Breaking Down How Works Have Become WWE's Most Important Tool

In the wrestling business, something that is preplanned but appears to be spontaneous is called a "work." This has become wrestling’s most important tool over the last few years.

While these “works” have been done hundreds of times in the past, the rise of the Internet and the savvy fan has led to an exponential increase in the frequency of these situations.

Vince McMahon and the WWE have always prided themselves on keeping the fans guessing, and they have realized that nothing gets people talking like wondering if something was real or not.

We all know wrestling is preplanned (it’s still real to me), but getting the crowd to believe what is going on could be real has become WWE’s favorite and most effective tool.

IWC

The Internet Wrestling Community (IWC) is a fickle beast.

While this is who wrestling promoters are targeting at times, the fans that fall into this category will like the WWE and wrestling no matter what the product really is. The WWE knows this and will target other audiences in order to grow their market, instead of wasting time on fans that will be there no matter what.

The IWC is key to getting the “work” to work. With the thousands of message boards, radio shows and dirt sheets across the web, every fan that loves the sport will be kicking around the Internet for more info.

If the WWE wants the fans to believe a story, all they have to do is leak a story to one dirt sheet and watch as it spreads like wildfire across the web. Just ask Triple H’s arm or Brock Lesnar’s backstage temper tantrum.

Getting Stars Over

The best two examples of getting stars over by working the crowd or IWC has been CM Punk and his “Shoot” promo before Money in the Bank in 2011 and Dean Ambrose’s worked feud with Mick Foley.

In Punk’s case, he was already an established WWE star, but wasn’t over as much as he should have been. It wasn’t until he sat down on the top of the WWE ramp and started talking about the inter-workings of the business that fans realized they may be witnessing something they shouldn’t be seeing.

It is obvious in retrospect that it was a “work,” but in that moment, fans didn’t know. That moment in time is what makes wrestling the phenomenon it has become and what makes the idea of “works” work.

They can also be effective in getting younger guys over. Just look at the internet exposure a feud between Mick Foley and Dean Ambrose got over the past few months. Many fans didn’t know who Ambrose was, but now he has much more of a following while never even stepping into a WWE ring.

With fans talking about the stars, the WWE is creating a buzz that they can eventually turn into cash revenue. And let’s be honest; isn’t that what WWE is all about?

The Swerve

Fans want to be part of the action when it comes to the WWE, so they will try to participate any way they can. The most common way to get into the show or event for the WWE Universe is to emotionally invest themselves towards one of the combatants or the other.

Something as easy as cheering John Cena or booing Brock Lesnar means the fans care about what’s going on. That’s why the “swerve” has become one of the most effective ways of working the crowd the wrestling world has ever developed.

If we were watching theater, it would be called an unpredictable plot twist. Just ask Luke’s father, Darth Vader!

If a wrestling federation can keep the fans enthralled by giving them false finishes and surprise endings, that’s a type of “work” that has been around for years. What fans don’t like is a swerve that feels like it was just put there to trip up the fans.

Don’t swerve the fans for swerve’s sake; intrigue us into believing something, then pull the rug out.

That’s how we like it!

Check back for more on the World Wrestling Entertainment as it comes, and visit Bleacher Report’s Wrestling Page to get your fill of WWE/TNA. For more Wrestling talk, listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot topics you just can’t miss (some language NSFW).

Follow @Donald_Wood

Listen to internet radio with RingRustRadio on Blog Talk Radio