Undercard Overhaul 9: Improving WWE TV with 5 More Angles

Undercard Overhaul is one fantasy booker's attempt to write the future, offering suggestions and stories to improve WWE TV while operating under a single, unbreakable code: make it memorable, make it wrestling.

Today's armchair assault features five more angles to turn WWE's struggling undercard from tiresome to triumphant.

5. Madusa vs. Beth Phoenix

Randy Orton became a star as "the Legend Killer," older wrestlers are often brought in to enhance a younger Superstar's career, and I feel like WWE is missing a huge opportunity by not doing anything with this Madusa/Beth Phoenix feud currently developing on Twitter.

Their program wouldn't have to be overly complicated, just intense: a simple hit-and-run invasion angle and meta-commentary on the state of women's wrestling now versus previous generations, with Beth defending the honor of the Divas (even if some of them don't deserve it). 

Madusa still has the old Women's Championship she threw in the trash on WCW and they could go title-for-title on pay-per-view, inside a steel cage for gravitas.

Beth gets a boost by going over, fans get a memorable dream match, and the angle generates main event-level excitement within a division that desperately needs it.

The birth of the Divas of Doom last year proved that fans are willing to get behind the girls if there's something worth getting behind (not to be confused with the fan reaction Kelly Kelly gets because she flaunts her beauty and trolls for cheap pops).

If Vince is worried about Madusa taking liberties with his girls, her contract could be largely incentive-based with bonuses for peer review or not injuring anyone.

People want to like women's wrestling, we just haven't had many opportunities in the last half-decade, and WWE shouldn't be afraid to take a chance with Madusa if it means greater exposure for performers like Beth and Natalya.

I'd take it one step further and book an elimination Lumber-Jill match at Survivor Series featuring the Queens of the Ring (Madusa and her former Team Madness partner Molly Holly, Ivory and Jacqueline) versus the Divas of Doom (Beth, Natty Hart, Kharma and Trish Stratus), with all the current Divas and a nice smattering of old talent around the ring.

4. The Bayou Boys

In the last couple of years, we've seen Swamp People, Cajun Pawn Stars, Bayou Billionaires and a whole herd of other programming options for folks who like other folks in dirty overalls. 

The math is simple: WWE is infatuated with pop culture and America is infatuated with hillbillies. Modern day Godwinns are a no-brainer.

FCW Superstars Eli Cottonwood and Erick Rowan should be called up as the Bayou Boys, a team who could be shamelessly endearing or Devil's Rejects weird depending on how they're needed.

Enlist the aid of NXT-winning (but otherwise-doing-nothing) Diva Kaitlyn as their polka dot and Daisy Dukes-wearing manager, add Bushwacker mannerisms, and Vince has a recipe for success.

They'd have an edge because we simply haven't seen anything like this in mainstream wrestling in awhile.

WWE needs another jobber tag team to replace the Usos (who will hopefully move on to something more meaningful) and fans wouldn't care whether they won or lost because the Bayou Boys would always be entertaining.

(Laurinaitis gets additional points if he can somehow recruit the Briscoes.)

3. Tyson Kidd, Angry Canadian

Tyson Kidd is angry at his exclusion from the Kings of the Ring tag team tournament.

He shoots about the sad state of his career, David Hart Smith and how WWE hates Canadians since they screwed his Uncle Bret, then unleashes an anti-American tirade, vowing not to rest until WWE learns to respect his heritage.

He goes on to beat a jobber with a half-Boston Crab.

Kidd's next tirade would be interrupted by a familiar theme and Lance Storm, who asks if he can be serious for a moment and proceeds to cut his own promo on the horrors of working in America.

"I heard what you said last week," Storm says, "and I remember you looking for a manager not too long ago. I think I know just the guy."

Lance begins accompanying Kidd to the ring, carrying a Canadian flag, helping him in promos, and inspiring a whole new level of viciousness in his protege (and heat from American crowds).

This eventually brings out the "All-American American" Jack Swagger to defend his country and the United States Championship. Kidd beats him for the title and renames it the Canadian Championship in tribute to Storm's hat trick in WCW.

Swagger and Kidd continue to feud, opening the door for a weekly series of competitions between "warring nations"—arm wrestling, foot races, weight-lifting, who can do the most jumping jacks, etc.

The week before a pay-per-view, Storm goes down with an "injury" after Swagger locks him in an ankle lock and refuses to let go. As a result, Kidd loses the belt back to the former two-time World Heavyweight Champion.

They have a rematch on SmackDown and Kidd regains the championship with help from a returning David Hart Smith. The Hart Dynasty is resurrected.

Swagger must them recruit his own partner and former foe, Zack Ryder, to take up the cause and protect him from a two-on-one beat-down.

2. Reverse Daniel Bryan

"Woman injured, man seeks revenge" is one of wrestling's finest tropes.

For the sake of argument, though, I'm calling it "the Daniel Bryan" so I can arrive at our next angle, "the Reverse Daniel Bryan," wherein the main attraction is injured and his woman or manager (a seemingly weaker component of the main attraction) seeks revenge (and thereby gains strength).

It could be a Diva whose boyfriend or brother gets attacked by a Superstar and she finds a way to exact revenge using her wits, or a valet whose client gets demolished and she does everything in her power to make sure the other guy gets his due.

For example, Dolph Ziggler gets legit injured in a TLC match (or he needs a vacation or some time off to heal from nagging injuries). The ref throws up an "X" and everything. 

Vickie Guerrero would then send every bad guy on the roster after CM Punk, whom she blames (in kayfabe) for the (non-kayfabe) injury, despite the legality of foreign objects in a no disqualification match.

Punk staves off wave after wave, the fodder ostensibly wearing him down until Ziggler gets healthy and returns to finish the job—which helps the Dolph Ziggler brand maintain visibility despite real life injuries (or whatnot).

When running a business that relies so heavily on a wrestler's brand name, WWE can't afford for fans to lose whatever they've invested in a Superstar during injury-related downtime. They can't just hope the comeback pop is enough to reignite someone's momentum. 

If Ricardo Rodriguez would have been out there the last couple of months, harassing the guy he blamed for Del Rio's torn groin, ADR's brand wouldn't have taken such a hit. His return would still be a surprise but Ricardo would have kept him in the headlines.

The wheelchair bit awhile back was good but I fear for Del Rio, who's had such a difficult time getting over despite high profile feuds and winning the WWE Championship. This injury might have derailed his entire career and he'll go the way of Drew McIntyre or Jack Swagger.

1. Behold, the Power of the Internet

Fan participation is a vital part of the wrestling experience, and modern technology has changed the way we interact with the business forever. 

We're closer and more connected with our favorite Superstars than anyone could have guessed just a few short decades ago.

The Internet Wrestling Crowd is rarely responsible with these greater powers, however, leading to a generally negative (and often dismissive) attitude in backstages across the country.

Unfortunately for everyone, that disconnect is causing us to miss some great opportunities to pull wrestling into the twenty-first century.

Would WGN Superstars have been canceled if it was an innovative, web-friendly event that allowed fans to vote on next week's matches and stipulations, or who they wanted on commentary?

Superstars would still be on TV if it was Taboo Tuesday's free kid brother, and Creative wouldn't really lose control because they'd still be dictating poll options.

It's the illusion that they'd lost control that's important. Fans would feel like they had a stake in the product and suddenly all those throwaway matches have meaning to the WWE Universe, who helped construct the show.

There's goodwill in that. Fans would appreciate WWE's efforts to listen.

Furthermore, online interaction would spur conversation on a massive scale, every way that people communicate, and word-of-mouth is priceless if you have something you want people to buy.

Also, if TV time is so valuable (and it is), why not have everybody cut a promo or wrestle a match and let YouTube screen the content, allowing only the highest rated or most viewed material to air?

Will some fans have already seen parts of the show? Sure. Will everybody have seen everything? Probably not, but everybody will have seen enough to force the cream to the top and create a more perfect C-show.

Straining everything through the Internet would give younger stars a chance to talk and be seen and live or die by their performance, which is why the territories produced mega-stars and there aren't so many nowadays.

WWE could easily gauge the "over-ness" of a potential main eventer using trends in voting and give the fans what they want rather than what Vince thinks we want—there's a difference sometimes.

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Check the article archive for previous installments of Undercard Overhaul!

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