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The MeeThinks Friday FreeThinks: 05.07.10

May 7, 2010 | Posted by John Meehan

Hey folks, and welcome back to the Friday FreeThinks.

As many of y’all know, yours truly will soon be joining the 411 future endeavors club. And since we’ve only got three weeks of MeeThinks left after today’s column, I wanted to take our little retirement tour right through the hands of the readers by working my way through the boatload of YouThinks reader questions that have been piling up in the old hopper over the past few months.

Hard to believe that I’ve been at this whole 411 writing gig since 2005 — and one of my favorite parts about being a columnist around here has most definitely been interacting with fellow fans through precisely the type of questions, comments, commentary and dialogue we’re about to feature in today’s column.

So kindly forgive Mee for breaking from our regularly scheduled format (that’s why they call it the “FreeThinks,” after all). And sit back and enjoy the show as the readers take over and we tackle some of the biggest nagging issues in the ‘rasslin world today.

Sound like a plan?

Rock & Roll.

It’s like real-time reader feedback on steroids

You’ve got questions? I’ve got ~~smarmy comments~~ answers. Keep ’em short, topical, and classy, and I’ll post as many as I can before June 1.

Submit your questions here.

Now then — onto this week’s questions:

I know you’ve answered the Danielson questions and explained why you think his angle will work, but I’m still not sold solidly.I think when he eventually wins it will mean little to nothing.Hes going the Colin Delaney route which is worse for him

The losing streak gimmick is indeed starting to become something of an albatross around the neck of one Daniel Bryan. Regardless (much like the famed albatross I’m alluding to here) — the gimmick *is* succeeding simply because it sets the guy apart from the pack and causes fans to remember just who, exactly, he is and how he differs from everybody else around him. Maybe “pity” or “doubt” isn’t exactly the type of fan response that WWE is hoping to elicit from their fans as Bryan steps through the ropes each week — but there really is no denying that fans (and the “WWE NXT Pros”) can’t help but find themselves rooting for the guy to *finally* pick up a win. I mean — it *has* to happen ONE of these days, right?!?

Right… because my WWE career turned out *sooooo* well.

Any reason why guys like Jericho,Punk and Edge stop using the Top Rope Frankensteiner? And whats the difference between the Frankensteiner and Hurricanrana?

Mainly because it’s crazy dangerous. Flipping a guy from six feet in the air (or higher) and hoping that he’ll rotate just enough so as to *not* end up slamming down to the canvas and straight on his neck is something of an exact science. And if you can string together a perfectly servicable bout without jeopardizing a performer’s safety in that way? Then really — there’s just no need to take the unnecessary risk.

Incidentally: I’ve always thought that the Frankensteiner and the Hurricanrana are exactly the same maneuver. This is merely a historical/cultural naming convention, which can (and often does) vary based on your promotion of choice, the wrestling knowledge of the announcers in attendance, and a particular bout’s geographic location.

I know people are against it as its bad enough titles like the IC,US and Tag get regularly defended but dont you think for guys that are on the lower card, WWE Superstars regulars or cruisers/lightweights that they could benefit from another title ex TV

Could the lower-card performers benefit for a lower-card championship? Sure! But only for as long as it took the fans to wise up to the fact that the belt was the exclusive property of the undercard.

(See: WWF European Championship)

The problem with title belts is that they are only as prestigious as the billing they receive on a card and the caliber of performers who are willing to fight for them. When top-level talent explicitly (or tacitly) treats a certain belt as “beneath them,” it instantly devalues the overall appeal of that championship itself — mainly because it looks as if it simply isn’t worth the time and attention of the legitimate “headline” performers.

And if the guys at the FRONT of the pack can’t be bothered to vie for a particular championship — then why on earth should *we*, the fans?

I’m guessing Canadian wrestlers using the Sharpshooter is a tribute to Bret Hart.I was wondering are their any moves that are tributed to wresters?

Yup.

Eddie Guerrero’s Frog Splsh was a tribute to his late Los Gringos Locos partner in Art Barr. And since Eddie’s passing, Rey Mysterio has likewise incorporated the move in Latino Heat’s honor. Same goes for Chavo Guerrero, who uses the Three Amigos suplexes in tribute to his late uncle, Eddie.

Viva La Raza

But tribute moves need not descend from untimely deaths. Sometimes, a performer is simply so good (or so innovative) in terms of their in-ring arsenal that other performers simply can’t help but borrow a maneuver or two and perform it as a silent tribute all the same. Usually in these cases, the “tribute” is more subtle and the move simply inherits the name of the performer or gimmick that had initially made it famous. Some noteworthy examples include “The FrankenSTEINER” (named for the Steiner Brothers), the “Asai Moonsault” (in honor of Ultimo Dragon’s real name), and the “Snake Eyes” turnbuckle drop (so named for Kevin Nash’s stint using the manuever under the guise of “Vinny Vegas”).

Any reason why Desmond Wolfe has been misused.I like his feud with Pope which I hope eventually leads to a main event feud if Pope becomes champ, but damn I can’t remember when he last won.I’d love to see him win the Global Title though.

Good news if you’re a fan of TNA’s resident British-born ROH alumnus — because according to TNA’s handy new ranking system, Desmond Wolfe is still very much alive in the title hunt and the eyes of the TNA faithful. In other words? As long as the fans remain interested and loyal — then his time will inevitably come.

Incidentally, you can probably mark Mee down as one of the precious few among the internet columnists who isn’t quite sold on the merits of The Pope as a main event player in TNA. I realize this will probably end up costing Mee my all-important IWC membership card — but screw it, I’m outta’ here in three weeks anyhow — and from where I sit? For as talented in the ring and as charismatic behind the microphone as The Pope can be (at times), his entire schtick often comes across as little more than a poor man’s attempt at The Rock. And when TNA already has Macho Man Jr., AJ Stylin and Profilin’, A Fish-Flavored-Pint-Sized Steve Austin, and Hulk Hogan 2.o running around? The last thing they need is a main eventer who’s merely cribbing the better parts of his act from The Great One.

“If you smelllllllalalala… what THE POPE… is preachin!”

Whos the biggest or largest wrestler to take the following moves” Tombstone Chokeslam Torture Rack Styles Clash Powerbomb Steiner Screwdriver Top Rope Rana

See — it’s questions like these that just pile up in my inbox forEVER. I mean seriously, how in the world could any one person possibly have watched enough professional wrestling to speak definitively on ANY one of these questions, let alone all eight?

But since this is the “YouThinks” grand finale…

Let’s just go ahead and say “The Big Show.”

(No, seriously — I have no freakin’ clue. Show definitely holds at least a few of these honors. But there is really no way I can know for sure).

why does the IWC hate CZW So much? sure its a deathmatch promotion that promotes “ultraviolet” wrestling. but how come the IWC Doesn’t hate ECW Or the Deathhmatch promotions in japan? but isn’t hardcore wrestling is what made sabu,dreamer,mick foley?

We’ve covered this one in the past — so I’ll recap:

Mainly because the heyday of “extreme” (read: ultraviolent) wrestling has long since come and gone. For the most part, your average ‘rasslin fan doesn’t mind seeing the occasional bloodbath or “garbage brawl” (provided the situation calls for it, that is). But beyond that? It’s just violence for violence’s sake — and it makes a good chunk of the fanbase feel kinda’ sleazy to have an active role in cheering on “fake” performers as they go out of their way to flat-out maim their own bodies under the thinly veiled guise of “entertainment.”

There’s a fine line between “acceptable violence” and “too much,” and the deathmatch promotions pretty much tip the scales a little too far to one end of the spectrum for the mainstream ‘rasslin fan. Couple that with the fact that a good lot of these “hardcore” performers willingly substitute gratuitous violence for actual wrestling ability — and it’s pretty clear to see why a precious few have actually managed to make it into the so-called “big leagues.”

NOT coming soon to a television near you.

ECW was novel in its time. And Japan is simply too far removed from the average fan’s radar to merit all that much in the way of a strong opinion one way or another. Yes, hardcore wrestling gave us Sabu, Dreamer, Terry Funk, and Mick Foley. But the modern era of wrestling has also shown us that there is tremendous consequence associated with that style of performance (injuries, concussions, substance abuse, etc.) — and so perhaps modern sensibilities have simply shifted to the point where we can only appreciate a certain style of performance insofar as the performers themselves are being kept as safe as can reasonably be expected.

is it true that ted dibiase jr left Legacy in order to make momentum/way for another stable- involving his brother Brett and another multi generation superstar- named the Rich boys or something? Even if this weren’t true, would this be a good idea?

Ok — first of all, no offense and not to bust on you *too* hard — but “Rich Boys” is probably one of the weakest stable names of all time.

WHAT? I said “no offense.”

That said — taking your idea and running with it (albeit with another group name, perhaps something along the lines of “Sons of Fortune” or what have you) — I don’t think that it is the *worst* idea in the world to pair the DiBiase kids up and see what they can do. That said, however, WWE seems dead-set on making Ted DiBiase a singles’ competitor — and so it kind of seems counterintuitive to throw him into a stable with a performer with even LESS experience with the intent of turning them into a tag team. Ideally, stables should showcase the leader while grooming the followers in their own right (see: The Straight Edge Society) — and Ted DiBiase simply isn’t as strong or established enough of a character at this stage in his career to shoulder the burden of spotlighting at the center of his own stable.

Why does it seem that second and third generation superstars tend to achieve more than their past relatives?

I dunno how true this one is. Because for every Bret Hart we see in the professional wrestling business, there are countless other Reid Flairs and Greg Gagnes of the world who aren’t quite as famous as the superstar stock from which they hail.

“So daddy says to us ‘keedz, ya’ gotta’ getcho’sevves some prahpa kneepads, if you wheeeeeel…”

Regardles — assuming, for a second, that SOME (maybe even “many”) second-and-third-generation stars do manage to outdistance the success of their fathers — MeeThinks this one has to do with two main points.

First? The trail has been blazed for you, and thus you’ve already been born into a business in which you are well-connected. Whereas your fathers may have had to earn their stripes by working independent shows for smaller organizations, ‘rasslin runts often grew up around the industry’s best — and thus they’re already one step closer to making it than their trailblazing forbears ever could have dreamed to be.

Second point? Reputation, reputation, reputation. If your father comes highly regarded within the industry, and if your father then turns around and says good things about his kid who’s training to be a professional wrestler just like his old man — odds are strong that those folks in charge of hiring talent will take a closer look accordingly. In an industry where flakeouts are common — you pretty much live and die (especially in the early stages of your career) on the merits of your reputation.

Because seriously, if Ricky The Dragon Steamboat tells you that a certain performer is worth a second look — even if the kid is one of his relatives — how can you *not* take a few minutes to see what all the fuss is about?

Do you think Ted DiBiase using his old mans gimmick will help him get over and do you see the Million Dollar Belt being defended or used as a prop?

DiBiase’s latest gimmick is certainly as good of a shot of making it as the young man currently has. Let’s be honest, his Legacy stint didn’t quite serve as the launchpad to full-on superstardom that one might have hoped. And to that end, DiBiase finds himself in a spot where he is really no different than any of the other nameless/faceless/gimmickless up-and-comers on a WWE roster. If the Million Dollar Belt angle helps put him into a meaningful onscreen role? I’d say WWE is doing the smart move by letting the guy run with it — why not play off of the family name if you’ve got it, ya’ know?

Money, money, money, money, money…

As for whether or not it’ll actually be “defended” on a regular basis — that one is likely a “no.” Might some other wrestler occassionally come into possession of the thing for the sake of a particular storyline? Sure, why not. But will we be seeing PPV bouts where a title defense of the Million Dollar Belt is a regular feature?

I gotz’ta say the nay-no, mah damies.”

I looked on youtube and couldn’t find but do you know where I could find the link to the Rocks promo where he became the Rock? I know it was when he barely joined the nation.

Your guess is as good as mine, friend.

Readers?

Has a wrestler ever used another wrestlers entrance music.

Dear Lord, yes. Plenty!

Hear Jay Lethal’s themsong? That’s a remix to the “Pomp and Circumstances” theme that heralded the arrival of The Macho Man for years. And Abyss’s current entrance music is a modified version of Hulk Hogan’s WCW “American Made.”

But this sort of thing is hardly a new development. Generic arena rock and diva tracks are often recycled on the regular as new stars come and go. But sometimes, even the more memorable pieces end up getting a double-shot of airplay. And off of the top of my head, I fondly remember the diminuitive Howard Finkel hitting the ring to the Ultimate Warrior’s music. Ditto for Pat Patterson and Gerry Brisco, who used Hulk Hogan’s “Real American” themesong during their heyday as Mr. McMahon’s onscreen stooges.

Actually, now that I mention it — “Real American” is probably the biggest, clearest, and most noteworthy example of one performer using another guy’s entrance music in the entire history of professional wrestling. Obviously, through its many years of regular rotation on WWF/E programming, it has become virtually synonymous with The Immortal Hulk Hogan. But it turns out Rick Derringer actually composed the theme for the short-lived “U.S. Express” tandem of Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda. But Windham decided to call it quits on his WWF tenure shortly after the song had debuted, it was immediately re-appropriated to the Hulkster instead.

Whos the composer to Mankinds first theme.Not the car crash but like the slow symphony kind that he came out to in the Royal Rumble 98

That’d be Jim Johnson — longtime backstage WWF/E employee and occassional musical genius.

Jim’s a pretty tough guy to track down, as he prefers to stay behind the scenes — but he is featured in a brief snippet of Barry Blaustien’s “Beyond The Mat” documentary, if you’ve got the time/inclination to see what the dude looks like.

Jim Johnson’s senior class portrait. True story!

Incidentally, you know who else is featured in a rare WWF appearance and an uncredited backstage cameo in that same film? None other than the Fallen Angel himself, Mr. Christopher Daniels.

Why do guys like Jericho and Edge dont mind losing as much but guys like Taker and HHH wont even job to champs most notably Taker to Swagger.

The Undertaker doesn’t lose because people simply won’t pay to see The Undertaker lose. It’s as simple as that. The Dead Man is as big of a draw as he is precisely because he looks so freakin’ unstoppable. Sure, he may eat a rare pinfall every now and again (everybody does, after all) — but if he started dropping losses on the regular, it would undoubtedly begin to chip away at his mystique. And that would hurt his drawing power, in turn.

As for why Triple H doesn’t lose more often? Well — let’s just say that one is more a case of family business.

Yeah, that’s about right.

With the recent releases of Shelton Benjamin & Mickie James, which organization do you feel they’d be best utilized TNA or ROH/Shimmer? Also Orton vs DDP who would you pick?

Shelton Benjamin would be a great fit for Ring Of Honor. He can more than hold his own from bell to bell, and his weakness behind a microphone would easily be masked by ROH’s focus on strict wrestling ability and athleticism over the more soap-opera-styled theatrics of a TNA-type promotion (where I can already see Vince Russo pairing Shelton right alongside Orlando Jordan and calling them something ridiculous like “The Black Odd Couple.”)

Oh crap, now I’ve given him an idea.

Remember when?

As for Mickie James? TNA is where it’s at. The company has strong ties to Nashville the way it is, and Mickie has dreams of making it as a country singer — so the crossover celebrity and industry connections that TNA can provide seem like her best available option.

What do you think about Man Mountain Rock and why wasn’t he given a bigger push ?

I blame Paul Roma.

RVD was likewise rumored to have had a role in blocking Man Mountain Rock’s push, too — but that is widely believed to have been a one shot deal.

TNA aims to be as big as WWE. Wouldn’t a more hectic schedule and more public scrutiny (say, over steroids) make TNA less attractive to established stars? Seems TNA could thrive better under the radar.

You hit the nail right on the head.

This week, TNA announced that they would be returning to the insular safehaven of Thursday night programming — and thus any and all notions of the company standing directly opposite WWE’s flagship broadcast seem to have quickly been dismissed accordingly. By that logic, it sounds as if the TNA brass is finally wise-ing up to what even their most fervent (but level-headed) supporters have been saying since day one. Namely?

TNA is a niche product that provides a wonderful alternative to WWE. And in that sense, they can, in fact, be viewed as a “competitor” — of sorts. But they are not, in any real way, a direct “threat” to their bigger, more well-funded, and more internationally reputed counterpart.

Moving back to Thursdays allows TNA to look inside of themselves rather than at the quarter hour breakdowns of how they fared against WWE in order to spend more time working on what brought them to the dance in the first place.

Both HBK vs Flair, and HBK vs Undertaker ended with meaningful lines. Do you see in-ring dialogue becoming more prevalent?

Not really, no.

WWE is in the business of performing in front of tens of THOUSANDS of fans each and every week. Live audiences have a hard enough time following in-ring action (without the aid of jumbo-trons) the way that it is already. And with that being said, it would be virtually impossible to expect the folks sitting WAAAAAAAAY up in the cheap seats of a stadium that holds 50,000+ to listen quietly enough so as to hear two (or more) performers exchanging one-liners as they traded headlocks in the center of a ring.

Because nothing says “I love you” like a swift boot to the jaw.

Sure, the company could mic up the actual ring area (more than they already do, of course) — but there are a lot of *other* lines of dialogue that wrestling fans probably would NOT want to hear during any given match (including called spots, obligatory catchings of breath, swear words, etc.). And to that end — I’m reasonably confident that in-ring dialogue will remain a “special occassion” technique moving forward.

(Though I did mark out like a schoolboy when John Morrison once so famously stood toe-to-toe with Umaga and shouted “Oh that’s right, you can TALK now!”)

Following last week’s AWSA question: Does the weekly rankings (P25) help boost WWE Superstars’ stock at all both for WWE creative and out of WWE once they receive the pink slip? do any of them rankings serve any real purpose or is this kayfabe once again?

There’s an old saying in the ‘rasslin business that “if it’s on television, then it must be fake.” And by extension, all company-approved channels of communication (print, mobile, web, etc.) likely abide by the same “in-character” approach to multi-media storytelling.

WWE’s “Power 25” is simply used as a web-based supplement to help put over new stars, storylines, and company-approved developments. To that end, they aren’t actually worth anything at all, save but to reiterate what the “creative team” already wants fans to have taken note of in the first place (e.g. – “so-and-so” is the number one contender. Please buy our show to watch him compete!”)

But then again, “worthless” is something of a relative term in a fixed pseudo-sport like professional wrestling.

John, i’ve been an avid fan since day one.Kudos to everything that u have done to the 411 community and wish u godspeed. This question isnt really wrestling related;and my bad if this burdens you,sir; Does the 411mania have any plans on going mobile?

Thanks so much for the kind words, friendly stranger.

As for 411 mobile capabilities? Your guess is as good as mine. Twitter and RSS technology have really helped the site expand into this burgeoning frontier of new media. But that being said — full-blown dedicated “apps” or anything of that nature just don’t seem likely any time soon, mainly because anyone with the mobile technology to download said apps can probably browse the entire 411 website via their smart phones the way it is.

So yeah — and “no.”

Do you think there should be just one World Title like there’s one set of tag titles? I feel like having the champion appear on all shows will bring credibility back to the belt, and even make the US/IC belts more important.

For a time immediately following the initial brand split, the newly divided WWE “rosters” were, in fact, subject to a traveling world champion between shows and an alternating schedule of title defenses accordingly. The only problem? There is simply more money to be made by having TWO champions — that way, you can make BOTH shows look like “big deals” in their own right even if they just so happen to be closing with a bout or touring through a town without the one-and-only “top star” in the mix.

Yes, newer fans — one champ between two brands actually used to be a company standard.

Don’t get Mee wrong — I *love* the idea of a unified champion. But so long as the WWE roster remains divided between two shows? The odds of us seeing “one champ to rule them all” range anywhere from “slim” to “none.”

will we see jushin liger in tna.could be fun

In the world of professional wrestling, I’d never say never. But it appears to Mee as if the odds of seeing Jushin “Thunder” Liger on TNA programming diminished substantially from the moment that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff first set foot in Dixie Carter’s door. Several years ago, TNA was all about cameo appearances from the top stars of the international ranks (remember the World X Cup?). In a lot of ways, the innovation and excitement that these imported talents brought with them actually allowed TNA to replicate some of the buzz that we first saw back when WCW’s cruiserweight division was hitting its stride thanks to Rey Mysterio, Juventud Guerrera, Dean Malenko and the likes.

This guy = AWESOME.

With Hogan and Easy E in charge, however, TNA of 2010 has come a lot closer to resembling the later years of WCW — where the brass seems to be of the opinion that the insanely popular cruiserweights “never drew a dime,” and thus all television time should be reserved for older stars or guys who could be perceived as future heavyweight champions.

TNA Impact has an early start time, broadcasts from an amusement park, and doesn’t have the word “wrestling” in its initials. Shouldn’t THEY be the ones striving for PG sports entertainment? Irony?

You make a decent point.

With iMPACT! returning to Thursdays, the early start time appears to be going by the wayside, however. And even if the company’s name doesn’t quite come right out and say “wrestling” — the double-entendre of their acronym certainly isn’t exactly your family friendly fare. Besides that — and for what it’s worth — TNA’s “amusement park” epicenter is actually quite tilted to something of an older demographic than most other Orlando-based attractions, believe it or not. Speaking from the perspective of a self-professed “Disney dork,” I’ll be the first to admit that Universal Studios absolutely blows The Mouse out of the water when it comes to action-packed thrill rides that are specifically designed to attract the teenage-to-twenty-something adrenaline junkies who might otherwise be watching anything *BUT* “TV-PG” programming.

how about kane appearing in tna.i think it would be awesome

Kane is a WWE guy through and through. More to the point (if we wanna’ get technical here), the “Kane” character, name and likeness are already exclusive trademarks of World Wrestling Entertainment. And so even if the man behind the mask ever decided to make the jump to Total Nonstop Action, there is absolutely *zero* chance that he’d be allowed to do so while donning the gimmick of The Big Red Machine, “half brother” of The Undertaker himself.

And With That, I’m Outta’ Here

That’ll do it for this week. Just three columns left before I ride off into the sunset, HBK style — and I’ll do my best to tackle each and every topic that you guys and this crazy bidness of pseudo-sport may throw my way in the time I have left before the grand retirement celebration! ‘Till next time, have a killer week, a Happy Mother’s Day, and always stay positive.

– Meehan

The National Domestic Violence Hotline : 1-800-799-SAFE.

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