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Post by HMARK Center on Jan 9, 2019 15:07:18 GMT -5
Lots of good suggestions but here’s my addition: get rid of all scheduled gimmick PPVs with the exception of the Royal Rumble. Gimmick matches should be unexpected and used when needed. I think much of their lazy booking is derived from being so fixed to the PPV calendar that they don’t have to be bothered to build real feuds that escalate to a blowoff gimmick match. All they have to do is wait for the calendar to turn. And in the process, they’ve completely deluded all of their biggest attraction matches. And to add some blasphemy, I’d even be willing to retire the Royal Rumble at this point. It seems to have lost it’s luster in recent years and I’d like them to have to actually come up with more creative and logical ways to get someone a title shot. Then maybe they’d actually have to build an interesting storyline/environment where a Royal Rumble was necessary instead of scheduled. I say it every year, but if they don't want to retire it they still really need to do something new with the Rumble. For one, since Patterson retired it's clear there isn't great direction/agent work being done on the match, which obviously hurts it, but I also hate how a match style that is almost entirely predicated on chaos and luck of the draw can't have a particularly shocking outcome because you know they won't let certain people win and have them in a marquee title match at Wrestlemania. In kayfabe, literally anybody should have a shot at winning the Rumble because of how random a match style it is, yet you're willing to risk a world title match on the biggest card of the year on the outcome of a match where your top draws might (again, in kayfabe) draw numbers 1 and 2 and be out by the time #20 enters? It'd be a lot more fun if total surprise winners could happen, so maybe just get rid of the "winner gets a WM title shot" stipulation, especially since it's so rare for the Rumble winner to actually main event WM anymore. Back on subject, yeah, I'm 100% with you on the gimmick match PPVs. It's one of the most asinine things I can think of; gimmicks are invented to suit particular feuds, but instead it's "hey guys, it's time for Hell in a Cell, I know you just started feuding but we need you to wrestle the same match Foley and Taker did, just without the actual violence."
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"Magic" Mark Hurr
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Here, have some chili dogs
Not related to Phantasmo
Posts: 15,748
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Post by "Magic" Mark Hurr on Jan 9, 2019 16:33:35 GMT -5
I've said many things over the years and I've read several great suggestions.
One thing I've stood for the longest is that it's like WWE is a six story building. It's obvious that the top 4 floors to me are:
1. Vince 2. WWE as a company 3. The rest of the McMahons (including HHH). 4. Vince's obsession project within the company/who he wants as the face of Raw 5. Wrestler's they want to get over 6 Wrestlers who are over.
This is how it plays out on tv. It would be one thing if their behind the scenes ambitions weren't so obvious. Being invested in the product feels like waste if it isn't something that is actually cool before they start to act like it was their master plan. Kayfabe ain't what it used to be, so context has to take over. They fail at context because they live in a bubble.
And also, the show just looks the same. Week in and week out. Showing what town they are in from the outside doesn't mean anything when the inside is set up to look like it could have been the same place as last week.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on Jan 9, 2019 16:47:01 GMT -5
The single biggest improvement they can make would be to how it's presented. The announce teams need to go, and instead replaced with people who a) know the product, b) are willing to educate as well as entertain the TV audience (which means going back to the historical/traditional names for moves and holds) and c) love the product enough to make it sound like the most exciting thing the audience will see all week. Monsoon and Heenan (hell, Monsoon and _anybody_) could sell ice in the Arctic and make a fortune.
Second, get rid of the writing team - all it is is a make-work project for failed TV writers in place solely to give WWE some semblance of being a "serious" entertainment company. Either bring in someone behind a hit TV show to take the whole thing over, or have an old-fashioned booking committee to set the direction of feuds, lay out cards and pay-per-views, and generally give the talent their heads creatively. With that in mind -
Third, tell Kevin Dunn either to back off on his creative input or pension off his ass. It's pro wrestling - it's not "sports entertainment", nobody wants a title "opportunity", but a goddamned title shot: and in the name of all that's even remotely reasonable and neutral, STOP CALLING THE BELTS, "TITLES"! We're not stupid. We know that the belts are merely physical trappings that represent championships, and that champions enjoy (or should enjoy) various perks and privileges that aren't available to the lumpen masses. Would Ric Flair give a damn about winning the World championship if all it was was a belt? Should we care if the title only means the belt?
The big, overriding issue that is hurting WWE, and probably the industry as a whole, is a failure to demonstrate that it takes the current product seriously. It has been reduced in many instances to being solely a vehicle for advertising, a distraction from the commercials. The lack of stars being presented as having crossover appeal, the 50/50 "wins and losses don't matter" booking attitude from Creative, even the cookie-cutter layout of matches and movesets, all point to an attitude of presenting the absolute minimum effort to ensure certain results. Hopefully, new challenges will force WWE in particular to recognize its shortcomings and to step up its creative game. I don't realistically see that happening, though, until they start losing in TV ratings to a rival promotion.
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Post by sportatorium on Jan 9, 2019 21:45:02 GMT -5
Under stand who is over, and what got them over. Conversely, if someone isn’t getting over, take an honest look at what’s going on rather than blaming the audience for “not getting it”.
When wrestlers are having a match on TV, have commentary make the biggest deal in the world out of the two people in the ring. Go back & listen to JR & King making Tom Brandi vs Marc Mero sounds like it was Hogan-Savage at Wrestlemania.
The company, commentary and all other official presentation are from a babyface POV. Heel authority figures and the general heelishness of the McMahon family is played out. Everyone should be outraged at Ambrose & Lashley for taking out Seth Rollins & we should share that outrage & tune in next week to see him try to get back at them.
Stop with part-timers. Make championships really important. Stories should have a beginning, middle & an end.
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Post by prichardmark on Jan 9, 2019 21:47:00 GMT -5
New ownership. Someone other than the Mcmahons. Its the only way. Their ideas are all recycled, worn out, and their vision is narrow in scope at this point. Nothing will change as long as there is a Mcmahon in power. You need an entirely NEW vision.
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