LOCKDOWN
What was missing, and this is no big secret, is a sense of direction.
Personally, I prefer the show as it is, on “autopilot” with simple,
almost ‘80’s style booking like the Storm/Rection feud centered on
the hot valet switching sides to dictate where the title goes, rather than the
frenetic goofiness that Russo originally brought. I don’t know if
he’s still booking or not, but this stuff, though quieter, is much better.
But it’s not enough. Just as Russo brought with him a less coherent
version of what the WWF had already moved away from when he arrived (thus
making WCW seem behind the curve when they used to be in front of it), last
night’s show also seemed like a “lite” version of the
WWF’s new toned down product.
Now, since I keep saying that they (WWF) are only scratching the surface of
what wrestling can look like if they keep pushing the creative envelope, and
since WCW needs a(nother) makeover, I’m going to put my money where my
mouth is this week and show you what I mean.
WCW does not need to spend more money, they don’t need to sign WWF stars
as they come available to appear “major league,” what they need is
to get a little creative and do something that the competition is NOT already
doing (or worse, already did two years ago). WCW can compete with the WWF, and
they can win. But they need to be creative to do it. They need their OWN new
Attitude, and their OWN new direction. Something different.
Here is just an example of one possible new direction for Nitro and Thunder. No
new stars (accept for a hire or two of non-wrestlers, as you’ll see), and
some minor set changes. With a little tweaking, it can feel like a totally new
show. Okay? From here on when I say “we,” I mean WCW if they were
implementing my pitch. Check it out…
WCW: LOCKDOWN
The Concept: No-frills competition in the ring where every pin-fall, every
submission, and every DQ, MATTERS. The existing fantasy world of pro-wrestling
will be taken to logical extremes and made to seem as “real” as
possible, thus creating a fantasy version of “Reality-based
television.” Like this…
All WCW Wrestlers will be asked to sign new contracts (fictional contracts) or
leave the company. They will be warned up front to read these contracts
carefully, because there is a substantial amount of physical risk to go along
with the chances for fame and financial gain. More on that later… The
basics of the “contracts” will serve to make the idea of
“competition” clear and meaningful. The driving force behind the
new show is, of course, ratings, so colorful characterizations (like Sting, or
Kwee Wee, or whoever), are certainly encouraged. But there will be differences
in the way things work. For one thing, win/loss records (on TV) will actually
mean something. No need to keep a tally of matches, but there will be a ranking
system (like a top ten for each division, with onscreen graphics). Rankings
will determine title shots. DQ’s count as a loss, titles WILL change
hands on a DQ, and referee’s decisions are final. This doesn’t mean
you can’t sneak in and waffle somebody with a chair - in fact that kind
of behavior is good for ratings, so it will be encouraged - but if you get
caught, you will lose, and thus fall in the rankings. Therefore, in the ring,
once the bell rings, the referee will wield more power.
TITLES: Whatever your contract is worth, say DDP pulls in $1,000,000 per year
– For every day you hold the World Title Belt, the per diem of your
contract will be DOUBLED (not really, just in storylines). For all other belts,
your per diem will be increased by 50%. This way, belts are absolutely worth
fighting over. In fact they are literally worth more than their weight in gold.
Suddenly, WCW sounds like a pretty good place to work, right? Just make sure
you read the new contract before you sign it…
The Unusual Stipulation: The “Lockdown Clause” - Any building, any
arena, where WCW is putting on a show, will be considered “Locked
Down” on the day of the show. Yes, like a prison. This means that for the
hours in which contracted WCW wrestlers are inside the building, they will have
waived many of the rights of decent society they had before stepping inside the
door. Essentially, what this boils down to is: the competition is not relegated
to the ring. There are rules in the ring, and those rules will be strictly
enforced. But backstage, anarchy rules. If you are attacked backstage and
injured, you will have no legal recourse against your attacker, or the company.
NOTE: Wrestlers enter the buildings each week through metal detectors –
no weapons (other than traditional folding chairs, pipe wrenches and whatever
is usually lying around the arenas) will be allowed in. Don’t expect
murders or anything like that - these “characters” will still be
loosely based on the real guy playing them (i.e. Steve Borden is a real person
who calls only calls himself “Sting” – he will not suddenly
become a homicidal maniac). The stories will therefore be closer to
“reality,” with a great opportunity to see how these men and women
will react (what kinds of moral decisions will they come to?) under extreme,
volatile, and potentially dangerous circumstances. It will still be a place for
Nitro Girls and hot valets; everybody just needs to be more careful… see
the next paragraph.
Of course, backstage attacks happened all the time before, but now they will
make sense. Now they are legal (secretly encouraged by evil management for the
sake of ratings), and officially part of the show. To further the sense of
reality, NEW ALLIANCES will be formed (over the course of time), not for
convenience, but out of sheer necessity. You simply will not be able to walk
around back stage without someone to watch your back.
Also written into the contract is a waiver, a la “Real World” or
“Survivor” that allows for everything and anything you do or say to
be shown on TV. WCW will hide cameras in locker rooms and corridors to capture
all of the backstage “reality,” (and again, now it will make sense,
instead of having scheming wrestlers simply not notice the camera man shining a
light in their face while they reveal their secret plans). Also, a roving
reporter with a microphone and a camera crew will enter the
“Lockdown” and move back and forth between warring factions to get
interviews (and to find people who have managed to get away from the hidden
cameras). This crew will have signed the same contract, and be at risk just
like journalists in a war zone. As stories develop over time, we will see how
they parlay their influence, and their ability to get people’s messages
out without bias, into keeping themselves unharmed. But they better not piss
off the wrong guys.
Behind this scheme is the evil producer: We hire a professional actor –
female, mid 30’s, sophisticated brains and beauty - to play the role of
an evil, ratings oriented “Hollywood Genius” brought in by the
company to create higher numbers at all costs (actually, at low costs, but we
won’t talk about that on TV). “Lockdown” is her big idea.
This woman, let’s call her MS. WRIGHT (she presents herself as the
“solution”) will spend most of the show in the production BOOTH,
where she oversees the show with the director at the board of camera monitors.
They listen in to all the hidden cameras and microphones and cut back and forth
between them to put the viewer right in the middle of the action and the
intrigue, the “reality” if you will. Everyone in the Booth will be
miked as well, with a live camera rolling at all times. Ms. Wright will
constantly be upgrading the LOCK on her door and overall Booth Security as the
week’s roll on and the wrestlers come to hate her more and more.
A second professional actor will play the part of her weaselish, two-faced
assistant, let’s call him TAD, – this pretentious manipulator (you
are his single favorite person in the entire world while you’ve got him
face to face) will be on camera often backstage, serving as liaison from
management to the “talent” (the wrestlers), and in constant contact
with Ms. Wright via radio headset.
New stage set, something visually different, like an all-white ring with white
ropes. Whatever… it doesn’t really matter as long as it’s
different.
Just to give an idea of how this concept could play, the first episode of
“Lockdown” might go like this…
We see a few wrestlers entering the building through a metal detector. And we
see Ms. Wright in the Booth making sure all is going smoothly as introductions
start for the opening match.
A new play-by-play announcer (someone who can call action as if it were
“real” – someone like ECW’s JOEY STYLES) joins Mark
Madden. They welcome us to “Lockdown” not sure, themselves, what to
expect. All they know is that all TITLES have been stripped, and the
tournaments are beginning… now. First match is a qualifier for the
Cruiserweight Title, Devon Storm vs. Elix Skipper. Though the audience is not
yet privy to all the new background stuff, both men come out with a different
look on their faces. They are not playing face/heel roles, but rather
look very serious and even nervous. The announcers give a description of the
top ten rankings (as best as they can from what’s been explained to
them). The wrestlers work hard and stiff for 5-7 minutes, being extra careful
not to get DQ’ed or counted out of the ring (announcers can explain this
part, too). Match ends in a clean pin for Elix.
Next we see Ms. Wright leave the Booth for a televised meeting with the talent.
Many have already signed the new contracts, but many others (including big
stars like Booker T) have not. She wants to make sure that everybody really
understands what he or she will be getting into (acts like a fair-minded, kind
hearted person in the beginning), before they sign. So she now explains the
premise of the show, and talks about what just happened in the ring, with Elix
moving on in the tournament, but also up in the rankings, while Devon moved
down.
We will begin to see how, whatever storylines may develop backstage, they will
still all center around the Four Divisions (no more Hardcore Title because it
would be redundant, now – although there might be an unsanctioned,
no-rules, backstage belt fought over just for prestige in the back), starting
with the month-long tournaments to be concluded on PPV, but eventually
revolving around who holds the belts. As an example, here’s a look at the
first major storyline.
Booker is pissed about being stripped of his title for the sake of a new
format, but if he needs to go through a tournament to get it back, he will. The
extra money sounds nice too. He signs.
After that on-screen talent meeting, we get a glimpse of the TRUE Ms. Wright
talking with Tad. She’s all about ratings, and she doesn’t think
Booker represents the most “desired demo” to be champ. She’s
ignorant of wrestling history, and exactly who these guys are, but she thinks
somebody like, say blond haired hard body Lex Luger, or maybe Scott Steiner
might make a better champ “for TV purposes.” She’s aware of
the camera, of course, but it doesn’t take a genius to read between the
lines of what she’s saying. She immediately goes about the business of
stacking the deck against Booker in the tournament, by a) giving him tough
opponents, and b) sending Tad on a mission to get some of the boys to take
Booker down hard, backstage.
As the Heavyweight tournament plays out over several shows, leading up to the
finals on the first PPV, it becomes clear that Booker is not wanted (as
champion) by management, but he fights as a babyface through all obstacles,
continuing to pull out unlikely wins when it was thought he would not even make
it to the ring. Ric Flair, in the role of the respected veteran brought in as
liaison between the wrestlers and management, doesn’t like this new deal
one bit, and he fights and bargains with Ms. Wright to amend the contracts. But
it’s too late. She won’t deal, and if he’s not careful, he
might wind up in the hospital, too. Meanwhile, Ms, Wright is constantly
upgrading the locks and security around her Booth, until it becomes like a
Saddam Hussein bunker back there.
Scott Steiner, meanwhile, thriving in the newly legalized chaos backstage, has
become sort of a jailhouse prophet for all the younger heels. Drunk with power
and the freedom to be as bad as he wants, Steiner has gone off the deep end.
He’s surrounded by even more “Freaks” in some kind of
makeshift “pleasure-dome” of food, wine, and sex carried from arena
to arena. He’s calling the shots for the powers of darkness like Marlon
Brando in “Apocalypse Now.” And Booker, both because Ms. Wright is
making it worth his while, and because Steiner just hates the guy, has become
his prime target.
Eventually, another babyface, Sting (who lost a Tournament match to Booker)
will come to Booker’s aid, and they’ll “watch each
other’s backs, brother” against all the Steiner initiated attacks
backstage. But that’s still not enough, as even the lower card guys are
banding together to form dangerous alliances, all with colorful gimmicks
designed to get Ms. Wright’s attention and have more TV time focused on
them. Since it’s well known what she wants, Sting and Booker are getting
attacked left and right.
Meanwhile, Goldberg still stands alone, unscathed backstage (because others are
afraid of him) and hovering between face/heel status. Two weeks removed from
the PPV, just to prove that Ms. Wright is true to her word, the loudmouthed
trouble maker Ric Flair gets punked out and beaten down hard.
But the next week, a heavily bandaged Flair comes back in rare form. Enough is
enough and the Nature Boy has been pushed too far. Some Hollywood bimbo thinks
she can step into his arena and play his game… lady, he invented this
game. Now he’s gonna “take her to school!” With one week to
go before the PPV when new Champions will be crowned in all the various
Tournament Finals… Ric Flair, in all his Armani clad glory, reforms the
Four Horsemen with Booker, Sting, and… Goldberg. Ms. Wright isn’t
sure what all this means, but she’s sure she doesn’t like it.
Later that evening, Booker beats Luger in the semis, with the help of an Old
School Horsemen referee distraction/ mauling of the Total Package, and the
finals are set for next Sunday. It will be Booker T (w/ Ric Flair – now
carrying a manager’s license that allows him to be at ringside, which he
pulled out of his ass just to screw with Ms. Wright) vs. Scott Steiner (w/
Freaks) for the WCW World Heavyweight Title.
Who will win? Will Ric Flair start laying his Nature Boy rap on Steiner’s
Freaks at ringside, planning to steal them away for a 60 minute ride on Space
Mountain after the show? Will that distraction, with Flair walking away with a
Freak on each arm at just the right time during the match cost Steiner the
Title? Will Booker win his belt back and shut Ms. Wright up when she comes to
the ring to protest by planting a big wet kiss on her mouth, leaving her
shocked, aroused, and laying in the ring like Ravishing Rick Rude used to do?
So, that’s a rough outline of a new show that could grow into all kinds
of new directions, based solely on adding new elements of “realism”
to the story telling. It would even provide an interesting opportunity to
gradually bring back old guys like Hogan and Savage, and give them an
opportunity to be interesting, again. It wouldn’t cost WCW a dime, except
for minor set cosmetics and hiring a couple of professional actors (who work
cheaper than a lot of wrestlers) and one other very important thing…
professional TV writers (who also work cheaper than a lot of wrestlers) to make
the stories go.