The Wrestling Doctor 06.24.08: Bad Medicine: It’s Just Easier All At Once

Posted by W.S. Thomason on 06.24.2008

Please seek immediate medical attention if you experience diarrhea, muscle pain, blindness, night sweats, bloating, ear bleeding, or the urge to listen to Bon Jovi after reading this column.

THE WRESTLING DOCTOR: THE PRESCRIPTION FOR WHAT AILS

This column is posted before Raw, so I am going to make some flash draft predictions (including the supplemental draft) before continuing with this week's patient:

Raw: Batista, CM Punk, MVP, John Morrison, The Great Khali, Kelly Kelly, Cherry, Elijah Burke, Chuck Palumbo
Smackdown: Jeff Hardy, Mr. Kennedy, Umaga, Chavo Guerrero, Bam Neely, Carlito, Snitsky, Candice Michelle, Layla, Cryme Tyme, Trevor Murdoch, Kofi Kingston,
ECW: Big Show, Matt Hardy, Mark Henry, William Regal, Charlie Haas, Hardcore Holly, Ashley, Super Crazy

THE SECOND OPINION

A lot of feedback to last week's column centered on whether or not I know something about the contracts of TNA Knockouts. I do not (nor ever did) claim to know the details of contracts. I use specific wrestlers as examples that I couple with past events in order to predict what is likely to occur in the future (much like everyone else who anticipates anything). This approach worked very well in predicting the change in direction for the WWE women's division. I also am confident that the WWE will make attempts to snatch up several of the Knockouts, if for no other reason to weaken TNA in one area where it clearly has the WWE beat. I also did not state that the WWE would gobble up Knockouts immediately; however, I believe that they will at the first opportunity. The establishment of the WWE Divas title means they will be looking to bring in both eye candy and seasoned wrestling talent to add to the mix of both Raw and Smackdown. They can find the eye candy anywhere, but the wrestling talent is not coming exclusively out of FCW.

Contracts are great for the present, but remember that they run out. The wrestler in question then must make a decision based on many factors beyond whether or not a company is going to use them in the right way. A major consideration for wrestlers is whether or not the company with which they sign is going to provide them with a paycheck that will allow them to properly plan for the future.

Wrestlers are independent contractors, who do not receive benefits such as retirement packages or health insurance (though the WWE pays for most of its wrestler's ring-related surgeries, as does TNA to a certain degree). Wrestlers must finance their futures largely on their own, and to do so requires a good deal of financial resources. The potential for injury combined with the large amount of travel puts wrestlers in high-risk categories for medical and life insurance coverage; lingering effects from a career of bumps also often require medical attention beyond what is provided for by the major companies. Other factors such as mortgages, family insurance coverage, and the ability to make wise retirement investments also factor heavily into the decision-making process. While TNA's lighter schedule is attractive for top names who have already accumulated wealth, lower-paid under-card workers (like, say, the Knockouts) are likely to accept more road time in the WWE in order to increase their income (chances are they work independents already). Wrestlers are just like everybody else: often times they take a job with less-desirable working conditions in order to meet other obligations in their life.

(By the way kids – if you want to retire at 45 and stay retired, you need a lot of change. TNA pays well, but not that well.)

Life factors are often the tipping point when it comes time for wrestlers to decide between staying with the smaller company that respects their abilities and appreciates their character, or a larger organization that may marginalize their role but provide for their financial needs. It is the reason that the WWE has been so successful in scooping up top wrestlers in the last 25 years, and why they will have an excellent chance of luring away most of the TNA talent in which they are interested once their contracts expire.

Few wrestlers illustrate this idea better than Taz. The Human Suplex Machine ruled over ECW at its height, where he was built up as an unstoppable, destructive force. He was ECW Champion when he agreed to go to the WWE, so he decided to leave while on top of the company that made him. He received a brief push upon his WWE debut, but was quickly jobbed to the middle of the roster, where he was typecast in the hardcore division and regularly lost to Crash Holly. He was pinned by Triple H while transitioning the ECW Title. Taz would have been a great and logical addition to the Intercontinental / European Title two falls match between Angle/Benoit/Jericho at Wrestlemania 2000, but the WWE would not even give him that high of a spot, despite a feud with Angle. A WWE Title reign was never in the cards. (But he did get an extra Z, which at least raised his word score in wrestling Scrabble.) Taz walking out on ECW in 1999 is the equivalent of Samoa Joe jumping to WWE this fall, only to be mid-carded on Smackdown.

Like many other wrestlers throughout the years, Taz chose a mid-level role in the WWE over an almost untouchable spot with a smaller company that highly valued his in-ring abilities. His height and wrestling style were never compatible with sports entertainment, and he was immediately limited upon entering a WWE ring. Taz wisely retired (due to neck problems) from wrestling two years later to take an announcing position on Smackdown. It was a substantial fall for the man who once said, "Beat me if you can! Survive if I let you!"

There are dozens of examples from every significant promotion and time period of wrestlers taking lesser spots with the WWE (or WCW in the nineties) for more life security. Curt Hennig, Rick Martel, Raven, and Shane Douglas are a few others that immediately come to mind.

There is a prevailing idea in the industry that the WWE is the "big time." Most wrestlers want to work there just to prove that they have "made it"; Sting is the only modern-era legend in the business who can claim otherwise. TNA may have a lot of talent who tow the company line now, but most of them will take the first offer they get from Vince McMahon. Do not forget that TNA has a poor track record of properly contracting its talent, so an opportunity to go north may come sooner rather than later for many.

If the advantages of signing with the WWE are coupled with a wrestler's dissatisfaction with their TNA role, the decision is a no-brainer. Knockouts like Roxxi may become unhappy with TNA if only Gail Kim and ODB are kept at the top with Awesome Kong. In such a case, a mid-card spot in the WWE will look even more attractive when compared to a mid-card place in TNA.

For those workers who are under proper contracts, we have to consider whether or not TNA will be around in five or fewer years, or whether or not they will continue to be able to pay their talent (the cause of death for most wrestling companies). I hope that TNA sustains itself, but it all depends on how much money they are making and (far more importantly) how they are investing those profits to create reserves for the future. No one in the IWC knows for sure, since TNA is a private company. However, there are two things that we do know:

1. There is a lot more to being a successful wrestling company than having top notch workers, compelling storylines, and passionate fans. The original ECW enjoyed an abundance of all of these things, yet they went under in less than a decade, despite existing during the industry's most profitable era. Paul Heyman was perhaps the most brilliant booker in wrestling history, but he made poor business decisions that undercut everything he built.

2. TNA cannot put more than 1,500 people in an arena for pay-per-view in wrestling-rich areas like Memphis, Norfolk, and Greenville. Their TV ratings and buy rates are frozen. The salaries of the big stars are subsidized by Spike. They are attempting to expand their core audience in a time where people are cutting back on non-essential expenses. They over-charge for on the road pay-per-views and house shows, most likely because that is the only way they can break even. These factors are not favorable for the future of the company. TNA could run out of resources if they are too quickly expanding their live event schedule and payroll. Their recent UK tour has been successful, but remember that WCW had great international runs during both its low point in early 1993 and its dying days of late 2000. TNA has to do solid business across the board, not just across the pond or in select areas of the US.

I hope that TNA not only survives, but grows and flourishes. I would love to see the day when Impact tapings draw 6,000 to 10,000 fans to arenas across the country. TNA's existence is good for wrestling as a whole. I regularly am hard on TNA in this column because I love wrestling, and believe that everyone benefits when Vince McMahon has to look over his shoulder once in a while. I am not confident that TNA's current state, from both a business and creative standpoint, is headed in the direction to sustain long-term growth. I really hope that I am wrong, but we will have to wait a few years to see.

In the meantime, you can bank on seeing some of TNA's loyal talent jump to the WWE in the next few years. Just about everybody on the current WWE roster worked under contract for somebody else at one point. Contracts are not the only thing that TNA needs to put up to keep the WWE's hands out of its pie. If they do not play their cards right, then we will just get more of…

THIS WEEK'S PATIENT: THE WWE'S STAGNANT PROGRAMMING

Lance Cade's surprise attack on Triple H and John Cena at the conclusion of last week's Raw has generated a lot of buzz, but probably not in the way the WWE intended. The people in the arena and the fans at home were not surprised, enraged, or excited. They were simply confused. After all, there was absolutely no build to this angle. Cade got a decisive win over Trevor Murdoch on the June 2 Raw, did not appear the following week, and suddenly appears in the main event scene. Jericho was not even seen talking to Cade earlier in the night, which would at least have given us something. Some of the folks in Salt Lake City may not have even recognized without the reminder from JR that helped the television audience.

The Cade and Murdoch split could have occurred anytime within the last six months – they were teasing it at the end of 2007 – and a feud with more than one match would have given Lance a little legitimacy as a threat to Triple H or Cena. Cade's decisive win over Murdoch is evidence that the WWE wants to do something with him, but a few wins in the interim would have been helpful. He did not even get the complimentary win over Super Crazy that all mid-level heels receive before becoming Triple H's whipping boy. Instead of being a new star, Cade will play the role in 2008 that Snitsky played in 2007 as a jobber to the stars for a monotonous series of tag team and handicap Raw main events.

It appears that the WWE believes that any tag team can be spilt up and used successfully as singles stars, like Edge and Christian or The Hardys. The fans actually have to care about the members of the team in order for a transition to singles to be successful. Once the Cade experiment bombs (probably around the July 7 Raw), maybe the WWE will realize that a healthy tag team division is good for the long-term development of new singles talent.

Ok, so that last part is a pipe dream.

One would believe that with five hours of programming each week, the WWE would have been able to muster up at least a whimper of a build. Throwing Cade into the mix out of nowhere was either poorly planned or an afterthought to set up this week's tag match. Either way, it was not what fans should expect from the flagship program.

And that is the problem.

Raw is clearly the WWE's bread and butter, but each week it is a disappointing borefest of wrestling clichés more over-played than the term "Epic Fail.". A typical Raw goes something like this: A champion's or top contender's monologue is interrupted by his rival. Mr. McMahon makes a tag team main event which pairs Triple H and John Cena with or against each other. A combination of Umaga, JBL, and Snitsky are involved. There is an interesting development between Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels which saves the show, but somehow does not quite fill the void in my soul. A divas tag or six-women match is enjoyable only if Beth Phoenix kills someone. Ron Simmons says, "Damn!" Cryme Tyme steals some stuff. Jeff Hardy beats whatever upper-card heel is not in the main event. Mr. Kennedy gets in some clever lines before beating Paul Burchill while Katie Lea's top manages to stay one despite being tied with dental floss. Cena and Mickie James make a sex joke and possibly exchange underwear. Oh, and please do not forget Hardcore Holly & Cody Rhodes vs. Carlito & Santino Marella.

The wrestling is better on Smackdown and ECW, largely because those programs contain less variety sketches and allot a few more minutes to actual matches. However, Smackdown is more predictable than Raw, essentially being written by numbers for the last two years, with one or two interesting angles being encased in painful filler. Remember how long the Chuck Palumbo-Jamie Noble feud went on? ECW is Smackdown's perennial bridesmaid (though she soon gets to wear the mauve dress for Raw!), flushed out with storylines that never reach a major conclusion or even have anywhere to go. Do we really need to see a new "development" in the Kofi Kingston-Shelton Benjamin or Kelly Kelly-Layla feuds every episode? A weekly rehashing of these rivalries does nothing for the product, the workers, or the viewers. We really do not need extraneous feuds that cannot drum up enough interest to garner a pay-per-view payoff just to fill five hours of TV time each week – especially since most TV matches do not run past five minutes.

The problem with the current WWE television schedule is that the company does not have a creative staff capable of producing five hours of compelling television each week. That remark is not a knock on the writers, either – anyone would have difficulty maintaining a high level of quality under the current circumstances. Angles have been lost; storylines contradicted, forgotten, or aimlessly repeated; and aspects of the industry (such as the tag team division) have been allowed to decompose. The Lance Cade surprise we got last Monday night is the result of such a programming glut.

Those frustrations being aired, I am going to write something which I never thought would come from my mind.

Hold on, this is hard.

Vince McMahon should give in to the pressure from USA and expand Raw to three hours.

I just vomited in my mouth a little.

No, I do not hate you or other readers. Yes, I am psychologically cleared to interact with other people in public. And I do apologize for the nightmares you will certainly experience.

I am looking at the current WWE product in very practical terms. You would not schedule tooth removal or a colonoscopy over three separate appointments in a five day period if you had the choice. You would want to get those procedures over with in one unpleasant session, so why should we not have the opportunity to bear the current WWE product in the same manner?

A world in which a weekly three-hour Raw is a reality – besides being bereft of puppies, bunnies, and candy – would contain no other WWE brands or programs. We would get everything in one block of three (likely painful) hours.

The arguments against such a move are too many to count – this suggestion is more of a thought exercise than a likely solution – but please join me in considering the advantages.

First, the WWE writing staff would be working on one overall weekly goal instead of three. Any long-term vision that McMahon has for the company would be more fully realized – whether for good or bad – and a sense of overall continuity could be attained.

Second, the writing staff could divide smaller tasks amongst themselves in order to adequately address all aspects of the product. For example, one group could write for the women's division, another for tag teams, one for secondary championships, a head block for the main event scene, and a supervisory committee to be sure everything coalesces. The current brand system prohibits such a division of labor, as writing teams must focus on filling television time rather than on fully developing the product for their respective shows.

Third, a reduction in television hours would force the WWE to cut some excess talent without replacing them with more fat. This move would allow the company to save on payroll and spare the fans from having to watch Deuce and Domino.

Fourth, the move would require the WWE to be more selective in which developmental talents it calls up, giving young wrestlers more time to grow before throwing them before a national television audience. A current problem with five hours of weekly programming is that talent is being picked before it is ripe (see Kozlov, Vladimir; Man, Boogey; Squad, Spirit). The problems that the WWE is having with FCW right now are another reason that the company should slow down with its call-ups before the weaknesses of their developmental system cause more product (or actual physical) harm.

Finally, three hours of Raw would toughen viewers up for three or more straight hours of 14 WWE pay-per-views. Consider it couch-based endurance training in real time.

The three hour show could be divided into different sections, much like the War Zone and Raw is War from the Attitude Era. Time divisions could run in various combinations. Each segment could be an hour with its own commentary team and feature development for the company's main storylines but also provide dedicated time for secondary areas such as tag teams and divas. This design would very loosely resemble the current brand system, but without the bloat.

Alternatively, the first half-hour could be a magazine-type show reviewing the previous week's developments and previewing the upcoming show. That segment would be followed by one commentary team hosting for a full hour, and another closing out the remaining 90 minutes.

Mike Adamle is not included in any of these plans.

Championships would have to be consolidated, with one heavyweight title (the WWE), one set of tag titles, and one women's belt. I would argue that both the Intercontinental and US Titles be retained, in order to add more depth to the show, and both belts could be revalued with focused writing. (The cruiserweight title should not return, as much as I would like it to, because the one thing the WWE did consistently well over the last two years is bury that division.)

The biggest loser from this system would be Edge, whose days of carrying a show as the absolute top heel would be over (though he would remain in the heavyweight title scene). Many other stars who have gotten a chance to shine at the top of their show each week would have to fight for the top spot, but such a situation would be healthy and allow for more variety in the main event scene. Other top-level feuds not related to the WWE Title would also be more plausible.

The chances of a three hour Raw along with a brand reduction actually occurring are about as likely as a Marc Mero DVD set appearing on next year's release schedule. The WWE will not merge all of their brands into one three-hour Raw unless they absolutely must, but those days may be closer than most believe. My Network TV is not going to generate as large of an audience for Smackdown as did UPN (and thus reduce the profit the show generates on TV and on the road), and Sci-Fi may not renew ECW for 2009. A three hour Raw under those circumstances would help the WWE maintain its product while providing an opportunity for the McMahons to convince stockholders that the product is being "re-aligned." The same economic factors that are a problem for TNA are also going to hurt the WWE, so the company may have to review the cost of three brands in relation to the profit each brings in.

This proposal will generate a lot of heat, but something needs to be done about a writing system that is giving us the same Night of Champions World Title match as last year and the main event WWE Title match from three Wrestlemanias past. And Hornswoggle in a Tag Team Title match.

There are other solutions, all involving keeping Raw at two hours, such as canning ECW and keeping Smackdown at two hours; dropping Smackdown and keeping ECW as a one-hour show; canceling ECW and cutting Smackdown down to 60 minutes; and devoting one hour each to ECW and Smackdown. Those pairings would make for interesting discussion at a later date.

Right now, I have had all that I can take of the prospect of a permanently three-hour Raw, even if it is just in my head. I need to get some stuff done, as there is an actual three-hour Raw to watch tonight with a probable tag team main event featuring Lance Cade.

Oh, goody.