You've been given until May 17, 2019 to change some things about WWE. What would you do?

[El Cocodrilo]

Drop the Universal championship. There should be 1 world champion and he should represent the entire company

Word, im with this 100%... ASAP I would have that unification.

Like @Ed MOTHERfukkING G said I would also do everything I could to get Omega, Pentagon and Ricochet...

I would make Gallows & Anderson into Kenny Omega's goons, cause they are trash on their own.


I would cut RAW down to 2 hours, dont care what anyone says about advertising dollars... if USA wants a third hour they can have 205 Live on a different day for an hour


I would replace the Intercontinental title as the midcard title on SDL with some new title, I would make the new Intercontinental Title have to be defended every week either on a different continent or on American soil against a challenger visiting from a different continent.
Would be cool to see Bate or Dunn or one of those guys beat The Miz or Dean or w.e and take the title back to Europe, just for one of the main roster dudes to try to get it back.
You could air those matches during RAW to make that garbage show more interesting

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

Make KO hit the weights. Actually make him the prizefighter he is suppose to be. Make him the Bad News Brown/Stone Cold DTA no nonsense type character. Don't matter face or heel everyone is getting got.

 

[Nero Christ]

Management - need a whole new culture and way of thinking
Creative Writing Staff - need a diverse crew of writers who understand the modern world and wrestling, and how to fuse them
Kevin Dunn - this guy keeps all show feeling old and stale. Need someone who can come in and change the presentation and give it a much needed upgrade
Focus on Psychology rather than spots in Matches
Bullet point promos

 

[ALTRUISM]

• Establish a legit Black WWE Champion
• Get rid of overly scripted promos
• For guys that can't talk would either bullet point them or give them a manager
• Would lessen times of opening a show with a long promo
• Get rid of the sitcom sets
• More on-location segments
• Would have all the talent doing something if not involved in a feud or title scene; thus, making the viewer care about them a bit more
• Implement theme songs that catered to wrestling
• Reigns turns heel, but is conflicted leading into it like on some Darth Vader stuff. Does some nasty shyt along the way, eventually leading into a long built-up face turn
• Consistency
• More "fun" gimmicks

 

[OVER]

I've been really thinking about your thread @RammerJammer I'm a mark of course, but this is a business. So I gotta find a way to succeed in both aspects.

1. Book Lesnar vs Strowman for Wrestlemania- Strowman kicks out of multiple F-5's and Strowman gets a tko victoria via that choke submission. Then let Lesnar's contract expire. Strowman is now the conqueror of conquorers.

2. Roman turns heel initially aligning with a heel Uso's but turning on them once they prove to be inept and getting The Author's Of Pain as henchman because they have the look and power just like he does. Uso's turn face after suffering a beatdown from Roman and AOP and align with whoever he's feuding with.

3. Finn Balor proves himself as a solo act. A lot people keep saying make The Balor Club, nah I gotta see what Finn can do by himself as a top guy. I would continue the prospected feud with Bray Wyatt who would ditch the horror elements and go back to being a southern anarchist cult leader character. Who goes over is up to who gets over more as I feel both guys need to prove themselves as solo top guys.

4. Bayley is forced to be Stephanie's underling. I've said negative things about Bayley about her being a mediocre worker and I believe that however, she's a sympathetic crowd favorite but she has not been acting like it on the main roster and casual fans aren't going to go back and watch NXT to see why people like Bayley so I'd have her somehow be indebted to Stephanie who's great at getting heat. This would build with Stephanie humiliating Bayley for months until she finally gets the strength to stand up to her and challenge her to a match at Wrestlemania. A cocky Stephanie accepts and goes over because Stephanie is a better worker than Bayley....Just kidding Bayley goes over and hopefully, she becomes the underdog female hero.

5. Alexa is the face of Raw and Naomi is the face of Smackdown. Keep it this way.

6. Dean Ambrose turns heel. WWE has dropped shoots here and there about how they think he's lazy, I'd have this become his character that Dean is here to get paid. I'd look to NJPW's reinvention of Tetsuo Naito for inspiration.

7. Goldust gets one last mid-card run. Goldust goes back to his gold and white look and becomes important again. His peak would be winning the Intercontinental title painting it gold, again and holding it for at least 7 months. Whoever beats him is important now.

8. Rusev turns face. Rusev is one of the most underrated guys on the roster and he's so charismatic. Rusev has been "the bad guy" in three feuds and looked like the face. He was the one saving grace in that garbage angle with Ziggler, Summer, and Lana. He deserves a chance.

9. Bring Chris Hero up to the main roster and put him back together with Cesaro. I know fans want that Cesaro singles push but I don't think Cesaro can be a true superstar and that's what I would be looking for when booking. Cesaro has always been a great tag team wrestler and I'd put The Kings of wrestling tag team back together.

10. Tease John Cena"s retirement for a year, hopefully, have some fans come back to his side. I wouldn't turn him heelThat man make money, that man is a true superstar. I don't know who I'd book to feud with him, but It would have to be whoever I think could replace him as top draw, gotta sell them shirts to beat the face that runs the place but whoever is so lucky would be looking to replace him on screen as well. Commentary would point out Cena slowing down and how fast "the new guy's" ascent has been. A frustrated Cena would accept the challenge of the new face and Cena would put him over. Cena wouldn't really retire and I'd do the same storyline again the next yearTwice in a lifetime

 

[AquaCityBoy]

B.) FIRE THE ENTIRE WRITING STAFF, HIRE RUSSO/CORNETTE/GEWIRTZ

B.) WOMEN'S DIVISION GOES BACK TO ATTITUDE ERA STYLE
No more women's wrestling being treated as equal to men's wrestling. Nobody is trying to see that bullshyt. You wanna see Sasha and Alexa put on a wrestling "clinic" for a half hour, or do you wanna see them do 10 mins bra and panties match? I think the majority of people are going for the latter

Try to get back in the ring

AJ moves to Raw. Faces Brock at Summerslam, loses. Brock loses to ROlins at Mania, retires.

Cena, with Hogan's help, beats Jinder, then loses to him in their blowoff match at Summerslam. Cena's traded to Raw for Reigns.

None of these would even work in today's world .

 

[Mack de la Rocha]

my thoughts...just my thoughts...

1. Storylines
   • Provicative Writing. Writing staff needs re-tooling. Allow creative staff to pitch ideas at a proven writing director (Heyman + Primetime TV Writer)
   • Title Importance. Emphasis that it brings more money and exposure Kayfabe-wise. The IC champion should be seen as a major deal with a fighting champion and long matches to win it. Ranking system should be introduced.
   • More Factions. This would allow wrestlers, non-wrestlers and valets to pull from each other's strength. I.E. Give Cesaro a faction where he and Regal simply run an Elite Wrestler's club. They do inductions (jump-ins or crazy matchups) and abide a strict code of honor (fight each other as exhibitions and for inner-dominance).
2. Characters
   • NXT. NXT should focus on character development more heavily. Sanity type building for everyone. Hideo, Roderick Strong, TM61, DIY and Chris Hero are pretty much the same. This will give the main roster less work to do with infusing new talent when they come out the oven.
   • Promos. Utilize managers for limited speakers. Allow wrestlers freedom to fit promo to their character. Acting coaches. Backstage interviewer should have character, shout out to Mean Gene.
   • Heel/Face/Tweener. Less rigid alignments. A prizefighter can be fat and honorable or fat and ruthless. Let the fans decide if they like his tactics.
   • Women. Can be sexy ass valets (Lana-types) or Fighters, no need to force them to do everything. Bring in more managers/valets. Allow women's title to have rankings.
3. Schedule
   • Rotating Roster. Utilize full roster during house shows to cut down on wear and tear.
   • Planned Breaks for Wrestlers. Allow wrestlers to be written off TV so they can relax and recover, this will allow for more returns and fresher feuds. Combats over-exposure.

 

[richaveli83]

Move Raw back to 2 hours.

Get rid of the current writing staff and bring in former wrestlers, managers, etc to book. Have Jim Ross and Paul Heyman book the shows.

Stop having pay per views every month. They should have only the Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, Money in the Bank, Summerslam, and Survivor Series. Once in awhile do a network special.

There should be only one women's title and the women shouldn't be assigned to specific brands.

World champions shouldn't be on every Raw and Smackdown. Not saying they need to be like Lesnar showing every few months but when the champ shows up it should be a bigger deal.

No more authority figures whether they are face or heel. We don't need to see Angle, Shane, Stephanie, and Bryan 3-4 times a night. They should only show up once in a blue moon like Jack Tunney in the 80's and early 90's and Gorilla Monsoon in the mid to late 90's.

 

[ALTRUISM]

2. Roman turns heel initially aligning with a heel Uso's but turning on them once they prove to be inept and getting The Author's Of Pain as henchman because they have the look and power just like he does. Uso's turn face after suffering a beatdown from Roman and AOP and align with whoever he's feuding with.

There's a collab on this actually.

 

[R=G]

I've been really thinking about your thread @RammerJammer I'm a mark of course, but this is a business. So I gotta find a way to succeed in both aspects.

1. Book Lesnar vs Strowman for Wrestlemania- Strowman kicks out of multiple F-5's and Strowman gets a tko victoria via that choke submission. Then let Lesnar's contract expire. Strowman is now the conqueror of conquorers.

2. Roman turns heel initially aligning with a heel Uso's but turning on them once they prove to be inept and getting The Author's Of Pain as henchman because they have the look and power just like he does. Uso's turn face after suffering a beatdown from Roman and AOP and align with whoever he's feuding with.

3. Finn Balor proves himself as a solo act. A lot people keep saying make The Balor Club, nah I gotta see what Finn can do by himself as a top guy. I would continue the prospected feud with Bray Wyatt who would ditch the horror elements and go back to being a southern anarchist cult leader character. Who goes over is up to who gets over more as I feel both guys need to prove themselves as solo top guys.

4. Bayley is forced to be Stephanie's underling. I've said negative things about Bayley about her being a mediocre worker and I believe that however, she's a sympathetic crowd favorite but she has not been acting like it on the main roster and casual fans aren't going to go back and watch NXT to see why people like Bayley so I'd have her somehow be indebted to Stephanie who's great at getting heat. This would build with Stephanie humiliating Bayley for months until she finally gets the strength to stand up to her and challenge her to a match at Wrestlemania. A cocky Stephanie accepts and goes over because Stephanie is a better worker than Bayley....Just kidding Bayley goes over and hopefully, she becomes the underdog female hero.

5. Alexa is the face of Raw and Naomi is the face of Smackdown. Keep it this way.

6. Dean Ambrose turns heel. WWE has dropped shoots here and there about how they think he's lazy, I'd have this become his character that Dean is here to get paid. I'd look to NJPW's reinvention of Tetsuo Naito for inspiration.

7. Goldust gets one last mid-card run. Goldust goes back to his gold and white look and becomes important again. His peak would be winning the Intercontinental title painting it gold, again and holding it for at least 7 months. Whoever beats him is important now.

8. Rusev turns face. Rusev is one of the most underrated guys on the roster and he's so charismatic. Rusev has been "the bad guy" in three feuds and looked like the face. He was the one saving grace in that garbage angle with Ziggler, Summer, and Lana. He deserves a chance.

9. Bring Chris Hero up to the main roster and put him back together with Cesaro. I know fans want that Cesaro singles push but I don't think Cesaro can be a true superstar and that's what I would be looking for when booking. Cesaro has always been a great tag team wrestler and I'd put The Kings of wrestling tag team back together.

10. Tease John Cena"s retirement for a year, hopefully, have some fans come back to his side. I wouldn't turn him heelThat man make money, that man is a true superstar. I don't know who I'd book to feud with him, but It would have to be whoever I think could replace him as top draw, gotta sell them shirts to beat the face that runs the place but whoever is so lucky would be looking to replace him on screen as well. Commentary would point out Cena slowing down and how fast "the new guy's" ascent has been. A frustrated Cena would accept the challenge of the new face and Cena would put him over. Cena wouldn't really retire and I'd do the same storyline again the next yearTwice in a lifetime

Lol..so u give Cena storyline for no reason with no one to put over but an imagination. Goodness gracious. All that screen time with no one in mind to look good against this 40 yr old overpushed company favorite? Wow...

 

[8WON6]

-Utilize the entire roster. During some of these like post mania down months do more Jinder mahal-main event type pushes. It's fresh. You can always just have him job out if it's not working. In other words, don't just have these little round robin top-guys thing. You have people like Aiden English on the roster, use him to feud with a "top guy". Make the top guys earn their money and see if they can carry people through a basic one/two month feud. I'm just using English as an example. WWE's roster is huge right now but they just bunch everybody up into little clusters.

 

[Pinyapplesuckas]

Harbody Harrison 10 year title run

* quietly counts billions*

 

[RammerJammer]

-Utilize the entire roster. During some of these like post mania down months do more Jinder mahal-main event type pushes. It's fresh. You can always just have him job out if it's not working. In other words, don't just have these little round robin top-guys thing. You have people like Aiden English on the roster, use him to feud with a "top guy". Make the top guys earn their money and see if they can carry people through a basic one/two month feud. I'm just using English as an example. WWE's roster is huge right now but they just bunch everybody up into little clusters.

Kinda like how Truth & Morrison was in the WWE Title picture after Mania 27. I love random shyt like that, makes the wrestler feel important.

 

[Rack4K]

Remove all Mcmahons from creative. They can still handle business but should be removed from all creative.

Kill the brand split

Remove all brand specific, weight specific and midcard championships. Just have a world, women and tag team title.

Champions no longer wrestle on free TV. For any reasons. They're already on top and have no reason to but they will be on the shows every week for storyline purposes. They can wrestle at house shows and dark matches (make the audience pay). and will of course wrestle on ppvs in a title defense capacity.

Each of the 3 titles will have a ranking system. Every match on television, unless otherwise specified, will be a ranked match. In these matches 2 or more people will compete. Whoever gets pin/submitted gets the match's lower rank and the winner gets the higher rank. An example would be John Cena (rank 2) versus Seth Rollins (rank 5)...if Rollins goes over hes now 2 and Cena now 5. In every match, a position is on the line.

I would make contemporary youth music a bigger part of the product. Themes for TV shows would use less hard rock (because that genre is losing clout with millienials) and would probably be replaced with more young urban music I.e. Trap. An example would be Mike Will or Zaytoven scoring the theme for Smackdown.

I would mandate the use of more blood during combat for added realism.

I would also add more flash finishes (matches that end out of no where abruptly) to keep the audience on their toes.

I would associate negative habits with 'babyface' personalities to make faces more palatable. I.E. Seth Rollins sleeping with his opponents girlfriends. Or Sasha recklessly wasting money like a 'Boss' should (I.E. throwing bands in bytches faces to taunt them). Babyfaces on WWE television don't hook these days because they're all good people with well intent; not only is it boring, its not believable. People don't see themselves in these goodies too shoes.

And last but not least, I would add a scripted reality docu-series I.e. HBO 24/7 or Hard Knocks to forward storylines weekly. It would be shot similarly and will follow the day to day lives of the superstars outside of the ring just like those shows do but the only difference being it'll be lightly scripted to move raw and Smackdown angles forward. It would have a cinematic style ala Lucha Underground but less super natural. I.E. show Goldberg at home with his wife and kid as he prepares for a match...and his opponent knocking on his door to fight him before the ppv while he sits in the dining room trying to eat dinner. How does Goldberg react? Now in kayfabe these storylines are developing 24/7, not just at the arenas.

Just my 2 cents. I don't watch much wrestling anymore. But the things mentioned may help bring me back.

 

[Novembruh]

I'm gonna try and run a whole thing like everyone else did at a later time, but I know two things I'd do that I think could change things up, but might go over badly to some. It's... long for two ideas.

1) tier system with the titles. Meaning, the only one who can challenge for the top title(s) - not counting the champion demanding a match, allowing for blood feud type hotshot booking if need be - is the person holding the IC(US interchangable but I believe the IC has more perceived prestige) title. Period. Zero other people, no number 1 contender bullshyt, the person with the #2 title is the one gunning for the #1. It immediately makes that midcard title holder no longer midcard - they are the big dog that's visible because the top title holders don't do matches on free TV period. They are off doing press, and being the face of the company and training their asses off (in storyline at least) to hold on to said title so that they can continue to a) not wrestle constantly and destroy their bodies, and b) get all the perks assigned with being the face of a billion-dollar enterprise.

What this means is, the IC holder is the gatekeeper. They forfeit the title to challenge for the top title, and the 4 with the most amounts of wins since the last transition are in a four-way for the vacated title any time this happens. And this goes across all shows, meaning Main Event (that's still a thing, right?)Smackdown/Raw, hell, even 205 live if people feel compelled. Caveat: one is only eligible for win/loss tracking for IC contention after having won a title. Period. US/CW/Tag titles are entry-level things that allow someone to get their bearings in kayfabe. They show that you've reached a level where you're serious. This also keeps the ability to bring in a new monster from NXT/indies and have them Ryback Win Streak it without them blowing up the brackets while they're still green. It's the coronation allowing people to see who is going to be a new player in what is effectively an expanded main event scene. There will obviously be a lot more turnover in that sense.

[There would likely need to be something installed in here to allow for challenges to the IC champion. Perhaps if you are currently #1 in wins, you can gamble that spot for an IC title shot, where if you lose that match, it wipes out all of your wins since the last IC transition away and you're now dead last. Either way, #2-whatever keep their wins, as they're only reset upon a WWE title shot]

This will have to take planning, because I don't want it devaluing tag team specialists and turning the title into some hot potato situation, so that would have less constant changes... that being said, it isn't like there's a world of prestige involved in that that right now, either.

That... leads into point 2. And it's maybe more controversial, but I think it fits better with where wrestling is going, and especially with what WWE has proven they are most skilled at as far as the main roster (NXT is a different monster in this case)

2) The growth of three-man factions. Too many free-floating entities in this company. If people have similar motivations and tendencies as characters... put them together, at least loosely. Let them have some connection so it isn't like everything is taking place in a vacuum. Woods getting beat down after his singles' match? Of course E and Kofi are gonna rush to his rescue. Not just because friendship or something like that... but because if they end up in a trios match - something that definitely needs to be occurring more as a result - they don't want a weak link messing up their chances. This allows justification for heel factions too. Either way, we get more and more groups running around together, and this can be a tag team running with a solo guy (a la The Elite), three singles competitors throwing in together for mutual benefit (The Shield, were it reformed), a trio of connected guys working like a set unit for one goal (The Wyatts as they were sold, not as they were/New Day), or... a guy pulling along two others who he can use, but knows he can beat if it comes down to it (Legacy). A lot more like how NJPW has their wealth of factions - it lets people know what kind of character they're dealing with off the faction name alone, even if they've never seen the guy before.

I guess my main thing is, making this 'universe' as they try and sell it... feel interconnected at ALL. Because most times it doesn't. And by the IC title getting elevated to the thing people HAVE to have to get a hope at the main title, it doesn't devalue said main title, but it increases the prestige of something we all kinda look at as unimportant. Which might be Ambrose's fault but who knows.

This system also can set up something where you can make a great heel WWE Champion by having him and his 'faction' maneuver it so... say the Shield reunites, but as heels. Roman gets the WWE Title. Seth manages to win the IC title, and just decides to never drop the damn thing. He's now the a$$hole sub-boss you have to beat to even get to the final boss, and everyone hates him, and the man he's protecting, even more because they are literally personifying stagnation by not letting anything progress.

But, it also can also work to help a babyface as he battles up to win the IC title, and now realizes he's needing to prepare himself to have a bullseye on his back, all while needing to get himself ready for a guy who is conceivably well rested, spending plenty of time training for the coming challenger, and intent on not losing his spot and the benefits he's grown accustomed to.

Makes the main events of PPVs with a world title defense on it feel literally like final boss fights, if done right. Get a good build of those video packages showing the path from first title win that qualified them, on to the victory of the IC title, maybe a defense of that or two, and then them getting ready for their world title match. Juxtapose that against the champion being shown jetting around doing press, but also going hard in the gym and so on. Bits of that old Angle-Joe TNA angle. Would make the challenger seem a lot more important, even if they lose. Makes it an even bigger deal the next time they are in the hunt for the WWE title, too, since they'll have made that climb already, come up short, and needed to reevaluate and get better for next time.