Merge the rosters. Smackdown is awful, RAW isn't much better but combined they'd trim alot of the rubbish.
Spot on.
DO NOT have random guys come out to give 3 minute long in-ring promos that don't generate any sort of crowd reaction whatsoever. If you're going to have these people talk, at least get them to do it BEFORE their match. The Quebec guy was pointless and terrible.
Agreed. Having characters that the fans give a damn about would help too.
Charisma, mic ability > wrestling ability. Guys like The Rock and Stone Cold weren't exactly artists in the ring, but people loved/hated them because they gave them something to love/hate, which leads me onto my next point...
I agree to a point, but those guys were still very solid in-ring performers. Even though their matches may not have been as technically sound as a Bret Hart/Curt Hennig match from back in the day, they were still entertaining. But their charisma and promo skills did carry them and made you care about the story.
Get rid of the Captain Nobody's in their generic coloured trunks. Either give them a gimmick or piss them off. No one wants to see some random guy wrestling, because most of the in-ring stuff is boring without any sort of meaning.
They definitely need to make everyone stand out a bit more, but the way they're coming up with characters these days they should avoid gimmicks that are in any way wacky. Pirate Paul kind of worked because it was made clear that Burchill didn't actually believe he was a pirate, he was doing it for fun and to honour his supposed heritage.
Start to push guys based on their ability to deliver a good promo. It's almost painful watching some of these guys in the ring talking, while the crowd stays completely silent. Did anyone alive want to see Rocky Maivia as champion? No. The Rock? Absolutely.
I think they still need to be solid in the ring though, even though promo skills can carry a wrestler a long way.
Stables are great, IF THEY ARE DONE PROPERLY. A stable isn't a group of friends who sometimes go to the ring with one of their buddies. Booker T and his friends is a prime example. Look at the great stables over the years, DX, nWo, the Ministry Of Darkness, Nation of Domination, The Corporation etc... they all had an identity. They represented the stable, and had a presence. That is definitely lacking these days.
Evolution worked much better than the pseud-stable of Booker T, Finlay and Regal but that's probably been the lone exception since the Attitude era.
A bit of theatrics to help a gimmick never hurt. It seems that wrestlers are relying entirely on their in-ring antics to put the gimmick over, and it's not happening.
A lot of wrestlers these days can't really play to the crowd, whether its during a match or a promo. The best most heels can muster is to resort to cheap heat by insulting the city or the fans or telling them to shut up. Those are classic heel traits of course but it seems that's all they can do these days to draw heat. The older and more experienced wrestlers are better at it but on the whole the crowd isn't worked as well as they used to be.
They did that with cena, and the fans absolutely hated on him because he got pushed. this would explain their reluctance to do it again. most smarks completely disregard promo skills in place of technical ability. and then complain when no-one can cut a decent promo
I agree, a lot of the criticisms of smarks these days contradict each other or place the product in a no-win situation. If Cena hadn't been pushed as near-invincible though, constantly overcoming the odds as strongly as he had been up until One Night Stand, I think the reactions might have been a bit better. His promos aren't as good as they were in early 2005 either. They've gotten a bit corny and the fact they keep pushing him against the crowd reaction doesn't work in his favour either. He should've turned heel at some point and then won the fans over before turning face again.
Merge the rosters. Smackdown is awful, RAW isn't much better but combined they'd trim alot of the rubbish.
