One of the biggest problems in the WWE today has been character development. Fans within the IWC (myself included) have been annoyed by what seems to be the "same old shtick". As a result, their storylines have suffered, mostly from the lack of quality and depth. However, I will give the WWE credit in one area. They seem to be putting in the time to create strong debuts for superstars. The Shield comes to mind, immediately. Many of us also think of The Wyatt Family and their sensational vignettes leading up to their debut. Although many fans are not high on Rusev, they allowed him to debut at The Royal Rumble, and he made a strong showing. From there, they allowed Lana to cut promos for over a month before Rusev made his singles debut. Fandango may have been a flop, and most of us could see from the beginning that his gimmick would only get him so far, but the WWE had us intrigued for awhile and stuck with him before ultimately souring. Ryback was extremely over, and I still believe to this day that his downward spiral was a result of the WWE backing themselves into a corner. Rather than continuing the slow burn, they decided to ride the wave of momentum and pit him against CM Punk. The obvious problem was that all signs pointed to The Rock vs. CM Punk for the WWE Championship at The Royal Rumble. There was no way they could stray from that matchup, not only because CM Punk was more of a household name than Ryback but also because The Rock (the face) needed to get his revenge on CM Punk (the heel). As a result, Ryback suffered. Now obviously, there have been flops in recent memory, as well, but the fact remains: The WWE has done a pretty damn good job with many superstar debuts over the past few years.
So where am I going with this? I'm glad you asked. Yesterday, I was scrolling through the top headlines on this site when I came across this: http://ift.tt/1wQHmZU. Now the article, itself, wasn't interesting. I don't watch NXT or any of the developmental programming. In fact, even though I have been a lifelong fan of the WWE, I only watch Raw (usually DVRed), occasionally Smackdown! (always DVRed), and the Pay-Per-Views. Anything outside of those three, I have absolutely no interest in. And to be honest, I've lost major interest in those three programs anyway. But what caught my attention about the article was the actual headline: "Report: WWE NXT Takeover Possibly Headed to WrestleMania 31, Details". I had misinterpreted the headline to mean that the WWE was kicking around the idea of having members of the NXT roster debut at Wrestlemania (as in, show up live during the actual event and "takeover" a segment). After reading the article; however, I got disappointed and lost interest quickly.
But it got me thinking, would you like to see a superstar or group of superstars debut at Wrestlemania in a surprising fashion? We've certainly had similar situations. The Shield debuted out of nowhere during the main event of Survivor Series in a Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship between CM Punk, John Cena, and Ryback. The Nexus shocked us all by taking over a Monday Night Raw. Fandango had his first official match at Wrestlemania against Chris Jericho. We all remember Kane's debut. And the list goes on and on. However, I do not recall a superstar or group of superstars making their debut(s) at Wrestlemania with no warning. It would certainly be fresh, but would you be interested in seeing it?
Now, this type of debut would be have to be saved for a superstar or group of superstars who the WWE feels can be a major player(s) for the company moving forward. I would not consider doing this for a superstar(s) with a mid-card ceiling or limited gimmick. I also believe the debut would be most effective if it were done similar to The Shield and Nexus, just on a larger stage (Wrestlemania).
If done correctly, I feel this could give the WWE a huge wave of momentum. From there, like always, their future would depend heavily on their booking, but the reason I think this could be a success is because of the Wrestlemania aspect. As we all know, Wrestlemania is on the grandest stage of them all. Diehards are not going to DVR Wrestlemania. They are going to watch it live so the surprise element could be spectacular if the WWE is able to keep it a secret. But I actually think there is something much bigger to gain: The Casual Fan. For the most part, casual fans occasionally watch Monday Night Raw, and I doubt they watch Smackdown! at all. When they do watch Raw, I'm guessing they do one of two things: (1) DVR it and skim through it later, (2) Tune in for a 5 minute chunk, turn the channel, and check back in every 30-40 minutes for another few minutes. Regardless, they are not watching the entire show, and unlike the hardcore fans, probably don't realize or care when the most important segments are going to take place. Most likely, they'll flip it on during a commercial break of whatever their watching and see if Raw keeps their attention. Considering the WWE seems to be concerned with only three segments: the first ten minutes, last ten minutes, and a ten minute segment somewhere around halftime of Monday Night Football, there is a good chance that the casual fan will tune in when nothing interesting is going on and immediately change the channel again. At least with Wrestlemania, they will be locked in for the entire show so there will be no chance of them missing the debut. And for the first time, the casual fan will be in the same position as the diehard fan. Both will know very little about the superstar debuting and can watch their rise together.
Now, of course, ALLLL of this is completely irrelevant if the booking is done poorly, and the WWE does not have a long-term plan in mind. But it's amazing how creative our minds can be and the things we can come up with by simply misinterpreting a headline. So the ultimate question: Would you like to see a superstar or group of superstars debut at Wrestlemania in a surprising fashion? And if so, how would you like him (them) to debut?
So where am I going with this? I'm glad you asked. Yesterday, I was scrolling through the top headlines on this site when I came across this: http://ift.tt/1wQHmZU. Now the article, itself, wasn't interesting. I don't watch NXT or any of the developmental programming. In fact, even though I have been a lifelong fan of the WWE, I only watch Raw (usually DVRed), occasionally Smackdown! (always DVRed), and the Pay-Per-Views. Anything outside of those three, I have absolutely no interest in. And to be honest, I've lost major interest in those three programs anyway. But what caught my attention about the article was the actual headline: "Report: WWE NXT Takeover Possibly Headed to WrestleMania 31, Details". I had misinterpreted the headline to mean that the WWE was kicking around the idea of having members of the NXT roster debut at Wrestlemania (as in, show up live during the actual event and "takeover" a segment). After reading the article; however, I got disappointed and lost interest quickly.
But it got me thinking, would you like to see a superstar or group of superstars debut at Wrestlemania in a surprising fashion? We've certainly had similar situations. The Shield debuted out of nowhere during the main event of Survivor Series in a Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship between CM Punk, John Cena, and Ryback. The Nexus shocked us all by taking over a Monday Night Raw. Fandango had his first official match at Wrestlemania against Chris Jericho. We all remember Kane's debut. And the list goes on and on. However, I do not recall a superstar or group of superstars making their debut(s) at Wrestlemania with no warning. It would certainly be fresh, but would you be interested in seeing it?
Now, this type of debut would be have to be saved for a superstar or group of superstars who the WWE feels can be a major player(s) for the company moving forward. I would not consider doing this for a superstar(s) with a mid-card ceiling or limited gimmick. I also believe the debut would be most effective if it were done similar to The Shield and Nexus, just on a larger stage (Wrestlemania).
If done correctly, I feel this could give the WWE a huge wave of momentum. From there, like always, their future would depend heavily on their booking, but the reason I think this could be a success is because of the Wrestlemania aspect. As we all know, Wrestlemania is on the grandest stage of them all. Diehards are not going to DVR Wrestlemania. They are going to watch it live so the surprise element could be spectacular if the WWE is able to keep it a secret. But I actually think there is something much bigger to gain: The Casual Fan. For the most part, casual fans occasionally watch Monday Night Raw, and I doubt they watch Smackdown! at all. When they do watch Raw, I'm guessing they do one of two things: (1) DVR it and skim through it later, (2) Tune in for a 5 minute chunk, turn the channel, and check back in every 30-40 minutes for another few minutes. Regardless, they are not watching the entire show, and unlike the hardcore fans, probably don't realize or care when the most important segments are going to take place. Most likely, they'll flip it on during a commercial break of whatever their watching and see if Raw keeps their attention. Considering the WWE seems to be concerned with only three segments: the first ten minutes, last ten minutes, and a ten minute segment somewhere around halftime of Monday Night Football, there is a good chance that the casual fan will tune in when nothing interesting is going on and immediately change the channel again. At least with Wrestlemania, they will be locked in for the entire show so there will be no chance of them missing the debut. And for the first time, the casual fan will be in the same position as the diehard fan. Both will know very little about the superstar debuting and can watch their rise together.
Now, of course, ALLLL of this is completely irrelevant if the booking is done poorly, and the WWE does not have a long-term plan in mind. But it's amazing how creative our minds can be and the things we can come up with by simply misinterpreting a headline. So the ultimate question: Would you like to see a superstar or group of superstars debut at Wrestlemania in a surprising fashion? And if so, how would you like him (them) to debut?
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