That Was Then, Is This Too? 12.29.09: Retrospective (part 2)
Posted by Jasper Gerretsen on 12.29.2009
With the holiday season raging all around us, That Was Then, Is This Too? takes a two week break to take a look back at the columns I've written in the past six months. This week, I cover the Banner 2.0 era.
Welcome to yet another installment of That Was Then, Is This Too?, the column that looks for parallel lines in all the right places. This week we have part two of our 2009 retrospective, so let's dive straight into the era of Banner 2.0.
In my article on the Young Bucks, I expressed serious doubts as to whether we'd ever see this high-flying team set the world on fire in either of the big two. I'm glad to have been proven wrong, as TNA picked them up following a very well recieved tryout match against the Motor City Machine Guns. They certainly have the talent to set both the tag division and the X-division on fire, and the inclusion of Matt Cross and Shannon Moore in the Hulkamania tour shows that Hulk Hogan isn't entirely averse of small flippy guys. Still, the X-division hasn't been in the best of shapes lately, so we shouldn't start celebrating just yet.
This column was fun for me to write because it allowed me to delve into a part of wrestling history that I was very unfamilliar with. I had a blast digging up all the cheesy GLOW footage. Unfortunately Wrestlicious has yet to debut. It was originally scheduled to start airing in the fall of 2009, but now it seems to have been pushed back to early 2010. Lacey Von Erich has since appeared in TNA, but she hasn't exactly been the best representative of Wrestlicious. Still, I'm anxiously awaiting the debut of the show, because it seems like a win-win scenario for internet wrestling pundits: it'll either be hilariously bad and easy to poke fun at or surprisingly good, giving us a nice source of good women's wrestling.
This is another column I enjoyed writing. When it comes to contributions to the wrestling industry, The Netherlands ranks somewhere between Lithuania and Paraguay, but I do take some pride in the contributions of Anton Geesink. I probably spent more time researching this article than I did any other, and while I'll freely admit that Anton Geesink is little more than a footnote in wrestling history, he is still a very interesting part of it, as one of the key figures in establishing All Japan Pro Wrestling as serious competition for its New Japan rival.
This is another article that holds some personal significance for me, as the Jimmy Jacobs storyline was one of the main things that drew me to Ring of Honor in 2006, a period in which I became a born-again wrestling fan. I mainly kept up with the story through borrowed DVDs, although I have since brought several shows just because of their significance in the storyline. Unfortunately Jacobs seems to have fallen off the radar a bit, with his ROH tenure having ended for the moment. He has since been revealed as the 'abstract wrestler' for Davey Richards' EVOLVE, but my faith in that company is rather lacking. Meanwhile Tyler Black's star seems to have faded somewhat too, as his chances at capturing the ROH title seem lower than ever following his defeat at this year's Final Battle show.
As the name implies, this column dealt with the Bragging Rights pay-per-view, in which seven wrestlers from RAW faced seven wrestlers from SmackDown for, you guessed it, bragging rights. In my article I expressed serious disappointment with the complete lack of build the match has had, especially compared to the Survivor Series match that was held almost four years earlier. The match itself was a midcard afterthought, with the entire SmackDown team being swapped around just two days before actual show and the trophy that was won by the blue team being carried around for only a week or two. The RAW wrestlers did get some retribution against Big Show, but other than that build, the match itself and the aftermath were entirely forgettable.
This column dealt with Kenny Omega, one of the major breakout stars of 2009, who made a string of strong appearances all over the world. He was involved in a feud with ROH world champion Austin Aries, made strong appearances in Jersey All Pro Wrestling and DDT, and, most importantly, won PWG's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament to capture the PWG world heavyweight championship, which had been vacant since Bryan Danielson beat Chris Hero for it on his last appearance for the west coast company. Chris Jericho might be a pretty big name to compare him to, but I stand by my opinion that I see a lot of similarities between today's Kenny Omega and the Chris Jericho of the early nineties.
This is a milestone column for me, as it was the first column in which a commenter told me I should kill myself. Not because of an opinion, but simply because I freely admitted that I had never played WWF No Mercy. All in all it seemed like everyone had an opinion on their favourite wrestling game, and the article certainly seems to have stirred up a lot of discussion. I have since picked up SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, and while I have certainly spent more time playing it than I have on any other game from the SmackDown series, I still think I prefer the Day of Reckoning games.
This article was worth writing simply because the entire era of the SmackDown Six started just after I stopped watching wrestling the first time. Luckily I have a friend with a massive collection of bootleg DVDs who was happy to help me catch up on one of the most exciting eras in wrestling TV history. I probably spent more time just watching matches for this column than I did for any other. Since writing this article, it seems that the new SmackDown Six has pretty much fallen apart. CM Punk has had no significant matches or PPV appearances, Chris Jericho has lost the tag titles and John Morrison has lost the intercontinental title without much of a feud at all. Rey Mysterio seems to be doing fairly well though, although his world heavyweight championship shots are just a backdrop for his feud with Batista.
I've probably spent more money keeping up with CHIKARA than I've done with any other company in 2009, and for good reason. The company has had its best year ever in 2009, and with the great long term booking and storylines the company is known for it was a blast writing on one of the best examples of that. I've since had the chance to watch the season finale DVDs, in which the mystery of the Inverted CHIKARA Special and the identity of Carpenter Ant were both solved in a great cliffhanger. With the formation of the Brüderschaft, I can't wait to see what happens in the next season of CHIKARA, as it appears the company will be under siege from the most powerful heel group in the company's history.
The Feast or Fired ladder match has come and gone, with four new winners. The World Elite captured three of the four briefcases. Sheik Abdul Bashir was fired, becoming the first Feast or Fired 'winner' to actually get fired from the company. Rob Terry won the X-Division championship shot in what can only be considered a lame joke from the writers. Kevin Nash won the tag team title shot, and while Eric Young might expect Nash to use the title shot with him, it will obviously play into the fact that Hogan will be arriving soon. The most interesting winner is Samoa Joe, who has won the world heavyweight title shot. Although I'd love to see a competitive title match between Joe and Styles, I expect Joe to jump him after a beatdown, which would be more fitting for his character.
This is one of the few columns I wrote that dealt with the original ECW, as it's one of those things I simply haven't gotten around to watching. Luckily, the same friend with the SmackDown bootlegs came through for me here, as he not only has a massive archive of ECW TV shows and PPVs, but also has a great homemade DVD of Mikey Whipwreck's greatest promos and matches that he was kind enough to let me borrow. One of the things I love most about these columns is that it gives me a chance to study parts of wrestling history that I wouldn't normally watch.
Unfortunately the column is very hard for me to evaluate, as I've been unable to watch the show due to technical difficulties. I'm still trying to get my $12.95 back. From the reports I've had, it's a shame, as the title match I wrote about has stirred up quite a bit of controversy. As I wrote in the year-end Buy or Sell column, Tyler Black's failure to capture the ROH world title was one of my biggest disappointments of 2009. I still don't understand why the match was laid out the way it was, but I'll have to watch it myself before I can form a more definite opinion on it.
Im not sure what this article is.. a recap of other articles? Nevertheless, your banner is being blocked (i.e. ruined) by an advertisement for 'High School Reunion'. Better luck next time.
Posted By: Guest#6860 (Guest) on December 29, 2009 at 08:35 PM
In my article on the Young Bucks, I expressed serious doubts as to whether we'd ever see this high-flying team set the world on fire in either of the big two. I'm glad to have been proven wrong, as TNA picked them up following a very well recieved tryout match against the Motor City Machine Guns. They certainly have the talent to set both the tag division and the X-division on fire, and the inclusion of Matt Cross and Shannon Moore in the Hulkamania tour shows that Hulk Hogan isn't entirely averse of small flippy guys. Still, the X-division hasn't been in the best of shapes lately, so we shouldn't start celebrating just yet.
This column was fun for me to write because it allowed me to delve into a part of wrestling history that I was very unfamilliar with. I had a blast digging up all the cheesy GLOW footage. Unfortunately Wrestlicious has yet to debut. It was originally scheduled to start airing in the fall of 2009, but now it seems to have been pushed back to early 2010. Lacey Von Erich has since appeared in TNA, but she hasn't exactly been the best representative of Wrestlicious. Still, I'm anxiously awaiting the debut of the show, because it seems like a win-win scenario for internet wrestling pundits: it'll either be hilariously bad and easy to poke fun at or surprisingly good, giving us a nice source of good women's wrestling.
This is another column I enjoyed writing. When it comes to contributions to the wrestling industry, The Netherlands ranks somewhere between Lithuania and Paraguay, but I do take some pride in the contributions of Anton Geesink. I probably spent more time researching this article than I did any other, and while I'll freely admit that Anton Geesink is little more than a footnote in wrestling history, he is still a very interesting part of it, as one of the key figures in establishing All Japan Pro Wrestling as serious competition for its New Japan rival.
This is another article that holds some personal significance for me, as the Jimmy Jacobs storyline was one of the main things that drew me to Ring of Honor in 2006, a period in which I became a born-again wrestling fan. I mainly kept up with the story through borrowed DVDs, although I have since brought several shows just because of their significance in the storyline. Unfortunately Jacobs seems to have fallen off the radar a bit, with his ROH tenure having ended for the moment. He has since been revealed as the 'abstract wrestler' for Davey Richards' EVOLVE, but my faith in that company is rather lacking. Meanwhile Tyler Black's star seems to have faded somewhat too, as his chances at capturing the ROH title seem lower than ever following his defeat at this year's Final Battle show._33481.jpg)
As the name implies, this column dealt with the Bragging Rights pay-per-view, in which seven wrestlers from RAW faced seven wrestlers from SmackDown for, you guessed it, bragging rights. In my article I expressed serious disappointment with the complete lack of build the match has had, especially compared to the Survivor Series match that was held almost four years earlier. The match itself was a midcard afterthought, with the entire SmackDown team being swapped around just two days before actual show and the trophy that was won by the blue team being carried around for only a week or two. The RAW wrestlers did get some retribution against Big Show, but other than that build, the match itself and the aftermath were entirely forgettable.
This column dealt with Kenny Omega, one of the major breakout stars of 2009, who made a string of strong appearances all over the world. He was involved in a feud with ROH world champion Austin Aries, made strong appearances in Jersey All Pro Wrestling and DDT, and, most importantly, won PWG's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament to capture the PWG world heavyweight championship, which had been vacant since Bryan Danielson beat Chris Hero for it on his last appearance for the west coast company. Chris Jericho might be a pretty big name to compare him to, but I stand by my opinion that I see a lot of similarities between today's Kenny Omega and the Chris Jericho of the early nineties.
This article was worth writing simply because the entire era of the SmackDown Six started just after I stopped watching wrestling the first time. Luckily I have a friend with a massive collection of bootleg DVDs who was happy to help me catch up on one of the most exciting eras in wrestling TV history. I probably spent more time just watching matches for this column than I did for any other. Since writing this article, it seems that the new SmackDown Six has pretty much fallen apart. CM Punk has had no significant matches or PPV appearances, Chris Jericho has lost the tag titles and John Morrison has lost the intercontinental title without much of a feud at all. Rey Mysterio seems to be doing fairly well though, although his world heavyweight championship shots are just a backdrop for his feud with Batista.
I've probably spent more money keeping up with CHIKARA than I've done with any other company in 2009, and for good reason. The company has had its best year ever in 2009, and with the great long term booking and storylines the company is known for it was a blast writing on one of the best examples of that. I've since had the chance to watch the season finale DVDs, in which the mystery of the Inverted CHIKARA Special and the identity of Carpenter Ant were both solved in a great cliffhanger. With the formation of the Brüderschaft, I can't wait to see what happens in the next season of CHIKARA, as it appears the company will be under siege from the most powerful heel group in the company's history.
The Feast or Fired ladder match has come and gone, with four new winners. The World Elite captured three of the four briefcases. Sheik Abdul Bashir was fired, becoming the first Feast or Fired 'winner' to actually get fired from the company. Rob Terry won the X-Division championship shot in what can only be considered a lame joke from the writers. Kevin Nash won the tag team title shot, and while Eric Young might expect Nash to use the title shot with him, it will obviously play into the fact that Hogan will be arriving soon. The most interesting winner is Samoa Joe, who has won the world heavyweight title shot. Although I'd love to see a competitive title match between Joe and Styles, I expect Joe to jump him after a beatdown, which would be more fitting for his character.
This is one of the few columns I wrote that dealt with the original ECW, as it's one of those things I simply haven't gotten around to watching. Luckily, the same friend with the SmackDown bootlegs came through for me here, as he not only has a massive archive of ECW TV shows and PPVs, but also has a great homemade DVD of Mikey Whipwreck's greatest promos and matches that he was kind enough to let me borrow. One of the things I love most about these columns is that it gives me a chance to study parts of wrestling history that I wouldn't normally watch.
Unfortunately the column is very hard for me to evaluate, as I've been unable to watch the show due to technical difficulties. I'm still trying to get my $12.95 back. From the reports I've had, it's a shame, as the title match I wrote about has stirred up quite a bit of controversy. As I wrote in the year-end Buy or Sell column, Tyler Black's failure to capture the ROH world title was one of my biggest disappointments of 2009. I still don't understand why the match was laid out the way it was, but I'll have to watch it myself before I can form a more definite opinion on it.
