Mr. Nerfect
06-14-2005, 10:26 PM
I was just watching the HBO Show, Oz. That show is fucking great. But yeah, back on track. I was wondering if the WWE could take the feel of Oz and channel it through WWE programming?
Wrestling has always been good guys vs. bad guys. Maybe it's time for a slight change? In Oz, there are likeable characters, but when it comes down to it all the guys (and gals) in there are slimeballs. Wrestling could be portrayed in a similiar way. We all like to cheer Paul London, but he's still a guy that runs out there and seems completely incapable of settling things with words.
Stone Cold Steve Austin changed the way wrestling was seen, and he made a lot of money for himself and the business doing it, but it may have done some damage as well. Randy Orton may be a perfect example of this. A young talented kid starts climbing the ranks, the fans get a taste of him, start cheering him, so the WWE has to do the logical thing and turn him face, which in affect changes the way we see Randy Orton, ending his "overness". It is becomming more and more common to cheer heels. Christian, Eddie Guerrero, Batista, John Cena and Randy Orton to name a few. Perhaps the WWE should make some changes to accommodate this?
Watching Oz, it seems every guy has guys they hate, and guys they like. just like wrestling. When a character is Oz gets killed, we salivate over the violence and we take notice of the guy that offs the now deceased charatcer. Would anyone else be entertained if the WWE got rid of the face/heel system of goodies vs. baddies, and instead had more of a character-based approach to the wrestlers in the WWE.
Let's take for example, Chris Masters. On RAW he's doing his Masterlock Challenge thing. He is however drafted to SD!, where he continues his challenge. It is answered over there by someone like The Big Show, though, and Chris Masters is made to look like a dick. Big Show then beats up Masters, throws him into the back and tells Akio to put the Masterlock on him. Akio does this, and now Masters is pissed at Akio for embarassing him.
The next week, Masters attacks Akio, and leaves him in a pool of his own blood as we find out Masters has a meanstreak. Masters is however then ambushed by Akio's running buddies; Funaki, Kenzo Suzuki & Tajiri. They all beat on Masters, which is an unfair advantage, but was brought on by Masters' actions. We aren't really thinking about what's right, but what's happening, and we cheer the violence.
The brands could theoretically be prisons. When one guy crosses over from the next, the way they are treated and the way their character behaves can really change the reactions they get, and the feuds they end up with.
The WWE might have really been on to something in February 2003 when they had Edge attacked from behind by someone. Image if it had turned out that person was Mark Jindrak? Doesn't seem too epic right now, but that little detail is there for the future and it can always be brought up if neither guy has anything to do.
I guess what I'm really saying is that I'd like to see the WWE not forget the little details. It would be nice if Hardcore Holly & Val Venis worked together in a Royal Rumble Match, because they teamed together in 2002. Let's not forget that Tajiri and Akio have a past together, as do Tajiri and Eddie Guerrero. If Tajiri goes over to SmackDown!, a Tajiri & Akio vs. Los Guerreros feud realistically makes a lot of sense.
Guys getting beaten down the shower because they laughed at the loser of a match, guys getting their rental cars dumped in paint, people getting beaten up because they were in the same lockerroom as one of their attacker's enemies, bags getting a visit from the Orton Fairy, JBL having a feud with Fit Finlay because he told some developmental guys what he did (have Finlay choose a wrestler to respresent him), Garrison Cade running out to the ring when Theodore R. Long is cutting a promo and attacking him with a steel chair just to ge noticed. Acts like this may not really define face and heel, but they further a feud, and give a human being a reason to be pissed off at another human being, leading to an asskicking.
Wrestling has always been good guys vs. bad guys. Maybe it's time for a slight change? In Oz, there are likeable characters, but when it comes down to it all the guys (and gals) in there are slimeballs. Wrestling could be portrayed in a similiar way. We all like to cheer Paul London, but he's still a guy that runs out there and seems completely incapable of settling things with words.
Stone Cold Steve Austin changed the way wrestling was seen, and he made a lot of money for himself and the business doing it, but it may have done some damage as well. Randy Orton may be a perfect example of this. A young talented kid starts climbing the ranks, the fans get a taste of him, start cheering him, so the WWE has to do the logical thing and turn him face, which in affect changes the way we see Randy Orton, ending his "overness". It is becomming more and more common to cheer heels. Christian, Eddie Guerrero, Batista, John Cena and Randy Orton to name a few. Perhaps the WWE should make some changes to accommodate this?
Watching Oz, it seems every guy has guys they hate, and guys they like. just like wrestling. When a character is Oz gets killed, we salivate over the violence and we take notice of the guy that offs the now deceased charatcer. Would anyone else be entertained if the WWE got rid of the face/heel system of goodies vs. baddies, and instead had more of a character-based approach to the wrestlers in the WWE.
Let's take for example, Chris Masters. On RAW he's doing his Masterlock Challenge thing. He is however drafted to SD!, where he continues his challenge. It is answered over there by someone like The Big Show, though, and Chris Masters is made to look like a dick. Big Show then beats up Masters, throws him into the back and tells Akio to put the Masterlock on him. Akio does this, and now Masters is pissed at Akio for embarassing him.
The next week, Masters attacks Akio, and leaves him in a pool of his own blood as we find out Masters has a meanstreak. Masters is however then ambushed by Akio's running buddies; Funaki, Kenzo Suzuki & Tajiri. They all beat on Masters, which is an unfair advantage, but was brought on by Masters' actions. We aren't really thinking about what's right, but what's happening, and we cheer the violence.
The brands could theoretically be prisons. When one guy crosses over from the next, the way they are treated and the way their character behaves can really change the reactions they get, and the feuds they end up with.
The WWE might have really been on to something in February 2003 when they had Edge attacked from behind by someone. Image if it had turned out that person was Mark Jindrak? Doesn't seem too epic right now, but that little detail is there for the future and it can always be brought up if neither guy has anything to do.
I guess what I'm really saying is that I'd like to see the WWE not forget the little details. It would be nice if Hardcore Holly & Val Venis worked together in a Royal Rumble Match, because they teamed together in 2002. Let's not forget that Tajiri and Akio have a past together, as do Tajiri and Eddie Guerrero. If Tajiri goes over to SmackDown!, a Tajiri & Akio vs. Los Guerreros feud realistically makes a lot of sense.
Guys getting beaten down the shower because they laughed at the loser of a match, guys getting their rental cars dumped in paint, people getting beaten up because they were in the same lockerroom as one of their attacker's enemies, bags getting a visit from the Orton Fairy, JBL having a feud with Fit Finlay because he told some developmental guys what he did (have Finlay choose a wrestler to respresent him), Garrison Cade running out to the ring when Theodore R. Long is cutting a promo and attacking him with a steel chair just to ge noticed. Acts like this may not really define face and heel, but they further a feud, and give a human being a reason to be pissed off at another human being, leading to an asskicking.