5 productive things WWE can do while on a "hiatus"

If you're like me, and I know I am, you're probably getting weary of the non-stop coverage of the current worldwide health situation. After all, you're living it right now. But, with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting pretty much everything, including pro wrestling, it's hard to not mention it. In fact, it looks like the virus is possibly about to do the one thing nobody thought could ever happen.

It may just get WWE to shut down. Well... not forever. Just for a while.

That's right, the sports entertainment company that prides itself on declaring they have no "off-season" is possibly about to get an off-season. Rumors are flying that the biggest wrestling company in the world is going to take a break and not produce any shows for a bit. At least, not any that involve any new wrestling matches. No empty arena shows. No pre-taped on-location segments. Nada.

That doesn't mean that the company is just going to hide under a blanket and cry until this all goes away. They still have nearly ten hours of TV time on both cable and network television - hours those networks expect them to fill, lest they don't get the contracts for those hours renewed. Also, just because WWE isn't putting on wrestling matches doesn't mean they can't produce something original.

So, let's run down five ways WWE can fill their airtime, improve their company, and generally make use of this time off they may or may not see themselves having.

#5. Let their talent heal up

Maybe we can give some guys a rest so THIS won't be necessary

This may come as a shocker but pro wrestling is a tough business. It puts a lot of wear and tear on the human body. Compound that with the fact that nearly everybody on the roster is performing about 90% of any given year and you can imagine that any time off is a welcome relief.

For decades, fans, media, and industry figures alike have been clamoring for WWE to give their talent more time to rest, heal up, spend time with their families, and more. It's not as if the company refuses at all to give their performers extra time away from the ring - just not all at once. Unless it involves a serious injury, you're generally only going to see one, maybe two, wrestlers taking time off at any given moment.

So, a couple weeks - even a month - of time off, whatever the circumstances, can only be a good thing. Especially after a greuling WrestleMania season, as well as the stress this pandemic has put on everyone. Wrestlers can recharge their batteries, spend them with their families, and let some nagging injuries heal a bit more.

When it's time to come back, WWE will have an entire roster in much better shape and, more than likely, ready to get back on the road after being cooped up in their homes for who knows how long.

#4. Give new fans a chance to catch up

New fans are going to need more than this to catch up

Do you - or have you ever - read comic books? You ever open an issue of a series you're not familiar with and think "what in the Wide World of Sports is going on here?" WWE programming can be like that. It's part of the reason there's so little slow-burn, long term storytelling on their shows - they need people new to the product to be able to jump right in.

Now, what if WWE had two or three weeks of air time to help new fans catch up with their stories? Imagine a show where the company recapped the last couple of months of stories - and took their time to do it. You could still interview Superstars in their homes, via Skype or what have you. Or even do an on-location video shoot with minimal crew, if need be.

Obviously, you can't do shows like that forever. If things aren't cleared up after a while, WWE will either have to go back to empty arena shows again or simply suspend programming altogether. Until then, however, this is a fine time to help newcomers get acclimated with the stories WWE has been trying to tell - and maybe even connect the dots on some to events that have happened in the past in ways they weren't able to before.

I know they have This Week in WWE on the Network (they still have that, right?)

#3. Put more planning into future stories/events

The Otis-Mandy-Dolph story is one of the few very that have had weeks of build-up

One of the greatest/worst things about running a wrestling promotion is the ability to/necessity of having to book things on the fly. While WWE is able to switch around storylines and booking plans on a whim based on audience reaction, they can also find themselves having to make quick adjustments based on sudden injuries or "personal issues" (i.e. Wellness Policy violations).

Plus, when you have this much weekly content to produce, laying out a solid roadmap for a story gets kind of difficult. That's part of the reason you don't see a lot of long-term booking these days - there's almost always a monkey wrench getting thrown in there.

But, imagine if WWE had three, maybe even four, weeks of planning time. A month where they could be sure their performers wouldn't get injured or getting in trouble because they were all literally sitting at home? That's even plenty of time to think of contingency plans in case something does go wrong during an angle.

To paraphrase Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight, "think of all you could do with four or five weeks of clean streets."

Also, along those lines...

#2. Give Superstars a chance to pitch new ideas

Picture of Brodie Lee for no particular reason

You often hear of WWE wrestlers discuss how they would pitch idea after idea to Vince McMahon and his writing staff, only to have them rejected. Now, to be fair, there could be a number of legitimate reasons for that. Maybe the idea doesn't fit into their current story plans. Maybe it's just not feasible on a technical level. Or, maybe it's just not - horror of horrors - a very good idea?

I imagine, though, that a lot of the time, ideas get rejected because they're juggling a lot of ideas from both their teams as well as other Superstars, and they simply can't entertain them all. Why? No time. Writing and producing that much weekly content is a hectic proposition - especially when you know that your entire plan can be scrapped and redone by the boss at the last minute.

You give everybody a break for a while, however, and that's more time for the wrestlers themselves to get more involved in the creative process. Writers, producers - heck, even Vince himself - now have more opportunities to go over proposals and incorporate ideas from their performers they normally wouldn't because there normally just isn't enough time.

Fans will invest more in a pro wrestling angle when a performer is invested in the angle. This is the perfect opportunity to get performers invested in upcoming angles - because they'll have more of a say in them.

#1. Philanthropy

Say what you want about WWE as a company - and I'm sure you will and have - but, damn, they are all about charities. Is that out of a general sense of altruism or is it a cynical ploy to gain good PR point? Who cares? They're raising money for some damn fine organizations and, in the end, that's what matters. If I have a child with a life-threatening illness, and WWE wants to help raise money to find a cure, I don't give a crap if they're doing it to look better. I'm going to appreciate it either way.

Right now, the urgent medical need across the U.S. and the rest of the world is the coronavirus, its prevention and finding a vaccine for it. Former Microsoft chairman and head of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Bill Gates, for example, is funding the building of seven different factories to help produce a vaccine. And there's still a need for ventilators, Personal Protection Equipment, and more in states like New York and Louisiana.

This would be a prime opportunity for WWE to jump in and use their philanthropic expertise and help out.

YouTube, for example, has a "fundraiser" option for livestreams. Imagine, say, The New Day, watching and commenting on WWE matches for 24 hours, with people pledging money for coronavirus relief to keep them going. Imagine John Cena posting a Tik Tok dance video for every certain amount of money raised. Imagine Otis of Heavy Machinery posting a Tik Tok dance video for every certain amount of money raised. Imagine... OK, you get the idea.

Whatever WWE decides to do, we all hope that everyone in the company stays safe and healthy - just like we hope all of you are, too!