by Eoghann Irving 
Exclusive to OnlineOnslaught.com

While the WWE is obviously a wrestling company, its product is really powered by storylines not wrestling. Obviously solid wrestling skills are going to help you a lot, but fundamentally it's about the character. That's why Chris Benoit is always on the edge of the main event, and Angle is usually in it.

The WWE picks wrestlers that it thinks have a certain "something." Exactly what that something is, nobody knows. It's not as though the WWE's track record at picking winners is particularly good after all. However, for the purposes of this discussion, it really doesn't matter why they pick who they pick. It could be anyone, so long as they can play the role assigned to them. The one thing that the writers have no control over is the wrestler's charisma. Either they have it, or they don't. `

But no matter how charismatic the wrestler, he still needs some material to work with. He needs a character, a role and preferably a storyline, and that's where the writers come in to give the wrestler his push.

I can see you tapping your foot as you read this and muttering… "Yeah, yeah, I know that." Stay with me, I'm about to get to the point. If you read any of the forums on the wrestling sites you're likely to see comments about how a certain character has been "buried." These statements are usually followed up with the sentiment of how the character is irretrievably damaged and will never be taken seriously again. Well I say nonsense. Given the setup that the WWE has, you can push any wrestler back to being taken seriously within a period of 8 weeks.

Why 8 weeks in particular? Well you could force the issue and do it in less time, but it won't be credible. Wrestling viewers have short memories, but not that short, 4 weeks is really only 4 matches for the wrestler. That's not very long to re-establish them. Eight weeks is more practical and also, though not coincidentally, is a good length of time over which to run a feud ending up at a PPV.

Now while I claim that you can push a wrestler to credibility in 8 weeks, there are some limits. You can't for example push Spike to be a credible challenger for the World Heavyweight Title Belt, because it goes against the "rules" of the WWE. If every other promo and match is showing you that big guys beat the little guys, the notion of a 150lb guy winning the Heavyweight belt is never going to be credible no matter what you do with the man.

You could however take Spike and turn him from regular jobber to serious Cruiserweight contender. Alternatively you could take a man like RVD, who's essentially in tag-team limbo right now, and push him to challenge for the Heavyweight belt. Both of these could be done in 8 weeks, and they would both be done using essentially the same steps.

 
Week 1 — Motivate the Wrestler
As I've already mentioned, the WWE is story- and character-driven. If someone is going to become a serious contender, they need to have a reason for their dramatic change in behavior. There are a number of ways you can provide that motivation (and maybe even entertain the audience in the process).

One possibility is simply to give the wrestler a personal grudge against the current titleholder. It had better be a good grudge, though. Stealing the guy's sandwiches from the fridge just isn't up to the job. Now if the title-holder mocked your wrestler for being worthless and never amounting to anything, that's the sort of thing that can get under your skin, can make you focus like never before. Audiences will believe that.

Here's an example of how it might play out in week one. Let's say that Funaki has one of his traditional (and actually rather good) jobber matches to BigGuyOfTheWeek™. Funaki of course loses, since that's what he's been employed to do. Now say that Matt Hardy (who just happens to be the current cruiserweight champion) has a conversation with Funaki after his loss. Matt commiserates with Funaki and says it's a real shame he has no Mattitude, he obviously just doesn't have it in him to amount to anything. I'd say that'd piss Funaki off enough to justify what comes next.

 
Week 2 — Give Him a Credible Win
Now that you've established a motive for the wrestler's new dedication, you have to show how that impacts the wrestler in the ring. The simplest way to do that is to give him a win. This should be a short match with the bulk of the offence coming from our wrestler. Not an outright squash but with our wrestler the undoubted winner. So you feed him a jobber, not a big name on your roster. At this point you don't do anything more than at most nod to the cause of the sudden change. Perhaps only a recap or an exchange of looks.

We'll stick with Funaki for our examples, but the principles could be applied to any wrestler whether heel or babyface. Let's say that Funaki comes stomping out; he isn't showing his usual smiling likeable persona. He barely acknowledges the crowd. He hammers his opponent, Jobber #1, in a 5-minute match, getting a convincing win. He leaves the ring with no celebration, and in the hallway he passes Matt Hardy. The two exchange a look, then Funaki walks away.

 
Week 3 — The Second Win
The second win should be different from the first. The first was almost a squash. It showed the wrestler was determined and focussed, but it didn't showcase real skill. This time you want to put him up against a name. Not a top name, but someone with some credibility. You also want the match to be longer and for it to be more even. This shows the wrestler's tenacity and drive to win.

Let's put Funaki against Tajiri. He's not a top name, but he has the skill to put on a solid match with Funaki. Give them a 10-minute match during which they both come close to winning, but Funaki finally gets the pin. After the match Funaki stays for a moment to celebrate, then leaves.
 

Week 4 — Call out Your Enemy
Now is the time to really kick the feud into gear. The wrestler has established his credentials; he has motivation, and he's shown he can win. So have him call out his opponent and challenge him. The challenge should of course be rejected at this point, which just serves to spur the wrestler on further. It's also a good point to throw in a few fisticuffs between the wrestlers, just to keep the crowd hyped.

Funaki comes to the ring, he's looking more like his relaxed self again, smiling and cheerful. He grabs the microphone and starts to speak. He quickly recaps what Matt Hardy said to him and his two wins in the last two weeks. He goes on to call out Matt Hardy, demanding a one on one match. Hardy comes out, with title belt of course, and explains how the cruiserweight champion only wrestles worthy opponents. As Hardy starts to turn away from Funaki, Funaki lets lose with a couple of blows, knocking Hardy flat. Funaki then leaves the ring.

 
Week 5 — Payback
This is when things really begin to build. Our wrestler is looking pretty good, and his opponent is pretty damn mad. So what does the opponent do? He calls in his friends for a bit of assistance. One of the easiest ways to do this is simply a backstage beating. If your wrestler is a face, you can have them beaten up by their opponent and his friend; or if he's a heel, you can have HIM beat up the opponent and his friend.

An alternative to that is the ubiquitous run-in. I'm not a fan of run-ins in general, but this is a circumstance where they're quite well suited. Essentially what happens is that your wrestler is engaged in a match against someone when his feud opponent and a friend interfere to cost your wrestler the match.

Funaki is facing Jamie Noble; the two are relatively evenly matched. It looks like Funaki may be gaining the upper hand, when suddenly Matt Hardy comes down the ramp. As Funaki turns to look at Hardy, Shannon Moore slides in to the ring from behind and takes down Funaki, leaving him open for Noble to pin.
 

Week 6 — Tag Team Time
Of course this isn't a real tag team. It's just a temporary team-up to further the feud. You pick another appropriate wrestler to team with your guy and then put him against his feud opponent and partner. The most important thing here is for your wrestler to get the pin. Depending on how you want to play things (under-dog… dominant force etc.) the pin could be against the feud opponent himself or against his partner.

Funaki and Billy Kidman face Matt Hardy and Shannon Moore. After a hard-fought match, Funaki finally manages to pin Shannon Moore. Despite winning, he's still never managed to beat Matt Hardy. The title belt is still out of reach.

 
Week 7 — Re-issue the challenge
Once again the wrestler should issue his challenge. How this plays out depends on whether your wrestler is a face or a heel. If he's a face, then his opponent tries to avoid the match by saying he'll only put his title on the line if your wrestler can beat a challenger of his choosing.

On the other hand, if your wrestler is a heel, then his opponent is eager to face him by this stage. However, his friend steps forward instead, and your heel wrestler is left with no choice but to wrestle him or look like a coward. Either way, you have match between your wrestler and his opponent's friend. The match should be of decent length and fairly close. But of course, your wrestler will eventually win.

Funaki comes down to the ring smiling and listing his recent successes. He issues his challenge to Matt Hardy again and waits for a response. Hardy appears, but stays on the ramp. He says that, sure, he'll defend his title, but only if Funaki proves he's worthy. If Funaki can beat Shannon Moore one on one, then Matt will defend his title belt.

The match with Shannon Moore is close; Funaki manages to get a pin on Shannon, when Matt interferes pulling Shannon from the ring. Despite this interference, Funaki overcomes the obstacles and finally wins the match, setting up his title bout with Matt Hardy the following week.

 
Week 8 — The Match
This is the easiest bit. The last 7 weeks have set up the feud so that the crowd cares. Your wrestler has plenty of credibility: all you have to do now is decide who wins.

So there you have it. How to push a wrestler, any wrestler, in 8 weeks. This basic formula will work for heels or faces with only minor alterations. It can be stretched out a little longer if necessary, just with a little promo padding one week. It can be shrunk somewhat but only at the cost of weakening the build-up to the feud.

If the chosen wrestler has a modicum of charisma and some basic in-ring talent, then this 8-step plan will have the crowd cheering or booing him as desired. It's also flexible enough that you could use the same basic plan in dozens of different ways simply by playing into whatever gimmick the wrestler has in their promos.

So now I've proved my case; I don't want to hear ever again that a wrestler is buried and can't be saved. It can be done in 8 weeks!

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