Jonathan Coachman: Talent is "scared to death" to change one word of a promo

[BestSportsEntertainer]

https://twitter.com/thecoachrules/status/1338118824093130753


Talent is scared to death they will get in trouble if they change one word of a promo. Do you think @TheRock or @steveaustinBSR took a promo from a 23 year old writer and said "yep I will do this word for word". And if you can't talk you have NO shot at getting over. #practice

I doubt certain wrestlers going off the script would go too well with Vince. Maybe wrestlers should take more chances but I can't really blame them.

[Fire Marshall Bill]

It?s always been my biggest gripe about WWE. Give them bullet points and let them go. Sink or swim, the cream will rise.

[OYDK]

The real question is why WWE changed it's stance on these types of things to such a huge degree. I don't get the word-for-word scripts. Seems like a control thing.

Going off script probably doesn't work with McMahon anyway, even if you knocked it out of the park. The point isn't to give the best promo you can, it's to get the script over. At least that seems like the case nowadays.

[Storm Trooper]

Remember when The Rock and Mick Foley did the This Is Your Life sketch? That was a possible turning point for this. They went like 18 minutes long. That means you're cutting entire segments because 2 of the best at talking (who wouldn't get scripts) screwed up. A script helps with that. Even going a minute or 2 long means match-times get shrunk or segments are shortened, which messes with not just the rest of that show, but could mess with the long-term storytelling.



It isn't about what you say, it's about saying the right thing in the right amount of time. Timing is the most important, hence why there's more scripting. Yes Bullet points would be nice, but people still go long with bullet points. The best would be if a writer worked with a performer closely to get the words to sound like they're coming from the man himself.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Vince was upset until he saw it was one of the highest rated segments of all time.

[#AbsoluteUnit]

I wonder if it's in some of the talents' contracts to stick to scripted promos. Probably not, but that would be interesting.

[Ingonious]

I don't think McMahon would be mad at maybe a sentence change. How I view it is that if the original premise of the promo stays the same, it's fine.

[Y 2 Jake]

I think Vince McMahon would let a sentence change slide one week and go mental the week after.

[Jack-Hammer]

The overly scripted promos and Vince's obsession with having every single little thing his way have been two of WWE's key problems over the past decade.

Once upon a time, the WWE talent were given the chance to sink or swim based on their own merits, based on what they brought to the table. Go out there, do your thing and let's see how the fans respond. That's the way it used to be and that's the way it's supposed to be because, guess what, it worked. Now, Vince has basically tried to turn WWE TV programming into what's basically just a TV show with the wrestlers being athletic actors more than anything else. They come out, they speak to the fans but they're using the words given to them on a piece of paper. Hell, in a lot of cases, the script is written by Vince himself so it's as if many of them become little more than extensions of Vince himself.

A little before the WarGames TakeOver, a little something happened that reminded me once again of just how different the environs of the "main roster" and NXT are. Pat McAfee, who is a helluva lot of fun on the mic, was giving a promo and he stumbled slightly over a few words and called the Capitol Wrestling Center the Capitol Wrestling Arena. I remember thinking that if this had happened on Raw or SmackDown, Vince would have wigged out; I mean that old fucker would've started ranting and raving as if he'd been snake bit on the balls. I mean, he would've shit enough bricks to build a cathedral and have a few left over to inscribe a couple of fart jokes on. I think the old man has a touch of OCD or something as he feels he has to control, completely control just about anything and everything around him. Everything has to be in its place and exactly the way he wants.

The most unfortunate thing about it all is that there's not a damn thing anybody can do about it. Raw drew the worst numbers in its history, barely drawing an average of a bit over 1.5 million, and he'll be looking to take that out on someone. He controls what happens, he approves of the final script, or he writes it himself, with the wrestlers doing only what he tells them to do, yet he'll throw anyone and everyone else under the bus. When you have complete control the way he has, the way he insists on having it, then the buck has to stop with you. It's not gonna change so long as he's physically and mentally able to retain his position in WWE.

[Jack-Hammer]

https://twitter.com/thecoachrules/status/1338118824093130753



I doubt certain wrestlers going off the script would go too well with Vince. Maybe wrestlers should take more chances but I can't really blame them.

I'm reminded of Austin saying something similar, about how some wrestlers should step up, try to stand out, take chances on certain things. Hell, Vince himself will publicly claim the same thing but, as is often the case, look what happens when someone tries or if someone makes a mistake. It all depends on Vince's mood, which changes more than a $500 an hour escort changes her drawers. In the morning, Vince may be open to an idea you come up with. By that afternoon, when you go back to talk to him more about it, it's like talking to an alligator with your ballsack hanging 6 inches in front of him.

And God help some poor fool who makes a mistake. I think it was Braun Strowman a few years back who said he wanted a title opportunity in a promo and he was supposed ot say title match, I think. Vince's reaction backstage was as if Strowman whipped out his peter and gave Vince's mom a little slap with it on both cheeks.