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Greg Klein

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KLEIN TIME

I would never try to put myself in the booker's position. It's impossible to determine the best course of action (related to storylines) when none of us are intimately familiar with the personalities involved in the promotion. That being said, I think there are 6 steps that WCW could take that would put them on the road to recovery. These are product specific solutions, and none are quick fixes. They are getting killed now, and can only try to improve their product so that they could possibly capture some viewers during Raw's commercial breaks. Short of the defection of the Rock, it's going to take a lot of little changes to bring WCW back up to speed.

1) Take the title off Sid. This is not done because of his workrate, mic skills, incidents with scissors, or anything to that effect. I'm just looking at history, and history shows us that his runs as champion in either federation were not overly successful. I believe Sid can be a valuable member of an organization, but not as its top champion. He has worked hard during his tenure, but the results have not been acceptable.

2) Release Hall, Nash, and Hogan. I have mixed feelings about Hall because I still believe that he can be a talented performer in the ring. His personal demons are too much for him to handle though, and he is getting older. Nash is painful to watch in the ring, and his heralded mic skills are not really all that good. As far as Hogan is concerned...I know people were chanting his name at Superbrawl. All 5,000 people or whatever the dismal attendance was announced at. The point is that he is not a drawing card anymore. Factor that in with his reportedly disruptive nature and his dismissal is a no brainer. All three of these performers have not wanted to do their part for the organization and therefore serve no purpose.

3) Require Flair to be a manager. I know he nixed the commissioner idea. However, Flair just simply can't go in the ring anymore. I'm a huge fan of his, and it's painful to watch him go 15 minutes and muster a poke to the eyes and low blow as his only offense. I don't know whether he should attempt to reunite the Horsemen (yet again), as this idea was ruined in the Bischoff era. However, I would like to see him manage a group of young wrestlers such as Kidman, Vampiro, and Bagwell. He has never had a problem putting younger wrestlers over before. He could still wrestle at special attractions (Wargames, grudge matches, etc.) but not on a regular basis. If he is not willing to do this, give him his release. Again, I know it seems like suicide to let him go but WCW is already getting killed in the ratings.

4) Build your performers from the bottom up. By that I mean push your athletes that can perform in the ring and nothing else. Take that core group of wrestlers and give them mic time on WCW Saturday Night so they can polish their interview skills for Nitro, Thunder, and PPV's. Goldberg came out of nowhere. There will never be another superstar if they are not given the chance to develop. Listen to what the fans want. One of the best things the WWF has done recently is allow the crowd to determine heel/face status. For example, if Norman Smiley is getting a loud pop, build on that. Give him extended mat and mic time. He was over before the "Screaming" character ever developed. Sure, maybe it was because he danced. Why someone is over is irrelevant. All that matters is that they are.

5) Redevelop the importance of the titles. Jarrett's pursuit of the World title prevents any feud for the U.S gold. Trashing the television belt keeps any feud from developing over that title. Making David Flair a tag team champion (at this point in his career) is a disgrace to the belt. I hate to say it, but Vince McMahon is a more convincing champion at this point than young David. We don't even need to go into the cruiserweight fiasco. The point is that ultimately the titles should mean something and they currently don't. Every feud doesn't have to center around a belt, but I think most should.

6) Learn to extend storylines to maximize the blowoff match. Tank versus Sid is a perfect example of where this was not done. They had no prior history. Think of the interest that could be generated if WCW would have bothered to script some prior confrontations before the big match. Even an earlier staredown at the end of Thunder or Nitro would have helped. If a storyline is going to be over in a week, viewers are not going to be captivated. Better yet, tie storylines together. What if Jarrett hd interfered in the Sid/Tank match? He attacks Sid first and pastes him with one guitar in his previously injured ribs which sends Sid down to the mat. Then he attacks Tank with a second guitar, and he no sells the shot. Now it's possible for WCW to transition seamlessly into a Jarrett/Tank feud over the U.S. title. Sid is free to move to the next challenger/storyline

Again, I'm only a fan. I think that these suggestions would make WCW a better organization and would eventually capture some of the viewers back from Raw.

Greg Klein
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