Outside Interference — Rob Sklarz
WWE Needs A Commissioner
There is an imbalance of power in World Wrestling Entertainment. The Forces of evil abound and there is no force for good to keep them in check. Let’s take a look at who’s running the shows now and ideas on how to level the playing field.
Power Struggle? There’s always a power struggle in wrestling between the heels and the babyfaces. The heels appropriately, for drama’s sake, usually have a slight advantage but right now babyfaces in WWE don’t stand a chance. All three brands are ruled by heel GM’s who delight in making life miserable for our heroes. They also seemingly have the full support of the Chairman of the Board. This kind of one sided fight isn’t very much fun and WWE needs a new sheriff to reign in the GM’s and give the babyfaces a fighting chance.
Raw Brand William Regal used to be a fairly restrained General Manager. He slightly favored the heels but would usually do whatever was best for the brand overall. That all changed in the King of the Ring Tournament. Regal not only orchestrated his own KOTR victory but became drunk with power upon his coronation. In this case it seems no one is safe from his tyranny as he has managed to enrage faces, heels and fans alike. Regal will not stand for any sort of disrespect from anyone. If a wrestler gets in his face he may put him up against another brands entire roster. If the fans chant “Regal sucks” he will pull matches off the air midway through. In his most heinous move yet, Regal excused Jim Ross and forced Raw’s audience to listen to a match called by Mike Adamle (shudder). Regal’s reign of terror has only just begun.
Smackdown Brand Ever since Teddy Long’s heart attack at the alter, Smackdown has been ruled by Vickie Guererro. Why Long didn’t get his job back upon his return has never really been explained but all of Smackdown and it’s fans have suffered for it. Vickie started out as a pretty fair minded and straightforward GM until she was seduced by Edge and became the “love of his life”. Now every decision she makes is designed to benefit Edge and undermine his opponents. There is clearly a conflict of interest here but at this point no one has called her on it. Her biggest and most controversial decision yet came when she stripped The Undertaker of his World Heavyweight Championship. One glimmer of hope is that Teddy Long remains lurking nearby and could be planning a big power play.
ECW Brand ECW General Manager Armando Estrada hasn’t been quite as controversial as his Raw and Smackdown colleagues. He does however have a mean streak and seems to view his roster as his personal toybox. He made life a living hell for Colin Delaney, first by putting him in the ring with monsters every week and then by denying him an ECW contract. Sure he gave Colin chances but always with the deck stacked decidedly against him. He has favored Chavo Guererro in his conflicts with CM Punk and Kane and let’s the other GM’s use his competitors as mercenaries for hire.
Chairman Of The Board When Vince McMahon appeared on Raw last Monday, after being MIA for several weeks, WWE fans surely thought he was there to put Regal in his place. Regal had blacked out the end of the main event on the previous Raw and Mr. McMahon had been informed of a fan backlash which he must know is bad for business right? Wrong, Mr. McMahon gave Regal his full support and endorsement. Mr. McMahon has also allowed the other GM’s to run roughshod over their rosters and it’s clear that he will not be the one to stop them.
The Solution WWE creative cannot allow the heels to rule unchallenged on all three brands forever. Fans love those moments when an out of control authority figure gets his comeuppance. Right now there is no one to fill that role. I propose a new WWE commissioner with authority over all three brands and free of the authority of Mr. McMahon. Linda McMahon could show up on behalf of the board of directors and announce the position. I would use the new commissioner sparingly, only having him show up when things get really out of hand. I could think of several candidates to fill this role, the recently retired Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Roddy Piper, Mick Foley or even Stone Cold Steve Austin. As the first order of business I recommend that the commissioner immediately fire Jonathan Coachman and Mike Adamle.
– Rob Sklarz
Sklarz@aol.com
(5/8/08)
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