Foot On The Rope 11.18.00: The Assorted Thoughts Of The Day
Posted by Bryce McNeil on 11.18.2000
Once again, the wrestling world provides me with so much to say but I have too little time to say it.
Once again, the wrestling world provides me with so much to say but I have too little time to say it.
From the Market of the World to the World as a Market
One of my favourite all-time bands is the Police. In the late-70s, The
Police had a bit of a difficult time breaking through in America.
Their manager, Miles Copeland, came up with a brainstorm: let's go
where other bands aren't, freak everyone out, and sell shows out by
default. Fifteen countries and four months later, the Police were
already well on the road to being certifiable legends.
WCW may finally have waken up to the genius of Miles. This week's
editions of Nitro and Thunder, while not blistering, were reasonably
solid shows with an attentive English crowd. The response was a bit
different from the standard American crowd, but was encouraging
nonetheless. This coupled with a very successful Australian tour
speaks volumes for what WCW should be doing right now: hitting the
airlines and moving across the world.
While the costs of worldwide travel are sometimes prohibitive, fans in
non-North American countries tend to be pretty restless to check out
professional wrestling. Just like it didn't matter in the Middle East
that the WWF was #2 to WCW in 1997, it doesn't matter in Australia that
WCW is #2 if it's the company that's showing up to give them a show.
The WWF still does plenty of world travel, but not as much as they have
in the past because they do not need to.
If WCW seizes the initiative and travels the world, bringing their
product to new places, it will not only increase the visibility of
their product but improve the morale of the performers. Wrestling in
front of 10,000+ is better than wrestling in front of a comped audience
of 3,000. The more the wrestlers get psyched up, the better they
perform and the better they perform, the better the company will get.
Re-Spect! Walk (out of ECW?)!
"Why hasn't Rob Van Dam left ECW?" I've probably heard that question a
thousand times from fellow wrestling fans. Rumours are quickly
spreading that would indicate that I might not have to hear it anymore.
There is no question that ECW has not been the most financially stable
promotion in the world, and this has caused Paul Heyman numerous
difficulties. Mike Awesome and Shane Douglas are two talents that have
departed simply because they didn't feel they were being treated fairly
from a monetary point of view. Heyman has also been notoriously weak
at contract negotiations which cost him Taz: at a time when everyone
felt that he was lock to work in ECW for life. Contrarily, Van Dam has
been fiercely loyal to Heyman despite carrying a phenomenal amount of
talent and charisma that would rank him highly in the Big Two. Some
have criticized him for working too stiffly, however, which may explain
why neither WWF or WCW has pursued him too aggressively. This may have
made it a little easier for RVD to stay put.
But if fiduciary difficulties reach a breaking point, Van Dam will
split. The question is: where will he go and will he get the money he
wants? The WWF is reportedly his desired destination, but one wonders
if Titan is anxious to have the master of the "Van Terminator" on their
hands. It is already a company loaded with talent which they are
hoping to keep injury free. ECW workers have been able to take RVD's
stuff, would the WWF allow it? They've allowed the Hardyz to
practically kill themselves, but in Van Dam's case, heavyweights like
the Rock and HHH might be made to suffer. Meanwhile, WCW is in too
much of a state of flux to make an offer as far as this writer can see.
So Van Dam may have waited too long for a day like today. He may be
holding out hope that Heyman can come up a solution so that he can
continue to rule the Philadelphia roost and attempt to bring it to
prominence.
Hey Yo
Speaking of influence, ECW calls upon one of the most influential
performers of the mid-to-late 90s to add life to their promotion. But
will Scott Hall stick around for long? And even if he does, is he a
cure for what ails the land of Extreme?
It is certain that the company can not come up with the money to give
Hall the contract that he would want. However, such as in the Van Dam
situation, there are factors working in Heyman's favour. WCW has just
let Hall go and is not liking to take him back. His workrate is not
exactly the stuff of legends that would cause any company in Japan to
come calling anytime soon. The WWF is probably not interested in
stirring the locker room pot. Unless XPW digs up a slew of porn-laced
dough, who else is going to employ Hall?
This may be ECW's last shot at furthering its national status before it
ultimately has no choice but to either fold or take a great deal of
steps backwards to the days of 1993. If Heyman can land a national
cable spot with Hall on the roster, it could draw some beneficial
attention to his programming. Yet Hall's glory days have long past and
his ability to involve himself in the fast paced, hard hitting ECW
action is limited. I'm betting that there are not many long-term plans
where the erstwhile Outsider is concerned.
The Body, the Mind or the Hypocrite?
Over a year-and-a-half ago, Jesse Ventura had very little positives to
state about the professional wrestling world, and he and Vince McMahon
were probably on each other's dartboards.
Now, Ventura has chosen to commentate for the XFL, just over a year
after making a guest appearance at Summerslam. McMahon has confirmed
that this means that guest appearances on WWF programming are likely.
I won't comment on Ventura's governing matters, but I will say this:
for a man with the reputation of a straight-shooter, he sure has a
funny way of living up to his hype. I'm not one to jump on anyone for
changing their opinion, and Ventura doing commentary is certainly not a
bad thing, but it is pretty peculiar how someone forgets his cause when
a lot of money is thrown in his face. Ventura has yet to explain
whether or not he still feels that wrestlers need a union and that the
stunts are out of control, or if he just enjoys working with someone
whose beliefs he clashes with for money he probably does not need.
The WWF and Headline Sports Teaming Up
It just can't get any worse for WCW north of the border. Ever since
Vince McMahon Jr. and Frank Tunney made a deal, McMahon has made Canada
his personal playground, and no other major promotions have made it
past the monkey bars to the bright and fancy swing set.
While WCW's programming has been thrown around like a rag doll in
Canada, the WWF has always been easy to find (save for some unexpected
baseball games). While WCW struggles to find arenas it can operate in,
let alone put people in, the WWF maintains a stranglehold on all of the
country's major arenas.
For American fans who may not be unaware, Carl DeMarco (President of
WWF Canada) has been a huge part of the company's success. He has
ensured that the WWF has had its own sub-organization effectively
keeping the country in the palm of its hand. This has been a boon when
you consider how wrestle-crazy the country is, having provided much of
the talent you see in the WWF today (Edge, Christian, Jericho, Venis,
Stratus, Test). A lot of great wrestlers come out of this country and
they emerge having watched a heckuva lot of WWF TV. As a proud
Canadian myself, I can tell you that finding options aside from the WWF
and the local promotion was the hardest thing to do in my youth,
especially without an extended cable package.
Now that Canada will be able to receive all major WWF programming, the
landscape doesn't look like it will change in next 100 years. Of
course, more bizarre things have occurred, but deals like this make
miracles seem less and less likely.
