My Take On 2.16.10: Against All Odds, NXT Is Next, Survivor Series Is Dead

SURVIVOR SERIES IS DEAD!

The big news coming out of the latest WWE Investor’s phone call was that Vince McMahon has killed of another part of wrestling history. Vince put the nail in the coffin and proclaimed that the WWE Survivor Series, the second longest running WWE PPV, is done. McMahon’s statement was as follows…

“We think that Survivor Series is obsolete, as far as that title is concerned. It was something that worked many, many years ago, in terms of a creative standpoint, various teams competing. That really is not advantageous as the consumer now looks as what actually they are buying. And it’s such a broad … Survivor Series yes, many years ago, was one of the original four pay-per-views, but it’s outlasted its usage and it is one of the things in terms of rebranding, this year and going forward, that will be rebranded. No longer will we have that title, Survivor Series.”

Now the reality of this is that in many ways, the Survivor Series has been gone and dead for years. It started as teams of five strive to survive, and then turned into making teams of four is proving to be a chore. The main concept of the PPV was mainly abandoned, but the WWE had managed over the years to make the Survivor Series a brand name, like WrestleMania and the Royal Rumble. It was a show that would generally sell itself without the team concept that made it popular all those years ago. This year was not one of those years, as the show dropped nearly 85,000 buys from the year before to under 300,000 buys; not what the company wants from a big four PPV.

While I understand what they are doing, I do not think that blaming the concept and calling it dated or obsolete is the issue. Perhaps it was not making the show feel special. Perhaps it was that people didn’t care about big tag matches since they did a big tag match main event at Bragging Rights. Maybe it was the fact that there was only three weeks between the two PPVs, and not much time to build to things properly. Or perhaps no one wanted to see HHH vs. HBK vs. Cena. The angle leading into the match was all bullshit and giggles, and then you add into the fact that DX hasn’t been a real draw since they reformed, and no, popping one or two buy rates doesn’t make you a draw. Perhaps those are the real issues, and not the concept that has made you money for years.

In closing I want to address the people that are complaining about the possible replacement for the show. I keep reading “how dare WWE replace Survivor Series with a shitty gimmick PPV.” Newsflash kids, the Survivor Series WAS a gimmick PPV when it first started. Don’t get me wrong; I am with you on the overuse of the gimmick PPV. It cries out of lazy booking and ruins the gimmick matches that WERE at one time special. But get your facts straight before you complain.

ECW IS DEAD, WHAT’S NXT?

And speaking of losing another part of wrestling history, we all know by now that the latest version of ECW, “WW-ECW” as some like to call it is about to die as well. I am not going to get on a big nostalgia trip about the original ECW, but I will say that the original ECW has been and will be missed by many. When WWE brought it back, Shane McMahon was a big part of it. Shane felt that ECW, coming back with the support of WWE, could survive and thrive where the invasion failed. He wanted to be a mix of the old ECW guys, new talent, and guys WWE would consider casting off. He wanted it to be a rogue brand with little affiliation with the other shows. He wanted it to be different. But different is bad in WWE, and we ended with the brand eventually being watered down into a developmental show on SyFy. It wasn’t all-bad, I will not ay that at all, but it could have been more.

ECW is dead, long live WWE NXT. That’s the plan anyway. I am not going to slam the concept right off the bat. First of all, ECW wasn’t what ECW should have been, so you may as well get rid of it. Secondly, WWE Developmental is a pile of shit. I said the day that they closed Deep South that they would have issues, and when they decided to just go with FCW, I said that the system would NOT work the way should. And with OVW no longer a viable option due to WWE getting rid of them, FCW hasn’t done shit to develop NEW talent. The talent that is going through there, either with lots of experience or very little, get thrust onto WWE TV and most fail because we have no reason to care about them. But it seems as of the goal of NXT is to provide a safe environment where these guys can develop personalities and so that the “WWE Universe” can have a chance to develop an attachment with them before they go to a major show. Certainly not the worst idea I have heard. But what should they model the show after? How should they make a system where guys will work, be able to get people to care and then earn their way onto Raw or Smackdown? Surely they need something to fight for, something that shows that they have earned their way onto the bigger shows. The answer is simple…

WMAC MASTERS~!

That’s right, my guilty pleasure of 1996 could in some ways be a model for the WWE NXT show. For those that never saw this gem, it was actually a lot of fun. This was a scripted martial arts show, basically pro wrestling. You had a
champion, the holder of the Dragon Star. The Dragon Star was an eight-sided star, and the point stood for Discipline, Courage, Forgiveness, Compassion, Honor, Wisdom, Loyalty and Respect. Each fighter is on a journey to face the holder of the Dragon Star. Each man had a belt, and once they defeated a fighter in the final match on the show (in the Battledome), they get that fighter’s symbol and add it to their belt. Once the belt is full with 10-different symbols, they get to challenge for the Dragon Star. If they beat the Dragon Star Champion, they get the Dragon Star and Master Status, of they lose, they lose all symbols on the title and have to start over. During the show, you would often see the various fighters working out at the WMAC gym, their interaction away from fighting. They made an effort to create heels and faces during the two-seasons of the show, and it provided a nice break in the action. There were relationships, young up and comers, the old warhorse looking for one more chance, the full cast of characters.

It has been said that the series concept of NXT will be a “reality” based series featuring new talents who viewers will be able to follow both in and out of the ring, like a combination of WWE Tough Enough and the UFC’s Ultimate Fighter, with the talents feuding with each other to become the next big WWE star. They will also use current stars to speak with the guys, like mentors, and there will also be others creating obstacles for the new guys. By using some of the WMAC Masters concepts, you could keep the ECW Title (Dragon Star), and when a NXT competitor gains 5, 10, 15 or whatever points, he can challenge the ECW Champion. If the NXT competitor wins the ECW title, that will be his pass out of NXT and onto a show of his choice. Who says mid-90’s TV can’t teach you anything?