2001... a year in which nu metal (Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, Slipknot, Korn, Linkin Park, System Of A Down, etc.) was at its peak and televised advertisements for collect call services such as 1-800 Collect and 1-800 CALL-ATT dominated the airwaves, the WWE (known as the WWF at the time) was at the tailend of its boom period, which was caused by larger than life characters such as The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin, and a large amount of their programming was a 20 minute in-ring promo to start the show as well as several "hidden camera" backstage skits. This was fresh at the time because in the 80s and the first half of the 90s the weekly shows were often filled with jobber squashes in which an established wrestler defeated a local wrestler usually in under two minutes, and when the 90s came around this format got really stale so at around 1997 the entire format of the shows changed to include more interaction between established talent by backstage skits, in-ring promos, and matches between established wrestlers on shows other than PPVs and TV specials, as well as adult content such as foul language, sexual themes, and hardcore matches.
10 years later, the content of the shows has changed a lot, but the format is the exact same!
Really... the current format with the in-ring promo to start the show, 5 minute or less midcard matches, and hidden camera backstage skits is STILL around! Yeah, WWE is PG instead of TV14 now, but that's not a true reinvention of your product when the show layout is the exact same as it was a decade ago. 6 years ago, the current #2 wrestling promotion, TNA, gained a lot of momentum by focusing their product on the in-ring action rather than the storylines. There were in-ring promos from time to time but it was not uncommon for an episode of TNA Impact to start off with a high-flying X Division match, and nearly all backstage stuff involved a backstage interviewer. This was a very fresh format as it was different from the style of programming WWE put out at the time, yet also different from the 80s and early 90s as there was a balance between matches between two established wrestlers and jobber squashes, which were usually followed up with by a short promo and/or angle advancement. The ratings for TNA Impact slowly grew over time until bad booking and hiring Vince Russo, who is one of the main reasons WCW lost 60 million in 2000 and ended up being bought by WWF in March 2001, killed their momentum. Going back to the format that made the WWF the in thing in the late 90s-early 2000s has HURT them. While WWE is popular now amongst kids due to the likes of John Cena and Rey Mysterio, I highly doubt changing the format will cause them to stop watching because I doubt they watch for the skits that often take place on the shows (Hornswoggle rarely appears these days and the guest hosts haven't been a fixture in months, yet it hasn't effected viewership negatively at all unlike whenever Cena is off TV). The in thing amongst young males these days is MMA, most notably UFC which is the WWE of MMA... while UFC is obviously real whereas WWE is scripted, UFC builds up their main fights in a way similar to WWE, and as a result garner buyrates that dwarf those of your typical Wrestlemania.
I am NOT saying that WWE and TNA should start having REAL fights, but rather format the shows to focus on the in-ring action rather than the skits (not get rid of the "sports entertainment" side altogether but just use it in moderation). They have the talent right now to make it work with John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, The Miz, CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, Jack Swagger, John Morrison, Daniel Bryan, Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston, Alberto Del Rio, Christian, Sin Cara, Cody Rhodes, and Natalya, Beth Phoenix, Gail Kim, Awesome Kong, Melina, and Michelle McCool on the female side in WWE, while TNA has AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, Jay Lethal, James Storm, Robert Roode, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Kurt Angle, Doug Williams, Mr. Anderson, D'Angelo Dinero, and Generation Me to name a few. By focusing on the in-ring aspect you'll be getting the most out of two very talented rosters and giving the fans a fresh direction. With all the different styles of the wrestlers in today's WWE and TNA, it's very possible to recreate matches like these in a way:
Http://youtube.com/show/tnaclassicmatches
Is it a risk? Yes, but it's a risk that should be taken as well as a risk that could create another boom period possibly. Using several guest celebrities over the years has yet to produce new fans for either company...
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