There is not going to be anything groundbreaking that I have to say and it's all been said before but why don't they see that the product has been dying a slow and long drawn out death for over a decade now and oh, I don't know. Fix it?
There are so many common sense things I can think of to change it up and make the product fresh and appealing to casuals and the IWC alike that they blatantly ignore.
OK, I know the short answer is that Vince is clinically insane but still...
Three hour RAWs are overkill and everybody knows it.
You cannot sustain interest in a weekly wrestling show that is as long as the director's cut of Lord of the Rings every monday.
It's painfully obvious how much they stretch time out already and it just drags on forever. Back in the 2 hour attitude era everything felt far more pacy and cohesive. It has to be 2 hours again.
Yes, you lose that extra hour of advertising but it WILL balance out when you start to bring demo's back for the superior 2 hours you are putting out every week. This is a non-negotiable thing that has to happen to get the product back on track. The three hour shows feel so loose and have so much dead space within them. By cutting it down by an hour you start to tighten up everything and bring energy back.
Advertising is rampant and incredibly intrusive.
If RAW was a website it would be full of pop ups constantly bombarding the screen. Sure, I know they have to pay the bills, but at the very least the idea of putting ads in between matches should be totally abolished. If a match isn't important enough to not stick ads in the middle of then why should anybody give a single solitary fuck?.
Write a cohesive story that weaves through the show.
This is something that has been missing for ages. The backstage doesn't feel like one big locker room like it should. Everything is a segmented mess that exists within its own bubble. Nothing overlaps or flows. There is no danger or suspense because everything is its own neat little program. This doesn't mean reinventing the wheel. Individual feuds continue but at least make it feel like the landscape of what is happening has an overarching effect.
Treat the product more like a shoot.
Now, this doesn't mean going back to the Attitude era or everyone starting to blade again but it does mean actually making a structure that is internally consistent. (More on that in a bit) Have ladder competitions, ranking matches and make the titles properly tiered. The Intercontinental belt could easily be important again if they took their product a bit more seriously. Just because *wink* *wink* we know it isn't real is no excuse to not take the onscreen kayfabe world more seriously. They give no fucks about continuity or logic and so the audience doesn't care either. Bring back The King of the Ring, have wins and losses feel like they matter in where the talent is heading etc. It's not rocket science.
Let the talent be talented.
We all know how scripted and micro managed WWE is and how much it hurts talent. There isn't a lot to say that hasn't bean beaten to death already but they need to take the reigns (get it?) off their performers. This bleeds into everything. Let the show be more organic and wild. Remember those old RAW's where everything felt slightly unhinged and alive? Doesn't it all feel too clean, sanitized and flat now? There is no feeling of electricity that makes the viewer think something unexpected is right around the corner and that is due to how micro managed everything is.
It's all coming off the page to be played flatly to the crowd and so again nobody cares. Let the talent get over on their own! Don't stand in their way. You will NEVER be able to create the next big thing. All the biggest stars in the biz were over because they got themselves over. The WWE needs to be a guiding and nurturing hand for talent to springboard off. Not a dictatorial machine that picks and chooses who they WANT to be over. This should be a meritocracy. Let the people decide.
Internal consistency:
Touched on this before but let me reiterate how important it is: TREAT THE PRODUCT LIKE IT'S REAL and write the show within the rules of the world...or 'universe,' whatever you want to call it! They should be beholden to the kayfabe world they exist in. Always.
You HAVE to defend that title within 30 days. So what if your talent got injured and you still want the belt on him/her. You are beholden to the internal consistency of the world so you have to make it work. The writing should be pushed by the kayfabe world, not written despite of it. This is a huge thing that they utterly ignore and that would make everything immediately better. Game of Thrones exists within its own internal consistency. Walking Dead, Better Call Saul...the freaking daytime soaps do it better for Christ's sake, etc.
Stop forcing me to lose the suspension of disbelief because you're too damn lazy to write within the world. Kayfabe isn't dead because everyone is savvy to the business. It's dead because they don't respect it enough to be beholden to it.
>fire all the wannabe Hollywood writers and hire people who give a shit about wrestling
>get rid of 20 minute opening promos
>no more evil authority figure
>make the overall product look more gritty
>cut Raw back to 2 hours
Also, make it seam at least a tiny bit real. Like have wrestlers come down in street clothes to cut their promos. Am I the only one bothered by the fact that each and everyone is wearing their gear all the time?
Attitude era?
No, you don't need to return to the attitude era but there does need to be some realisation that kiddifying the product too much will not leave you with enough of an audience to sustain the product. Watch the hype and passion during the aforementioned Attitude era. That edgier, organic more RAW product became part of the casual conversation. People were discussing the show around the water cooler. It was far from perfect, so don't think I have rose tinted glasses, but it was relevant to the casual discussion because it had more compelling off the wall storytelling. Totally insane and utterly stupid as well at times but all the same. Bland and safe is the deathnail for professional wrestling.
They need to take cues from other shows that they are in competition with. I mentioned Game of Thrones and Walking Dead before because these shows are their competition for that 18-35 demo. I think it's safe to say that neither of those shows are too kiddy friendly. They do have leeway to push the product to a more mature level. Shit, if they are so terrified of losing the little jimmies then segment some of the less mature stuff onto its own show. Could work.
I think I've ranted long enough. Well done if you actually got to the end. I don't think fixing the product is that hard but for whatever reason they are too scared to move from their mediocre spot incase it all blows up in their face. The WWE is killing themselves.
Anything I missed? Agree disagree?
>>1063948
>Write a cohesive story that weaves through the show.
>This is something that has been missing for ages. The backstage doesn't feel like one big locker room like it should. Everything is a segmented mess that exists within its own bubble. Nothing overlaps or flows. There is no danger or suspense because everything is its own neat little program. This doesn't mean reinventing the wheel. Individual feuds continue but at least make it feel like the landscape of what is happening has an overarching effect.
This is something that stands in stark contrast to the Attitude era Raws I've been catching up on lately.
Why the fuck hasn't Triple H been involved in the Vince/Taker/Shane thing? He's the COO and WWE champ - his position will obviously be in massive jeopardy if Shane wins, but he hasn't said so much as a word about it.
>>1063960
>Why the fuck hasn't Triple H been involved in the Vince/Taker/Shane thing? He's the COO and WWE champ - his position will obviously be in massive jeopardy if Shane wins, but he hasn't said so much as a word about it.
Yeah, the best return in I don't know how long and then they drop the ball without expanding it out. Undertaker giving NO reason why he is suddenly doing what Vince wants in kayfabe either.
>>1064133
Here.
>>1063946
>Yes, you lose that extra hour of advertising but it WILL balance out when you start to bring demo's back for the superior 2 hours you are putting out every week. This is a non-negotiable thing that has to happen to get the product back on track. The three hour shows feel so loose and have so much dead space within them. By cutting it down by an hour you start to tighten up everything and bring energy back.
Do you know how much USA is paying WWE for that third hour? If you did you'd realize why Raw will stay 3 hours for a loooong time.
>>1064127
>Undertaker giving NO reason why he is suddenly doing what Vince wants in kayfabe either.
>in kayfabe either
vince was the higher power.
>>1063948
>Write a cohesive story that weaves through the show.
>This is something that has been missing for ages. The backstage doesn't feel like one big locker room like it should. Everything is a segmented mess that exists within its own bubble. Nothing overlaps or flows. There is no danger or suspense because everything is its own neat little program. This doesn't mean reinventing the wheel. Individual feuds continue but at least make it feel like the landscape of what is happening has an overarching effect.
This is what Max Landis, who has a tiny bit of influence on the show now tries to do.
https://youtu.be/FzJS2y_Jzx0?t=15m6s
>>1063946
>>1063948
>>1063949
>>1063950
>>1063953
As you said at the start, it's not groundbreaking. But WWE is doing pretty well financially - much better than they did during the Attitude Era. If the point of the business is to make money and their model is successful, why would they change?
To be honest, you'd be better off pitching ideas to fix TNA.
Tldr pla
WWE is going to die, and their is nothing that will stop it from being shit.
>>1064206
>Do you know how much USA is paying WWE for that third hour?
But why when they have shit ratings?
>>1063950
this comment so much
I was having a fucking autism fit when they stripped Daniel Bryan for not defending his title with in a month, but then they have brock lesnar win the championship at summer slam and not defend it until royal rumble. I understand that Brock Lesnar is treated differently but with in the rules set up with in the wwe continuity it makes no sense.
Also this is the biggest issue in the "Underdog vs the mcmahons" storyline. Why do the mcmahons keep giving Roman Reigns Title shots when he's beat the shit out of HHH the COO, and punched Vince The CEO He's attacked both his bosses and gets rewarded. Meanwhile in real life Titus O'neil makes a fairly harmless grab at Vinces arm and it punished.
It's never made sense for the Underdog story to persist when the bad guy you're fighting is the same man who signs your checks.
>>1063948
There was a glimpse of this in the summer when Seth and new day had segments. I thought it was leading to something more. Then seth went down and it was all about Roman.
