The MeeThinks Saturday Spectacular 05.05.07
Posted by John Meehan on 05.05.2007
WM Sees Big $$$, ROH Goes PPV, TNA Says TTYL, and WWE's Hurtin'? J/K.
Hey everybody! Once again, MeeThinks is back in action with a brand new dose of IWC optimism to wrap your 'rasslin week up on a high note. Sadly there's no time for reader mail this go-round, as I've been managing to get by without a PC for half of the week due to the fact that I'm moving across town (long story short -- Mee and the lady friend got a place together, and my entire life is more or less packed in boxes), but I'll do what I can to get everything unpacked this weekend so that we can include some of YourThinks for next wee's column, if possible.
In the mean time...
On tap this week:
WrestleMania Shatters PPV Records
New Breed on Speed
Orton Gets Off Easy
Undertaker Not So Much
Bobby Lashley's Banged Up
Ring Of Honor Inks a PPV Deal
TNA, In Turn, Bails on ROH
As you can see, not a LOT of stories -- but a number of pretty huge ones this week, so let's get to it, eh?
For all the critics, doubters, naysayers and doomsday-ers out there who swear that wrestling "aint what it used to be" and has been on a downward spiral ever since the end of the Attitude Era -- kindly allow Mee to direct you to the figures above as we revel in the rasslin' equivalent of the famed chant that sounds something like...
People have ragged on WWE for the past few years for not being as big as it used to, but stuff like the WrestleMania 23 buyrate are PROOF POSITIVE that the company can still get the job done better than ever. A fair amount of credit here is obviously due to Donald Trump and the mainstream media tie-ins that came along with him, but MeeThinks a big "nice job!" is in order for Vinny Mac and co. for really stepping up their game and continuing to raise the bar when push came to shove.
The CM Punk / New Breed angle had the potential to be one of the hottest angles in recent memory. Compelling television, entertaining segments *and* plenty of reason to tune in next week to see what'll happen as Punk infiltrated the New Breed and came to loggerheads with Elijah Burke.
Instead?
Punk's out of the New Breed, and it looks as if the New Breed itself is pretty much no more as Punk walked out on 'em two weeks ago, Thorn left in a huff last week, and they're teasing a Matt Striker defection in the weeks to come.
Regardless --
All is not lost, as this frees up a LOT of ECW talent to busy themselves with various spinoffs from the hastily-turbo-booked CM Punk/New Breed angle. Stuff like:
1) Punker can rally the ex-New Breed members around himself, leaving Elijah high and dry.
2) The New Breed can split in half, with Striker and Thorn leaving while Cor Von and Burke stay behind as a tag team. ("The Alpha Male Express" pairing could be money, MeeThinks).
3) Punk can drive everybody away from Elijah and leave those two to go at it in a prolongued, one-on-one feud.
Personally, I am most looking forward to seeing Elijah Burke versus CM Punk in an extended program to really show that both guys are bona-fide breakout "S"uperstars (capital "S") for the long haul. Heck, if WWE's bookers wanted to salvage the angle and revisit things in a few months' time -- maybe after months of Burke/Punk, you can have Punker form his own little stable made up of a few new hires (coughColtCabanaAceSteelcough) and maybe a defector or two who'd formerly been loyal to Elijah. Two guys leading two warring factions in an extended gang war of attrition... could be pretty sweet, no?
After all, we all remember dX versus The Nation of Domination, ya' know...
Either way, as long as we get a singles program between Punker and The Elijah Express (because let's be honest, folks, Kevin Thorn wasn't ever the marquis player in that whole storyline anyhow)... MeeThinks we've got ourselves a solid, entertaining rivalry (both in the ring AND on the mic) that could totally power ECW through the summer of 2007, and maybe even one that could vault not one but TWO stars into the main-event level when all is said and done.
Chalk this one up under "boneheaded move of the week," but since I wasted so much breath on our pal Randy last week, I'll keep this one short and recap MeeThinks on this one as quickly as possible.
1) Randy Orton has behavior and ego issues.
2) WWE lets him get away with murder.
3) This encourages more behavior issues.
4) WWE gives him too many chances.
5) But Randy draws money and is a natural heel, so...
6) Randy Orton continues to have behavior and ego issues.
If WWE were seeing the forest for the trees on this one, they'd make an example of Randy Orton and serve the kid a heaping slice of humble pie in return for his recurrent string of screw-ups. Instead, Orton (once again) walks away with little more than a slap on the wrist and he's able to continue doing what he does best (coughChinlockscough) while WWE hopes that this go' round will be better than the last.
Sadly, it's becoming all too clear that in spite of his shortcomings, WWE remains high on Randy Orton and so it's not likely that they'll be disciplined any further and/or let go to take care of his issues any time soon. I repeat that this is a *bad* idea, but you've got to admit that Orton looked pretty freakin' good in his match against Edge this week on RAW... so perhaps all hope is not yet lost on the Legend Killer just yet, eh?
Hey, I'm supposed to be the token optimist, alright? ;-)
Not good news for The Dead Man, but believe it or not -- this could actually be a bit of a lucky break for Smackdown!
Here's why:
LAST SUMMER - Batista was on a roll as World Champion, and he seemed headed for a summertime showdown against (believe it or not) Mark Henry. Sadly, an untimely injury to The Animal put the big guy on the shelf for the better part of a half-year, and by the time he got back? Big Mizzark was also out of commission with an injury of his own.
Fast forward through a mess of a Kurt Angle situation (injury, trade to ECW, suspension, quit the company), a Rey Mysterio sympathy push (currently nursing an injury of his own), and the awesomeness of King Bookahhh (who also finds himself down with an injury)... and Batista once again found himself wearing the gold by WrestleMania 23.
Of course, 'Taker can't lose at WrestleMania... and so Big Dave did the j-o-b as The Deadman walked away the World Champion. In the mean time, Batista developed a bit of a backstage chip on his shoulder (as we covered last week) and felt that he was getting the short end of the stick in terms of the match's placement on the card as well as how a bunch of the boys in the back feel about him.
So here's our lemonade-out-of-lemons answer to all of these problems:
1) Mark Henry is due back any day now, and if Batista is the champ, those two have a tailor-made program waiting for a conclusion.
2) Henry, of course, ain't all that great and so the window of his credibility is likely to be short-lived. No worries, though, as a month of Mark Henry vs. Batista leaves us in perfect shape for something like...
3) The Return of the King (Booker, that is). Last month, Booker went down to a knee injury and is set to be out for three months or so. But if 'Taker/'Tista can ride out the next week or two, and Mizzark/'Tista can power us through the rest of May into June -- then we've got a perfect opening for a refreshed, rehabbed and renewed King Bookah program with The Animal as Smackdown! rolls into June and July. Conveniently --
4) This gives Batista the chance to silence his critics and "put up or shut up." He's been criticized for having "lost a step" since the injury, and he's complained about not being booked at the top of the card since his return. Well ok then, Dave -- here's your chance. We all know Batista has a history of backstage heat with Booker T from last year -- so why not put the two together in the ring now that each guy's had a year or so to cool off and see who the better man is? If Batista has improved since his last program with Booket AND if the guy is the draw that he clearly believes himself to be, then more power to him. If so, then he should be able to keep his fans AND earn some decent ratings as he revisits a classic battle with an old foe.
If Batista's days as "big dog" really are past him, though -- give the belt back to King Booker and all you'll need to do is wait a few more weeks (late July/ early August) until...
5) WHO'S DAT JUMPIN OUT 'DA SKY? R-E-Y MYSTERIO, healthy-yo!
Smackdown's favorite underdog is due back sometime in August, and he too should have more than his fair share of (kayfabe) unfinished business with the King. So if Batista is a bust this summer, then WWE needn't worry too much as to what to do at the top of their card -- since a World Champion in King Booker can *EASILY* fend off a plucky, fresh and straight-outta-sabbatical challenger like Rey Mysterio in a program featuring two guys who the fans are more than willing to pay good money to see (even if Mysterio wasn't the best of World Champions, bottom line is that fans -- especially the younger ones -- go NUTS for this guy, and he's a proven crowd-popper in spite of how many losses he's suffered).
In the end, then...
Undertaker's loss (and a tough loss at that) is probably Smackdown's gain in the long run. Though yeah, it sucks that the Dead Man's injury means that the poor bastard won't finally get that "big, long title reign" we'd been hearing so much about for ages now -- bottom line is that, thanks to a slew of superstars coming off injury one after the other, the blue brand is actually sittin' pretty with a TON of viable options for their title hunt that could easily mask the fact that they're about to lose their number one guy.
Of course, Mistahhhhhhrrrrrr Kennedy (...Kennedy) could cash in that Money In the Bank challenge for the strap tomorrow and my entire argument would be completely void. But even so -- Kennedy freakin' rules... so I'd be a happy camper either way.
Lashley Banged Up Former ECW Champ Sees Dr. Andrews to Fix Nagging Shoulder
Good news here is that Bobby seems to be o.k. enough not to require surgery. With Undertaker going down this week, it'd be a real kick in the nuts to have ECW's recent champion go down as well -- so, again, it's good to hear that Lashley seems to be o.k.
That said, Bobby should be careful not to pull a Batista and try to work through a serious injury (if it is, in fact, serious). After all, last year Big Dave was carrying Smackdown pretty much by himself, and so he thought he'd tough it out through his back injury and WHOOPS -- tore the sucker right in two and wound up on the shelf for twice as long as he would have in the first place.
Looking at the current landscape of ECW, one can't help but notice that things today are much the same, in that Lashley is pretty much in the Batista role as the one guy (who's not RVD) that's been given enough time and faith by the company (to date) to pass himself off as a credible world champion. Not saying there aren't a ton of other guys on the roster who could step up if given the opportunity, mind you (as was the case with Smackdown! back when Batista got hurt) -- but the bottom line is that building new stars or pushing midcard stars takes time, and simply plugging a midcarder into a world title match does NOT do very much to help your company's highest belt maintain any credibility.
Wait -- Vince McMahon is ECW CHAMPION?
Shit.
Ok, nevermind.
In all seriousness, though -- here's hoping that WWE uses this latest Lashley scare as a wake-up call to start developing new stars in order to more evenly distribute the top-of-the-card weight of the promotion. Signs are already there that CM Punk and Elijah Burke are well on their way to the top (heck, even Snitsky -- shudder -- is being pushed like a monster these days), but if ECW is to survive, then they're gonna' need a lot more than a banged up Bobby Lashley, an unreliable RVD or a Vince McMahon and his power/gangsta' walk in order to keep people interested.
HUGE news for ROH, and great news for wrestling fans the world over as it effectively allows ROH to really have a chance to emerge as the pre-eminent third (albeit substantially smaller) "major" brand of professional wrestling in the United States. Now of course, ROHbots will tell you that their promotion has been a bona-fide third brand for quite some time now (a fair enough point, too...) -- but the bottom line here is that due to the company's rather isolated geographic nature (gotta love living on the East Coast, I tell 'ya)... they have always been fighting an uphill battle in getting their name out there outside of the tri-state area.
But thanks to PPV on the web, not any more.
Consider this your 2007 equivalent of when the original ECW landed *itself* a PPV deal not so long ago.
Was ECW anywhere near the level of financial independence of WWE and WCW? Of course not. But thanks to the PPV medium, they were able to make a TREMENDOUS impact on the business as the bigger companies began to take notice, change their programming styles once they saw what was working, AND -- inevitably -- hire away talent and transplant them to a bigger stage.
There is no reason Ring Of Honor can't do much the same.
I know a lot of ROHbots are bummed about this one, but I've gotta be honest with you:
This, unfortunately, is a *very* good move for TNA.
Does it suck that TNA talent will no longer be appearing on ROH shows to keep up their "indy" credibility and their "grass-roots" fanbase? Not a question. But the bottom line is that ROH is a company on the rise, and it makes little to zero sense for TNA to lease out their talent to what is, effectively, a rival company (with its own DVD's, PPV-style events, etc.) with little-to-zero return along the way.
"But Meehan -- TNA could just get a cut of the profit from all the ROH shows and sales featuring their talent!"
All well and good, true -- but what about the fact that by doing so, TNA is, effectively giving their fans (and the ROH fans) the chance to spend a chunk of their money and see TNA talen for only a *portion* of the profits? Why give away marquis matches under another company's banner if YOUR company could be the one making the bulk of the dough off of those things just the same?
Think about it, folks --
Lets say Samoa Joe hadn't left ROH (he did, but regardless...). And lets say that Homicide somehow found himself issuing an open challenge in ROH for anybody to fight him at the main event of one of the company's biggest shows (conveniently, now available via PPV on the internet). Sure Homicide and Joe have history, but *why* in the blue hell would TNA agree to let those two guys go at it in the main event of an ROH show (even if TNA received a cut of the live gate), when TNA themselves still has the chance to make *their very own* main event between Homicide and Joe just as easily?
TNA's booking is wacky enough the way it is, so it seems pretty silly for them to table certain guys' pushes and/or rewrite storylines according to ROH's schedule in order to avoid marketing the exact same matches (or slight variations thereof) to the exact same paying customer. In other words, if you just saw Joe and Homicide go at it for six months in ROH... would you *really* tune into another six months' of TNA programming to see EXACTLY THE SAME PROGRAM?
Oh yeah, *and* you'd be asked to PAY for that same program a second time while we're at it, since ROH's pay-per-view and DVD expansion of late has made the company somewhat more lucrative and accessible to the average fan than it was some years ago.
In short --
You can see why TNA (fighting for an audience in their own right) pretty much had no choice in this one. What will be interesting to see, then, is whether or not TNA can retain their ROH fans -- or if ROH might be able to carve out a bigger niche of their own and steal the "number two promotion" title away from those boys down in Orlando. But if the Monday Night Wars taught us anything, competition usually breeds success in the world of pro wrestling -- so it should be an interesting ride regardless of how all it turns out.
But on that note...
And With That, I'm Outta' Here...
Thanks again for reading, all. Like I said earlier -- my apologies for short-changing the reader mail this week, and I'm hoping to double up on all the stuff we haven't been able to get in for next time. Then again, I've got a crapload of packing, unpacking, painting and hauling to do between now and then -- so no guarantees, eh? In the mean time, enjoy the week and anybody who's in the DC/metro area with a strong back or a set of wheels, feel free to gimme' a call so I can put y'all to work helping my skinny ass move all this stuff! I'll catch the rest of you back here next Saturday -- so stay tuned, stay classy, and always stay positive.
