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.