The Promotion
Since 1997 the WWE has been a work place drama. Starting with DX facing off with Sergent Slaughter, the WWF/E has regularly used themes of authority, power, independence, and employment. The WWE is not afraid to tell stories about business. You could say this reflects the larger sports world. Days after the Giants win the World Series and when I turn on sports radio and people are already trying to figure out who they are going to sign for next season.
In the context of the WWE workplace drama, the authority figures talk in veiled language. They talk about doing their job in terms of giving the WWE Universe what they want and pleasing the board of directors. They do not talk about ratings, pay-per-view buys, and merchandise sales.
Watching the story of CM Punk and John Cena, I wounder how this story would change if they were talking about the WWE as a business. What would it be like if John Cena said "You might be the WWE champ, but I am the one selling the tickets." How would CM Punk come off as a heel if he yelled at the audience for not recognizing his greatness with ratings numbers to back it up.
If you were telling the story of the promotion you could really tell the story of why people are fighting. You could make the case that wrestlers are fighting for their job, their spot on the card, and their chance to advance. You could tell stories about these fights. I would have a simmering rivalry between Brodus Clay and Tensai because they are both big men who squash people. Now they are are failing they could be blaming each other. This could end up with the two of them having a blow off.
In the story the matches and fights have to still have to be real. You cannot break the idea that in the story, matches are still important. The difference is that winning and losing the matches are not the only things that are important. It is just as important how exciting the match it. You could see someone who wins lots of boring matches having problems making their way up the card.
I know the downside of the WWE writing stories like this. Ratings and Buy Rates are real information. If you use them to tell fictional stories you either limit the stories or have to use fictional data. Wrestling fans are funny about what can be fiction and what has to be fact. I hear podcasters complain about announcers not telling the truth all the time.
The funny thing about this kind of story telling, only the WWE and TNA could tell stories like this. I do not think it would work for a local promotion.
In the context of the WWE workplace drama, the authority figures talk in veiled language. They talk about doing their job in terms of giving the WWE Universe what they want and pleasing the board of directors. They do not talk about ratings, pay-per-view buys, and merchandise sales.
Watching the story of CM Punk and John Cena, I wounder how this story would change if they were talking about the WWE as a business. What would it be like if John Cena said "You might be the WWE champ, but I am the one selling the tickets." How would CM Punk come off as a heel if he yelled at the audience for not recognizing his greatness with ratings numbers to back it up.
If you were telling the story of the promotion you could really tell the story of why people are fighting. You could make the case that wrestlers are fighting for their job, their spot on the card, and their chance to advance. You could tell stories about these fights. I would have a simmering rivalry between Brodus Clay and Tensai because they are both big men who squash people. Now they are are failing they could be blaming each other. This could end up with the two of them having a blow off.
In the story the matches and fights have to still have to be real. You cannot break the idea that in the story, matches are still important. The difference is that winning and losing the matches are not the only things that are important. It is just as important how exciting the match it. You could see someone who wins lots of boring matches having problems making their way up the card.
I know the downside of the WWE writing stories like this. Ratings and Buy Rates are real information. If you use them to tell fictional stories you either limit the stories or have to use fictional data. Wrestling fans are funny about what can be fiction and what has to be fact. I hear podcasters complain about announcers not telling the truth all the time.
The funny thing about this kind of story telling, only the WWE and TNA could tell stories like this. I do not think it would work for a local promotion.
Comments