The WWE is an interesting and unique brand of entertainment. Part circus, part sport, part sitcom, part variety show and part drama. Nearly every aspect of any kind of TV show that is available for consumption, from Saturday Night Live to the riveting action of an NBA game, is part of what goes into Monday Night Raw, Friday Night Smackdown, and the monthly WWE Pay Per Views (or "Special Events" as the WWE wishes them to be called now). Its always been fascinating to see how the WWE views its own product, because they can skew in so many different directions. They (and by they I mean Vince) likes to think that they are in the business of telling stories and views the WWEs weekly programming like a network drama or sitcom. His public statements on the subject also seem to suggest that he would rather his product not be viewed as resembling a sport in any shape or fashion, unless it is convenient (like when touting the fact that their DVD/Blu-Ray sales are tops in the sports category). The truth is that most of their programming more resembles a sketch comedy show, with a bunch of unrelated segments getting mashed together, some working and some not working, but when a segment hits, it makes the whole show seem worthwhile, not unlike SNL in recent years. It seems that the WWE could stand to try introducing more of the elements of sport into their programming, by having clearly defined rules and regulations, and a stronger structural foundation for their shows. The drama of sport is so conducive to they type of storytelling the WWE should be in the business of focusing on. Youd need to test out such sweeping changes of course, and where better to do so than on NXT. While NXT might be the most enjoyable hour of WWE TV each week, it suffers somewhat from coming across as Raw-Lite, with more outlandish characters, but similar structure. NXT is filmed at Full Sail University and it would behoove the program to install a narrative structure that more resembles college athletics than a night at the improv. These changes would not only bring about a more sporting atmosphere on NXT, but will make the NXT brand feel different from that of Raw or Smackdown. This week well look into what the narrative structure could be like if you made NXT more like college sports and how they should go about implementing it. As always your thought and comments are welcomed and much appreciated, so feel encouraged to share in the comment section below. Now lets revamp NXT!
Matthew J. Douglas is an emerging screenwriter born in Toronto. A lifelong fascination with what makes a compelling story and the Toni Morrison quote "If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." led the often opinionated Matthew to the life of writer. Matthew is also a lifelong WWE fan, and a self diagnosed Reality TV Junkie.
