FXTVE-Rebooted

WWE #REBOOTED Section01- A Super New Monday Night

Welcome back Wrestling Fans to Laced Up & Rebooted. After a short Summer break from Rebooting, I thought it was about time to take on the big guns of Wrestling, with the mighty Machine that is the WWE.

We Talk Wrestling

So after the previous #Rebooted Sections of TNA, I was determined to find an angle on how I could reshape the well established universe of the WWE (no easy task) and the way it was presented. At this point I just so happened to stumble across the superb Podcasts of WeTalkWrestling.com, presented by the talented and very entertaining Mo and Addie.

In a podcast, recorded back on May 28th, Mo & Addie discuss the idea of replacing RAW with a whole new Show, and go into detail on the workings and reasons for a new approach.

So before I go into it, here’s a link to that particular show; Check it out HERE .You can find the New RAW discussion at around 1hr 46mins into the podcast. And if you like that show you can find many more gems on their other WeTalkPodcasts. My Fave Podcasts out there!

A New WWE Monday Night Show

Here are the pointers discussed by Mo & Addie for a New MondayNight Show;

1.       To kickstart the interest and Freshen up the Product

2.       Draw Bigger Ratings than Raw is right now.

3.       Give a fresh approach to the Booking, Filming, Graphics and overall Look and Feel.  

4.       More of a Sports-Type of Show

5.       An NFL Football-style Desk and Commentary

6.       NFL-style Analysis, Hype and Build to matches (Training/Promos/Interviews/Vids)

7.       Ranking System for different Categories

8.       Fewer Matches- But with advance Build, Hype and Structure

I think this covers the main points, but please give the Show a listen if you can. So to give credit to Mo & Addie (& thanks for their support in this), here is my interpretation of their ideas (with a touch of the #Rebooted in for good measure) for a New WWE Monday Night Show, with Comment inserts from Mo Kristiansen along the way. Enjoy!

1.1 Logos

So the first task for me in this whole exercise was to come up with the Name for the show. After looking over the RAW logos it quickly hit me- The obvious title was staring at me from the recent title editions with the inclusion of the words Super-show. SUPERSHOW! So with that it all fell into place with the full title of, WWE Monday Night SUPERSHOW. Simples!

I also felt, (and with the intentions of integrating the WWE logo into the Supershow logo) that I needed to start with the initial WWE logo, or just the W as it is presented.

Taking some pointers from the old 80’s WWF logo, I’ve given my new ‘W’ a semi-retro feel, a sporty colour scheme (to go with the Supershow theme) while hopefully adding a more modern graphical style.

So in this presentation, I’ve made one theme for the WWE pre-show intro (in blue) and one for the main Supershow (red, white & blue). The Intro examples below go on the idea of bringing the product back to life and kickstarting the whole look and feel .Here’s how it goes:

The two contrasting colour schemes will come into play throughout the show, with the blue tech-like graphics for caption Displays and commentary Stats and the red, white & blue giving a sporty theme for the Main Arena Show.

For the Cover Poster or DVD, I wanted to give it the whole feel of bringing everything in the mighty WWE Universe together, combined into 1 show and all under one roof. This gives it the big sell of all the elements working together, rather than just 1 show of many. So here is The BIGGEST SHOW, The MAIN SHOW, where everything else revolves around…The Universe Will Be Watching:

The 3 colour schemes of the Title, Red White & Blue, signify the 3 elements or ‘type’ of Stars coming together in one (Red for RAW Stars, White for Management & Blue for Smackdown Stars).

Mo – This is a brilliant start to what the WWE product needs, and has a kinetic energy that only FreaXTVChannelE can bring. One look at this will tell fans it’s new and exciting, but also a top notch high end presentation like they’ve never seen before.

1.2 The Show Mechanics

As you can see at the bottom of the main poster, the Commentary Team would be sat behind a Sports or NFL-style desk in a backstage Studio setup rather than at ringside, though this setup is built into the Entrance Ramp to the right of the stage, giving a view of the ring and the crowd (as illustrated in the Arena shots further on in this section).

The blue Techie Graphics are the theme for the Commentary segments, with Head-up-displays of Stats and Names, showing all the vital information to illustrate and accompany the discussions and interviews.

And to give this a reliable team (IMO) the main host and interviewer here would be Josh Mathews, with Michael Cole and Jim Ross as opinionists and match commentators: 

The Supershow Stats section here, hosted by Josh Mathews, would show a structured analysis of the Wrestlers and Matchups, with the Wrestlers presented on Tradingcard-style graphics, showing Rankings and Stats.

Mo – One of the things that bothers me about the current WWE presentation is the sameness of it all for so long. If you look at RAW when it debuted in 1993 it had a strikingly different look than Prime Time Wrestling that it replaced. Similarly by 1999 it had a completely different look than in 1993.

But if you watch RAW from 1999 to now it has almost the exact same look, and that’s a big part of my problem.

One change from FreaXTV I would make though, I would still have the NFL-style desk in a backstage Studio set up near the ramp but would reserve that only for Josh Mathews and the analysis team, and have a traditional ringside commentary team. Since we’re basing this on an NFL style model Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long provide before and half time analysis of games and Joe Buck & Troy Aikman call the actual play, so I’d personally go in that direction.

1.3 SuperShow Stats

To make this Section work, there would have to be a real change of style within the whole WWE setup, from the random approach of crow-barred Storylines and thrown-together Feuds, to a more structured and realistic ranking system and rival setup. This would of course mean some consistency from the writing team and thorough booking, but I’m sure if the fans are able to keep score (as it seems on the internet) then the writers really should.

So with a Trading Card theme for the Wrestlers, with flip reverse Card Stats (as illustrated below), here’s a look at how the Rankings and Matchup settings would be presented:

The Stats Screen would also work as a Wrestling File to accompany each Star, with Interview Videos, Comments, History footage and Training montages, all working to promote and setup the Feuds and Matches (Plus these segments would be used to gain promotion for House-show and PPV matches, days or weeks in advance).

Mo- The many uses to implement what FreaXTV is suggesting here is really exciting. Not only does it freshen up the TV presentation for the product, but it can be linked to the website and a smartphone app amongst other uses, giving fans a way to interact with the product a hell of a lot more than with lame Twitter or stupid Tout being shoved down our throats constantly (maybe I can can give FreaXTV some ideas to update WWE and TNA’s boring websites while we’re at it)

Also this would put weight on matches, wins, losses, titles and feuds. Instead of having Damien Sandow attack Brodus Clay and injure his knee just to not have it brought up on TV until the moment the match suddenly happens and Brodus Claywalks out to the arena two weeks later surprisingly (gasp!) not selling his knee at all it would get analysis from the team, a recap video, a hype video and promos from the guys before finally happening a few weeks later, and maybe someone would care.

1.4 The SuperShow Arena

So with all the ground work laid out for the Graphic styles and Background mechanics, it’s time to get on with the Main Show.

Using the main Supershow Colour scheme, the Arena would be given a total Red, White & Blue makeover to give it that Sports-style theme.

The Stage layout is similar to the RAW setup, just with the Commentary post set to stage right.

So let’s take it away, set off the Pyros and bring in the Management:

And to take it to another angle, with the Ring and overhead Light riggings, here’s another view of the Arena:

Here’s a basic, clearer view of the Ring, with the new Logos and colour schemes:

Mo- One thing WWE does currently have is a nice stage design for RAW. Smackdown is a little more stale, but at least they got rid of that dumb giant fist smashing through the stage they used to have.

What FreaXTV gives us here is a fairly classic design that still leaves room for the high spots outside the ring and a new coat of paint colour wise with a more slightly modern awe inspiring design.

Plus super patriotic Vince McMahon I can’t picture having any objections to the Red, White and Blue look he presents.

1.5 SuperShow Merchandise

As a bonus part to this Section, and as I had a lot of artwork spilling over that I wanted to add, here’s a blast of the new Supershow Merchandise. 

And to fit with all the themes and special features, here’s a taste of what the online WWE Store would look like, with brand new T-shirts and Trading Cards. Enjoy!

And these shirts Glow in the Dark- Just Imagine That!!!

The Trading cards are divided into 2 views showing the reverse flipsides, giving all the relevant Stats on each Superstar, making for a card collecting game- Gotta Catch Em All:

Mo- I want one of those shirts. Great merchandise like this means money WWE, and either you or TNA should hire FreaXTVChannelE to put his talents to use and increase your bank!

And that concludes this WWE SUPERSHOW WeTalkWrestling/Reboot.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the Show and would be happy to hear your Comments, Views & Suggestions below at WeTalkWrestling or on my Rebooted blog at FXTVE-Rebooted. You can also contact me directly on Twitter @FreaXTVchannelE or email freaxtvchannele@hotmail.co.uk with any suggestions or ideas. And if your name happens to end in McMahon, I’m always open to offers ;)

So with Thanks to Mo (mo@wetalkpodcasts.com) and Addie (addie@wetalkwrestling.com) for their Ideas, Input & Support in this Section, it’s TA TA from me FreaxTVchannelE and it’s on to hatch some more #Rebooted plans for Total Entertainment Takeover (a Comic Invasion Cometh me thinks).

Cheers!