LOOKING AT A POTENTIAL SECOND SEASON FOR CELEBRITY CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING
By Doug Brown on 1/21/2009 1:15 PM
I thought about writing a column about this week's Raw, and the numerous lacks of logic. However, my head hurts bad enough from the cold that I am trying to get rid of, so I went in a different, more pleasant direction. This week, I want to discuss what I hope will be a second season of Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling. Maybe because the expectations for it were very low, or maybe because WWE and TNA are delivering a subpar product, but everyone that I talked to that watched the series really enjoyed it. Though there were celebrities involved, it was nice to see a wrestling show that was actually focused on wrestling. Should the series get picked up for another year (and I'm hoping it is), I would like to propose some ideas to help the show continue to succeed.
More current and/or actual celebrities - While Trishelle did a lot better than I expected, many people might consider it a stretch to refer to cast members of "The Real World" as celebrities. Then you have Frank Stallone, who is a celebrity's brother. Nikki was in Playboy and a Barker's Beauty on "The Price is Right". The rest of the group consisted mainly of people who have been out of the limelight for ten years or more. Don't get me wrong this cast did a good job, but ratings wise, you might see some improvement with people that are a little more modern.
More guest trainers - This is not intended as a knock against Brian Knobs or Brutus Beefcake. They did such a great job with the cast that instead of suing them, the McMahons would be smarter to offer them road agent positions, because unlike WWE, the matches they laid out on CCW actually made sense. Anyway, moving on from that snide remark, I enjoyed seeing Rob Van Dam and Bill Goldberg on the first season. For the second season, they should add more guest trainers. One of my favorite aspects of Tough Enough was when they would bring in different superstars, let them tell their stories, and give their perspectives on the business. Hogan's been hanging out with Ric Flair lately, so maybe that might be a possibility. A Flair appearance would bring instant credibility to the show.
No ringers - When I saw Dennis Rodman's name on the list, it immediately sent up a red flag. He was the only one on the list with previous experience, and I thought to myself, "How does he not win this thing?" Sure enough, he did. Whether he should have won or not can be debated, but his time in WCW definitely was an asset in the competition. Butterbean's previous experience as a professional fighter also gave him what I felt was an unfair advantage over the others, but not as much as Rodman's.
Contestants should be wrestling fans - While I liked CCW's first season, one thing that did annoy me was that several of the cast members admitted that they either were not wrestling fans, or even that they had never watched wrestling before. Granted they were also among the first ones to be sent packing, but still I think it would be better for the show if the contestants were interested in learning to wrestle rather than just being there to cash a paycheck. It would make the show more competitive if they all really want to be there, and the more competitive the contestants are, the better the product.
Have Bubba decide if he is doing commentary as a work or a shoot - This is more of a nitpicky thing. I have no problem with Hogan's buddy, Bubba the Love Sponge, doing commentary. However, I wish he would decide on a direction. On some aspects, he was in "work" mode, and others he was in "shoot" mode. It would sound better if he were to go either one way or the other.
Less airings - The show aired three times on Saturday, three times on Sunday, and once more on Monday after Raw. When you air a program seven times in three days, you don't create an urgency to watch the first airing. The audience thinks that if they miss the first airing, it is no big deal, because there are plenty of more chances to watch it. I think the ratings would have been better if CMT would pick one (maybe two) airings. The less airings they have, in theory, the better chance you have of people making plans to stay home and watch it.
Find a network with a bigger audience - I give CMT credit for giving CCW a chance, but if the series wants to continue, they would be better off trying to find a channel with a larger audience reach. Many years ago, CMT used to only show country music videos all day long. Nowadays, much like MTV and VH-1, CMT hardly shows any actual videos. As a result, many cable providers dropped CMT, and picked up a new channel called Great American Country (GAC), which focuses more on country music programming. VH-1 might be a better option for CCW, because of their success with the "Celeb-Reality" lineup.
Do your own CCW card at the end of the season - Due to the amount of editing, I'm guessing a live show would probably not be in their best interest, but I would not mind seeing a taped card airing on television at the end of the season. Have the contestants, in order of elimination, face each other. They can just go down the row, starting with the two worst, and lead into the two best squaring off in the championship finale.
While I would much rather see Bischoff and Hogan start up their own company to compete with the McMahons, Celebrity Championship Wrestling seems to be a more likely outlet. The first season was a lot of fun to watch, and I hope people get behind it if it comes back for another year. One of their biggest accomplishments was showing that it is not easy to become a wrestler. Much like the "Breaking the Magician's Code" specials, it helped me gain a greater appreciation for those that decide to take that journey to the squared circle. After Monday's Raw, it is clear that Vince and Stephanie need to be taken down a notch, because their supreme arrogance is out of control. The only way for them to be knocked off their high horse is to give them as much competition as possible.
