Creating an Alternative

[Mr_Danger]

Real Camp Wrestling. Follow a carny crew of 6 wrestlers and their promoter as they rumble their way through the summer season at some of the UK's most prestigious seaside holiday resorts. Love triangles with Brenda the barmaid at Skeggy, drunk toothless punters trying to get in the ring at Fleetwood, angry mum's kicking off because the boys won't sign foam hammers because the promoter is pushing a posters only policy on autographs dow Porthmadog. It'll have everything the British public wants from a modern entertainment product.*

 

 

 

*wrestling is strictly prohibited obviously.

[King Pitcos]

I think that’s the winner. Ibiza Uncovered but with wrestlers going round Butlins is something I’d watch for sure.

[BomberPat]

One of two ways - either a more legitimate sports presentation, as most people have already suggested; by which I don't mean early ROH indy wank black trunks, kneepads and head drops - I'm far more concerned with the style of presentation than with the style of wrestling. It's presentation and window dressing that counts.

Frame it as something between Memphis Wrestling and Match of the Day. The beauty of classic Memphis TV was the studio format, as everything flowed perfectly from segment to segment; Jimmy Hart would manage a tag team in a squash match, then immediately walk over to the announcer/host table for an interview with Lance Russell, which would be interrupted by Jerry Lawler, which would set up the next angle. The only time they would break from that format would be to throw to highlights or one big match from a previous show. 

Modernise that format with a more TV-friendly studio/pundit set-up. Have a set of two or three regular pundits/hosts, separate from the commentary team, and a revolving door of guests - managers, wrestling "legends", members of the roster, and so on. They'll discuss recent events, have wrestlers in to do interviews/promos, cut to highlights and occasional featured matches. It would look like a TV sports magazine show, but with more colour and excitement. No more than 90 minutes. Name wrestlers don't appear in-ring every week.
The majority of angles would take place either in-ring, or in the studio, with "backstage" angles being few and far-between - remove the need to ever ask, "why would a camera crew be already there filming this?". If there is ever a "X gets beaten down before the show" angle, film it on a mobile phone, allow it to "leak" on Twitter in the days prior to the show to build up some organic hype, then discuss as a breaking news event on the next episode.

@JNLister's point about emulating the looseness of ECW's format is key to me - WWE TV is so dull because it's so formulaic that it feels like you've seen everything before. Nothing's fresh, so breaking from convention will always stand out.

 

Otherwise, go in the exact opposite direction. Because wrestling doesn't need to present itself as a legitimate sport any more, and if somebody wants to watch something that looks like a legitimate combat sport, they can just watch UFC, why would they go to a wrestling promotion doing a pale imitation?
Instead, present wrestling as a live action comic book. Bright, colourful characters, clear cut goodies and baddies, storylines that rely on episodic storytelling, and on cliffhanger endings to keep you coming back for more. Make it clear that the promotion is "in on the joke", and remove any need for the "it's all fake, though, right?" criticism. 
In terms of demographic, you can take it one of three ways - the Lucha Underground faux-grindhouse look aimed at an adult audience, a focus on a young audience already hooked by superhero movies and cartoons (hell, throw in an exciting animated title sequence and you're laughing), or an ironic "too cool for school" Adult Swim vibe, presenting a post-modern take on tried and tested wrestling tropes for an audience you assume is already in the know.

[cobra_gordo]

Wacky Races meets wrestling. A bunch of colourful wrestling loonies, each with unique characters and cars customised to match race from point A to point B. The first to point B gets to wrestle the champion. Checkpoints and impromptu challenges and matches along the way.

[Accident Prone]

11 minutes ago, cobra_gordo said:

Wacky Races meets wrestling. A bunch of colourful wrestling loonies, each with unique characters and cars customised to match race from point A to point B. The first to point B gets to wrestle the champion. Checkpoints and impromptu challenges and matches along the way.

I swear something like this used to exist. I think TNA were involved and Jay Lethal had his own car. 

[Daaaaaad!]

That’ll be All Wheels Wrestling. Fascinating idea. Dunno if the pilots ever surfaced. 

[Accident Prone]

1 hour ago, Daaaaaad! said:

That’ll be All Wheels Wrestling. Fascinating idea. Dunno if the pilots ever surfaced. 

I knew I wasn't mad!

[cobra_gordo]

That's absolutely magnificent. Never heard of that before!

[Daaaaaad!]

The pilot is here:

on an account called 'KevinSullyTV.com', which suggest to me that Kevin Sullivan was involved. Which is marvelous.

[Your Fight Site]

2 hours ago, Daaaaaad! said:

The pilot is here:

on an account called 'KevinSullyTV.com', which suggest to me that Kevin Sullivan was involved. Which is marvelous.

A Kevin Sullivan, but not that Kevin Sullivan.

There’s a Kevin Sullivan that’s not the Taskmaster that does video production (which is the channel that video is on).

[Daaaaaad!]

Devastated  

[Jazzy G]

Your Kent Walton style World Of Sport presentation on the matches, but with studio based analysis and interviews etc. The commentator calls the match, the studio guys hype the other events, catch us up on angles etc. Some squash matches, sometimes it's guys wrestling for a chance to challenge for a title. A big show every 2-3 months (5 or 6 big events a year) where scores are settled, titles are defended etc. Tournaments to determine rankings, but then guys around each other in those rankings can wrestle each other to try and climb the ladder. Sometimes it gets personal, or a guy lower down the rankings will seemingly upset somebody who's much higher up. Any on air authority figure would be a Jack Tunny type who just makes decisions on big issues and is completely neutral. 

Title matches would be 2/3 falls to a finish. No outside interference. 

Edited April 30, 2019 by jazzygeofferz

[Carbomb]

100% agreed about the sports punditry bit. Have mentioned it before in other threads, but I would like something like a cross between the football pundit's room and the WWF Newsroom (was that what it was called?), especially as it was the setting for one of the best bits of on-the-fly booking ever seen, i.e. Mr. Perfect's comeback and face turn on Flair and Heenan to team with Savage within one episode. I loved how they integrated that side of things with the rest of the programme in the storylines.

Yes, I'm well aware that referring to something the WWF did doesn't sound like an alternative, but they haven't done it for years, at least not consistently, and it's something they dropped that they really should've kept or brought back. Same with the interviews on the dais by the crowd.

[elisarcabrera]

Of course many of the ideas here are only possible with a  TV series budget or a lot of investment. Be interesting to read your ideas for what might be possible for a small indie alternative.