Good Will Wrestling: Fixing the WWE Part Three

[soup23]

On this episode of Fixing the WWE, Will is joined by Charles (prowrestlingonly.com) and Dylan (Wrestling Culture) to examine WWE’s booking. In the first half, we examine the tools that WWE creative have at their disposal and how effective they are in using their tools. In the second half, we look at the way the roster is booked and how they can help elevate wrestlers. Finally, we answer the question that is even on John Cena’s lips: Should John Cena turn heel? ​

 

http://placetobenation.com/good-will-wrestling-fixing-the-wwe-part-three/

[fakeplastictrees]

Damn you for posting this now! It's past midnight here and I have work tomorrow (today) and now I'm listening to this podcast. I guess 2 shots of espresso in my coffee tomorrow! Been lookign forward to this. Should be a good listen.

[goodhelmet]

Hahahaaha!!! Listen through to the end... we get Loss to see the light on how to turn Cena heel.

[The Chief]

Don't usually comment while I'm still listening, but HOLY SHIT you're doing a Mark Henry retrospective! This needs to drop yesterday!!!

[Matt D]

It's funny, because I know you guys have your stuff down as well as anyone on the internet, but at the same time, I kind of like that guy who makes a note full of talking points BEFORE filming the podcast and I kind of wish you'd do that too. Especially with a Mark Henry thing. Because maybe I want you to think about Henry vs Vader from when he was a rookie that might get overlooked or I think it's important to look at his babyface tag work with D-Lo and then later on with MVP to see if there's an interesting contrast there, ten years later, to see how he improved, etc. Those are just random examples, though.

 

I also get that these podcasts aren't always for the 30 people who post regularly here but for the broader audience you have, so that changes how in depth you have to go and also that you have to hit talking points and discussions that we all know and have been over a dozen times that other people maybe have not.

[The Chief]

I like the Cena corporate champ idea, like what they did with Orton but you know, not shitty. My only concern is that if Cena takes Orton's spot, we may get dejected babyface Orton going after Cena. And even though the dynamic would be fresh, I don't think anyone would want to see that again.

[cpst]

Cena as the corporate champion is a great idea. They could even have Steph and HHH justify their decision to go with Cena over Brock by pointing out that Brock has never been a company man, left when they needed him the most, always asks to work a reduced schedule, whereas no one has sacrificed their outside life for the wellbeing of the WWE like John Cena. It's basically the same angle that Cena took at the end of his video package with Brock.

[Minds_Eys]

Dylan, I hope we get to hear your daughter on the Wrestling Culture podcast breaking down the intricacies of Lucha and her hatred for John Cena.

[dgrblue]

I would agree, that the heel turn of Cena, and him becoming in bed with the authority. This is brilliant thinking, unfortunately, wwe will never do it. The wwe will not be willing to take that kind of risk. Wwe is fine with a 3.0 rating on cable, and a 1.5+ rating on cable for smackdown, and it's the semi-over exposure on tv.

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

I don't know.....Cena as corporate champ sounds like a flop. The whole corporate thing is kind of tired to me. And I can't see WWE being creative enough to really make Cena stand out from previous corporate champ types. It'd be hot for a month or two, but like everything else, WWE would find a way to tame it down and kill it before it got too good.

 

The way to make Cena a corporate champ that actually had the best shot of working long term:

 

1. Turn him at WM against Taker (too late)

2. Do some of the things you guys mentioned on the pod as far as video packages and angles (way over WWE's heads)

3. Morph his character from white rapper to a cross between a bro Ric Flair and a bro Million Dollar Man. He'd be one of those East Coast ivy leaguer bro types who got rich too fast on Wall St. thanks to his daddy's connections and now he's a complete and total asshole that nobody can stand who sucks up to people above him and abuses people below him. Of course, in Cena's case, Wall St. would be the WWE and instead of his daddy helping him get rich, it'd be Steph and Hunter.

[dknick]

One thing I don't understand is if they are trying to increase Network buys, why not make Main Event the show that has the best or most important match of the week. Use Raw and Smackdown to drive your angles, but make Main Event a can't miss show, instead of just a throwaway like it is now. Playing off one of the topics you guys discussed on the show, have a hot match end on Raw in a double count out. Put the rematch in a cage the next night on Main Event.

[Matt D]

They just signed a new contract and it's pretty obvious that they could increase half a rating point or decrease half a rating point and it probably wouldn't matter all that much. They'll always be considered insignificant. They should be gutting part of their tv for the network, absolutely. The TV deals are signed. The network is as much money as they can make from it right now.

[Loss]

Yeah, that's a great point. RAW should always end with a hook for Main Event, which has some type of match - preferably but not necessarily with a clean finish - that moves things forward. RAW should probably have shorter matches (even though longer matches with the right people do drive television ratings) or matches that have inconclusive finishes building to a match on Main Event that resolves something or has consequence. I think they do a decent job sometimes of hyping what's to come on Main Event, but they rarely look backwards and talk about what non-subscribers missed by not seeing it, which is another important piece.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

Really good show. Love this series.

 

Looking forward to the show about current fans. That's a great topic.

[fakeplastictrees]

So WWE Raw 2014 should using the bridging techniques of WCW Nitro 1998? I wouldn't be against it. Its just interesting that for The Network to work in the 21st century, WWE might have to start looking back toward The Attitude era and ask how can Raw and Smackdown be used to have people ask "What Now?" and "What's Next?" all the while finding a balance to shift this traffic to The Network while not producing fans so jaded where these fans are then conditioned to believe that Raw and Smackdown really don't matter as the only programs to watch for the answers to the "What Now?" and "What's Next?" questions...is too watch The Network.

 

I don't want to turn this into a Kevin Dunn thing, but is there a reason (again aside from Dunn) that The Network looks like WWE TV? I can understand why The Main Event and Superstars entrances and general feel are those of Smackdown and Raw. Okay fine. Not going to beat a dead horse on that one. But seriously those two shows don't have to be FILMED and DIRECTED like their TV counterparts?

 

Re: The Fans

 

Since the boom of the internet, the wrestling promoter has had it out for the fan. It's become a self-loathing business and the people writing the show want to tell their narrative regardless of whether its over or not. This has, in part, produced the jaded fan. The jaded fan is what is, again in part, hurting the business and yet the narrative is unchanged because pro wrestling promoters/writers have this hard on for showing the fans who is in charge and what these fans are suppose to think, say, chant, etc. The whole Bryan/HHH angle from last year was meta as hell and offers the biggest insight into the post 1997 pro wrestling world.

[gingears]

This series has made for some great listening. I listened to part three a few days ago so I cannot recall exact quotes or which speaker said them, but the most important thing to me that was mentioned was the worrying trend of all the characters on the show being afraid of losing their job. I know so many people who live in this kind of headspace, or worse live in fear of being unable to even make it to that point, and I can't imagine any of them wanting such a theme to exist when watching a television show for escapism. It must be even worse for children who have no frame of reference to relate to that sort of thing at all. I think with the shift towards integrating social media, WWE's focus has been on humanizing pro wrestlers and I'm not sure that is what fans really want. Even things that "reality era" fans respond to, such as C.M. Punk's "pipe bomb", are heavily rooted in fantasy, such as him defending the championship in other promotions. I think far too often, as was the case of The Big Show somehow losing all his money last year, WWE portrays its people as smaller than life rather than larger.

[jushin muta liger]

Finally listened to this episode and definitely agree with Dylan's take on how race is being portrayed in WWE and how bad they have handled it. It bothers me watching the product and how they show guys like R Truth and Xavier Woods compared to ROH where they showcase guys like Cedric Alexander and ACH as wrestlers and not "black characters".

 

I'm looking forward to the Mark Henry retrospective cause I'm not a big fan of his and I missed out on his Hall of Pain run.

[shoe]

Just thought this was funny. Mick Foley's daughter tweeted that she gets sad and depressed when Kane is on her screen.