So I get back from vacation earlier this weekend to find a message from my buddy Big Andy Mac from pulsewrestling.com:
"Freddie Prinze Jr. gets your old job, Estelle Getty passes, man its been a rough couple of weeks."
Now ya, the Estelle Getty thing was a total downer, but the Freddie Prinze thing made me laugh more than anything.
If you don't know why, then I have two words for you -- David Arquette.
Eight years ago, WCW reached out to a C-level celebrity to try to up their "mainstream cred" with the entertainment world. Though they made the horrific mistake of putting their World Title on the guy (something WWE probably isn't stupid enough to do with Prinze -- notice I said "probably), the overall lesson was simple: The thing that sells wrestling to a mainstream audience isn't celebrity crossovers or publicity stunts -- it's intriguing, charismatic WRESTLING characters who can thrill an audience.
The definitive crossover star was Mike Tyson, who helped usher in the Attitude era in 1998. But Tyson himself didn't create the boom in the wrestling business; sure he was a catalyst, but it was hot WRESTLING stars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and DX who led the business to new heights once the eyeballs brought by Tyson saw what WWE had to offer.
Fast forward 10 years to Prinze "joining the creative team," and I use that term loosely. Sure, maybe he'll give his opinion on a few things, and maybe Vince'll even throw him a few bones storyline-wise to make him feel a part of things. Personally I'd love to see him sit in on a few actual creative sessions, because his head would be spinning at how incredibly backwards this company's creative process is. But my guess is, he's just being used as an outlet to draw in Hollywood talent.
Yes, a guy whose greatest fame came 10 years ago is being used to cultivate a young, hip audience. Even more proof of how out of touch Vince is with society in 2008.
Anyway, Prinze being on the team will probably lead to at least a few interesting Hollywood crossovers, and there may even be a ratings bump from time to time. But what Vince and creative can't lose sight of is that these Hollywood types might bring in a few new eyeballs, but ultimately it's the wrestlers who make or break your company.
I doubt it'll be a David Arquette situation, where the appeal of the Hollywood crossover backfires and winds up swallowing the company whole. But hopefully there's a plan in place to utilize the name (?) talent to build some wrestlers up to carry the company to a new era of dominance.
And hey, if Freddie Prinze doesn't work, I hear Ed Begley Jr. might be available.
Comments (7)
What about Jason Hervey from the early WCW days? Hervey is still working with Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan to this day, so there is a time and place for Prinze in the wrestling business, especially if he is content on the other side of the camera from where he has been.
But I hope Freddie Prinze does not feel too passionately about his own ideas for his own sake because, like you've said, they are unlikely to see the light of day.
Someone sounds jealous...
You had your chance and failed. Let's see how Freddie does. Maybe he can come up with an angle involving two straight wrestlers acting gay and then they get married only to have a General Manager from a different brand come and officiate it and then have two other wrestlers beat up everyone involved...wait that doesn't make any sense and it sounds incredibly stupid...
You may or may not have written that wonderful angle but then what were you doing when those ideas were being pitched?
Yikes, what's up with the hostility? Seth here seems happy not working for the WWE, so I don't think this is a jealousy issue. Chill, people.
Besides, the Billy and Chuck wedding was one of the better segments of that period. It was certainly much more memorable than the other big angles of the era, and was a pretty good payoff.
Oddly enough, the Eric Bischoff reveal in that segment was a bit Scooby Doo. Maybe we'll see something similar with Prinze onboard.
I love the big, tough attitudes about Seth's time in creative from people who don't have the talent to ever get hired by creative. Damn 12-year-olds. Grow up.
And no, Freddie Prinze will not have a big impact on the creative process. Too many people have large egos where he will never get his ideas pushed unless others move in on them and mold them. I think they call it "That's a good idea Fred, now let me show you how it can be better so I can take credit..." I'd be surprised if he had any great ideas, but you never know.
Seth you talk about David Arquette and Tyson but how about this biggest one before Tyson:
DENNIS RODMAN!
I mean come on he was on a huge couple of ppv's with hogan but that was huge news in the world. This got lots of people to buy a ppv just to see what he was going to do. Just think about the Karl Malone & DDP vs Hogan & Rodman was huge ppv buyrate that year.
If WWE gives Prinze a chance, good things could happen. WWE doesn't hire creative people who know about wrestling. They hire creative people who know TV. The biggest roadblock is McMahon. If he's not willing to change his approach to how things are done in creative, then his product will continue to be stale. McMahon's micro-management often gets in the way of the talent. Just ask Mick Foley. Allegedly, he's already tired of McMahon yelling in his ear for two hours on Friday nights. With him selling Edge's attack for at least a week, I wonder if we'll see Foley out there sitting next JR again when he's "healthy".