Should WWE Have An Off-Season?

[Orange]

I was thinking about this today while I was watching NFL Network and they were talking about NYJ QB Mark Sanchez having knee surgery in February, should the WWE have an off-season? Not as long as the NFL, but just like 3 months to let guys get surgeries for their injuries, or to allow guys to heal up, so if they do have to get surgeries they won't be missing out in angles and such. I know it'll NEVER happen, but it's just a thought that popped into my head.

[stinger]

Yes, then maybe guys like HBK could wrestle longer, and I wouldn't be so freakin' upset over his retirement.

[Jason]

Different wrestlers in different periods, yes.

[Spankymac is sick of the swiss]

Is it a good idea in theory? Yeah, it is. But there are two problems with it:

1)There's no money in an "off season", so Vince will never let it happen.

2)Somehow, some way, it would get f***ed up. It's just human nature to take a good idea and change it just enough to ruin it.

[Vince's Torn Quads]

It might be a good idea. Having it all year round means we kind of get over-saturated a bit. The start of a 'new season' would build anticipation, both for the product and to see how up and coming guys might fare.

...of course, this isn't a legit sport, so Uncreative would still do the same old crap with <insert your favourite wrestler here>

From a business standpoint, I don't know if it would make any sense, losing out on ratings, sponsorship, PPV buys, etc. But on the other hand, top guys would get injured less, meaning that a better product in a shorter time window could have a good chance of getting better ratings... or maybe not.

[fw91]

maybe a month or two without house shows, but even that would lose a shit load of money.

[JMA]

Why not take a month off after 'Mania?

[Barrock]

Probably.

[Lance Uppercut]

Apr 1, 2010 23:47:20 GMT -5 Barrock said:

Probably.

Maybe a brand off season. Like for 4 months you get Raw, 4 months of Smackdown and 4 months of NXT during the summer.

[Barrock]

Apr 2, 2010 0:14:09 GMT -5 Lance Uppercut said:

Apr 1, 2010 23:47:20 GMT -5 Barrock said:

Probably.

Maybe a brand off season. Like for 4 months you get Raw, 4 months of Smackdown and 4 months of NXT during the summer.

This would be best. Or six months of RAW, six months of Smackdown, and NXT can go simultaneously in between.

[i.Sarita.com]

Yeah, if you shut them all down once, a lot of people would drift away and never return.

[Kris Kobain]

I understand where you're coming from but no.
Vince is seemingly trying to stay as far away from wrestling as a "sport" as he can. Having an off season makes it too much like a sport.
A reduced schedule would be good though.

[Hassan bin Sober]

No. All they have to do to give guys a break is rotate who they are pushing.

[mattperiolat]

Realistically, it won't happen, but I wouldn't mind the WWE paring back on PPVs and maybe going to a bi-weekly taping session for RAW again. Give them more time to develop stories and give the talent some breathing room.

Vince will never do that now though.

[TripleMerc]

Just give a handful of guys a month or two off (which means doing some only slightly creative writing for main event talent eg: John Cena has a minor ankle injury and is back home waiting for it to fully recover, he'll be back in a month) and when they come back, give some others time off. An off-season would be horrible for wrestling, but the guys do need time to rest.

[wcw]

In a perfect world WWE would do a month or two off-season during the late spring and mid summer. But there best bet is just to give guys time off during their spring summer down periods.

Guys like the Undertaker, HHH, HBK, Batista, Edge and basically anyone with an injury history and/or over 40 basically get 2-4 months off over this period while the young guys take the show and run with it.

Basically you work you but off then when you get older you can take those dog days off. Unfortunately not everyone gets to the point where they get the pull to take such time off.

[Alex Shelley]

I would much rather have them rotate the roster. They could work it out with the casual fans not even noticing it's happening, if each guy gets a month or two off every year. Which is what sort of happens already, except it's currently based on injury as opposed to "hey, I'm worn out, give me time off before I get hurt".

...Maybe THAT'S why Rey violated the Wellness policy!

[rrm15]

Another issue is that the wrestlers themselves might not want to do it because they'd make less money during the off period. Time off means no traveling, so no percentage of ticket sales, merchandise, etc. Lower card guys would especially feel the effect of pretty much not working.

[Kris Kobain]

I could see the cycling thing being good for both them and us.
It gives the wrestlers a break and it gives us fresh storylines.

However I do agree with the pay part.
Though in a way I disagree because some wrestlers go over to TNA so they can work a lighter schedule.
I guess for the wrestlers it comes down to health vs wealth.

[Phosphor Glow]

As most other people have said, a staggered off-season would probably work. Give different groups of guys breaks over the year. I think that would honestly help a lot.