Jeff Mangum PI
Hank Scorpio
11 herbs and spices for the rest of eternity; Is Number Two. Number Two!
The 2nd Coming
Posts: 6,957
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Post by Jeff Mangum PI on Jul 22, 2015 19:52:35 GMT -5
You know that Raw they did the night after the Royal Rumble? More of that.
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Sicho100
Hank Scorpio
Easily Confused.
Posts: 5,967
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Post by Sicho100 on Jul 22, 2015 19:53:31 GMT -5
- Use a much more stripped-down set, similar to the Attitude Era set. The big LED set is way too polished and corporate, it takes away a certain degree of realism to the show by being a blatant reminder of the fact that it's just a show. And bring back the unique sets for PPVs - the show is supposed to be special, so show it.
- Either at the beginning of every show or after the first segment, have the announcers run down the card for the night. Not just "Here's our main event," but every match on the show.
- They really don't need promos to take longer than 5 minutes or so. The twenty minute promos not only take up valuable time that could otherwise go to low-card guys that are rarely on the show, but also does a disservice to the message the promos are trying to convey, because they drag so long that the audience is much more likely to tune them out, and miss the whole point of the promo.
- Limit people to at most three segments a show, but try to keep it to either one or two. You can have someone do a promo and then a match, or vice-versa, but having people like Rollins or Kane in as many as five segments a night again takes time from other potential talents, and causes those in the segments to become stale that much faster.
- Shorter matches on Raw, including more squash matches (of local indy guys, not established roster members). Yeah, sure, they may be having some good 20 minute matches on the show nowadays, but they (a) are meaningless and (b) devalue the PPV matches. If I can see a great 20 minute match for free every Monday, why would I care about paying for the network to see a similar match on the PPV?
- In addition to being shorter, matches should only in extreme circumstances be broken up by commercials. The wrestling match is supposed to be the most important thing going on. It's the bread and butter of World WRESTLING Entertainment. The matches aren't the thing that you go to commercial during - it implicitly tells the audience that they don't need to see the match. Similarly, if, say, there is a guest commentator, don't cut to them at expense to the match. You are telling your viewers that they don't need to watch the match.
- Have better-defined card positions, and have the show work its way up the card. Have your first match be, say, Heath Slater against Fandango. Then have Neville beat Bo Dallas, then do a women's angle, and so on. Also, give more mic time to guys lower on the roster - how else could you expect them to possibly move up?
- Have the announcers actually, you know, call the matches. Include storytelling related to the participants, of course, but so much of today's commentary isn't done to help get the talent over more, but just for the announcers' own amusement. Stop that, get back to being announcers.
- Don't require that everything be directed to the hardcam. If the guys are naturally facing the camera, or it's an in-ring promo, sure, face the hardcam. Otherwise, it just smacks you in the face that it's a production, not a competition. When Ryback hits the Shellshock, or Nikki Bella the Rack Attack, why do they do a little dance around their opponent so that they could face the hardcam? That's precious time that they are giving their opponent to recover. JUST PIN THE F***ER! Let one of your ringside cameramen find the wrestlers, instead of the wrestlers finding the camera.
- You don't need to fit in your cutesy catchphrase every damn promo - it's another indication that it's all just an act. Specifically, I remember a Ryback promo, probably about a month ago, where he did his whole promo normally, and then at the end, completely independent from everything else he'd said, just says "Feed me more." F*** that.
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Sephiroth
Wade Wilson
Surviving
Posts: 29,082
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Post by Sephiroth on Jul 22, 2015 19:57:08 GMT -5
Open the show with the announcers running down the card rather than with a promo to set up a match later in the night.
Try some different entrance effects other than just pyro; laser lights, fog machines, etc.
Have an actual set or special area set aside for backstage interviews instead ofvshowing the wrestlers standing in empty arena hallways.
Managers and valets-lets see some more of them.
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repomark
Unicron
For Mash Get Smash
Posts: 3,058
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Post by repomark on Jul 22, 2015 19:59:26 GMT -5
Make people lose to non finishers or secondary finishers on a more regular basis. Big moves should end matches even if they are not your finisher. That way it is much easier to build tension and false finishes as you would no longer be conditioned to wait for just the one move.
Furthermore, finishers should be used more sparingly and almost always end the match when delivered. For instance at this point you know the first AA is getting kicked out of. It is making things all too predictable this constant finisher exchange that seems to happen in all main events now. This only works when done sparingly or else you just make the finisher another move.
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Post by CuJ0 Will Keep Dancing on Jul 22, 2015 20:05:33 GMT -5
I've got a few suggestions: One, John Cena needs to be louder, angrier, and have access to a time machine. Two, whenever John Cena's not on screen, all the other wrestlers should be asking "Where's John Cena"? Three--
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Post by britstap on Jul 22, 2015 20:14:43 GMT -5
I really, really REALLY wish the promos were shorter and to the point. Some guys could be perfectly fine on the mic, but if you have to drag it out for 15 minutes, it can make anyone sound bad. The guys in the 80's didn't need it, the New Generation didn't need it. Keep it simple.
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Post by Hit Girl on Jul 22, 2015 20:20:09 GMT -5
The idea of having Renee Young doing commentary for diva matches is incredibly condescending. Like, "you can't call the serious guy stuff, but you can talk about the pretty ladies and maybe what dresses they wear and how they do their hair." Not really. She can talk about the wrestling itself. A female voice just adds something different and unique. It also creates an impression that the division is truly seperate, rather than blurring into the normal programming and drudgery.
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Post by hunterbusax on Jul 22, 2015 20:24:11 GMT -5
I just like to see Raw open up an its the Nitro set no one mentions the difference an they just act normal the entire night.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2015 20:34:40 GMT -5
]Not really. She can talk about the wrestling itself. A female voice just adds something different and unique. It also creates an impression that the division is truly seperate, rather than blurring into the normal programming and drudgery. .. but isn't the goal to show that the female wrestlers are wrestlers just like the men are, and that their ability to perform / entertain / engage is just the same as the men are? Like, this seems a classic case of "pedestal equality". Equal treatment with special perks is not equal treatment. If you want the divas to get equal respect for their work in the ring, then they should be treated equally as wrestlers. How can we embrace the "for once, the accent is on 'wrestler' instead of on 'women'" if they have their very own announcer? Their current belt is already a disgrace (visually, I mean) and is in dire need of an overhaul. And why not pink ropes too? Etc., etc. More equal treatment, less different treatment. I'm aware that this sentiment is apparently anachronistic in this day and age, but I feel it's really the way to go. Having said that -- put Renee Young on the main broadcast team for all the matches. Why not? She has a passion for the product and she is better than JBL. The death rattle of a man stricken with terminal flatulence is better than JBL. Cole, Saxton and Young. Or maybe have Young as part of a rotating spot for a Graves, Booker T etc. every week.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2015 20:39:29 GMT -5
Someone brought this up a while back, but it's so true. Look at how different the WWF/E looked from 1985 to 1990. Or from 1990 to 1995. Or from 1995 to 2000. Those five year gaps make it seem like completely different companies based on the presentation and format. Now look at the shows post-2002 to today, or even 2005 to today. The set and production looks nearly identical. Very little, if anything, has changed visually. It just feels like one continuous year over and over and over again.
They have no incentive to change things up, but they really should. If Vince thinks that numbering WM makes it look old, just pop in a tape of 2003 Raw and see how identical it looks to day's format. That was 12 years ago.
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gr1990
Don Corleone
Posts: 1,485
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Post by gr1990 on Jul 22, 2015 20:39:45 GMT -5
The idea of having Renee Young doing commentary for diva matches is incredibly condescending. Like, "you can't call the serious guy stuff, but you can talk about the pretty ladies and maybe what dresses they wear and how they do their hair." That and the fact that some of her commentary on Divas matches during her time in the booth on NXT made Jerry Lawler look progressive in his attitude towards women. She was probably just saying what she thought the bosses wanted to hear but God it was bad, and especially jarring in NXT where the women don't behave like insulting stereotypes. And she generally just doesn't seem to have the depth of knowledge to do well at either colour or play-by-play. However, she's top of the heap as far as interviews and hosting goes, so she should stick to that. They should bring back a charismatic former Diva as a female commentary voice, someone who's actually been in the ring. Or heck, have Sara del Rey do it.
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Post by blake6905 on Jul 22, 2015 21:01:37 GMT -5
- More sit down interviews - Less in ring promos - Stop having a promo open the show to "unexpectedly" set up a main event. Yeah, we are supposed to buy that they came to town and didn't have a main event planned... - Tale of the tape - Time limits - More backstage interviews. In fact, the only time we should see the wrestlers backstage is if the camera crew has a reason to be there such as an interview. No more invisible cameraman just happening to catch conversations and stuff. - Alternate and change the roster up more. Have half the guys on Raw one week, the other half the next. - Have a big main event for Raw that is built to the week before most weeks that is advertised to death. Give people a reason to be excited for the show. -A cruiserweight division could be really fun. - More international flavor, like masked luchadores, hard hitting Japanese guys, and ass kicking Canadians and Brits. I know we have some of this, but it's not as good as it could be. - More racial diversity that doesn't rely on outdated schoolyard stereotypes of the 1970s. - They've already started, but can the diva crap and let them be wrestlers, or at least Superstars, like the guys. This is 2015 for crying out loud I honestly don't see how they even have many female fans given how women have mostly been portrayed for the past three decades. I'm glad it's starting to change, but I look forward to the day day it isn't an issue anymore. - Better commentary. It really is embarrassing how awful it is. Love the tale Of the tape idea
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Post by HMARK Center on Jul 22, 2015 21:18:36 GMT -5
If they want to be able to get away with not varying the overall presentation up too much, an easy way to do that is to present the product as more of a sporting event. For example, this would require far less enormously long promos, and starting each show with a card ready to go...you know, like any TV show or sporting event would. No setting up matches with opening promos, or save it for very rare occasions.
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Post by Hit Girl on Jul 22, 2015 21:27:16 GMT -5
]Not really. She can talk about the wrestling itself. A female voice just adds something different and unique. It also creates an impression that the division is truly seperate, rather than blurring into the normal programming and drudgery. .. but isn't the goal to show that the female wrestlers are wrestlers just like the men are, and that their ability to perform / entertain / engage is just the same as the men are? Like, this seems a classic case of "pedestal equality". Equal treatment with special perks is not equal treatment. If you want the divas to get equal respect for their work in the ring, then they should be treated equally as wrestlers. How can we embrace the "for once, the accent is on 'wrestler' instead of on 'women'" if they have their very own announcer? Their current belt is already a disgrace (visually, I mean) and is in dire need of an overhaul. And why not pink ropes too? Etc., etc. More equal treatment, less different treatment. I'm aware that this sentiment is apparently anachronistic in this day and age, but I feel it's really the way to go. Having said that -- put Renee Young on the main broadcast team for all the matches. Why not? She has a passion for the product and she is better than JBL. The death rattle of a man stricken with terminal flatulence is better than JBL. Cole, Saxton and Young. Or maybe have Young as part of a rotating spot for a Graves, Booker T etc. every week. You can have equal treatment for women wrestlers while still giving their brand a distinct identity. Lots of purple, silver and pink (colours associated with the Divas title and not generally used elsewhere in WWE except for the cancer awareness month). Having female refs and announcers can be part of a marketing campaign along the lines of " the WWE Divas division, for women, by women!" and so forth. If they MUST have an authority figure, she can be a woman too.
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Post by thegame415 on Jul 23, 2015 2:50:20 GMT -5
- How about never ending Raw at the same time? Make the third hour flexible, and the remainder of the show is wrap-up. End the show at 9:24, then 9:18, then 10:15 (i'm central time). It gives a feeling of unpredictability.
- Have social media get more involved. Have fans instagram or tweet photos of themselves at events, or special moments (Taker returning, for example). Show those on Raw.
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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Jul 23, 2015 3:29:46 GMT -5
Open the show with actual f***ing matches. This is a wrestling show. Have some wrestling.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2015 4:10:32 GMT -5
Have the show open with a match.
No talking in the ring for 20 minutes unless it's really important. In other words if it happens more than 4 times a year that's too much.
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Post by Ryback on a Pole! on Jul 23, 2015 4:35:10 GMT -5
I would like to see a change to the tag formula of "babyface in peril" and then the dreaded "hot tag" thing. Spice things up, have the match a full 50-50 or the hot-tag failing (like when Show KO'd Shad)
Also, the 5 Moves of Doom babyface comeback routine has long outstayed it's welcome. It makes matches very predictable and repetitive like, as soon as someone goes for a backbody drop on Triple H, you might as well fast-forward for 5 minutes because we're going to get the exact same thing in the exact same order that we've seen hundreds of times before.
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Post by cuppacoffee - slight return on Jul 23, 2015 4:48:20 GMT -5
- Time limits - They've already started, but can the diva crap and let them be wrestlers, or at least Superstars, like the guys. This is 2015 for crying out loud I honestly don't see how they even have many female fans given how women have mostly been portrayed for the past three decades. I'm glad it's starting to change, but I look forward to the day day it isn't an issue anymore. Agreed with most of your post, but in particular, these two things were absolutely spot-on. Time limits! I want some TV time limits! Such an obvious, easy, brilliant way of maintaining heel heat while keeping faces strong. Such a great way of developing a feud. Such a clear reason for the blow-off match at the PPV being something special / different. You know who looked a really good heel thanks to TV time limits? Stunning Steve Austin with the WCW TV Title Belt back in the early 90s. Dude would be taken to the limit by whatever plucky babyface you wanted to build up, then fluke a title retention through time limit draw. That made for great TV, and nobody had to do a momentum-ruining job. You could make the face look strong, then move him on to some other programme, or you could build and build the feud. Made sense. With the "Divas" vs "Wrestlers (who happen to be women)" thing, it's so important, not just for attracting / retaining female fans, but for boys watching, too. My youngest son is seven, and has just this year started watching WWE with me. We started with NXT, and he now watches some of the main show PPVs. Apart from Finn Balor and Sami Zayn, his favourite wrestlers right now are Sasha, Becky and Charlotte. He thinks they're legit badasses with deadly submission moves. The main roster Divas, he sees as a joke. At seven, he's not watching wrestling to ogle boobs or butts. I'm pretty glad that for the most part NXT isn't already conditioning him to do so. He's absolutely delighted at the idea of Charlotte or Sasha making a Bella Twin tap out. Present the women as wrestlers, not eye-candy, and boys will accept them as such. That's as important to me as a parent as whether or not girls watch the show.
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Fauxnaki
Unicron
0 Followers Club
Posts: 2,861
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Post by Fauxnaki on Jul 23, 2015 4:58:40 GMT -5
hire some competent writers and fire cole from announcing he's great at his job but he's been in this position for to long now and people just dont like him need to change things up he cant still be the voice off the wwe.
Also bring back the brand split but with raw, smackdown and nxt should make some healthy competition
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