MAGIC, MEMORIES AND MANIA: Top 10 Wish List for 2009 - Squashes, Swagger, Star Treatment, Shawn vs. Jericho
Jan 7, 2009 - 3:21:45 PM
By Shawn Valentino, PWTorch Specialist
Happy New Year everyone! I hope all of you enjoyed a wonderful holiday season and are ready for another wild and wacky year of being a wrestling fan. I am always excited when the new year rolls around for many reasons, but one of the main ones is that WrestleMania is only a few months away, and I will be in Houston this year for the special 25th show.
One of the things we fans can generally count on every year is WWE providing us a great show on the grand stage. Unfortunately, one thing we have not been able to rely on in recent years is consistently good programming from any of the wrestling organizations. This week, I will discuss my top ten wishes for the new wrestling year that will hopefully make this year a joyous year to be a wrestling lover for all of us.
(10) Stop unnecessarily giving away big matches without build-up or meaning
With WrestleMania around the corner, I am excited, but at the same time I am puzzled as to what type of card WWE can put together that will make the show seem original, special, and unforgettable. The main reason for this is that the company unnecessarily gives away major matches with little context or buildup. In the past year, we have seen Cena-Batista, Triple H-Edge, Triple H-Undertaker, and Batista-Orton amongst other potential money-drawing programs with almost no back-story or intrigue.
It is absolutely absurd and shows how short-sighted the booking team is. Do we even need to mention TNA's failure in this department? I think the fact that A.J. Styles versus Kurt Angle in a ladder match was part of a low-rated Impact episode pretty much says all that needs to be discussed about their patience and booking philosophy.
Although there is so much talk about sports-entertainment, at the end of the day, wrestling fans really care about interesting feuds that creates tension and anticipation for matches between larger than life characters, and incessantly giving away major battles takes away from what makes wrestling special.
(9) Bring back squash matches
Wade Keller talks about this all the time, but one way to stop ruining the presentation of marquee match-ups would be to bring back some occasional squash matches. I still remember growing up and watching my favorite superstars fight scrubs that look like they could be my next door neighbor's uncle's paperboy. Despite the fact the outcome was never in doubt, these matches established a superstar's ring presence, entrance, and finishing moves. It allows the commentators to discuss the wrestler's goals and the strengths he possesses to accomplish them.
I know plenty has changed in the wrestling landscape over the last 15 years, but if the companies slowly train fans to enjoy these one-sided confrontations, it would not only get their stars more over, it would also make their matches between two big-name performers more important.
(8) The top superstars should not wrestle every week on television
This ties in with the previous two wishes because the main reason WWE and TNA have watered down their foremost matches is because their top superstars wrestle too often for free in meaningless contests. Guys like John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Undertaker should only wrestle about once a month at most on free television. This will help them develop their characters in other manners and also keep their bodies fresh from wear and tear. Not only that, it will sustain their more intriguing matches for bigger stages.
(7) Focus more on their younger stars
Yes, I know that we hear this cliche every single week as well, but WWE and TNA really do need to make a conscious effort to build their programs around the newer generation of talent. We saw signs of this youth movement earlier on in the year when Punk was world champion and Cody Rhodes and DiBiase, Jr. were being groomed for success. Unfortunately, for a variety of factors, they disappeared from the spotlight and seemed to be afterthoughts by the end of the year.
In 2009, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Triple H and other stars from a decade ago are still in the main event picture. Perhaps they are there deservedly there, but the wrestling world needs to commit to the HBK's and Dead Mans of the next generation. Guys like The Brian Kendrick, John Morrison, Evan Bourne, A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe, etc, should be not just the future of the business, but guys that are headlining today's shows. It is up to the companies to take some chances and let the young guys have a meaningful push.
(6) Name your superstars like superstars
Let us look back at the biggest stars in wrestling history. Gorgeous George, Hulk Hogan, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, The Ultimate Warrior, Bret "the Hitman" Hart, "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels, The Rock, and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin all had something in common. When you heard their names, they jumped out at you and they sounded like superstars.
Contrast that to the WWE marketing machine today when guys like Mike Knox, Bobby Lashley, and other lame names have plagued the wrestling circuit. Whoever is in charge of creative divisions must realize that for a wrestler to become a marketable star, they must have a name that will jump out at fans. It used to be that even mid-card talent were at least given a moniker that would allow them to sound larger than life. Any wrestler that has potential should be given a catchy nickname or a cool sounding regular name to brand them as a possible future superstar.
Caldwell's editorial note: Jack Swagger is a start! Paul Burchill is not.
(5) Bring back the heel commentator
One of the most bizarre shifts that the wrestling world has taken over the last fifteen years has been eliminating the heel commentator. When I was growing up, Bobby "the Brain" Heenan and Jessie Ventura could make the blandest match entertaining. The witty and often hilarious banter that would take place between the heel and their play-by-play counterpart would be one of the highlights of programming.
These days, commentators rarely add anything to the match, other than Jim Ross. JBL was a perfect recent example of how a terrific heel speaker on the headsets can enhance a wrestling show. Not only is the conflict on commentary entertaining, but it also gives an insight on the bad guy's point of view and sells the match from multiple angles.
Contrast this to the worthless, boring exchanges between guys like Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler and it is unfathomable to comprehend why wrestling has done away with one of their most successful devices. Speaking of Lawler, if I were running a wrestling company, one of the first things I would do is to get rid of him from the booth. He has been going through the motions for about 15 years, and his whiny delivery and lame jokes add nothing to the matches he calls. Go back and watch the performances of Ventura during the Hogan-Savage match in WrestleMania 5 or Heenan during the 1992 Royal Rumble and you see supreme examples of color commentators exponentially improving a match.
(4) Rearrange some alliances and bring back managers
It seems like there are so many wrestlers out there with no direction, especially in the mid-cards of the two major brands. It is as if WWE and TNA have no focus for the majority of the wrestlers in their companies. If they would create some alliances and give certain wrestlers managers, then we could see situations where the whole would be greater than the sum of the parts, and stars may be born.
Evolution was a perfect example of two young potential superstars who may have gotten lost in the shuffle, given a direction by being attached to established stars, and growing into main event players. TNA is attempting to do this with the Frontline angle, but throwing together too many wrestlers in a stable may eventually lead to nobody getting over.
Here are some ideas I thought about. Put Umaga and Manu together and obviously give them some type of manager and let them run loose as dominant monsters. Give MVP an entourage similar to Floyd Mayweather and make him a cocky young quasi-hip-hop celebrity type that people will hate but will find cool at the same time.
Although it will never happen, I think that turning Cena heel and attaching him with Miz and Morrison for awhile would not only build back his edge and cool factor, it would also elevate Miz and especially Morrison to a higher level. It would be the classic case of taking one step backwards to take two steps forward.
I still feel that Morrison has the look and the charisma and athleticism to be the star of the future. If WWE and TNA concentrate just a little bit on all of these wrestlers lost in the shuffle, they can align some of this talent together, or give them a manager, and I feel it would make a huge difference.
(3) The titles need to be reestablished
I wrote an article on this a few months ago, but one of the main reasons there are so many wrestlers without any direction or goals is that most of the championships have little or no meaning. The tag titles, X Division Title, and the Intercontinental Titles are a complete afterthought. It would probably take at least six months to a year of longer title runs and presenting those titles in a meaningful way to reestablish the importance of many of the belts. The companies are obviously in control of what they are presenting so they have the power to make these championships have weight, and if they do so, soon the stars that hold them will be elevated as well.
(2) Wins and losses should be given some semblance of importance
This has been a problem in wrestling for years, but one of the most inexcusable mistakes wrestling bookers have made is their lack of emphasis on the importance of wins and losses. How often do we care about the outcome of a match on any of the major television shows? It is because there seems to be little consequence to winning or losing in the ring. That is another reason why squash matches should be brought back, because if the outcome is not important anyway, it might as well not even be left in doubt.
I am not necessarily advocating a ranking system, but there needs to be some type of internal logic developed that showcases why a wrestler wants to beat his opponent. Commentators play a huge role in this. I remember when they would talk about how a wrestler winning elevates them towards title contention or a "winner's purse" on the line. I do not have an answer, but something needs to be done to make us care more about the centerpiece of the product being presented, the matches.
(1) The focus in modern day wrestling needs to be on intensity and athleticism
Over the years, it seems like the wrestling world has always had some type of central theme or direction. Let us take WWF/E for example over the last twenty years. The late eighties had the Rock and Wrestling era. The mid-nineties had the New Generation movement. Obviously the late nineties to early two-thousands saw the Attitude Era. It seems like wrestling has been in a state of flux the last few years and has not been on the cusp of popular culture.
We need to look no further than the success of MMA to realize that fans want to see competition based on intense grudges between two performers. Add to that the creativity and athleticism and drama that only wrestling can manufacture between combatants and we have the central focus upon which they can build around.
One needs to go no further than the feud between Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho to see the success of a feud based on real emotion and intensity. That rivalry should be used as a template for what both companies should strive for. We do not want to see hokey dialogue and cheesy jokes and over-the-top stunts. Wrestling is at its best when based on real emotions that fans can relate to and charismatic stars that can tell a story with conviction.
These are my ideas and wishes for the wrestling universe in the upcoming months. I welcome your thoughts and proposals as well to make this a fabulous year to be a wrestling fan. Please seed questions, comments and feedback to valentino.torch@gmail.com
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