5. ...But Be Prepared To Be Told Who Your Stars Are
Nowadays it seems ridiculous to think of Iron Man as a second string superhero - but thats exactly what he was, prior to 2008: a B+ player. Now Tony Stark is a household name, actually more famous than the Iron Man superhero identity he takes on. Its no exaggeration to say that a lot of Marvels plans for the future became a lot more concrete as soon as the box office for that film started rolling in. Daredevil too was a surprise sensation for them: they had all four Defenders Netflix series planned out, to be followed by a Defenders team-up mini-series. When Daredevil hit big, a second season was quickly slotted into that schedule. Now that Netflix-Marvels second show, Jessica Jones, is turning heads just as fast as its predecessor, theyre left with a decision as to whether they postpone The Defenders until after a possible second season there, too. These are all B+ players, mid level characters that are suddenly reaching a mainstream audience and levelling up because they got over. WWE dont like to be told who their most popular stars are. In fairness, its the single biggest issue in pro wrestling booking, and has been for decades: bookers clinging to their ideas and their favourites, flying in the face of any evidence that suggests that its not working. Back in the day, blindly pushing the wrong man in the wrong spot could kill the territory. Traditionally, this was due to nepotism: the booker would have this kid, a kid with little talent and less interest in developing some, but somehow this kid would end up pushed to the moon, over and above established talents who were both talented and over. Look at Bill Watts kid Eric, taken out of training early and given a shove rather than a push - or Verne Gagnes son Greg, a capable but dull worker who had a completely undeserved rocket to the main event. Nick Gulas did likewise with his son George, who was by far the worst of the three: not only was George not over, but Nicks insistence at pushing him at a top level damaged the territory so much that it split NWA Mid-America in two. Jerry Jarrett abandoned the Gulas family to form the CWA, and Nick and George officially retired shortly afterwards when neither could get work in the business anymore. Nowadays, its not like Shano Mac is back and in a feud for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship but the McMahon-Helmsley faction (cant quite believe thats a real thing, fifteen years later) have their favourites, and a tendency to go LALALALA WE CANT HEAR YOU when the crowd overwhelmingly votes them off the island. Worse, as Ive already discussed, they ignore the audience when they actually have a favourite they want to see more of: thats literally throwing money and credibility away.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
