WWE and TNA: Rules That Both Companies Need to Abide By

There have always been unwritten rules in pro wrestling and what this slide show aims to do is to lay down some rules that every wrestling booker needs to abide by in order to create a great lasting product.

Now, for a number of these rules there is a bit of wiggle room where it won't hurt to bend them slightly and I will indicate which is which.

If you have any unwritten rules you think that the WWE or TNA should follow, then please comment and share your ideas.

Rule 1: You Must Be 30 to Win the World Championship

Why did I choose this picture? Because Randy Orton is the perfect example of why this rule should be implemented. This rule isn't to prevent men like Jack Swagger getting pushed far to early and in turn doing damage to their career, this rule is to prevent someone becoming a nine time world champion before they turn 30.

Most wrestlers hit their prime in their mid-30's and that is when they should be wrestling in the biggest matches in their career, winning championships. The problem with giving a 23-year-old the world championship is that he will rack up a stupid amount of championship reigns in his history. He will become a main event player for near 20 years and in turn harm the other young talent.

Naturally I'm not going to be too fussed if the wrestler is 28 or 29 it's just that 30 was a nice round number so that's what I chose.

Rule 2: Title Reigns Must Last at Least a Month

This one is seriously starting to piss me off. WWE and TNA (to a lesser extent) are screwing over a lot of talent with the embarrassingly short title reigns.

Winter was Knockouts Champion for two weeks, Christian was World Heavyweight Champion for six days, Rey Mysterio was WWE Champion for two hours (does anyone honestly believe that he would have accepted Cena's challenge that night?) and Ziggler was World Heavyweight Champion for two minutes.

This is demeaning to talent and it is the kind of blatant swerve booking that pisses people off. It almost feels like the WWE is trying to pad the stats of its wrestlers to make them seem more accomplished than they actually are.

Rule 3: Limit of 4 Wrestlers over 44 in Wrestling Promotion

This one is aimed straight at TNA and their "WCW Revival" theme. The young talent make up the backbone of any good organization but they can't get their time to shine if a bunch of old wrestlers stop them.

Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Jeff Jarret, Sting, Kurt Angle, Scott Steiner, Jerry Lynn and Rob Van Dam are taking air time away from guys like the Pope, Douglas Williams, Magnus, Samoa Joe and quite a few others that could be doing so much more.

The WWE has a good balance of young raw talent and proven superstars so I can't criticize them a lot about this.

Rule 4: Limit of Two Gimmick PPV's Per Year

A good gimmick match is worth it's weight in gold in pro wrestling, it attracts special interest to the match and it keeps the fans on their toes. Fans tune in to catch a glimpse of events like the money in the bank match, the lethal lockdown match and even the hell in a cell match. The problem is that there are far too many gimmick PPV's between the WWE and TNA.

There's even a gimmick PPV that doesn't involve a decent gimmick match. Night of Champions is a bad joke PPV and WWE seems to be realizing that. They are now booking matches for the PPV that don't involve a Championship.

Rule 5: Blading Is to Be Used Rarely and Only in Specialty Matches

Blading is a perfect representation of what Wrestling used to be. It is brutal to the wrestlers (who are already doing so much) and it is completely out dated. Wrestling has changed since the territory days and over use of blading is a major problem. Companies need to take the concern the health of their wrestlers and prevent possible lawsuits.

Men like Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Hulk Hogan and Abdullah the Butcher represent a time when blading was not just common but it was expected of the wrestlers to do it constantly. But when was the last time those guys were relevant as wrestlers?

Blading needs to be severely limited and only used on rare occasions.

Rule 6: Monster Heels Need a Manager to Get over

The monster heel is an important character in wrestling and one that is very hard not just to pull off but to sustain over a long period of time. A good monster heel needs size, strength, a good gimmick and (more often than not) a talented manager in order to be an intimidating crowd-pleaser.

While the first three criteria are predictable, the fourth one may come as a surprise. But consider the successful monster heels and whether or not they had mangers to get them over.

I believe that the recent decline of the manager is a big reason why the monster heel has died off. Monster heels are almost always more intimidating when they aren't talking and are just destroying people. Just look at these champion monster heels and tell me that their managers didn't make a difference.

Umaga had Armando Estrada, the Undertaker and Kane had Paul Bearer, Abyss had James Mitchell (who has been really underrated in my opinion), Big Van Vader had Harley Race, Yokozuna had Mr Fuji and The Great Khali has Ranjin Singh. That's just a small sample of the effect a talented manager can have on a monster heel (or most wrestlers).

Rule 7: Factions Can't Last More Than Two Years

Great stables can be used in a number of ways—they help establish young talent (Evolution & Nexus), Create a dominating force from already over talent (Four Horsemen & NWO) or even as a comedy gimmick (BWO & F.B.I). They can be a fantastic piece of a wrestling show if you have the right members and the right gimmick.

However like most things in wrestling there is a catch, a stable is, unlike a tag team, essentially a story line and story lines can grow stale pretty quickly. The NWO are the best example of a great faction that overstays its welcome and becomes stale and repetitive.

Rule 8: Roll-Up Pins Are to Be Used Sparingly

This one is aimed directly at TNA and their recent roll-up pin fetish (although they didn't have one on the most recent Impact).

The roll-up or schoolboy pin is a great way for a wrestler to sneak an unexpected win without the wrestler who gets pinned losing any real momentum. The problem is that it isn't really a clean win. It's kind of like catching the opponent with their pants down as opposed to beating them with you skill, and as such it needs to be used sparingly otherwise fans will get irritated.

Roll-up pins, disqualifications and outside interference need to be put under the same umbrella in this case and wrestling bookers need to be less afraid of having the face lose cleanly (WWE this one is looking right at you and John Cena).

Rule 9: The Main Event Needs to Be the Best Match

The main event is always the most important match on the card be it a house show, TV show or even on PPV. It needs to deliver big time. The only thing worse than the main event failing is it being overshadowed by another match lower down on the card.

The best example of this was Triple H vs. Randy Orton. The match was severely disappointing despite the incredible build up. It was overshadowed by the match of the year in the Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 25. The fact that this happened at the company's, and professional wrestling's for that matter, biggest show just compounds the problem.

Every company needs to make sure the last match is the best no matter what the division or match type.

Hope You Enjoyed It

Thank you for reading my slideshow. Please comment below about any other rules you want to see implemented by WWE or TNA.

($50 says that at least five people say fire Russo)