Put WWE on the back of one wrestler

[Coffey]

On Raw or Smackdown. You only get one. Heel or face. I'm curious as to what people will say. Will you pick someone that can wrestle? Someone with a lot of charisma? A good talker?

 

If you were to "franchise" one wrestler from WWE, whom would it be? How young will they be? Will they have a lot of experience? A good merchandise mover? Someone well traveled in the business?

[Coffey]

My initial thought was Chris Jericho. He's in his thirties, but he's wrestled in WCW, ECW, Japan and I believe Mexico. So, he has the experience. He's shown in the past that he can get over. He obviously has charisma, even if he's been on autodrive for awhile. In the ring, there's obviously better, but he's not really a slouch. He can put on good matches when he has good opponents. When he has bad opponents, well, at least he can bump for them.

 

He can work as a heel or a face, although personally I believe that he's better as a cocky heel. As far as merchandise is concerned, to be honest, I really don't know a lot about it. I'm sure with his popularity that he doesn't suck though.

 

Jericho also doesn't seem to get injured too often. In fact, the only thing I can remember happening to him recently is a concussion or two.

 

He doesn't have the size of a Hulk Hogan or a Triple H, so apparently that's his downfall in WWE. Outside of that, and his not being WWE made, what else is going against him? It just seems silly that WWE wouldn't use him more.

 

Is Triple H his equal? Does Triple H excel in any area over Jericho? Outside of family relationship and size...what does H have that Jericho doesnt? Is H younger than Jericho? I know H doesn't have Jericho's experience....

[Guest TheShawshankRudotion]

Cena, sadly.

 

The guy just knows how to market himself 1000x's better than everyone else right now.

[Guest Alfdogg]

I'd say Eddie Guerrero covers every base touched on in the initial post.

[Coffey]

I dunno about either Cena or Guerrero. Guerrero has the experience, but how big of an audience can he relate too? How dependable is he with his past incidents? How much longer can he go?

 

Cena is stuck in a dead end gimmick. He does seem to have some charisma, and I credit him with making a crappy gimmick work at least somewhat. He has youth. I think it stops there though. He doesn't bring a whole lot to the table in terms of wrestling talent, however I guess that hasn't mattered to WWE in the past.

 

I could see Cena actually. I'm having trouble seeing Guerrero in the role though. Mainly because of his age, his body starting to break down and his drug problems that he's had in the past.

[Loss]

Rudo's right, I'm afraid. I personally can't stand Cena, but he's the best chance WWE has of reversing their fortunes at this point.

 

I would have said Jericho probably up until he turned face in 2004 and still ended up nowhere near the title picture, despite being incredibly over. The time away from the spotlight has been too long, and he, like Kurt Angle, is seen as yesterday's news at this point.

[goodhelmet]

Dave Meltzer was on BetweentheRopes awhile back and he said he saw no one who could be able to carry the ball for the WWF in the future. Not one wrestler stood out in his eyes as having "it". I usually don't like to trust Meltz's judgment when it comes to match ratings.. but for observations, I'll take his word. The future looks bleak.

 

Really... do you think the average Joe Shmoe would buy a ticket to see Cena perform? Or is he just a side attraction?

 

I think they really missed their chance to build up a huge following for Eddy last year.

 

Jericho has been misused and abused so he is dead in the water.

 

Honestly, I don't see the WWF taking a chance with a guy who has charisma (at least before HHH cuts his knees out from under him) or changing their current method of business recruiting a bunch of stiffs.

[Guest Some Guy]

Eddy couldn't handle the presure. He's admitted it. He is the one who failed, for a change the WWE didn't fail him.

 

As far as a guy to carry the company. In 2003 Goldberg (despite what anybody including me thinks of his work) was the guy but they fucked that up royally. 2004 was the year that Benoit should have been allowed to run at the top in the Bret Hart role as champ until they could groom a guy (like HBk in 96) to knock him down at WM but they decided to sabatage his and Orton's careers so HHH could have a few more title reigns. Now I just don't see anybody who could carry the company on either brand. Cena is charismatic but has a midcard gimmick and a poor workrate. Batista gets a good pop and helped spike the ratings on Monday but he's limited in the ring and his mic skills aren't anything great and he's like 36 years old. Age combined with the steroids make him a big risk for injury.

 

I guess of the two I think Cena would be the one to go with because he's younger and a slightly better worker.

[Guest TheShawshankRudotion]

Cena had an extremely good match against Benoit on Smackdown in 03 (the one where the winner faced Lesnar later on in the night). Cena did one of the best sell-jobs I have seen _ever_ in the WWE. Cena knows how to work. The ability is here, the motivation is questionable.

 

He sells merch like crazy. The Smackdown I went to in 03, as well as the RAW in 04, was littered with Word Life shirts and caps. Go to WWE Shop right now and look at their top 10 sellers - half of them are Cena. I'd personally never wear any of his stuff, but it's cute. Fans proudly wear it. Infact, fans are proud of Cena. The "Chain Gang", while incredibly retarded as a name, was an excellent idea. Cena needs to go into the crowd some more, and he definitely should if he wins at Mania. They have a really good opportunity with Cena/JBL to enhance both guys' characters and get Cena overthetop huge. They gotta kill their usual formula here and try something new with these two, IMO.

 

His wrestling is basic, but then again Hogan and Austin weren't moveset marvels either. They were able to get by through timing and in-ring charisma, some of which can be learned and some of which can't. I haven't really seen Cena in the role to know if he has it or not. He needs to diversify his promos and start trying to cut them to draw money. He needs to expand his character some more - get into his motivation, where he came from, why he is the way he is - so that an emotional connection can be made. Thus far he has been pretty 1 note, and I know Hogan and Austin were too (or at least seemed to be, closer inspection would probably prove otherwise), but now is a different time and some exposition would be nice. A great feud could bring this all out of him.

 

And back to my original statement - the guy knows how to market himself. He has hand gestures, he lets the crowd sing along with him, he has catch phrases, he has ridiculous moves that are out of place in a match but get the crowd into it. The man is not writing the playbook, he's just following it to a T. That may be a problem. At some point he needs to add something to the playbook, and I wonder if he can. The movie may also be a problem, depending on how well it does and how well he does in it. From what I've seen of him, it doesn't look like he has the acting chops and I know any WWE film is going to have bad writing, so it won't help him. He'll have to rely on charisma, and quite frankly, the Rock couldn't do that with Walking Tall.. and Cena is no Rock.

 

I'm going to let yall in on a personal observation, which really has nothing to do with this thread, but it also has everything to do with this thread.

 

A few years ago, the hot thing was Reality TV. Networks filled the airwaves with it; oversaturated the market with it. When something like that happens, there is a natural reaction to go towards something different. Now, Hour Long dramas are hot. LOST and Desperate Housewives, along with the CSI's, are hits and next season the airwaves are going to be flooded with them as well. What do you think will be the natural reaction in 2 or 3 years to well written, often melodramatic, incredibly heavy, hour long dramas?

[Guest Some Guy]

Thus far he has been pretty 1 note, and I know Hogan and Austin were too (or at least seemed to be, closer inspection would probably prove otherwise), but now is a different time and some exposition would be nice.  A great feud could bring this all out of him.

 

 

I agree that Cena is one note but Austin and Hogan were a little deeper and easier for the masses to relate to. Austin drank beer (I drink beer) he hated his boss (I hated my boss), he got to beat up his boss (I would have loved to kick the shit out of my former boss), Austin cursed (I curse). Ausitn never quit and relied on himself for the most part which are admirable traits.

 

Hogan stood for what what good and righteous, he stood up for the American flag, he fought fire with fire when he had to. He was the good that overcaem adversity and defeated evil.

 

Cena is a wigger (or Wafrican American for you PC nuts out there) from the suburbs in Mass (which I sort of was about 5 years ago although he's from a different part of the state) who hit people with a chain and wears Reebok Pumps (which I wore in 4th grade, 14 years ago). I just don't relate to him very well. I out grew that shit and he's older than I am. To me he comes across as a jacked up guy with a bad case of arrested development.

 

That being said I did enjoy the character when he actually did freestyles that rhymed and were funny. Now his promos do neither, thus defeating half the purpose of his character being a white guy who cuts funny freestyles that rhyme and hits people with a chain after pumping his shoes.

 

I think that if he were to be a main event guy he'd have to go back to the frestyles for a solo in ring and backstage promos adn be able to cut a good atoryline progressing promo in face to face confrontations, which he thus far has been unable to do.

[Guest Alfdogg]

I'm not suggesting him for this or anything, but one guy I've been thinking about even though I haven't seen him in the ring is Carlito. I could see the fans catching onto his character and eventually turning him face, much like what happened with Rock. Plus Vince likes to push guys with wrestling bloodlines (Carlito is Carlos Colon's son).

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

I don't think anyone could handle the load. There are some popular guys around, but none of them have the qualities that guys like the Rock or Austin had.

 

Jericho has been messed with so often that I don't think he'll ever be considered anything other than a midcard guy with a lot of main events under his belt. They missed the boat on making him a big star long ago.

 

Benoit is just too vanilla on the mike, and in WWE, that accounts for a lot if you're not reguarly engaging in sex with the boss' daughter. I couldn't really buy him as the World Champ, just because his promos were so dull. He's fun to watch in the ring, but he just lacks the charisma needed to make people care when he's talking.

 

Eddie couldn't handle the pressure, which is a shame since he's got most of the tools Benoit has plus the natural charisma Benoit's so sorely lacking.

 

Cena's gimmick is too cartoonish to make him believable as franchise sort of wrestler. I'm hesistant to suggest 86ing the gimmick, though, since it's so over with the fans, and sells tons of merchandise. He's bland in the ring and I think his character is too one-note, but he's found a way to keep the fans into him, which shows that he's capable of running with a lot of half-baked ideas and making them click.

 

It's funny, though, that the two guys who reign as the big champions in the company aren't wrestlers I'd even consider as capable of carrying a promotion. Bradshaw because he's still mediocre even if he's bleeding buckets, and HHH because the show has been centered around him for over five years and he's never shown he could draw on the basis of his name power alone.

[Loss]

Thing about Benoit though, is that if he didn't have charisma, he wouldn't be over. He knows how to work a crowd, he just does it in a totally different way than someone like The Rock.

[Coffey]

Well, for a long time, he seemed like he acted like the crowd wasn't even there. I guess he's done the throat slice motion before the headbutt for a long time though.

 

He just can't talk. That doesn't really mean he lacks charisma, just lacks microphone skills.

[Guest Hunter's Torn Quad]

Benoit has mic skills, just not in the SE vein that Austin and Rock have. Benoit's strength is delivering a serious sports-style promo.

[Coffey]

Which is fine...but it doesn't fit in with "WWE style" a lot of the time. That's why people give him shit. At least that's the way I look at it.

 

For example, I was a big fan of his pre-WMXX title match promo backstage with Eddy.

[Loss]

If WWE booked to be successful, they would have let Benoit talk and do a serious sports-style promo every week, and they would have had everyone else doing those promos too so no one upstaged Benoit as champ. It's sad when actually hiding a wrestler's weaknesses and promoting his strengths is considered a novel idea, considering that's the only way to get anything done in wrestling really. You have HHH arguing that anyone they push should be excellent "in every area", but the crowd has been ready to accept people in higher positions that have been less talented and really, there's not anyone on the roster who's a GREAT worker and a GREAT talker and is over except Eddy Guerrero.

[Guest Some Guy]

I just wouldn't have Benoit talk. Someone runs their mouth off at him and he just says, "I'll see you in the ring". When they wrestle he dismantles them piece by piece. That would have gotten him over huge.

[Coffey]

I'm bumping this thread. Several people named Eddie Guerrero, whom has since passed away, and John Cena was name dropped. Now that Cena's had the ball for awhile, my choice of Jericho is gone and Guerrero died, now who do you guys say?

 

Also, someone mentioned this the other day (I think it was Sek), so I figured I'd post the picture so people could save it to their harddrive or whatever:

 

Back on topic, to name drop a few people, what do you guys think of Chris Masters, Ken Kennedy & Paul Burchill?

[sek69]

WWE did a great job making Eddie the top guy like they always should have, unfortunately it was after he died.

 

I think Chris Masters has potential in the sense that he's improved a lot since his WWE debut, but he was brought up way too early and he's going to have to work ten times as hard to be seen as worthy of the push he's been given. Especially among smart fans, who have almost universally shit on him already.

 

Ken Kennedy can be the next Rock. I'm dead serious. If he's allowed to show his personality like he was in OVW and not locked into a one note act, he'll be huge. He has that "it" factor that you need in wrestling in abundance.

 

Paul Burchill can be a solid mid to upper card guy if he doesn't get buried in all this pirate foolishness.

 

Personally I think Carlito can be a guy who can run with the ball in the future. He's improving in the ring and his Piper-esque squash on RAW where he talked while beating the guy showed he can bring the intensity as well as being funny.

[Guest Prince Mishkin]

I'd say Edge. The guy's shown some steam since last year's Mania. Now, say what you want about Matt Hardy, but Edge is pretty over and he got good heat as champion. He got a little f'ed by losing the belt so soon, but he's not dead in the water yet, and Foley will probably make him look great at WMXXII. If you let him destroy Foley and show that he CAN be more than just a coward heel, he could be that guy. Wrestling wise I dunno, he's not Jericho or Benoit or Angle but he's pretty good, he brings a lot of fire into his matches. He used to be really good, and he's shown a bit of the old form recently. He cuts a good promo, has the look, and I think he could be "the man" if they get behind him.

[Loss]

I think the next top draw for WWE will be Hispanic since that's their fastest growing market. Carlito is improving, he may step up, and the planned feud with Rey this year will only help his progress. Misterio is the other guy I'd build around.

 

They really, really need to find some pretty boys who can somewhat work, because there's very little at all that appears to women about WWE right now. Sure, you have guys like Cena, but the male fanbase rejects him for the same reasons the female fanbase adores him.

 

I'm thinking a tag team is the way to go. The Hardyz were once a female/teen draw, but that's obviously ancient history.

[Coffey]

What about London/Kendrick? They have the workrate when they're on and the could easily be classified as "pretty boys." Slap a female mouthpiece with them or something perhaps? MNM have Melina....

[Slasher]

Or... use MNM themselves. They aren't bad looking themselves.

[Guest CanadianChick]

Nah, I'd say use MNM as fodder to London/Kendrick, like Edge and Christian were used with the Hardys.

 

It's actually perfect, and I'm surprised WWE hasn't attempted it as of yet since it is a direct ripoff of something that was successful in the past. Besides, London/Kendrick are better looking that the Hardys, have cooler looking moves and are quirky enough to get over.