Last time I discussed how Michael Migillicutty should be a star, utilizing the 3rd generation tag, similar to how Randy Orton became famous. I've come up with the right gimmick for him, and let me just state, it's Perfect.
These days, Vince McMahon wants to make all the money off of certain people, and wants to do it his way. With Superstars like CM Punk, he has realized that sometimes, he is just out of touch with something that sells, and Hennig is one of mistakes. Husky Harris is another one, but while he has the ferrari engine in a tank body, he's a little more difficult to sell, until I tell you the perfect gimmick for him shortly after Hennig's.
Joe Hennig is a third generation superstar, who follows in the footsteps of Larry "The Axe" Hennig and Curt "Mr. Perfect" Hennig. We haven't seen the talent he possesses, because he's been kept off TV, being "repackaged," however, on the first season of NXT, we saw a video package where his moveset reminded everyone of his late father. His new "repackaging" should consist of calling himself PERFECT. He should immediately distract Dolph Ziggler, beat him in a match, and get on the mic with Jerry Lawler, with Lawler starting this...
Lawler: "Joe, why attack Dolph Ziggler like that? I think the WWE Universe deserves to know WHY?"
Hennig: "It's a sham, Jerry. A downright sham. Dolph comes out every night to music that says he's "Perfection." Well, he's not perfection, Jerry...I am. It's in my blood. It's in my genetic makeup."
Lawler: "So what are you saying, Joe? Are you saying you want to be Mr. Perfect, like your father?"
Hennig: "Jerry, my father...my father was Mr. Perfect...I'm just...I'm just Perfect."
And there's his gimmick. Every time he'd be backstage, Josh Matthews, Matt Striker, whomever the interviewer would be, they'd call him Mr. Perfect, and he would correct them by saying, "Josh, My FATHER was Mr. Perfect. I'm just Perfect."
He would be immediately marketable, he would immediately have a catchphrase that everyone would wait for, and he'd be allowed to honor his family's memory on a regular, nightly basis, and immediately feud with some top talent. He'd be over in a millisecond, because wrestling fans remember tradition, and they would even honor him with a Mr. Perfect chant, probably nightly.
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Husky Harris, or Windham Rotundo as he's more commonly known in his real life, is also a third generation wrestler, being the grandson of Black Jack Mulligan, and the son of former IRS, Mike Rotundo. His perfect gimmick is a little bit tougher, and would require the help of someone else to get him over. Someone who is currently in the middle of being a low midcard face run, instead of top of the card, where he should have been after being part of Legacy for years. Yes, that's right, Ted Dibiase.
I tend to believe that Dibiase has more drawing power than Cody Rhodes, and was even allowed to keep his name before Vince went and changed all the third generation guys into something different. In fact, part of the reason he's such a terrible face is because his entrance song is "I come from Money..." Now here's the problem with that. The WWE has a longstanding history of being a value for lower income folks to be a part of, and he didn't change his music after being a heel for so long, which, while it works for some, in this situation, it's like Vince coming out to "No Chance in Hell," as in, you are always waiting for his heel turn.
Getting back to Husky Harris. The ideal gimmick for this guy is the bodyguard of somebody important, and in this case, that would be Ted Dibiase. Husky would be his muscle, and his financial overseer. He'd cut out all those "Dibiase Posse" tailgate sessions, saying that Ted was spending too much money, and he's come across like his father, Irwin R Scheister did back in the day. This would lead to a new age version of the tag team, Money Inc., made famous by both of these gentlemen's fathers. Ted would continue to be the overselling heel that cheats to win, Husky would come across as the muscle that doesn't sell. They'd go for the tag straps, make them reputable again as a Power and Glory style, and then have the classic breakup, when Dibiase would turn face, realizing that Husky was "embezzling" his money, to which Husky would deny, but there would be video coverage of him discussing with others how much he was taking, how much he was spending on cheap women and whatever else, and he'd become a monster heel...buying referees and making it difficult for Dibiase to win, but making him look like he's getting screwed in a very nostalgic way that would be entertaining.
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Personally, I think Hennig and Rotundo have all the talent in the world, but they'd need someone to actually put more effort into their final product and give it some time to come to fruition. You'd have to have some team players, in Dolph and Dibiase, but overall, if Dibiase, Rotundo and Hennig formed a new version of Money Inc as a stable for a while, maybe even have Bobby Heenan intially bring them all together for the first time, this could be a serious stable for the forseeable future, and allow the WWE to utilize it's heritage, build on it, and also nostalgically help us remember the past, just like they did when Randy Orton first arrived on the scene.
Hope you enjoyed this, and I'd like to see comments on what people think about this. I strongly feel these gimmick changes would make serious cashflow and establish new top level talent.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Sunday, January 01, 2012
(#555) Kayfabe Blog 1: How to fix the WWE's storylines and make the product better #1
While this is the 555th blog post about just generally anything, I wanted to take this time to actually state how I would fix the programming of WWE. Let me first start out by saying, I don't think EVERYTHING is broken, so it doesn't ALL need fixing, but there are areas that it absolutely does. I won't state that I'm an expert of the economic climate of ProWrestling, either, but I will state that after watching the product for the better part of 2 decades, I have general knowledge of what sells the product, and I am not 100% adverse to the idea of PG programming. With that, let's begin.
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Start by making the wrestlers more accessible, and let them be themselves, instead of stupid gimmick characters. Take, for example, "Michael Magilicutty," who just so happens to be the son of former great pro-wrestler, "Mr. Perfect," Curt Hennig. Sure, you can't own the Hennig name, and you don't want him to be "Perfect 2.0," though, actually that has a nice ring to it. Part of what made Randy Orton so accessible to the wrestling audiences upon his beginning, was the fact that both his father, and Grandfather, were wrestlers and we all knew him from their storied pasts. By taking Hennig away from his father's Legacy, it prevents him from using that in a great start up feud with some legendary people, like Jerry Lawler, who could easily get "Husky Harris" or "Michael Migilicutty" over with his stories of, "I knew Curt Hennig, and I KNOW Mike Rotundo...you gentlemen can't lace their boots, and it's NO WONDER Vince McMahon didn't want to tarnish their legacies with the two of you..." Then have them prove themselves through the commentators voice, building momentum, and even give them a mouthpiece LIKE Mike Rotundo to elevate them.'
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That is a just a small taste of what should be done, and that is utilizing folks that are not even on the main roster, currently, but absolutely have the pinache to be there.
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Let's take a look at something we ALL hate, which I like to call, "Minday Nitro'ing," or...ON THE FLY BOOKING.
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While you can grab the eye of a passing fan with an "OMG!" shock moment, it takes developing that moment and building upon it to really make folks believe. Here are three moments where it has worked...
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"2.21.2011" - The return of the Undertaker after an extended break. Commercials built to the culmination of this moment, and had people believing that it was going to be Sting crossing the line, if you will, and making his first appearance EVER on a WWE stage, in a WWE ring, etc. Turns out, the bells tolled, the Taker walked down, and just as he got ready to say something, HHH came out to demand a match at Wrestlemania, setting up one of many great matches at the card, though most of the show fell flat, and the match didn't even meet the hype of the second HBK/UT match (the first one was better, folks). The buildup, though, culminated in what we clamor for...we NEED that moment. Obviously, a return of a character is scheduled for Tomorrow night, "The second day of 2012...the end begins..." But for whom? While the signs point to Chris Jericho (book named "Chris," canadian maple leaf in the water, etc), this could just be a ploy to let it be the Undertaker's first appearance since Wrestlemania to set up what looks like it may be an uneventful co-main event at Wrestlemania.
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CM Punk's contract expiring... In what was the best moment of 2011, this was a significant step in blurring fantasy and reality, and singlehandedly showed that while the ratings during Monday Night Football aren't always there, that compelling television will lead to revenue of merchadise, as, immediately following his blowup speech on the company that turned into a "shut his mic off" moment, his merchandise was not just sold out, but in the first moment since Steve Austin became a household name, you started seeing people wear them on the street. However, for as great as this moment was...culminating with a great contract signing, an even better than expected match, and finally, a tweeted picture of the WWE Title in a refrigerator, Punk had the world wondering when, if, or WHERE we might see him (Ring of Honor debuted it's weekly syndicated show around that time). Here's where I would have changed it up a notch, "for the business."
Everyone knows that Vince McMahon will do whatever it takes to remain on top, from stealing talent for next to nothing because it's still more than the competition offers, to having wrestlers show up in terrible movies because he thinks they can get him and his company more exposure, to sometimes...not often, but sometimes, doing the unthinkable...like when his product was #2, behind Ted Turner, and he asked Paul Heyman if he wanted to cross promote his ECW brand on Monday Night Raw...they had matches, they had angles, and they had AMAZING wrestling at that time...what should have happened as soon as CM Punk was the WWE champion without a contract is this...Vince should have been on the phone and created a really good working relationship with Ring of Honor, and had Punk show up on their show, with the title, offering to take on their Champion, and going from there...Vince has been stealing that talent pool anyway, so why not give something back meaningful? I would have had the person who would then win the WWE Title in a tournament AT SUMMERSLAM be the guy who would take moments to crack shots at Punk, while he'd be tweeting during the commercials of RAW, so we'd all be wondering if it was real or fake... maybe even cut off the mic of the champion everytime he'd bring up,"That guy who quit on us, sitting at his home in Chicago..." (CM PUNK Chant starts...) Only to have the winner of the championship match at Elimination Chamber hold up the belt high...then have the music hit...CULT OF PERSONALITY...and CM Punk steps up, face to face with them...on Pay Per View...and slaps them in the face calling them a paper champion...and folks...you then have 4 weeks to build to Wrestlemania, with a great CM Punk Contract negotiation, face offs with the two wrestlers, and the ability to make him larger than life. Can you smell the buys?
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Finally, the third and final moment where the Rock made his long awaited return. The episode was even titled, "Leave it to Bieber..." as Justin Bieber was touted as the "Host of Wrestlemania," long before the Great One...nice swerve there...and this is one where it worked correctly. Not sure when Vince got him to sign on the dotted line, but before then, Dwayne Johnson had already opened his twitter account with a familiar "character name," and it got the world buzzing. When he dropped a little less than PG monologue on tv, no one cared, not PETA, not GLAAD, nobody. We all just watched and applauded as the great one threw out a 20+ minute promo that was worth it's weight in wrestlemania matches. This booking was done weeks in advance, though it overshadowed the main event at Wrestlemania, and even that went properly, as the Miz RETAINED his championship, in a moment that will forever be the day that Cena and the Rock FINALLY stepped into the ring together and squared off. Subsequently, now, with the match at WM28 signed, as long as Cena doesn't injure himself before then (and the dude has been pretty injury prone in his career), we have proof that 1 year in advance booking CAN and DOES sell a PPV.
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Next time, folks, we'll probably take a look at the actual 1-2-12 videos, WHO it was referring to, and whether or not it actually did it's job to bring them in.
-
Start by making the wrestlers more accessible, and let them be themselves, instead of stupid gimmick characters. Take, for example, "Michael Magilicutty," who just so happens to be the son of former great pro-wrestler, "Mr. Perfect," Curt Hennig. Sure, you can't own the Hennig name, and you don't want him to be "Perfect 2.0," though, actually that has a nice ring to it. Part of what made Randy Orton so accessible to the wrestling audiences upon his beginning, was the fact that both his father, and Grandfather, were wrestlers and we all knew him from their storied pasts. By taking Hennig away from his father's Legacy, it prevents him from using that in a great start up feud with some legendary people, like Jerry Lawler, who could easily get "Husky Harris" or "Michael Migilicutty" over with his stories of, "I knew Curt Hennig, and I KNOW Mike Rotundo...you gentlemen can't lace their boots, and it's NO WONDER Vince McMahon didn't want to tarnish their legacies with the two of you..." Then have them prove themselves through the commentators voice, building momentum, and even give them a mouthpiece LIKE Mike Rotundo to elevate them.'
-
That is a just a small taste of what should be done, and that is utilizing folks that are not even on the main roster, currently, but absolutely have the pinache to be there.
-
Let's take a look at something we ALL hate, which I like to call, "Minday Nitro'ing," or...ON THE FLY BOOKING.
-
While you can grab the eye of a passing fan with an "OMG!" shock moment, it takes developing that moment and building upon it to really make folks believe. Here are three moments where it has worked...
-
"2.21.2011" - The return of the Undertaker after an extended break. Commercials built to the culmination of this moment, and had people believing that it was going to be Sting crossing the line, if you will, and making his first appearance EVER on a WWE stage, in a WWE ring, etc. Turns out, the bells tolled, the Taker walked down, and just as he got ready to say something, HHH came out to demand a match at Wrestlemania, setting up one of many great matches at the card, though most of the show fell flat, and the match didn't even meet the hype of the second HBK/UT match (the first one was better, folks). The buildup, though, culminated in what we clamor for...we NEED that moment. Obviously, a return of a character is scheduled for Tomorrow night, "The second day of 2012...the end begins..." But for whom? While the signs point to Chris Jericho (book named "Chris," canadian maple leaf in the water, etc), this could just be a ploy to let it be the Undertaker's first appearance since Wrestlemania to set up what looks like it may be an uneventful co-main event at Wrestlemania.
-
CM Punk's contract expiring... In what was the best moment of 2011, this was a significant step in blurring fantasy and reality, and singlehandedly showed that while the ratings during Monday Night Football aren't always there, that compelling television will lead to revenue of merchadise, as, immediately following his blowup speech on the company that turned into a "shut his mic off" moment, his merchandise was not just sold out, but in the first moment since Steve Austin became a household name, you started seeing people wear them on the street. However, for as great as this moment was...culminating with a great contract signing, an even better than expected match, and finally, a tweeted picture of the WWE Title in a refrigerator, Punk had the world wondering when, if, or WHERE we might see him (Ring of Honor debuted it's weekly syndicated show around that time). Here's where I would have changed it up a notch, "for the business."
Everyone knows that Vince McMahon will do whatever it takes to remain on top, from stealing talent for next to nothing because it's still more than the competition offers, to having wrestlers show up in terrible movies because he thinks they can get him and his company more exposure, to sometimes...not often, but sometimes, doing the unthinkable...like when his product was #2, behind Ted Turner, and he asked Paul Heyman if he wanted to cross promote his ECW brand on Monday Night Raw...they had matches, they had angles, and they had AMAZING wrestling at that time...what should have happened as soon as CM Punk was the WWE champion without a contract is this...Vince should have been on the phone and created a really good working relationship with Ring of Honor, and had Punk show up on their show, with the title, offering to take on their Champion, and going from there...Vince has been stealing that talent pool anyway, so why not give something back meaningful? I would have had the person who would then win the WWE Title in a tournament AT SUMMERSLAM be the guy who would take moments to crack shots at Punk, while he'd be tweeting during the commercials of RAW, so we'd all be wondering if it was real or fake... maybe even cut off the mic of the champion everytime he'd bring up,"That guy who quit on us, sitting at his home in Chicago..." (CM PUNK Chant starts...) Only to have the winner of the championship match at Elimination Chamber hold up the belt high...then have the music hit...CULT OF PERSONALITY...and CM Punk steps up, face to face with them...on Pay Per View...and slaps them in the face calling them a paper champion...and folks...you then have 4 weeks to build to Wrestlemania, with a great CM Punk Contract negotiation, face offs with the two wrestlers, and the ability to make him larger than life. Can you smell the buys?
-
Finally, the third and final moment where the Rock made his long awaited return. The episode was even titled, "Leave it to Bieber..." as Justin Bieber was touted as the "Host of Wrestlemania," long before the Great One...nice swerve there...and this is one where it worked correctly. Not sure when Vince got him to sign on the dotted line, but before then, Dwayne Johnson had already opened his twitter account with a familiar "character name," and it got the world buzzing. When he dropped a little less than PG monologue on tv, no one cared, not PETA, not GLAAD, nobody. We all just watched and applauded as the great one threw out a 20+ minute promo that was worth it's weight in wrestlemania matches. This booking was done weeks in advance, though it overshadowed the main event at Wrestlemania, and even that went properly, as the Miz RETAINED his championship, in a moment that will forever be the day that Cena and the Rock FINALLY stepped into the ring together and squared off. Subsequently, now, with the match at WM28 signed, as long as Cena doesn't injure himself before then (and the dude has been pretty injury prone in his career), we have proof that 1 year in advance booking CAN and DOES sell a PPV.
-
Next time, folks, we'll probably take a look at the actual 1-2-12 videos, WHO it was referring to, and whether or not it actually did it's job to bring them in.
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