Think about what the WWE is currently doing. Lower-midcarders are being pushed in the midcard. Midcarders are being pushed as upper-midcarders and main-eventers. Ryback is feuding with Kane. Rowan is feuding with Big Show. John Cena and Seth Rollins will face each other. This is all due to depth. Some of these guys will definitely be depushed when guys like Roman Reigns and Randy Orton return. Until then, is this way of doing things good? There is some good. There are some fresh feuds here. However, they are still not developing good storylines for a lot of these lower-midcarders in the midcard. Why bother, right? Nevertheless, they could do better.
Let me do a few asides. I recently opened up a new Twitter account. I am using it primarily for trying to get what I say about the diva division out there. That has manifested itself in me frequently dropping a wall of tweets on some people. Vince McMahon, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and Mick Foley have been recipients of that. When it comes to talking about the diva division, I do not like being contained to 140 characters or less. I enjoyed doing flash fiction when I was taking writing courses in college, but I don't like limits like that when I am trying to argue a point. I know it can get annoying when you tweet a lot like that. I'll apologize for doing it, but I want to get the message out. Prior to creating that new Twitter account, I spent a few weeks e-mailing wrestling news sites to try to get them interested in this. I was not aggressive. I was not rude. I was civil. I never got back one reply. Maybe I got sent straight to junk mail. Whatever happened, I decided to try something else. Not going good so far.
Anyway, while I was checking on things on Twitter last night, I noticed a "#WeWantPaige" hashtag going. And people say that she's not over? Of course, you cannot mistake that Twitter support for true A+ overness. How well can she connect with fans across the board? How many A-tier fans does she really have? These are the kind of things you have to consider when determining how over someone really is. Right now, I would still say Paige has a B connection with the fans. A few hardcore fans only count for so much. Funny thing is, she's only been not featured for about a week. She was a part of Survivor Series last week, although it was only in a filler match. And some of those fans are already irritated? You should be more irritated that she is a credible jobber like Mickie James and is only getting filler and jobber pushes. Mickie James is another diva that had a "#WeWant" campaign back in the day when she was released. As I have mentioned before, Paige could very well follow the path of Mickie James. There are already a few fans crazy for her. If she can connect better with a wider range of fans and at the same level as AJ and The Bellas, or better than them, then you might really have another Mickie James on your hands. Expect Dave Meltzer to botch analyzing what is going on and end up making Paige look like it is all her fault that she is being mistreated. It has happened before.
A lot of people say that Vince McMahon's problem is that he is out of touch. I wouldn't say that. I am out of touch. I can admit that. I don't keep up with the latest technology. I don't follow the latest fads. There are celebrities out there today that I never heard of. I don't know how they got famous. I don't care. I am perfectly fine without keeping track of all that. Moreover, I don't go around criticizing people that do keep up with the latest trends. I don't try to get people to be like me. Being out of touch does not automatically mean you have to let that dictate your relationship with others.
What is Vince McMahon's problem? I would say it is ego. Being out of touch is one thing, but that does not mean you have to allow your philosophy on things dictate what is going on. Some people are able to put their personal views aside to run things in a great way. In some situations, they delegate those responsibilities to others. The way Vince McMahon runs things, he just creates a rigid system. He goes in the direction of what he wants to work. If it works out, then things go great. If it doesn't, you have big problems. A lot of fans get annoyed. Workers get annoyed. Ratings and other numbers decline. Is the company really making as much money as it could? If Vince McMahon cannot go beyond what he personally wants and what he personally sees, that is a problem. And if he insists on being in control, that is an ego problem.
You might say that it is easy for me to talk because I have never been a boss of a big company. That is true. I have never really been any kind of boss. The closest I came was when I went back to work as a temp at my college library for a few months. I was a supervisor. And on Sunday nights, I was the only supervisor there. I had to empty the cash register, close the computer lab, and all that other stuff. I was also the only one there to supervise the student-workers. I never pushed my weight around just because I could. I never handed them any busy work just to stop them from doing their homework while they sat there. I never did my homework when I was sitting at the circulation desk when I was a student-worker. But I'm not going to force my own work ethic on anyone else. As long as they were there to help the patrons and no problems came up, I just let them do their thing. I only stepped in when they asked me to or when I felt they needed help. I have known some supervisors that have given student-workers things to do just to stop them from doing homework. In most situations, I didn't feel they were being egotistical and just ordering people around because they could. Most situations. But I was never like that. And that is the only experience I have being a boss. For one night a week for a few months, I was in charge. And that's now on my resume.
A meaningless personal story? I don't think so. Why can't the WWE have that same kind of "laissez faire" approach? Not completely, but their role should be to just oversee things more. Let their workers do their thing and connect with the fans. Have a true GM whose job it is to keep track of how well these performers are getting the job done and push the best to be the best. Guys like Vince McMahon should only step in when things are going horribly or when asked for input. Even if Vince McMahon is out of touch, is it really a problem if he's not the one making decisions on who is pushed and how they are pushed? The fact that Vince McMahon wants to have so much control over things is the problem. And I see that as an ego problem.
One last thing I want to bring up about Vince McMahon. He was obviously on Austin's podcast last night. That is one of the reasons I am talking about him today. One of the points he made was pretty much burying the majority of the roster. Some of them lack ambition, charisma, or some other thing. He is making excuses for why they are not pushed better. And I don't think it is an excuse. If they lack things to be top stars, fine. What about pushing them better in the midcard? The midcard is a mess and could use popular guys getting good pushes there. The midcard should not only be a building ground for future main-eventers. A guy like Zack Ryder could have made a solid midcarder. I would agree that he is no main-eventer, but is that really what fans wanted back then? I never saw one fan say they wanted Zack Ryder to win the WWE Championship. A midcard push would have been fine. But the WWE acted like that was like getting a tooth pulled out.
Just reading some of the things Vince said, I was reminded of a football analogy I once made. Imagine a head coach that puts all his effort in when his starting quarterback is out there. When the starting quarterback is injured and the backup comes in, the coach pretty much quits on him. No help from the sideline. That is essentially quitting on the team. I have seen some players show that lack of emotion during some games. I don't think I have seen a coach be that way. Would you say he is egotistical? It is either his way or no way. With the attitude Vince McMahon put out there last night, he will put his effort into someone if he sees what he likes in them. For others, they get the short end of the stick. And that's not fair. It's not fair to them, not fair to the fans, and not right in terms of maintaining the quality of the product. You are supposed to motivate your workers. Instead of wagging your finger at their weaknesses, how about doing more with their strengths, especially if fans want to see them? That is what good head coaches do. That is what good bosses do.
Let me just make it clear, there is nothing wrong with having a little bit of an ego. It can motivate you to want to succeed and do great things. It is good for mental health. When you succeed or are good at something, why shouldn't you be proud? Other people are usually going to be proud of you, so why shouldn't you be proud of yourself? When ego becomes a problem is when you become too arrogant. Moreover, if you suck at something and have this attitude that you are still good at it, that can get annoying sometimes. You should be honest with yourself. And in situations where you are in power and hold the livelihoods of others in your hands, that is where having too much of an ego can be a problem. You have to put your self aside and do what is best for your workers, patrons, and the overall company. Dare I say it? You have to do what is best for business. One of the things that make The Authority heels is that they say they do what is best for business, then further what they want ahead of what is best for business. And it is not all a kayfabe problem. Ego is a driving force for those heels, but it is also a driving force for the problems behind the scenes.
No comments:
Post a Comment