Building the perfect promotion

[Woof]

So I was reading an older thread yesterday about what your "perfect" wrestling promotion was, which I guess was meant to be a vote for the actual promotion/time period that you thought was as close to perfection as possible. But it got me to thinking, what if you could Frankenstein that bitch together and build the perfect promotion from top to bottom. I used my commute home last night to come up with a first stab…

 

I'd start with the 1986-87 Jim Crockett Promotions roster. You got Flair & The Horsemen at their peak, Windham at his best, Dusty & Magnum still around (Dusty mostly for the promos), Luger & Sting representing the next wave, a stacked tag division with the MX, RNRX, Road Warriors, Arn & Tully, The Russians, Rude & Fernandez among others, and a boatload of solid hands on the undercard.

 

We'd have a working agreement with 1993 All Japan though, so we could bring in some of that talent for long-term tours and programs.

 

It would be booked by 1985-1986 Bill Watts for his week-to-week storytelling and general prowess, but assisted by 2004 Gabe Sapolsky for a bit of a modern touch.

 

I'd run a weekly 2-hour TV show (a Raw or Nitro) for feature matches & angles taped at the Dallas Sportatorium circa 1983 (for the look, atmosphere & crowd heat), hosted by Vince McMahon & Jesse Ventura (for their chemistry and ability to get over angles and characters).

 

A weekly 1-hour squash match TV show taped at current day Full Sail because I want the audience to be fun given they won't be seeing much in terms of marquee matches, something the mid-90's ECW Arena crowd would shit all over. Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan can host this since they're more fun when they're just cracking on each other.

 

Monthly supercards will be held at a variety of venues (late 70's MSG, mid-80's Omni, mid-80's Mid-South Coliseum, etc). Late 90's Jim Ross gets the call on play-by-play for his big match/big moment calls, joined by '03 Taz (with a prayer that they develop decent chemistry) because I always thought his analysis of match strategy in that time period was fantastic.

 

The whole thing would be produced by the early 2000's WWF production staff, back when they really hit their groove on video packages, re-embraced the idea of using actual artists' music rather than relying solely on Jim Johnston for everything, but weren't yet to the point where they were jump-cutting all over the place during matches and bogging down the shows with a million Twitter mentions and "Did You Know" self-congratulatory bullshit. Of course they'd have access to modern day HD technology as well, because why the hell not.

 

What do you guys got?

EDIT: Almost forgot, Howard Finkel does the ring announcing until the day he dies, then its handled by Howard Finkel's Ghost.

[peachchaos]

Also Spake Zarathustra is the theme song. Lance Russell and Dave Brown are the hosts. TV is recorded in a studio on Saturdays with the major arena events occurring every Monday. The top star is hometown hero Jerry Lawler. The top heels are Jimmy Hart and the First Family. Dutch Mantel, Bill Dundee, Dream Machine, The Fabulous Ones, The Midnight Express and Sweet Brown Sugar are among the supporting cast. Actor Andy Kaufman is the Intergender Champion. There are music videos and special videos used to hype debuting talent. Every once-in-awhile, a World Champion will come to town and face the top contender.

 

I'm watching 1982 Memphis TV and it's pretty much perfect.

[Sean Liska]

Ha, I was going to post pretty much the same thing as peachchaos. The perfect announce team, one of the 5-best workers of all-time as the anchor with another all-time great as his #2, endlessly entertaining TV wrestling, exciting highlights of the big stuff every week, great writing, surprising and fun angles, great interviews, episodic feel, stacked roster, my favorite in-ring style, blood feuds, comedy...

[Loss]

I'd trade out the Full Sail crowd for either an 80s AJW crowd at Korakuen Hall or any of the 70s Mid Atlantic arena crowds, but otherwise, I'm with you all the way. I'm not sure about the WWE production team, though. It always seemed so saccharine. But I don't really have a better alternative either -- it's hard to think of really good *pro wrestling* production values, probably because it's antithetical to good wrestling in many ways.

[Woof]

I primarily want them for the video hype packages and the general way they records their shit. With WWE you always get good sound, unlike say 1990's WCW where they had the almighty Turner team behind them and couldn't seem to make it so the ring announcer was heard on the actual broadcast.

[Woof]

As for the Memphis stuff, I have very little exposure to them. Just now starting to get on my run through the 80's TV over on YouTube, but that'll take awhile. That being said, I can already tell I'm gonna like Lance Russell and Dave Brown, so I can totally see bumping Vince & Jesse and sliding them into my main weekly TV duo slot. I'd move Jesse to PPV with Ross, but man they had shit chemistry in '92 WCW. Pity.

[Laz]

Roster:

I'll probably say the ROH roster from 2006-2007. That gives me access to most of my favorite talent over the last decade and enough versatility to keep it fresh. This is including the CZW invaders that worked ROH shows as well as the imports. I'm picking Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson, and Homicide as the primary ME guys; with Hero, Nigel, Aries, LowKi, and Daniels just below them; a tag scene that revolves around the Briscoes, KENTA/Marufuji, Styles/Sydal, Steenerico, Generation Next, and the Rottweilers; and the rest fitting where they may.

 

Booker:

A two-man team of Paul Heyman and Sheldon Goldberg, with Heyman there to do what he does best (accentuate the positives, hide the negatives, and hype everybody into a frenzy) and Sheldon to balance his crazier ideas out.

 

Production:

For whatever reason, I love the set up of the FMW ring from around 1999/2000. The extended apron is a must, at least, but maybe change the color scheme to match NOAH (that dull green with the black is subtle enough to not be distracting but different enough to catch the eye). An entrance set not unlike DragonGate's "two ramps turn to one" but saved for big shows, with a basic lighting rig and a multi-screen video wall will serve just fine for other shows. The cameras would be of standard modern quality, but with a slight hint of grain and color saturation added in post (think the MCU movies, where colors stand out but aren't too overwhelming). Instruct the camera guys to actually follow the action and not leave it to the talent to find them.

 

Crew:

Lance Russell on PBP, Mike Tenay to chime in under the "professor" schtick he did in WCW, and Jesse Ventura on color. Ring announcing by Fink.

 

TV/touring:

Run 2-3 "TV tapings" a month with an additional 2-3 "house shows," allowing the talent to accept smaller bookings on off days. Secure a weekly one hour block and edit the TV tapings accordingly, focusing on characterization, angle developments, and clipped matches to entice viewers to come out to get the full experience and offer full events on DVD/VOD. Have handhelds record the house shows in the event that a great match or moment happens, and toss enough story on there to further get the point across that you should come out to every show you can. That's not saying "swerve or surprise on every show," but keeping the air of unpredictability alive.