Rebooking the August 22nd RAW

WWE suffers from the crowd doing what it wants thanks to its booking.  I know, I know.  You are thinking, the crowd hates the booking that is why they boo the faces and cheer the heels.  And that is all true, but I am talking about the unconscious messages they receive from the booking.  So, I will rebook the RAW after Summerslam to show the problem.  I won’t change any match or outcome, so all the people RAW wants pushed are still pushed.  But, there is a way to help WWE longterm, avoid the steep drop offs from 1st to 3rd hour in RAW ratings, and probably save money so that they don’t have to pay Lesnar steep fees so often and nor bring Cena onto RAW for no good reason.

The unconscious message is that nothing matters except the Universal title and thus the few people with a shot to win it (ie Reigns).  Since the WWE has littered the Universal title picture with people the crowd do not want to have the title, it kills 3rd hour ratings.  It also destroys the other belts.  Allow me to demonstrate with a rebooking. 

OPEN show with the Hardy’s coming out to challenge Seth and Ambrose for the Tag Titles.  But the match does not happen immediately, it is billed all night as the main event.  The announcers could help introduce the show by saying “they have champs talking to the crowd every hour, and it begins now with the tag team champs!”  Then they can hype WWE tag title match as the main event.  Also there is no reason for it not to be a tag title match. 

Elias Sampson and R-Truth is next.  This is a good spot for Elias and Truth. 
This would be followed by the back stage Emma and Nia moment. 

Nia then beats Emma.  This would also be the time to hype Sasha speaking in the second hour.  
Then you can put the Neville interview backstage.  This gives a moment to hype not only 205Live, but also the later Cruiser weight match.

This is followed up with the Kurt Angle bringing out John Cena and the set up for the match that happened.  This probably would cross the second hour threshold giving new viewers a glimpse of upcoming match.  Miz/Joe vs. Cena/Reigns is now in place for later.

Coming back from a break would be Angle back stage with Jason Jordan asking for Finn Balor. Sasha Banks has her ring time with Alexa coming out.  This effectively teases either a main event or semi-main event for next week’s RAW. 

Finn Balor’s match would be next against Jordan. 

Enzo vs. Cass street fight is next.  This probably ends the second hour.  The injury is sad here, and unforeseeable.  But main eventing hour two is probably the right place for Cass getting a push and the emotion of the build up for this match.

Gulak/Dar/Daivari/Nese vs Alexander/Swann/Metalik/Ali would be next.  I put this here because the cruiser weights need to feel like more than just a throw a way.  Putting them later in the show would help that some. 

Then you get SamoaJoe/Miz vs. Reigns/Cena the match.  This match does not need to main event because it is for nothing.  It is a nothing match.  It has big names, so it goes late in the show, but the main event needs to mean something.  Plus, they should have seen the “You both suck” chant coming.  You can’t main event people the crowd hates on a regular basis and expect viewers to stick around.  200,000 people quit the show with this as the main event, and even more if you go from the peak in hour two.  But as a third hour fight, not bad.

Now do the Paul Heyman and Lesnar addressing the crowd with Strowman. It allows the crowd a good moment, it is not a match so they are not wearing themselves out.  But it does keep the crowd invested setting the stage for the main event.  Also, it probably keeps viewers around because you have said multiple times the champs are going to talk to the crowd, and Lesnar was saved till the end.  Probably saves viewers too.  Numbers bear this out.

MAIN EVENT is now your tag team championship match between Hardy Boys and Seth and Dean.  This is the logical choice to main event because the star power in this match is arguably as good as the match with Joe, Cena, Reigns, and Miz.  The Hardys are huge.  Seth and Dean are popular and get the cheers faces are supposed to get.  Since it was hyped at the beginning of the show, and throughout by the announcers, I believe people would stay to watch the Hardys and Shield.  It also serves the purpose of elevating the tag titles.  Tag Team belts main evented the show.  The belts ought to matter.  And putting a belt at the end makes sense.  WWE had this as a non-title match, but that makes no sense especially since the champs won in the end.  It is okay to end a show with a clean finish that does not hint at more to come.  It is satisfying and puts over your champs big time. 

It is things like that which would help the WWE not have to go and pay Lesnar to appear on so many shows in hopes of ratings.  Other “world” titles could main event and carry shows.  The Hardys have shown they can do that.  The shield was popular and these guys going over in a big spot would only help them be draws again.  It still gives Cena/Reigns a late show match to keep them in the eye of the fan.  And for this week, it keeps people waiting for Lesnar.  Plus you teased next week where another world title would be on the line with Sasha banks.  Even if that turns out to be semi-main event, it is a good start on hooking the viewer. 

I think with the way the show was booked, and they are usually booked, the fan understands that the other belts don’t really matter.  There is never a need to get really invested into a tag team story line or a tag team because they are not important.  They don’t open shows and they don’t close shows.  They blend into the filler.  Highlighting the belts and taking advantage of the star power of the Hardy boys is a must.  The same is true with the Intercontinental title.  Miz didn’t defend it last night, nor did he defend it tonight.  The lack of importance of that belt is amazing. 

The same is also true of the Cruiser weight belt.  That is the one match that most needs to be re-booked.  Massive man matches can work from time to time, but they need some consequence or be a highlight reel fest.  I also think the Cruiserweight stuff needs to be spread throughout the show.  Make it a real division like the Women’s division.  Instead, they always seem to stick it together so that everyone knows this is a 205 Live Hype segment so go get your snacks now.  Make his champion interview separate from a cruiser weight match, so that it feels like a real division and not a segment filling moment.  And use the match to actually move story lines and introduce other people.  It can't all happen on 205 Live, especially if you want people to watch 205 Live. 

WWE blew Lesnar at the beginning, and then it put a lot of matches back to back that meant nothing.  There is no build or emotion to Balor v Jordan, and then it was followed with the 8 man match.  Two matches where the crowd is now bouncing a beach ball.  They disliked the main two guys in the main event, so they never recovered from that stretch.  It was foreseeable, and avoidable.  

Why not start with the less important matches and work your way up sprinkling important champion interviews throughout?  Why not separate the two no emotional build matches (Balor and 8 man tag) with a match that has serious emotional build with Cass v Enzo.  It keeps the crowd from becoming too disinterested, but gives them a slight come down to rest as the show goes into semi and main events where you want them energized.

And most importantly it would communicate the importance of the belts allowing the WWE to capitalize on the popularity of both Shield and the Hardys, and allow some of the new tag teams like the Revival a chance to mean something.  That means better business for the WWE. 

What the WWE needs to learn about making stars

The WWE stinks right now because they have no idea how to make a star.  It is a little weird because making stars was the only way they survived the Monday Night Wars.  The star of Austin and Rock made the modern day WWE.  The emergence of Angle and Edge during that time helped too.  But, now they don’t have one.  Cena, their top star, is half hated, and is now where near the height of Austin or Rock.  While that may be an unreasonable expectation, the WWE has fallen too far to consider Cena too highly.

The WWE is currently riding waves of indy wrestlers joining and keeping wresting fan engaged.  This leads to twitter talk, and the WWE hopes it leads to more causal fans returning and thus money.  But the WWE has undercut all of that by their horrible booking.  Their decision to chase money in Inida with Mahal has also hurt business. 

They ought to be taking notes from New Japan.  If you look at New Japan over the long run, it is a master’s level class in making stars.  They had young stars like Kojima and Tenzan who went from Young Lions to Heavyweight champs.  They innovated moves and pioneered a stronger style, but they both jumped ship for All Japan.  New Japan listened to their fans and Tanahashi and Nakamura emerged as new stars.  Their rivalry at every stage helped push New Japan along.  Kojima returned, and New Japan gave him the push an aging star deserved.  Kojima won the G1 and then the title.  Then he dropped it to Tanahashi cementing Tanahashi as the man.  Kojima still is used effectively in the mid care (and not too long ago in the Tag Title scene with Tenzan).  Their brief alliance with the NWA allowed Kojima and Tenzan something else to do.  But they now serve as mid card guys who can get the crowd going, but lose. 

But we have since seen the era of Tanahashi come to an end.  Tanahashi and Nakamura battled over and over to big houses.  They both battled the invading Westerners such as Balor and Styles.  Those guys were never to be the main stars, just treated as stars to help the real stars shine brighter in the end.  And while this reign went on NJPW listened to its fans and found Okada.  Okada was slow pushed, given learning trips to Mexico and the US, and he met every goal, every bench mark.  Coming back he was given time with top stars, won the G1, won the New Japan Cup, and then he was then given the reigns.  The first title reign did not see him become the face of the company as the fans still favored Tanahashi, but NJPW did not throw away Okada.  They gave him a nice long reign. Still using Tanahashi v Nakamura to make big bucks, the company had Okada drop the belt to international star Styles.  They then found a way to get a program where Tanahashi was clearly passing the torch.  It was a year long program that began with a close lose to Tanahashi at one WrestleKingdom and ended with his victory over Tanahashi at the next WrestleKingdom thanks to a G1 win and a redemption story line that put Okada over as a face big time.  Okada now draws the houses and goes toe to toe with the Western threat.  Tanahashi is not thrown away. He gets a lower belt for now, and helps put over the stars that will help Okada on his run such as Ibushi, who just scored a big win over Tanahashi in the G1. Such wins serve as major milestones and big helps in pushing forward younger talent in NJPW.

The WWE needs to listen to its fans as they cheer on the mid card.  The mid card needs opportunity to shine and develop.  50-50 booking sinks both boats.  Using a top start to tell a good clean story and put over the next guy is important.  Not necessarily blaming the wrestler when one story does not overwhelm, and instead finding a way to put the wrestler in a situation to succeed.  Cena has failed to do that.  He put Punk over, but continued to hog the spot light.  He put Bryan over, but the company refused to go with Bryan.  He lost to Owens, but won the feud (same with Bray).  He lost to AJ, but was that really putting him over?  Especially considering AJ had just lost a feud with Jericho.  And the company did not really run with him.  If the company really wants to roll with Reigns, why not Cena vs. Reigns? 

I really think that the WWE needs help.  It is withering on the vine.  NJPW has plenty of opportunities to tell stories with the mid card.  And they do.  They have events that don’t depend on the title belt, but every belt feels meaningful (almost at any rate, they have a few too many).  Maybe it is time to look for ways to help the midcarders grow.  Maybe a King of the Ring?  If we are doing 20 PPVS a year, surely a King of the Ring can make an occasional appearance. 

It did wonders for Austin.