Heyman
12-09-2004, 03:47 AM
DISCUSSION - Is "The Corporation" concept a 100% guarantee ratings getter?
I'm kinda running out of topics to "discuss" (mainly due to me having a new job, etc.), but I thought I'd shit this one out for you guys. :).
Take a look at the past:
WWF:
1998-mid 1999: You had the Corporation:
mid 1999-Fully Loaded 1999: Corporate Ministry
End 1999 - Mid 2000: DX/McMahon-Helmsley Faction.
WCW:
The n.W.o.
What the n.W.o, Corporation, Corporate Ministry, and McMahon-Helmsely faction had in common, was that it cleverly tied in the main-event storyline with other storylines.
For example - In 1999, the fans CARED about a "Test vs. Road Dogg" match, because Test was linked with Vince's corporation...........while a guy like Road Dogg was linked with DX.
Basically - I would argue that these types of stables ALWAYS give the show a certain "focus".........around which all or most storylines are built around. The "focus" of course, would be the main-event storyline (:::insert top face here vs. leader of badass heel stable here:::::).
The WWE used this concept from 1998-2000.............a time period in which ratings were at its highest.
However - unlike WCW's "n.W.o.", the WWE did a great job of changing their "heel stable cast".
At first, we saw Mankind, Patterson, Brisco, and Slaughter........which then evolved into The Rock, Bossman, Shamrock, Test, Shane McMahon, Brisco, Patterson, and Slaughter. Big Show was then added to the mix.
:::::Between WM-15 and when Vince revealed himself as the "higher power", the WWE did a great job in "changing the guard" so to speak::::::
Eventually - Test, Kane, Big Show, Shamrock, Patterson, and Brisco were dropped, while Steve Blackman, Bossman, Triple H, Chyna, Viscera, Undertaker, Mideon, and the Acolytes were added (to form the Corporate Ministry).
:::::After Fully Loaded 98', the Corporate Ministry split up..........and a new heel stable would emerge::::::
As some of us can remember, Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon (far and away the two biggest heels for the past few years), put 'over' Triple H and Stephanie.
This ultimately lead to Triple H and Stephanie creating the McMahon Helmsley Faction (which at one point, consisted of DX[minus Billy], The McMahons [minus Linda], and Tori).
So basically
1) We saw a whole bunch of different people be associated (in one form or another) with the top heel(s) in the company.
2) These "top heels" (and the members being associated with "the top heel") were different as time went on. At the same time, the top "faces" opposing the "large bad guy stable", also evolved. DX, Austin, Mick Foley, The Rock, Undertaker, Kane, etc. all took turns in being the "focal point" of the Heel stable.
3) Because there were "breaks" in between each "corporate" angle (i.e. After Wrestlemania 15, there was a 'transition' period between the Corporation and Corporate Ministry, while after Fully Loaded 99'...there was a 'transition' period between the Corporation and McMahon-Helmsley Faction), the CONCEPT of the "dominant heel stable" idea NEVER grew old........and ratings always stayed high as a result.
Perhaps one could argue that this was a strong reason why the Corporation, Corporate Ministry, and McMahon-Helmsley factions were all successful.........while the n.W.o. and "alliance" angles ultimately ran dry.
In the n.W.o's case, we never really saw a "changing of the guard". WCW chickened out. When Nash broke away from Hogan, he ultimately joined back if I'm not mistaken.
If the WCW had simply ended the n.W.o after Goldberg defeated Hogan (while turning Hogan face, and creating a NEW heel stable a little while after that........after a "transition" period of sorts), then I would argue that the ratings in WCW wouldn't have died down so DRASTICALLY.
As far as the "alliance" angle is concerned, I would argue that it wasn't THAT bad.
-Austin made Benoit and Angle into STRONG faces (when they were being booked right).
-The constant controversy over who would "jump ship" etc., was a ratings getter.
In the case of the alliance, I think the biggest problem that the WWE made, was making Austin heel.
GRANTED - Austin was a TERRIFIC heel (IMO), but the fans simply did NOT want to 'boo' him.
In other words - the THEORY of the "Invasion" angle was a tremendous idea......one with lots of potential. Due to horrible booking however, things did not 'pan' out as planned.
If the WWE had brought in a guy like...........Goldberg (at the time) for instance.....and had him LEAD the alliance (I would argue that despite Goldberg being so popular, the partisan WWE crowd would have boo'd him big time if he fought the likes of Austin, The Rock, etc.), then things may have been different.
The Point I'm trying to make in this Long fucking Post:
The "concept" of the Corporation (or a "dominant" heel stable) when booked right, has NEVER been a failure........and has almost ALWAYS drawn in big ratings. Furthermore, interest and ratings stay constant when we see a "revolving door" in regards to who the top heel(s) and face(s) are (with a brief "transition" period of course).
In applying it to today's Wrestling Worlds of Raw and/or Smackdown:
-Surprisingly, I would argue that The Coach could potentially be the biggest heel on RAW right now. Seriously. I honestly believe that he's a guy that the fans REALLY love to hate (or just genuinely hate).
Guys like Triple H, Bischoff, etc. have arguably been around for way too long, to garner EXCEPTIONAL heel heat.
In the not-so-distant future, I wouldn't mind seeing The Coach somehow take over as GM of RAW (getting rid of a "face" Bischoff in the process).
The Coach could then start his own version of the Corporation (not called "Corporation", but the same concept). For instance......what if he had a stable like this:
February circa 2005: Coach's stable:
-Triple H
-Edge
-Maven
-La Resistance
-Gene Snitsky
-Christian
-Tyson Tomko
Again - this is just an EXAMPLE.
What THIS would do, is tie the ENTIRE show of RAW, into one main focus.
-Triple H and Edge would be your main-eventers
-Snitksy and Tomko could be the stables' bodyguards.
-La Resistance = tag team champs
-Christian can be IC champ
-Maven can work with lower card wrestlers.
After Wrestlemania (once Triple H jobs?) - Edge can tell Coach how Triple H "let the team down" (up until this point....there's major tension between Edge and Triple H..........just like we saw with Triple H and Undertaker during the days of the Corporate Ministry).
-Triple H gets booted.............and eventually turns face.
-Edge eventually becomes Coach's heel champion.
-Everyone else within the stable gets elevated
-A low card face (i.e. The Hurricane), turns heel and joins up with Coach's stable.
Perhaps something similar can happen on Smackdown as well (if it doesn't happen on RAW).
-Heyman successfully overthrows Theodore Long as GM.
-Heyman creates his own stable.
-A current popular face on Smackdown (i.e. Cena, Guerrero, or RVD) make a "shocking" turn and becomes Heyman's centerpiece.
-Guys like Reins, Jindrak, Orland Jordan, Billy Kidman, Heidenreich, and Charlie Hass are added to the mix.
-The show revolves around the top faces Angle (I'd turn him face again), Cena or Guerrero (one of them turn), and Undertaker going after Heyman's stable.
Forumlaic plot? Yes. Somewhat "re-hashed" concept? Yes. Has it been proved that it DOESN"T work at times? When booked right......no.....I'd argue that it has NOT.
Wow. What a long post. :| I thank all of you for taking time to read ALL of this. :D
I'm kinda running out of topics to "discuss" (mainly due to me having a new job, etc.), but I thought I'd shit this one out for you guys. :).
Take a look at the past:
WWF:
1998-mid 1999: You had the Corporation:
mid 1999-Fully Loaded 1999: Corporate Ministry
End 1999 - Mid 2000: DX/McMahon-Helmsley Faction.
WCW:
The n.W.o.
What the n.W.o, Corporation, Corporate Ministry, and McMahon-Helmsely faction had in common, was that it cleverly tied in the main-event storyline with other storylines.
For example - In 1999, the fans CARED about a "Test vs. Road Dogg" match, because Test was linked with Vince's corporation...........while a guy like Road Dogg was linked with DX.
Basically - I would argue that these types of stables ALWAYS give the show a certain "focus".........around which all or most storylines are built around. The "focus" of course, would be the main-event storyline (:::insert top face here vs. leader of badass heel stable here:::::).
The WWE used this concept from 1998-2000.............a time period in which ratings were at its highest.
However - unlike WCW's "n.W.o.", the WWE did a great job of changing their "heel stable cast".
At first, we saw Mankind, Patterson, Brisco, and Slaughter........which then evolved into The Rock, Bossman, Shamrock, Test, Shane McMahon, Brisco, Patterson, and Slaughter. Big Show was then added to the mix.
:::::Between WM-15 and when Vince revealed himself as the "higher power", the WWE did a great job in "changing the guard" so to speak::::::
Eventually - Test, Kane, Big Show, Shamrock, Patterson, and Brisco were dropped, while Steve Blackman, Bossman, Triple H, Chyna, Viscera, Undertaker, Mideon, and the Acolytes were added (to form the Corporate Ministry).
:::::After Fully Loaded 98', the Corporate Ministry split up..........and a new heel stable would emerge::::::
As some of us can remember, Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon (far and away the two biggest heels for the past few years), put 'over' Triple H and Stephanie.
This ultimately lead to Triple H and Stephanie creating the McMahon Helmsley Faction (which at one point, consisted of DX[minus Billy], The McMahons [minus Linda], and Tori).
So basically
1) We saw a whole bunch of different people be associated (in one form or another) with the top heel(s) in the company.
2) These "top heels" (and the members being associated with "the top heel") were different as time went on. At the same time, the top "faces" opposing the "large bad guy stable", also evolved. DX, Austin, Mick Foley, The Rock, Undertaker, Kane, etc. all took turns in being the "focal point" of the Heel stable.
3) Because there were "breaks" in between each "corporate" angle (i.e. After Wrestlemania 15, there was a 'transition' period between the Corporation and Corporate Ministry, while after Fully Loaded 99'...there was a 'transition' period between the Corporation and McMahon-Helmsley Faction), the CONCEPT of the "dominant heel stable" idea NEVER grew old........and ratings always stayed high as a result.
Perhaps one could argue that this was a strong reason why the Corporation, Corporate Ministry, and McMahon-Helmsley factions were all successful.........while the n.W.o. and "alliance" angles ultimately ran dry.
In the n.W.o's case, we never really saw a "changing of the guard". WCW chickened out. When Nash broke away from Hogan, he ultimately joined back if I'm not mistaken.
If the WCW had simply ended the n.W.o after Goldberg defeated Hogan (while turning Hogan face, and creating a NEW heel stable a little while after that........after a "transition" period of sorts), then I would argue that the ratings in WCW wouldn't have died down so DRASTICALLY.
As far as the "alliance" angle is concerned, I would argue that it wasn't THAT bad.
-Austin made Benoit and Angle into STRONG faces (when they were being booked right).
-The constant controversy over who would "jump ship" etc., was a ratings getter.
In the case of the alliance, I think the biggest problem that the WWE made, was making Austin heel.
GRANTED - Austin was a TERRIFIC heel (IMO), but the fans simply did NOT want to 'boo' him.
In other words - the THEORY of the "Invasion" angle was a tremendous idea......one with lots of potential. Due to horrible booking however, things did not 'pan' out as planned.
If the WWE had brought in a guy like...........Goldberg (at the time) for instance.....and had him LEAD the alliance (I would argue that despite Goldberg being so popular, the partisan WWE crowd would have boo'd him big time if he fought the likes of Austin, The Rock, etc.), then things may have been different.
The Point I'm trying to make in this Long fucking Post:
The "concept" of the Corporation (or a "dominant" heel stable) when booked right, has NEVER been a failure........and has almost ALWAYS drawn in big ratings. Furthermore, interest and ratings stay constant when we see a "revolving door" in regards to who the top heel(s) and face(s) are (with a brief "transition" period of course).
In applying it to today's Wrestling Worlds of Raw and/or Smackdown:
-Surprisingly, I would argue that The Coach could potentially be the biggest heel on RAW right now. Seriously. I honestly believe that he's a guy that the fans REALLY love to hate (or just genuinely hate).
Guys like Triple H, Bischoff, etc. have arguably been around for way too long, to garner EXCEPTIONAL heel heat.
In the not-so-distant future, I wouldn't mind seeing The Coach somehow take over as GM of RAW (getting rid of a "face" Bischoff in the process).
The Coach could then start his own version of the Corporation (not called "Corporation", but the same concept). For instance......what if he had a stable like this:
February circa 2005: Coach's stable:
-Triple H
-Edge
-Maven
-La Resistance
-Gene Snitsky
-Christian
-Tyson Tomko
Again - this is just an EXAMPLE.
What THIS would do, is tie the ENTIRE show of RAW, into one main focus.
-Triple H and Edge would be your main-eventers
-Snitksy and Tomko could be the stables' bodyguards.
-La Resistance = tag team champs
-Christian can be IC champ
-Maven can work with lower card wrestlers.
After Wrestlemania (once Triple H jobs?) - Edge can tell Coach how Triple H "let the team down" (up until this point....there's major tension between Edge and Triple H..........just like we saw with Triple H and Undertaker during the days of the Corporate Ministry).
-Triple H gets booted.............and eventually turns face.
-Edge eventually becomes Coach's heel champion.
-Everyone else within the stable gets elevated
-A low card face (i.e. The Hurricane), turns heel and joins up with Coach's stable.
Perhaps something similar can happen on Smackdown as well (if it doesn't happen on RAW).
-Heyman successfully overthrows Theodore Long as GM.
-Heyman creates his own stable.
-A current popular face on Smackdown (i.e. Cena, Guerrero, or RVD) make a "shocking" turn and becomes Heyman's centerpiece.
-Guys like Reins, Jindrak, Orland Jordan, Billy Kidman, Heidenreich, and Charlie Hass are added to the mix.
-The show revolves around the top faces Angle (I'd turn him face again), Cena or Guerrero (one of them turn), and Undertaker going after Heyman's stable.
Forumlaic plot? Yes. Somewhat "re-hashed" concept? Yes. Has it been proved that it DOESN"T work at times? When booked right......no.....I'd argue that it has NOT.
Wow. What a long post. :| I thank all of you for taking time to read ALL of this. :D