9. A Tale Of The Tape
One idea to make matches seem more of a sport is to do away with Hollywood style vignettes before matches and instead feature a video that shows the wrestlers training for the match followed by a 'tale of the tape.' This would help get over the fact that the match is a physical competition. A video showing John Cena working out in the gym spliced with his opponent being shown boxing on a punch bag says more about the physical nature of wrestling than an over produced vignette does. The tale of the tape would then give the perception of competition, have it illustrate points such as weight, height and key information about statistics. The commentary team could then talk about these points and dissect the match as a contest rather than as a personal fight. It would be a bold move, personal rivalries have historically sold wrestling matches. However, if WWE are serious about long term selling of themselves as sport they need to take the personal feuds out and put the sporting contests in. Perception is everything.