Lt. Palumbo
Hank Scorpio
On again off again watcher of a wrestling TV show
Posts: 6,067
|
Post by Lt. Palumbo on Oct 21, 2007 10:24:32 GMT -5
What I would like to know now, if the writers don't know the talents, how do they write the storylines? Is it like a cookie-cutter, where it's WRESTLER #1 gets into a love triangle with WRESTLER #2's DIVA is on the list of available options? ?
|
|
Legion
Fry's dog Seymour
Amy Pond's #1 fan
Hail Hydra!
Posts: 22,864
Member is Online
|
Post by Legion on Oct 21, 2007 10:37:09 GMT -5
What I would like to know now, if the writers don't know the talents, how do they write the storylines? Is it like a cookie-cutter, where it's WRESTLER #1 gets into a love triangle with WRESTLER #2's DIVA is on the list of available options? ? Someone get Cartman on the phone.....
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2007 11:35:14 GMT -5
? Someone get Cartman on the phone..... WWE = Family guy... Oh.... dear.... god
|
|
|
Post by willywonka666 on Oct 21, 2007 11:44:52 GMT -5
What's with the high turnover rate with writers anyway?
|
|
Chainsaw
T
A very BAD man.
It is what it is
Posts: 90,480
|
Post by Chainsaw on Oct 21, 2007 11:50:29 GMT -5
I think a lot of the problems with WWE booking is that there are too many chefs in the kitchen, all of whom answer to Steph. They need to develop a core of writers who handle all duties, instead of culling ideas from different people, especially ones that don't know wrestling that well.
But you also have the problems of dealing with multiple egos jockeying for attention. There really needs to be more of a sense of camraderie and teamwork in the lockeroom if things are to get better for the E.
|
|
|
Post by Mayonnaise on Oct 21, 2007 11:54:07 GMT -5
What's with the high turnover rate with writers anyway? Like Kash said, they are on call 24/7 and from what I have read, travel to every show so there is a high burn out rate. Very few are former wrestlers or fans/people with a deep love for wrestling so they don't have the passion or desire to stick with it.
|
|
Legion
Fry's dog Seymour
Amy Pond's #1 fan
Hail Hydra!
Posts: 22,864
Member is Online
|
Post by Legion on Oct 21, 2007 12:04:22 GMT -5
Who wrote during the Attitude era? It can't have been all Russo and Ferrera?
Any of them still about? Granted alot of the Attitude era was the stars rather than the writing, but it might help
|
|
|
Post by thereallybigshow on Oct 21, 2007 13:45:51 GMT -5
This story isn't all true. I personally know several people who are wrestling fans who are writers for the WWE. They do hire people who have worked in the business.
The difference between a fan and a person who has been in the business are huge. In my opinion the majority of the time fans are horrible bookers. It is much harder than you think to book hours of new TV each week.
This story is only half the story. The WWE has some good writers.
|
|
Chainsaw
T
A very BAD man.
It is what it is
Posts: 90,480
|
Post by Chainsaw on Oct 21, 2007 16:25:47 GMT -5
This story isn't all true. I personally know several people who are wrestling fans who are writers for the WWE. They do hire people who have worked in the business. The difference between a fan and a person who has been in the business are huge. In my opinion the majority of the time fans are horrible bookers. It is much harder than you think to book hours of new TV each week. This story is only half the story. The WWE has some good writers. The Hornswaggle Saga says differently.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2007 17:28:31 GMT -5
Who wrote during the Attitude era? It can't have been all Russo and Ferrera? Any of them still about? Granted alot of the Attitude era was the stars rather than the writing, but it might help From what I understand, Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera booked everything. The only thing they didn't book is the actual in-ring action. Of course, then they only had Raw to deal with so it wasn't that hard of a job.
|
|
|
Post by Loki on Oct 21, 2007 17:45:28 GMT -5
See, pro-wrestling must be the most short-term form of entertainment that needs actual writing, so I don't feel it's mandatory for a writer knowing by heart the list of WWF Champions from 1968 to this very day.
As said, a fan/writer would fill a storyline with references and "winks" to past angles/gimmicks, and that'd either fall unnoticed or even be confusing to new/casual/careless fans and marks.
If Creative need a change, I think they'd tone down the "scriptedness" of promos, at least for good talkers/experienced Superstars, allowing a bit of freedom, to make feel promos less "wooden". But yet again, good talkers make interesting a read through the phonebook...
|
|
|
Post by Captain Wonderful on Oct 21, 2007 21:29:33 GMT -5
I remember once reading a story about some freshly-hired Nickelodeon wrestler asking JBL how he kept the fake blood flowing during a match.
...that about sums it up.
|
|
|
Post by Gillberg: 0-175 on Oct 21, 2007 23:54:23 GMT -5
You forgot another quote from this interview with Daivria conducted by www.blogtalkradio.com/theshoot (at least give smurfing credit!) " He then added that whenever he approached Stephanie or Vince and needed to talk with them one on one, they always made time for him reguardless if they had a million things going on. "So, to say that creative is or is not approachable thats debatable. Like I said some guys wouldn't have the time of day for me but the highest guy and woman on the totem pole always did"" So it's not all bad. If vince still has time for you then i guess the little fish don't matter as much. But i agree with the points about hiring wrestling fans. I didn't find that part relevant to what I'm talking about. It's awesome that the top dog is easily accessable, however it seems they can't hold down their team. It just seems like poor management to me. I mean, how much does the writing team actually do? Is there really 3 seperate writing teams? If so, how big? I'm sorry, but writing a show a week does not seem that hard to me, provided the man power. If I had a say, the teams would be like 12 people big. Every month we'd have a story meeting to brainstorm feuds, decide what angles to start, check progress on current angles, and assign stories to guys. Each guy (or girl, naturally) would be responsible for one angle, and perhaps a team of 3 (which are like senior members, I'd suppose) to work on the ME angle. This way it's really one feud per person, which translates into like 1-3 segments a week to write. Not bad at all. Firings/injuries would call for an immediate meeting before the next show to rearrange things.
|
|
Parrish
El Dandy
Banana Man Wouldn't Book That!!!
Posts: 8,729
|
Post by Parrish on Oct 22, 2007 0:06:21 GMT -5
I would love to see a behind the scenes documentary on how the WWE creative process works.
And I mean everything, I wanna see the guys pitch ideas only to have Vince and Stephanie to say no. I basically wanna see the whole clustered process, I think it would be fascinating.
|
|
|
Post by thesunbeast on Oct 22, 2007 0:39:05 GMT -5
They did hire a wrestling fan: Vince Russo.
|
|
|
Post by Sparvid on Oct 22, 2007 7:42:38 GMT -5
I think a lot of the problems with WWE booking is that there are too many chefs in the kitchen, all of whom answer to Steph. They need to develop a core of writers who handle all duties, instead of culling ideas from different people, especially ones that don't know wrestling that well. IMO, what they need is three completely separate creative teams, RAW, Smackdown, and ECW. With Vince being the only person who oversees what all three are doing (so that he can say "Sorry, you can't do this angle on Smackdown because they're about to do something similar on RAW. Come up with something else.")
|
|
NiceToKnowMe
AC Slater
The single Greatest Heel Turn In Our Sport. By a Robot!?!?!
Posts: 115
|
Post by NiceToKnowMe on Oct 22, 2007 7:50:24 GMT -5
You forgot another quote from this interview with Daivria conducted by www.blogtalkradio.com/theshoot (at least give smurfing credit!) " He then added that whenever he approached Stephanie or Vince and needed to talk with them one on one, they always made time for him reguardless if they had a million things going on. "So, to say that creative is or is not approachable thats debatable. Like I said some guys wouldn't have the time of day for me but the highest guy and woman on the totem pole always did"" So it's not all bad. If vince still has time for you then i guess the little fish don't matter as much. But i agree with the points about hiring wrestling fans. I didn't find that part relevant to what I'm talking about. It's awesome that the top dog is easily accessable, however it seems they can't hold down their team. It just seems like poor management to me. I mean, how much does the writing team actually do? Is there really 3 seperate writing teams? If so, how big? I'm sorry, but writing a show a week does not seem that hard to me, provided the man power. If I had a say, the teams would be like 12 people big. Every month we'd have a story meeting to brainstorm feuds, decide what angles to start, check progress on current angles, and assign stories to guys. Each guy (or girl, naturally) would be responsible for one angle, and perhaps a team of 3 (which are like senior members, I'd suppose) to work on the ME angle. This way it's really one feud per person, which translates into like 1-3 segments a week to write. Not bad at all. Firings/injuries would call for an immediate meeting before the next show to rearrange things. Cool fair point. Just please give credit.
|
|
|
Post by Nite-Owl Marks For Bloc Party on Oct 22, 2007 8:05:47 GMT -5
Here's an idea...since the WWE is more cartoony than cartoons, and Hollywood has been adapting one comic book series after another over the past few years...why not hire comic book writers to handle the wrestling storylines? Of course, the WWE would probably screw it all up and hire a hack like Rob Liefeld. But if they hired COMPETENT comic scribes, do y'all think the quality would improve? Personally, I'd love to see a Garth Ennis version of ECW. Grant Morrison booking Smackdown now that will be something.
|
|
algertman
Hank Scorpio
Heroes Die. Legends Live Forever.
Posts: 5,486
|
Post by algertman on Oct 22, 2007 8:11:09 GMT -5
Here's an idea...since the WWE is more cartoony than cartoons, and Hollywood has been adapting one comic book series after another over the past few years...why not hire comic book writers to handle the wrestling storylines? Of course, the WWE would probably screw it all up and hire a hack like Rob Liefeld. But if they hired COMPETENT comic scribes, do y'all think the quality would improve? Personally, I'd love to see a Garth Ennis version of ECW. Imagine the stuff Grant Morrison would come up with
|
|