Simple, but effective.
For as much analysis and arm-chair quarterback discussion that professional wrestling is the subject of, and there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s part of what keeps the business compelling, not to mention keep a few dozen podcast in business, the narratives that are often most successful in terms of box office are simple, but effective.
The reason for it is also simple, the genre is based on human psychology, and regardless of the road that the booker takes to get to the destination, an over baby face against a heel with heat can draw money. Of course, in the modern era there are exponentially more aspects to take into consideration. The WWE machine churns out countless hours of content to satisfy their TV contracts, the newest one that will start in January for Netflix is an unprecedented move for the industry, as well as the amount of live events on the calendar that necessitate a drawing card to bring fans into the building at a time when WWE ticket prices are at a peak. The international markets, merchandise, the developmental system, building the next generation of stars, and every other portion of a global publicly-traded corporation must be taken into account with the direction of WWE programming.
Still, the bottom line is, a compelling storyline with a baby face that the crowd is invested in, and a heel that has heat is the foundation of the ability to draw money.
As mentioned, the WWE machine has to produce live television every week, and while it’s not realistically possible to hit a home run 52 weeks a year for both Raw and Smackdown, the task of management is to give the audience a reason to tune in each week to see how the angles unfold for the product.
The best example of this is the current Bloodline storyline that is building toward this weekend’s Survivor Series pay-per-view with a War Games match scheduled between the two Bloodline factions. One of the many reasons that this angle has been so successful for the WWE is that it continues to use the cache of Roman Reigns’ historic title reign to add importance to the current feud. There’s a background and a history that the fans have followed in some form or fashion for more than four years as far as the genesis of The Bloodline faction so there’s a built-in investment from the audience to follow the direction that the stable takes within the WWE landscape, particularly a Samoan showdown to determine what side of the Samoan group will continue to be a force within the company.
Roman’s incredible return to the company at Summer Slam and the reaction that it received from the live crowd was a memorable moment that will be etched into the history books. However, it also provided a completely new chapter for the Bloodline angle, as it was time for Roman to have a legitimate top guy run as a baby face after he evolved into the best version of his character as a heel the few years prior. After such an extended and record-setting title reign, a baby face persona allowed Roman to get a fresh coat of paint upon his WWE presentation. Sure, he dropped the championship to Cody Rhodes, but let’s be honest here, Roman has reached a level that he more or less cemented himself as a top guy that doesn’t need the championship to maintain that status. John Cena and CM Punk are two other examples of drawing cards that don’t need the title to bring a level of importance to what they booked for on the shows.
By nature, the WWE product is episodic, not just because it involves the continuation of specific characters over the course of several years, but also because as mentioned, the office has to give the fans a reason to tune into the show every week. Again, one of the many reasons that the Bloodline angle has been so successful for the WWE is that it brings with it that aspect of episodic programming each week, particularly with the build to War Games. Obviously, we’ve seen the addition of the Toganas and Jacob Fatu this year to set up the formation of Solo Sikoa’s group, which were key pieces of the puzzle to continue the storyline. However, just within the past few weeks on Smackdown, Bronson Reed and Sami Zayn added to their respective teams were important aspects of the storyline and thus a reason for the fans to watch the Friday show. Similar to some of the other portions of the angle, Sami’s involvement uses his previous association with The Bloodline from Roman’s heel run as champion. Furthermore, Bronson Reed is being pushed as a monster on Raw so he’s not just there to get the Sokia team to five wrestlers for the War Games situation, he brings a level of credibility as a monster based on the current push.
Finally, and this might be the biggest piece of the puzzle that was added on last week’s episode of Smackdown, Paul Heyman returns and brings with him the final member of Roman’s team, CM Punk. Solo Sikoa took out Paul Heyman, which was impactful because a wrestler rarely got their hands on him, and furthermore, I don’t think anyone expected him to take a power bomb through the table. As I’ve written for the past several years, the former leader of extreme is the best talker in the business and he can sell a match better than just about anyone in the modern era so the return of Heyman itself was enough to add another level of sizzle to the War Games bout. When he brings in CM Punk, a Paul Heyman guy earlier in his career, it makes the cage match at Survivor Series an all-star segment.
The logic is there because Punk would naturally want revenge against Solo for the attack on his mentor, and both he and Roman have the common background of Heyman as a manger during their championship runs. Keep in mind, there were pieces added to keep the storyline fresh and relevant along the way, but the entire concept of this angle was the fact that Solo wanted to takeover The Bloodline from Roman Reigns. Roman is majorly over as a top guy, and the fans were ready to see him as a baby face after his return at Summer Slam. Solo Sikoa attacked Jey Uso, Paul Heyman, and formed his own Bloodline to try to dispose of Reigns to get heat from the audience.
The War Games match has over baby faces against over heels with something at stake based on the result of the match. The future of The Bloodline and who can claim to be the “true tribal chief” will be determined at Survivor Series so there’s a selling point for the event. There are reasons for the audience to be invested in the characters and the results of the main event of the pay-per-view, which is exactly how to draw money.
Simple, but effective.
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Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
