Let's face it: WWE product is horrific. If you thought back in the day it was really cheesy when it was the WWF, cheesy would not begin to define the product of today.
It's scripted entertainment. And like any scripted entertainment, if it's of high quality, you can forget about the fact that it's scripted, you can forget about some of the implausible aspects of the angles (or storylines for those that are not familiar with professional wrestling jargon), and just enjoy it. That's what made the Attitude Era and the couple of years after it so memorable -- not necessarily the content of the angles as so many fans claim, but because the episodes and the angles were well written.
The most successful years in WWE history were from 1999-2001, the peak of the Attitude Era, where nearly 15 million people would view WWF Raw and WWF Smackdown to watch stars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, and Mick Foley, amongst others. Edgy, well-written, cohesive angles along with seasoned performers provided for an action-packed, dramatic, humorous, and entertaining two hours every Monday and Thursday night that would leave fans buzzing the next day either at school or at work
The key to any story arc -- whether it's professional wrestling or a sitcom or even a movie franchise -- is continuity. A corollary to that is confidence in the story arc to continue on it, following the five parts to the story -- exposition, rising action, climax, denouement (falling action), and finally the resolution. For professional wrestling, every angle needs every element in that order for it to be successful. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Before I continue, I'll use an example with probably the most memorable feud of 2001 -- the angle of The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin leading into the most popular Wrestlemania of all time, Wrestlemania X-Seven (17), which was held here in Houston in April 2001.
- Steve Austin won the Royal Rumble, which put him into the WWF title match at Wrestlemania X-Seven (exposition). The angle became about Steve Austin's quest to regain the WWF title. The Rock would win the WWF title from Kurt Angle at No Way Out, setting up the Wrestlemania title match -- The Rock vs. Stone Cold, whom would headline Wrestlemania for the second time in three years.
- The fact that it was The Rock and Steve Austin added intrigue to the story because of their intense rivalry that has existed between the two ever since late 1997. The rising action during the time would be how the conflict became more and more intense, as Austin showed his desperation to regain the title.
- The climax was the match itself, held at Wrestlemania. In one of the most memorable matches put on by both performers, the story of the match was Austin, no matter what he did, could not put away The Rock. The twist, or really what was supposed to be the heel turn (for those that are familiar with that, when a face, or good guy, becomes a villain), was when WWF chairman Vince McMahon interfered in the no disqualification match on Austin's behalf and assisted Austin in winning the WWF title from The Rock.
- The falling action took place the following night on Raw: The Rock demanded and was given a rematch for the WWF title, that was held in a cage. The Rock was in the cusp of winning until Triple H interfered, leading to a brutal and bloody beat down on the Rock at the hands of Triple H and Austin. This was done to write The Rock off television as he would take time off to go film The Mummy Returns.
- The conclusion was held on Smackdown as Vince McMahon would do an indefinite (scripted) suspension of The Rock as a result of the events on Monday. This concluded the angle between The Rock and Steve Austin
At the time, the head writer was Stephanie McMahon, Vince McMahon's daughter, and it was during that time some fans grumbled about how the continuity of the angles was beginning to suffer, especially in comparison to the quality of the previous year. The year 2000 was so successful because of the late Chris Kreski, who spent most of 2000 as the head writer of the WWF. Kreski would be at the helm for some of the most critically acclaimed mainstream feuds of the year -- Mick Foley and Triple H, The Rock and Triple H, The Rock and Chris Benoit, and Steve Austin and Kurt Angle. The draw of the angles, along with the draw of the performers such as The Rock and Steve Austin, gave the WWF the most mainstream exposure and acceptance since Hulk Hogan did so in the 1980s.
The reason why the angles worked so well was because of the continuity. The storytelling abilities of the performers only made it better. The episodic show format was in full stream with dramatic, promo-oriented segments that would set the tone of the show, always leading to an exciting, pulsating, over-the-top finish. Everything about every show served the angle; every promo that was cut by the performer; every action that was taken in the ring. It was all about advancing the angle and making it as entertaining and captivating as possible. The real secret, however, as to what really made the Kreski-era as head writer successful was his use of storyboards.
For whatever reason, wrestling insiders criticized Kreski for using storyboards. Yet, despite the cold reception, the storyboards worked. Raw was regularly scoring 6.5 to 7.5 ratings. Smackdown was doing a healthy 4.5 to 5.0. Fan interest was maintained and pay-per-views were meaningful. How do you sell pay-per-views? Especially with a monthly pay-per-view system? To build up a conflict so much, to get people so emotionally involved in it, that people would pay their hard earned money to see it resolved.
If you notice in the past few years, few angles have actually followed that format, and it has been at its worst for the past three to four years. The WWE's last well written angle was way back in 2005 during the Dave Batista / Triple H feud. Observe:
- Disharmony between Dave Batista and Triple H (exposition)
- At a contract signing, Ric Flair and Triple H try to get Dave Batista to go to Smackdown so that Triple H would not have to defend his World Heavyweight Championship; Batista completes the face turn by attacking both Triple H and Flair and going on to face Triple H at Wrestlemania (rising action).
- Batista defeats Triple H in a back-and-forth match at Wrestlemania (climax).
- Batista defends the title against Triple H at Backlash; Batista would come out victorious, but Triple H attacked him with a sledgehammer the following night (falling action / denouement)
- Batista defends the title once again against Triple H, this time in a Hell in a Cell match at Vengeance, coming out victorious and effectively concluding the feud (conclusion).
Note, the contract signing episode for that Raw was the last time Raw garnered a 5.0 rating. At the time, Batista was a stellar performer (despite him being somewhat mediocre in his promos) and he had a relatively fresh character, so it was easy for fans to buy into the well written angle. The Backlash and Vengeance, which at the time were pay per views featuring only performers from WWE Raw, actually did fair numbers, considering both pay per views only featured 6 matches.
There were three angles that concluded in the past two months without any real resolution: the anti-authority CM Punk angle, the Cena-Del Rio feud, and the labor dispute angle. The CM Punk angle came to a close when the WWE had to throw Money in the Bank (and Royal Rumble) winner Alberto Del Rio into the title picture so that Del Rio could be the WWE Champion heading into their upcoming tour of Mexico. The strange thing is that the angle came to a close when the angle was actually at its climax, in the wake of very well performed matches with John Cena. The Cena-Del Rio feud never took off because it never got any foundation for a build up. The labor dispute came to a close this past Monday night when Vince McMahon made a surprise return and put John Laurinitis into the authority figure role. While obviously this was done to set the stage for Survivor Series and the return of The Rock, it serves as examples of how two promising angles (the Cena-Del Rio feud was a mere consequence of the Punk feud coming to an end) were stopped before they went anywhere.
There's a reason why the WWE can no longer hold its weight on Monday nights, even with Monday Night Football. It's not about how the characters develop or what direction this or that performer is going in. All of that is secondary as to how the angles are written. If the angles aren't written properly, then it provides for an undesirable show, both for the audience watching at home and the crowd in attendance. Maybe it would be a good idea for the WWE to start using storyboards again -- they need it. Well, at least that, and not have such a knee-jerk reaction to when angles don't work. While that's a reality because the WWE is a publicly traded company, the WWE shouldn't stray too far from a formula that actually brought the success that was the reason why the WWE went public in the first place.
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