WWE should take a cue from the reality TV craze - Mat Matters - World Wrestling Entertainment Inc - Brief Article - Column

Wrestling Digest, April, 2003 by Alex Gordon

WITH WWE'S TELEVISION ratings shrinking smaller and smaller, it's time Vince McMahon looked around the dial for some ideas from other programs to help boost his promotion's numbers. And where better to borrow ideas from than the current reality craze? I always like to do someone a favor when I can, so, Vince, here's a heads-up on some gimmicks to spice up "Raw" and "Smackdown."

* All the wrestlers who lose a match on a designated night must then spend a month living together in a luxury apartment with their every move recorded, edited, and broadcast. Just imagine the fireworks when Triple H is caught eating from the peanut butter jar with his fingers.

* Rather than just having referees serving as window dressing, hire "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell to wear the zebra stripes and offer his biting witticisms about the wrestlers' moves and mic skills. Just think how much more fun it would be to hear snarky quips like, "That ankle lock was extraordinary. Unfortunately, extraordinarily bad" or "I can honestly say you are the worst tag team in America."

* Mixed amid the superstar wrestlers in a baffle royal is Joe Jobber, a struggling construction worker posing as a millionaire heavyweight champion. When Joe gets pinned, he reveals his secret, and the wrestlers still in the ring have the choice of accepting him into WWE or battering him with folding chairs. The actual Joe Millionaire, Evan Marriott, even attended pro wrestling school, so he'd be a natural for the role.

* To reduce roster clutter, at the end of each episode, the squared circle council meets to vote a wrestler off the program.

Then again, WWE could always just present thrilling, action-packed matches featuring charismatic characters. But who would want to watch that?