LOOKING AT THE MOST IMPORTANT TIME OF THE YEAR FOR WWE CREATIVE
By Doug Brown on 1/30/2008 2:44 PM
The Road to Wrestlemania has officially begun with a bang. This is generally the most important time of year for WWE, because the things that happen at Wrestlemania will shape the course for the company over the rest of the year. WWE Creative takes the bulk of the heat from the internet crowd, and most of the time it is deservedly so. They say it is hard to produce five hours of television each week, and do so for 52 weeks per year. Some weeks, it looks like they were not even trying. Going into Wrestlemania, there are going to be some tough decisions to be made, and the writing team is going to have to be on their toes. In this column, we are going to look at some of the things going on, and discuss changes that I would like to see made.
First off, I am on top of the world that John Cena is back. His surprise return at the Royal Rumble was masterfully executed. Cena is the face of the company, and with them heading towards the biggest pay-per-view of the year, his presence is a big plus. Surprises were a big part of why the Monday Night Wars were so successful. If you keep the fans guessing, they will want to come back to find out what will happen next. With that being said, although I am glad he's back, I do think it would be a mistake to put the WWE Title back on him right away. What I would like to see happen is to keep him away from the title for a least a year, and work on building up the fan interest in wanting to see him win it again. One of the reasons fans are wanting to see Triple H win the belt is that with the exception of a two and a half hour reign in October, he hasn't been champion for almost three years. Ideally, they should have someone screw Cena out of the match at No Way Out, and set up a side feud for him. This would hopefully lead to Jeff Hardy getting another chance at the gold.
Speaking of Jeff Hardy, they have done of a fantastic job of getting the fans behind him as a main eventer. Several stars, including Cena, were pushing for Hardy to win the belt at the Royal Rumble. Hardy has a chance in the Elimination Chamber match to get another title opportunity. Personally, I was hoping Hardy would beat Randy Orton, and Shawn Michaels would win the Rumble to set up a match between the two. Michaels is another guy that has worked his tail off for several years, but has not gotten another title reign since winning the first Elimination Chamber match.
There are some guys on the Raw roster that I think would do better if they were moved elsewhere. Umaga has done about all he can as a heel on Raw. They either need to do a face turn, or send him to Smackdown. Paul London and Brian Kendrick are being completely wasted on Raw. These guys dominated the tag team scene on Smackdown for almost a full year, and these days can barely get a spot on television. I would much rather see them back on the Smackdown/ECW side, where they can fit right in with Morrison & Miz, Jesse & Festus, Hawkins & Ryder, Deuce & Domino, and Yang & Moore. Two more guys being wasted on Raw are Charlie Haas and Super Crazy. I would like to see both be moved to ECW. They have a built in storyline between Haas and Shelton Benjamin, and Crazy would give them another ECW Original.
The company also needs to cut down on putting things out there that no one really wants to see. They keep teasing it, but I have no desire to see a match between Hornswoggle and the Great Khali. There is no way that match could be anything even remotely close to good. I also have no desire to see Maria get the shot at Beth Phoenix and the WWE Women's Title at Wrestlemania. It's like some kind of requirement that which ever Diva Search bimbo gets naked for Playboy also gets an automatic title shot at Wrestlemania. Maria is a beautiful woman, but she is awful in the ring. This past Monday, Melina did the best she could to make the match passable. The match I would like to see, which has been mentioned on-line and also by Joey Styles on this week's ECW, is Victoria vs. Beth Phoenix. Instead of three or four minutes of botched spots, wouldn't it make more sense to give the Glamazon an opponent she could actually have a good, competitive match with? And while we are on the subject of nudity, can we please get rid of Big Dick Johnson? It was funny the first time they did it, but now it's just so lame.
WWE Creative went through a big change on the writing team this week as Dave Lagana was replaced by Dusty Rhodes as the lead booker for ECW. Dusty has his critics, but he does something the Hollywood writers don't, and that is place the emphasis on using wrestling to tell stories in the ring. We saw a much different program on ECW this week. After the weekly beatdowns of Colin Delaney seemingly going nowhere, we saw Tommy Dreamer come out and save him from John Morrison and the Miz. Was that just a one time thing because he felt sorry for him, or maybe he sees something in that kid, and plans to take him under his wing? We'll see. Kofi Kingston toned it down, and looked a lot smoother in the ring than last week. He's got a lot of potential. They also continued what could be an interesting feud with Shelton Benjamin and Kane. Then, we had what may have been the best angle they have done on ECW since restarting the brand, when C.M. Punk, while disguised as a Mariachi band leader, clobbered the new champion Chavo Guerrero with a guitar. Punk finally came off looking like a major player. For the first time in a while, I can really say, that I am interested in next week's show.
The Smackdown/ECW talent agreement has been both beneficial and a problem for the ECW show. On the one hand, it is getting new talent on the show, which is making for fresher matchups. On the other hand, the guys that are regular members of the ECW roster now hardly get any TV time. While Punk, Morrison, Miz, and Benjamin are on seemingly every week, what about Balls Mahoney, Dreamer, Stevie Richards, the Boogeyman, Elijah Burke, Kevin Thorn, and Mike Knox? It's almost like it's a Smackdown "B" show instead of a separate brand.
Meanwhile, on Smackdown, there was some concern over Rey Mysterio being booed out of the building at Madison Square Garden, while Edge got the "hero's welcome." I would not put too much stock in it, because Rey has been booed the last several times they've been in New York City. I can understand New Yorkers not liking Cena, because of him being from Boston, but what have you guys got against Mysterio? With Mysterio getting screwed by Vickie out of a title win, I'm sure the feud will continue. I actually would like to see Teddy Long get the general manager position back. It freshens up the three brands when you have at least one babyface general manager. Right now, we have three heel general managers, and three heel champions. A babyface general manager allows for more options, especially for those of us that actually do watch all three shows. I wish they would take Vickie off TV altogether, because I don't see any way they could do a storyline with her that doesn't come off tasteless. How long is it before they have a vignette from Vickie's house where Eddie's daughters start referring to Edge as their "new daddy?"
When JBL left to return as a wrestler on the Raw brand, they held tryouts to find a new broadcaster. Originally, it was thought that Tazz would go back to Smackdown, and someone else would join Styles on ECW. Instead, Styles and Tazz were kept together, and Jonathan Coachman moved from Raw to Smackdown to form what may be the worst broadcast duo since Vince McMahon and Todd Pettengill on WWE Action Zone (Sunday morning program from the mid-90's). With all of his other outside commitments, I am surprised that he took the post. Coachman actually does well when he is doing "real sports", however, that just has not translated to his stint with WWE. I would rather the spot have gone to Dusty Rhodes or Michael Hayes, who are both blessed with ability to get across the importance of angle. In addition to that, with their ring experience, they both have more credibility with the fans.
One of the storylines that has really been surprisingly effective has involved the Jamie Noble-Michelle McCool-Chuck Palumbo triangle. Fans have really gotten behind Noble, and are letting Chuck have it. I'm not normally an advocate of having a losing streak to get a wrestler over, but in this instance it might actually be working, because the chants of "Chuck's a Loser!" are getting louder each week. Noble may also be the unsung hero of Smackdown. First, they had him trying to hit on Vickie, and his reactions to her were just priceless. Now, he has managed to shake the cruiserweight label in is actually in an interesting feud with a heavyweight. If Michelle would just eat something, then things would really get good. She's looking way too skinny lately. It's one thing to be fit and trim, but it's another to look like a human toothpick.
The tag team scene on Smackdown has certainly picked up, but I am wondering about a few of the pairings. Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore were having some great matches against Morrison and the Miz on ECW, but that feud has suddenly vanished. Now they are back on Smackdown facing Deuce and Domino. After all the years of jobbing, it has been nice to see Moore finally start winning. With their last title match ending in a draw, I thought for sure we would see a deciding match, but for some unknown reason it was just dropped. Another team that has gone M.I.A. has been Jesse and Festus. Those guys were on a huge roll, and heading for what should have been their own feud with the champs. They were getting over with the crowds, especially Festus. Then WWE logic takes over. Someone's getting over too fast, so we've got to knock them down a peg. Two jobs to the champs, and now after disappearing for a few weeks, Jesse returns to let everyone know that Festus is seeing a shrink. I dread where this might be heading. Deuce and Domino are another team in a funk. After a reign as tag team champs, they have suddenly turned into glorified jobbers. Maybe a move to Raw would be a good way to freshen them up. They could play off the past between the trio and Cody Rhodes from OVW. While they don't like to mention OVW, they could just say that before hooking up with Deuce that Cherry and Cody used to date. They could have Cody and Cherry run into each other in the back for an awkward moment, and then Bob Holly could show up, smack him on the back of the head, and remind him to keep his mind on the tag team titles. This scenario could lead to some interesting possibilities like Cherry using her feminine charms to help Deuce and Domino steal the titles, or Cherry dumping Deuce and going back to Cody.
Last but not least, one thing I would like to bring up is something that I wish they would do to promote the big pay-per-views like Wrestlemania and Summerslam. I am a boxing fan, and I love the HBO "Countdown to" specials, which are used to hype their monthly pay-per-views. For those of you that don't know, these specials are documentary style looks at the two fighters as they prepare for their big matches. They feature commentary from announcers, reporters, and other people within the industry. I would not do it for all WWE pay-per-views yet, because usually the same guys are in the top matches, but I would see about doing it at least to start off with for Wrestlemania and Summerslam. They kind of did a mini version of this last year with the Cena vs. Lashley match, and I think it would help sell the shows if they do on a larger scale.
