RIGHT AND WRONG
Everyone is RAVING about the Piper's Pit segment on Raw, citing is as evidence that old-school characters like Roddy Piper have it all over today's crap performers.
That's incorrect.
Oh, Piper was BRILLIANT. He added more value to the WWE title by talking about it than any champion of the past 10 years has done by wearing it. He led John Cena and Wade Barrett around like dogs on leashes, and to great effect.
I was SO HAPPY for Roddy. I LOVED working with him in WCW. A real genuine person once you get to know him. BEST HEEL EVER.
But the reason that segment sparkled was because Roddy's lines weren't scripted. He know what to advance, and he advanced it within the context of the Roddy Piper character, which he knows much better than anybody else who could ever write words for that character.
I beat this drum A LOT, but it's a drum that needs beaten. WWE (and TNA) do things that are NOT a matter of opinion, NOT thinking outside the box, NOT a reasonable alternative. They're just WRONG.
Scripting promos word-for-word is WRONG. It sounds like everyone's speaking in the same voice.
Having a play-by-play man adopt a character is WRONG. His only job is storytelling.
Having a producer scream at the announcers through the headsets while they're working is WRONG. Tell me how that helps. It distracts.
Using shoot personal issues to fuel storylines is WRONG. Too subtle, sometimes too creepy.
Making sure every segment of TV has an angle, and that every performer has an angle, is WRONG. It saturates shows, and makes the audience sick of performers that aren’t compelling enough to be constantly involved.
You want to know why today’s wrestling sucks? There it is. Not only are promotions doing things that are WRONG, but perpetuating them as a matter of bad judgment or, more likely, being stubborn.
WWE might be paying lip service to loving Piper's Pit. But I hear they feel UPSTAGED. Might not be seeing Roddy for a while.
