WWE: 12 Solutions to Improve the Product in 2012

The Internet Era has taken shape, with Internet favorites Zack Ryder, Daniel Bryan and CM Punk all holding titles. Divas Champion Beth Phoenix, Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes and tag team champions Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston are all liked by the IWC.

But I have identified some issues as of late.

On the announcers' table, Michael Cole has literally terrorized the USA Network with his annoying rants and horrible segments. The top heels in the company are either good guys (I'm looking at you Cena) or non-wrestlers such as Vickie Guerrero or John Laurinaitis.

In particular, I have 12 solutions WWE should implement for the year 2012 and beyond. I am hoping WWE implements these solutions by next year. These solutions will improve an already very good product.

I won't address obvious IWC solutions such as making the Divas actually wrestle and the shows to focus more on wrestling. I will also make realistic solutions within the parameters of the PG rating.

The first solution is something nobody ever talks about around here.

Turn John Cena Heel at WrestleMania 28

I commiserate with you if anybody is sick and tired of the 1,348th article on why John Cena should turn heel.

Bear with me. His heel turn is all a part of a bigger plan.

I believe a John Cena heel turn will increase ratings, since the overall product interest will skyrocket.

Now that CM Punk can sell merchandise as a top face, it opens the door for John Cena to turn heel.

A lone heel John Cena will just not make the impact in the wrestling world his turn to the dark side needs to make. A heel stable led by Cena can explode the collective minds of the wrestling world.

Opponents who say the adults are going to cheer a heel Cena are not looking deep enough at the root cause of Cena being despised.

John Cena is despised mainly because he wins all the time.

Case in point: Why are the Yankees the most hated team in baseball? Because they have 27 World Series Championships.

Turn John Cena heel not because the IWC wants it, but because it can breathe life into an industry that is slowly dying.

Reform the Corporation with John Cena as Its Leader

The best way to make John Cena's heel turn work is to create a monster heel stable around him.

Just ask Hulk Hogan how the nWo gave his heel turn that much more impact.

WWE projects, such as BA Star, can be promoted under the guise of the Corporation's agenda to end bullying.

John Cena can maintain his Make a Wish appearances even though he is a heel.

The Corporation can be total hypocrites when it comes to bullying and charity.

Use real-life frustrations from the PG Era fans to give the Corporation intense heel heat. Have them do intentionally bad segments to anger the fans. They can obsess with Twitter and interrupt segments for pointless tweets.

John Cena can use countless methods to get himself hated by everyone. He can "break" Ric Flair's record of 16 World Championships by doing some shenanigans with the WWE Championship.

Corporation members: John Cena as the leader, Brodus Clay as the enforcer, David Otunga as the lawyer, Drew McIntyre, Alberto Del Rio as the financier, Dolph Ziggler, Kelly Kelly and the Bella Twins as the trashy valets, John Laurinaitis as the empty suit and Michael Cole as the irritating mouthpiece.

Make Miz, Randy Orton, CM Punk, R-Truth, Zack Ryder and Sheamus the Top Faces

I will not go into depth on the specifics of why these men should be pushed.

But there is a concept I want to share with you.

I believe there needs to be more antiheroes in the WWE.

The concept of superheroes died when Hulk Hogan admitted to steroid use in the 1990s. Although John Cena is not on steroids, fans have rejected the idea of Superman.

Hence a reason why a superhero like Cena is booed. This is why the antihero needs to emerge as the prevalent force in the WWE.

This is why Stone Cold Steve Austin was so popular. Because he was a believable character.

CM Punk, Zack Ryder, and Miz are all believable characters. They have had real-life struggles to get to where they are right now. R-Truth, Randy Orton, and Sheamus are more larger-than-life characters but still maintain a sense of realism.

Bring Back Valets and Managers

Bringing back managers and valets will help the wrestlers get over with the fans.

Bobby the Brain Heenan was a brilliant manager who generated heat wherever he went.

His Hall of Fame induction proved that managers were vital back in the day.

Likewise, there are Divas who can be used as valets.

The Divas who are not good enough in the ring need to be valets until they develop their wrestling skills. Miss Elizabeth was the perfect valet for Macho Man Randy Savage.

Today, the art of the manager/valet has been revived. Rosa Mendes is a good valet for the Colons. Vickie Guerrero is a great manager since she gets lots of heel heat.

Look at the potential managers/valets who already work for WWE: Michael Cole, Vickie Guerrero, Teddy Long, Kelly Kelly, The Bella Twins, Dusty Rhodes—the list goes on and on!

WWE would be prudent to bring back the idea of the manager and valet to help wrestlers get over with the fans come 2012. Dolph Ziggler is a good example of how managers can help a wrestler's career.

Sign Samoa Joe, Matt Morgan and "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero from TNA

This was the third match out of the epic trilogy between Samoa Joe and CM Punk at Ring of Honor.

Samoa Joe is a guy who needs to move on from TNA.

WWE should sign him and get him into shape so he can debut by the end of 2012.

There are also some ex-WWE guys who were misused in their first stints, such as Matt Morgan and Pope.

Morgan is a giant with good mic skills and in-ring ability. Pope has fantastic mic skills and can play both heel and face roles.

While these guys are not available until their TNA contracts expire, WWE should strongly consider re-signing these guys as long as the cost is not too high. These three guys would be at least upper mid-card barring any backstage issues.

Make Mick Foley as Raw GM, Triple H as COO and Booker T as SmackDown GM

John Laurinaitis as Raw GM has been an abject failure in terms of entertainment value.

CM Punk was right when he said the Funk Man accomplished so much with so little.

Funk Man is horrible on the mic and has no charisma.

He draws the go-away-heel heat wrestlers try their hardest to avoid. Funk Man can be used as the corporate stiff in the Corporation just to give him some kind of role he can thrive in.

Teddy Long as SmackDown GM has run its course. Long has done a great job as GM, but he should get back into managing. Booker T can replace him on the Blue Brand.

Triple H can be the Kayfabe owner of the WWE. Mick Foley can make Raw raw again. Booker T can make SmackDown an epic show. The GM roles are perfect for Foley and Booker, as their in-ring careers are fading. Triple H is the clear successor to Vince McMahon in reality.

It would be interesting theater to see Triple H as COO feud with the Corporation on Raw.

Better yet, Triple H can turn heel by aligning with them. Mick Foley feuding with Cena would be very intriguing, as they have formed an alliance.

On SmackDown, Booker T can deal with volatile personalities such as Mark Henry and Randy Orton on the top of the food chain.

Can you dig it, sucka?

Shake Up the Announce Teams on Both Raw and Smackdown

Raw

Jerry Lawler as a face is a good commentator.

Jerry Lawler as a heel is the greatest color commentator ever.

This man was pure entertainment. Take his son's match with Taka Michinoku as an example (Parts 1 and 2).

However, Lawler has done this for many years now. Rumor has it that he wants to stop announcing.

If Lawler truly wants to retire, take a chance on the Road Dog Jesse James. Then again, the Road Dog isn't exactly the most PG candidate. Mick Foley can do color commentary if James can't handle PG constraints.

Shifting back to the play-by-play side of things, Vince McMahon needs to convince Joey Styles to go back to the announcer booth.

Styles is the best play-by-play guy not named Jim Ross in the company today.

Regardless of whom they hire, bring in a commentator fans WANT to listen to. Jim Ross would be a great play-by-play guy, but his health just won't allow him to appear each week.

SmackDown

Josh Matthews and William Regal can be a dynamic team on the Blue Brand.

Matthews fits the mold as a basic play-by-play guy who knows his role and shuts his mouth.

Regal has a unique perspective on the matches as shown on NXT. He can play the snobby heel color commentator role to perfection while enlightening the audience on wrestling maneuvers.

Call Up the Talented FCW Wrestlers and Demote the Wrestlers Who Need Work

This is something that really baffles me.

WWE seems to keep the wrestlers ready to wrestle such as Seth Rollins in the WWE at FCW while calling up wrestlers such as Minimum Wage Batista (Mason Ryan) way too early.

Good mic skills or a good look should not be a prerequisite for wrestlers to get called up to the main roster.

After all, half the wrestlers already on there couldn't talk even if a recording came out of their mouth.

Passable wrestling skills should be the only prerequisite for wrestlers to get called up to the main roster. Countless FCW guys are spectacular in the ring while being unrefined on the mic.

Why not give them a shot at the main roster?

The worst thing that can happen is they can't handle the bright lights.

Get Rid of Some of the Gimmick Pay-Per-Views and Re-Brand PPVs

WWE's experiment on creating gimmick pay-per-views has ultimately backfired.

It hinders the range of match stipulations a feud can have.

For example, let's take the great feud between John Cena and CM Punk.

At SummerSlam, they could have had a memorable ladder match. However, the ladder match stipulation was not a viable option because of the presence of ladders at TLC and Money in the Bank.

The only two pay-per-view gimmicks which should stay are Elimination Chamber and Money in the Bank, as they are fairly successful.

Merge Hell in a Cell and Vengeance together into Halloween Havoc.

Halloween Havoc can take place around Halloween time as a re-branded pay-per-view. Replace Capitol Punishment with King of the Ring. Have the King of the Ring get a title shot at SummerSlam. Replace Over the Limit with Judgment Day.

Replace TLC with Undisputed. Undisputed is a concept where the WWE Champion faces the World Heavyweight Champion and the Intercontinental Champion faces the United States Champion.

Fans will pay money to see Daniel Bryan vs. CM Punk and Zack Ryder vs. Cody Rhodes.

Have an Annual Cruiserweight Tournament at the End of the Year

Since the WWE is not interested in bringing back the Cruiserweight Division, they might as well try to have a tournament just for Cruiserweights.

This can get talented wrestlers on TV. The weight limit is 225 pounds.

In order to make this a unique tournament, the participants must have never won a World Championship before.

This ensures that the tournament is not overrun by main event guys.

The tournament layout is pretty simple. It is a 16-man tournament starting in October.

Have two rounds of elimination matches on Raw and SmackDown leading up to Undisputed to whittle it down to four wrestlers.

At Undisputed, have a four-man ladder match with a contract for a title shot at the Royal Rumble.

Sounds good, right?

Yes. Trent Barretta can win this tournament and become WWE Champion.

Okay. Maybe this isn't such a good idea.

Have More Backstage Brawls

Remember the good ole days when Booker T and Stone Cold Steve Austin had a brawl at a church?

Remember when the Rock threw Stone Cold off a bridge?

Remember when CM Punk and Triple H had a nice chat at the Comic Con?

Remember the last time when there was a major backstage brawl in the WWE? Because I sure don't.

WWE should consider utilizing brawls outside the ring to help push storylines. The Zack Ryder vs. Dolph Ziggler feud was enhanced by the fight in the hotel room.

WWE needs to have more entertaining feuds. It is like people either change the channel or go to sleep when an uninteresting feud appears on the TV screen.

Something more needs to make these types of feuds interesting and less predictable.

For example, a brawl somewhere like in a hotel or airport between Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk could have helped that feud intensify going into Survivor Series.

Besides, wouldn't it be awesome to see a massive brawl between the heels and the faces on Raw backstage?

Make WWE More Unpredictable and Create More Surprises

This is something I commend TNA for doing.

Although the booking and the storyline creation is not the greatest, there is one thing I love about TNA.

You don't know what's going to happen next in TNA.

In WWE, it's almost like you know what's going to happen before it happens.

For example, Elimination Chamber was the most predictable pay-per-view in a long time. We all knew John Cena would win the Raw elimination chamber. We all knew Edge and Miz would retain their respective titles.

That's the biggest problem with the WWE today. It is just too predictable.

Why buy a pay-per-view or watch a TV show if you can easily predict what is going to happen?

Yes, the journey is as important as the destination.

However, WWE must make that destination harder to predict. This means more swerves to make people want to watch your product.

To be fair, nobody expected Nexus to destroy the ring and revolutionize Raw. Nobody expected Daniel Bryan to be World Heavyweight Champion by the end of 2011. Nobody knew what was going to happen in the John Cena vs. CM Punk match at Money in the Bank.

WWE needs more unpredictability in their shows. Unpredictability equals entertainment.

Conclusion

Some of these ideas I presented are already happening right now.

Some of my ideas propose an overhaul.

But all of these ideas will benefit WWE not just in 2012 but also for many years to come.

I believe the WWE has their best days ahead of them as long as they continue to focus on what works. I just want to see WWE get even better.

Follow me on Twitter and become a fan.

Thanks for reading!