WWE HQ — April 1, 2006

WWE Headquarters — Stamford, Connecticut
April 1, 2006

The conference room at WWE Headquarters was unusually quiet.

Around the table sat Vince McMahon, Linda McMahon, Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Paul Levesque, Brian Gerwitz, Dave Lagana, Arn Anderson, Bruce Prichard, and John Laurinaitis.

The mood was grim.

A stack of contracts sat in the middle of the table. Several had expiration dates highlighted in red.

Vince McMahon stood at the head of the table, staring at the paperwork after a dismal WrestleMania.

VINCE McMAHON:
Enough.

Nobody spoke.

VINCE:
Every week, another phone call. Another superstar is leaving. TNA calls. WCW calls. They throw money at our talent, and we watch them walk out the door.

BRUCE PRICHARD:
And we're running out of options, Vince.

VINCE:
I know.

BRUCE:
We're nationally recognized. That's about it right now. Canada is shrinking. Mexico is shrinking. Japan isn't what it used to be for us. The United Kingdom has cooled off considerably.

He paused.

BRUCE:
If we tried to tour internationally right now, we'd be spending money we don't have.

Vince looked around the table.

VINCE:
Then we stop trying to be something we're not.

Stephanie leaned forward.

STEPHANIE McMAHON:
So what do we do? We can't keep losing people and expect the company to survive.

SHANE McMAHON:
We need to make WWE matter again.

BRIAN GERWITZ:
That's easier said than done.

SHANE:
I didn't say it would be easy.

PAUL LEVESQUE:
The audience doesn't trust us anymore.

Everyone looked toward him.

PAUL:
We've thrown everything at them. Big angles, shock television, gimmick matches, celebrities... and every time we try to make something bigger, the audience gets smaller.

Arn Anderson nodded.

ARN ANDERSON:
Maybe that's the problem.

The room went silent again.

Vince slowly sat down.

VINCE:
I've made a decision.

The conference room door opened.

VINCE:
Gentlemen... ladies... I'd like you to meet the man who's going to help us change this company.

Jim Cornette walked into the room carrying a folder.

Cornette took a seat.

JIM CORNETTE:
Well, this certainly isn't the most cheerful meeting I've ever attended.

A few people chuckled.

Vince didn't.

VINCE:
Jim has officially signed with WWE. He's going to be taking over a major portion of our booking responsibilities.

Cornette placed his folder on the table.

JIM CORNETTE:
And before anybody asks, yes, I know what I'm walking into.

He looked around the room.

JIM:
You've got a company that's bleeding talent, bleeding money, and bleeding credibility.

DAVE LAGANA:
That's a little harsh.

JIM:
It's supposed to be.

Cornette leaned forward.

JIM:
But here's the good news.

Everyone listened.

JIM:
We're still WWE.

VINCE:
Exactly.

JIM:
Then let's start acting like it.

Stephanie crossed her arms.

STEPHANIE:
What does that mean?

Cornette opened his folder.

JIM:
It means we stop trying to beat TNA at their game.

JOHN LAURINAITIS:
They're taking our wrestlers.

JIM:
Let them.

John looked confused.

JOHN:
Let them?

JIM:
Yes. Let them.

He pointed across the table.

JIM:
TNA is spending money to become the alternative to WWE. WCW is coming back and they're going to throw even more money around. They're going to chase every former WWE star they can find.

JIM:
We're not going to win that bidding war.

VINCE:
So we don't bid.

JIM:
Exactly.

Cornette closed the folder.

JIM:
We build our own stars.

Shane nodded.

SHANE:
Developmental.

JIM:
Developmental.

Cornette opened the folder again.

JIM:
I've been looking at some of the guys who came through OVW. Young guys. Hungry guys. Guys who haven't made millions yet and aren't demanding millions to show up.

He began reading from the list.

JIM:
Johnny Jeter.

Vince listened.

JIM:
Mark Copani. Formerly Muhammad Hassan. That character is done but the wrestler is not!

Stephanie raised an eyebrow.

STEPHANIE:
Copani?

JIM:
Yes. He's got potential.

Cornette continued.

JIM:
Doug and Danny Basham.

Arn leaned forward.

ARN:
The Bashams are still available?

JIM:
And they're experienced. That's important.

He continued.

JIM:
Kevin Fertig.

A pause.

JIM:
Mike Mondo.

Another page.

JIM:
Chris Cage.

DAVE:
We're talking about guys that are relatively inexpensive.

JIM:
That's the point.

Cornette slammed the folder lightly onto the table.

JIM:
We're not looking for twenty-five guys who already think they're superstars.

JIM:
We're looking for guys who want to become superstars.

That got Vince's attention.

VINCE:
And what about the guys we already have?

Cornette looked directly at him.

JIM:
Find out who wants to stay.

VINCE:
And if they leave?

JIM:
Thank them for their time.

JOHN:
Even if they're major stars?

JIM:
Especially if they're major stars.

Paul leaned back in his chair.

PAUL:
You're saying we let TNA and WCW take some of our biggest names?

JIM:
I'm saying we stop building our company around people who don't want to be here.

Arn smiled slightly.

ARN:
There's something to that.

Cornette turned toward Vince.

JIM:
Vince, you've spent years teaching everybody that WWE is bigger than the wrestler.

Vince nodded.

JIM:
Now we're going to prove it.

A long silence followed.

Linda finally spoke.

LINDA:
What about the product?

Cornette smiled.

JIM:
That's where the biggest change comes.

He looked around the room.

JIM:
Let TNA and WCW do Sports Entertainment.

JIM:
Let them have the giant entrances. The celebrity nonsense. The soap operas. The shock angles.

STEPHANIE:
You're suggesting we go back to wrestling?

JIM:
I'm suggesting we make wrestling matter again.

BRUCE:
Believable wrestling. We can have characters, but wrestling is what is important.

JIM:
Exactly.

Cornette leaned forward.

JIM:
You want people to watch because they want to know who's going to win a wrestling match. Not because somebody might get murdered on television. Not because somebody's going to get betrayed in some ridiculous backstage segment. Not because we're trying to shock them into watching. Make the wrestlers matter.

Paul nodded.

PAUL:
Give them reasons to care.

JIM:
Give them personalities. Give them rivalries. Give them championships that mean something.

Arn added.

ARN:
And make the matches good.

Cornette pointed at him.

JIM:
Exactly.

Vince stood up.

He walked toward the window overlooking Stamford.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Finally, Vince turned around.

VINCE:
For years, we've been the company everyone else tried to imitate.

He looked at Cornette.

VINCE:
Maybe we've forgotten what made people imitate us in the first place.

Cornette nodded.

JIM:
That's what we're going to find out.

Shane looked down at the contracts.

SHANE:
So what's the plan?

Vince looked around the table.

VINCE:
We don't panic.

STEPHANIE:
We rebuild.

VINCE:
We see who stays.

PAUL:
We see who leaves.

ARN:
And we find the next generation.

Cornette picked up his folder.

JIM:
And we start making wrestlers.

Vince extended his hand.

Cornette shook it.

VINCE:
Then let's get to work.

The meeting broke.

The executives began gathering their papers and leaving the room.

Cornette remained behind for a moment, looking at his list of potential recruits.

At the top were names that most people in professional wrestling had never heard of.

Johnny Jeter.

Mark Copani.

Doug Basham.

Danny Basham.

Kevin Fertig.

Mike Mondo.

Chris Cage.

They weren't household names.

They weren't million-dollar signings.

They weren't former world champions.

Not yet.

Cornette closed the folder.

JIM:
That's going to change.

And for the first time in months, WWE had a plan.

Not to beat TNA.

Not to beat WCW.

Not to recreate the WWE of the past.

But to build something new.

Something based on wrestling.

Something based on hungry talent.

Something that could eventually make WWE matter again.

The rebuilding era of WWE had officially begun.