By Shawn Valentino, PWTorch Specialist

WWE was recently listed as one of the top 200 small companies. Even with wrestling being in a slow period, the company has developed enough revenue streams to be in good financial shape. One of the most mysterious things in wrestling in recent years is why WWE does not make its house shows more appealing. If they take a few steps to making the house show circuit more important, it could result in a significant increase in business.

I am a fan who will always attend WWE television tapings such as Raws and PPVs, but never get motivated to go to other events. Miz and Morrison winning the tag team titles in a recent event may be a step towards the company giving the house shows more gravitas. This week, we will examine some ideas to make house shows more important.

Localized promos

One of the lost art forms of wrestling over the last 20 years has been the localized promo. When I watched the early morning weekend shows in the late eighties, superstars would cut promos about their upcoming matches in local venues. Although I was too young to go to shows by myself, I would get excited about these events and felt the matches had something on the line. This was largely due to the interviews that made these battles appear to have some consequence.

WWE could easily take five minutes out of their show to do localized promos when they are heading to a city and this would likely motivate some apathetic fans to attend the events. They can have their superstars mention the arena they are fighting in and how much it means to them to defeat his opponent in that city. It puts the event over as a worthy spectacle and puts the city over as a place where something big can happen.

Have superstars wrestle less on television

A huge problem in wrestling in general is the over-exposure of top wrestlers. About 20 years ago, the top star in the company would rarely wrestle on television and when he did, it would seem like a huge event. Fans would have to await PPVs and house shows to see these main eventers fight. It not only made the wrestler appear more important, it would also train fans on the idea that they have to pay to see them.

Guys like John Cena should not wrestle more than once a month on television. When viewers can watch top talent every week for free, it waters down the significance of their matches. If they are shown less on free television, then it would make their appearance on house shows a bigger deal and fans may be more inclined to attend them.

House show reports on Raw and Smackdown

The local events WWE puts on generally have little sense of consequence because we rarely get a glimpse of what takes place on the circuit. If the company would take a few minutes each week to showcase highlights from the weekly shows and how they differ from the programming displayed on television, then it may get fans more excited about them.

There is always some type of useless filler segment that plagues the eyes of viewers. If WWE would use their precious television time to hype the house shows and have announcers talk about them as worthy events, then people will see them as more than just shows where nothing of any magnitude takes place.


Tie house shows into storylines

While storyline consistency is not WWE's forte to begin with, a large reason that house shows seem meaningless is because they are not tied into the weekly plots in any significant manner. If there are occasional happenings on these shows, then people may see them as events that some type of breaking story can take place. A perfect recent example of this would be when JBL attacked Eddie Guerrero's mom during their 2004 program to set off the feud they would have in ensuing weeks. There is too much of a disconnect between the weekly programming and the live events. If they were intertwined in some fashion with special advancements occurring at house shows then fans may feel they will be treated to a memorable moment.

Occasional title changes

First of all, for title changes on house shows to be considered a major event then the belts need to be treated with more respect on television. If championships change hands less frequently, and the idea of holding them gains more meaning, then a title loss on a house show could be presented as huge deal. When Miz and Morrison won the tag titles at the recent house show, I was not even aware of who had he titles to begin with.

If WWE was more disciplined in rebuilding the significance of their belts, then a championship match at a house show could excite the fanbase. Of course, if a belt is exchanged at one of these events, they can show footage in their weekly reports and announcers can relay to fans that anything can happen at a WWE house show. If they give the house show circuit a can't-miss-feel that they attempt on Raw and Smackdown, then fans may see the events as a worthy opportunity to see something special happen.

Please seed questions, comments and feedback to valentino.torch@gmail.com

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