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View Full Version : Idea for a wrestling angle: wrestler with 'personal demons'


TerranRich
07-22-2005, 04:00 PM
I was driving home from school today and an idea just popped into my head. If WWE wants to start playing the work-shoot game, why not have an angle where we see a wrestler's "inner demons" at work?

Take a guy who really doesn't have any personal problems and is probably stable enough in real life to never have any real problems. After a hiatus from the scene, he returns, but is suddenly...mellow. He seems calm, collected, cool, and his new persona reflects that. He even gets new entrance music, almost like Chaz's entrance theme (http://s50.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0V2R5OLUCCXG218MJUEKKGG4E9), where the calmness and coolness seems almost...induced. ;) After a few weeks, we see him start to slip up during his matches. Nothing really big, just a missed punch, this or that. Then he starts screwing up moves (in a way that wouldn't jeopardize himself realistically, like "falling" from the turnbuckle on his own) and botching moves big time, but in a way that wouldn't jeopardize the other wrestler either, obviously.

Eventually, during a match, he will just walk out of the ring disgusted at himself and everybody, and into the backstage area and force the referee to count him out. Everybody in the ring just looks really confused at what's just happened. We try a rematch next week. Now we see that ths guy is really not into the match. He just seems like he's going through the paces, not really any energy or motivation visible.

Then, one week, he no-shows his match. And the next week as well. Now, if the WWE really wanted to continue with their Internet route that they've been going on lately, they could have a small news story about a backstage altercation with the wrestler and another person, something completely out of the blue to be believable. Then, a week or two later, a big announcement on WWE.com that this wrestler has been released from his contract.

Byte This! would be the onyl way I can see this wrestler making any appearance from then on. Maybe he calls in to harass the guests, maybe he just starts swearing, out of control, with an obvious problem. Todd Grisham might make a note of his strange behavior lately and ask if he's all right, meaning is everything all right personally. The wrestler gets offended and pissed off and just hangs up. Maybe make an announcement by J.R. and/or King about these appearances, saying that he has issues that he needs to deal with.

We could maybe even see him in the audience near ringside looking like he's been through HELL and is still there. We could even catch the wrestler grabbing a sign from a nearby, younger fan, or something equally horrendous and offensive.

Now, I'm no writer, but eventually there would have to be a way to do a face turn and have him redeem himself fully in the eyes of the audience. Maybe after a week or even a month, we could show him backstage entering Eric Bischoff's (or even Vince McMahon, if we wanted full realism here office, perhaps to discuss being re-hired. Then, afterward, we see the wrestler coming out of the office looking dejected and out-of-luck with Vince just staring coldly at him from his door, watching him leave.

Perhaps a few weeks later, at Velocity, we see him making a return...but perhaps in a mask, so the audience doesn't really know it's him. But there could be some trademark giveaways that would hint that the masked man is our demon-troubled grappler in disguise. This match would, in the storyline, be a trial match for re-hiring to see if he's really shaped up or not. I'm thinking instead of just going through the paces, we could see a new side to the wrestler, perhaps a side that shows that he's unsure of himself at this point and still trying to establish himself. Maybe have him lose the first time.

Then, he starts winning. He starts re-gaining his charisma, he even finds a tag team partner. The matches could then move to RAW/SmackDown! where the larger fanbase would notice this masked man. JR and King / Cole and Tazz could even comment that this newcomer seems very promising and that they personally like his style and work ethic.

Finally, his grand return to RAW/SmackDown!. He comes out in his mask, grabs a microphone, then removes the mask to reveal that it's really him. He could cut a promo where he's conquered his demons, he apologizes to everyone he's ever hurt, makes good on his apologies, etc. If done right, I think it would work out perfectly as a face turn.

I dunno, it sounded a LOT better in my head. What do you guys think of an angle such as the above? I think it might work if done the right way, and done well. But maybe not, I'm no wrestling writer. :p

Please tell me it's a decent idea. ;)

The One
07-22-2005, 04:03 PM
I like it, especially if WWE is going to continue to go forward with these work/shoot angles.

Someone1001
07-22-2005, 04:33 PM
Wasn't the wrestler with demons gimick done by Scott Hall back in WCW? Y'know, when he actually HAD personal demons? And didn't get over one iota?

The One
07-22-2005, 04:41 PM
Whoa! Did you just say Scott Hall didn't get over in WCW? Did you ever watch WCW? Ever watch Scott Hall? He got hella fucking over. He couldn't be pushed due to managment's fear that rehab was always just a drink away, but he was over and honestly in my opinion he is one of the few guys who probabbly should have held the World Title but never did.

PureHatred
07-22-2005, 05:16 PM
Yeah, its true he was insanely over. They could show an 8x10 of Hall and get pops.

This would actually be a cool angle. Sort of like Eddie's real life story.

TerranRich
07-22-2005, 05:51 PM
That's the thing, you'd have to choose a wrestler who isn't currently fighting personal demons. Hall or Eddie would probably not be good for it, since it's too close to home for them, IMHO. Someone like, say, Steven Richards, or someone not currently doing much in WWE like Paul London or something.

Someone1001
07-22-2005, 05:53 PM
Whoa! Did you just say Scott Hall didn't get over in WCW? Did you ever watch WCW? Ever watch Scott Hall? He got hella fucking over. He couldn't be pushed due to managment's fear that rehab was always just a drink away, but he was over and honestly in my opinion he is one of the few guys who probabbly should have held the World Title but never did.

I meant that the gimick they had him doing didn't get over one iota. And in fact, it hurt his popularity from my point of view, at the least.

TerranRich
07-22-2005, 05:54 PM
I personally thought it was pretty funny. Especially when Hall showed up in Flair's mental institution. I laughed my frickin' ass off at that. :D

But yeah, we're talking about two different things here. :)

Crashnburn
07-22-2005, 05:58 PM
That's the thing, you'd have to choose a wrestler who isn't currently fighting personal demons. Hall or Eddie would probably not be good for it, since it's too close to home for them, IMHO. Someone like, say, Steven Richards, or someone not currently doing much in WWE like Paul London or something.

For some reason while reading your storyline Benoit came to mind. I don't know if everybody would go for that, but hey who better than the best technical wrestler in WWE (sans Angle)? Who better than the man who is always together in the ring? Who better than the guy with the calm exterior until you really piss him off? Plus Eddie and he have been long time friends so I'm sure he saw Eddie go through everything so he has material he can work with.

TerranRich
07-22-2005, 06:02 PM
If I knew Chris Benoit could act stoned, then sloppy, then not giving a shit about his work, then I would suggest him. Personally, I think he's too good of a wrestler to pull it off. :p

loopydate
07-22-2005, 07:07 PM
WWF did that with Mike Hegstrand a few years back. Remember his "suicide attempt" off the 'Tron?

Corkscrewed
07-22-2005, 07:26 PM
I dunno if it's a good idea personally, but that might be due to timing. With the Byte This part, Matt Hardy just took care of that, so you'd have to wait a while to go that route. They've also had wrestlers doubt themselves relatively recently... i.e. Kidman after that botched SSP. They've also had wrestlers go into slumps and then pull themselves up (i.e. Eddie last year in a way). So really, you're just putting all that into one, and you're making it a generic problem, rather than specifically induced (i.e. drugs, alcohol, prostitutes...).

You couldn't really do this now, because it'd be too much deja vu.

On the other hand, if you wait another three years and try it, it could be pretty cool.

Loose Cannon
07-22-2005, 08:25 PM
WWF did that with Mike Hegstrand a few years back. Remember his "suicide attempt" off the 'Tron?

YEP AND with Jake the Snake in his feud with Lawler.

And Hall is the fucking man. He'd just take the mic and wouldn't even say a word and the fans would go nuts

The One
07-22-2005, 08:32 PM
This has nothing to do with anything, but does anyone remember when Dustin Rhodes became a good Christian because he made that cross over in real life...yeah that sucked.

Mr. Nerfect
07-22-2005, 08:38 PM
The idea's definately a good one, and would come off really well if they played it right. When reading that, I thought of Shelton Benjamin for some reason. He might have too much upwards momentum, though.

Anyway, if you did use Benjamin, you could have him keep stumbling on the ropes, and eventually hurt himself badly (storyline-wise), which forces him to miss a title match against Carlito. Benjamin wants another match, but Carlito being the shit-stirrer he is says Shelton's already had his shot. Bischoff comes out and says Shelton does have a match, so we get Carlito vs. Shelton V or VI, or whatever. The match is looking in Carlito's favour, but Shelton battles back. He eventually goes for his suicide dive move, but misses completely, and Carlito just throws him back in the ring and rolls him up for the 1-2-3.

The next week, Shelton Benjamin is facing a jobber, whih is in all actuality a stuntmant, and as Benjamin is going to finish him off with the Exploder Powerslam, he stuffs it up, and the jobber lands awkwardly. The referee calls off the match, and awards it to Shelton Benjamin, who goes to the back upset that he's hurt someone. There he is confronted by Stone Cold Steve Austin, who tears into Shelton asking him what's wrong. Benjamin just tells Austin to "fuck off", which pisses off Austin to the point he slaps Benjamin and reminds him that it was Stone Cold Steve Austin that helped Shelton get accepted on RAW. Shelton just walks off and Austin calls him a "little bitch". Benjamin snaps and assaults Austin, which leads to him getting suspended for two weeks.

In that time he goes down to OVW and works some matches there where he continues his slump, helping some talent down there to get over. They can even show these matches on WWE.com or Sunday Night Heat.

Have him return against Val Venis, and have him lose cleanly. Benjamin then walks out of the ring, but when he gets to the back you have Eric Bischoff there with some road agents, having found some drugs or something in Shelton Benjamin's bags. Eric Bischoff fires Shelton on the spot, which Shelton doesn't seem to accept, and we see Shelton the most let down we've ever seen him.

A few weeks after this Kurt Angle is having a Kurt Angle Invitational. Matt Striker coems out to answer the call again, but a masked guy in full-body attire comes out and assaults Striker. Angle thanks this guy, and asks him his name, and where he is from. The masked guy just attacks Angle and lasts the whole time with him in the ring. The masked man now has Angle's medals, and is retreating up the ramp. Angle grabs a microphone pissed off and asks the man to take off his mask. The man obliges and we see it is Shelton Benjamin. Over the next few weeks, Angle talks about how he's lost to drug addict, and he doesn't quite live it down. Benjamin uses the medals to get back in the WWE, and we have Angle vs. Benjamin at a PPV, where Benjamin gets the clean win and goes on the rise, again.

Personally, I think this angle would have been great for Charlie Haas. Haas is a great wrestler that is constantly held down, seen as the lesser of his tag team, and is stuck being second to Hardcore Holly. He's never had his shot, and he's failing to really live his brother's dream. Hopefully Haas gets another shot in the WWE.

Paul London and Val Venis could benefit from this, too. Hell, even give it to Scotty 2 Hotty, Funaki or Nunzio to develope them further.

Personally, being a Venis mark, I'd love to see them do something with the guy. Have him lose a match to Carlito or something, and have Jonathan Coachman remind us that Val Venis is really talented, but he never gets the job done (pretty much what he does when Venis is wrestling, anyway). After the loss, Venis is visibily upset that he lost one of his few matches on RAW, and he walks off to the back where he is greated by Bischoff.

Eric addresses Venis as Morely, and instantly Val knows something is wrong. Eric says that they've had their clashes in the past, but when Eric fired Sean as Chief of Staff, Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff decided you are too talented to let go, and the fans love your Val Venis character. The fans mark out for you, and that's why we kept you, to give the fans Val Venis. Eric then says that he's discovered Venis is on drugs, or he's becomming too much like the Val Venis character, and he's giving into his vices. Venis then snaps and says he's only giving into them because Eric Bischoff doesn't give him a chance. Eric then simply tells Sean to go home.

That's not the last we see of Sean Morely, though, as he returns to beat-down Edge, screaming "You cheated on my sister!". Of course no one actually knows if Edge did, but just for storytelling purposes. Morely answers the Angle Invitational, wins, but has the medals taken off him by the security guards when he reveals who he is, adding more of a scripted feeling to the Angle Invitational. We just see Morely do crazy stuff like that, with Bischoff trying to control him and get him to take some time off to refocus himself and his roll in the company.

I dunno. I just really want to see Venis get a shot. :-\

TerranRich
07-23-2005, 02:32 AM
See, those ideas are great, Alienoid, but I am of the belief that you can't just come right out and say "he's on drus! look!". I prefer the subtle, more tactful way of "personal demons", the vague term used to describe alcohol abuse, mental issues, or drug issues, one of them or all of them. This could be a chance for the WWE to do a storyline tastefully for once, just to see how it goes over. Personally, I think it'd definitely be over with the fans, if WWE pulled it off right. But I mean, I guess since WWE plays to the lowest denominator, then there could be a backstage altercation where Bischoff or even McMahon finds "incriminating contents" in his gym bag or something, or even just an announcement that he was released because he was discovered to be using drugs.

I don't know, I prefer the "personal demons" route where it's not precisely said. I mean, yeah, we can sit here and say that Eddie Guerrero was on drugs and beat his addiction, or painkillers or whatever (and painkillers I think would make more sense for a storyline), but it's more respectful and tactful to use the term "personal demons".

TerranRich
07-23-2005, 02:35 AM
PS: I also agree with the use of Val Venis for this role. He isn't doing much, and it would be a way for WWE to have Sean Morley break out of his Val Venis character for a short time. Then when he makes his grand, redeeming return, come back with the Val Venis gimmick and a renewed self-confidence and outlook on life. I mean, the fans already know that Val Venis didn't really get his start making adult films, that it's just a character he plays.

The thing with having a character break out of character is that it treads too closely to what Russo did in WCW. He had breaks of character and storylines based around things that supposedly happened "outside of the script".

The only thing that would be different than all other angles is the fact that WWE could use the Internet, like they seem to be doing recently, to announce his release and make it seem as legitimate as possible.

Mr. Nerfect
07-23-2005, 04:53 AM
I agree 100%. Have the wrestler say he'll start looknig for indy dates when his 90 days have expired. Maybe even have Venis (if you do use him for the role) tease going back to racing (I think he raced before wrestling). Anyway, you have him taken off the superstars page, and have a generic "We wish Val the best in his future endeavours." comment, and boom, you're ready for the comeback.

TerranRich
07-23-2005, 05:23 PM
That's a nice touch, Alienoid. But I believe it was Holly that raced before wrestling (in the storylines AND in real life as well). I never heard anything about Morley doing the same.