Truth B Told 5.03.07: WWE-E?
Posted by Bayani Domingo on 05.03.2007
Can the "e" succeed with a European brand? Well Disney did...no wait...no...no they didn't.
I have $30 set aside for July when the "King of Europe" Tournament DVD is probably going to be available. For those who don't know (probably 65% of you) the "King of Europe" tournament was a two day tournament consisting of representatives from 16 different companies from around the world. It was a varied list of incredible wrestlers that spanned from the ‘technical' to the ‘high flyer', from "just across the pond" to the "land of the rising son". Here are the participants: Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Go Shiozaki, Martin Stone, Pac, Trent Acid, Matt Sydal, El Generico, Doug Williams, Ares, Davey Richards, Zebra Kid, Ryo Saito, Jody Fleisch, Nigel McGuinness, and Rhino.
Not exactly your typical Indy show make up, but no doubt a star studded line up by Indy standards. The tournament ended when Nigel McGuinness was crowned the champion after beating Rhino, Pac, Davey Richards, and Doug Williams. No real surprise as Nigel was a definite front runner, both being European and also being one of the top guys in RoH. Still that had me thinking about how great that tournament looked, but how little publicity it got from most people. The Ted Petty Invitational, Survival of the Fittest, and Battle of Los Angeles, as well as a few CHIKARA tournaments seem to get more fan fare in the Indy scene. Puro is on the rise as NOAH, NJPW, AJPW, and Dragon Gate are all closely followed now, and even CMLL and AAA get love. But what about Europe? Does anyone even know when the wXw 16 Carat Tournament is or what it is? *wait don't we have some German dude on staff now who could cover that or is he still stuck in that time warp thingy?* Surely with successes like William Regal, Fit Finlay, the Highlanders, David Taylor, and now new IC Champion and "Italian" Antonio Carrelli the WWE has some good connections to Europe. Not to mention the talent available on the Indy scene. It had me wondering whether the WWE could successfully venture into the European wrestling market or not. I guess this week we'll hash it out.
The "e" has been reportedly considering ventures in Japan, Mexico, Australia, and England as expanded "brands". Now while it would be difficult to break into the Japanese market seeing as there is already a ripe wrestling scene there with plenty of competition and options, there is always that possibility. I for one would not suggest taking that chance however if not only for the competition they'll face, but also the language and cultural barriers. Mexico is an option, and there wouldn't be as much difficulty finding bi-lingual help, but then again CMLL and AAA are already pretty ingrained into the wrestling landscape and the WWE could be met with some serious issues if they aren't able to sign away enough recognizable talent or feature some of their own talent. I'm not sure how willing Rey Mysterio, Chavo Guerrero, or Super Crazy would be to relocating south of the border, also how would Mysterio be received wrestling full-time in Mexico with his mask on despite losing it previously. A big taboo in Mexican wrestling. Plus, you just KNOW Vince would want to get away with paying those workers in pesos. Australia is an interesting possibility, but I'm not sure how great the market is down there for wrestling. I think that is something better answered by someone who actually lives there, namely one Matthew Sforcina, author of the "Evolution Schematic" as well as co-author of "Fink's Payload":
Well, as I understand the plan, it's Australia/Japan/The Rest Of Asia. With that said... Australia does have a fairly positive indy scene, in that the major indy feds (AWF I think is the biggest, but it's debatable) do tend to draw a couple of hundred per show, and there is a large percentage of Kids. But WWE is a whole other deal. There are maybe 10 'major' citys in Australia they could probably run a WWE type show and make it fit in with Raw/SD etc, if that's the goal. Add in a few in New Zealand, and that's enough, BARELY, for the look. As for the product, Australia has a long history of Wrestling, dating back to the 60's, and our style has really yet to be defined, it's a mish-mash of everything else. WWE could easily come in, pick up anyone over a certain height, weight or talent level, and could probably be successful...for any given value os successful. Break even for sure.
So apparently Sforcina thinks there is a good chance that the outback could serve as a good territory as well. I guess it's kind of like putting a McDonalds in the middle of no where. If you like fast food burgers and you have a choice of small burger joints you may not necessarily favor one or the other, but put a big store out there with the guarantee of consistency and familiarity and most people will choose that over the no-name brands any day. Then again, a lot of people either don't care for McDonalds or simply don't like it when big business squeezes out the little guy so they wouldn't step foot in their stores. Still, the WWE being the Mickey D's of wrestling, you know that even wrestling geeks in the land down under…where beer does flow and men chunder…wouldn't mind eschewing their local fed for a chance to see a more polished product. I'm skeptical because Australia isn't known for producing that many wrestlers, but hell, I'm sure they can scare at least a few up that meet the 6' height requirement. So I'll give the Aussie's the benefit of the doubt and now on to a look at the limey's chances.
I think the best way to figure out whether or not a venture could work out is to look at the key components to making a successful company: Talent availability, Venue, Financial Backing, Production Quality, Identity, and Fan Support. I think if you look at any start up company those are the key components. We're going to go ahead and take a look at how each of those components breakdown to get a better feel for the viability of a WWE-E. Or "EE" I guess:
Talent Availability
Well we all know that whether you're on a roster or in developmental, the "e" signs you to an exclusive contract, so this pertains to the guys who are willing to give up the Indies for a shot at the "big time". For some guys across the pond this could be a negative or a positive because EE would be like the "D" show in many respects, however it would in fact still be a good way to get on TV, work your way into the possibility of a call "stateside" and even spend less time away from home then you'd have to normally if you were European. If you look at the guys currently on one of the 3 rosters with European ties (kayfabe or not) you have: William Regal, Fit Finlay, David Taylor, Anthony Carrelli, Nunzio, and the Highlanders. Not to mention in developmental you also have Alexander Kozlov, Paul Birchall, Harry Smith, Vito, and Steve Lewington. Not a horrible start if you ask me.
Now if you want to make this a real "European Brand" you'll need some more developmental talent. Form what I can tell there is at least a good handful of prospects on the Indy scene either already in Europe or in the states. Of course you have to start the conversation off with 4 of the top Indy stars who have made a name for themselves in RoH already: Nigel McGuinness, Claudio Castagnoli, Doug Williams, and Pac. Not to mention some of the guys from the KoE tournament like: Jody Fleisch, Zebra Kid, Ares, and Martin Stone, also a few notables in Jonny Storm, Bad Bones, Emil Sitoci, Robbie Brookside, Andy Boy Simmonz, Darren Burridge, and "Spud". Let's say you manage to convince at least 5 or 6 of the main roster guys to move back to England (Finlay, Regal, Highlanders, Nunzio, and David Taylor) and they could also double as trainers. You could then bring over a couple of developmental guys (Kozlov, Harry Smith, Birchall, Lewington) and you'd have at least a decent base for yourself. Remember, ECW right now is running an hour long show with only about 12 guys getting real camera time.
Now let's say that you have the opportunity to pull some other "top names" into the mix. Perhaps some young guys that could use some time in the spotlight (Ken Dykstra, Johnny Jeter), are stalled and in need of a boost or new gimmick (Jamie Noble, Eugene), or even are a bit of a head case that could use some straightening out or punishment (Randy Orton), you'd leave yourself in a good position talent wise without sucking away much talent from the rest of the roster that couldn't be replaced. I think if you managed to add even a handful of the top European Indy guys like Doug Williams, Nigel, Claudio, Pac, and say Darren Burridge, then you'd have the makings for an interesting roster, at least on par with ECW.
Venue
There are clearly venues that could hold a weekly taping. The WWE manages to find places all over Europe, not to mention RoH and other Indy feds. I would think that as a start up you could still manage to pull in at least a few thousand audience members every week for a show. If you made the "EE" a two hour show then you could probably convince people to plunk down their money. Worse comes to worse, the WWE could pull a "TNA" and just have their shows run for free. I doubt it would need to come to that because anything with the WWE label sells now a day, but the "E" could pretty easily find places to run. Now the difficult part is whether or not to make this an OVW type deal with the same set venue or whether to run shows as a ‘tour' and book multiple places in advance. My suggestion is to ‘tour' and thus kick up interest in more places as well as getting your wrestlers more used to working different types of crowds.
Financial Backing
Money in the bank, so to speak. Vinny Mac and the "e" have, as the kids say, fickity phat pockets. Unlike your usual Indy or upstart company the WWE not only has tons of money to start up a new "brand" they are also a proven commodity. Right now they have enough money to invest in a venture like this so long as they are willing to temper their expectations. They aren't going to get a sell out crowd of tens of thousands of fans each week without a bunch of top guys in the company, but easily a few thousand people every week and a decent enough PPV buyrate maybe twice a year would be okay. Plus, let's not forget that on those PPV's they could always fly over a top name or two from another brand. Oh that tricky tricky "brand split".
Production Quality
You've seen what the WWE can do when they tour Europe and beam it back home. I don't see why they can't manage to pull off something similar if they do a Smackdown type pre-taped thing. That way they can craft it the way they want. Plus with the delay in getting results and stuff from Europe if they tape the show on say a Tuesday and edit it for a Wednesday airing then the spoilers would be at a minimum. The WWE could probably get USA or possibly the WB or another network to air it in the states and The Wrestling Channel to air it in Europe. Then again this all depends on if the WWE wants to make this a European-centric brand or not and keeping this off American TV and making it more of a "Developmental/Brand" hybrid. They could probably make it a webcast show on wwe.com stateside or put it on their 24/7 network. The PPV's could still be broadcast in the US but you would have to temper your expectations when it comes to buyrates. I don't think the production quality would suffer that much with a move overseas, especially if the main base of operation is in England.
Identity
Now the problem with "branding" is figuring out exactly what the identify of each brand is supposed to be. As far as I can tell, the "e" hasn't even been able to do that with the three brands they already have. One thing for sure is that if the "e" is trying to force their own brand of wrestling down European's throats without making compromises, they may run into some trouble. The "European Style" of wrestling, or so I'm told, is just more technical and mat based than American wrestling. Of course there are exceptions as Pac, Jody Fleisch, and ‘Spud' can attest to. I think making "EE" the most technically focused brand would be great. It would strike accord with both the current European audience as well as more old school fans stateside. If you consider that the WWE could always revive the "European Title" then they already have a belt tailor made for the company. Having 3 titles would probably be the optimal number of belts, a "World" title, a secondary belt, and a Tag Title. The secondary belt could either be a Cruiserweight/Open Weight/European title or what not, but 3 titles is what I really prefer in a company, as it gives each member of the roster a purpose and a goal. Trying to meld the current European tastes and the WWE's current product is key to the success of this venture. I mean, how would the "e" do if they banned masks in Mexico or the Shinning Wizard in Japan? A European promotion without grounding in good technical wrestling over outrageous and cartoonish gimmicks is like Lita with underwear. Just unheard of.
Fan Support
I'm going to go ahead and say that England and Europe in general has enough wrestling fans to support a "major company". I remember watching a documentary that my girlfriend ordered, unbeknownst to me, on Blockbuster called "Backyard Wrestling". In it they showed a bunch of kids running their own "backyard fed" of sorts and them talking about trying to catch as much WWF as possible because there isn't much else to watch. I'm assuming they didn't have the "Wrestling Channel" and for the most part since there aren't any big companies in England a small Indy fed is the best you could hope for. I did bit of research and all I could come up with was 1PW, 3CW, FCW, Irish Whip, wXw, and a few other Norwegian, Danish, etc. feds scattered about. So you know there is interest in wrestling, all over Europe and a good concentration in England. I could just imagine a European brand doing quite well under those conditions. Imagine a "Brand" that ran maybe twice a week, a house show each weekend and a taping during the week. Depending on how many WWE stars you get or top notch European Indy talents I think the audience in Europe would definitely support the brand. And remember, the most important part of all this is branding the WWE name on the company; once again it's the McDonald's comparison. All McDonalds carry the same basic foods, same basic taste, same basic service and look, but each McDonalds is a little different depending on the region. You can get Lobster Rolls in Boston, McAdobo in the Philippines, and probably McMonkeyass in Cambodia, but the point is, every McDonalds has to work with the region in order to blend in. if the WWE is flexible enough not to try to completely run over the English style of wrestling the fans should be more than happy to order a heaping helping of McChinlocks.
I think when you look at all of the elements needed to run a successful company you have all the ingredients here to make it happen. The two biggest assets that the WWE has (besides Ariel's gothic casabas) are it's ‘lineage' and financial backing. Something that TNA and RoH doesn't have yet. I think in markets like Japan and Mexico it would be harder to gain that market share and fight to become the ‘lead dog', but when you're dealing with Europe (and Australia I guess) it would be a lot easier to be that market leader because one doesn't exist yet. The opportunity for the "e" to delve into a new talent market as well as dominate another segment of the wrestling market seems like a great idea. I think when it comes to new ventures, it would be a lot less risky to start up a new smaller scale (think ECW) "brand" than it would be to start up a new Football League, or romantic comedy starring the Great Khali ("My Best Friend's Mauling", or "You, Me, and Khali"). I think the "e" is in good enough financial standing to undertake another "Brand" so long as they temper their expectations and keep this "Brand" actually ‘split' from the rest. Then again, with that kind of distance how couldn't they? Cheers.
The Truth
Sounds like a totally plausible idea doesn't it? I mean, it could work financially, it could benefit the fans ‘across the pond', hell it could be a money maker that also helps Vince corner the market on all European talent in the entire known wrestling world. Too bad it will never happen. Oh, not to say that it's not a possibility, but the fact of the matter is that Vince has certain…"standards" he sets and for some reason I can't imagine that he'd be willing to do a full on start up brand in a new country if it wasn't to his "standards". I think talent wise he'd be putting himself at risk of either thinning out his roster by giving up some of the name talent and I don't think he'd be as willing to hire as many of the Indy guys as he'd need to make the roster deep enough. You'd of course run into the issue of wrestlers not wanting to move to the UK and I think that would be the 2nd biggest obstacle, the first being that Vince is so damn micromanaging that he would never be able to give up control to another individual that would have to oversee the European venture. Yep, the whole idea would be dashed because Vince is a control freak that likes to be able to pop up and steal the limelight whenever he wants. Sorry, UK, but as easy as this idea would be to succeed, ultimately I believe the difficulty in transplanting talent and Vince's own ego would do it in. Stiff upper lip chaps.
Coming Up Short
You heard the news right? RoH has a PPV deal now. Big, big, big news in my opinion. Although to be honest I have mentioned it numerous times in past columns. I think this is the perfect time to seal the deal since so many TNA guys are now leaving the company. That makes me wonder if Homicide, Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, and maybe Austin Aries will be pulled from the show because of TNA contract language. This may be fairly coincidental considering Christopher Daniels just quit, and perhaps this will be a factor in Aries being released all together from TNA. I think that would be a big mistake for TNA, in fact I think that puts them in quite a little conumdrum. Because now that more people are able to see RoH, albeit once every other month, then if they allow some of their X-Division guys to be on the show and they end up putting on even better matches than on TNA will that make TNA's bookers look bad? Conversely do they allow their guys on the show if nothing else but to try to draw fans into watching TNA to see their favorite wrestlers on a weekly basis? But that of course would mean pushing guys in TNA that are also receiving pushes in RoH. You can't have Sabin/Shelley hold tag gold in RoH on PPV, then have them jobbing like crazy to Martyr and Havoc on Impact!. Weird, wild stuff, but in the end this is a great move for RoH and puts their roster in a tough spot as well. I just wonder how much of a bonus these guys will get from the PPV revenue. Probably not enough to outright quit TNA or other Indy gigs, but a sweet little bonus I bet. Let's just hope that as a byproduct of their new found exposure and TNA potentially playing their trump card that their roster depth doesn't end up coming up short. Congrats RoH, consider your respect…earned!!
6 Degrees of…
Double C (Corey Cotton) is kickin' it so old school that he didn't have a History Book they just had a Newspaper:
Happy to be back on top! The $0.30 has been banked, and is now earning 0.001% interest monthly. Look out, Donald Trump! For this week's 6DO, I am once again going back to one of my favourite shows as a kid, That's Incredible! I can't tell you how many times I watched and wished I was able to do the Rubik's Cube in less than 30 seconds, or catch a bullet in my teeth. But I also watched the show for another reason, Cathy Lee Crosby. Mmmm...Cathy Lee Crosby.
Wow, I do in fact remember that show and to be honest, I was always a fan of the guy with the beard of bees. Yep, bees. A whole beard of ‘em. I'm partial to novelty acts featuring beards of things…bees mostly, I mean, oh I'll settle for grasshoppers, chipmunks, maybe a beard of Lucha-minis, but mostly bees are the thing. Yep, the bees knees if you please. But enough of bees…forming beards and such, this week we go from a woman who was That Incredible, to a man who is…
Justin Credible. Seriously, what the hell was up with this guy? How the hell is it that RVD was never the ECW Champion but this guy was? I never understood his appeal, someone help me out on this, maybe I should do a "How the Hell did * * get a freakin' push??" column featuring all the guys I never understood getting pushes. Justin you're #1, Heidenrich, you're up next buddy boy. Okay, enough about bees and Heidenrich, someone send in a winner!!
Whatchu talkin' bout readers?
So I guess some of you are fed up with TNA after all:
Bayani,
Long time reader - first time emailer...had to send you a message though because your TBT about TNA was dead on.
TNA 'is' its own worst enemy right now. What happened? Oh yeah...Russo. I, like you, used to religiously watch Impact. Now, I watch it on the DVR if nothing else is saved worth watching. I used to love watching it and now I feel like I spend my time better by reading the TV taping spoiler reports rather than tuning in. I've repeatedly lately told myself "I'm sick of this TNA BS, I'm not going to watch it anymore" but eventually I cave. There are a few good things on the show worth keeping up with, but unfortunately they're buried amongst garbage that no one cares about.
As much as a Christian mark as I am...when will Samoa Joe get a title run? Or will he get fed up and leave before the bookers get off their asses and give him one? Or how about Abyss as champ again (especially now that he's a face, apparently, or at least a 'tweener')? Can we get another tag team to fued with either LAX or 3D so those teams never wrestle each other again? That's the one thing that irritates me the most about TNA - they make the most basic, rudimentary mistakes possible. Booking 101 type stuff. Build a feud, have a match or two, end the feud, move on and give those participants another feud with someone else.
Anyhow - great article, and continue the great work with TBT.
Later Nick Calcaterra
Well Nick, glad you're on board with the whole "TNA failed as an alternative" sentiment that has been stirring for months now. Basically it feels like TNA is trying so hard to be the WWE, that it is forgetting that it had a loyal fan base to begin with. Right now there is a lot of good stuff in TNA that is hidden behind even more bullshit and bad booking. If you look at the roster they have the ability to put on some great matches if they just split up the divisions right (main event, mid-carders, X-division, Tag) and left it at that. I think so long as you keep thinking that every single ex-WWF and ex-WCW guy is going to bring their own fan base over with them, then TNA will always seem like a "Salvation Army". There is nothing wrong with taking "second hand wrestlers" or under appreciated Indy guys and turning them into valuable commodities, like how "Vintage Stores" can sell used jeans and vintage tees for so much, but you have to stop taking EVERYTHING and be more selective. That, and hire someone with less "experience" on the booking team and more "innovation". Old dogs…new tricks…yeah, you know how that goes.
I agree with a lot of what you said about making the pursuit of the title the story. I gotta say that I wish TNA would go to a ranking system for the X-Division, have matches that build people up to challenge for the title. People could still feud on the way up, but then it could be a double-sided sword in that one wrestler could have a lot to lose (ranking wise) but still accept a challenge for pride. The lower ranked wrestler could move up a few rungs if they won, but the higher ranked could fall one or two if they lose. To accept that kind of challenge would show how serious the higher ranked man was the rivalry or his hatred of his opponent. All in all, just make the story about the championship.
I'd even be ok with more of a story in the heavyweight or tag title picture, because that's traditional in those area... but keep the X-Division about wrestling. The X title used to be as respected, or even more respected, than the heavyweight title in TNA, and I think
they need to get that feeling back more than anything. Anyway, thanks for an interesting article.
Matt G.
That's actually a great idea Matt. They've tried that before, I believe in WCW, and it works for the most part, ranking is still done in the NWA although not to the same extent it used to. They do ranking in boxing, in tennis, in college sports, why not wrestling. As far as the X-title goes, it used to be the MAIN draw, now it's just kind of forgotten. If you ask 100 Wrestling Geeks now who the WWE Champion is they all know it's Cena, if you ask them who the X-Division Champ is I bet you'd get about 5 different answers, one of the most popular of which would be, "who cares??".
Hey Bayani,
I just read your latest article on TNA and what you said is pretty much how I feel about TNA's product these days. I like a lot of other folks became intrigued at TNA when they made their SpikeTV debut and I can remember after the first two weeks, I went and bought the X Division Volume 1 and AJ Styles Volume 1 DVDs and was nothing but impressed. It really was like that new hot girl in class and I followed the show week in and week out. I didn't care if everyone else hated Jarrett for holding the title frequently. Sure I didn't know who half of these guys were, but the efforts Styles, Daniels, Sabin and
even Jarret's very convincing "chosen one" persona complimented the action.
I really like the idea of bringing in someone that isn't a Cornette or a Russo into the fold and is more tuned to the indy scene. I once had this thought that if TNA were to do a World X Cup this year, a dream Team USA squad would be: Jay Lethal, Alex Shelley, Matt Sydal and Davey Richards. The addition of Richards is just a personal pick because I've seen some of his stuff in ROH and it wouldn't suprise me if he is to become ROH's next big star. TNA should stick with the shuffle of indy guys and seriously stop calling every latest WWE pink slip recipient. When they had Hiroshi Tanahashi for the Final Resolution PPV in January of 2006, the potential was there and they killed it. I really think TNA should strengthen their connections with a Japanese promotion (hopefully the apperance of The Great Muta will spark something) and like you said, the company should focus on not going against WWE, but retaining what brought a lot of us to watching them. Which was be that alternative.
And that line about just wanting to see two guys duke it out, hell yes. Does a guy like Senshi "need" a reason to kick people in the head and stomp their chest in? No. That's the one thing I miss most from the matches of 2005. Sometimes you don't need to tell a tale, just let them fight. Did Petey Williams "need" a reason to give someone the Canadian Destroyer? Though TNA has been able to get a couple guys over through a storyline, but I look at their roster and some of the guys should just be cut loose and kick ass just on the principle of, "Because they can."
Lastly, it's pretty cool to hear that you're moving up to Seattle, Washington. I myself live in Seattle and yeah the region is pretty dead when it comes to the wrestling scene, but it's great that the state has churned out great talents like Davey Richards, Jack Evans and Bryan Danielson. It's wishful thinking, but I would love to see a TNA or ROH show venture out here. I know a couple of people here that would pay good money for a good
wrestling show around here.
Thanks, Jacob
TNA had so much potential, those pouty lips, that flat stomach and tight little ass, that thing it used to do with the Altoids and the peacock feathers…uh…well point is TNA went from Hot School Girl Britney Spears to Bald Pantyless Britney Spears in the matter of months. So much promise, yet, so wasted. While Jay Lethal and Alex Shelley may be on the squad for the World X Cup, I don't know if Matt Sydal and Davey Richards will be, mainly because it looks like they are waiting until they get that 2nd hour till they expand the roster. Although I believe Sydal, Davey, and a few other guys may be good possibilities if they clean up their X-Division. It also looks like Muta is a pipe dream now, it would have been a good idea though, I think a Sting/Great Muta match would or a Muta vs Angle would sell like handjobs at a Trekkie convention, but I think the best shot for anymore Puro action in TNA will be the World X-Cup. As far as Washington state wrestlers, Davey, AmDrag, Jack, and don't forget Spanky are all good examples of top shelf Indy talent from the Evergreen state. I'm sure it will be sometime until RoH hits the West Coast for a tour but something tells me if they ever do a West Coast swing LA and Sacremento will probably be the first test markets. Let's hope they do however make it up to the Pacific Northwest. I hear the Key Arena will have plenty of open dates soon.
Just wanted to drop a note on how good your TNA column was. I've talked about it in my own column, that it annoys the hell out of me that TNA seems to be under the delusion that they're on an equal par with WWE. Forget the roster and talent and look at the business end. A company that still does 98% of their shows in front of a non-paying audience of less than a thousand people inside a theme park studio cannot seriously claim to be on equal standing with TNA yet they think they are. It's why they do stuff like the
VKM mocking DX (seriously, in what Bizarro world are fans really going to think that Road Dogg and Bad Ass were the keys to DX?) that just makes them look second-rate.
I enjoy TNA, I've got their first year of three-hour PPVS on DVD and it's amazing to watch one and see the dip in quality things have taken. Yes, it wasn't all good (Dusty's booking) and you can't put it all on Russo. But you hit it on the head, they need to go for the audience they have rather than the one they THINK they have. Good article, hope someone in TNA can live up to your hopes.
Michael Weyer Shining the Spotlight
That Michael Weyer, he's good people, maybe I'll even bump him up to Barry Windham status on the Thursday Horsemen hierarchy. Now if we can only reign in that Halden guy…anyways TNA just has a serious Napoleonic complex when it comes to the WWE and doesn't even realize that right now they're BARELY beating out RoH. I bet if you could somehow tap into the power that is RoH and apply it to TNA you would have a force to be reckoned with. Hell, even figure a way to work together and they could not only own the East coast but also keep all the good Indy talent away from Vince and his "creative team". I mean, I liked Punk in RoH too, but how long do you think it will take until he's wrestling Sandman in a "Budweiser on a Pole" match on December to Dismember??
William Rubel isn't just whistling Dixie Carter:
One thing that you are failing to realize in your writings is that according to Dixie Carter, Vince Russo is only responsible for about 5 - 10% of storyline and content. Jeff Jarrett and Dutch Mantel write the story lines and Russo adds his input.
I really think they should give a little free reign to Jerry Lynn and the x-division guys to bring them more contemporary. These young guys could really care less about a Dusty Finish or some of these cheesy old mid 80's type story lines. There has to be a way to capture the imagination of today's youth so that they follow wrestling the way I did. I remember when Hogan was Sterling Golden. I go all the way back to the days of Bob Luce Wrestling in Chicago circa 1971 to 1980.
We need TNA to definitely have more clean face finishes and more true heel finishes. I want to see a heel grab the ropes or trunks. I'm getting very disgruntled with run ins and beat downs each and every other match. I can't stand all the interference. I understand they're trying to cram a lot of action into 42 minutes of tv time, but they need to build stories that build toward a ppv. They should have never gave you Sting vs Angle for the 1st time without it being at Sacrifice. Then to add to it they bring in Christian Cage's group and interfere for what reason.
I think Jim Cornette and Jerry Lynn with the help of some of the younger minds could really make TNA better. I have to give mad props to Kevin Nash For Black Machismo. Why not make Son jay like Sheik Ad nan El Cassey?
They need to examine the blog's and see what the fans are saying, and TNA will see that fans across the board are consistent with what they would like. Mostly for TNA not to be WWE Jr.
Dub-Rub, you gotta be kidding me here, I know Dixie is behind Russo and all, but 5 to 10% of the booking?? There is no way they have him in there to "consult" on only 5 to 10%. That means Russo basically books 1 out of every 10 or 20 matches. Think about it. Let's say 2.5 matches a week on Impact! and they tape 3 episodes per taping, that means he books less than 1 match every Impact! taping. Let's go with the middle ground, that means out of every month he books 1 match if you include about 7 or 8 matches on the PPV. That's not really realistic. Although to be fair Russo does take a lot of shit, then again the storylines and booking just smacks of that Russo-riffic flavor. I do however agree that Jerry Lynn should be given more freedom with the X-Division. My dream booking would have Jerry Lynn, Christopher Daniels, and let's say some input from either Gabe or Dave Prazak from RoH be responsible for the X-division and Russo/JJ/Dutch keep their crap finishes to the heavies. In fact beyond just the cheating heel finishes without run-ins, I'd like to see more clean heel wins. Why not? You think assholes in real life don't beat you in foot races in high school? You think corporate suck ups don't steal your promotions? You think pretentious pretty boys don't bag the hot chicks at the end of the night at the clubs? Why not just let the character build the heel and face differentiations and not just the booking? Angle vs Sting was probably a mistake they figured they could make up for later, but yeah, a cheap TV rating that never happened was not worth it. I also agree with Kevin Nash being a boon to the TNA in a way, but not the entire X-Division. I was hoping they'd try to make Sonjay into a more interesting heel, like the kind of heel only little girls and grandma's could love, an "idol" for all Americans…yes…you following me? That's right, slap a pony-hawk on that guy and turn him into Sonjaya Dutt. Wash in that old bath water my man.
What's up, thanks for printing my very first email. What can I say I haven't been this pleasantly surprised since I got the results of that H.I.V. test after my night with Lita. Anyway the B.M. in B M punk is my initials, but "the shit" works too. Anyway this weeks column was about TNA which happens to be the only show I watch on a regular basis. In fact I've considered myself more of a TNA fan than WWE fan for quite some time. I agree a more reality based approach to storylines is just what TNA needs! They have a much better roster work rate wise than any of the other 3 "brands". Also since spike TV keeps booking them back to back with UFC shows this would be the best way to keep that previous audience. The only thing better than watching Tito Ortiz choke a bitch out, is watching Samoa Joe do the same thing an hour later. TNA's roster is also full of talent that can work that "shoot" or "stiff" style that would be needed to add more realism to the product. So wrestling greeks unite! Let ol JJ and Dixie know what we Want, less of the " blind fold electrified cage Miss Jackie's dirty panties on a pole" match's more "real wrestling".
Let's make TNA keep it real, damn real
B M PUNK
BM My man, you should always triple bag it when you spend "1 Night in Lita". I remember my one night in Lita, it was literally IN Lita…like I fell in, tripped over her damn heels and it took the jaws of life and a rescue crew of 17 volunteers to get me out. It wasn't that bad though, warm…roomy, not the most fragrant of places, but that was the yeast of my problems. I don't think they need to work totally "shoot style", but a hybrid like they do Japan and on the Indy scene, a more ‘American Strong Style" if you will, would work out okay. i think the main thing that TNA would benefit from is to focus more on the competition and match quality than the storylines. I have this really weird feeling that maybe Kurt Angle isn't as crazy as we think he is. Which for some of us wouldn't be possible anyways. There is just too much convergence with MMA/Spike/TNA for some kind of interaction to not take place at some point. I could see Tito Ortiz or Dana White being involved in someway with TNA in the not so distant future. Hell, Ken Shamrock has plenty of time now, I think for some reason if they decide to thin out the title hunt a bit a Shamrock vs Angle match would be interesting, a submission match no less with say, Tito or Dana as the special referee. Btw, so long as you can hold on until Slammiversary in June I have a feeling something big is going to go down, because if it doesn't I may just be covering TNA via Recaps from now on.
6 Degrees Results
Damn, maybe 6DO is losing steam.
#3
3rd place was vacated this week and a tournament will be held for the #3 contendership on next week's show.
#2
For this week's 6DO I bring you the following:
1. In the 1990 movie "Teenage Mutant Minja Turtles", Splinter was voiced by Kevin Clash, the same guy who voices Elmo from Sesame Street.
2. Elmo made an appearance in The Simpsons episode "Missionary: Impossible", where Homer becomes a South Seas missionary after welching on his pledge for a PBS telethon hosted by Betty White.
3. Betty White was in the 1999 movie "Lake Placid" with Jed Rees.
4. Jed Rees was in the 2005 movie "The Ringer", which also boated the acting talents of Terry Funk.
5. Terry Funk was one of the main characters in the 1999 wrestling documentary "Beyond The Mat", as was Jake "The Snake" Roberts.
6. One of Jake 'The Snake" Roberts' main feuds in 1989 was with Bad News Brown (who we found out was terrified of snakes on the Arsenio Hall Show).
Double C (Corey Cotton)
Well since Dub-C won last week he's kind of ineligible this week…so it's almost a default 2nd place considering.
#1.
Hey there,Ray Churchhere from the politics zone... Not sure if I'm allowed to enter your six degrees competition, but you made it so easy I had to swing it...
1. Splinter's arch nemisis was Shredder
2. Shredder became "Super Shredder" in the TMNT2 movie
3. Super Shredder was played by Kevin Nash
4. Kevin Nash was a member of the NWO with Hulk Hogan
5. Hogan screwed Bret Hart at Wrestlemania IX by winning the title Hart was meant to win
6. Hart feuded with Bad News after Brown eliminated him in a Battle Royal in Wrestlemania IV
Well Ray it looks like you picked a good week to enter. Now while I may not be as active in the political zone as I should, mainly because there isn't enough "Green Party" material for my liking, you still won this week. My guess is we'll end up with a higher class of entry for next week when you submit your nominee. Then again, if it ends up being Imus, you're officially banned. Sorry, but I owe Sharpton a favor. Okay Ray, you're up for next week's 6DO nominee.
Left Overs…
Great, now ‘Taker is hurt. I assume they'll figure out a way to spin this as Mark Henry being the one to take out ‘Taker. Because that's all Mark Henry does, basically injures guys for long periods of time. I'm hoping he comes back and debuts on SD with a brand new finishing move called "The Workman's Comp".
So RoH lost Colt Cabana, Christopher Daniels, SHINGO, and Allison Danger in the matter of a weekend, but did back Jimmy Rave early. Wow, that is like the time that kid traded me a Don Mattingly, Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie, a Cecil Fielder and TWO Chris Sabo's for a Darryl Strawberry and mayonnaise sammich. Yep, Jimmy Rave, the Mayo Sammich of RoH.
Backlash a success. At least from what I heard. I took the bait and went with a craptacular Indy show in Dafuckami, CA on Saturday and held true to not watching the PPV. I guess all the matches came off pretty good. So far the only disappointment is that the tag match came off a little weird. Murdoch went for the "Code Red-neck" and botched it yet again. Proving that fat 260 lbs men should NOT be attempting the same tricks as a 140 lbs Indy wrestler. Especially if that wrestler is Lita…I mean, you know what kind of intestinal problems you can get from doing that kind of stuff?
Go take a look at the PPV roundtable for Backlash and see my prediction on the finish to the Fatal 4-way. Yep, either someone from the "Creative" staff is reading 411mania or I've developed freaky psychic powers. I'm going to go buy a lottery ticket tonight so if I don't win, Vince owes me a royalty check.
John Cena goes from MOTYC matches to Khali. I'm going to love it when Cena goes for an STFU and can't reach Khali's head. I love how Vince teased us with another HBK/Cena match only to delivery Khali. It's like taking home the hottest chick at the bar and just as you're undressing she says, "Not bad… but mine's bigger".
RVD may be AWOL after this latest ECW title debacle and subsequent clean job to Umaga. They had an "out" in having Shane-o Mac interfere but didn't bother going that route. While there are still a good 3 months till his contract is over the WWE may be considering offering RVD the chance to regain the title as a bargaining chip. Which makes sense since they have already devalued it enough by putting it on McMahon that it would hardly seem like a "reward" now. Its kind of like being able to bone Sunny now. Which, you can do, I mean…you just gotta catch her around closing time at your local Fuddruckers.
That probably isn't the first time someone found Randy Orton unconscious in a men's room face down without pants or a shirt on. Only this time he didn't have any body glitter on and a sticky spot on his forehead.
The newest WWE films released has been "Condemned" to the worst opening weekend yet, at less than $4 Million for opening weekend. Still the movie is expected to make money considering the DVD sales to follow. It appears RoH will also release a small "Indy" movie as well starring Roderick Strong and Davey Richards entitled, "Backbreaker Mountain". "I wish I knew how to quit you Davey", "No Remorse Roddy", "No Remorse Davey…*smooch*"
Hogan has STILL got it. "It" being booking power to bury anyone and everyone he chooses. Hogan managed to rip off his WM3 match with Andre the Giant and pin Paul Wight in basically the same fashion. Next on Hogan's Burial Tour will be a show in Pecoima where he'll manage to defeat Test with a "Finger Poke of Doom" and officially reunite the nWo. Boy, I bet Bryan Adams and Vincent can hardly wait.
So now that the vampire has left The New Breed, that just leaves Striker with Burke and Cor Van. Which is weird because now the group is a white teacher and two Black ex-athletes. If Striker somehow manages to teach those two that believing in themselves is truly the best lesson of all, then I think we have the makings for a great movie. I can't wait for the vignette where they play hip hop music and Striker awkwardly dances to the beat as Cor Van and Burke try to teach him to pop n' lock. Feel good stable of the season.
I'm actually afraid this whole "New Breed implodes" angle will end up with CM Punk leading the group, but with Burke being the one left out. At which point Vince McMahon actually reveals himself to be the higher power after Matt Striker kidnaps Stephanie and…oh sorry, I just get confused every time a Vampire is in a stable.
Random Asian Bitch Lookin' Good Pic of the Week
If I was Coachman, I'd rather find HER in the shower passed out than Orton…or…would I?
The WWE VP of marketing is handing in his WWE press pass for a Harlem Globetrotter's jersey? Going from one pre-determined sport to the next. Word has it he's already recruiting Funaki and Scotty 2 Hotty for the Washington Generals.
Holy shit, I'm like the fuckin' Wrestling Geek Messiah or something. Not long after I began my Bobby "Fatty Hagar" Dempsey tirade on a weekly basis does RoH decide to actually create a storyline for him. Apparently it involves Tank Toland becoming his personal trainer and whipping him into shape. Tank says his goals are to get Dempsey to finally reach RoH gold by 2009 and eventually his own penis by 2010.
Pimpin' In High Places
The 411 staff…at least we don't need no stinkin' vampires in OUR stable:
Ask 411 has Macho ,Macho men....that Cook, he's good (village) people really.
Jules talks about upsets. Yeah, I'm fairly sure Sanjaya isn't on there, but you never know.
R&R....&R doesn't take time out to rest on it's laurels as it brings you the Backlash flashback. Wow, say that 33 times fast.
Fink's Payload talks about everyone's favorite foreign country bumpkin...no not Balki Bartokamos....that Italian dude. No, not Tony Danza...awww, forget it.
Weyer, you going, Michael still has the spotlight on.
How much you want to bet Ari is still going to have a ‘chubby' from the big PPV-related news by the time you read this? Well in that case I'm definately not going to stand in front of him in the lunch line today...juuuust in case.
Threat x 3 thinks ol' Randy-kins deserves a more than just a spanking for his naughty behavior....which is what I'm fairly sure he was getting by Kenny before Khali walked in on them.
El hijo de Adam tracks down Vampiro and what do you know, he's kicking it with the Great Muta in Japan. Probably getting Harajuku girls drunk and taking them back to his hotel....to drink their blood. You know...the usual.
Sammy B. FINALLY makes a trip to PWG...and takes a look at El Generico vs Chris Sabin in the process. Well Sammy, you finally got crossed off my shit list. Feel free to vote for Randy's shower buddy Kenny for all I care in WotW.
Minotti doubts the power of the vampire. Look Mikey, Vince McMahon is the ECW champion...I wouldn't doubt the ZOMBIE coming back to wear the strap now. No, not Linda McMahon.
Nobody puts D-Dubya in the corner. This Boy has the Fall Out from Edge cashing in his MitB shot. Trust me, it's a Thriller.
So I have no idea, is there any wrestling going on this weekend? For some reason I don't think so. Ironic that the ONE time I wanted to see a non-big 4 WWE PPV and didn't was the one I should have gone to anyways. Wait, is that irony? Maybe not. I guess the irony would be if I wanted to see it, but couldn't since I swore off all non-Royal Rumble or WM WWE PPV's. Then again I haven't wanted to pay for a TNA one in a while. Man, I wish RoH did PPV's. That could be a serious cash cow for them. But then they'd have to pull ALL their RoH talent from the show…wait…Homicide, Sabin, Shelley…hmm…guess that's it now. So perhaps they could. Maybe someone can talk me into a random SoCal show some place. Last weekend's venture into Stanton, CA didn't satiate my need for wrestling at all. It was like the opposite. It's like being thirsty and eating saltine crackers instead. Blah. I also hear that www.rohwrestling.com is having a wild $10 DVD sale, I was just talkin' to a buddy about starting a DVD collection so if anyone more well versed in RoH wants to take a look at the list and suggest 4 or 5 DVD's *I'm lookin' at you staff RoHbots* then perhaps I'll set a few Andrew Jacksons aside. Well looks like I'll just be ordering up some DVD's this weekend …wrestling…or porn…tough choice…tough choice.
