The Magnificent Seven: 7 Future Subjects For WWE 24

WWE 24 has come a standard bearer documentary series for WWE—the go-to to offer fans a behind the scenes look at big events, top stars returning from injury, and broader topics the WWE brass wants to shoot on. It has become an annual choice for the show to spotlight happenings at the preceding year’s WrestleMania. While the show’s quality hasn’t been entirely even, I’d argue it has hit more than it has missed, and for a fan of WWE documentaries from the DVD days like myself, I may not catch every episode as it originally airs, but I always make sure to catchup.

So whom or what should WWE feature in this series next? Literally anyone on the roster, stars from the past, and any event seem to be fair game given precedent. This countdown is rooted in four main areas of interest: what I think fans would want to see, what would produce a quality documentary, what would push WWE’s business interests, and I what I personally want to see. As always, my personal opinion weighs heavily in the final ranking.

#7. Jason Jordan

Make no mistake about it—I was as underwhelmed with the storyline of Jason Jordan playing Kurt Angle’s son as anyone. It felt forced and wedged a star who wasn’t ready for it into too high profile of a spot too quickly. Jordan did, however, seem to be making some headway leading up to his neck injury, particularly as he teased a heel turn.

Hopefully, Jordan will return to action without having lost much of a step. There’s a precedent of WWE using 24 as a platform to feature stars making their comebacks from injury, including specials on Seth Rollins and Finn Balor, so Jordan’s narrative would fit that mold. On top of that, the show could offer a valuable forum to help get Jordan over not as a character, but as an actual human being—inevitably more sympathetic than the character he was portraying. As an under-exposed WWE personality, and to hopefully get him over with hardcore fans, Jordan would be a prime subject for 24/

#6. Shinsuke Nakamura

24 has ben used to feature some of the top stars in WWE, particularly as they undergo transitions in their standing with the company. After winning the Royal Rumble and then his heel turn at WrestleMania, Shinsuke Nakamura would be a fine documentary subject. Sure, there may be a difficulties based on his limited English speaking skills, but on the flip side, Nakamura could offer a unique window into the experience of wrestling in Japan, and what it was like to transition to the US-based WWE.

In addition to hearing from Nakamura directly, it could be fascinating to hear from people who worked with him in NXT and on the main roster to get more insight into who he is as a human being and what the locker rooms makes of him.

While an episode of Chronicle did follow Nakamura leading up to WrestleMania, the better established format of 24 would hopefully allow more insight into The Artist, and be particularly effective with the addition of his heel turn and winning his first title on the main roster since that show was made.

#5. SmackDown’s 1,000th Episode

Most fans agreed Raw 25 wasn’t a great show, failing to live up to its own hype or make the most of the considerable returning talent available. As much as hardly anyone’s clamoring to rewatch the show itself, it was an episode featuring a truly diverse array of talent from throughout the years, and one that long time fans would love to have been backstage for. As a result, the 24 special, covering Raw 25 from behind the scenes was significantly more entertaining than the show itself.

While I hope SmackDown’s 1,000th episode, scheduled for this fall is better than Raw 25, and better than most milestone WWE television of this ilk, I This isn’t an episode of 24 that WWE could start on now of course, but here’s hoping that it was already in the plans, or WWE shot enough footage for other purposes to retroactively assemble this thing. Otherwise, it’s worth keeping in mind for Raw 30, or whenever the company has cause to assemble another reunion-oriented special episode.

#4. The Royal Rumble

WreslteMania may be the biggest show WWE runs each year, but the Royal Rumble may be the most fun, featuring such a large percentage of the active roster as well as returning legends. The Rumble brand would be an instant draw for invested fans to tune in to this documentary and better yet, there’s the potential for a unique window into something fans really don’t know much about: what goes into planning a Rumble.

WWE has been selectively protective of certain trade secrets, and may not want to go into all of the mechanics of a Rumble. Hearing from Vince McMahon, Michael Hayes, The Road Dogg, and others who have reportedly contributed to planning in recent years, plus the match’s traditional mastermind Pat Patterson could offer a fascinating insight into a unique booking situation. It could also be interesting to hear from someone like Sasha Banks on the process of readying herself physically and mentally for an iron (wo)man run through the match, or how Kofi Kingston or Naomi planned their elaborate spots to avoid eliminations. The 24 centered on the first women’s Rumble was good, and more all-encompassing edition either aired or filmed at next year’s Rumble would be a more than worthy addition.

#3. The Mae Young Classic

When WWE Network aired features surrounding the first Mae Young Classic, they were marked by an old school commitment to kayfabe with the women speaking as actual competitors who actually meant to beat up one another. That’s a shame when the roster was so diverse between legitimately fresh faces, veterans of the independent scene, international stars, and returning veterans. Some of the human-interest stories told straddled the line between storyline and reality (Serena Deeb’s coverage, in particular, stands out for this mixture). Still, there were so many interesting real life stories left uncovered about performers’ journeys to the tournament, let alone their experience actually performing in it.

WWE may have missed an opportunity in filming for a documentary during the original tournament, but with the second Mae Young Classic gearing up it could be prime ground to film some unique documentary footage.

#2. The Hall of Fame

Few occasions on the WWE calendar bring together bigger stars from more diverse generations than the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. While WWE has offered behind the scenes looks at particular inductees, capturing the experience of a full class as they get ready for one of wrestling’s highest honors could be a heck of a presentation, and capture far more complete stories tha the Hall of Fame induction speeches themselves do (especially for undercard inductees).

Sprinkle in reactions from contemporary stars, and maybe go so far as to show Vince McMahon and his inner circle actually making the decisions about who is going in, and you have the making s of a behind the scenes special fans would legitimately clamor to see.

#1. Starrcade

November 2017, WWE branded a Greensboro house show under the Starrcade banner, invoking the signature PPV of WCW and before that the National Wrestling Alliance. The show was reportedly well received and a lot of fun for what it was, with the lone complaint being that WWE opted not to air it, on the WWE Network or otherwise, thus limiting the show to those in live attendance.

There is some rationale for WWE keeping this show under the radar, as it does appeal to relatively niche audience, and some of the joy of it would surely stem from attending live, as opposed to watching aged acts like The Rock N Roll Express ply their trade at this stage of their careers on TV. Filming a documentary at the event, however, could be a lot of fun and offer a genuinely different lens than the typical WWE documentary for how entrenched Starrcade is in NWA lore and particularly among wrestling fans in the south.

As of the time I’m writing, there’s no word on whether WWE will reprise Starrcade, but if they do, a 24 special dedicated to the show could be a real treasure.

Who or what would you add to the list? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Read more from Mike Chin at his website and follow him on Twitter @miketchin.