Executive Director of WWE RAW and SmackDown Bruce Prichard discussed the final months of 2002 in WWE on a recent episode of Something To Wrestling. Here are the highlights:
Potentially setting Shawn Michaels up for failure:
“I think audience wanted to see triumph Shawn. Here he came back when we didn’t expect him to come back. As a fan, as a promotion or anything else and he tells us ‘oh, I’m not what I use to be.’ Nobody wants to hear that. They wanna hear what you’re going to do. I want that guy that I use to love. I already know you’re not the guy that was there in 1995, 1997 whatever it was. I know you’re not that same guy, but at least give me hope tell me ‘I’m gonna dust the boots off’ instead of ‘aw, I’m the shits..’ Which is not what the audience wants to hear from them.”
The product becoming “too inside”:
“They will never forget Katie Vick. I wish they would. Go back in time and erase that one, folks. Lost your smile was part of Shawn’s legacy and that was something used a lot during the time Shawn competed after he said it that was fodder. The Katie Vick stuff and the show its self, I’m just not a big fan of saying ‘yeah this really sucks’ or ‘this isn’t what it use to be.’.. When you tell me that, why would I want to stick around? Maybe I’m feeling that way, but I don’t know how to express it but then my favorite star expresses it then I go ‘hmm, maybe he’s right.’ That gives me ammunition to not watch again. Not good in my mind.”
Changing Val Venis to Chief Morley:
“One of the strongest characters that people remember is Val Venis. Unfortunately, everything that we said about Val Venis day one came to fruition. That a porn star character doesn’t have longevity. It’s not something you’d be able to do for years and years and years down the road. Unfortunately, that came true. We tried to reinvent him with Godfather, Lisa and Stevie we tried to do that. Sean Morley is an entertaining guy in himself, but I think when people looked at him they saw Val Venis and that was it.”
Rob Van Dam getting a World Title run in ’02:
“I think we were ready to try. I think we were ready to try with Rob. Rob was the guy from ECW that still had some steam and that the audience knew was new. Rob was unique and stood out from the pack. Yeah, why not try something new with Rob. I’m not sure if Rob had fully adapted to his new surroundings yet.”
If 2002 was a struggle:
“The answer is yes. I think it was a time where we had a lot of talent. I don’t know if the talent was in the right places. There was a sense of trying new. How do you present the talent? They all aren’t going to be hits.. It was a time of experimentation. Lets see if the crowd wants this and then give it to them.. It was a challenging time trying new things. We didn’t have Austin, we didn’t have Rock. It was challenging.”
You can check out the complete podcast below:
(h/t to 411mania for the transcription)
