The Ominous Thoughts News Report 4.08.07
Posted by Sam Caplan on 04.08.2007
My thoughts on the unofficial end of the Brand Extension, TNA's TV negotiations, Colt Cabana leaving ROH, and more!
Wrestlemania 23 is in the books, and I know I promised to talk about it this week, but it was just about the only thing I had to talk about when I covered for Larry on Tuesday. Since I hate repeating myself, I decided to just move on, and there's plenty else to discuss this week.
The Real News
The first thing I want to talk about is the fact that the Brand Extension seems to be a thing of the past in everything but official terms. They had already announced that the PPVs would be tri-brand from here on out, but I wanted to wait until after Wrestlemania to see if they were going to continue having wrestlers from all the brands appear on all the shows. It seems that they are going to continue with that, so it's pretty apparent to me that they've finally accepted that the Brand Extension isn't working and have decided to quietly get rid of it. They haven't officially announced this yet, but I'm sure that the only reason for this is accountability to the stockholders who would likely have tons of questions.
Now, I do have some other opinions on this. I don't think that the Brand Extension is a bad idea in theory if it's done correctly, but the way it was handled was not the greatest. I like the idea of three brands in order to build more stars and feuds for the single brand shows, but what invariably happened was that only the top two or three feuds on each show got any real promotion and everyone else was kind of left to twist in the wind. I'm not saying so much that this is the fault of the individual creative teams who I'm sure did what they could with what they were given, but when everything comes back to Vince and Stephanie, there's only so much as human beings that they can concentrate on, so unless each of the brands was going to get total autonomy (which would never happen), the single guiding force of Vince and Stephanie is what helped sink it, and I don't mean that as a knock on their creative vision.
But if they are seriously ending the Brand Extension, then I think there's a huge upside to it at this point. The individual creative teams are better now than they were when it was first done in 2002, and I think that if they can all co-exist, there's enough really talented people that they could create a great show and concentrate on all the top guys Vince and Stephanie want pushed without having to water down everything else. Yes, taking the top guys from each show and tri-branding them is going to take up a ton of TV time and probably render a lot of undercard guys obsolete and therefore expendable, but that's not something the McMahons can worry about if they're really interested in the health of their company.
This is also going to mean that there will be more time to build the storylines for those top guys so that everything doesn't seem so thrown together when it comes PPV time. Seriously, how many times over the last few years have we had the top three or four matches in place and reasonably well built, and then the entire rest of the undercard gets thrown together on the go home show or, worse, on WWE.com the Saturday before the show? Having five hours of TV time to promote a single brand means that this will (hopefully) be a thing of the past.
I'm going to be interested to see how the titles are handled going forward. I don't think anyone can argue that if the brands do reunify, there will be too many damn titles around and something's going to have to be done. I think we'll be looking at another situation like the lead-in to Survivor Series 2001 when Mick Foley made all those unification matches, although I do think it'd be nice to keep the IC Title and US Title separate. I don't think anyone will miss the Cruiserweight Title, and I think it would be wonderful to give London & Kendrick both Tag Titles to put them over that much more as the top team of the current day, and they'll have no shortage of good teams to face in a unified WWE.
I do admire WWE for sticking to it for as long as they could, but I think that after going with it for five years, they realized that their business is not what it was pre-Brand Extension. Also, I think that the crossover on recent PPVs has indicated to them that things would improve if the crossover continued and they went all the way with it. I have no doubt that the decision to end the Brand Extension has been made, and they're just trying to come up with a good way to frame it to the stockholders. I think it's the best decision they could make under the circumstances.
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Word has come out that TNA is in negotiations about the future of their televised product, and they've been shopping themselves around to a few different suitors. Of course the front runner is SpikeTV, who loves TNA. It's clear they have a much better relationship with Spike than WWE ever did, and it doesn't seem like Spike ever feels like it can do enough for TNA. Impact is the only show on the network to deliver consistently good ratings aside from The Ultimate Fighter, and the talks with Spike have apparently not only included the long-awaited second hour of Impact, but also the addition of a second program which is said to be described as a talk-show style program. MyNetwork TV is said to be a second suitor, and there is also a third which, while unnamed, is known to not have aired pro wrestling before.
My first reaction to this is that if TNA were to leave Spike, it would be an incredibly bad move. Spike has done more for them than they could probably ever expect out of any other network in terms of promotion, timeslot, and network penetration. They're in a very good spot with them, and I point to the discussions of the second hour and additional show as evidence of this. I'm sure they know this though, and the other networks are just being used to drive the price up, but the TNA-SpikeTV partnership has worked very well for both sides, and it's clear that Spike is a lot happier with TNA than they ever were with WWE or ECW. They've also shown that they're willing to change the schedule up for the better when TNA has shown that they're worthy of it, having already given TNA a better timeslot twice and several TV specials. I also think that their expertise in the TV business is teaching a lot to TNA management, because as much as I'm sure that TNA wants to go head-to-head with Raw as soon as can be arranged, Spike is aware of how strong (or weak) TNA is in respect to WWE (especially after the last time they went head-to-head, and on TNA's night at that), and are being very smart in how they handle TNA's placement on their schedule.
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I want to make mention of Colt Cabana signing with WWE. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to miss him in ROH and I'm going to be really sorry to see him go, but he's worked really hard and, to be honest, I'm surprised he hasn't been signed before now. He's easily one of the most entertaining people I've ever seen in wrestling, and is an expert at adding comedy into his matches while simultaneously being 100% capable of being totally serious as we saw last year during the Homicide feud. The guy is so versatile and has a great look, I'm sure he's going to go far in WWE.
One thing that people have noticed is that with his signing, all three of the Second City Saints are now working for WWE. Is there a reunion in the works? I don't think that's likely since they seem to be looking at CM Punk as someone they want to build up and push in the future. No disrespect to them, but I don't know if WWE is going to want to saddle Punk down with them and add the comedy element to Punk's character at this point. That said, even if Punk's not involved, I think there's far worse avenues they could go down than to have Ace Steel and Colt Cabana become a regular team and use the Second City Saints name. They're both great workers and have shown many times in ROH and elsewhere that they make a great, versatile team. I think it might be cool if they did that and, even if there's no direct storyline connection, they did interact with Punk every once in a while and do their ROH shtick where they are all goofy and Punk's just left shaking his head at them.
So where does this leave Ring Of Honor? Change has been said to be the theme of 2007 for ROH, and it's definitely been the truth so far. I think that Cabana's situation is very much like Samoa Joe's was in that there's little else for him to do there without getting stuck in a rut. Truthfully, I think he's been stuck in a major rut for the last year since the Homicide feud ended, Jimmy Jacobs feud notwithstanding. As good as he is, I never envisioned him getting the ROH World Title and apparently neither did Gabe Sapolsky, because he's not even getting an ROH Title shot on his way out the door. If anything, I think the departure of Colt Cabana is going to be a good thing for ROH because it'll give them the chance to move someone else up into his spot and become a main player.
But in closing, I'd like to say congratulations, Cabana, you deserve it.
The Other News
WWE
During the Bobby Lashley vs Umaga main event on Raw, a lot of people got up and left, and as soon as the match was over, the place was said to have emptied almost immediately.
Yikes. Considering all the promotion that went into their Wrestlemania match and how strongly both men have been built up, I did not expect this, especially the night after Wrestlemania. Granted, it may have just been a funny crowd, but yipes...just yipes.
Matt Cappotelli's brain tumor has gotten larger, and he will be undergoing surgery on 5/1 to try and remove it.
This is really tragic, not just as a wrestling fan but as a human being. I've had a couple of people in my family die of cancer, and it's a terrible thing to watch someone go through. I hope this helps him recover.
TNA
TNA is working on plans to do a tour of Great Britain in late 2007 or early 2008. They would do three shows over seven days, with the rest of the time consisting of promotional appearances.
That's great, I'm all for wrestling companies expanding into new markets. Of course, ROH has already been there. Twice. And they're going to Japan this year. But all the same, last place is no shame because at least you tried. Let's hear it for TNA!
Everything Else
MTV has no plans to air the final episode of Wrestling Society X, and are treating the 9th episode as the final one in terms of the wrestlers' contracts.
I guess this came as no surprise since Colt Cabana signed with WWE before this little tidbit came out, but given the brief TV exposure they got, I'm wondering who else WWE and TNA might have their eyes on at this point. I'd be willing to bet it's not X-Pac or Vampiro.
Chris Kanyon has announced his retirement from wrestling at age 37.
Rumors that he will instead go into interior decorating are unsubstantiated.
Sean O'Haire suffered three fractures in his orbital bone and two other skull fractures in a bar fight. He had been trying to pick a fight with another patron for some time and when he finally did he came out on the short end.
Sean O'Haire? Big, bad Sean O'Haire the MMA badass? Wow, that's interesting. It's also sad. It also makes him look like a real pussy. Maybe he ought to quit MMA and start designing drapes with Kanyon instead.
What Does Wrestling Mean To You?
I admit that as up to date as I have to be to write this column, there are some things that totally passed me by. Case in point: the original ECW. I only caught bits and pieces back in the day, so I got my hands on some tapes and I've been going back and trying to catch up on all that I missed because the word is that I missed out on a whole hell of a lot. On Friday, I was watching the match where Mikey Whipwreck defeated Pitbull I to win the ECW TV Title and was amazed at what a great moment it was. Mikey had been portrayed as this total loser who couldn't buy a win for a million bucks, spent the whole match getting slaughtered by the Pitbull, and ended up winning on a fluke when he rolled over and his hand was on top of the Pitbull. The place popped huge for Mikey getting the big win because after being seen as a total jobber for all that time, he began to grow on the ECW crowd and they were genuinely happy for him when he won the title.
But the thing that really struck me about the whole situation was that you just don't have moments like that in WWE anymore where people care enough about the wrestlers that they get so emotionally involved in their victories and defeats. Seriously who would actually start jumping for joy if John Cena beat Batista to unify the titles tomorrow? Does anyone really give enough of a goddamn about Bobby Lashley or Umaga that they're going to pop the crowd either way? Hell, people were filing out of Raw before the match even started this week. As big a moment as Vince McMahon seemed to think it was, him getting his head shaved wasn't something I got emotionally involved in. They come every once in a while, like when Benoit won the title at Wrestlemania 20 or before that, my own personal big pop when Shawn Michaels returned and won the World Title in the Elimination Chamber. But those moments are few and far between...in WWE and to a lesser extent, TNA.
Yet they always seem to happen in ECW and ROH. Fans of those companies get so wrapped up in the wrestlers and storylines that finding out a wrestler is leaving will often lead to chants of "You sold out" or "Please don't go". I was at the show when CM Punk beat Austin Aries to win the ROH World Title in what was supposed to be his last match, and I jumped out of my chair and high-fived the guy behind me when he pinned him because I thought it was his end in ROH. But then he goes and turns heel and the crowd totally turns on him and it led to an entire summer of him having "last match" after "last match" with him getting conned into coming back for one more match each time out, and it drew great because each time, the fans thought that this was the night Punk was losing the title. Punk: The Final Chapter was such an emotional night on DVD that I wish I could have been there in person.
The same thing happened in ECW, like when Mike Awesome signed with WCW while he was still ECW World Champion. The guy got so much heat for simply wanting to be able to feed his damn family that he didn't even want to come into the building until his match came and he walked in the front door, dropped the title, and left through the front door and was never seen in ECW again. The ECW fans were so into the product that it actually scared a wrestler the size of Mike Awesome into doing business that way. Granted, to give credit where it's due I'm sure that the wrestlers had a lot to do with that too, but that just goes to show how much ECW meant to them that they were so pissed at Mike Awesome leaving the way he did that Awesome was scared to show his face in the locker room? How many WWE wrestlers do you think would care enough to jump John Cena if hell froze over and he signed with TNA while he was WWE Champion?
This is part of the reason I'm such a huge ROH fan and I'm becoming an ECW fan, because they actually give the fans reasons to care. WWE doesn't. Except for Samoa Joe, TNA doesn't either. In fact, both often seem to work contrary to that end. I don't expect that to change anytime soon, but wouldn't it make for a fun night if Eric Young caught a fluke win on Chris Sabin and won the X-Division Title? It would sure beat the title being a joke for Kevin Nash to justify his employment with.
I LOVE FEEDBACK!!!
I've gotten a couple of people who wrote in with their thoughts on the Ultimate Wrestling Survey from That Was Then on Friday. Here's Brad:
interesting stuff this week. here are my random thoughts.
1. thanks for not putting hogan in your top 5 wrestlers. in ring, he was, is and always will be pathetic. thanks for actually valuing in-ring work.
2. jericoh & hhh deserve to be on the top 5 entrance music list. i always thought jericho's could have been a radio hit. & one of my favorite small touches of all time is lemmy's sinister laugh at the beginning of "the game." these are 2 songs that i think could stand alone, even without the wrestlers.
3. you should have had a separate list for finishers & submission holds. the crippler crossface & the anglelock deserve to be on some list somewhere. benoit & angle could hit those moves at any time, from any position. i always loved that element of surprise. when he really needed to add a little something, angle would grapevine his opponent. only angle could make a great move that much better when the story called for it.
4. i was lucky enough to be at wm x-7. at the end, i was thinking "i know i should boo austin, but i'm still going to cheer for him." even after a 5-star match, wwf was still able to toy with my emotions & leave me wanting more. that's the spark missing from most of today's product.
I totally envy you for being at Wrestlemania X-7, other than Glory By Honor V Night Two (which I WAS lucky enough to be at), this is the other card that I definitely wish I was in person for, even more than Wrestlemania 20. And no, Hogan was definitely not one of the top in-ring performers of all time, but I also don't like to underrate what he did contribute because of any kind of IWC bias. Still, he sucked in the ring and I can see that for what it was.
Bill Veik wants to share his top five finishers:
In no particular order................
Jake "The Snake Roberts" DDT- 10 times as deadly as any of the other "surprise" finishers, and 100 times more sudden. No motion to indicate it was coming, getting the hell kicked out of him for ten minutes, gets whipped into the ropes, opponent drops his head to perform a move, DDT, 1,2,3.
Diamond Dallas Page Diamond Cutter-see above, especially the top rope one catching an opponent by surprise who was going to leap on him.
Masked Superstar Cobra Clutch.........when he finally applied it, the way he lifted opponents feet off the ground and flailed them like rag dolls.
Great Mutah Mutah Lock.............the move just appeared so different and athletic than most other finishing moves
Zac Calhoun forgot his notes at home, but still manages to whip up a nice long edition of The Ripple Effect.
Joe Estee has the Keys To The Game, and he talks about what it takes to win at Wrestlemania.
Finally, it's our standard self-pimping. I fill out the Ultimate Wrestling MySpace Survey in That Was Then, and then it's all the ECW and TNA you can handle in Friendly Competition.
Do you like Fact Or Fiction? Good, then you'll like Buy Or Sell.
Chris Hero still has control of Column Of Honor, but I hope Ari's okay so he can make the ROH shows next weekend!
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That's it for me this weekend, I'll see you in five days for more True Feats Of Manliness in That Was Then, Friendly Competition on Saturday, and right back here next week for more Ominous Thoughts. Until then, this is "Weekend Warrior" Stuart Carapola signing off. See you later.
