Summer Storyline

[quote]WWE creative is currently being pushed to come up with a "knock your socks off" type of angle for the summer. The idea is to jolt the interest of fans, similar to the Nexus angle in 2010 and the CM Punk angle in 2011. This stems from the low ratings and somewhat stagnant product.

From nodq.com

What you guys think?

surely they should always be trying to write good storylines?

With the hotshot booking and constant changing the scripts on day of the shows, I dont hold out much hope.

To Edit: There is no other reason for the drop in ratings other then what we saw last thing on Monday night, most of the rest of the show with a little tweeking is fine. If they didnt turn raw into the John Cena comedy hour it would be fine. John Cena does not = ratings. John Cena being the focul point of raw does not = ratings. They cant have their cake and eat it. They cant expect Cena to be goofy and make tons of money off kids but then also expect ratings to stay steady watching Cena's crap.

"Knock your socks off idea" well how about have someone rip that stupid cobra off Santino's arm?

Brock Lesnar was that stroyline. And they blew it in April.

I'd have Brock Lesnar enter himself into and win MITB, win the WWE Title and show up at a UFC live event with the strap before Summerslam. The HHH/Heyman thing can continue with Heyman telling HHH theres not a damn thing he can do about it but challenges Hunter to a match at Summerslam where if HHH beats Lesnar the lawsuit against him is dropped. Triple H accepts then at Summerslam its Lesnar v Triple H for the WWE Title and CM Punk screws HHH to align himself with Paul Heyman.

Mr H wrote:I'd have Brock Lesnar enter himself into and win MITB, win the WWE Title and show up at a UFC live event with the strap before Summerslam. The HHH/Heyman thing can continue with Heyman telling HHH theres not a damn thing he can do about it but challenges Hunter to a match at Summerslam where if HHH beats Lesnar the lawsuit against him is dropped. Triple H accepts then at Summerslam its Lesnar v Triple H for the WWE Title and CM Punk screws HHH to align himself with Paul Heyman.

So Punk sides with the manager of the man who beat him for the WWE Title?

I know it's been done before but it's still a silly idea.

I do agree that Lesnar needs to kill one of the Champions (figuratively) dead though.

My idea....

Cessano starts to talk about being the flagbearer for a new faction coming in, at a PPV he interrupts Punk and Bryan (I don't want Cena involved) and Ohno, Rollins and Ambrose join in and beat down Punk & Danielson.

Punk & Bryan (now face) ally up and try to fend off the numbers over the coming weeks.

At the following PPV they're getting another beatdown when 4 new guys enter again, these instead fight off the indy guys, they are Samoa Joe, Matt Morgan and MCMG.

Instantly it sets the internet alight with a 'TNA' invasion and it recreates the Radicalz or Invasion story for a new gen.

Don Caboose wrote:

Mr H wrote:I'd have Brock Lesnar enter himself into and win MITB, win the WWE Title and show up at a UFC live event with the strap before Summerslam. The HHH/Heyman thing can continue with Heyman telling HHH theres not a damn thing he can do about it but challenges Hunter to a match at Summerslam where if HHH beats Lesnar the lawsuit against him is dropped. Triple H accepts then at Summerslam its Lesnar v Triple H for the WWE Title and CM Punk screws HHH to align himself with Paul Heyman.

So Punk sides with the manager of the man who beat him for the WWE Title?

I know it's been done before but it's still a silly idea.

I do agree that Lesnar needs to kill one of the Champions (figuratively) dead though.

Punk might not necessarily be champion. For arguments sake i'd have Kane win at No Way Out then Lesnar can annihalate him to look even more badass. Even if it was Punk, it could be booked so Punk cuts promos about wanting the title back but HHH patronises him and overlooks his chances to assert himself into the match which would rile Punk, paired with his long term friend Paul Heyman pulling his ear, Punk could be pursuaded to cost HHH the match.

Very unlikely i know but what the hell.

Hero wrote:My idea....

Cessano starts to talk about being the flagbearer for a new faction coming in, at a PPV he interrupts Punk and Bryan (I don't want Cena involved) and Ohno, Rollins and Ambrose join in and beat down Punk & Danielson.

Punk & Bryan (now face) ally up and try to fend off the numbers over the coming weeks.

At the following PPV they're getting another beatdown when 4 new guys enter again, these instead fight off the indy guys, they are Samoa Joe, Matt Morgan and MCMG.

Instantly it sets the internet alight with a 'TNA' invasion and it recreates the Radicalz or Invasion story for a new gen.

= win.

Hero wrote:My idea....

Cessano starts to talk about being the flagbearer for a new faction coming in, at a PPV he interrupts Punk and Bryan (I don't want Cena involved) and Ohno, Rollins and Ambrose join in and beat down Punk & Danielson.

Punk & Bryan (now face) ally up and try to fend off the numbers over the coming weeks.

At the following PPV they're getting another beatdown when 4 new guys enter again, these instead fight off the indy guys, they are Samoa Joe, Matt Morgan and MCMG.

Instantly it sets the internet alight with a 'TNA' invasion and it recreates the Radicalz or Invasion story for a new gen.

The internet would melt. Not just dirt sheets and forums, anything from "Foxy Bingo" to "dustparticlecollectors.com" would cease to exist.

Vince is steaming right now over who let this one out of the bag.

Prepare to be future endeavoured Hero even though you don't work for the E.

Surely this is good publicity though?

People will now want to watch to see what happens, if this wasn't revealed, more people might just switch off fearing it was getting worse.

There's more to a good storyline than being shocked Vince!

Whilst I would love it I know it wouldn't work for two reasons.

1. Far too many new faces, whilst we know the stars involved it would be hard for the 'Universe' to cheer a group of guys they didn't know two weeks prior. There are still a large number of fans that do live in a WWE bubble.

2. This is WWE we're talking about, at some point Cena would become involved and crush the lot of them whilst pulling a silly face.

Hero did you my PM about I wasn't sure if my pm's are working or not?

I love Mr H's idea about Lesnar winning the title & taking it to UFC. This would create a buzz for both companies & garnish mainstream attention. I'd plan it a bit differently though. I wouldn't have him winning MITB though, the MITB winner has a decided advantage over the champion in that he can cash in his title match whenever he wants, I think such a luxury afford to Lesnar would be a complete wasted.

The Punk worked shoot was memorable because it was a guy who's an excellent talker given license on the mic. It was worked & WWE didn't realise how good it would be because they had no follow up. Punk won the title then within two weeks Mysterio had won the belt then Cena had it back???? Talk about no long term plan! Then all of a sudden Punk is back 1 whole month after vying to never return all just to draw a buy rate for Summerslam.... They had the main event for Summerslam in the shape of Mysterio vs Cena but chose to rush the story & pop a rating by giving it away on Raw for free....

It's all very well having an idea but you must plan out logically a start, middle & an end & stick with it or else fans won't invest in the story

Brady12 wrote:I love Mr H's idea about Lesnar winning the title & taking it to UFC. This would create a buzz for both companies & garnish mainstream attention. I'd plan it a bit differently though. I wouldn't have him winning MITB though, the MITB winner has a decided advantage over the champion in that he can cash in his title match whenever he wants, I think such a luxury afford to Lesnar would be a complete wasted.

The Punk worked shoot was memorable because it was a guy who's an excellent talker given license on the mic. It was worked & WWE didn't realise how good it would be because they had no follow up. Punk won the title then within two weeks Mysterio had won the belt then Cena had it back???? Talk about no long term plan! Then all of a sudden Punk is back 1 whole month after vying to never return all just to draw a buy rate for Summerslam.... They had the main event for Summerslam in the shape of Mysterio vs Cena but chose to rush the story & pop a rating by giving it away on Raw for free....

It's all very well having an idea but you must plan out logically a start, middle & an end & stick with it or else fans won't invest in the story

I too am a fan of Mr H's idea, but I think the MITB route would be the best. In the RAW MITB match, have the match going on without Lesnar for a while, but then Lesnar runs out, hits a couple of F5s, climbs the ladder and takes the briefcase. Have this match near the end of the show and have the commentators play it up that they're not sure if it even counts or not. The next night on RAW, open with Heyman and Lesnar in the ring, and Heyman says Lesnar is cashing in immediately. I like the idea of Kane being the Champion at this point, and Kane would come out, accept the challenge and ultimately be beaten by Lesnar. The speed of all that happening would be a shock factor and it would be believable that the WWE were really in disarray by the whole thing - Lesnar of course not even being a part of the WWE, but winning the MITB match and the WWE Title in consecutive nights.

I'd then play it as mentioned, with HHH calling Lesnar back and challenging him in a title vs lawsuit match, playing down Punk's claims (maybe Punk didn't get a re-match after he lost to Kane, or whatever), only for Punk to cost HHH the match. Punk, allied with Heyman and WWE Champion Brock Lesnar could then go after the World Heavyweight Championship, which I'd have him take of Sheamus. You've then got Punk and Lesnar holding the top two belts, managed by Paul Heyman and running amok, until Cena comes out and ends it all with two AAs (how it would inevitably end!)

Personally I'd be building towards a Survivor Series main event of HHH, Rock, Cena, Sheamus, + 1 other Vs Lesnar (WWE Champ), Punk (WH Champ), Barrett (SD Mitb holder), Bryan?, + 1 other, with both titles on the line (whoever pins either Lesnar or Punk wins the Championship). Someone pins Punk, Lesnar goes on to win the match, but Punk and Lesnar will soon fall out (Punk upset that he lost his championship while Lesnar kept his). This could build to a match at Royal Rumble or Wrestlemania.

If Barrett is indeed to win the Money in the Bank match, I'd put him in a program with Sheamus when Sheamus drops the World Championship to Punk, and then have Barrett looking to challenge whoever takes the title of Punk at Survivor Series, (either Sheamus taking it off Punk or possibly Bryan turning face before SS, joining the face team and winning the Championship). I'd have Barrett stay out of the way of either title scene when Punk and Lesnar are holding both belts, but just build himself up and then look to pounce when the belt is passed on.

My other 'knock your socks off' idea:

Wade Barrett returns and wins MITB. He wants to cash in at Summerslam but CM Punk is already booked in a match.

Punk has been talking up Ohno, Rollins & Ambrose saying they are ready made stars and they deserve contracts. He approaches HHH about this but Hunter says he has bigger fish to fry right now in Brock Lesnar. Punk whines about it the following week and Paul Heyman comes out where they share an embrace before Heyman says he has HHH wrapped around his little finger right now and he can get Punk's guys a contract. HHH interupts and says if Punk wants them in the WWE so bad he will fight for it and at Summerslam he will face The Big Show (which has been teased) for the title. Punk can have his guys at ringside and if he wins, they get contracts. Over the next weeks Heyman tells Punk he has the contracts ready to be signed and will be delighted to personally hand them to Ohno, Rollins and Ambrose when he beats The Big Show.

At Summerslam, its Punk v Show and the indy guys are in the front row. Punk manages to retain the title and Heyman comes out with the contracts whilst the 3 indy guys get in the ring to celebrate. Out of nowhere, Heyman nails Punk with the clipboard and Punk walks straight into the WMD from the Big Show. The crowd are stunned and the indy guys and Heyman just look at Punk on the floor before the camera pans to Wade Barrett sauntering down the aisle with his briefcase. Barrett hands the case to the ref, picks up Punk and nails him with Wasteland for the 1-2-3 to become the new WWE Champion. They all stand in a line and start taking off their t-shirts to reveal a different shirt underneath. Heyman takes off his suit jacket to reveal the same shirt, its the Nexus! They all have the yellow N on their t-shirts and Show puts one on too.

Then on Raw they show a vignette of Barrett 2 years ago talking about 'the bigger picture' and this is revealed to be it. He says he is a Paul Heyman guy and says The Nexus was Heyman's brainchild and its taken 2 long years for it to come to fruition and with The Big Show as the enforcer they are unstoppable. The Nexus is Wade Barrett, Kassuis Ohno, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, The Big Show and the mastermind Paul Heyman.

CM Punk then has a proper STORYLINE to work with, can show EMOTION after being screwed by the guy he trusted, and can finally have a big storyline to get the crowd behind him in trying to bring The Nexus down.

I'll await everyone to tell me its never going to happen, which i already know...

Brilliant idea Mr H, I love it. I think that group would really have the right balance as well. Wade to be champ and lead the group (thought he was great first time round) Heyman as the brains, Big Show as the muscle and a great chance for the new guys to be put straight over in massive storylines.

And of course it would tie up a loose end with regards to storylines.

My problem with it is that I think it would suffer the same way as the original Nexus did. The guys are all new to the crowd so might not get that they are a big deal. I feel stables work best when built of people who are already known atleast on part.

I disagree entirely Zoot. You have Wade, Heyman and Big Show that are already known by everyone. The new guys will take a step up just from being associated with them and then a further step up with plenty of coverage being used in the group on a regular basis.
The original Nexus was ALL new guys, this wouldn't be.

im thinking a rehash of the two man power trip if i am honest. with cena, show and JL

weird but it might work :P

If you look at Evolution I think that was done perfectly. Flair came out to support HHH and then Batista moved across from SD already known but not setting the world on fire and joined. Before Orton also joined. Orton and Batista were already known in their own rights before using Evolution to up there game. These new "indy" guys are not known at all by the WWE universe even less that the Nexus were. They need to prove they can do something in the ring to the crowd before forming a stable.

Zoot - Trevor Swann 6WF wrote:My problem with it is that I think it would suffer the same way as the original Nexus did. The guys are all new to the crowd so might not get that they are a big deal. I feel stables work best when built of people who are already known atleast on part.

I don't think that's why the Nexus failed at all. It worked because we didn't know that much about these guys so they worked like a unit, it made them seem like a real threat.

The only problem with the Nexus is the WWE buried them.

I understand what you are saying Zoot and agree to an extent. Its just an idea i spewed out without thinking too much about to be honest.

On the other hand you could have Barrett and Heyman call the indy guys dangerous because they are unknown commodoties and no one in the back knows what they are capable of blah blah.

But yeah i do see what you mean.

Ent wrote:surely they should always be trying to write good storylines?

hahaha exactly! seems to be a "oh no, ratings are starting to drop! I think its that time of the year again guys! 1 good storyline which will boost the ratings and then we'll cut it short and wait until next summer!" occurance

And 2 great storylines Mr H, how about a bit of a mashup between the two, have punk join forces with Heyman and Lesnar and when HHH tries to bring them down by outnumbering them, then have the "newbies" jump in to make the save which would further build up the storyline!