I guess they thought there was too much wrestling on RAW in 2011 to date, because tonight, the well was dry. Seriously, the only long form match they had before the main event was maybe the worst non-Great Khali match I've seen on RAW in a long time. Randy Orton and Michael McGillicutty stunk up the joint something fierce. Of course, that wouldn't have been too egregious had the out-of-ring stuff been knocked out. It wasn't. Now, I'm not going to hate on this episode as some amongst my Internet brethren will. It was hit or miss, but the misses were DREADFUL.
First up, Triple H came back and opened his mouth. Okay, it was a decent promo, but what followed kinda unsettled me. I flipped my shit at Sheamus getting buried right away, but I'm willing to look past it because I think they have something for Sheamus, no matter how much that buck-toothed idiot Kevin Dunn is reputed to have it in for him. Plus, we got the return of Evan Bourne out of it. EVAN MOTHERFUCKING BOURNE BACK IN TIME FOR WRESTLEMANIA! I love it.
The showdown between Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler was well-done too. Jack Swagger's addition into the program adds to it in my view. I think this might lead to another Oklahoman returning to the fold, but that could just be wishful thinking.
I also thought The Rock's promo was simply electrifying as well. I felt bad for the live crowd since it was made for TV rather than the people paying to be in attendance. Furthermore, they followed it up with the Shawn Michaels pre-taped promo, and it must have killed that crowd. God, I felt bad for those fans. Of course, the worst part of the night was Cena's promo on Miz. Seriously, that was terrible. Stop with the cutesy bullshit, Cena. It almost ruined the whole flow of the show for me, but Miz reclaimed it at the end of the night. Seriously, Tweeting during guest commentary? Awesome. Just awesome. Miz is growing into a main event superstar before our eyes here, and it's awesome.
Too bad the rest of the show wasn't as consistent as the main event was. Too much filler, too many mistakes, and Christ, John Cena needs to have someone grow balls, pull him aside and tell him that he should be building towards WrestleMania with his strong suit, serious promos rather than this cutesy bullshit. Right now, not only is he being lapped by The Rock, but Miz is wrecking him too.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Banner by Billy Dunlevy
Monday, February 28, 2011
WWE Hall of Fame Oddsmakers: Big Daddy V
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| Big Daddy V Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Oddsmakers is a segment on the popular sports opinion show Pardon the Interruption. The co-hosts discuss a particular event and the probability of it happening. It sounded like a good enough topic to transplant onto TWB, so me and TWB superfan, Ohio's favorite Pastafarian son Cody Bezik, to play along with me re: WWE Hall of Fame inductees. With the nominations coming out now, we'll take a look at several candidates over the coming weeks and let you know what we think of them getting in. This week's subject: Big Daddy V.
TH: If Big Daddy V, aka Mable, aka Big Vis, had a Major League equivalent, he'd be Matt Stairs. He's not a superstar by any stretch of the imagination, but he's had staying power. He's a bit player, but one who has always seemed to find his way back to the company. They felt like he was a big piece, and they tried to fit him into the mold of superstar. It just never took. They made him King of the Ring. They aligned him with Undertaker. They contended him for the ECW Championship. None of those scenarios really took the way they wanted to. Still, he remained a visible name and a loyal hand for Vince McMahon.
Bob
To me, McMahon sounds like a guy who rewards loyalty. Of course, he doesn't strike me as a guy whose street runs both ways with the way he's treated some of his former employees, but if you show that you're a WWE man, he'll reward you. Whether that reward is with a job as an agent or a plum Legends deal or even a Hall of Fame berth is up to him. So why might Big Vis' fate be in the Hall of Fame? Well, I don't know if that's the case. However, he's the kind of special attraction that might garner him favor as a fringe candidate.
I know the name Koko B. Ware gets invoked around here a lot, and it works in a roundabout way here. However, what we're forgetting is that Ware was more of a draw in the regional days and even as a parachute-pants wearing midcard attraction in the WWF, he was way more over than Vis ever was. Basically, Ware was important and he was worthy of being in the Hall, much in the same way that old WWF midcarders or even Bob Armstrong, who's going to be announced for induction tonight, is worthy.
Still, Vis has that modicum of "deserving" to be in, if the WWE Hall of Fame needs deserving. He was King of the Ring and has main evented PPVs. He definitely wouldn't be a primary inductee (duh), and he might end up being a fringe inductee, a guy to fill out a class. However, with a guy who's been associated with WWE for as long as he has? Well, never say never, even if the type of player he translates to will never get in a real sports HoF.
Odds: 15 to 1
CB: Nelson Frazier, Jr. - the man of a thousand names. Well, a bit more like half a dozen, but nevertheless. Whether you call him Mabel, Viscera, King V, or Big Daddy V, the enormous man currently known as Big Daddy Voodoo has had a fairly extensive career in World Wrestling Entertainment. Adding up his three separate runs in the WWE from 1993 to 2008, he spent about a combined ten years in the WWE.
His first run in the WWF was his most successful, as it was marked by moderate championship success. As Mabel, he held the World Tag Team Championship as part of Men on a Mission, and would later flirt with the main event as he won the King of the Ring tournament in 1995, defeating the Undertaker en route to doing so. He would main event SummerSlam 1995 against Diesel in a losing effort for the WWF Championship and go on to feud with Undertaker before leaving the company.
He came back a few years later as part of the Undertaker's Ministry, becoming Viscera and hanging around the midcard for a few years. He was released in 2000, and came back in 2004 and would go on to be part of a storyline where he chased after Lillian Garcia for a few months before teaming with Val Venis and eventually finding himself on the ECW brand where he'd finish out his WWE tenure. He'd work for Matt Striker here, challenging for the ECW title and feuding with Kane. He was unceremoniously released after being drafted to Smackdown and never appearing.
So, how does one evaluate the career of Big Daddy V? Well, in terms of in ring quality, it was pretty awful. V was just too damn big to even be an effective superheavyweight like, for example, Big Show. He was almost a special attraction type of guy hearkening back to the days of Haystacks Calhoun, only decades too late. But, one's inductance into the WWE Hall of Fame has practically nothing to do with how good the wrestler was in the ring, and everything to do with that wrestler's WWE tenure in terms of entertainment and kayfabe accomplishments, as well as the current WWE management perception of them. Did Big Daddy V get over? As much as any other decent midcarder, sure. His main event run was unimpressive, but so were most things in the early to mid 90s WWF. For most of his career, V can be adequately summed up as a respectably over midcarder and a superheavyweight attraction, both of which are positive contributors to his likelihood of being in the Hall of Fame. A quick look at the WWE's website shows that he's still listed as an alumni and was ranked in their top 25 superheavyweights of all time (although, really, there can't have been too many anyway), so it definitely seems like there are no outstanding issues between V and the WWE management.
So, all in all. Do I think Big Daddy V deserves in? Not really – even putting aside his in-ring performances, he was never more than a midcarder with a brief appearance in the main event and as superheavyweights go, he wasn't even that good at the role. Will he find his way in? Maybe. Random midcarders in the WWE Hall of Fame are pretty rare – we all look at Koko B. Ware, of course, but he's the exception, not the rule. To my mind, when the WWE evaluates a guy like V, they'll think – well, there's nothing really wrong with him, but there's nothing really good about him either. He's probably unlikely to pop the crowd significantly at the induction ceremony, driving his odds even lower. All in all, not impossible, just not very likely either.
Odds: 80 to 1
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Jericho to Be Busy for the Next Two Months
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| Your next DWTS Champion? I'm sure they won't give him that gaudy a belt if he does win. Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Chris Jericho will be appearing on Dancing with the Stars this coming season. Pop-sewage site TMZ has six of the eleven roster members spoiled and Jericho's one of them. The bad news is that he won't be back in WWE in the interim, but with Fozzy's summer scheduling hopes, he wasn't coming back until after SummerSlam at the earliest anyway.
The good news? He'll be a bigger celebrity, get more attention to the product when he does return, and most importantly, it'll get him in shape, especially if he lasts long like the other wrestling personality who appeared on the show, Stacy Kiebler, did. And who knows, maybe our wives and girlfriends will learn the awesomeness that is Jericho once this is all said and done.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Intro to Match Analysis, Part 3: "I've Got a Fat Wife and Nine Kids at Home!"
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| Stan Hansen's legendary stiffness at work Photo Credit: Online World of Wrestling |
While Hansen's stiffness might have looked cool - and believe me, when wrestling looks real, it looks cool - it's not necessarily the best for keeping the other workers happy or healthy. Maybe that's why Hansen had to spend the twilight of his career in Japan, where those guys are legitimately crazy and it's arguable whether they really knew how to protect each other or not. He was too stiff for his own good. Still, while you don't want to be Stan Hansen, you don't want to be John Morrison either. Morrison himself is infamous because he whiffs on so many moves it's not even funny. Go and watch any match where he's free to work as a friendly acrobat instead of in a match where he actually works to the tension and emotion of the match. He flips and he flops, but he's just as likely to graze or even miss with a move than he is to hit a move. If there's one thing worse than blatant no-selling, it's having to sell a move that doesn't even hit you.
So where's the happy medium? Well, it depends on whom you ask. Personally, the only thing that keeps me from fully enjoying Hansen-level stiffness is the fact that I genuinely care about the well-being of performers in the ring to the point where I don't want to see them crippled by age 34. Yes, there are dangers involved with pro wrestling no matter how much the two (or more) combatants look to protect each other in the ring. However, when potatoes start flying like an Irish food fight, then while it might look cool, it's not really all that beneficial to guys staying healthy enough to have more and more good matches in the future. The thing about stiffness is that it needs to be there because the moves need to look believable. Erring on the side of Hansen is probably better than having the needle point more towards Morrison's area, but usually, master workers can make moves look believable, especially strikes, with barely touching the guy they're hitting. Jerry Lawler is a great example of this, and the fact that he's been working so closely with The Miz lately bodes well for the future of WWE.
For anyone who analyzes matches, it's hard to gauge how stiff is stiff enough. However, it has to be there. Usually, the guys with the best offenses are the ones who have the right amount of stiffness behind their strikes and moves, and for the sake of them having more opportunities to perform on that kind of stage, aren't too stiff that everyone hates working with them. Without it, the product looks too fake, and you end up turning more people away from it than bringing them in.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Weekend Wrap-Up: TODD PETTENGIL LIVES
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| 9th Anniversary Show Headliners |
- Clash Wrestling's Contender's Cup event also took place Saturday, headlined by its Champion, "GQ" Gavin Quinn defending his title successfully against Petey Williams. Also on the card, "Swagg Star" Dave Manzo earned a future shot at Quinn by defeating five other wrestlers, including intergender superstar Mena Libra, Bus Driver purveyor Tommy Treznik and former (current?) TNA wrestler Shark Boy, to win the titular Contender's Cup.
- AIW didn't run an event this weekend, but they were in the news as they announced they were hosting the TPI. No, not the Ted Petty Invitational as what those initials usually stand for but the Todd Pettengil Invitational. I think I like that tourney name way better, although cue the indie fanboys getting their panties in a twist in three... two... one... Anyway, the tournament's going down May 20th and 21st in Lakewood, OH, and three names have been announced thus far: Sonjay Dutt, Tim Donst and Mad Man Tim Pondo, the latter two who will face off in a first round grudge match. Twenty-one other names will be announced, and the winner will receive an open contract to the Absolute Championship, currently held by Johnny Gargano.
- Ole Anderson broke his arm and cracked several ribs in a fall over the weekend. The former Horseman is 69. Here's to a speedy recovery.
- Finally, PWG is back this weekend with its annual DDT4, which is a single elimination Tag Team Tournament. My guess is since ¡Peligro Abejas! aren't entered into this year's tourney, the booty will be a shot at their PWG Tag Team Championships rather than the belts themselves. Anyway, it's a loaded field, and I'll have a bigger preview for the March 4th event coming up later in the week, but if you're in SoCal or don't mind making the road trip out there, go get tickets for this event. PWG, for my money, is the second best fed in America going right now, slightly behind Chikara for me.
Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
The Rock's Response to John Cena
Via Dwayne Johnson's website
I hope this isn't the only response we get.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
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| Photo Credit: Dwayne Johnson's site |
I hope this isn't the only response we get.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Know Your Indie Wrestlers: The New Wave
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| The New Wave Photo Credit: NWA Anarchy.net |
Promotions: NWA Anarchy
Alias: none that I know of
Current Affiliations: With each other
Combined Weight: 405 lbs.
Hometown: Raleigh, NC
After the jump... Wrestling Style: Southern tag team
Signature Maneuvers:
Unskinny Bop (Side slam/moonsault combo... can't find a video)
Titles Held:
NWA Anarchy Tag Team Championships (x2)
Promos:
Unable to find any
Why You Should Know The New Wave:
In a company that prides itself on having a standout tag-team division compared to most other indies, the New Wave are the crown jewel in NWA Anarchy. Like many other tag-teams, they started out as hated rivals in the North Carolina indies eventually realizing they work out better as a tag-team. Some compare them to a modern day Rock and Roll Express and as it stands they're on they're way to becoming as successful as they have been.
They're first reign started out by beating the formitable NWA Elite of Shatter and Kimo ending their 270 day run. It was then they started a hated rivalry with Talent and Money, which led to T&M wanting the belts so bad they joined up with the NWA Elite.
After tearing up the ranks in NWA Anarchy, they're not only tearing it up in the North Georgia promotion, but throughout the Southeast Independent scene as well in various NWA promtions in Tennessee and Carolinas.
Thanks to Norko Kipte for the bio!
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Future Endeavors 2/26 Power Poll: Please Edge, Don't Sing to Celebrate
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| Miz earning my first place vote this week Photo Credit: WWE.com |
1. Edge (Last Week: 4)
2. The Miz (3)
3. John Cena (8)
4. Alberto Del Rio (5)
5. CM Punk (2)
6. John Morrison (NR)
7. Rey Mysterio (NR)
8. Drew McIntyre (NR)
9. Jeff Hardy (7)
10. Christian (NR)
And now, my ballot!
1. The Miz - The man was an evil genius, winning the Tag Titles and then deciding that outsmarting John Cena was better than being Champs with him, so he screwed attacked him while he had Heath Slater in the AA. Plus, his promo against the Rock was snazzy. He also defended his WWE Championship against Jerry Lawler successfully.
2. John Cena - Ranked this high mainly because of the battle rap. YES I LIKED IT THAT MUCH SHUT UP. Oh yeah, he won the RAW Elimination Chamber match.
3. Edge - Got his job back, beat on Dolph Ziggler twice and retained his title in the Smackdown Chamber. In retrospect, I should have docked him like two or three spots because of his awful singing (which he reprised this week too).
4. Alberto del Rio - He beat Kofi Kingston, foiled a Pearl Harbor by the aforementioned Kingston and was generally awesome last week... but you already knew that.
5. Christian - He made his big return, standing up to del Rio. Plus, it's Christian. WE LOVE YOU, CHRISTIAN.
6. Mike Quackenbush
7. Jigsaw - A successful defense of their Campeonatos de Parejas on Saturday lands them on the list this week. Quack's higher because he beat Green Ant while Jig lost to Tim Donst, although that loss was under dubious circumstances.
8. Drew McIntyre - He had his coming out party this week in the Elimination Chamber, bustin' skulls and showing that fire.
9. Mark Henry - For splitting Sheamus' wig.
10. Tim Donst - Yes, he lost to Max Boyer on Saturday in a record 4 seconds, but on Friday, he totally rocked the house in AIW, earning a future shot at the Absolute Champion by winning the big battle royale. Props to Donst, props.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
This Week in DVR: Where'd My ROH Go?
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| Father and son deception in progress Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Matches
Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater vs. JTG and Trent Baretta, non-title match, on Superstars - I really like Gabriel, and he makes Slater better in the tag team. I guess Slater is one of those guys destined to be a tag team specialist for life, which in WWE could be a kiss of death. I'm not complaining though. Anyway, pretty decent opener. Baretta was pretty good for his team, and JTG wasn't too offensive.
Chris Masters vs. Tyler Reks on Superstars - Who'da thunk that Reks could be good? Oh yeah, he's in there with one of the five best workers in WWE in Masters. I wish that there'd be more to this story than just "Hey! These guys are gonna wrestle each week just because!" but at least we're getting a good series of bruiser big man matches.
Tyson Kidd vs. Santino Marella on Superstars - I knew it was going to be a good match when Santino dropped down in a low bridge when Kidd was running the ropes and tripped him up. It's such a routine spot to drop down to the canvas that it makes sense that Kidd would have taken for granted that Santino would have gone all the way down. Anyway, the whole match was a combination of Kidd's crispness and stiffness and Santino's showmanship. Really fun match.
Daniel Bryan vs. Ted DiBiase, non-title match, on Supertstars - I'm bummed they don't do more with this, because I think DiBiase could be a hell of a singles opponent for Bryan. Both guys are Japan-seasoned and have great chemistry. There were two really nice spots in the corner out of the cobra clutch, the first with Bryan reversing a Dream Street attempt into a pin and the second which ended up as a COBRA CLUTCH SUPLEX!!!! which you never see in WWE. The finish was a bit wonky, but hey, it works if we get a series of DiBiase/Yoshi Tatsu matches on Superstars. I think I've given up on them pushing DiBiase for the time being, but as long as he's still wrestling, I think I'm okay with it.
Wade Barrett vs. The Big Show on Smackdown - Both Barrett and Show get it. They always seem to work really good matches, and this week was no different. The finish was actually pretty out of left field - usually it's the heel that's getting the cheap count out win - but I think it worked with the way Barrett was physically owning Show during the match.
Shows
ROH on HDNet - My DVR didn't record ROH this week. FUCK!
Superstars - Four matches, and all four were good enough to make the honor roll. I'd say that was a success of an episode.
Impact - This was a very boring episode until the very end. For one, if I didn't watch Impact for the sole purpose of just being completist with my coverage of wrestling, I don't think that one of the Jersey Shore skanks calling out another skank from that show would get me to watch. Neither would the FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU-inducing storyline of the Dixie Carter/Hulk Hogan legal issues being positioned as the top draw or the marriage vow renewal that has been an early candidate for worst angle of the year. And as for the rip-off segment? It was pretty terrible. This company needs to be shot in the head.
Smackdown - It was a good episode. I thought the ending stuff with Vickie Guerrero getting fired was excessive, but I thought it was a good way to end her reign of terror and really focus on getting the attention of the main event from Edge vs. Vickie to Edge vs. Alberto del Rio. I also LOVED the Dusty/DCR/Rey segment as well, and not just because DUTHTY RHODE was involved. Yeah, no one wants to see Big Dust as a heel like TWB superfan Dave McKinney pointed out in various media, but at the same time, it was a well-done segment and it really helped get Cody over for a WM program against Mysterio. The wrestling was okay if not special outside of the Show/Barrett match. What I really didn't like was the replaying of BOTH big promo segments from RAW. I could understand doing John Cena's promo again because it was a huge deal, but the 2 21 11 stuff again? I mean yeah, it gets watched by a lot more people than Superstars, but at the same time, that's two long segments dedicated to replaying what happened on RAW. Smackdown is getting big ratings on SyFy. It should have its own identity rather than being a smorgasboard for leftovers.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Chris Jericho Interview
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| Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Chris Jericho did an interview with Slam where he talked about rumors of what he'd be doing as well as plugging his book. I wouldn't be linking this if I didn't come across this nugget:
Jericho says it's obvious Triple H is becoming the WWE kingpin.Damning with faint praise, or is the aforementioned attempted burial water under the bridge? Either way, I just thought it was funny he'd acknowledge that the guy who's going to take over the company had heat with him back in the day, especially when he's looking to get a job with the company again in a few months.
"He's going to take over the company," says Jericho. "This isn't the year 2000 anymore where he was trying to bury me. Nobody wants to be Bruce Hart, where he takes over Stampede Wrestling and goes out of business two years later after his father had it for 40 years."
Of course, it's great hearing my favorite wrestler slam my least favorite, but that's besides the point.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Friday, February 25, 2011
The Latest TNA Spoiler Proves That Eric Bischoff Is a Big Fat Liar
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| Smug (l) and out of touch and crippled (r) Photo Credit: TNAWrestling.com |
In case you don't know what I'm talking about, TNA ripped off the Undertaker 2/21/11 promo videos for the return of Sting last night on Spike. The videos hyped his return next week, which according to spoilers, leads to him defeating Jeff Hardy for the TNA World Championship. The whole ordeal is based off the idea that TNA is delivering what the WWE couldn't, the Icon, Sting. The whole problem with that premise is that the WWE never promised Sting, was never in really serious talks with him and made those hype videos with Undertaker and, as we found out Monday, Triple H in mind. All the speculation about Sting came from the IWC, this community of fans who contrary to popular belief amongst the haters, doesn't share the same mind and actually has as many different opinions about wrestling as it has different people. It was chatter that sprang up from people who had too much time on their hands to create Photoshop images marrying Sting to the idea of fighting to end The Streak. It was spread by people who had no affiliation with WWE, myself included, as evidenced by several posts of mine, including this one. I'm not going to apologize for speculating, mainly because I never passed off those posts as fact, but I'm also never going to pretend that because I fell for the hysteria, that I was speaking for WWE and thus have a right to feel angry that they didn't deliver on Sting to take on Undertaker.
Still, the fact remains that any hype surrounding that was created by fans, not by the WWE. So even a knowing smirk type flash scene by TNA as a jab at WWE for the Sting hype would be disingenuous. However, a total rip-off job, followed by strapping him for the show to happen the week after as a way on capitalizing on the heat generated by his name? Yeah, that's pandering so transparent that in-character Chris Jericho would be too embarrassed to point it out due to how obvious it was. For as standoffish and aloof as Bischoff and crew seem to be concerning us Internet fans, they really, really love trying to book to our sensibilities. If not, then why would every angle have some kind of shooty-personal aspect to it? If not, then why would they be trying to lure the smark-ass smark fan back in by promising to refocus attention the X-Division? If not, then why air the blatant rip-off video and push Sting like 1997 Bret Hart SHOULD have been pushed upon arriving in WCW?
This is just another reason why TNA will never get ahead as long as Carter continues to administrate the company and as long as liars and frauds like Russo and especially Bischoff continue to sabotage it from within while spreading smug vitriol to all those who dare question it in public. TNA has longed for an identity for years now, and this continual baiting of a market leader that doesn't even acknowledge them as a legitimate competitor only makes them look bush league in the process. If they spent half as much time trying to build a legitimate wrestling company, built off its own homegrown stars and complemented by free agents to give star power instead of being built around castoffs and using the homegrowns as job fodder as they did trying to troll the WWE, they'd be a force to be reckoned with. Instead, they're just a pathetic company with pathetic leadership trying desperately to gain the approval of a body of fans that they purport to hate.
You just can't make this shit up.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Intro to Match Analysis, Part 2: The Importance of Selling
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| Evan Bourne is a master seller. Just ask CM Punk, who looked like a million bucks after Bourne sold this like death. Photo Credit: WWE.com |
So, if you have a guy who has his leg worked over for a considerable portion of a wrestling match, and minutes later, all that leg work is forgotten, why would you consider the leg work done earlier to be important? Offense is only as effective as the guy selling it makes it. That's why above anything else, selling is the most important part of any wrestling match. It doesn't matter if a guy has stiff-looking punches or a great moveset or anything else that people may consider part of good wrestling. If the guy taking those moves isn't acting like they hurt, then it makes the guy doing them look like a chump, not a Champ.
That's why it maddens me so much when people prop up guys who don't sell and rather who engage in the self-celebratory style of just trading moves and engaging in excessive displays of Fighting Spirit. Whenever I see a match featuring Shingo Tagaki or Davey Richards, and all they do is kick the other guy, take kicks and move around like nothing's wrong, it only reinforces that vile, four-lettered "f" word that haters of the artform bandy about like a sharp blade around the soft flesh of our fandom.
Fake.
I can watch Ares and UltraMantis Black fight over a relic that has purported powers of hypnosis and not be offended because hey, wrestling's theater and theater can be absurd at times. I can be unaffected by some of the most absurd angles that the WWE or even TNA run and still defend the artform as "staged" rather than that vile f-word. I will put my balls on the line as a wrestling fan and defend nearly anything. But when you have gratuitous displays of guys just doing MOVEZ to each other with no regard to feigning to the crowd that those moves actually hurt and have lingering effects past the initial sting? I can't deal with it. I tap out to the haters, because there's nothing I can say that defends that kind of asinine lack of attention to storytelling.
And as fake as guys popping up after brutal head drops makes the product look, guys selling the shit out of moves makes it look all that much better. Take Evan Bourne for example. The guy is beloved by the WWE fanbase because he flies through the air with the greatest of ease. However, his value with the company, something that makes him the go-to guy for getting people over as beasts, is in his selling. The guy takes the High Cross from Sheamus like he just dropped on a landmine. On a bum shoulder, he took bumps that most other guys would scoff at healthy to put CM Punk over like a stone cold killer. Because of all that, he's one of the best workers on the roster and he makes the product look visceral, look real. You want a reason why I would watch and enjoy Bourne getting squashed by The Miz over a 20 minute AWESOMESAUCE EPIC MATCH WITH MOVEZ between Shingo and Richards, you want a reason why I get goosebumps watching Bourne get tossed around by Sheamus, you want a reason why Bourne in even his simplest affairs makes me forget that the product is staged just for one second? It's in the way he sells.
If you look at all the guys, all the people who drove business, they took beatings and made guys they were wrestling look like world-beaters. Hulk Hogan had the Hulk-Up, but what most people will never admit is he would always spend a solid five to ten minutes BEFORE Hulking Up taking a brutal asskicking from the heel he was working with at the time. Steve Austin and Rock bumped their asses off. Shawn Michaels' career almost came to a screeching halt in 1998 because of his dedication to bumping and selling. Ric Flair was so believable taking a beatdown that his begging off has become a signature spot in wrestling history. All of those guys are considered all-timers. None of them engaged in the nonsense of move trading with no sense of taking damage. Coincidence? I think not.
If you act like you're hurt, you're doing more for yourself than you could think of by busting out every move in the book, ESPECIALLY if you're booked to win in a comeback. No-selling has its place, and that place is SPARING if appropriate at all. But acting hurt? That goes for any situation. Selling really is the most important part of any match, and if anyone tells you otherwise, they're a liar or a super mark for moves for the sake of moves. It's as simple as that. The moment wrestling loses selling is the moment wrestling loses its relevance, at least in a way that makes it compete for the combat sports PPV dollar and TV show viewer. It'll be there for the workrate dorks and for people who like superhero stories but without any of the other cool powers. But it won't be for wrestling fans, because it'll just make things, really, really boring.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Follow Friday: Travis Scott Bowden
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| Via his Twitter profile |
He's very approachable on Twitter, very knowledgeable and a guy that is a must-follow, especially when he tweets during Monday Night RAW. He knows his stuff, and he's got a great sense of humor.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Friday Five: Mexico
In honor of the newest WWE superstar, Sin Cara, here's a Friday Five about Mexico and lucha libre!
1. Do you think the WWE playing up Sin Cara's heritage as Mistico in introducing him is a good idea?
2. Who is your favorite Mexican wrestler to wrestle for an American fed, be it full time or as a guest star?
3. Do you like lucha libre?
4. Who has the best mask in wrestling right now? Of all-time?
5. Buy or sell: The WWE will run a WrestleMania in Mexico City within the next five years.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
1. Do you think the WWE playing up Sin Cara's heritage as Mistico in introducing him is a good idea?
2. Who is your favorite Mexican wrestler to wrestle for an American fed, be it full time or as a guest star?
3. Do you like lucha libre?
4. Who has the best mask in wrestling right now? Of all-time?
5. Buy or sell: The WWE will run a WrestleMania in Mexico City within the next five years.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Gabe Sapolsky with the Epic LULZ
This was in response to TNA airing a blatant rip-off of the WWE's 2/21/11 vignettes to promote the return of Sting. I'll have more on that later, along with all your regular Friday Features and the second installment of my "Intro to Match Analysis" series. But I just had to share this. It's funny when a wrestling company does something so heinous that fans riot en masse. It's freaking hilarious when a guy actually in the business himself starts joining in the shred party. Like his booking or not, you have to admit that it's pretty funny that Gabe would post that to his Facebook, don'tcha?
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
WWE Nuggets from the Wrestling Observer
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| Coming back soon? MAYBE Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Seriously though, how pissed off would that live crowd have been if it was Bieber walking through the curtain? The WWE would have had to have closed at that moment. Good thing they had a nice backup plan...
Secondly, Evan Bourne was given a date for his return to live action at the 3/14 tapings, with house show returns happening as close as next weekend. However, that date may have been premature and could be pushed back. So the moral of the story? We still don't know when Bourne comes back. But it's soon. Okay, I'm not much better than the dirt sheet writers here, but hey, I WANT BOURNE TO COME BACK DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT.
Thirdly, and this might be the most hilarious one of them all, the big name WWE wrestlers get tour buses. That's not the funny part. The funny part? For TV events, John Cena tours with Michael Cole on his bus because the two are... best friends. I'm not really finding this funny because of anything vindictive. Really, I'm not. It's just funny, the nerdy windbag heel announcer and the tough guy superman face of the company, chilling together, playing X-Box, watching movies, making s'mores over an open fire... oh man, I don't think I can go any further without self-immolating in goofiness over here.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Who Replied to The Rock Better?
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| I thought Cena held his own on the mic. Did you? Photo Credit: WWE.com |
My choice is Cena. Given how much I've been hating on Cena and his cutesy tendencies lately and how hard I crush on Miz on a daily basis, this is surprising, but hear me out. The Rock came back for the first time in seven years. He cut a special promo, one that needed a special response. The Miz's promo was good. It was well-delivered, par for the course for him, really. But was it special? Did it feel like a once in a lifetime response to a once in a lifetime promo? I think describing it as "par for the course" tells you that I thought it did not.
Cena's rap though? Yeah, that did feel special. Granted, Cena had to reply to Rock in an epic way. He had to show that yes, he could stand toe to toe with The Great One. The preamble to his first rap in several years was great, serious enough to match the gauntlet thrown down by The People's Champ without sounding too glib or dismissive. What put it over the top though was that rap. It was Cena dragging out the one part of his character that people could feel nostalgic about, one that was left in the storage chest until then for good reason. Cena brought it and brought it hard, and I think that he wins this round over Miz and comes mighty close to Rock's first shot. In fact, TWB superfan and sometimes-collaborator Pete Speer said on Twitter that he'd score the first round between Rock and Cena a 10-9 advantage for Rocky. I agree with that assessment a lot, and I think that if Cena keeps holding his own, he'll come out of this important stretch run to WrestleMania looking like a bigger star than he already is. For the WWE's sake, that's very important.
So, what say you, commenters? Let me know whom you thought won both the reply battle between Miz and Cena as well as the back and forth between Rocky and Cena. I'm very interested to find out.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Mistico's WWE Handle... Meet Sin Cara
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| Adios, Mistico. Hola, Sin Cara! Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Mistico, who will be skipping FCW and heading straight to the WWE main roster, has been given the name "Sin Cara" for his Titan Sports consumption. The best news out of all of this is that he will keep the mask. Obviously, Mistico was a much bigger deal in the lucha community than Dos Caras, Jr. was, so he keeps his mask. I know this will please a lot of his fans out there. Then again, did we really need to have the latter guy under a mask? because of that unmasking, we got Alberto freaking del Rio out of the deal. I think that was a win for everyone involved. My guess is the new lucha import keeping his mask is going to be as big a deal as del Rio losing his.
Anyway, the mock press release didn't really give much of an inkling to Sin Cara's placement on the roster. My bet is he'll go to Smackdown to try and act as a replacement for Rey Mysterio eventually. Maybe if he gets over right away, Mysterio can finally take a freaking vacation. Man, I like using the word "freaking" today, don't I? I guess I'm still super excited from hearing the Great freaking Sasuke is coming to King of Trios. I also think he might be a good bet to be in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania. Then again, that's just me speculating like a speculating fool.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Team Michinoku Pro in King of Trios? YES PLEASE KONICHIWA YEAAAAAAH
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| Photo Credit: ChikaraPro.com |
Move over, Team QuackSaw Toyota, because the puro guest star bar has been raised exponentially. The Great Sasuke, Dick Togo and Jinsei "Hakushi" Shinzaki of Michinoku Pro Wrestling will be coming over and being all super awesome all over King of Trios this year. Man, I was wondering when they were going to start announcing the big guest star names. Okay, no offense to Manami Toyota and Matt Classic, but this is a whole trio of legendary Japanese junior heavyweight icons coming over. Wow. They really are trying to top themselves with every successive tourney, aren't they?
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
The Rise and Fall of Sheamus and Tangoing with Daniel Bryan
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| The future for both guys? Photo Credit: WWE.com |
By not looking too far into what happened, you'd think Sheamus is being punished. He may be, he may not be. I've found that it can be futile trying to analyze who's in what doghouse. The validity to the Kevin Dunn stories are so easy to believe because who among us has a positive opinion of that guy? No one, I'd say. Some people have postulated that Sheamus was given too much too soon and is now being cooled off before given a run in earnest. As for me? Well, I'm in the camp who wants to believe that it's all the fault of failed TV writers, but then again, I've been accused of being a smark-ass smark more than once in my life. But I digress.
I actually think that what they set up on Monday could be good for Sheamus as well as for Bryan. For one, how many among us want to continue seeing the former Danielson's talents being wasted against Tyson Kidd and Ted DiBiase, both great talents but who don't have any faith from Creative behind them or heat around their characters, rather than going against guys with buzz? Whether he's won 1 match or 100 matches in the last six months, Sheamus has buzz. It's a higher profile feud, and it might even bring the US Championship into better focus, enhancing Bryan and Sheamus in the process.
As for Sheamus, the cosmetic change of going for the US Championship might seem like a downgrade at first, but there are several things to remember. One, while the titles should be held important, in today's WWE, sadly, they're not as important as the feuds between personalities. While it's one thing to lament the downgrade in titles (which I think is bullshit anyway given the numerous cases of World-level title guys going for secondary titles after a big title reign), it's actually more of an upgrade in that he's entering a feud with another high-caliber wrestler. Two, even undercard matches on WrestleMania get the royal treatment in build. If this leads to a Bryan/Sheamus match at the big event, then it's a win for both guys. Hell, even if it leads to the two in Money in the Bank match, it only serves to enhance the match.
There is ebb and flow on guys' momentum all the time. Sheamus' momentum has seemed like it's been in permanent ebb, but at the same time, there's no denying he's part of WWE's future. Jobbing to Mark Henry shouldn't be looked on as a career killer. Guys have to job all the time, and heat is elastic. Furthermore, feuding with Daniel Bryan shouldn't be seen as a downgrade. If a feud is entertaining and gets the proper time, who cares if it's in the midcard or on the main event? The answer is it shouldn't.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
TWIOT: Random Thoughts #3
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| WE HAVE TO GO... DEEPER Photo Credit: IMDB |
- Is it just me, or did the Knicks just give up a young, cohesive team to get an aging point guard and a fickle "superstar"? I like Carmelo Anthony and all, but he wasn't worth all that, ESPECIALLY since they could have signed him in the offseason. They had a good nucleus, but gave it up to make a run with Anthony, Chauncey Billups and Amar'e Stoudemire. That might seem like a great core on paper, but Stoudemire's production has been declining all year, and being worked like a horse isn't helping matters. Then again, as a Sixers fan? I love seeing the Knicks just implode.
- I know I said I was burned by TV because of last season, but I ended up getting sucked into yet another series. Raising Hope is on Tuesdays on FOX at 9 PM, and it's a cute and funny sitcom focusing around a white trash family helping their son be a single father. I know Tuesdays are dominated by Glee on FOX, but it's definitely worth remembering. Here's the most recent episode, via Hulu:
- Want to spice up your coffee? Try putting some cinnamon in it. Even if you drink it black and bitter like I do, it adds to the depth of flavor a whole ton.
- Oscars are Sunday. I've seen a personal record of four Best Picture nominees before the awards: Black Swan, The Social Network, Inception and The King's Speech. Of the four, I'd probably give the nod to Inception, as it was a wonderfully told story with a smart premise behind it. It felt like it was the most interesting of the four. I did like the other three movies, but they all had their flaws to me. The Social Network felt more like exposition rather than a real story. The acting was great, but the plot felt lacking. The King's Speech was like a formulaic Hollywood movie, only set in the backdrop of World War II and in England. It felt lazy, although, again, the acting was great. Black Swan to me is the closest competition to Inception, but I thought the manic nature hurt it a bit. Then again, what do I know?
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Your awesome video of the day, Black Keys, "Tighten Up". I'm obsessed with this song lately.
- I'm feeling really good about the Flyers. We've always had great offensive depth, which is a checkmark for this year (recent dry spell aside). However, the defense and the goaltending has always been a problem. Not this year. Chris Pronger leads a corps that is turning out to be really, really special. The goaltending is still spotty. Both Sergei Bobrovsky and Brian Boucher have shown flashes of brilliance, but they've also been maddening at times. Either way, I still think that this team has a great shot to beat the Phils to the punch and bring a title home to Philly.
- Finally, I know it's the Internet, and it's like trying to herd cats, but even if it's just for today, when you're interacting with folks on Twitter or Facebook or on various message boards, be decent. Try to resolve things civilly. You'd be surprised at how much better you feel due to the stress reduction that ensues.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Did the Schtick about Lawler's Mom Cross the Line, or Was It Alright?
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| Did this segment go to far? Photo Credit: WWE.com |
As many people, including former Lawler manager and close friend Travis Scott Bowden, said, the idea to bring Lawler's mother into the proceedings more than likely came from the King himself. Lawler is an old school carnie, and he's used edgy tactics in Memphis like that in the past. But do those kinds of tactics fly today? Even Lawler's good friend and former broadcast partner, Jim Ross, questioned the tastefulness of the angle.
I would agree in some respects about dragging a poor woman's death into a wrestling angle. It's not something I'd feel comfortable including in my professional life. In same vein that divorce and cuckoldry have too much gravity to use for tension fodder in pro wrestling, I'm not sure the death of a parent is the same either. I can definitely sympathize with that side of the coin.
That being said, divorce and death, while similar in gravitas, are different in how people deal with them. So, as with a lot of issues, I can see both sides of the coin. Lawler is a pro through and through, and if it's Lawler's idea to use his dead mother as a storyline device, then he's probably comfortable using it as a coping mechanism. That being said, while I'm not super-offended by it, and while I don't feel the same outrage that others might be feeling, I don't think the angle needs to have Lawler's mom inserted into it. Michael Cole is proving to be a dynamite heat magnet, and he can generate an epic response without going to that well. If Lawler's mother had survived until WrestleMania was over, do you think the crowd pop would have been diminished for when the King kicked the ever-loving shit out of Cole at the big event? I think not.
It just goes back to edge for the sake of edge. It would be one thing if it was a borderline angle that needed an extra kick to get over. It isn't though. Cole/Lawler may end up having the most heat going into it of any storyline, with or without using bereavement as a plot device. All attention is not good attention. If people are going to the water cooler talking about how tasteless an angle is, I'm not sure if it's a successful one.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
CRIPPLE FIGHT!
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| One of the best WWE matches from this year to date Photo Credit: WWE.com |
We all know Punk is a trooper. We knew he was going to sell for the match. Also, his offense was extra brutal and focused, and it really looked like he was going in for the kill, which given the path he's on was a huge plus. He's quickly becoming an all-timer, but it was Morrison, one of those guys whose selling was questionable, who really surprised with his dedication to the story. Morrison has proven over the last four months that he actually has what it takes to work a solid main event style in the WWE. He's got to have a personal stake and he's got to get down to brawling so that his style gets grounded and more visceral. It really felt like Morrison was looking for revenge from getting sprayed with that aerosol can a couple of weeks prior, even if his quest was unfulfilled.
I thought it was amazing to see two guys play up their hobbled states so well and really accentuate the brutality of their contest while adding in an extra "never say die" subplot. Matches like these are why the WWE far and away has the best wrestling action, no matter what anyone else says.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
The Best Moves Ever: Wall Powerbomb
The powerbomb is a great move, one of the all-time classic ones in wrestling history. How can it be made better? Oh, by adding a cinderblock wall to the equation. That's what we have here, Tursas, the BDK's bearded giant, smushing Hallowicked into the wall of the Palmer Center in Easton. As an added bonus, the video is narrated by Sara del Rey. You can check her Video des Kreuzes out every week, as well as Natali doing the Throwdown Lowdown on the official Chikara Youtube channel to see more big spots from America's finest wrestling promotion. Anyway, here's the powerbomb into the wall. Enjoy!
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Austin Aries Video
Yeah, it's not anything different from that Facebook/Twitter missive he sent out over the weekend, it's more a reiteration only with the other prospects he has lined up. He also thanks the fans at the end, which is always appreciated. I highly suggest viewing this.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Wrestling Six Packs: Reasons Why the Attitude Era Was Overrated
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| The biggest reason behind most of these six pack entries Photo Credit: Online World of Wrestling |
Now, I'm not saying the Attitude Era sucked. I mean, portions of it did suck, but I'm not going to lie and say that the whole thing was a waste. There was a lot of buzz surrounding wrestling, some of the all-time greats did their thing during that time and it felt special to be a wrestling fan. Let's be real with ourselves though; there was a lot of garbage going on as well, and a lot of that garbage has been passed down the line. Here are six reasons why I feel like the Attitude Era may have done more long term harm than good for the wrestling industry:
1. It has conditioned fans to expect swerves.
The swerve is probably the most powerful tool you can use to shock a crowd and get them talking. Well, I should say it used to be the most powerful. Now, some fans aren't happy unless there's a surprise on a given card, and that's all Vince Russo's fault. Russo, who was head booker during the Attitude days, used swerves like a crutch, sometimes having two or three on a given show. It burnt me out on them to the point where at one point, if a segment proceeded with a guy making a save or a tenuous alliance reached at the end of a beatdown, I expected a turn to happen. Hell, I still can't shake that feeling whenever I see people team up for the first time, no matter how much I tell myself otherwise. You could say I'm still shellshocked by the swerve-every-segment style that was prevalent in the late '90s in the WWF.
Bookers and writers almost have to recondition the newer fans to expect good storytelling and happy endings without massive swerving in order to set things right with the universe. This is a long and arduous process in WWE, and with Russo still in charge in TNA, it's something that may be toned down from time to time, but it's still there. Would it be melodramatic to say that it's wrecked storytelling in wrestling for about a decade? Maybe, but it's also true.
2. It deemphasized what made wrestling so unique – the matches themselves.
I recently got into an argument at the A1 boards with a dude who kept insisting to me that wrestling wasn't sport, but television and strictly television. Therefore, it's only natural that it should be booked for TV rules. I was dumbfounded, because for one, I don't think it's pure sport anyway, and two, I've always found wrestling to be unique in that it had elements of sport and elements of theater but wasn't wholly in either category no matter how many things it had in common with either medium. A huge part of that mix has to do with the wrestling portion of it. If you deemphasize what happens in the ring, then how is pro wrestling different than a scripted drama or sitcom? It's not, and that puts wrestling behind the 8-ball when it comes to competing with those shows in several different categories, categories that I think would be better off fleshed out better in a different post.
Starting in the Attitude Era, the WWF and WCW both started booking for ratings, and increasingly, those ratings weren't tied to matches with decisive finishes as they were to teases for matches with fuck finishes or non-finishes, or "confrontations" or big reveals to surprises rather than Wrestler X vs. Grappler Y. That attitude has stayed over to today, when main events to shows are promos or "confrontations" rather than matches. You have a guy in Kevin Dunn in the WWE's front office who wants to ban the word "wrestling" from the pro wrestling, and another guy in TNA's front office in Eric Bischoff who identifies more with a TV producer rather than a booker and whose main program in TNA is a fucking court battle between Dixie Carter and Hulk Hogan. Wrestling has made a comeback, especially in WWE (even if it's not allowed to be called wrestling anymore), but the attitudes of the people in charge and sadly of some fans is that the matches don't matter as much as the TV stuff.
3. It made fuck finishes turned up to 11 the norm.
I'm sure I'm exaggerating here, but just going off memory, if there was a match on either RAW or Nitro on a given Monday, the odds of it having a clean finish were probably around 15%, tops. I mean, I don't remember very many matches off the top of my head, even when you extend to PPVs, that had one guy pinning or submitting another cleanly between 1996 and 1999. I'm sure the people in charge thought they were protecting everyone by making no one appear to lose heat by losing a match, but when you protect everyone, you're protecting no one. That mindset still persists, mostly in TNA, but the way that there were no clean finishes in the late '90s mainstream really took a toll on the fans' perception of how wrestling matches were supposed to end.
4. It forever changed the role of the authority figure for the worse.
Vince McMahon was as big a player as any in the rise of the WWF in the late '90s, and it wasn't just because of what he did behind the scenes. You could argue that he was the best foil Steve Austin ever had, not Bret Hart, not Undertaker, not The Rock, not Shawn Michaels, Triple H or anyone who was an active wrestler at the time. He played the role well, a little too well if you ask me. Because his character was so innovative and successful for the time, everyone, whether it was WCW, WWF/E or TNA, that followed has used some sort of variation on the template.
It was fine for Vince to do it because he was original, insanely charismatic and actually took to the ring to wrestle when the time came for it. He wasn't what I'd call good, but he was passable. But everyone who came after for the most part has felt like a warmed over rehash of the original Mr. McMahon evil boss. What was worse was that a scant few of them could bump and take a payoff in the ring that was satisfying to the feud at hand. Even if the authority figure isn't heel, that person is still almost expected to be overreaching to the point of micromanagement. I'm sorry, but when I watch a wrestling show, I want the focus to be on the guys and girls who can perform and deliver a payoff, not a stuffy NPC. However, the authority figure has become a lasting vestige that doesn't seem to be going away any time soon.
5. If it didn't completely and utterly destroy kayfabe, it at the very least struck a critical blow to it.
Again, this was something that seemed like a good idea at the time. The Montreal Screwjob blurred the lines between what was scripted and what was behind the scenes. Rather than take it as a happy accident to start off a major upturn, Russo took it as everything should have the lines blurred so much that no one has any pretense that it's staged anymore. There were so many worked shoots, especially when Russo was left to his own devices in WCW, that it was almost like they didn't even pretend that there was a line anymore.
Part of the allure of pro wrestling is that people want to believe that it's real, even if they know in their heart of hearts that it's staged. Blurring the edges and crossing the line only dilutes that, and throwing it in the audience's face doesn't endear the show to them. It only makes them aware of how fake the show is.
6. It planted the seed in everyone's head that good wrestling TV had to be TV-14 or MA.
If you listened to a certain, vocal contingent of wrestling fans, the move to TV-PG was the worst thing the WWE ever did. This is where the biggest pang of nostalgia for Attitude comes in. Of course, they don't remember that the worst booked show in wrestling history, Impact, is TV-14. The WWF was good back in '99 when it was more risqué, so therefore, that's what is going to cure what ails the product today!
Not so fast. It's not the absence of the license to work blue that's holding WWE Creative back. It's the lack of talent, the lack of understanding on how to build a quality wrestling program. It wasn't the lewd and lascivious nature of the programming that brought out the quality. It was the fact that they had so many of the greatest wrestling personalities ever on one roster that led to that, even with the shortcomings in booking. Hell, if the ratings system was in place back in the Rock 'n Wrestling Days, the WWF would have been a straight TV-PG, and those would have been the salad days for folks watching during the last doldrums before the Attitude Era began. It's not the edginess of the content, it's the quality of it, and lewdness for the sake of lewdness is not going bring back the salad days.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
I Do See a Resemblance
Via TotallyLooksLike
I wonder, when Kozlov and Santino inevitably split, will Sam be his new tag partner? They could totally rock the Twin Magic like the Bellas and Usos do...
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
I wonder, when Kozlov and Santino inevitably split, will Sam be his new tag partner? They could totally rock the Twin Magic like the Bellas and Usos do...
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Intro to Match Analysis, Part 1: What Is Workrate?
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| Akira Tozawa attempting a superplex on Sami Callihan; Tozawa's got big workrate, but is that all that matters? |
It's a move that's tossed around lightly, but it's usually misapplied. A lot of people I've seen use the word to describe someone's in-ring ability on the whole. It really isn't. If it's not an all-encompassing term, then what does it entail? Well, I'm glad you asked... wait, what do you mean you didn't ask? Okay, well, here's what I take it to mean.
Break the word in half. On one side, you get the word "work" and on the other side, you get "rate". I take it to mean that it's the rate of work, or to fine tune it down, it's the rate at which a wrestler performs moves in a match, or even the variety of said moves. By that definition, WWE wrestlers as a rule usually have very small workrates and indie wrestlers can sometimes have huge ones. I often find that it can be used qualitatively as well. A guy can have a small pool of moves that he does exceedingly well, and he'd have a good workrate, whereas you can have a guy who does a ton of moves sloppily and have bad workrate.
So when people try to equate having a large workrate into quality of wrestling, it makes me shake my head. Workrate can be important, both in the size and quality of it. Small workrates don't necessarily mean that the wrestler's ability is worthless, since it's only one part of what makes the in-ring action good. However, a large workrate can open up matches and add several different dimensions to how stories can unfold in the ring.
However you describe it though, workrate is only a portion of what makes a match good. There are other things to consider, including but not limited to selling, pacing, psychology, stiffness, storytelling, facial expressions and crowd interaction. Over the next couple of weeks or so, I'll go into several different aspects and tell you what's important and what's not important in looking for a good match or a good wrestler. Well, I'll tell you what I think is important. It might not win you over in how you analyze matches, but maybe it'll give you an appreciation for what I look for. At least that's what I hope.
And if you're someone who doesn't know what to look for, I hope that maybe you can learn something. Well, not learn what I think is good, but hopefully, when I speak factually on things, I hope my facts are indeed right.
Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
They Come from a Land Down Under to Partake in King of Trios, Mate
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| Photo Credit: ChikaraPro.com |
Who are these three guys? If they're unfamiliar to you, don't feel bad. They're unfamiliar to me as well, and to most people who aren't from the Land of Oz. However, for as much as SHIMMER has introduced us to female Australian wrestlers like Madison Eagles and Kellie Skater, we up in the States are woefully deficient on the male ones. Well, not anymore, as this team comes to us from New Horizon Pro Wrestling out of Perth, all the way on the West Coast of the Land Down Under. They are, from the left, Percy T, Kabel and Tama Williams. They're not a regular trio, as their rough intro from Chikara's Facebook tells us, but they're definitely a new experience. That's one of the best things about Chikara... not only do they expose their fans to those from other countries/promotions who do have a buzz, but they give us wrestlers that are brand new to the American audience. You gotta respect them for that.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Maybe My Least Favorite Story Builder Ever: Rivals as Reluctant Tag Champions
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| Unnecessary? You betcha... Photo Credit: WWE.com |
My least favorite out of all of these, the one that I feel has very little in the way of redeeming quality, is what we saw last night with The Miz and John Cena - tag team partners who are forced to team together for a chance to win the titles. This is at least the fourth time it's happened with Cena (the other three happening with Shawn Michaels, Batista and most recently David Otunga) with it being the third time it's fruited gold for him, albeit in a reign that lasted a mere 10 minutes. There was an added twist of the former Champs, Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater, cashing in their rematch clause like it was a Money in the Bank briefcase, making the proceedings even more confusing and Russo-esque.
The first time it was done, with Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels, it was something new and different, and you had two of the best all-time performers ever selling the sizzle. It still didn't make sense, but it was something that you'd hope was a footnote in wrestling history, something that might not be pulled out again for fear of getting tired right quick. Well, that would mean giving the WWE front office credit for trying new things instead of finding something that got over with the crowd and then ramming it into the ground, regardless of what it meant for the drawing power of the Tag Team Championships.
That's the root of the problem with the segment last night. Just yesterday, you had Jim Ross wondering aloud of the Corre could reestablish the tag belts, a high ranking talent evaluator within the company putting pressure on Gabriel and Slater for doing something that the booking last night proved is an impossible task. Meanwhile, the people in another department, the department tasked with helping the Corre team get the belts over, is treating it like a mere prop in another feud. It's maddening. How can the fans expect to take the belts seriously if a corrupt at worst or overly busy at best (I'd classify the RAW GM as more the latter than the former) authority figure can just name two guys that have never teamed before and hate each other as top contenders?
Wrestling is unique in that the guys in charge can have more a hand in creating draws or not. If the belts are presented as must-see, then they're going to be must-see. If they're treated as afterthoughts, fans won't care. The heat in that match wasn't because Cena and Miz were challenging for the titles, it was because they did a great job telling a story that helped further their own feud. Did it have to be done at the expense of the Tag Team Championships? No, it didn't. You could have had that same match, well, the second match, not the first, only in a non-title capacity, or even better, in a match against Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson, and created some other stipulation that would have made Miz at least appear to want to win the match rather than have his endgame being to screw Cena be transparent from the first bell.
Thinking about the proceedings last night more, I have less of a problem with everything that happened if you remove the context. It established Miz's dickhead manipulator character strongly and put more fuel on the WrestleMania fire. However, it still bugs me that they had to sacrifice the tag titles to do it and use such an overworked and increasingly ineffective mechanism to do it. If the WWE never teamed two rivals together to compete for the Tag Team Championships again, I'd be a very, very happy fan. Too bad I have very little faith in them to bury that tired angle away for good.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
Your Morning LULZ from Blue Meanie
[The Blue Meanie] proposes that the WWE has Natalya ref a match between Lawler and Cole. It could be the first ever Nat King Cole match.Epic.
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
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