't that just a waste of time and energy that only has petty satisfaction?

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

Set up a ranking system w/ divisions, bring back tradition, and make it more 'professional'. Fuck this wild west bullshit.

 

-The ranking system allows for competition. Lance Storm fights Tazz not because Tazz is American, but because it will allow Storm to move up the ladder. It brings order and reason to matches. It allows you to see the number one contenders and champions more clearly.

 

-The Wwf really should start being more 'traditional'. They have a huge library, the vault was a big succes and so is confidential. Fans WANT to be proud of wwf history, and there are many things to be proud of. Hogans success is partly because he is Hulk Fn Hogan, and partly because he represents that tradition fans long for. For an IC title bout, don't just talk about the feud, talk about the feuds from the past, the harts vs hennigs, the savage vs steamboats, the michaels vs ramons. Bring some perspective to today by using yesterday as a guide.

 

-By 'more professional' I mean have the world title match only at PPVs and make them special. A press conference, BIG entrances and introductions. Have the commentators talk about the specialties of both wrestlers and how they should win the match. Make the main events seem EPIC. There is no need for a blockbuster ME on free tv anymore, the monday night wars are over. Just BUILD.

[Guest Dangerous A]

I would get rid of the template Russo left for the writing staff and start coming up with new shit.

 

It's obvious that crash tv is done. It was fresh for about 3 years and has worn out it's welcome. WWE hasn't jumped a beat even after Russo left because they still have his template of how to structure shows. They need to come up with something else. A different format for tv. This drivel they have been shoveling at us should have been aborted when the invasion kicked in about a year ago. That would've been a perfect time to usher in a new program format. They need to change crash tv NOW!!!!!!!

[Guest NoCalMike]

I have an idea. How about McMahon or whoever is in charge of pushing/de-pushing/creative control, STOPS ignoring the fact that RVD is still one of the most over wrestlers in the lockerroom despite curtain jerking or mid-carding. Most people seem to dig him. He has improved and adapted as much as he NEEDS to in order to have good matches in the WWE main event.

[Guest Goodear]

Here is my wild and wacky plan to save all things with the initials WWE.

 

1) The absolute most important thing to do is fully actualize what you have on the roster to use the people you have to their fullest potential. Is Bubba Ray Dudley ever going to be World Champeen? No. But there's no reason he can't be over as a midcard guy. Not every worker you have is going to be a world title draw. Live with it, find out where people would be successful and put them in those spots.

 

2) Non-wreslters are never more important than wrestlers.... NEVER. If you want to have Vince on the show, his main duty is to associate with a heel and get them over, not put himself over. The same thing goes for any of the Divas and Ric Flair.

 

3) Matches increase in length to the 5-7 minute mark . Ending a match in under 3 minutes reduces the benefits of having a match in the first place. It does not allow enough time for faces to get in trouble long enough that their rallies mean something.

 

4) The announcers are there to call the matches and put over talent. Jerry Lawler is not on the payroll to bury wrestlers from ECW, that's counter productive. And while Jim Ross is a fun announcer to listen to, its about time for him to step aside when he can't tell one worker from another.

 

5) There are times for comedy and times for seriousness. Edge and Kurt Angle should not be trading insults in a upper midcard feud, they should be trading asskickings. The wig thing would be okay for someone who actually needs the cheap heat, not for Kurt Angle.

 

6) Titles are not partyfavors.... they are an accomplishment to capture and hold. Treat them as such. Need motivation for a feud? THE TITLE IS IT.

 

7) Good guys need to win too: I know some people think heel champions are better draws, but faces need to win every once in a while. Don't completely embarrass faces unless they are going to get revenge, otherwise the show gets depressing.

 

8) Ignore trends... seriously. Your product is your product. Don't become Fear Factor, the Ozbournes, and anything other than wreslting. You are not a sitcom... you are a show based on the staging of athletic competition. It's what your actors do. Its like casting Arnold to do Shakespere... its not what he does.

 

That's all I have for now.

[Guest Brian]

"actualize"

 

That's not a word now is it?

[Guest GenerationNever]

1: Eliminate the concept of heels and babyfaces. Let the fans cheer for who they want to.

 

2: Decrease the amount of cheating and run-ins. These things are overexposed and need to be toned down.

 

3: Retire the IC, Euro, Hardcore, and Women's titles. Have a Heavyweight title, a Junior Heavyweight title, and Tag Team titles.

 

4: Institute harder and more striking.

 

5: Get rid of the deadweight and the old guys.

 

6: Hire younger talent and bring up more developmental talent.

 

7: Stop making finishers "magic bullets." Have a wrestler have three signature moves that the wrestler likes, but aren't really finishers, just calling them signature moves.

 

8: Stop the practice of blading. I never really liked this practice, it's too obvious.

 

9: Get rid of ring names that are idiotic.

 

10: Get the McMahons off TV.

 

11: Fire Stephanie as head writer, and get active wrestlers off the booking team. No more sitting in on meetings either.

 

12: Concentrate more on wrestling and less on storylines.

[Guest Brian]

In essence, if the fans cheer for who they want to and who they don't want to, aren't those heels and faces? Furthermore, if people cheer for who they want to, does that mean who's getting booed not worthy of TV time? And since there are no heels, there is basically very little in the way of character development? Why would anyone need to cheat if they weren't a heel? When was the last time a finisher was a magic bullet, because people kick out of them left and right? You want action to be harder, more realistic but nobody is allowed to sell that extra realism by blading?

[Guest GenerationNever]

In essence, if the fans cheer for who they want to and who they don't want to, aren't those heels and faces? Furthermore, if people cheer for who they want to, does that mean who's getting booed not worthy of TV time? And since there are no heels, there is basically very little in the way of character development? Why would anyone need to cheat if they weren't a heel? When was the last time a finisher was a magic bullet, because people kick out of them left and right? You want action to be harder, more realistic but nobody is allowed to sell that extra realism by blading?

By no heels and faces I mean the promoters don't chose, the fans do. And they wouldn't be called such lame names such as "heels" and "faces" or "good guys" and "bad guys." "Real" people cheat all the time, doesn't mean they're "bad guys." You would get TV time based on how good a worker you were and how good your connection with the fans is.

 

The babyface's finisher usually is a magic bullet, not always the heel's. Blading has become too obvious, so it's gone.

[Guest Brian]

Once again, if a promoters not giving guys directions that would lead them to being heels or faces, what would be the motivation for fans to cheer them? Based on how much effort they give? On how well they wrestle? On how they connect with fans?

[Guest GenerationNever]

Once again, if a promoters not giving guys directions that would lead them to being heels or faces, what would be the motivation for fans to cheer them? Based on how much effort they give? On how well they wrestle? On how they connect with fans?

The fans would have a number of reasons to cheer their favorites. Some fans like wrestlers whom they consider "cool," while others like good workers. It all depends on the fan. You COULD have a wrestler be against something in popular culture, but they wouldn't be disliked EVERYWHERE.

[Guest Brian]

Bottom line is it would never fly with an American crowd. Despite guys playing tweeners over the years, and getting cheered for being heels and booed for being faces, there's always been a clear reason why that has happened. And as long as you give someone a gimmick or a personality, they will always be a face or a heel, whether they get cheered in Calgary and booed in New York, or whether they get booed in Atlanta and cheered in Boston.

[Guest GenerationNever]

Bottom line is it would never fly with an American crowd. Despite guys playing tweeners over the years, and getting cheered for being heels and booed for being faces, there's always been a clear reason why that has happened. And as long as you give someone a gimmick or a personality, they will always be a face or a heel, whether they get cheered in Calgary and booed in New York, or whether they get booed in Atlanta and cheered in Boston.

"Heels" and "faces" aren't even real terms, so they don't even exist now, except in our minds. I don't believe we've seen this tactic enough to properly know if it would go over with an American crowd. The only promotion that REALLY tried this was ECW, who, despite some problems, had a good connection with their fans.

[Guest Brian]

With their fans. Exactly. So just because it has worked with a small minority of smarks and had a connection with a fanbase of a company that failed, we should try and disenfranchise a large majority of the fanbase, because heels and faces are stupid (so you say). Basically, once a person starts gaining a majority of support, unless they're paired up against someone who can dwarf them in the cheer department, by default they are a face. Because they're "real people", they will act upon the same lines and they're manneurisms and catchphrases and signature moves will be chered.

[Guest Shaved Bear]

i think DrTom said it best

[Guest Black Tiger]

1. Get rid of the IC, Euro, and Hardcore titles and replace them with a RAW Championship and a Smackdown! Championship.

 

2. Let the Tag Team Champions float on both shows

 

3 Keep Women on RAW and Cruiserweights on Smackdown!

 

4. Make Angle, Jericho, Benoit (Smackdown!) and Eddie, Booker T, and RVD (RAW) as ME guys, giving them high profile wins.

 

5. Phase out Hogan and Undertaker.

 

6. Keep the Undisputed Title on either Rock or HHH (established superstars).

 

7. Cut down on stupid backstage skits like Booker T/Goldust, and Big Show "Cheeseburger".

 

8. Make sure there are no conflicts of interest in writing team *cough HHH&Stephcough*

 

9. Use heat and velocity strictly for guys like Randy Orton, Maven, and John Cena

 

10. Don't make Cruiserweights wrestle WWE style, let them wrestle their own style.

 

11. Don't houseshows on the same night as TV, it damages the ratings.

 

12. Put RAW in one area of the country and Smackdown! in another so the fans will have a specific show to cheer for, that way when Vince mentions how great Smackdown! is on RAW, fans have reason to boo. This also works good for PPV's in one area since one show will be considerd defacto heels, it helps give a more accurate test to how over they really are.

 

13. Keep McMahons off TV unless its an important announcement, the era of the evil owner is over with.

[Guest Brian]

Why force anyone to work the WWE style? If not for RVD's highspots, everybody's different movesets, and Eddie Guerrero, everyone would be wrestling the same style.

[Guest Shadow]

Okay, first thing I would do would be to build to the following Triple Main Event for SummerSlam:

 

-WWE Undisputed World Title Match: The Undertaker (c.) vs. Rob Van Dam

 

-Brock Lesnar vs. The Rock

 

-Triple H vs. Kevin Nash

 

So in-between that, at Vengeance, we would have the following matches:

 

-WWE Undisputed World Title Match: The Undertaker (c.) vs. The Rock- Brock Lesnar costs Rock the title in retaliation for Rock causting Brock the title shot at Summerslam.

 

-Rob Van Dam vs. Brock Lesnar for the SummerSlam title shot- The Rock costs Brock Lesnar the match after Rock and Brock have a confrontation backstage.

 

-Triple H vs. X-Pac & Big Show in a Handicap Match- The stipulation is that Triple H must defeat X-Pac & Big Show to get his hands on the nWo head honcho Kevin Nash at Summerslam. Hunter defeats X-Pac and Big Show in a huge upset, but after the match is attacked by Nash & Micheals to begin the build-up to Summerslam.

 

 

So at Summerslam, the results would be:

 

-Rob Van Dam defeats The Undertaker cleanly to win the WWE Undisputed World Title.

 

-Brock Lesnar defeats The Rock with help from Paul Heyman.

 

-Kevin Nash defeats Triple H with help from Shawn Micheals.

 

 

After this, I would make my main programs RVD/Brock for the Undisputed World Title and Triple H/Shawn Micheals, with both being blown-off at Survivior Series 2002.

 

-In the RVD/Brock feud, RVD defeats Undertaker and Brock in a Triple Threat Match at Unforgiven when he pins Taker, but Brock lays him out at the end of the match. At No Mercy, the two go at it in a Singles Match, which ends in a Double Count-Out. Finally, in the blow-off at Survivor Series, it's a Steel Cage Match. Paul Heyman tries everything he can to keep RVD down for Brock, hitting him in the head with the cage door, and then tries to toss Brock a steel chair over the cage. However, RVD catches the chair and uses it for the Van Daminator, then hits him with the Five Star! He escapes the cage, barely. At the end of the match, Brock brings Paul in the cage, and as he is about to attack him, teasing a face turn, Paul convinces him against it, much to the chargon of the crowd.

 

-In the Triple H/HBK feud, HBK announces that Triple H will have to go through every other nWo member again first in order to get a match with him at Survivor Series. At Unforgiven, Triple H defeats all three members in a Gauntlet Match. Hunter is then forced to face-off against The Undertaker at No Mercy, with Shawn as Special Guest Referee. With help from some shadey refereeing, Taker pins Hunter. Finally, Hunter gets his hands on Shawn at Survivor Series, and defeats him to finally blow-off the angle.

 

There you go.

[Guest JaKyL25]

I like the idea of having each show have one exclusive Singles title, but just wiping out the IC and Euro titles and replacing them with "Raw" and "Smackdown" titles isn't the way to do it, I don't think. It would be erasing years of history, ESPECIALLY with the IC.

 

I WOULD however, move the Euro title to Smackdown (Maybe trade Regal + the title in exchange for Benoit), and then the IC and Euro would essentially BE these "Raw" and "Smackdown" titles people want to implement.

 

And oh yes, the Tag Titles DEFINITELY must float.

 

That way, we have the World, Tag, and Women's titles floating, and each show has 1 exclusive singles title, and 1 "special division" title (Hardcore on Raw, Cruiserweight on Smackdown).

 

Maybe Euro should be renamed to the Television Title or something though. Keep the same lineage, just rename it.

 

Thus far, they've been alternating PPV Undisputed title shots betwen brands, and they have it set up so that when one brand has the Undisputed title match, the other one has the Women's title match. If you make the tag titles floaters too, they should go to the brand who gets the Women's title match.

[Guest Coffin Surfer]

-End the split. A bad idea to begin with. It limits poteintial fueds and matchups. The fans could care less about intershow match ups anyway. Just push guys and you won't have a problem with giving them T.V. time.

 

-Stick to a wrestlers strength to get them over. It's as a simple as that. Don't give Goldust a 10 minute match and a 2 minute promo. Don't give Benoit a 10 minute promo and a 2 minute match. These aren't real examples but you get the idea. Which brings me to my next change

 

-Carefully planned match times. This is one of the WWE's biggest problems. Don't give idoitic skits 15 minutes and a potential good match 3. I don't care if it's the ME or not, don't give guys like HHH, Taker and Hogan over 20 minutes to work a match. Don't give spot crazy guys like RVD long matches either. Don't give great pacers like Angle, Benoit, and Eddy short matches.

 

-Simple storylines and angles. How about "I want your belt, so I'am going to beat you for it" You don't need fucking dogs getting hit with a car, you don't need fucking stolen gold medals, and all that shit. Just two guys who want to make it to the top of the card. Which brings me to my next change.

 

-Make not only Titles, but winning and losing mean something again. Just because we know the outcome is predetermined, it doesn't mean we don't care about the outcome. Marks know the Rock is going to stay on top no matter if he wins or loses. They would care more, if he had to win each and every match to stay as the top man.

 

-Out with the old, In with the new. Phases come and go. It's time to move on. Just because somebody used to draw, doesn't mean they still will. Think about the future, and put the younger and more reliable talent over.

[Guest saturnmark4life]

Why is having eddy/benoit beat the hell out of flair so bad? I OF COURSE love him, but he shouldn't be pushed as an active worker anymore.

[Guest Goodear]

"actualize"

 

That's not a word now is it?

Is in the microsoft word spell checker as a word. I take that as validation... YAY ME!