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Post by Prophet of Ash on Apr 29, 2013 19:06:30 GMT -5
In the 80s, it was very normal for WWE to be running shows with three different crews each day. The A crew, with the World title and Hogan, the B Crew, with the IC title on top, and the C crew, main evented by the tag titles. I think a C Crew is something WWE could gain a lot from having again.
The C Crew would be main evented by the tag titles. If the current match is Kane & Daniel Bryan vs. The Shield, that'd be your top match on the loop. The "C Crew" would be guys that aren't really being used for anything else, JTG, Michael McGuillicutty, Yoshi Tatsu, The Usos, The Colons, Great Khali, Natayla, Rosa, etc. The "Superstars crew" currently. In addition, it'd be guys who are ready for the main roster, but haven't been brought up because there isn't a place for them. Corey Graves, Bo Dallas, Kassius Ohno, etc. Then to round out the roster, The New Age Outlaws, William Regal, etc. to give guidance.
The C Crew wouldn't be running 10,000 seat arenas. Smackdown house shows really shouldn't be. They'd be ran in arenas the size of the ones ROH uses, 2000-4000 seat arenas. They'd be fairly bare bones events, with rails, a ring, and a very simple stage (nothing that lights up or may break from being moved, keeping costs low). Ticket prices, as such, would be much lower too. $15, $20, and $30 for front row. If the venue has "upper level" seating, those could even be $10 seats.
The purpose this would serve is to keep these guys in developmental on the road. So they're developing road habits. Guys who have been brought up exclusively in WWE's system have never worked the indies and don't know what it's like to travel to wrestle. It'd also bring in revenue or at least support itself. The biggest thing, though, would be an option for international TV. Want to film Superstars matches? Want to start producing original content for Bottom Line, Afterburn, and all the other shows that God only knows how they're still alive? you're running live shows with guys not otherwise on TV. These shows will look so different from what Raw & Smackdown do, similar to the atmosphere that NXT creates, that it might attract casual fans that are just curious what the hell it is.
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OYDK?
Main Eventer
Joined on: May 22, 2011 13:55:27 GMT -5
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Post by OYDK? on Apr 29, 2013 19:13:23 GMT -5
Everything you said makes sense from a creative standpoint, but it sounds like a horrible business idea.
More expense for a lesser return than usual? It's just not feasible.
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Post by Prophet of Ash on Apr 29, 2013 19:56:01 GMT -5
Everything you said makes sense from a creative standpoint, but it sounds like a horrible business idea. More expense for a lesser return than usual? It's just not feasible. WWE is a big enough, profitable enough company that they can afford to do things that run breaking even or to a loss, when it benefits their roster and future. The C Crew are also the ones you send to charity events and such. Know what'd really make those Make a Wish events pop? Let them watch a few live matches.. That was one of the primary things the C Crew did in the 80s. Schools, fundraisers, and charity events. Then it's a tax write off for expenses. |
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Post by Brad on Apr 29, 2013 19:56:42 GMT -5
Everything you said makes sense from a creative standpoint, but it sounds like a horrible business idea. More expense for a lesser return than usual? It's just not feasible. My thoughts exactly |
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OYDK?
Main Eventer
Joined on: May 22, 2011 13:55:27 GMT -5
Posts: 2,676
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Post by OYDK? on Apr 29, 2013 20:02:53 GMT -5
Everything you said makes sense from a creative standpoint, but it sounds like a horrible business idea. More expense for a lesser return than usual? It's just not feasible. WWE is a big enough, profitable enough company that they can afford to do things that run breaking even or to a loss, when it benefits their roster and future. The C Crew are also the ones you send to charity events and such. Know what'd really make those Make a Wish events pop? Let them watch a few live matches.. That was one of the primary things the C Crew did in the 80s. Schools, fundraisers, and charity events. Then it's a tax write off for expenses. WWE can afford to do a lot of things. They have that luxury because they don't do things for the sake of it. |
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Deleted
Joined on: May 7, 2024 5:18:35 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2013 20:06:44 GMT -5
What does this accomplish in the long run? what changes? I mean on television?
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Deleted
Joined on: May 7, 2024 5:18:35 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2013 20:07:49 GMT -5
Their entire roster feels like a "C crew" at times already...
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Post by Brad on Apr 29, 2013 20:08:48 GMT -5
Their entire roster feels like a "C crew" at times already... Sadly you're right |
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Post by Prophet of Ash on Apr 29, 2013 20:09:44 GMT -5
What does this accomplish in the long run? what changes? I mean on television? The same thing that Superstars currently accomplishes, except it'd put the NXT guys who are ready to be on the road, on the road |
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Post by LA Times on Apr 29, 2013 20:13:06 GMT -5
Saturday Morning Slam should be the C brand and they can put all the kiddie acts like Kofi Kingston, Brodus Clay, Sweet T, The Miz, Great Khali, Hornswoggle, etc on there
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Deleted
Joined on: May 7, 2024 5:18:35 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2013 20:13:34 GMT -5
What does this accomplish in the long run? what changes? I mean on television? The same thing that Superstars currently accomplishes, except it'd put the NXT guys who are ready to be on the road, on the road Aren't most of them backstage at Raw/SmackDown currently? |
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Post by LA Times on Apr 29, 2013 20:13:45 GMT -5
double post
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fearofdread
Superstar
Joined on: Nov 18, 2010 12:40:53 GMT -5
Posts: 560
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Post by fearofdread on Apr 29, 2013 20:52:47 GMT -5
Everything you said makes sense from a creative standpoint, but it sounds like a horrible business idea. More expense for a lesser return than usual? It's just not feasible. WWE is a big enough, profitable enough company that they can afford to do things that run breaking even or to a loss, when it benefits their roster and future. The C Crew are also the ones you send to charity events and such. Know what'd really make those Make a Wish events pop? Let them watch a few live matches.. That was one of the primary things the C Crew did in the 80s. Schools, fundraisers, and charity events. Then it's a tax write off for expenses. Because they are a publicly traded company they don't have the luxury of losing money on tours that might benefit their independent contractors in the future. It isn't r&d, it's running a show just to lose money. In this day and age it would be rough on the brand image to do smaller shows, even if they were great matches, the visuals would look worse than it is. |
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Post by Nivro™ on Apr 29, 2013 20:54:59 GMT -5
I dont ever remember reading or hearing about a "C Team"....The only things Ive heard from Hogan, HTM, Warrior, Brutus and Piper was there was an A Team (ME by world champ) and B Team (ME by IC Champ)
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Post by Todd Pettengill on Apr 29, 2013 21:22:30 GMT -5
Just not a good idea. Really no point. Like some have said it would just cost more money that doesn't need to be wasted.
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Post by greenjack1992 on Apr 30, 2013 6:53:24 GMT -5
NXT is the best WWE show on television.
Watch NXT if this is what you're after.
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Post by ztj_wwf on Apr 30, 2013 7:24:54 GMT -5
They have a hard enough time filling 2 shows, let alone 3.
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Post by WCWA Online on Apr 30, 2013 8:33:26 GMT -5
I dont ever remember reading or hearing about a "C Team"....The only things Ive heard from Hogan, HTM, Warrior, Brutus and Piper was there was an A Team (ME by world champ) and B Team (ME by IC Champ) The C Team was usually headlined by The Bulldogs, The Hart Foundation, or Demolition, whoever were the tag champions at the time. Strike Force vs. Demolition went on the loop this way. C Show was typically not even "arena" shows, but 3000-5000 seat buildings. Fair amount of school shows too. At one point, they even had a D team. Hogan vs. Andre headlined A, Savage vs. Honky headlined B, Harts vs. Bulldogs headlined C, with George Steele headlining D against either One Man Gang or Nikolai Volkoff. The D show at the time almost always had The Killer Bees and Junkyard Dog as the other advertised acts. |
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Post by punksnotdead on Apr 30, 2013 9:46:40 GMT -5
The concept you are talking about is essentially NXT, and they run the loop around Florida all year long. They tend to get guys like the Prime Time Players, Evan Bourne, Justin Gabriel, Jinder Mahal, Brodus Clay, etc., who make guest appearances as the "big star" and work the main event of that particular show. Every once in a great while you see a guy like CM Punk show up too. NXT is shown on Hulu Plus, and you get plenty of guys like McGillicutty, Tyson Kidd (pre injury) and Jinder Mahal. I don't have Hulu Plus, so I haven't been watching lately, but NXT essentially sounds like the exact concept you are talking about. Only difference being is they tour around one state, as opposed to the country, likely to save dollars and cents.
It would be cool to see WWE come to terms with Smackdown and just aim for smaller venues. A more packed venue would increase the excitement level for everyone I think.
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Post by Joe/Smurf on Apr 30, 2013 23:29:44 GMT -5
Others have basically poked all the holes in this theory, but I'll add that starting in June, there's no Raw/Smackdown house shows anymore. There's just "WWE Live."
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