People are too quick to label something a bust if it's not delivering on shock value. Vince Russo ruined a generation of wrestling fans in that regard, because he loaded the Attitude Era fans up on swerve after shock like a negligent parent funneling Jolt cola and Pixie Stix down their kids throats in an attempt at appeasement. Aces and Eights is not a bad story because they're not revealing NAMES on the level of what might have been there in 1998. Here's the newsflash. It's not 1998 anymore. Luke Gallows and now Mike Knox are going to be near the upper level of the guys you're going to get, unless you want to dredge Matt Hardy out from the depths of Extreme Rising or deal with petulant manchildren like Buff Bagwell.
This isn't to say that I've found Aces and Eights to be particularly good either. I wouldn't say their flaws are related to personnel (well, one problem has been staff related, and his name is MISSSTERRRRRR ANDERSON... ANDERSON). More or less, there are pacing and focus issues. This story has exhibited signs of classic Bischoff sprawl, even if the gray-haired wannabe wonk is off producing "real" television right now. His fingerprints are all over this, even if it's in terms of just his influence. We don't know whether As and 8s want the destruction of the entire Impact Zone or just the wrestlers who don't pay them. We're stuck in a holding pattern with the progression when we're not even sure what the progression should be. It's almost like they didn't think this one through.
But if we're going to have a stable of guys who are going to be put in matches every week, why not load it up with good wrestlers. Luke Gallows/Doc is a good wrestler. Mike Knox/whatever silly title they have for him is a good wrestler. Devon Dudley is a good wrestler. Ken Anderson... Devon Dudley is a good wrestler. I don't care if it's not Hulk Hogan joining the New World Order. In this day and age, that's not happening anymore.
Speaking of the Hulkster, it's a shame that one of the most relatable, understandable stories on the show is also the most annoying. People who say that the Bully Ray/Brooke Hogan love story is bad because HULK HOGAN SHOULD LET HIS DAUGHTER BE HER OWN WOMAN are looking at it as if they were sitting right across the ring as characters in the Impact universe.
Everything about the trappings of this angle make sense. If Hogan were a sensible father and general manager, do you think he would have hired his underqualified daughter to run a major part of his show? A man who would resort to nepotism to fill positions is also a man who is as emotionally immature and fragile that even at age 30, he still sees his daughter as a delicate flower to be protected. It's a state of arrested development that is passed along genetically, given that Brooke as a character is not strong enough in will to confront daddy with her new beau.
Where this angle lost me, especially tonight, was that it's being used as an extended spankrag for guys trying to be edgy and mentioning things like "codes" and using borderline backstage lingo to feel hip. Again, I shake my fist at the sky and ask why any benevolent Lord would welcome such a caterpillar-eyebrowed miscreant like Russo into his born-again club rather than smite him with a career-changing thrust of inspiration somewhere around 1999 or so. If you want to tell me a story, tell me a story. Don't act out your jackwagon backstage confrontation fantasies on camera.
Basically, the entire writing staff, Hogan, and a few other wrestlers can all take cues on how wrestling should be from guys like Austin Aries, Robert Roode, Christopher Daniels, and Frankie Kazarian. These are guys that every week come out, act naturally, and let their personalities flow through them rather than coming on stiff as a board to try and "get over." People like human beings. People were drawn to James Storm because he was a downhome country boy who went awww shucks and drank beer like everyone else did. I don't know what the general temperature on him superkicking Santa Claus and spitting in a dude's drink is, but if I had to venture a guess, it isn't positive. Jeff Hardy was great when he rarely talked (or when he did, it was airy and light) and danced around the ring like the free spirit he seems to be. He's not great when he cuts every promo LIKE HE'S ANGRY AT THE CROWD FOR LIKING HIM.
If you look at tonight's Impact and think things are off the rail because Mike Knox isn't a big enough name for you, then I fear you're doing it wrong. Look at the people there already and ask yourself if they're representative of what you think wrestling should be. There's going to be your answer as whether you're enjoying Impact Wrestling right now or not.
Although me personally, if the next guy they unmask is Chris Masters, then they risk turning me into a guy who tunes in just to see who the hell Aces and Eights is going to kick the shit out of next, but that's neither here nor there.
This isn't to say that I've found Aces and Eights to be particularly good either. I wouldn't say their flaws are related to personnel (well, one problem has been staff related, and his name is MISSSTERRRRRR ANDERSON... ANDERSON). More or less, there are pacing and focus issues. This story has exhibited signs of classic Bischoff sprawl, even if the gray-haired wannabe wonk is off producing "real" television right now. His fingerprints are all over this, even if it's in terms of just his influence. We don't know whether As and 8s want the destruction of the entire Impact Zone or just the wrestlers who don't pay them. We're stuck in a holding pattern with the progression when we're not even sure what the progression should be. It's almost like they didn't think this one through.
But if we're going to have a stable of guys who are going to be put in matches every week, why not load it up with good wrestlers. Luke Gallows/Doc is a good wrestler. Mike Knox/whatever silly title they have for him is a good wrestler. Devon Dudley is a good wrestler. Ken Anderson... Devon Dudley is a good wrestler. I don't care if it's not Hulk Hogan joining the New World Order. In this day and age, that's not happening anymore.
Speaking of the Hulkster, it's a shame that one of the most relatable, understandable stories on the show is also the most annoying. People who say that the Bully Ray/Brooke Hogan love story is bad because HULK HOGAN SHOULD LET HIS DAUGHTER BE HER OWN WOMAN are looking at it as if they were sitting right across the ring as characters in the Impact universe.
Everything about the trappings of this angle make sense. If Hogan were a sensible father and general manager, do you think he would have hired his underqualified daughter to run a major part of his show? A man who would resort to nepotism to fill positions is also a man who is as emotionally immature and fragile that even at age 30, he still sees his daughter as a delicate flower to be protected. It's a state of arrested development that is passed along genetically, given that Brooke as a character is not strong enough in will to confront daddy with her new beau.
Where this angle lost me, especially tonight, was that it's being used as an extended spankrag for guys trying to be edgy and mentioning things like "codes" and using borderline backstage lingo to feel hip. Again, I shake my fist at the sky and ask why any benevolent Lord would welcome such a caterpillar-eyebrowed miscreant like Russo into his born-again club rather than smite him with a career-changing thrust of inspiration somewhere around 1999 or so. If you want to tell me a story, tell me a story. Don't act out your jackwagon backstage confrontation fantasies on camera.
Basically, the entire writing staff, Hogan, and a few other wrestlers can all take cues on how wrestling should be from guys like Austin Aries, Robert Roode, Christopher Daniels, and Frankie Kazarian. These are guys that every week come out, act naturally, and let their personalities flow through them rather than coming on stiff as a board to try and "get over." People like human beings. People were drawn to James Storm because he was a downhome country boy who went awww shucks and drank beer like everyone else did. I don't know what the general temperature on him superkicking Santa Claus and spitting in a dude's drink is, but if I had to venture a guess, it isn't positive. Jeff Hardy was great when he rarely talked (or when he did, it was airy and light) and danced around the ring like the free spirit he seems to be. He's not great when he cuts every promo LIKE HE'S ANGRY AT THE CROWD FOR LIKING HIM.
If you look at tonight's Impact and think things are off the rail because Mike Knox isn't a big enough name for you, then I fear you're doing it wrong. Look at the people there already and ask yourself if they're representative of what you think wrestling should be. There's going to be your answer as whether you're enjoying Impact Wrestling right now or not.
Although me personally, if the next guy they unmask is Chris Masters, then they risk turning me into a guy who tunes in just to see who the hell Aces and Eights is going to kick the shit out of next, but that's neither here nor there.
