The winds have picked up strength. The smell of fail is in the air my friends. The news broke and the message boards are in a frenzy. TNA is going to take on WWE in a one off constest Monday the 4th of January 2010 and TNA are hyping heavily the return to tv/TNA debut of Hulk Hogan which will happen on that show.
This may very well KILL TNA. And I don't mean a little "Oh we tried and failed" kill either I mean we may very well bear witness to the death of a company on January 4 and I'll tell you why, there's 3 very good reasons while any fan of TNA should be deathly afraid.
Reason 1: The timing
It smacks of desperation, you're putting on a live Impact, something you've never done on one months notice. I love TNA but the simple fact they're not ready for this fight yet. Not in terms of wrestling product, not in terms of brand marketability, not in terms of experience, not in terms of anything you can measure in terms in comparison with WWE. The one thing, love him or hate him anyone has ever said about Vince McMahon is he thrives on competiton and for almost 10 years now he hasn't had it. Now the wrestling equivalent of David could very well be about to awaken the sleeping giant.
And even if WWE doesn't take much notice, what exactly is TNA aiming for? Their Thursday night Impact at their HIGHEST point this year averaged a 1.3 and that was at the start of the year, in more recent times they've fallen to somewhere around 1.0. What is considered a victory here? Even as dire as Raw is now they're averaging about a 3.6 so if the aim is to defeat RAW then they'll fail and fail dismally, if the attempt is to get to a 2.0, they'll still fail. I don't think Hogan alone accounts for 1 million viewers. I can see only ONE viable reason for doing a show January 4. It's the first Monday night for 6 months without Monday Night Football and they're hoping that enough of those viewers tune into Impact to make it viable. Will it work? I don't think so. Most of the fans who would be intrested in wrestling are more than likely "Better the Devil you know" fans. They'll go to the WWE. If TNA gets to 1.5 that's a good effort but it's not worth the extra cash they're putting on the line to go live and head to head
Reason 2: Hulk Hogan
Yes Hulk Hogan. TNA's Biggest Asset is also their greatest albatross, and could be the rock that sinks the company.
Again I'll freely admit bias as I'm not a Hulkamanic nor was I ever, but the people who left WCW in their droves during their slump did so with Hogan on top of proceedings, every comeback he's made for WWE since has been the same, the 1ST week you get a nostalgia pop in the ratings (Maybe up to 0.3-0.4) and then the VERY NEXT WEEK they go back to normal or in most cases involving Hogan, worse. TNA doesn't have the fanbase to lose, they can barely fill the Impact Zone, a 1000 seat soundstage at Universal Studios. Hogan was and is a legend, but as I've said in previous columns you sending the wrong message by making him the focal point, TNA needs to be providing a alternative, not a nostalgia reunion. The focus should be on guys like AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Matt Morgan, Desmond Wolfe, yet when the announcement is made and the ads are put out who gets the attention? Hulk Hogan, it's a step in the wrong direction for TNA and considering they're already close to the edge of a cliff, it's a step they can ill afford to make.
Reason 3: Vince Russo
This is a maybe but if he's still writing at TNA come January 4 then woe betide TNA. Those who watched WCW in 2000 and survived without killing themselves or winding up in the nuthouse would well remember just how crazy it was. Nonsensical segment after nonsensical segment, swerve after swerve, disaster after disaster. If that's the message TNA send in a live head to head battle, they will not only be beaten, they'll be annihilated.
Fix these three reasons and TNA may have a chance, but since they won't it's a very very bad idea from Dixie and the gang. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be a fatal one.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Remembering Eddie "Umaga" Fatu
This is probably going to be a very short column folks, and probably the worst of the lot so for those who enjoy good writing, you probably should look elsewhere.
As I type this word has come through on wwe.com and other wrestling news sites that Eddie Fatu aka Umaga has passed away, some speculate heart attack, others say something else, that's neither here nor there. It doesn't make him any less dead and unlike more recent deaths this one is going to hit hard and unfortunately leave a lot of questions about once again where does professional responsibility stop and personal resposibility start.
Eddie Fatu was a developmental player in the WWE for a long time before he finally got his shot, as part of the tag team "3 Minute Warning", one of my guiltiest pleasures of the time. Their matches weren't great, in fact most of the time they were barely what you'd call good. But through shrewd and clever writing and a role as then Raw general manager Eric Bischoff's enforcers 3 Minute Warning started to get over and started to get heat. Of course being the WWE, they fucked it all up but putting them into a fued with ambiguously gay duo Billy and Chuck (A fued that was set up when Billy and Chuck were going to get married and then at the last second revealed that they actually weren't gay. A move that REALLY delighted GLAAD, who sent them a gravy boat to celebrate their achievement. No word on whether GLAAD ever asked for the gravy boat to be returned or not) and then they pretty much burned out by the time the 2004 Royal Rumble came around and went back to development.
There Eddie waited for two years, until just after Wrestlemania 22 when he was given a new look, new gimmick and a manager to match. He was now "The Samoan Bulldozer UUUUUUUMAGA!" (Once again you have to say it like that or it doesn't work. It's a WWE thing please don't write me about it)
I have to admit, when I saw this gimmick I thought it was the most stupid idea on the planet, the idea of the samoan or islander savage had been done before in the late 80's all the way up to the mid 90's and every one of them failed in the end. Why? Well there's a number of reasons I sure the WWE would give you, like connection to the fans, not finding the right opponents, problems with their workrate but there's a more simple for why the "Samoan/Islander Savage" gimmick never got over.
BECAUSE IT FUCKING SUCKED!
Seriously let me run through some of the names here and I'll prove it. Afa, the original Wild Samoan, he did have a pretty good go of it for a while, I think he even fought Hogan at one point but he's far more well known as a trainer than he ever was as a wrestler. Haku? Probably the most famous of them all, he became King of the World Wrestling Federation (Sadly he did not come with crown as illustrated) and had a pretty good 4-5 year run in the WWF, then went to WCW and became THE MONSTER MENG! (Once again it's a wrestling thing). He definately was a pretty good mid to upper midcarder but it wasn't really a gimmick you could ever see on top. Fatu of the Headshrinkers is probably the other one I should bring up. Except when he was a Headshrinker noone cared, yet the WWE pushed him in various ways for 6 FUCKING YEARS before they found the right gimmick for him. A big fat guy who loved to dance, have fun.......and rub his ass in peoples faces.......And I only wish I was making that up.
So you can see it was with some trepidation that I saw this gimmick, yet Eddie pulled it off, and it was done for two very good reasons.
Reason 1: His Wrestling Style
Umaga didn't fight people, he ran them over like a bulldozer (Hence the name). For a while it brought back memories of another wrestler from another wrestling company, Goldberg. He'd hit you, hit you again, squash you in the corner and then finish you.
He also took one of the STUPIDEST finishers of all time, The Samoan Spike and made you believe it was crippling and hurting his opponent. For those who don't know what the Samoan Spike was and why I think it's stupid let me explain what it was. You pick the guy up, hold your thumb out like the Fonz.....and then jab the guy in the throat. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. Yet with Umaga it seemed to work and he was a danger to anyone without having to do anything at all.
Reason 2: They never let him talk at all
As much as he was fighting well in the ring the reason Umaga got over in the early days wasn't because of Umaga, it was because of his manager. Armando Allejandro Estrrrrrrrrrrada! (That's three wrestling things for those playing the home game) Estrada made you believe he was the only one capable of controlling this savage and certainly Eddie played that part to perfection, researching tribal tattoos that he could add to his face, crying out Samoan war cries. Umaga never spoke one word of english and it got him over fast. He was like the WWE version of Ivan Drago, whatever he hit he destroyed.
He had a great run in WWE but behind the scenes Eddie Fatu fell into the same trap so many other wrestlers do, he got involved in drugs and truly believed he could control it when he couldn't. It would end up costing him everything as he was fired after refusing to go to rehab. I'm not going to speculate that this has anything to do with what happened, nows not the time. He had just made a tour of Australia with the Hulkamania tour and looked to getting his life back on track. Now I guess we'll never know.
Anothertragic loss for wrestling. Let's hope it's not just another statistic
As I type this word has come through on wwe.com and other wrestling news sites that Eddie Fatu aka Umaga has passed away, some speculate heart attack, others say something else, that's neither here nor there. It doesn't make him any less dead and unlike more recent deaths this one is going to hit hard and unfortunately leave a lot of questions about once again where does professional responsibility stop and personal resposibility start.
Eddie Fatu was a developmental player in the WWE for a long time before he finally got his shot, as part of the tag team "3 Minute Warning", one of my guiltiest pleasures of the time. Their matches weren't great, in fact most of the time they were barely what you'd call good. But through shrewd and clever writing and a role as then Raw general manager Eric Bischoff's enforcers 3 Minute Warning started to get over and started to get heat. Of course being the WWE, they fucked it all up but putting them into a fued with ambiguously gay duo Billy and Chuck (A fued that was set up when Billy and Chuck were going to get married and then at the last second revealed that they actually weren't gay. A move that REALLY delighted GLAAD, who sent them a gravy boat to celebrate their achievement. No word on whether GLAAD ever asked for the gravy boat to be returned or not) and then they pretty much burned out by the time the 2004 Royal Rumble came around and went back to development.
There Eddie waited for two years, until just after Wrestlemania 22 when he was given a new look, new gimmick and a manager to match. He was now "The Samoan Bulldozer UUUUUUUMAGA!" (Once again you have to say it like that or it doesn't work. It's a WWE thing please don't write me about it)
I have to admit, when I saw this gimmick I thought it was the most stupid idea on the planet, the idea of the samoan or islander savage had been done before in the late 80's all the way up to the mid 90's and every one of them failed in the end. Why? Well there's a number of reasons I sure the WWE would give you, like connection to the fans, not finding the right opponents, problems with their workrate but there's a more simple for why the "Samoan/Islander Savage" gimmick never got over.
BECAUSE IT FUCKING SUCKED!
Seriously let me run through some of the names here and I'll prove it. Afa, the original Wild Samoan, he did have a pretty good go of it for a while, I think he even fought Hogan at one point but he's far more well known as a trainer than he ever was as a wrestler. Haku? Probably the most famous of them all, he became King of the World Wrestling Federation (Sadly he did not come with crown as illustrated) and had a pretty good 4-5 year run in the WWF, then went to WCW and became THE MONSTER MENG! (Once again it's a wrestling thing). He definately was a pretty good mid to upper midcarder but it wasn't really a gimmick you could ever see on top. Fatu of the Headshrinkers is probably the other one I should bring up. Except when he was a Headshrinker noone cared, yet the WWE pushed him in various ways for 6 FUCKING YEARS before they found the right gimmick for him. A big fat guy who loved to dance, have fun.......and rub his ass in peoples faces.......And I only wish I was making that up.
So you can see it was with some trepidation that I saw this gimmick, yet Eddie pulled it off, and it was done for two very good reasons.
Reason 1: His Wrestling Style
Umaga didn't fight people, he ran them over like a bulldozer (Hence the name). For a while it brought back memories of another wrestler from another wrestling company, Goldberg. He'd hit you, hit you again, squash you in the corner and then finish you.
He also took one of the STUPIDEST finishers of all time, The Samoan Spike and made you believe it was crippling and hurting his opponent. For those who don't know what the Samoan Spike was and why I think it's stupid let me explain what it was. You pick the guy up, hold your thumb out like the Fonz.....and then jab the guy in the throat. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. Yet with Umaga it seemed to work and he was a danger to anyone without having to do anything at all.
Reason 2: They never let him talk at all
As much as he was fighting well in the ring the reason Umaga got over in the early days wasn't because of Umaga, it was because of his manager. Armando Allejandro Estrrrrrrrrrrada! (That's three wrestling things for those playing the home game) Estrada made you believe he was the only one capable of controlling this savage and certainly Eddie played that part to perfection, researching tribal tattoos that he could add to his face, crying out Samoan war cries. Umaga never spoke one word of english and it got him over fast. He was like the WWE version of Ivan Drago, whatever he hit he destroyed.
He had a great run in WWE but behind the scenes Eddie Fatu fell into the same trap so many other wrestlers do, he got involved in drugs and truly believed he could control it when he couldn't. It would end up costing him everything as he was fired after refusing to go to rehab. I'm not going to speculate that this has anything to do with what happened, nows not the time. He had just made a tour of Australia with the Hulkamania tour and looked to getting his life back on track. Now I guess we'll never know.
Anothertragic loss for wrestling. Let's hope it's not just another statistic
Thursday, November 5, 2009
There is no Curse in Elfish, Entish or the Tongues of Men for THIS!...
A part of my childhood has just died. Thanks a lot Hulkamania tour. Thanks a whole fucking lot.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
A moment's thought on the Hogan-TNA Deal
So even a week after it was announced still the only thing the wrestling world wants to talk about is Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff signing for TNA, Bischoff plans to stay off the air and just help the creative side which is a definate upgrade for them. Bischoff,love him or hate him is the only man who did something noone else in the wrestling world can claim. He forced Vince McMahon to adapt but changing the rules of play.
See before Bischoff the reason WCW was always the number 2 organisation was because they tried to the WWE on their battleground, relying on tradition and their fanbase to spead the word for them. It didn't work of course and WCW was pretty much a lame duck company that had a good product but still loast money. Then Eric Bischoff took over and things began to change, because he refused to fight the WWE's fight. He got live prime time, he gave away the WWE's results, he signed their talent away, every move he made laid the foundation to the one spark they needed to push them over, when Hulk Hogan turned heel and joined the New World Order, Bischoff had that spark and for over 2 years ran with it.
He has his flaws though, he was never able to follow up the crushing blow he dealt to the WWE and when McMahon finally adapted it was a matter of time. That's not to say Bischoff doesn't have one of the greatest minds out there, he's an asset that will work big for TNA if they use him right.
But Bischoff is a side player in this, everyone wants to talk about Hogan, what role will he play? how will he affect morale? will this change TNA? It's all been discussed on every wrestling board non-stop for the past week and a couple of people have been waiting with baited breath to see what I would have to say about it. So here it is. My opinion on the great signing and what it will mean for TNA
I
DON'T
CARE!
Seriously it is far too early to tell and everything I say is pure speculation. Hogan could help the TNA brand in terms of name recognition, everyone knows that. He could help to put a lot of the talent over. Or he could do what he's done so many times before, let his ego get in the way of good business.
Hogan is a household name but he's not a main eventer or a title contender, not now, not ever and if TNA believe that then they're heading in the wrong direction. They need to look to the future, the seeds of discontent with the WWE are already starting so if they provide a viable alternative by looking to their younger stars, they may just start their climb into the stratusphere.
Another quick thought I wanted to bring up is their new heel Desmond Wolfe. For once TNA look like they have got a compelling character, a guy who's hellbent for respect and doesn't care who he destroys to get it. They started this guy off perfectly by having him attack Kurt Angle, Kurt is taken out on a stretcher, Wolfe looks like a badass. Angle wants a match at Turning Point but how can he beat a guy who damn near crippled him. Classic Booking 101. Give the fans an underdog to cheer for, a match they want to see and a heel that looks unstoppable and watch the cash roll in. Hopefully TNA doesn't screw this one up because they've got the pieces to make a compelling drive now at the WWE. For the first time ever, people are talking about TNA more than the WWE. Now is the time to play your best cards, now is the time to show what you're all about and the only way to get to the top is to be hungry.....hungry like the Wolfe
I can't believe I made the reference.....I may just go kill myself now.
See before Bischoff the reason WCW was always the number 2 organisation was because they tried to the WWE on their battleground, relying on tradition and their fanbase to spead the word for them. It didn't work of course and WCW was pretty much a lame duck company that had a good product but still loast money. Then Eric Bischoff took over and things began to change, because he refused to fight the WWE's fight. He got live prime time, he gave away the WWE's results, he signed their talent away, every move he made laid the foundation to the one spark they needed to push them over, when Hulk Hogan turned heel and joined the New World Order, Bischoff had that spark and for over 2 years ran with it.
He has his flaws though, he was never able to follow up the crushing blow he dealt to the WWE and when McMahon finally adapted it was a matter of time. That's not to say Bischoff doesn't have one of the greatest minds out there, he's an asset that will work big for TNA if they use him right.
But Bischoff is a side player in this, everyone wants to talk about Hogan, what role will he play? how will he affect morale? will this change TNA? It's all been discussed on every wrestling board non-stop for the past week and a couple of people have been waiting with baited breath to see what I would have to say about it. So here it is. My opinion on the great signing and what it will mean for TNA
I
DON'T
CARE!
Seriously it is far too early to tell and everything I say is pure speculation. Hogan could help the TNA brand in terms of name recognition, everyone knows that. He could help to put a lot of the talent over. Or he could do what he's done so many times before, let his ego get in the way of good business.
Hogan is a household name but he's not a main eventer or a title contender, not now, not ever and if TNA believe that then they're heading in the wrong direction. They need to look to the future, the seeds of discontent with the WWE are already starting so if they provide a viable alternative by looking to their younger stars, they may just start their climb into the stratusphere.
Another quick thought I wanted to bring up is their new heel Desmond Wolfe. For once TNA look like they have got a compelling character, a guy who's hellbent for respect and doesn't care who he destroys to get it. They started this guy off perfectly by having him attack Kurt Angle, Kurt is taken out on a stretcher, Wolfe looks like a badass. Angle wants a match at Turning Point but how can he beat a guy who damn near crippled him. Classic Booking 101. Give the fans an underdog to cheer for, a match they want to see and a heel that looks unstoppable and watch the cash roll in. Hopefully TNA doesn't screw this one up because they've got the pieces to make a compelling drive now at the WWE. For the first time ever, people are talking about TNA more than the WWE. Now is the time to play your best cards, now is the time to show what you're all about and the only way to get to the top is to be hungry.....hungry like the Wolfe
I can't believe I made the reference.....I may just go kill myself now.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Heel Champions: The greatest in my eyes may shock you
With the recent loss by CM Punk to the Undertaker wrecking his run as a great character and heel world champion a lot of discussion has started up on who the greatest heel champion of the modern era in the WWE has been. A lot of great heels have held the belts. Triple H, Edge, Kurt Angle, Randy Orton. Everyone has an opinion and they will defend their chosen champion to the hilt in any argument. I believe there has been only ONE truly effective heel WWE champion in the past decade, yet when I mention his name anywhere I'm either flamed incessantly or have people question my sanity as a wrestling fan.
Before I reveal my choice as the greatest heel champion of the modern era let me explain the criteria as once again I open the book entitled "Maskell's Booking 101"
The heel champion should be a great talker or at least have a great mouthpiece to generate heat, to incense the fans and to get them to come and see him get beat up by the babyface challenger.
The heel champion should always find a way to sneak away with a win, just when it looks like the babyface is finally going to put him away, the heel champion cheats to win and makes the fans believe that their guy almost had it and next time, next time the heel champion won't be so lucky. He doesn't even have to win, he can sneak out and run for a countout or get himself disqualified, which while losing him the match means he keeps the gold around his waist. All the while he goes on televison and claims he's better than everyone simply cause he's the champion and the babyface is not.
The heel champion should always stack the odds in his favor, whether that's by gathering a group of lackeys to protect him or setting up challenges so outlandish they seemingly don't have a hope of winning. It all infuriates the fans more as the fans now believe the champion is a coward as well as an asshole, which in turn makes them want to see their guy overcome those odds and destroy the champion even more.
The Honky Tonk Man did this with the Intercontinental Title in the late 80's, he held the belt for almost 18 months, yet ask fans who are still watching wrestling today who saw him in that era and ask them to name five matches that Honky won that weren't squash matches, just five matches he won when he had a legitimate shot of losing his title and I guarantee all you'll get is a series of dumb looks and "I don't know"'s all around. Yet he's still regarded by old school as the Greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time, because he followed the criteria of Booking 101 and got the fans so riled up they paid money to see him get beaten up.
That turns us to the WWE title, every person I've named certainly has claims to being the greatest heel champion of the modern era. Noone respected HHH and the way he would always seemingly win when common logic said he should lose. Then we all found out he was banging the bosses daughter and head of the writing staff Stephanie McMahon and the whole thing made sense. Edge has definately riled fans the world over with his antics on WWE TV but in the grand scheme of things he's only ever been used as a transitional champion, a very good one but transitional nonetheless. Orton may yet become the greatest heel champion ever but most fans at least respect him for being a good worker, even if he's a prick backstage and that means he's not there yet.
Nope, in my opinion only ONE man has ever taken the principles of Booking 101 to their utmost to be the greatest heel champion of the modern era. Fot almost a year he infuriated fans with his promos, his running down of their heroes and their way of life, the way he managed to slip out of the clutches of the virtuous babyface time after time and the way he never fought a babyface champion on terms that weren't to his advantage. Only one man had absolutely no respect from the fans and made those fans who already did want to see him get beaten up riled up to the point where some wanted to see him killed.
His name? John Bradshaw Leyfield
Before you all start laughing or preparing your letters of hate let me explain. Before he became JBL, Bradshaw was a opening match tag guy who drank beer, beat up people and appeared in low level comedy spots. Around April of 2004 his tag team, the APA was split up, primarilly because Ron Simmons wanted to retire as an active wrestler, what that kicked off was the most amazing character change of all time as the Texas beer drinking bar fighting redneck dissappeared to be replaced by a Wall Street, suit wearing, corporate version of what a wrestler should be. He looked down his nose at the fans that once cheered him, saying that he earnt money in the stock market while his fellow wrestlers and fans had squandered their money on cars and drugs and loose women (Which is not that far from the truth, in real life Leyfield made many appearances on Fox News programs such as Cashin' In where he gave stock tips and his opinions on the stock market. He wrote a book on how to make money in the stock market, he got his own radio show where he doled out financial advice) and that that made him better than them and that he was a better wrestler than anyone, in fact he was a Wrestling....God! (You have to say it like that or it doesn't work).
The WWE finally had a compelling character and for once in their lifes, they didn't fuck it up, they had him beat up people and appear in vignettes attacking the mexican heritage, making it clear that there was only one person who he was aiming for. The WWE champion Eddie Guerrero. They met at Judgement Day and the result was one of the goriest WWE pay per view matches in history, the result of a Guerrero blade job gone horribly wrong. JBL didn't even win the belt that night, the match finished in a double DQ but the groundwork had been laid, just over a month later at the Great American Bash JBL did the unthinkable in the eyes of many fans, he beat Eddie Guerrero 1-2-3 and became the new WWE Champion
And the Internet Wrestling Community pretty much exploded 3 seconds later.
A lot of people howled with derision, saying this was a terrible idea, how could the WWE do it? and that JBL was the worst champion ever. What these fans failed to realise is every time they posted their hatred, they proved why JBL was the right choice for champion. They tuned in week after week, sure that it would only be a one month reign and someone would defeat, but lo and behold week after week, month after month JBL found a way of escaping, whether by cheating, getting dq'ed or with help from his "Cabinent", Orlando Jordan and the Basham Brothers. Every hero that he faced he got by, Big Show, Guerrero, Benoit, Undertaker, Angle. They all fell down....and all the while JBL kept talking, kept riling the fans into more and more of a frenzy by saying he was a wrestling god and that noone could defeat him, finally it became clear that the fans had just one hope left, a babyface had been building for over a year, a man who was like a powderkeg waiting to go off and all that was needed was that one final spark to shoot him into being the next WWE mega hero.
John Cena.
After winning the number one contendership not long after the Royal Rumble, JBL tried EVERYTHING to keep Cena away from ever facing him, he set up roadblock after roadblock, gauntlet matches against his Cabinent, four on one beatdowbs on a weekly basis, constant interference in his matches to upset his momentum heading into their showdown. Cena survived it all and finally JBL had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, the stage was set. Wrestlemania 21. JBL faced John Cena for the WWE title, and the fans were convinced that tonight, finally JBL would get his comeupance and Cena would destroy him. The bell rang, the crowd roared and the two locked up as the fans waited for Cena to start ripping JBL to shreds.
It didn't happen. JBL overpowered Cena and beat him down.....and beat him down again.....then he beat him down some more.....this went on for 15 minutes.
I must admit when I first saw the match, I never got this part of it, now I totally get it. The fans were so convinced that Cena was going to destroy JBL that they regarded it as a formality, by taking that away from them they made them believe that maybe....just maybe their last hope couldn't overcome the odds....that JBL was right, that he truly was better than everyone just like he said he was....slowly the fans went silent in disbelief as their hero seemed down and out, then they got emotionally involved, cheering for Cena to rise up and somehow, someway find a way to beat JBL, and since this IS wrestling and good MUST triumph over evil in the end, Cena did find a way, digging down deep into his reserves to reverse JBL's offence, turn the tables, hit an F-U and end the reign of John Bradshaw Leyfield once and for all. And with that win Cena became a megastar, a place he still holds today
JBL never really got to that height again, he fueded with CM Punk over the World Heavyweight Title in 2008 but he never got back to the heights of 2004/5, eventually he quit earlier this year after losing an Intercontinental Title match to Rey Mysterio in just 7 seconds. However his legacy should not be so easily thrown away by wrestling fans, by following the principles of Booking 101, he not only provided the WWE with a compelling heel champion who fans both internet and regular wanted to see get killed, his promos infuriated fans, his way of getting out of matches frustrated them and his eventual loss of the title to John Cena created the biggest star the WWE has had in this decade.
With all that on his resume, how can anyone deny he was the greatest heel champion of the modern era? No other champion out there ticked every other box plus had zero respect from the fans, respect equals sympathy and if a heel has sympathy he's not doing his job. JBL did his to a tee and for that reason in the realms of the heel champions of the modern eta he truly was a Wrestling.....God!
Before I reveal my choice as the greatest heel champion of the modern era let me explain the criteria as once again I open the book entitled "Maskell's Booking 101"
The heel champion should be a great talker or at least have a great mouthpiece to generate heat, to incense the fans and to get them to come and see him get beat up by the babyface challenger.
The heel champion should always find a way to sneak away with a win, just when it looks like the babyface is finally going to put him away, the heel champion cheats to win and makes the fans believe that their guy almost had it and next time, next time the heel champion won't be so lucky. He doesn't even have to win, he can sneak out and run for a countout or get himself disqualified, which while losing him the match means he keeps the gold around his waist. All the while he goes on televison and claims he's better than everyone simply cause he's the champion and the babyface is not.
The heel champion should always stack the odds in his favor, whether that's by gathering a group of lackeys to protect him or setting up challenges so outlandish they seemingly don't have a hope of winning. It all infuriates the fans more as the fans now believe the champion is a coward as well as an asshole, which in turn makes them want to see their guy overcome those odds and destroy the champion even more.
The Honky Tonk Man did this with the Intercontinental Title in the late 80's, he held the belt for almost 18 months, yet ask fans who are still watching wrestling today who saw him in that era and ask them to name five matches that Honky won that weren't squash matches, just five matches he won when he had a legitimate shot of losing his title and I guarantee all you'll get is a series of dumb looks and "I don't know"'s all around. Yet he's still regarded by old school as the Greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time, because he followed the criteria of Booking 101 and got the fans so riled up they paid money to see him get beaten up.
That turns us to the WWE title, every person I've named certainly has claims to being the greatest heel champion of the modern era. Noone respected HHH and the way he would always seemingly win when common logic said he should lose. Then we all found out he was banging the bosses daughter and head of the writing staff Stephanie McMahon and the whole thing made sense. Edge has definately riled fans the world over with his antics on WWE TV but in the grand scheme of things he's only ever been used as a transitional champion, a very good one but transitional nonetheless. Orton may yet become the greatest heel champion ever but most fans at least respect him for being a good worker, even if he's a prick backstage and that means he's not there yet.
Nope, in my opinion only ONE man has ever taken the principles of Booking 101 to their utmost to be the greatest heel champion of the modern era. Fot almost a year he infuriated fans with his promos, his running down of their heroes and their way of life, the way he managed to slip out of the clutches of the virtuous babyface time after time and the way he never fought a babyface champion on terms that weren't to his advantage. Only one man had absolutely no respect from the fans and made those fans who already did want to see him get beaten up riled up to the point where some wanted to see him killed.
His name? John Bradshaw Leyfield
Before you all start laughing or preparing your letters of hate let me explain. Before he became JBL, Bradshaw was a opening match tag guy who drank beer, beat up people and appeared in low level comedy spots. Around April of 2004 his tag team, the APA was split up, primarilly because Ron Simmons wanted to retire as an active wrestler, what that kicked off was the most amazing character change of all time as the Texas beer drinking bar fighting redneck dissappeared to be replaced by a Wall Street, suit wearing, corporate version of what a wrestler should be. He looked down his nose at the fans that once cheered him, saying that he earnt money in the stock market while his fellow wrestlers and fans had squandered their money on cars and drugs and loose women (Which is not that far from the truth, in real life Leyfield made many appearances on Fox News programs such as Cashin' In where he gave stock tips and his opinions on the stock market. He wrote a book on how to make money in the stock market, he got his own radio show where he doled out financial advice) and that that made him better than them and that he was a better wrestler than anyone, in fact he was a Wrestling....God! (You have to say it like that or it doesn't work).
The WWE finally had a compelling character and for once in their lifes, they didn't fuck it up, they had him beat up people and appear in vignettes attacking the mexican heritage, making it clear that there was only one person who he was aiming for. The WWE champion Eddie Guerrero. They met at Judgement Day and the result was one of the goriest WWE pay per view matches in history, the result of a Guerrero blade job gone horribly wrong. JBL didn't even win the belt that night, the match finished in a double DQ but the groundwork had been laid, just over a month later at the Great American Bash JBL did the unthinkable in the eyes of many fans, he beat Eddie Guerrero 1-2-3 and became the new WWE Champion
And the Internet Wrestling Community pretty much exploded 3 seconds later.
A lot of people howled with derision, saying this was a terrible idea, how could the WWE do it? and that JBL was the worst champion ever. What these fans failed to realise is every time they posted their hatred, they proved why JBL was the right choice for champion. They tuned in week after week, sure that it would only be a one month reign and someone would defeat, but lo and behold week after week, month after month JBL found a way of escaping, whether by cheating, getting dq'ed or with help from his "Cabinent", Orlando Jordan and the Basham Brothers. Every hero that he faced he got by, Big Show, Guerrero, Benoit, Undertaker, Angle. They all fell down....and all the while JBL kept talking, kept riling the fans into more and more of a frenzy by saying he was a wrestling god and that noone could defeat him, finally it became clear that the fans had just one hope left, a babyface had been building for over a year, a man who was like a powderkeg waiting to go off and all that was needed was that one final spark to shoot him into being the next WWE mega hero.
John Cena.
After winning the number one contendership not long after the Royal Rumble, JBL tried EVERYTHING to keep Cena away from ever facing him, he set up roadblock after roadblock, gauntlet matches against his Cabinent, four on one beatdowbs on a weekly basis, constant interference in his matches to upset his momentum heading into their showdown. Cena survived it all and finally JBL had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, the stage was set. Wrestlemania 21. JBL faced John Cena for the WWE title, and the fans were convinced that tonight, finally JBL would get his comeupance and Cena would destroy him. The bell rang, the crowd roared and the two locked up as the fans waited for Cena to start ripping JBL to shreds.
It didn't happen. JBL overpowered Cena and beat him down.....and beat him down again.....then he beat him down some more.....this went on for 15 minutes.
I must admit when I first saw the match, I never got this part of it, now I totally get it. The fans were so convinced that Cena was going to destroy JBL that they regarded it as a formality, by taking that away from them they made them believe that maybe....just maybe their last hope couldn't overcome the odds....that JBL was right, that he truly was better than everyone just like he said he was....slowly the fans went silent in disbelief as their hero seemed down and out, then they got emotionally involved, cheering for Cena to rise up and somehow, someway find a way to beat JBL, and since this IS wrestling and good MUST triumph over evil in the end, Cena did find a way, digging down deep into his reserves to reverse JBL's offence, turn the tables, hit an F-U and end the reign of John Bradshaw Leyfield once and for all. And with that win Cena became a megastar, a place he still holds today
JBL never really got to that height again, he fueded with CM Punk over the World Heavyweight Title in 2008 but he never got back to the heights of 2004/5, eventually he quit earlier this year after losing an Intercontinental Title match to Rey Mysterio in just 7 seconds. However his legacy should not be so easily thrown away by wrestling fans, by following the principles of Booking 101, he not only provided the WWE with a compelling heel champion who fans both internet and regular wanted to see get killed, his promos infuriated fans, his way of getting out of matches frustrated them and his eventual loss of the title to John Cena created the biggest star the WWE has had in this decade.
With all that on his resume, how can anyone deny he was the greatest heel champion of the modern era? No other champion out there ticked every other box plus had zero respect from the fans, respect equals sympathy and if a heel has sympathy he's not doing his job. JBL did his to a tee and for that reason in the realms of the heel champions of the modern eta he truly was a Wrestling.....God!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Nostalgia: Not always a good thing
So after a bout of mild pneumonia I'm back once again to put forth some more opinions and god do I really just want to let loose like a true smart mark after that God Awful Hell in a Cell pay per view. Thank God I didn't actually buy the thing. But a couple of points from this pay per view and from my trolling of the various wrestling message boards has led me to believe the WWE as they move in to the PG era is on something of a nostaliga kick.
It's hard to argue when you look at it. Undertaker destroys CM Punk to stand on top of the heap again and will probably face a heel turned Batista at Bragging Rights, cause God knows we didn't run that idea into the ground a couple of years ago. It boggles the mind how the WWE can continuely screw up compelling characters like they do. But I'm not really on the high horse about that. It pisses me off sure, but hey no point complaining.
The big thing that's ignited the boards recently is a report that Bret Hart would be "Open" to working for the WWE again, some 12 years after the Montreal Screwjob. While the kid in me would love to see Bret back in some capacity with the WWE again, it's hard to see where he fits in the grand scheme of things. He can't wrestle ever again thanks to the stroke he suffered, do you put him in a mentor role with the Hart Dynasty? It's a thought but Bret's mic work in his prime was only mediocre at best and those days are long gone.
Not to mention the time factor, the last time besides the Hall of Fame and his DVD that anyone saw Bret in a ring for most people was 9 years ago, most of the audience of those days do not watch wrestling now and those that do aren't probably going to move the numbers in such a way that it makes signing him viable. It just seems like a bad move all around.
The one thing wrestlers can't beat is time, compare the WWE product of today with that of let's say five years ago. Who was in the main event? HHH, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels. Turn to Hell in A Cell last night, who was in the main events? HHH, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels.
That's one of the major gripes I have about the WWE, NOTHING changes. It's always a combination of the same 6-8 guys (Throw in Batista, Orton, Cena and Edge when he's healthy). The WWE put them in matches, run them to the point where noone wants to buy the shows anymore, then changes them up, only to turn one or two guys and run the same exact matches a couple of months later, anyone who is not in the 8 will either get a token reign (See Punk, CM and Hardy, Jeff...and you can probably throw in Mysterio, Rey as well) or made to look so weak holding the belt that noone takes them seriously, by doing this the WWE is ignoring the key principle of Booking 101. Put on matches the fans will pay money to see. It's not as if the WWE are in a war and don't have time to build new moneymaking stars. Yet when push comes to shove the WWE seem either unwilling or unable to change. And it may come back to bite them in the end
Edge is injured at the moment, Shawn Michaels, HHH and Undertaker are all one bad bump away from retirement. The majority of fans over 13 don't accept Cena and the less said about Orton and Batista the better. Now is the time to prepare for the future, by giving big wins to guys like CM Punk, John Morrison, Kofi Kingston and MVP you can build money making stars that will push your company for the next 10 years. But by chopping and changing wins in the midcard you're risking killing their drawing power, time and money in the WWE may be infinite, the fans paitence is not.
While the WWE aren't in dire straits yet, there comes a time where you have to stop living in the past, or else you risk destroying your future. That time for the WWE is fast approaching. I hope they're smart enough to see that
It's hard to argue when you look at it. Undertaker destroys CM Punk to stand on top of the heap again and will probably face a heel turned Batista at Bragging Rights, cause God knows we didn't run that idea into the ground a couple of years ago. It boggles the mind how the WWE can continuely screw up compelling characters like they do. But I'm not really on the high horse about that. It pisses me off sure, but hey no point complaining.
The big thing that's ignited the boards recently is a report that Bret Hart would be "Open" to working for the WWE again, some 12 years after the Montreal Screwjob. While the kid in me would love to see Bret back in some capacity with the WWE again, it's hard to see where he fits in the grand scheme of things. He can't wrestle ever again thanks to the stroke he suffered, do you put him in a mentor role with the Hart Dynasty? It's a thought but Bret's mic work in his prime was only mediocre at best and those days are long gone.
Not to mention the time factor, the last time besides the Hall of Fame and his DVD that anyone saw Bret in a ring for most people was 9 years ago, most of the audience of those days do not watch wrestling now and those that do aren't probably going to move the numbers in such a way that it makes signing him viable. It just seems like a bad move all around.
The one thing wrestlers can't beat is time, compare the WWE product of today with that of let's say five years ago. Who was in the main event? HHH, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels. Turn to Hell in A Cell last night, who was in the main events? HHH, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels.
That's one of the major gripes I have about the WWE, NOTHING changes. It's always a combination of the same 6-8 guys (Throw in Batista, Orton, Cena and Edge when he's healthy). The WWE put them in matches, run them to the point where noone wants to buy the shows anymore, then changes them up, only to turn one or two guys and run the same exact matches a couple of months later, anyone who is not in the 8 will either get a token reign (See Punk, CM and Hardy, Jeff...and you can probably throw in Mysterio, Rey as well) or made to look so weak holding the belt that noone takes them seriously, by doing this the WWE is ignoring the key principle of Booking 101. Put on matches the fans will pay money to see. It's not as if the WWE are in a war and don't have time to build new moneymaking stars. Yet when push comes to shove the WWE seem either unwilling or unable to change. And it may come back to bite them in the end
Edge is injured at the moment, Shawn Michaels, HHH and Undertaker are all one bad bump away from retirement. The majority of fans over 13 don't accept Cena and the less said about Orton and Batista the better. Now is the time to prepare for the future, by giving big wins to guys like CM Punk, John Morrison, Kofi Kingston and MVP you can build money making stars that will push your company for the next 10 years. But by chopping and changing wins in the midcard you're risking killing their drawing power, time and money in the WWE may be infinite, the fans paitence is not.
While the WWE aren't in dire straits yet, there comes a time where you have to stop living in the past, or else you risk destroying your future. That time for the WWE is fast approaching. I hope they're smart enough to see that
Monday, September 21, 2009
Discussing C.M Punk's heel run
Just a quick blogging/thought today as I'm trying to shake off the flu before it really takes hold but this one was too good to pass up.
I was trolling the wrestling boards as I usually do but with TNA's pay per view not a lot was going on so I decided pretty much to take a day off. That is until I went to Scott Keith's blog page and read a pretty intresting little piece by one of his contributers called Alexander (which you can find here http://www.rspwfaq.com/2009/09/17/the-anti-stone-cold/). Basically he puts forth a compelling argument that CM Punk in his current guise could be, for lack of a better term the anti Stone Cold. While I don't exactly agree with all his thoughts it is a compelling thought and certainly on face value alone there seems to be a lot to support the thought
Austin was Everyman, the common man in the pickup truck who worked a blue collar job 9-5, came home, drank beer and would fight you at the drop of the hat, it's the reason he became the biggest superstar wrestling has ever seen, because fans suspended their disbelief and lived vicariously through him as he gave hell to his boss week after week and fought for the little guy against corporate America. He was a foul-mouthed, redneck, beer-swilling guy who would fight you and raise hell at the drop of a hat and fans ate it up like a hot meal. He was the shining example of the Attitude Era
Fast forward about 10-12 years to the present day. WWE is trying to be more family friendly, to put forth a PG product and as part of that they want to discourage drinking and drugs and so forth, noone better represents the image that corporate would want to portray better than CM Punk, a man who lives his life without stimuli and he's becoming the number one hell simply by saying that makes him better than the audience, he riducles their heroes such as Jeff Hardy for using drugs and he uses a strong style that will keep him in any match.
It's the perfect heel for the WWE as they push into this eta, a man who attacks the stereotypes of wrestling, attacks their heroes for being human and yet he can back up his words by being a better wrestler than anyone out there. For once in their lifes the WWE through CM Punk has a compelling character to present to its market and build around for years to come, all Punk needs is one last push to send his star skyrocketing, if the WWE is smart they will use Undertaker as that push, he's the one guy on the roster (With the possible exception of Cena) the fans see as unbeatable, he's the Phenom, you beat him down he comes back and takes your soul to hell. If CM Punk, the guy who claims he's better than anyone beats him clean at Hell in a Cell 1.2.3 you have yourself a main event heel that could last as long as Austin did as a babyface. It's a smart move for the company as they move to the PG era, its a smart move for business as fans will pay to see him get whats coming to him and its a smart move for the future.
Then again noone has ever accused Vince McMahon of doing what is smart, still we can dream can't we?
I was trolling the wrestling boards as I usually do but with TNA's pay per view not a lot was going on so I decided pretty much to take a day off. That is until I went to Scott Keith's blog page and read a pretty intresting little piece by one of his contributers called Alexander (which you can find here http://www.rspwfaq.com/2009/09/17/the-anti-stone-cold/). Basically he puts forth a compelling argument that CM Punk in his current guise could be, for lack of a better term the anti Stone Cold. While I don't exactly agree with all his thoughts it is a compelling thought and certainly on face value alone there seems to be a lot to support the thought
Austin was Everyman, the common man in the pickup truck who worked a blue collar job 9-5, came home, drank beer and would fight you at the drop of the hat, it's the reason he became the biggest superstar wrestling has ever seen, because fans suspended their disbelief and lived vicariously through him as he gave hell to his boss week after week and fought for the little guy against corporate America. He was a foul-mouthed, redneck, beer-swilling guy who would fight you and raise hell at the drop of a hat and fans ate it up like a hot meal. He was the shining example of the Attitude Era
Fast forward about 10-12 years to the present day. WWE is trying to be more family friendly, to put forth a PG product and as part of that they want to discourage drinking and drugs and so forth, noone better represents the image that corporate would want to portray better than CM Punk, a man who lives his life without stimuli and he's becoming the number one hell simply by saying that makes him better than the audience, he riducles their heroes such as Jeff Hardy for using drugs and he uses a strong style that will keep him in any match.
It's the perfect heel for the WWE as they push into this eta, a man who attacks the stereotypes of wrestling, attacks their heroes for being human and yet he can back up his words by being a better wrestler than anyone out there. For once in their lifes the WWE through CM Punk has a compelling character to present to its market and build around for years to come, all Punk needs is one last push to send his star skyrocketing, if the WWE is smart they will use Undertaker as that push, he's the one guy on the roster (With the possible exception of Cena) the fans see as unbeatable, he's the Phenom, you beat him down he comes back and takes your soul to hell. If CM Punk, the guy who claims he's better than anyone beats him clean at Hell in a Cell 1.2.3 you have yourself a main event heel that could last as long as Austin did as a babyface. It's a smart move for the company as they move to the PG era, its a smart move for business as fans will pay to see him get whats coming to him and its a smart move for the future.
Then again noone has ever accused Vince McMahon of doing what is smart, still we can dream can't we?
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Star Power V Developing Talent: What's Best for TNA?
So yeah I took a day or two off. Too much grog for Talk Like a Pirate Day (I tried to plunder my woman's booty but ending up sinking to Davey Jones's Locker.....I feel dirty just making that joke). And it's not as if much has been happening in the world off wrestling as we entered a post-WWE pay per view, pre-TNA pay per view type lull after the big events of earlier in the week.
However through trolling the various wrestling boards around I did find something intresting to talk about, from of all places the Wrestlecrap forums (Actually I think the Wrestlecrap forums are probably one of the best forums out there, 99% of people there can have intelligent debate on all the topics of wrestling and they temper their passion with respect for their fellow posters, you should really check them out (Note: RD I expect that $20 by next Friday :P) and get involved).
A poster there put up a poll for debate on whether TNA should reach deep into their pockets and try and make an offer to sign The Rock to their roster, even if it's only for a one off match with Sting, it is an intresting thought, Sting v Rock is probably one of the only quote unquote "Dream matches" left unfought in the industry and I'm sure if they announced a match like that at Bound for Glory their buyrates would increase but the question I have is "Does signing huge talents from the WWE hurt you in the long run more than it helps". Should TNA really write out the wrestling equivalent of a blank check to sign a wrestler who while still a hero to many, hasn't been seen in a ring in a competetive sense in at least 5 years? Would TNA be better off by focusing their efforts on some of the talent they've nutured and grown in the past 3-5 years which, while slower to take on will hold the company in better stead when they do take on?
Let's be brutally honest here, almost every signing TNA has made from the WWE has failed to make a difference to TNA. The only real two who've made what could even be considered a blip are Kurt Angle and Christian Cage and the Christian blip went so well that as soon as his contract was up he jumped back to the WWE to take possession of a title that has about as much respect as the attitude era's European Title, the ECW Championship. That leaves us with Angle, a guy who at the moment you couldn't see Vince wanting, a guy whose had legal troubles (Even if the charges were eventually dropped), a known drug problem and is always one bad bump to the head away from either retirement or a wheelchair for life. I like Kurt but I believe the most flattering term I can use for him is "Damaged Goods". What's to say that the Rock will make any sort of significant difference to TNA in terms of buyrates, ratings, merchandise and ticket sales or even just plain talking. A lot of the fans who were fans of the Rock during his most popular period of time in the WWE are not even wrestling fans any more, or if they are they're not watching the big two and I don't really think that signing the Rock is going to be a big enough hook to drag them back.
Another factor to consider is the message you send to your roster, the guys that have been there night after night fighting in the trenches for the company and are now on the cusp of stardom, guys like A.J Styles, Christopher Daniels, Matt Morgan and Hernandez. Do you really want to risk stopping their momentum that you've worked so hard for them to get for a one shot blowoff match? You know there was a guy who did that with a match between Goldberg and Hogan in WCW....I wonder whatever happened to him? Is the gain you'll get from the Rock being on your programming worth the risk of potentially making stories and characters you've tried to build up for so long being made to seem less important? I don't really think so
The Rock in TNA to me seems like the classic "Square Peg, Round Hole" scenario, kinda like Jenna Jameson becoming the replacement for Angelina Love in the Beautiful People, it'd work if you forced it but its gonna take time for people to buy it, time that could be better spent setting up for the next 5 years of TNA, rather than being like every other wrestling organisation and thinking of the next 5 minutes.
The Rock in TNA would provide a great nostalgic feel for TNA, but to be a ready made alternative to WWE TNA doesn't need nostalgia, it needs to show that it is the next generation of wrestling and the best way to do that is to showcase the great athletic talent they already have, A.J Styles, Matt Morgan, The Motor City Machineguns, Jay Lethal, Christopher Daniels, the list goes on and on. These men are the future of TNA, these men are your ticket to being a viable alternative to WWE, these men are going to be the standard bearers for your company for years to come.
TNA needs to look to the future, not the past. Pushing the talent they have already have is going to do better for their company in the long run than any quote unquote "Big Name Star" they can bring in. Like it or not, signing guys The Rock, Hogan or Stone Cold, while provided good momentary "Nostalgia" jumps in ratings and buyrates is ultimately a step in the wrong direction.
However through trolling the various wrestling boards around I did find something intresting to talk about, from of all places the Wrestlecrap forums (Actually I think the Wrestlecrap forums are probably one of the best forums out there, 99% of people there can have intelligent debate on all the topics of wrestling and they temper their passion with respect for their fellow posters, you should really check them out (Note: RD I expect that $20 by next Friday :P) and get involved).
A poster there put up a poll for debate on whether TNA should reach deep into their pockets and try and make an offer to sign The Rock to their roster, even if it's only for a one off match with Sting, it is an intresting thought, Sting v Rock is probably one of the only quote unquote "Dream matches" left unfought in the industry and I'm sure if they announced a match like that at Bound for Glory their buyrates would increase but the question I have is "Does signing huge talents from the WWE hurt you in the long run more than it helps". Should TNA really write out the wrestling equivalent of a blank check to sign a wrestler who while still a hero to many, hasn't been seen in a ring in a competetive sense in at least 5 years? Would TNA be better off by focusing their efforts on some of the talent they've nutured and grown in the past 3-5 years which, while slower to take on will hold the company in better stead when they do take on?
Let's be brutally honest here, almost every signing TNA has made from the WWE has failed to make a difference to TNA. The only real two who've made what could even be considered a blip are Kurt Angle and Christian Cage and the Christian blip went so well that as soon as his contract was up he jumped back to the WWE to take possession of a title that has about as much respect as the attitude era's European Title, the ECW Championship. That leaves us with Angle, a guy who at the moment you couldn't see Vince wanting, a guy whose had legal troubles (Even if the charges were eventually dropped), a known drug problem and is always one bad bump to the head away from either retirement or a wheelchair for life. I like Kurt but I believe the most flattering term I can use for him is "Damaged Goods". What's to say that the Rock will make any sort of significant difference to TNA in terms of buyrates, ratings, merchandise and ticket sales or even just plain talking. A lot of the fans who were fans of the Rock during his most popular period of time in the WWE are not even wrestling fans any more, or if they are they're not watching the big two and I don't really think that signing the Rock is going to be a big enough hook to drag them back.
Another factor to consider is the message you send to your roster, the guys that have been there night after night fighting in the trenches for the company and are now on the cusp of stardom, guys like A.J Styles, Christopher Daniels, Matt Morgan and Hernandez. Do you really want to risk stopping their momentum that you've worked so hard for them to get for a one shot blowoff match? You know there was a guy who did that with a match between Goldberg and Hogan in WCW....I wonder whatever happened to him? Is the gain you'll get from the Rock being on your programming worth the risk of potentially making stories and characters you've tried to build up for so long being made to seem less important? I don't really think so
The Rock in TNA to me seems like the classic "Square Peg, Round Hole" scenario, kinda like Jenna Jameson becoming the replacement for Angelina Love in the Beautiful People, it'd work if you forced it but its gonna take time for people to buy it, time that could be better spent setting up for the next 5 years of TNA, rather than being like every other wrestling organisation and thinking of the next 5 minutes.
The Rock in TNA would provide a great nostalgic feel for TNA, but to be a ready made alternative to WWE TNA doesn't need nostalgia, it needs to show that it is the next generation of wrestling and the best way to do that is to showcase the great athletic talent they already have, A.J Styles, Matt Morgan, The Motor City Machineguns, Jay Lethal, Christopher Daniels, the list goes on and on. These men are the future of TNA, these men are your ticket to being a viable alternative to WWE, these men are going to be the standard bearers for your company for years to come.
TNA needs to look to the future, not the past. Pushing the talent they have already have is going to do better for their company in the long run than any quote unquote "Big Name Star" they can bring in. Like it or not, signing guys The Rock, Hogan or Stone Cold, while provided good momentary "Nostalgia" jumps in ratings and buyrates is ultimately a step in the wrong direction.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Discussing the TNA Knockouts Division (Or A Diva by any other name is still a Diva)
So as I type this column up the first Playboy shots of Traci Brooks are making the rounds of the internet. Wrestling fans of the male persuasion around the world are seaching on google and dissecting them even as I sit here. And that got me to thinking about the TNA Knockouts Division, what once was a place where women's wrestling might have had a chance to thrive is now a cheap WWE ripoff.
Anyone who thinks women's wrestling in the WWE is treated as anything other than a joke is sadly kidding themselves, out of everyone on their roster I can name about two real wrestlers (Mickie James and Beth Phoenix. Nattie Neidhart doesn't count as she rarely is seen wrestling on TV) and the rest are a bunch of pretty faces doing very basic matches to provide tittilation and eye candy for their number one 18-35 male demographic. They have improved though I have to say, the days of bikini shoots and basically softcore porn dvds are over as well as the always classy bra and panties matches. This is probably more due to WWE's shift towards a PG-13 slant but at least they're partially trying, they let a deal that had their divas pose in Playboy lapse and they've booked their titles generally around the strongest wrestlers. A lot of that believe it or not was pretty much due to TNA.
Back in 2007 TNA began the Knockouts division, putting out promos that said they were more about the athletisism of the women rather than them being quote unquote "Barbie Dolls" (Why they centered these around Christy Hemme then is a mystery because when I think althetic womens wrestling, she's not exactly at the top of anyones list). They created a title and put it on one of the best female wrestlers going around, Gail Kim and for a while as they brought in talent like Awesome Kong, Melissa Anderson (Alyssa Flash to the TNA fans) and others they looked for a while like they were going to live up to the hype and for the first time on a national level womens wrestling looked like it was going to be something to be respected.
But things change and opinions change, and TNA ended up doing the same thing every national federation has done with womens wrestling and what every national federation will continue to do in the future. They went back to the lowest common denominator. It all started with the debut of a stable called "The Beautiful People", Angelina Love and Velvet Sky, two gorgeously hot women no doubt and athletically they are competent in the ring but the fact remains, for the first time looks outranked athletic ability and Angelina was pushed to win the Knockouts title.
Since then the whole division has decended into farce, at least up the top, they are still trying down below with hirings like Shannon Ward and Lisa Marie Veron, quite possibly the most underrated female wrestler of the past decade. But a division is only as strong as the person holding the belt, at the moment the Knockouts title is being decided in a fued between ODB (Who, while passable, isn't a real strong choice on looks OR athletic ability, she wrestles power sort of matches and is passable, like a lot of the Knockouts are) and Cody Deaner (Who as you may have guessed by the name is in fact, not female). What once was a respected title is now a joke.
But the final nail in the coffin for the Knockouts division was the announcement that they had signed a deal to have their wrestlers pose nude in Playboy, just like the WWE did so many years ago. At that point in my opinion the whole circle was complete and athletic ability was pushed aside for looks.
Still TNA fans waited with baited breath to see who would be the first Knockout, there were a lot of hopeful candidates. Melissa Anderson, manager/interview/part time wrestler So Cal Val, Christy Hemme, Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, the list went on and on. Then the big announcement came.
Traci Brooks.
And the whole thing pretty much went downhill from there.
Don't get me wrong. Traci has been the longest serving female in the company, she's one of the better female wrestlers they have but....how do I put this delicately. Traci has two looks....or as I would say, she's an Either/Or. She's EITHER a passably attractive woman OR she looks like what would happen if the late Michael Jackson mated with your tupperware set, had a child and THEN that child got smashed in the face with a brick. It got so bad for TNA that Brooks wasn't even put in the magazine, her photos were released in the Playboy Cyber Club, a place that most wrestling fans never even knew existed and even less would sign up to see (They'd wait for the photos to leak like every other wrestler whos ever posed in Playboy)
The current situation both confuses and irritates me, TNA had something going, women's wrestling CAN be a solid key to a wrestling company, stand alone women's federations like SHIMMER have shown us that. Yet it seems that in the end women wrestlers will forever be disrespected on a national stage unless you have a pretty face, a large set of breasts and a tight ass. Maybe things will change, maybe they won't but at the moment the only thing TNA is knocking out is the conception that their women's division is any different to WWE's.
Anyone who thinks women's wrestling in the WWE is treated as anything other than a joke is sadly kidding themselves, out of everyone on their roster I can name about two real wrestlers (Mickie James and Beth Phoenix. Nattie Neidhart doesn't count as she rarely is seen wrestling on TV) and the rest are a bunch of pretty faces doing very basic matches to provide tittilation and eye candy for their number one 18-35 male demographic. They have improved though I have to say, the days of bikini shoots and basically softcore porn dvds are over as well as the always classy bra and panties matches. This is probably more due to WWE's shift towards a PG-13 slant but at least they're partially trying, they let a deal that had their divas pose in Playboy lapse and they've booked their titles generally around the strongest wrestlers. A lot of that believe it or not was pretty much due to TNA.
Back in 2007 TNA began the Knockouts division, putting out promos that said they were more about the athletisism of the women rather than them being quote unquote "Barbie Dolls" (Why they centered these around Christy Hemme then is a mystery because when I think althetic womens wrestling, she's not exactly at the top of anyones list). They created a title and put it on one of the best female wrestlers going around, Gail Kim and for a while as they brought in talent like Awesome Kong, Melissa Anderson (Alyssa Flash to the TNA fans) and others they looked for a while like they were going to live up to the hype and for the first time on a national level womens wrestling looked like it was going to be something to be respected.
But things change and opinions change, and TNA ended up doing the same thing every national federation has done with womens wrestling and what every national federation will continue to do in the future. They went back to the lowest common denominator. It all started with the debut of a stable called "The Beautiful People", Angelina Love and Velvet Sky, two gorgeously hot women no doubt and athletically they are competent in the ring but the fact remains, for the first time looks outranked athletic ability and Angelina was pushed to win the Knockouts title.
Since then the whole division has decended into farce, at least up the top, they are still trying down below with hirings like Shannon Ward and Lisa Marie Veron, quite possibly the most underrated female wrestler of the past decade. But a division is only as strong as the person holding the belt, at the moment the Knockouts title is being decided in a fued between ODB (Who, while passable, isn't a real strong choice on looks OR athletic ability, she wrestles power sort of matches and is passable, like a lot of the Knockouts are) and Cody Deaner (Who as you may have guessed by the name is in fact, not female). What once was a respected title is now a joke.
But the final nail in the coffin for the Knockouts division was the announcement that they had signed a deal to have their wrestlers pose nude in Playboy, just like the WWE did so many years ago. At that point in my opinion the whole circle was complete and athletic ability was pushed aside for looks.
Still TNA fans waited with baited breath to see who would be the first Knockout, there were a lot of hopeful candidates. Melissa Anderson, manager/interview/part time wrestler So Cal Val, Christy Hemme, Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, the list went on and on. Then the big announcement came.
Traci Brooks.
And the whole thing pretty much went downhill from there.
Don't get me wrong. Traci has been the longest serving female in the company, she's one of the better female wrestlers they have but....how do I put this delicately. Traci has two looks....or as I would say, she's an Either/Or. She's EITHER a passably attractive woman OR she looks like what would happen if the late Michael Jackson mated with your tupperware set, had a child and THEN that child got smashed in the face with a brick. It got so bad for TNA that Brooks wasn't even put in the magazine, her photos were released in the Playboy Cyber Club, a place that most wrestling fans never even knew existed and even less would sign up to see (They'd wait for the photos to leak like every other wrestler whos ever posed in Playboy)
The current situation both confuses and irritates me, TNA had something going, women's wrestling CAN be a solid key to a wrestling company, stand alone women's federations like SHIMMER have shown us that. Yet it seems that in the end women wrestlers will forever be disrespected on a national stage unless you have a pretty face, a large set of breasts and a tight ass. Maybe things will change, maybe they won't but at the moment the only thing TNA is knocking out is the conception that their women's division is any different to WWE's.
Tarnishing A Legacy vs Continuing A Love Affair with the Business
I was watching some of Hulk Hogan's promotional work tonight for the upcoming tour of Australia he has, nothing really out of the ordinary if you know Hogan but he did confirm one thing everyone had been speculating on since the tour was announced, that being that Ric Flair had also confirmed himself to come out as part of the show. And that got me to thinking, at what point does a wrestler stop being an icon we want to see and start becoming a object of our pity as a broken down shadow of the hero we once knew desperately chasing one final payday from a business who like an abusive spouse, they can't seem to break away from?
"The Nature Boy" was one of my heroes growing up as a wrestling fan, he had it all, charisma on the mic, a great gimmick, limos, lear jets, champagne, caviar. He both infuriated and entertained anyone who ever watched him as one of the mainstays of the NWA and WCW. What really made Ric Flair so special though was he didn't just say he was the greatest wrestler around, he actually went out there and proved it night after night after night. He was the original "Brookstick" wrestler (So called because the thought was he could wrestle a broomstick and still have a great match). Then in 1991 it all changed, the first real shock of wrestling happened as Flair fell out with the guy running WCW at the time, Jim Herd (who promptly fired him) and jumped ship to the WWE. There was Bobby Heenan on WWE television with the NWA championship belt saying that the "Real World's Champion" was coming to the WWE. When Flair joined fans around the world sat up and salivated at the thought of the dream match, Flair vs Hogan finally coming true. Of course it never happened, for reasons unknown but probably not limited to "Vince McMahon is a giant dumbass". He only lasted in the WWE about 18 months before going back to WCW where he stayed till they closed in 2001. After the pathetic Invasion angle the WWE tried to save face by bring Flair in as a co-owner, which pretty much started the "Brand Extension" that we live with now. But eventually he got into the ring regularly and started having great matches again.
But like all great heroes in any sport there was one opponent Ric Flair couldn't beat, time. The moves became less sharp, the matches less classic and slowly but surely he became someone who was less the wrestler I regarded as a hero but more a pale imitation, even Ric himself saw the writing on the wall and so it came to be at Wrestlemania 24 Ric Flair had one last great match against Shawn Michaels and walked away into the sunset never to be seen again.
For about three months.
While he hasn't really wrestled since then Ric has appeared in feds such as Ring of Honor and even once again on WWE television, helping out where he can while seemingly unable to break away from the business that made him a household name and the more I see him mentioned, the more I weep.
Now don't get me wrong, Ric Flair even today at least interview wise is better than 75% of wrestlers out there, he can teach the new generation of superstars a lot about how to get a crowd involved and hating (Or loving) you. However, the Ric Flair of today is not the Ric Flair I grew up idolising. Time has slowed him, a lot of what made him the greatest superstar in wrestling is now gone. While he will always get a great reaction from people for me he's tarnishing a legacy earnt over three and a half decades of service.
I understand that people need money, and this is the only business Ric Flair has known but there comes a time when you have to look yourself in the mirror and ask "Is what I'm doing hurting me or helping me?". The day that Ric Flair can do that and answer himself honestly is the day that he will finally cement his status as a true legend.
His moments on this tour even today for me will be something to cherish, he'll always be entertaining. But I do pray, for the sake of his legacy that this is the last goodbye for the Nature Boy.
"The Nature Boy" was one of my heroes growing up as a wrestling fan, he had it all, charisma on the mic, a great gimmick, limos, lear jets, champagne, caviar. He both infuriated and entertained anyone who ever watched him as one of the mainstays of the NWA and WCW. What really made Ric Flair so special though was he didn't just say he was the greatest wrestler around, he actually went out there and proved it night after night after night. He was the original "Brookstick" wrestler (So called because the thought was he could wrestle a broomstick and still have a great match). Then in 1991 it all changed, the first real shock of wrestling happened as Flair fell out with the guy running WCW at the time, Jim Herd (who promptly fired him) and jumped ship to the WWE. There was Bobby Heenan on WWE television with the NWA championship belt saying that the "Real World's Champion" was coming to the WWE. When Flair joined fans around the world sat up and salivated at the thought of the dream match, Flair vs Hogan finally coming true. Of course it never happened, for reasons unknown but probably not limited to "Vince McMahon is a giant dumbass". He only lasted in the WWE about 18 months before going back to WCW where he stayed till they closed in 2001. After the pathetic Invasion angle the WWE tried to save face by bring Flair in as a co-owner, which pretty much started the "Brand Extension" that we live with now. But eventually he got into the ring regularly and started having great matches again.
But like all great heroes in any sport there was one opponent Ric Flair couldn't beat, time. The moves became less sharp, the matches less classic and slowly but surely he became someone who was less the wrestler I regarded as a hero but more a pale imitation, even Ric himself saw the writing on the wall and so it came to be at Wrestlemania 24 Ric Flair had one last great match against Shawn Michaels and walked away into the sunset never to be seen again.
For about three months.
While he hasn't really wrestled since then Ric has appeared in feds such as Ring of Honor and even once again on WWE television, helping out where he can while seemingly unable to break away from the business that made him a household name and the more I see him mentioned, the more I weep.
Now don't get me wrong, Ric Flair even today at least interview wise is better than 75% of wrestlers out there, he can teach the new generation of superstars a lot about how to get a crowd involved and hating (Or loving) you. However, the Ric Flair of today is not the Ric Flair I grew up idolising. Time has slowed him, a lot of what made him the greatest superstar in wrestling is now gone. While he will always get a great reaction from people for me he's tarnishing a legacy earnt over three and a half decades of service.
I understand that people need money, and this is the only business Ric Flair has known but there comes a time when you have to look yourself in the mirror and ask "Is what I'm doing hurting me or helping me?". The day that Ric Flair can do that and answer himself honestly is the day that he will finally cement his status as a true legend.
His moments on this tour even today for me will be something to cherish, he'll always be entertaining. But I do pray, for the sake of his legacy that this is the last goodbye for the Nature Boy.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Searching for an alternative to the Big 2 (Or the curious case of Juggalo Championship Wrestling)
You should know the usual disclaimer by now.
So there comes a time in every wrestling fans life when the product put forward by the WWE and TNA just isn't good enough to satisfy you any more, this is why smaller feds in the past like ECW and in more recent times federations like Ring of Honor, PWG and even CZW and CHIKARA have flourished and managed to stay popular in their particular markets, however most of these feds all make the same fatal mistake in the end, they try to compete with the big dogs and find their market just isn't big enough to sustain them on a national level. It happened with ECW, if the rumors are true it's happening as we speak to Ring of Honor and it has happened to other "flash in the pan" federations such as WSX in the past.
But still people dream of once again having a realisitic third contender to the wrestling crown, or at the very least they want a place that at least provides an alternative. You see wrestling fans crying out for this on every two bit board that has more than a dozen members. One that has come through the traps through my trolling of these message board is Juggalo Championship Wrestling or JCW for short. Before I go to deep into the opinion part of my column today let's put forth a little backstory
Juggalo Championship Wrestling (Or as it was once known Juggalo ChampionSHIT Wrestling, that's just clever juvenile humor. I like that sort of thing) is an independent wrestling company that is owned and run by the rap duo the Insane Clown Posse. I suppose I could best describe their shows as what would happen if ECW and an ICP music video somehow mated and then the baby was somehow mutated in a series of genetic experiments. With a penchant for hardcore matches, mixed with comedy in and out of the ring thanks to ICP doing their own commentary on the DVD's. JCW created a pretty good niche market for themselves, mainly because they didn't take themselves seriously and of course the Juggalos (Or ICP fans for the uninitiated) ate it up like a hot meal, JCW DVD's flew off the shelves, some of them beat WWE releases and for about 10 years now they've been going strong, putting on shows, releasing dvd's and generally making money.
JCW has a pretty solid independent roster, they've gotten big names like Kevin Nash and Scott Hall to wrestle for them, along with indy stars like Mad Man Pondo, Necro Buther and The Human Tornado, they have a current roster that matches up to a lot of indy feds out there yet in the world of professional wrestling, they're hardly ever mentioned. Why? Well as far as I can see there are three good reasons why they're not mentioned and until these are sorted JCW is doomed to stay in the wilderness
Problem 1: ICP
Ever hear the line "The fish stinks from the head"? The first major problem JCW has is its owners, the Insane Clown Posse.
Now I'm not going to get into the whole debate or whether or not ICP's music is great or garbage. I'm definately not a Juggalo but ICP have had their moments in music, I'd say I like about a quarter of ICP's music. But for most people Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope are a galvanising force, there's litterally no middle ground, you're either Juggalo or you're not, you either think ICP are the worst band on the planet or you don't and it infects everything they touch, including JCW.
That's not to say ICP didn't try and get help, when they started out Dave Prazak helped book the shows but he left just a year into the job over...what else? Money. This is pretty common but it leant credence to the calls of those who said that ICP were nothing but control freaks. Right or wrong, if it has ICP's name on it chances are the non-fans aren't going to want to have anything to do with you and that just hurts your bottom line and standing in the wrestling world.
Problem 2: Their Fans
Ahhhh the Juggalos, a group more fanatical than the religious right and they will defend ANYTHING ICP to the hilt.....or at least make really lame flame posts that look like they were done by my 3 year old nephew. Usually their argument comes down to "FUCK YOU HATERS! YOU CAN'T STOP THE DARK KARNIVAL!" (You have to type in all caps cause that makes you EXTREME!....ooops sorry X-TREME!) and it goes on and on and on into a mindless flame war until noone remembers what the original topic was.
So it is with JCW. At a guess I'd venture 80-90% of the JCW audience comes from the Juggalos. The rest is made up of wrestling fans or people who are just fans of ICP's music without being hardcore about it. Therein lies the problem, when a wrestling fan goes to a JCW show and makes his own opinions of it, a good portion of the Juggalos rise up to attack him, because "He's not a Juggalo, therefore he doesn't get it". Wrestling isn't that difficult kiddies, get a few good talents, give the fans a reason to want to pay to see them fight and sit back and watch the cash roll in. That's it, it's the way it happens in the WWE, in TNA, in Ring of Honor, in any federation you wish to mention. Just because I'm not "Juggalo" doesn't mean I don't understand this and what these people don't realise is they're actually HURTING their heroes ICP, not helping. Because after enduring all the constant attacks from the Juggalos most wresling fans will throw up their hands, say "Why Bother?" and go watch wrestling at the next indy fed up the road. End result? Less money coming in, less cash to throw around, more chance that the federation will die.
Problem 3: The Product
When it began as I pointed out JCW became popular by not taking itself too seriously, the DVD's were hilarious, the action pretty good and it was a pretty entertaining distraction when you sat down to watch some JCW.
Nowadays though (And this is where the Juggalos will come out to play with me) from the outside looking in JCW looks like a federation that doesn't know what it wants to be. Does it want to be a serious hardcore alternative like the old ECW or does it want to be a mixture of serious wrestling and comedy like CHIKARA? It confuses a lot of people and when they're looking for a distraction, which wrestling is they don't want to be confused when it's a lot easier just to stick in another DVD from a rival.
If they're wanting to be serious, then they'll fail, even the greatest hardcore federation, ECW went to the wall and JCW are far from being as good as they are. If they go the comedy route, they'll stay afloat but they'll never be taken seriously. If JCW wishes to compete then they need someone with vision to put forth a compelling product because right now they don't have it.
If JCW somehow can fix these three problems, there's no reason at all why they can't be competive and become a strong number three in wrestling terms. However if history tells us anything it's that ICP and JCW are usually unwilling or unable to change. It's for that reason then, like it or not that JCW will always fall into the WSX "Niche Market" catagory. It serves its purpose for the fans that follow it but it will never get any bigger than it is now
So there comes a time in every wrestling fans life when the product put forward by the WWE and TNA just isn't good enough to satisfy you any more, this is why smaller feds in the past like ECW and in more recent times federations like Ring of Honor, PWG and even CZW and CHIKARA have flourished and managed to stay popular in their particular markets, however most of these feds all make the same fatal mistake in the end, they try to compete with the big dogs and find their market just isn't big enough to sustain them on a national level. It happened with ECW, if the rumors are true it's happening as we speak to Ring of Honor and it has happened to other "flash in the pan" federations such as WSX in the past.
But still people dream of once again having a realisitic third contender to the wrestling crown, or at the very least they want a place that at least provides an alternative. You see wrestling fans crying out for this on every two bit board that has more than a dozen members. One that has come through the traps through my trolling of these message board is Juggalo Championship Wrestling or JCW for short. Before I go to deep into the opinion part of my column today let's put forth a little backstory
Juggalo Championship Wrestling (Or as it was once known Juggalo ChampionSHIT Wrestling, that's just clever juvenile humor. I like that sort of thing) is an independent wrestling company that is owned and run by the rap duo the Insane Clown Posse. I suppose I could best describe their shows as what would happen if ECW and an ICP music video somehow mated and then the baby was somehow mutated in a series of genetic experiments. With a penchant for hardcore matches, mixed with comedy in and out of the ring thanks to ICP doing their own commentary on the DVD's. JCW created a pretty good niche market for themselves, mainly because they didn't take themselves seriously and of course the Juggalos (Or ICP fans for the uninitiated) ate it up like a hot meal, JCW DVD's flew off the shelves, some of them beat WWE releases and for about 10 years now they've been going strong, putting on shows, releasing dvd's and generally making money.
JCW has a pretty solid independent roster, they've gotten big names like Kevin Nash and Scott Hall to wrestle for them, along with indy stars like Mad Man Pondo, Necro Buther and The Human Tornado, they have a current roster that matches up to a lot of indy feds out there yet in the world of professional wrestling, they're hardly ever mentioned. Why? Well as far as I can see there are three good reasons why they're not mentioned and until these are sorted JCW is doomed to stay in the wilderness
Problem 1: ICP
Ever hear the line "The fish stinks from the head"? The first major problem JCW has is its owners, the Insane Clown Posse.
Now I'm not going to get into the whole debate or whether or not ICP's music is great or garbage. I'm definately not a Juggalo but ICP have had their moments in music, I'd say I like about a quarter of ICP's music. But for most people Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope are a galvanising force, there's litterally no middle ground, you're either Juggalo or you're not, you either think ICP are the worst band on the planet or you don't and it infects everything they touch, including JCW.
That's not to say ICP didn't try and get help, when they started out Dave Prazak helped book the shows but he left just a year into the job over...what else? Money. This is pretty common but it leant credence to the calls of those who said that ICP were nothing but control freaks. Right or wrong, if it has ICP's name on it chances are the non-fans aren't going to want to have anything to do with you and that just hurts your bottom line and standing in the wrestling world.
Problem 2: Their Fans
Ahhhh the Juggalos, a group more fanatical than the religious right and they will defend ANYTHING ICP to the hilt.....or at least make really lame flame posts that look like they were done by my 3 year old nephew. Usually their argument comes down to "FUCK YOU HATERS! YOU CAN'T STOP THE DARK KARNIVAL!" (You have to type in all caps cause that makes you EXTREME!....ooops sorry X-TREME!) and it goes on and on and on into a mindless flame war until noone remembers what the original topic was.
So it is with JCW. At a guess I'd venture 80-90% of the JCW audience comes from the Juggalos. The rest is made up of wrestling fans or people who are just fans of ICP's music without being hardcore about it. Therein lies the problem, when a wrestling fan goes to a JCW show and makes his own opinions of it, a good portion of the Juggalos rise up to attack him, because "He's not a Juggalo, therefore he doesn't get it". Wrestling isn't that difficult kiddies, get a few good talents, give the fans a reason to want to pay to see them fight and sit back and watch the cash roll in. That's it, it's the way it happens in the WWE, in TNA, in Ring of Honor, in any federation you wish to mention. Just because I'm not "Juggalo" doesn't mean I don't understand this and what these people don't realise is they're actually HURTING their heroes ICP, not helping. Because after enduring all the constant attacks from the Juggalos most wresling fans will throw up their hands, say "Why Bother?" and go watch wrestling at the next indy fed up the road. End result? Less money coming in, less cash to throw around, more chance that the federation will die.
Problem 3: The Product
When it began as I pointed out JCW became popular by not taking itself too seriously, the DVD's were hilarious, the action pretty good and it was a pretty entertaining distraction when you sat down to watch some JCW.
Nowadays though (And this is where the Juggalos will come out to play with me) from the outside looking in JCW looks like a federation that doesn't know what it wants to be. Does it want to be a serious hardcore alternative like the old ECW or does it want to be a mixture of serious wrestling and comedy like CHIKARA? It confuses a lot of people and when they're looking for a distraction, which wrestling is they don't want to be confused when it's a lot easier just to stick in another DVD from a rival.
If they're wanting to be serious, then they'll fail, even the greatest hardcore federation, ECW went to the wall and JCW are far from being as good as they are. If they go the comedy route, they'll stay afloat but they'll never be taken seriously. If JCW wishes to compete then they need someone with vision to put forth a compelling product because right now they don't have it.
If JCW somehow can fix these three problems, there's no reason at all why they can't be competive and become a strong number three in wrestling terms. However if history tells us anything it's that ICP and JCW are usually unwilling or unable to change. It's for that reason then, like it or not that JCW will always fall into the WSX "Niche Market" catagory. It serves its purpose for the fans that follow it but it will never get any bigger than it is now
TV's past: It's a Knockout!
Disclaimer: This is actually an old piece. I only posted it on my MySpace page about three months ago but I've always had the feeling of the opinions I express in this article, which as always are my own and may differ from everyone else. I do these pieces for two reasons. 1. To spark debate around the traps. 2. Because it amuses me and I enjoy doing it. So please feel free to leave a comment telling me why I am right or wrong.
This is probably going to come off sounding a lot like that Nostalgia Critic guy who's so popular nowadays. But you know what? I don't care
One of my favorite shows currently on TV is the game show Wipeout, but watching americans humiliate themselves is always fun. Wipeout is different though, it knows it's a silly show and doesn't take itself too seriously, often making fun of the contestants and their attempts to best the courses they take too
However the more I watch Wipeout the more I'm sure that this show wouldn't exist without a key plank from television's past to give them guidance
It's A Knockout!, one of the children of the 80's in Australia's guiltest pleasures has a lot of the sillyness that Wipeout gained as well as some ideas for games, but first a bit of backstory
It's A Knockout! was a concept the BBC devised from the French show Intervilles and ran an amazing 16 years on air, unlike Wipeout you weren't playing for yourself, no you and a team of about 10-12 were representing your home town so you could look like one giant loser at your local supermarket if you lost. Each show was played on the home teams park as the games and costumes got progrssively stupider throghout the series until finally one team, one town would stand tall and win....a freaking trophy? Are you kidding me? I had to do things like send a piano through a tiny hole with a sledgehammer and carry a mini moke with no wheels and all we get is a trophy? I guess the 15 minutes of fame at your local helps too but It's A Knockout got huge ratings, it became so freaking popular that Prince Phillip himself (The Queen's husband for our american readers) revived the show to have a celebrity it's a knockout featuring teams captained by members of the Royal Family
The Americans picked up the concept in 1975, calling their version Almost Anything Goes, it featured a young Regis Philbin as a field reporter in their second season, but the show was never really popular, people preferred to watch The Jeffersons and the show was yanked in 1976
In 1985 it was Australia's turn, the then fledling Ten Network picked up the rights to the show and actually put money into it, they bought a field in rural New South Wales to build a stadium where they could hold the events, teams from New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia would compete week after week hoping to qualify for the semi finals and the final to win the coveted trophy. Mostly the comedy came from what the costumes were but the games could prove to be just as hilarious
Look at that and tell me someone from Wipeout didn't think of the dizzy dummy from watching this show.
Sadly complaints from the locals about the noise meant the show had to be cancelled after its third season in 1987. But even in early morning repeats It's A Knockout! continued to garner ratings for Ten for 15 years afterwards.
Unfortunately Ten no longer own the rights to the It's A Knockout footage and one of the most unique game shows of all time seems forever condemned to gather dust in some vault somewhere. But there are still places you can find them, YouTube for example a guy by the name of ukgladiatorfan has put up at least 3 full eps to watch and I do recommend you do, not just because in it you'll see the genesis of Wipeout but because they're good wholesome family fun, for three years it was a great time to be an Australian on a Sunday night, if you wanted to see the big stories and were a little older, you watched Sixty Minutes. If you were a guy (or gal) looking for a cheap laugh, you watched Alf or Family Matters but if you were a young family. Mom, Dad, 2.4 kids it wasn't just a desire, it was damn close to a tradition you would sit down with Mom's roast in front of the TV at 7:30 on a Sunday night and tune into Network Ten for It's A Knockout! and just have a good time laughing at the sillyness of it. A lot of the time nowadays I wish I could go back there
Nearly 25 years later, it's still the name of the game.
This is probably going to come off sounding a lot like that Nostalgia Critic guy who's so popular nowadays. But you know what? I don't care
One of my favorite shows currently on TV is the game show Wipeout, but watching americans humiliate themselves is always fun. Wipeout is different though, it knows it's a silly show and doesn't take itself too seriously, often making fun of the contestants and their attempts to best the courses they take too
However the more I watch Wipeout the more I'm sure that this show wouldn't exist without a key plank from television's past to give them guidance
It's A Knockout!, one of the children of the 80's in Australia's guiltest pleasures has a lot of the sillyness that Wipeout gained as well as some ideas for games, but first a bit of backstory
It's A Knockout! was a concept the BBC devised from the French show Intervilles and ran an amazing 16 years on air, unlike Wipeout you weren't playing for yourself, no you and a team of about 10-12 were representing your home town so you could look like one giant loser at your local supermarket if you lost. Each show was played on the home teams park as the games and costumes got progrssively stupider throghout the series until finally one team, one town would stand tall and win....a freaking trophy? Are you kidding me? I had to do things like send a piano through a tiny hole with a sledgehammer and carry a mini moke with no wheels and all we get is a trophy? I guess the 15 minutes of fame at your local helps too but It's A Knockout got huge ratings, it became so freaking popular that Prince Phillip himself (The Queen's husband for our american readers) revived the show to have a celebrity it's a knockout featuring teams captained by members of the Royal Family
The Americans picked up the concept in 1975, calling their version Almost Anything Goes, it featured a young Regis Philbin as a field reporter in their second season, but the show was never really popular, people preferred to watch The Jeffersons and the show was yanked in 1976
In 1985 it was Australia's turn, the then fledling Ten Network picked up the rights to the show and actually put money into it, they bought a field in rural New South Wales to build a stadium where they could hold the events, teams from New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia would compete week after week hoping to qualify for the semi finals and the final to win the coveted trophy. Mostly the comedy came from what the costumes were but the games could prove to be just as hilarious
Look at that and tell me someone from Wipeout didn't think of the dizzy dummy from watching this show.
Sadly complaints from the locals about the noise meant the show had to be cancelled after its third season in 1987. But even in early morning repeats It's A Knockout! continued to garner ratings for Ten for 15 years afterwards.
Unfortunately Ten no longer own the rights to the It's A Knockout footage and one of the most unique game shows of all time seems forever condemned to gather dust in some vault somewhere. But there are still places you can find them, YouTube for example a guy by the name of ukgladiatorfan has put up at least 3 full eps to watch and I do recommend you do, not just because in it you'll see the genesis of Wipeout but because they're good wholesome family fun, for three years it was a great time to be an Australian on a Sunday night, if you wanted to see the big stories and were a little older, you watched Sixty Minutes. If you were a guy (or gal) looking for a cheap laugh, you watched Alf or Family Matters but if you were a young family. Mom, Dad, 2.4 kids it wasn't just a desire, it was damn close to a tradition you would sit down with Mom's roast in front of the TV at 7:30 on a Sunday night and tune into Network Ten for It's A Knockout! and just have a good time laughing at the sillyness of it. A lot of the time nowadays I wish I could go back there
Nearly 25 years later, it's still the name of the game.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Wrestlers behaving badly: How looking to the past may help wrestling in the future
Disclaimer: The following is just my opinion and may not be the opinion of anyone else. I post these for a couple of reasons. 1. To spark debate around the traps and 2. Because it amuses me and I like to do it. So please feel free to leave a comment on why you think I'm right or wrong at the end.
So we've heard a lot in the past couple of days about wrestlers behaving badly. Jeff Hardy was arrested for drug possession. Kurt Angle had his charges of stalking and HGH possession thrown out and Sean O'Haire was put in the big house for assault.
This thought is not about passing judgement on them.
It's about Chris Benoit.
Yes I mentioned the "Forbidden One" and look, the wrestling world didn't melt down, the sky didn't fall and Vince McMahon didn't play his fiddle while the empire is the WWE burned down around him. Ever since the tragic events involving Chris Benoit and what he did happened wrestling has had a stain on its soul. A mark that is yet to be erased, it may never be erased and we certainly wouldn't want to forget the victims in the case. However wrestling still carries the hurt of the events with them and has yet to fully move on from the shocking moment when wrestling lost its innocence, and the only way wrestling will ever do that is to once again acknowledge Chris Benoit.
Now before all the people who will scream "But he murdered his family." start up. I said ACKNOWLEDGE, not ACCEPT. I don't think Benoit should ever be accepted, injuries notwithstanding what he did was heinous and I don't think anyone in their right mind would ever think he should be welcomed back with open arms, however to just erase him from memory and wrestling's history only continues the drawn out process of pain when people point out that he was a big part of those moments, it only sparks debate and the painful memories of the past are put forth to live again.
Look for example at the new Rise and Fall of WCW DVD, one of the biggest nails in WCW's column, the Radicals jump from WCW to WWE wasn't even given anything on the DVD, why? Because the whole Radicals angle pretty much focused on Chris Benoit. It's that old self fulfulling prophecy of tailoring things to get the result you want, you don't want to mention Benoit so you can't mention the Radicals. But it doesn't stop there, look at some of the recent DVD's WWE has put out and a lot of what they've done has been lessened, for example the Eddie Guerrero DVD had no mention of Benoit, even though anyone who even has a passing intrest in wrestler relationships knows they were best friends. Steve Austin's lastest offering ended early cause his last great fued had Benoit involved and the omission affects future releases too. Let me give you an example, does a Randy Orton DVD work half as well if they can't mention who he beat to become the then youngest world heavyweight champion ever? I don't think so.
You don't even have to acknowledge him in your documentarys if you don't want to, just to have his matches there is probably acceptance enough. I believe most rational wrestling fans can seperate Chris Benoit the entertainer from Chris Benoit the human being, at the moment they're not getting that choice and until that happens the pain will always remain in the heart of wrestling.
But that seems to be typical wrestling behaviour as we turn to the case of Jeffery Nero Hardy (To use the full name from the police report). Depending on who you talk to, Jeff could be doing anything from heading to Australia for the Hulk Hogan tour to going to jail for a minimum three year stretch. I have no doubt Jeff Hardy is not a drug dealer and everything there was purely for personal use but the fact that he had so much there is wrong in itself and it raises another intresting point....this point being the game of "What If?"
What if Jeff is found guilty of traffiking opium and is locked up for a good stretch of time? Does the WWE stop acknowledging him as well because hearing about Jeff Hardy the entertainer may automatically make us think of Jeff Hardy the convicted drug dealer? Do they remove him from history like they have Chris Benoit? Or does the line come at killing people and not at slowly killing yourself? Either way if it happens the WWE is going to have to walk a VERY fine line to come off as hypocrites. If they continue to acknowledge Hardy if he's convicted then they're hypocrites for acknowledging one criminal while erasing another, if they wipe him, then they're hypocrites for not publically acknowledging that the pieces that caused Jeff Hardy's downfall pretty much happened on their watch.
Don't get me wrong, I don't blame Vince or anyone in the WWE for the personal actions of Jeff Hardy, he wasn't employed by them any more and what he does on his own time is his own business. However don't try and fool me by saying for one second that there wasn't some kind of sign that things may be turning pear shaped in Jeff's life. He'd already had two wellness violations to his name.
It's the age old question, where does professional responsibility end and personal responsibility start? To say that they saw nothing from him means someone is either blind or stupid. Jeff Hardy may very well have wrecked his own life thanks to drugs but a lot of those drugs were painkillers, things he may not have needed if he didn't risk his body in a wrestling ring night after night.
In the end maybe there's no right answer when it comes to Hardy or Benoit, but to not acknowledge them is to leave your head in the sand. Acknowledging them, even just a little may just allow them to be a lesson to up and coming wrestlers the world over to be more vigilant for themselves and each other, so tragic events like those Chris Benoit perpertrated will never happen again and maybe then finally, finally wrestling can heal the scars in its heart
So we've heard a lot in the past couple of days about wrestlers behaving badly. Jeff Hardy was arrested for drug possession. Kurt Angle had his charges of stalking and HGH possession thrown out and Sean O'Haire was put in the big house for assault.
This thought is not about passing judgement on them.
It's about Chris Benoit.
Yes I mentioned the "Forbidden One" and look, the wrestling world didn't melt down, the sky didn't fall and Vince McMahon didn't play his fiddle while the empire is the WWE burned down around him. Ever since the tragic events involving Chris Benoit and what he did happened wrestling has had a stain on its soul. A mark that is yet to be erased, it may never be erased and we certainly wouldn't want to forget the victims in the case. However wrestling still carries the hurt of the events with them and has yet to fully move on from the shocking moment when wrestling lost its innocence, and the only way wrestling will ever do that is to once again acknowledge Chris Benoit.
Now before all the people who will scream "But he murdered his family." start up. I said ACKNOWLEDGE, not ACCEPT. I don't think Benoit should ever be accepted, injuries notwithstanding what he did was heinous and I don't think anyone in their right mind would ever think he should be welcomed back with open arms, however to just erase him from memory and wrestling's history only continues the drawn out process of pain when people point out that he was a big part of those moments, it only sparks debate and the painful memories of the past are put forth to live again.
Look for example at the new Rise and Fall of WCW DVD, one of the biggest nails in WCW's column, the Radicals jump from WCW to WWE wasn't even given anything on the DVD, why? Because the whole Radicals angle pretty much focused on Chris Benoit. It's that old self fulfulling prophecy of tailoring things to get the result you want, you don't want to mention Benoit so you can't mention the Radicals. But it doesn't stop there, look at some of the recent DVD's WWE has put out and a lot of what they've done has been lessened, for example the Eddie Guerrero DVD had no mention of Benoit, even though anyone who even has a passing intrest in wrestler relationships knows they were best friends. Steve Austin's lastest offering ended early cause his last great fued had Benoit involved and the omission affects future releases too. Let me give you an example, does a Randy Orton DVD work half as well if they can't mention who he beat to become the then youngest world heavyweight champion ever? I don't think so.
You don't even have to acknowledge him in your documentarys if you don't want to, just to have his matches there is probably acceptance enough. I believe most rational wrestling fans can seperate Chris Benoit the entertainer from Chris Benoit the human being, at the moment they're not getting that choice and until that happens the pain will always remain in the heart of wrestling.
But that seems to be typical wrestling behaviour as we turn to the case of Jeffery Nero Hardy (To use the full name from the police report). Depending on who you talk to, Jeff could be doing anything from heading to Australia for the Hulk Hogan tour to going to jail for a minimum three year stretch. I have no doubt Jeff Hardy is not a drug dealer and everything there was purely for personal use but the fact that he had so much there is wrong in itself and it raises another intresting point....this point being the game of "What If?"
What if Jeff is found guilty of traffiking opium and is locked up for a good stretch of time? Does the WWE stop acknowledging him as well because hearing about Jeff Hardy the entertainer may automatically make us think of Jeff Hardy the convicted drug dealer? Do they remove him from history like they have Chris Benoit? Or does the line come at killing people and not at slowly killing yourself? Either way if it happens the WWE is going to have to walk a VERY fine line to come off as hypocrites. If they continue to acknowledge Hardy if he's convicted then they're hypocrites for acknowledging one criminal while erasing another, if they wipe him, then they're hypocrites for not publically acknowledging that the pieces that caused Jeff Hardy's downfall pretty much happened on their watch.
Don't get me wrong, I don't blame Vince or anyone in the WWE for the personal actions of Jeff Hardy, he wasn't employed by them any more and what he does on his own time is his own business. However don't try and fool me by saying for one second that there wasn't some kind of sign that things may be turning pear shaped in Jeff's life. He'd already had two wellness violations to his name.
It's the age old question, where does professional responsibility end and personal responsibility start? To say that they saw nothing from him means someone is either blind or stupid. Jeff Hardy may very well have wrecked his own life thanks to drugs but a lot of those drugs were painkillers, things he may not have needed if he didn't risk his body in a wrestling ring night after night.
In the end maybe there's no right answer when it comes to Hardy or Benoit, but to not acknowledge them is to leave your head in the sand. Acknowledging them, even just a little may just allow them to be a lesson to up and coming wrestlers the world over to be more vigilant for themselves and each other, so tragic events like those Chris Benoit perpertrated will never happen again and maybe then finally, finally wrestling can heal the scars in its heart
Hulk Hogan and his place in wrestling. An OTS look
Disclaimer: As is probably going to become usual on these posts, these are just my opinion and may not be the opinion of anyone else. I post these for a couple of reasons. 1. To spark debate around the traps and 2. Because it amuses me and I like to do it. So please feel free to leave a comment on why you think I'm right or wrong at the end.
So Hulk Hogan is touring Australia soon huh? Bringing out a new show with Eric Bischoff to a nation starved of wrestling and a generation of Hulkamanics who've never seen him live and in living color. Naturally a lot of wrestling fans are going off, first TNA announced a tour now this. A lot of people are saying that this may be the one and only chance to see the man who made wrestling what it is today and to see the man who drew the first Wrestlemania on his back. I respectfully disagree
See whenever I hear "Hogan made wrestling, and made Wrestlemania" I always stop and think on that. Let me state first that I am NOT a Hulkamaniac, I never was so I admit there may be a little bias on my belhalf. And certainly there's no doubt Hogan is the biggest name in wrestling, and has the most mainstream appeal but to say he MADE wrestling what it is today? I don't think so. He got people intrested in wrestling and in wrestlers, but that's different. Guys like Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Terry Funk, hell even guys like Randy Savage and Dusty Rhodes were definately better wrestlers than him, if you're looking from a pure wrestling sense any one of those people you could make a compelling argument for saying they "made" wrestling. Flair especially, his "Flair for the Gold" at Starrcade showed promoters around the US that Closed Circuit or Pay Per View could make your company huge amounts of cash and it pushed Mid-Atlantic Wrestling to the cusp of nationalisation before Vince McMahon.
As for Wrestlemania, well I always have a theory when it comes to things like that. It's more long winded but basically it boils down to this
Babyfaces sell MERCHANDISE
Heels sell TICKETS
Roddy Piper, love him or hate him made Wrestlemania, Hogan was no doubt the strongest name they had but without a strong heel Wrestlemania would've fallen flat and the WWE as we know it would've died before they began. Piper and Orndorff were those heels, Piper got the fans so incensed by beating on Cyndi Lauper and Mr T that the fans paid to see him get his ass kicked (Twice in fact, cause "The War to Settle the Score" rated through the roof) and that's what made Wrestlemania. Hogan had a huge part, he was the only babyface they had that could stand up to the juggernaut that was Piper, but he didn't make Wrestlemania.
Hogan was and still is a great babyface but he was made through the work of strong heels (Piper, Orndorff, Andre, Savage) and clever booking. Before he beat the Iron Sheik one could've argued Jimmy Snuka was more over and more deserving of the WWE title than he. It's classic booking 101, stack the odds to where it seems like the babyface has no chance in hell of winning then it will make the final victory all the more sweeter and make it mean a lot more to the fans. It worked with Hogan then, to a lesser extent it works with John Cena now.
Hogan is a legend, his tour will probably be very entertaining, but he's not the be all and end all of wrestling. He made wrestling POPULAR. But making wrestling popular and making wrestling are two entirely different things
So Hulk Hogan is touring Australia soon huh? Bringing out a new show with Eric Bischoff to a nation starved of wrestling and a generation of Hulkamanics who've never seen him live and in living color. Naturally a lot of wrestling fans are going off, first TNA announced a tour now this. A lot of people are saying that this may be the one and only chance to see the man who made wrestling what it is today and to see the man who drew the first Wrestlemania on his back. I respectfully disagree
See whenever I hear "Hogan made wrestling, and made Wrestlemania" I always stop and think on that. Let me state first that I am NOT a Hulkamaniac, I never was so I admit there may be a little bias on my belhalf. And certainly there's no doubt Hogan is the biggest name in wrestling, and has the most mainstream appeal but to say he MADE wrestling what it is today? I don't think so. He got people intrested in wrestling and in wrestlers, but that's different. Guys like Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Terry Funk, hell even guys like Randy Savage and Dusty Rhodes were definately better wrestlers than him, if you're looking from a pure wrestling sense any one of those people you could make a compelling argument for saying they "made" wrestling. Flair especially, his "Flair for the Gold" at Starrcade showed promoters around the US that Closed Circuit or Pay Per View could make your company huge amounts of cash and it pushed Mid-Atlantic Wrestling to the cusp of nationalisation before Vince McMahon.
As for Wrestlemania, well I always have a theory when it comes to things like that. It's more long winded but basically it boils down to this
Babyfaces sell MERCHANDISE
Heels sell TICKETS
Roddy Piper, love him or hate him made Wrestlemania, Hogan was no doubt the strongest name they had but without a strong heel Wrestlemania would've fallen flat and the WWE as we know it would've died before they began. Piper and Orndorff were those heels, Piper got the fans so incensed by beating on Cyndi Lauper and Mr T that the fans paid to see him get his ass kicked (Twice in fact, cause "The War to Settle the Score" rated through the roof) and that's what made Wrestlemania. Hogan had a huge part, he was the only babyface they had that could stand up to the juggernaut that was Piper, but he didn't make Wrestlemania.
Hogan was and still is a great babyface but he was made through the work of strong heels (Piper, Orndorff, Andre, Savage) and clever booking. Before he beat the Iron Sheik one could've argued Jimmy Snuka was more over and more deserving of the WWE title than he. It's classic booking 101, stack the odds to where it seems like the babyface has no chance in hell of winning then it will make the final victory all the more sweeter and make it mean a lot more to the fans. It worked with Hogan then, to a lesser extent it works with John Cena now.
Hogan is a legend, his tour will probably be very entertaining, but he's not the be all and end all of wrestling. He made wrestling POPULAR. But making wrestling popular and making wrestling are two entirely different things
Monday, September 14, 2009
Why TNA should stay with AJ
A lot of people on wrestling forums I've frequented have asked why TNA seems to be turning to AJ Styles again when it comes to finding the next World champion, while I'm not convinced that they actually are let's go on that assumption (Cause it really helps my thoughts for the night) but fans I've seen have suggested a lot of others other than AJ but I think AJ is the pick of the bunch. But in the intrest of fairness I'm going to look at the options other people I've seen on wrestling forums bring up as replacements for AJ. I'm not going to go all indignant and call these people stupid for their opinions but there's a couple of things I think I need to bring up for the sake of discussion. Bear in mind that just like you, these are my own opinions and you can feel free to differ from them like I do from yours. Also bear in mind I'm just looking at the quote unquote "Next Big Thing". I'm well aware they could turn to a Sting or a Nash or a Samoa Joe again. Or even go with "Super Mex" Hernandez. These are the names I see time and time again though and that's why I'm looking at them over the others.
Option 1: Matt Morgan
I agree with a lot people have to say about him, Morgan is definately one of the top prospects on the TNA roster. He's one of the quickest, most athletic big men in the business and definately has the superstar look and aura about him and yes, is probably a mortal lock for a TNA World Title run sooner rather than later.However to call him charismatic and a good mic worker at this stage of his career is kind of like saying the Great Khali is a great mat technician, it doesn't really work. He's passable, like AJ Styles is passable but there's that either/or with Matt and AJ, they're EITHER both passable OR they're both not, there's really no middle ground. Personally I think they are but AJ has more upside just on ringwork, that's why he's always around the main event where as Matt has had to work to get to that level.
Option 2: The Motor City Machineguns
Hey I love Sabin and Shelley as much as the next guy, they are arguably the top tag team on TNA's roster (I'd go Beer Money but that's neither here nor there) and probably will be for a while but the Guns are in the same mould as the Rock and Roll Express and America's Most Wanted. As a team they're over, seperated it would be as sad as a broken marriage.
That's not to say it can't happen, I think even TNA thinks that Sabin can be a credible upper midcard threat, they wouldn't have put him in the qualifying tournament if they didn't but you can say the same thing about Doug Williams using that logic. Shelley could probably have a run with the X division title but you look at Alex and you see Gen Y's version of Marty Jannetty, a guy who'll get lost in the pack and never have a chance to showcase the raw talent he does have
Option 3: Robert Roode
Again I'm a fan of Rob's work but I'm sorry folks. The train that carried Roode's chance at a world title for the seeable future left while he was still arguing at the ticket window. It was last year, he had the compelling character (The wall street ego), he had the intrest, he only needed something to propel him that final step. So what did TNA do? Stuck him in a go nowhere fued with Booker T. This is normal TNA behaviour but it killed his momentum stone dead, so much so he fell back to the tag ranks.
Could he get to that level again? Of course he could but he's going to have to start from scratch and there are other, more credible options out there.
Option 4: Elijah Burke
This one I just plain don't get. Burke probably could help the upper midcard and have a chance at the TNA title but where is he booked? In a pretty much go nowhere spot with Lethal Consequences. I just don't see him as a legit title threat, he doesn't have the aura of being "A top guy" that others (Foley and Angle especially) had when they came down. That's not to say he can't there, it will just take time and paitence, something that Russo doesn't have a lot of.
If TNA are going to succeed they have to play the cards they're dealt and at the moment, like it or not, their ace in the hole is AJ Styles. Morgan's still developing, Hernandez is a month or two away and there's really no body you can see making the leap from the tag ranks or midcard that will be a threat. But they have the chance to build something and get ready for the next year or five years if they're smart.
By setting up guys like Elijah Burke, like Doug Williams, like Chris Sabin and like Robert Roode now they can have money making fueds that will carry them for a long time to come but while they lay the ground work they have to play the strongest hand they have and the key player in the deck is AJ Styles, that's why he's been chosen to carry the belt in the past and that's why come No Surrender he'll probably be chosen again
Option 1: Matt Morgan
I agree with a lot people have to say about him, Morgan is definately one of the top prospects on the TNA roster. He's one of the quickest, most athletic big men in the business and definately has the superstar look and aura about him and yes, is probably a mortal lock for a TNA World Title run sooner rather than later.However to call him charismatic and a good mic worker at this stage of his career is kind of like saying the Great Khali is a great mat technician, it doesn't really work. He's passable, like AJ Styles is passable but there's that either/or with Matt and AJ, they're EITHER both passable OR they're both not, there's really no middle ground. Personally I think they are but AJ has more upside just on ringwork, that's why he's always around the main event where as Matt has had to work to get to that level.
Option 2: The Motor City Machineguns
Hey I love Sabin and Shelley as much as the next guy, they are arguably the top tag team on TNA's roster (I'd go Beer Money but that's neither here nor there) and probably will be for a while but the Guns are in the same mould as the Rock and Roll Express and America's Most Wanted. As a team they're over, seperated it would be as sad as a broken marriage.
That's not to say it can't happen, I think even TNA thinks that Sabin can be a credible upper midcard threat, they wouldn't have put him in the qualifying tournament if they didn't but you can say the same thing about Doug Williams using that logic. Shelley could probably have a run with the X division title but you look at Alex and you see Gen Y's version of Marty Jannetty, a guy who'll get lost in the pack and never have a chance to showcase the raw talent he does have
Option 3: Robert Roode
Again I'm a fan of Rob's work but I'm sorry folks. The train that carried Roode's chance at a world title for the seeable future left while he was still arguing at the ticket window. It was last year, he had the compelling character (The wall street ego), he had the intrest, he only needed something to propel him that final step. So what did TNA do? Stuck him in a go nowhere fued with Booker T. This is normal TNA behaviour but it killed his momentum stone dead, so much so he fell back to the tag ranks.
Could he get to that level again? Of course he could but he's going to have to start from scratch and there are other, more credible options out there.
Option 4: Elijah Burke
This one I just plain don't get. Burke probably could help the upper midcard and have a chance at the TNA title but where is he booked? In a pretty much go nowhere spot with Lethal Consequences. I just don't see him as a legit title threat, he doesn't have the aura of being "A top guy" that others (Foley and Angle especially) had when they came down. That's not to say he can't there, it will just take time and paitence, something that Russo doesn't have a lot of.
If TNA are going to succeed they have to play the cards they're dealt and at the moment, like it or not, their ace in the hole is AJ Styles. Morgan's still developing, Hernandez is a month or two away and there's really no body you can see making the leap from the tag ranks or midcard that will be a threat. But they have the chance to build something and get ready for the next year or five years if they're smart.
By setting up guys like Elijah Burke, like Doug Williams, like Chris Sabin and like Robert Roode now they can have money making fueds that will carry them for a long time to come but while they lay the ground work they have to play the strongest hand they have and the key player in the deck is AJ Styles, that's why he's been chosen to carry the belt in the past and that's why come No Surrender he'll probably be chosen again
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