WWE Rumors: Three ‘SmackDown Live’ Superstars Allowed To Pitch Storyline Ideas
There has been plenty of criticism directed toward Vince McMahon and the WWE creative team in recent months as a result of underwhelming storylines and repetitive feuds.
While the internet community has criticized the company for years, average viewers appear to feel the same way as the diehard fan base as well — as evidenced by the plummeting television ratings in 2019.
The declining viewership — along with the mainstream emergence of All Elite Wrestling — has forced Vince and WWE officials to implement some major changes to proceedings. As The Inquisitr reported back in July, Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff were hired as executive directors of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live, respectively, with the aim of overseeing each show’s creative direction.
Another measure taken by the company to enhance the product has been allowing some of the most trustworthy talent to pitch their own storylines. Citing the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Ringside News reports that three SmackDown Live superstars have been pitching their own storyline ideas to the creative team.
Per the report, Kevin Owens, Daniel Bryan, and Shane McMahon “pitch most of their stuff to the writers.” In addition to suggesting their own storylines, the report claims that this trio of performers are the only ones who the company’s writers actually listen to.
As the son of the company chairman and a backstage official in his own right, it’s unsurprising to learn that Shane O’Mac has some creative pull in the company.
The 49-year-old daredevil has faced much criticism lately for taking up too much airtime on the shows, so perhaps his input is to blame for McMahon being such a focal point of the televised product.
Kevin Owens will quit WWE if he can’t beat Shane McMahon at SummerSlam https://t.co/73jwTOG22h pic.twitter.com/QRWnKxpunj
— Cageside Seats (@cagesideseats) July 23, 2019
Kevin Owens also appears to be on his way to filling the void left behind by C.M. Punk. On a July episode of SmackDown Live, he cut a scathing shoot promo on Shane McMahon and his powerful position within the company. It’s pretty clear that the company trusts him to go off the script and be creative.
In Bryan’s case, he’s a well-established main event talent who’s more than proven himself capable of delivering compelling storylines throughout the years.
He also has a reasonable amount of creative control over how he’s used in storylines, which was a key stipulation for him agreeing to a new contract earlier this year, as noted by Wrestling Rumors.
If WWE writers listened to more of their performers’ ideas, the product would be more interesting to watch for fans who’ve lost interest of late.
