WWE has just concluded their “annual” ”draft”. The reason for the sarcasm is because it never happens at the same time every year and it is not a draft in the sense of the NBA or NHL drafts, because the draftees are already under contract with the parent organization, so being a number #1 draft pick does not guarantee the biggest contract. Basically, it is more like free agent signing in a league where there are only three teams and, just like the free agent periods in the major sports, the rich (Raw) get richer while the poor (ECW) suffers. Now, this piece is not intended to lambast WWE, but their decision makers are such easy targets. Instead, this is intended to offer WWE some advice on how to make the trades, and in the process, their whole product better.
Between the actual draft and the supplemental draft, 23 wrestlers, 2 divas and two announcers were moved between the three brands. Now, I am not going to sit here and write a bunch of elaborate story lines regarding what they could have done better, but I will begin this dissertation with a three word phrase that is used quite often, “Must See TV”. WWE could have, instead of making 27 wholesale changes over the span of three days, used these changes to make the fans really want to tune in.
As I said, I will not write a bunch of elaborate story lines, but I will give the genesis of what WWE could have done, and this would have made all three shows more interesting. I would have started by announcing an end to the talent exchange between SD and ECW, and followed this with two weeks of ECW with only ECW talent and SD with only SD talent to hammer home the point that these two brands are now separate. Recognizing that the SD tag titles are on ECW, I would have taken the belts from Miz & Morrison on the same show that we announced the end to the talent exchange and put them on an SD team to further hammer home the point. They could even have used the belts in a match with the stipulation being that if the champs win, then the talent exchange continues and if they lose, then the talent exchange is over. The loss would end the exchange.
Now, with the three brands separate once again, then WWE could start switching talent, but in a way similar to when the New World Order invaded WCW. There were 27 switches, and those switches could have taken half of the year, with one switch happening each week, but no one knowing which show would get “invaded” by new talent, so all of the shows would have to be watched to see who would be leaving and who would be showing up where. Some of the switches could have taken place as the result of “contract disputes” with their brand’s GM, some could have happened as the result of people “getting fired”, and some could have just been surprise invasions (i.e., “I’m tired of not getting treated fairly on ECW, so I came to Raw” or “Champ X has not faced any real competition so I am here to challenge Champ X for his title”). There could also have been instances where a particular wrestler, who is at a disadvantage and needs a tag team partner to even the sides in his war, brings in a person from another brand to help with his fight. These ways would have made the shows more interesting because each week, people would have wanted to tune in to see if someone new would be coming to a show, just like during the height of the NWO invasion.
This whole process could have started with some friendly bantering between Michael Cole and Jim Ross during the Night of Champions PPV. Cole could have made a comment, in jest, about some aspect of Ross’ announcing and Ross could have taken it personally. Then, as each man makes a comment about the other’s work during their commentary (Ross makes a comment about Cole during a Raw match and vice versa but the comments do not take away from the matches or the matches’ story lines), instead of showing a video package detailing things that fans who purchased the PPV are already aware of, the exchange becomes full blown and Ross says to Cole, “If you think that you can do this better than me big mouth, let’s see you try.” Then he makes reference to having to carry Lawler for all these years to which Cole replies with something about constantly having to change partners; from Taz to JBL to Coach to Foley. They banter back and forth for about a minute and Cole decides to call Ross’ bluff and says, “If you’re so great, let’s see you call this match with Foley.” Ross does his usual great job on the Edge/Batista match and then Ross says, “I just did you, now let’s see you do me”, after which Cole calls the HHH/Cena match with Lawler. The next night, Cole shows up with King and then on Friday, Ross shows up with Foley, each man talking about how much happier they are in their new surroundings and the switch is made.
WWE could then have followed this with the first of the talent switches. While I know that I am figuring that WWE creative can handle this situation without it becoming stale or predictable, but if your job is as a writer in the WWE Creative Department, then your job is to come up with ideas and bring them to life in such a way that they are compelling enough to make people want to tune in to your show each week. If the writers cannot execute this task, then they should not be employed in this field.
With these ideas, every show would be “Must See TV” because as Vince likes to say, “Anything can happen in WWE (“the WWE” is incorrect grammar, because “the World Wrestling Entertainment” would be bad grammar)”. Anyway, when Vince say “Anything can happen in WWE”, he would actually be speaking the truth and the fans would be starving for more. In addition, the traded wrestlers would be given chances to shine by being featured performers in the week that they start on their new shows and there would then be more wrestlers who could be pushed toward the top, and the stagnation of the WWE and the World titles would end because there would be more than three contenders for the belts, which would be the best feature of all of this.
Send comments, complaints or questions to me @ ericej@netzero.net
Eric E. Jenkins is an author who has written a semi-biographical book covering the last 30 years in professional wrestling through the eyes of a fan entitled “Reflections of a Professional wrestling Fan: My 30 Years ‘In’ the Business”. He is currently writing “Dead Too Soon”, a book chronicling the careers of and paying tribute to many of the wrestling stars who passed away very young.
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