**Note: I have decided to cancel the originally planned Part 3 of this series. It was going to be a mock draft for each brand, but that may be premature given that it was announced that both Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff have been advertised to appear on their respective brands this week. So, I'm going to hold off on Part 3 until we get a clearer picture of what is going down with the (possible) new order of things. **
There is a cautious optimism among wrestling fans after the announcement of the Heyman/Bischoff appointments as Executive Directors of Raw and Smackdown, respectively. Fans are rightfully skeptical (as I am) that change will be coming and that Vince won't just do what Vince has done lately. There are many things WWE can do in order to freshen up their stale, unhip product as it goes into both a wrestling war and a new business venture with FOX starting in October. These are just 5 things I would like to see WWE keep in mind or do as they "attempt" to change up their formula.
1) Different Production Styles for the Brands.- What's the difference between watching Raw and SmackDown on a production level? "God$T^$, pal. One's red. The other is blue! Are you blind? And that LED board has a different configuration between them most weeks." That's been the explanation we've gotten from Vince McMahon and the powers that be. But that's limited the feel of the entire product as being overly polished, glitzy, and (like WWE in general) superficial, lacking in substance.
If we are truly going to get a refreshed SmackDown in terms of production value (as has been rumored that Fox desires come October), then there's an opportunity to have some fun. Instead of the typical large LED Boards, how about a show with 1-2 screens? How about a show with different camera views around the ring and a different lighting style? How about a show with different commentators than the other show (cough, Corey Graves, cough)? How about getting rid of the ridiculous backstage skits where we are supposed to believe the talent doesn't see the camera randomly in locker rooms and offices? Better yet, how about a show without the guiding hand of an authority figure taking 20-30 minutes of TV time (being generous in that estimation) and putting more focus on the talent instead?
These are just some ideas, but the point is that both shows need to have different ways of producing their TV. Frankly, I'd like to see Kevin Dunn's role diminished to one show with another person brought in to oversee the other show from a technical standpoint. If WWE is serious about creating two unique television programs, changing the production style has to be a priority. Otherwise, Diet Raw will continue to be the perception that SmackDown will have.
2) No NXT Call-Ups For 1 Year. - WWE is the rich kid you knew in school with every toy in the world yet got bored with them, leaving them to collect dust just as quickly as they got them. If you look at the Raw and SmackDown rosters, they are already bloated with too much talent. Since WrestleMania, there have been a lot of talent that have found their roles greatly diminished if not destroyed. Even the Intercontinental Champion, Finn Balor, has had limited TV time on SmackDown Live to make room for the Wild Card and Shane McMahon nonsense.
In order for the house to be truly fixed, WWE needs to commit to the talent that they already have and maximizing their time. This could include such things as Raw using their three hours more effectively, changing Main Event to be a true hour of wrestling content to build momentum for superstars who might be on Raw the next week (and putting importance on that hour for viewers to actually care enough to watch), giving SmackDown a third hour of programming via their own secondary 1-hour show, doing things in the creative layout to get more talent exposed without forcing them into a preconceived role, and other things. As for 205 Live? How about filming those shows at Full Sail? The brand is dying as the third hour of SmackDown tapings because the crowd just does not care enough after sitting through SmackDown. WWE needs to either kill the brand and place the talent in one of the two brands (which are already bloated as mentioned earlier) or move the show to Full Sail in front of a crowd that will give 205 Live the energy that it needs.
But one thing is certain: WWE DOES NOT NEED TO CALL UP ANYONE FROM NXT IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE. Calling up talent has not been the answer for WWE. Too often, NXT talent get called up, exposed for a couple weeks, and thrown away like the aforementioned misfit toy (I'm looking at you, EC3). The answer isn't adding more talent: it's using what you already have. And frankly, the NXT talent could benefit from an extra year of exposure on the brand at least. And if Vince McMahon still has the guiding hand over both shows (or goes into Vince Mode once again), there aren't a lot of talent on the brand that meet Vince's standards for size. So, WWE should wait a year on calling up Velveteen Dream, The Undisputed Era, Gargano, Ciampa (when he returns), etc. The only NXT talent I think can be called up and be successful immediately in the right circumstances is Matt Riddle. Even then, Riddle can be lost in the shuffle. And God forbid this whole Heyman/Bischoff thing is garbage, and Vince McMahon micromanages everything. I can see him looking at Riddle with his laid back "BRO" gimmick and making him chase R-Truth for the next few years of his contract. "You have no passion, smoking your pot and saying "bro" all the time! Get out of my office! Put him on Truth Duty." Riddle may even get his wish to wrestle Lesnar... as Lesnar finishes him in eight minutes thanks to McMahon Booking 101.
So, yeah. Just let NXT be for a while. And to be blunt, if there's any arm in the WWE machine built to compete with AEW, it's NXT. Let it fight.
3) The Glass Ceiling Must Break. (The Kofi Effect) - For every Kofi Kingston, there is a Rusev. Kofi's emergence into the main event spot is part-accident, part-fan driven. The energy of Kofi Kingston's performance at Elimination Chamber helped propel him into the conversation for the WWE Championship challenger spot at WrestleMania, and even then, it seemed to take a lot of arm twisting to get Vince to abandon his plans for WrestleMania midway. Fans had no reason to trust that McMahon would do the right thing as countless other talents have felt the glass ceiling over their head that kept them at a certain level.
Rusev, on the other hand, had a lot of momentum in terms of crowd support and even merchandising. (How else can you explain the "Rusev Day" calendars WWE was selling, for God's sakes?!) But for whatever reason, the most Rusev got around WrestleMania 34 time was a lackluster Fatal Four Way match where he got lost in the shuffle. And despite FINALLY being given the United States Championship at the end of 2018, he quickly lost it the last month and seemed to fall off the face of the earth following WrestleMania 35. The fans only lost interest in the gimmick due to the haphazard way WWE booked Rusev and maintained a glass ceiling over where the company saw him going. Instead of allowing him to naturally progress, WWE decided that Rusev was just at this level and could go no where else. Rusev's case, however, applies to a lot of other people. Zack Ryder committed the mortal sin of trying to get himself over on YouTube and was punished accordingly (despite being given a token U.S. Championship win that lasted a month and an Intercontinental Championship 4 years later that was done for shock value and ended a day later). Asuka and Shinsuke Nakamura have had the glass ceiling placed over their heads as well due to the opinions of management who were tone deaf to the desires of their audience. Don't tell me that "Nakamura was not over." The fans were chanting his name in matches and singing his song minutes into his matches. If that's not over, nothing else is. And Asuka... God, I'm still trying to figure out how to explain everything WWE has done to destroy her. What they did to Shinsuke was bad enough. What they did to destroy Asuka was downright negligent and criminal.
The glass ceiling has to go. And sometimes, it is as simple as listening to the fans. You shouldn't cave in to EVERY fan demand, but you should not shut down most of them either, as WWE has done in the past decade (or more). Wrestlers should be allowed to get themselves over. Because, and I know this is shocking, the more wrestlers are over, the more people want to pay tickets to see them. And the more you shove people that the fans do not want to see in their faces (cough, Baron Corbin, cough) or miscast people to fit your belief in who fans should cheer for (Roman Reigns), the less people want to pay to go see them or are willing to even watch on TV/DVR/On Demand. (Let's be real: If you are suffering the ratings losses that WWE is suffering in this digital age, it's a clear sign that they have problems. Between live TV, the DVR effect, the On Demand services on Hulu and streaming services, and any other method I'm forgetting, there's no excuse for fans to miss Raw other than the lack of incentive to actually do so.)
4) Allow the Audience to Invest in The Characters -To make this shorter than the other points, here are some things I would ask WWE to remember:
a) Fans love the journey as much as the destination. You can have a good end point, but you have to take the steps necessary to get there.
b) Have a logical progression of the character. It's like connect the dots. Every dot needs to connect in the right way in order to get to the end product.
c) Each "rivalry" should change the wrestler in some fashion (the debut of a new move, a new direction, showing a different side of them).
d) Put your wrestlers in the right position to succeed and to get over. Do not book them in silly segments every week and expect them to be taken seriously. The more ridiculous a situation you put the wrestler in, the harder it is for the fans to take them seriously.
5) Revitalize Your Divisions- Make Matches Matter- I personally would like to see each division have a ranking system similar to what UFC employs for each division. Champions at the top with the ranked challengers in each brand below. Make the rankings available for fans to see online and on programming. Make matches matter. Even a match between a sixth and eighth ranked tag team would matter then as the eighth ranked team is fighting to advance into the division.
If you are smirking and ridiculing that, I would counter that by arguing that it is a lot better than the system WWE employs today: people losing most of their matches but attacking the right people to be challengers. Or wrestlers coming in and immediately being given championship opportunities. What could hurt from trying this rank system? Think about what it could do for shows like Main Event or even 205 Live. Instead of fighting over stupid gimmicked items or storylines, have them fight over their place in the rankings. I thought that WCW even did a good job during the height of Nitro in making the Cruiserweight Division matches mean something as the commentators often framed the matches as being important in determining who would be the next challenger for a title. I would start watching 205 Live personally if this type of system were implemented and enforced in creating the content of the way the show is developed.
And it would help infuse life into the WWE for each of its titles. Think about how nice it would be to have #1 Contenders matches between a 2nd and 3rd ranked opponent while a title match is scheduled between the champion and 1st ranked contender. And for the Intercontinental and United States Champions, they could easily earn points towards being in contention for their brand's world championships as well. Once in a while, if that champion has held the belt for around a year and has put together a lot of wins, you can have the Intercontinental Champion challenge their brand's top champion for an opportunity to become a double champion. There are enough (more than enough) championships in WWE where you can have a featured championship match on TV once every couple weeks if you want to boost ratings, and the PPVs can still have several championship matches while keeping the championships special and unique (like not putting every championship on the line on one show, sans perhaps WrestleMania).
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Again, I'm not pretending that these are the cure to WWE's problems. But they are things I would like to see WWE consider if they are going to change up their programming and try to modernize it. The worst WWE can do is keep doing the status quo, with the two men they just hired being glorified figureheads.
I'm looking forward to seeing what, if anything, Heyman and Bischoff are going to change to help WWE in the upcoming months.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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