The Ominous Thoughts News Report 5.06.07
Posted by Sam Caplan on 05.06.2007
ROH is going to PPV? Undertaker and Lashley are out with injuries? A biography of Batista will be released in October? Okay, well I guess they can't all be top stories.
Damn man, I have nothing to write about this week. I tell you, there's nothing worse for a news columnist than a slow news week, it makes for a really crappy column. Oh wait, a couple of things just came in. Oh....well, I guess I do have a couple of things to talk about after all.
The Real News
The first thing I want to touch on today is the announcement that Ring Of Honor will run its first ever PPV, Respect Is Earned, on 7/1. They have teamed up with Ken Gelman of G-Funk Sports & Entertainment to sign agreements with iN DEMAND, TVN, and DISH Network to distribute shows every 60 days. Six cards are already planned for 2007/08, and the first event is going to be taped this coming Saturday night at the Manhattan Center in New York City. ROH President Cary Silkin wanted to make the move because he felt that ROH had already gone as far as it could in terms of its current business model, and saw PPV as the next step in expanding the company. The DVDs of the PPV events will likely be released 6-8 weeks after the first airing of the PPV.
The announcement caused shakeups within hours, as the first thing TNA did the following morning was pull all TNA contracted talent from ROH (and also Pro Wrestling Guerrilla), with the reasoning given that TNA talent is contractually not allowed to appear for competing PPV companies. Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels have already been written out of ROH storylines, and now Homicide and Austin Aries have been pulled as well. ROH anticipated that TNA would pull its talent from ROH once they learned of ROH's plans, and have signed several talents to ROH contracts that will still allow them to work indy dates, but will also prevent them from being signed up by TNA or WWE after the PPV airs. It's said that ROH's entire core group of stars, including Bryan Danielson (who will return to ROH on the 5/11 Hartford and 5/12 NYC events), Nigel McGuinness, the Briscoes, and Roderick Strong have been signed.
My first reaction to this news was "Oh no, this is going to be ECW all over again." However, the more I learned about the situation, the less uneasy I felt. I always had confidence in ROH's prospects for survival given the business model they've been running with for five years, but once I found out that the only additional costs they would incur would be the deposit for airing the PPV (which will be taped), I felt better about it. Apparently, negotiations have been under way for months, and this is probably why all the TNA guys like Joe, Homicide, and Daniels have been either written out or minimalized in terms of storyline. Remember when Joe had his farewell tour, and Homicide dropped the ROH Title and then Daniels dropped the ROH Tag Team Title a week later, and we all thought it was because they were afraid TNA was going to yank them? Well, turns out that it was probably a move made by ROH because they knew the PPV deal was coming, and it had nothing to do with TNA yanking them of their own accord. I think this is one of those situations that the wrestlers are always talking about when they say that internet writers don't really know anything about the inner workings of the business.
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that with Joe, Low Ki, Styles, Daniels, and Cabana gone, the only ones left that had been there for the duration were Danielson, Homicide, and the Briscoes, and that we were looking at the beginning of the second generation of ROH. Now with Homicide (and Aries, for that matter) leaving as well, it looks like this is exactly what they had in mind as they entered the PPV era of the company. Of course I expect the company to be built around ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima (at least in the short term), and top ROH stars like Danielson, Nigel, and the Briscoes, but it will be really interesting to see who else steps up to the plate and makes themselves stars in the coming months. I do expect Roderick Strong to finally step up and become a legit main eventer for the company this year, and I expect Davey Richards, Delirious, and Rocky Romero to all be solid upper midcarders for the company, but who else? There's a lot of new blood in the company, including Erick Stevens, Matt Cross, Kevin Steen, El Generico and others, with some older (but unspecified) names that could possibly be returning soon as well.
One thing that ROH has to be wary of, and I don't know if anyone else has talked about this yet, is that by making the move to PPV, ROH has put their chin out. Though their talent has always been in danger of being signed away by TNA and WWE, the truth is that they've mostly been left alone because they've been flying under the radar with no competing TV or PPVs, and the most they've ever done is piggyback off of Wrestlemania weekend by running the same city in the days leading up to the big show. But now that they've made the move to PPV, they've become a competitor. TNA has already pulled all their talent from ROH, and you'd be stupid to believe that both TNA and WWE will be watching ROH's every move. I have no doubt that they're well aware of how well they're regarded by anyone who has had the chance to see them, and with the creative direction of both WWE and TNA in constant question, the last thing either of them wants is to be upstaged by ROH. I have no doubt that ROH's popularity is going to increase with the PPV exposure and the rumors that their DVDs will soon be available in retail outlets in addition to their own website, but as slowly and cautiously as it's happening, ROH's expansion is going to increasingly become a threat to the other two promotions. While I don't presume TNA to engage in predatory business practices, it's well known that Vince McMahon has no problem cutting the legs out from under any potential competition, and this can even be seen as recently as them putting the screws to the planned match in Memphis between Hulk Hogan and Jerry Lawler.
As for me, I've got my ticket and I'll be in attendance this coming Saturday night, and even though I see this as the beginning of the end for the fly by night cult favorite I've come to love over the years, I also see it as the beginning of something even bigger and better, with more resources and exposure, an increased fanbase, and maybe eventually live PPVs. Will they become bigger than ECW ever hoped to be? That remains to be seen, but I have no doubt about their potential and I'm proud that the money I spent on that ticket and all the money I've given to ROH over the years has helped contribute and make PPV a possibility for the best wrestling promotion in the country today.
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The other big story this week is the injuries suffered by two of WWE's key players, Bobby Lashley and World Champion The Undertaker. Lashley saw Dr James Andrews after Backlash as he's been dealing with some nagging shoulder injuries that he's been working through recently. It's said that the damage is to the rotator cuff and at this point the severity is unknown, as is whether he'll miss any ring time, but it appears that the ECW Title may have been taken from him in part to minimize the amount of work he's going to have to do in the ring while the injury is assessed. I think that Lashley is key to the ECW brand at this point even with a large part of the show being dedicated to the ECW Originals and New Breed. If he's injured, then getting him out of the ring and giving him time to rest instead of having him continue to work and make the injury worse is the right move.
However, much more troublesome at this point is the injury to the Undertaker, who injured his arm at Backlash against Batista. He also saw Dr Andrews and it was found that he tore a tendon in his bicep, and word is that you could actually see where the muscle had rolled up in his arm. This is a serious blow to the direction of Smackdown because the Undertaker was planned to be a longer term World Champion, and his participation in the main event scene was planned to last at least through the summer. More immediately, he was planned to wokr against Batista again at Judgment Day, and right now it appears that those plans are off and the title will be taken off of the Undertaker at the next set of TV tapings. This has got to be incredibly disheartening for the Undertaker himself, who had gotten himself in great shape in anticipation of his Rumble win, title win at Wrestlemania, and title reign. With the announcement that Kennedy will take his title shot at Wrestlemania 24, I think the right move would be to put the title right back on the Undertaker as soon as he's ready to return and have him face Kennedy at Wrestlemania, and between the year long build to Kennedy's MITB title shot and Undertaker's streak being on the line, it will make for a huge match.
But the question now is who the title should be given to? For the sake of argument, I'm going to leave the Raw and ECW guys out of this instead of fantasy booking a brand jump. If he wasn't out with an injury himself, I would have said that King Booker would have been the ideal candidate, but that can't happen. I'd much prefer they stick to the plan and wait on Kennedy's title shot until Wrestlemania 24, so let's leave him out. At this point, that would make Batista the logical candidate. The problem here is that I'm sure WWE realized that Batista wasn't getting over as well as he did before the injury and that was part of the decision to give the title to the Undertaker. In terms of positioning, he's the top guy other than Undertaker and probably WWE's logical choice to get the belt at the next taping.
However, I think that there's a much better choice that would catch a lot of people off guard but would work really well given the situation: Chris Benoit. Listen, if Booker and Kennedy aren't possible and they don't want to go right back to Batista and all their other plans are off anyway, I think Chris Benoit would be a perfect choice to carry the title for a few months, and I have a few reasons why. First, let me set up the scenario: Chris Benoit defends the title against MVP on the next Smackdown taping and loses when MVP cheats to win the title. Benoit then cuts a promo about how he won the World Title in the main event of Wrestlemania 20, but ever since losing the title he's been spinning his wheels in the midcard, and that after being World Champion, the US Title is nothing more than a consolation prize. He challenges the Undertaker for the following week and he'll put his career on the line against the World Title because if he can't be the World Champion, there's no reason for him to continue wrestling. By doing this, you put Undertaker dropping the title off for a week, but build interest and get people tuning in. Benoit puts him in the crossface and Undertaker fights it for a long time, but finally is forced to tap. However, Undertaker was in the hold for so long that it injured his arm, and now he's got a storyline reason to disappear.
Now that he's got the World Title, he's got built in challengers in Batista (who can claim that the shot against Undertaker should have been his), MVP (who beat him for the US Title and now wants the World Title), and even Finlay if you want a good, hard hitting World Title match. If that doesn't sound like the most stirring lineup of challengers, consider this: since all the PPVs are tri-branded now, Smackdown is no longer in a position where the World Title match is being depended on to draw buys. Not to say that Benoit and these guys can't draw, but they're not in super trouble because they can also rely on the Raw side to draw people in as well. Therefore, if John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Edge, and whoever else are the ones actually main eventing, then you can do worse than have Benoit having good semi-main event title matches against MVP and Finlay, having already had plenty of great matches with both, and Batista, who is seen as a main eventer and is proven to be able to have good matches when he's got somebody talented in there to lead him, which might rebuild some of his credibility after a year or two of uninspired performances. Then when Undertaker's ready to return, he's got a built in title feud with Benoit, and now that he's healthy the two of them can probably have a real classic (if the Undertaker-Angle matches are any indication) in which Undertaker gets the title back and goes on to face Kennedy at Wrestlemania.
You know, I've never been one for fantasy booking, but I have to say that this isn't bad for 10 minutes work. It remains to be seen if WWE is feeling daring enough to go in that direction, but what else are they going to do, give it back to Batista so we can finally get that epic Batista vs Mark Henry grudge title match? Probably, but we can always hold out hope.
The Other News
WWE
Vince McMahon, the new ECW World Champion, has been moved to the ECW Superstars page.
Ah, the true icon of extreme, that Hardcore God himself, finally fulfills his destiny! A move to the page that is his birthright is only appropriate.
A comprehensive DVD set chronicling the career of Stone Cold Steve Austin has been announced for release on 11/20.
It's about time. I'm surprised that they haven't done one already, to be honest. I thought he would have been one of the first people they would have done a DVD set for. Come to think of it, Rock doesn't have one either. Can that be far off?
A biography of Batista will be released in October.
All the way at the opposite end of the spectrum, I'm surprised that anyone thought this would be a good idea. Seriously, who the hell would want to read a book about Batista? I wouldn't, it's bad enough that I have to write about him.
The Diva Search will be returning later this year, and the ad states that no wrestling experience or aspirations to wrestle are necessary.
Isn't it amazing that between this, creative, and executive jobs, they never look for anyone with any kind of wrestling connection? Seriously, are we that far off from them looking for wrestlers with similar credentials? After all, I hear that some of the CZW guys might be looking for work soon. OHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
The buyrate for Wrestlemania 23 has been estimated at 1.2 million, making it the biggest wrestling PPV of all time.
Well, for those who questioned whether they could make Wrestlemania 23 a success, fill the building, and break a million buys on PPV, there you go.
TNA
House shows have been announced for Lincoln, Rhode Island and Hampton Beach, New Hampshire in June.
June's shaping up to be a very busy month for them. Now that they're looking to have exclusive use of their talent, it's about time they start giving them opportunities to earn more money.
Phill Feltham talks about the World Title shuffle currently going on in WWE in The Quick Talkdown.
Ari's got a Column Of Honor so big, he had to break it into two parts! Here's Part 1 and Part 2.
Of course, we can't get through the Sunday News without a fair dose of self-pimping. In That Was Then, I look back at the career of Curt Hennig in the latest part of the Stars Of The 90s series. Then I bring you all the ECW and TNA you can handle in Friendly Competition.
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Well, that's it for me for this weekend. I'll be back on Friday with That Was Then, Saturday with Friendly Competition, and then Sunday with the next edition of The Ominous Thoughts News Report. Until then, have a great week. Thanks for reading.
