The MeeThinks Saturday Spectacular 05.19.07
Posted by John Meehan on 05.19.2007
ECW Loses Two Originals, WWE Cuts Abound, Vinny Mac Gets an Honorary Doctorate, and Did a Serious Injury Save a Smackdown Superstar's Job?
Welcome back, all, as MeeThinks tops of another crazy week that was in the wild, wacky, and wonderful world of professional wrestling. That's right, 'rasslin fans -- this column is 100% MMA free! After all, Vince McMahon says MMA is only a fad so who am I to argue? Sure Tito, Shamrock and Chuck whats-his-face have done mighty fine for themselves in PPV of late -- but dammit, this is VINCENT KENNEDY MCMAHON we're talking about here, dammit! And crazy, evil, or whatever he may be -- the man knows his stuff, folks... and he's never been wrong about a non-wrestling-related venture before, ya' know.
Well, except for the XFL.
... or the WBF "Bodystars."
... or "The World" restaurant in Times Square.
... or "The Condemned," currently burning up the one-dollar movie bins in a Wal-Mart near you!
But nevermind all that -- this here is the POSITIVE slant on the news 'o the week, so let's quit jibber-jabberin' and cut to the chase, eh?
On tap this week:
Sorry ECW Fans -- Sa"Buh-by" to Sabu
What's Wrong With ECW
RVD Officially Done with WWE
WWE Cans Scotty! Mitch! And... Ariel?!?
Forget "Stone Cold University" and the "Doctor of Thuganomics" -- Vinny Mac's a Ph.D.!
YouThinks: Sandman's a Maverick, Van Dam's a Camino, and Sabu's... a Buick?
YouThinks: BoogeyKane Bound for Smackdown Gold?
YouThinks: Fantasy Booking WrestleMania
YouThinks: What's So "Great" About Khali?
YouThinks: TNA Tapings Ahoy!
Tons of stuff this week, and I'm pretty freakin' impressed with the little string of automotive metaphors I trotted out in the Reader Mail section at the bottom, so do feel free to read that stuff this week if you're normally the type that skips these sorts of things, eh?
Well, that makes four this week as Sabu joins Rob Conway, 2 Cold Scorpio, and Vito in the most recent round of WWE firings. But in case you missed the Sabruhaha, here's the long and short of it...
At this week's ECW tapings, Sabu showed up without his ring gear (AGAIN). And he showed up late (AGAIN). AND when told he was going to be jobbing to Kevin Thorn (a former New Breed member, in a match that actually makes a LOT of sense seeing as how Thorn just defected from the stable two weeks ago), he complained about having to lose (AGAIN) and so WWE had to rebook things and put Thorn into a meaningless jobber match instead.
I'm sorry, Sabu fans, but --
Good riddance.
Sabu has clearly been a behavior issue ever since (actually, probably long before) he and his best BUD-dy R-V-D got busted for hotboxing last summer. As a result, Sabu has seen his push all but disappear, and he has responded to WWE's (in)actions with the same sort of classy professionalism one would come to expect from the guy after years of similar behavior... which is to say, "none."
As a result? WWE had every right to shitcan Sabu because he was simply becoming a liability to their company. ECW's relaunch was torpedoed from the get-go when Kurt Angle (the "cornerstone") flaked out. After that mess, WWE turned to Van Dam and Sabu (and, to a lesser extent, Dreamer, Balls and Sandman) in hopes to milk what little value was left out of the "original" ECW spirit. But since it was "Vince's WWECW" and not the "ORIGINAL" ECW, one by one so many of the marquis players in the original tribe of extreme began to fall by the wayside.
Balls Mahoney was nailed for violating Wellness.
Rob Van Dam was busted by the cops (while WWE champ, no less).
And Sabu was caught right alongside RVD, thus guilty by association.
Understandably, WWE de-pushed Sabu thereafter as they felt his off-screen behavior proved he was a liability to keep at the top of the card. Makes sense, too -- as you really can't afford to have your main-eventers "forgetting their bags" or "having a trick injury act up at a moment's notice" or "getting busted by the cops." Didn't fly with Steve Austin (when he was asked to job to Brock and walked out). Didn't fly with Hulk Hogan (when he demanded too much coin for a WrestleMania showdown)... and it CERTAINLY wasn't going to be allowed to fly from Sabu -- a guy who (no disrespect) is nowhere NEAR the level star of an act like Stone Cold or The Hulkster.
In a fun little ironic coda to this newsbit, however --
You might have noticed that Sabu had been entirely removed from this week's opening montage of ECW on SciFi. Well, entirely removed except for one scene, that is -- when Sabu (clad in Daivari's pants from the first time he "forgot his stuff") is shown taking a stiff Pounce from Marcus Cor Von. Now I'm no WWE employee, of course, but MeeThinks there's probably a bit of a professional "screw you" to Sabu when the only remaining image of the guy WWE broadcasts just so happens to be one showing him WEARING THE WRONG TIGHTS GETTING HIS ASS KICKED.
This one really isn't a news brief, per se -- more of a general observation of a particularly nasty and recurrent strain of IWC vitriol, but here goes...
LAY OFF VINCE McMAHON FOR SCREWING UP THE NEW ECW!
I guess this little rant comes on the heels of the release of Sabu and the pending departure of Rob Van Dam (more on that below). But look at the "original" talent he had available to him, people. From the "original" ECW roster, Vince hired/re-hired...
Sandman (very limited in the ring)
Sabu (very unreliable backstage)
RVD (very unreliable backstage)
Dreamer (who even the original ECW fans took five-plus years to accept)
Taz(z) (too injured to return in the ring)
Joey Styles (never an in-ring competitor)
Dawn Marie (barely an in-ring competitor)
Danny Doring (never a main eventer)
Balls Mahony (never a main eventer)
Roadkill (never a main eventer)
Nunzio (never a main eventer)
Stevie Richards (great wrestler, but never a main eventer)
Nova (see Richards, Stevie)
Al Snow (ditto)
In addition, he TRIED to hire/re-hire
The Dudley Boys (bona-fide main eventers on good terms with WWE, but had soured with Paul E. and signed with TNA)
Rhino (a de-facto, late-ECW main eventer, but he too had signed with TNA)
Spike Dudley (a decent midcard act, but he signed with TNA as well)
Raven ? (reports vary on whether or not Vince pursued him, and if he didn't it's probably not all that bad when you consider the fact that this poor guy is dealing with all sorts of medical issues and is years past his in-ring prime)
But to top it all off? Vince was able to secure...
Paul Heyman, who was too proud of his company's "legacy" to realize many of the original stars of ECW (Spike Dudley, for one) simply weren't marketable enough to main event, and that the majority of those who remained were either too injured (Taz), too old (Dreamer), or too unreliable (Sabu, RVD) to warrant inclusion in long-term main-event plans. Couple that with the fact that WWE simply couldn't afford to let the ECW brand's wrestlersExtremists superstars look any "tougher" than your average top-level guy on RAW or Smackdown (after all -- if Nunzio can survive a dozen smacks of a Singapore cane, then why oh why would one stiff thwack of a briefcase automatically fell Mr. Kennedy?), and in short --
Compromises had to be made, as the "old style" of ECW just wasn't gonna cut it.
Now true, Vince McMahon deserves some of the blame for flooding the "new brand" with a bunch of less-than-"A-List" stars of his own (Mike Knox, Snitsky, TEST!!!)... but in the end? Even if those big lugs weren't any great shakes in the ring, at least the WWE Chairman could guarantee that they'd be reliable enough *not* to "forget their bags" or to complain when they were told they'd be losing cleanly on free television.
Incidentally --
When WWE re-hired the bulk of the ECW Originals last summer, word got out that most of the crew (Sandman, in particular) had only signed one-year-deals with the company. I think it's pretty important to keep this in mind over the next few weeks, as one by one we are probably quite likely to see the remainder of the ECW crew scatter to the four winds as their WWE contracts expire as the summer wears on. Dreamer will probably end up in a backstage role of some sort, Tazz and Joey will keep their commentary jobs, but it should hardly come as a shock to any of us when the remainder of the ECW alums (Balls, Sandman, etc.) are let go by September or thereabouts.
Like I said in last week's column, a number of outlets have reported that Van Dam has taken to "blaming, whining, and generally emo-ing about" rather than pointing the finger (thumbs?) at himself for his recent fall from grace. If you go back to the January issue of WWE Magazine, you'll see a quote from RVD in there talking smack on the arresting officer who nailed him for the violation in the first place. More recently, one of my personal favorite 'rasslin sites, Gerweck.net, indicated that Van Dam's attitude is pretty much the same as it was back in January:
Another factor in RVD's decision is that he feels he was singled out and made example of for his drug possession arrest for last year. Van Dam feels that he isn't the only wrestler in WWE that uses recreational drugs, and believes he was treated unfairly because he got caught.
No disagreements from Mee there that there are PLENTY of other wrestlers who are probably abusing drugs MUCH harder than weed than RVD. The thing of it is, though -- this makes those fellow drug abusers violations of WWE's drug policy equally *wrong*, it doesn't make RVD's violation of WWE's drug policy any more *right*.
Is WWE a hypocrite for selectively enforcing their own Wellness policy (to varying degrees of severity depending on the person in question)? Of course. But then again, considering that they've suspended/disciplined/pulled from TV a NUMBER of their "main event-level" guys when Wellness issues were called into question, you can't honestly say that WWE is *only* out to get guys like Rob Van Dam.
After all...
Randy Orton (ignoring the hotel room bit) saw his pay suspended for 60 days when he got busted smoking pot backstage at a Smackdown taping.
Bobby Lashley and The Great Khali (two HUGE selling points in their own right, despite each of their limitations) were BOTH pulled from a Smackdown-only PPV where they were each set to play major roles ON THE DAY OF THE SHOW when a spike in their liver enzymes caused WWE officials to question if drugs were involved.
Kurt Angle was supposed to be the "cornerstone" of the new ECW. But when Wellness reared its ugly head and bit the guy in the ass, WWE sacrificed the momentum of the brand to put the guy they'd hoped would be the new promotion's NUMBER ONE STAR on the bench for 30 days as a result of his infraction.
Add those main-event losses to WWE's rapidly-increasing collection of undercard Wellness violators who recieved MUCH worse treatment by WWE management for their infractions than RVD did (guys like Eugene, Joey Mercury, Rob Conway, Rene Dupree, Test, etc.), and it's painfully clear that Rob Van Dam isn't the only WWE talent to have been "singled out" by WWE's drug policy.
Then again, I'm sure it's much easier to sleep at night when you tell yourself you're a martyr being unfairly targeted by an evil corporation rather than just another bonehead who made a stupid error in personal judgment and had to face the consequences of his own actions... so perhaps RVD's pissant attitude is somewhat understandable after all.
And as for anybody who will STILL run to Sabu or Van Dam's defense and say "hey, can ya blame 'em for phoning it in? They knew they were done months ago -- so why waste the effort?"
I say...
Sanka Coffie: Hey Darice! Ya dead? Derice Bannock: No, I'm not dead mon. But I have to finish the race.
Even when you know you can't win -- a *real* champion picks themself up, pulls their crap together, and finishes strong.
Well, there you have it folks. Spring cleaning is in full swing in WWE, and I really can't shed too many tears for any of the latest round of jettisoned E-jects, as each had a pretty decent run for what it's worth. Scotty 2 Hotty has been VERRRY lucky to remain employed as long as he's been (more on that later), and Mitch never really was able to stand out from the pack. Ariel, of course, is the loss that the IWC is likely to get the most worked up over... but that's probably just because she's been the most entertaining aspect of the Kevin Thorn character for some time now. And really, folks, most of the same folks bemoaning her departure were the EXACT same people who came out of the woodwork to decry her "Tarot card reader gimmick" last summer -- so they've pretty much lost any right to complain on that front.
I will say, however --
That Ariel did an OUTSTANDING job in the role she was given to play in the new ECW. Week after week, you could totally see that she was putting her very best into getting the Kevin Thorn/Vampirella tandem over, and if she actually was paired with somebody more capable than Kevin Fertig/Seven/Mordecai/Thorn/etc.... we might have seen Ariel settling in as a permanent fixture to the WWE ladies' roster for quite some time to come. Regardless, this all was sadly not to be as Thorn-y got muddied up in the New Breed storyline and Ariel was pushed to the side in recent months, so the diva by his side became something of an afterthought as fans lost sight of her relevance in the first place.
So yeah, sucks that she's gone -- but if Edge can survive without Lita by his side (and he has), then there is no reason that -- if Kevin Fertig is a capable enough performer on his own merits -- Kevin Thorn shouldn't be able to do the same now that Ariel is headed back to the low-budget realm of topless photo shoots.
(This ain't that type of column, friends -- so Google it, if you must).
This is just the latest installment of wrestling crossing paths with academia this year (you'll recall the WWE lecture series at MIT from a few months' back), and I for one couldn't be happier. Commencement addresses are always a big and prestigious deal come the end of the school year, and so it's great to see a legit university like Sacred Heart turning over the floor to a less-than-"well known" C-lebrity like our favorite evil genius.
Speaking of evil geniuses, my alma mater's commencement featured a speech by Tony Snow... but that's a story for another day.
Regardless -- point stands: 'rasslin + academic recognition = teh awesumz.
Let Mee preface this by saying that injuries (especially neck injuries) are HORRIBLE things to happen, and even WORSE things to wish upon someone. To top it all off, Gregory Helms/The Hurricane/Sugar Shane Helms/etc. has always been a top-notch performer, a tremendous in-ring talent, and a great guy in person (as I had the chance to meet him at the MSG pre-show party before WrestleMania XX). My thoughts and prayers to Helms and his family in their time of crisis -- and I wish him a safe, successful surgery and a healthy recovery.
All that said...
(And again, I say this with absolutely no disrespect or offense intended here, so please don't think Mee callous for what all I'm about to type):
Part of Mee can't help but think that this injury simply could not have come at a better time for Gregory Helms. (Please, spare Mee the hate mail and see where this all is going...) After all, a year ago, Gregory Helms was the longest reigning champion in recent WWE history. Though the cruiserweight division wasn't really all that great, mind you, bottom line is that Helms was secure in his position with the company as he was *THE* (long sounding "eee") man to beat in the light heavyweight ranks.
Flash forward to today, and Gregory Helms is busy spinning his wheels in the Smackdown undercard. Let's not forget that he was recently fingered in the Sports Illustrated steroid scandal write-up (though he came clean on and ultimately made WWE look better along the way), the Cruiserweight Championship hasn't been defended on a major PPV in months, and World Wrestling Entertainment is apparently doing a bit of their annual "spring cleaning" of the roster by cutting more than a few of the guys on the lower end of the card.
Can't help but note that (minus the stuff in parentheses above) there's a pretty decent case to be made (before the injury) that a Hurri-firing wouldn't be entirely out of the realm of possibility.
After all...
First they close Deep South, then they release Rob Conway. Next up is Too Cold Scorpio, then Vito, and now Sabu. Rob Van Dam is likely to be next (if he isn't gone already), and you don't see WWE bending over backwards to retain him so it's pretty clear that they've resigned themselves to taking another loss there. Add in the three releases of Scotty 2 Hotty, Mitch, and Ariel from Friday afternoon (all "enhancement talent" more or less), and you're pretty much looking at a crop of performers who were right alongside where Helms has been treading water in the undercard, as of late. Shoot -- there's even talk of Chavo Guerrero looking to wrap up his WWE tenure before long. And as ECW One Night Stand 3 rolls in, it seems only a matter of time before Sandman, Balls Mahony, and Tommy Dreamer are sent packing as WWE continues to "streamline" their talent pool by cutting/releasing/not resigning/etc. performers from the lower-half of their three rosters.
So ask yourselves this, Hurrifans --
Given the poor state of the Cruiserweight division, WWE's current penchant for "downsizing", and the virtual non-push of Greg Helms since dropping the title like a half a year ago... was Gregory Helms' job with World Wrestling Entertainment really all that secure?
Again -- neck injuries are TERRIBLE, unfortunate, life-altering, (insert adjective here) things and NOBODY should ever welcome them or wish them on a performer... but you can't help but wonder if somewhere "in the places you don't talk about at parties" (to borrow a line), you simply can't help but think that this untimely injury might well -- believe it or not -- have saved Gregory Helms' job for the next year or so. WWE is usually pretty good about keeping performers employed throughout the duration of a rehab (Mark Henry, Chris Benoit, Rhyno, Steve Austin, Triple H, The Undertaker, Lita, Edge, Kurt Angle, etc.) and though there is the rare precedent for the 'E cutting a performer when they're on medical leave (Dawn Marie, Matt Hardy and Test's first firing come to mind) -- the bottom line is that with Wellness in full effect, WWE runs the risk of incurring a MAJOR fan backlash and a media black-eye if they actually should have the audacity to fire a guy who recently defended them during the SI steroid scandal, not to mention a guy who's likely to be out with a new (and more serious) injury for the next calendar year.
Imagine the headlines:
"WWE fires seriously injured star who recently defended them in face of national steroid scandal!"
MeeThinks?
Not likely in the least. Hurricane has done right by the wrestling business and by WWE for many years now, and there is little to no reason (outside of typical IWC pessimism) to believe that WWE won't return the favor by keeping him employed and helping him recover through this serious time of injury in return.
Good luck and God speed, Greg. Get healthy, stay strong, and we look forward to seeing updates on your progress (and proof of your continued employment) in the months to come.
YouThinks Reader Mail
Chris Jacobs gets us started:
What was RVD's arguments about Kurt holding him down?
- Chris Jacobs
Good question, Chris. Randy Roe has a similar one:
While I agree with some of the things you had to say about RVD, you stated
that he "whined, hemmed, hawed and generally emo-ed at every turn about how
his truncated title run and subsequent burial has been everybody's fault but
his own." I was just wondering where, when, or who RVD was constanly
complaining to, as I've never seen anything on the net where he blames his
title loss on anyone. I know he has spoken about ECW being buried but
haven't seen anything where he suggets his loss of titles to Edge and the
Big Show on backstage politics.
-Randy
Good questions, gents. It's not so much a matter of RVD singling out Kurt Angle, Edge, Big Show or any other one performer in particular, per se -- rather it's a question of RVD just bitching in general that the "new" ECW is a has been a failure from day one ever since Vinny Mac put the focus away from the ECW Originals and abandoned the spirit of the original. So while RVD (to my knowledge) never actually came out and lambasted Angle/Edge/Show in particular, he has (on a number of occassions) talked a great deal of smack on the misguided spirit of "WWECW". A fair enough criticism, too -- but in just about every interview I've seen, RVD conveniently pins the setbacks and problems with the "new ECW" on just about everyone but himself, and if you ask Mee? That's pretty much a cop-out, as RVD had a good a chance as any to change the brand's fortunes before his title reign went up in smoke.
Another "YouThink" on RVD, this time from Mike:
I enjoyed the read very much, I only wanted to comment on the RVD situation. I don't think anybody would expect TNA's eventual signing of RVD to take them to the promise land or anywhere near the level of WWE. But what is to be expected is the exciting match ups between RVD and A.J Styles, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels and Abyss.
At this point WWE really doesn't have anymore dream matches. TNA has a couple (if they can ever figure out how to book them right), so it creates some buzz. RVD isn't Kurt Angle or Hulk Hogan drawing wise. But seeing RVD with those guys in that type of envirement will be great.
oh and AWESOME call on the Mr. Kennedy/Orton comparison. You're dead on brother. Dead on.
Just my 2 cents..
- Mike
Thanks for writing, Mike, before I get to your letter, though... a similar Thinks from Alex Windos:
Dear John
After reading your "meethinks spectacular" article, I fear you may have missed the reason why many of us TNA fans are very excited at the prospect of RVD in TNA. I myself have been a fan of TNA wrestling for over a year now, as a life long WWF fan i felt that the company had gotton to the stage where i couldn't watch it anymore HHH was dominating RAW every week and with awful sup-par storylines on smackdown i saw TNA as something different something that took me back to an era where while there was glits and glammer a show needed good solid wrestling matches. It was men like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Christopher Danieals, Pette Williams and The monstor ABYSS that got me tuning into TNA whenever it would be shown on the wrestling channel.
Since then ive grown just as fond of guys like Ausin Airies, Jay Lethal, Dutt, Shark Boy (yeh i like him) and other young tallented wrestlers. However TNA at the moment has grown very stale as a majority of there show is taken up by old WWE/WCW tallent that really cant hack it anymore. Christian Cage while i like him is struggling in the main event, Sting is not as good as he was even 7-8 years ago, Jarret is a midcard draw at best and i really have no idea why anyone would ever hire Scott Stiner. When Kurt Angle came into TNA there was genuine buzz and excitement but it wasn't because he was an amature and profesional wresling legend, it wasn't that he had held every major WWF title when they still ment something, the reason was that for me at least here was a man who was an amazing wrestler who could easily congour up many many TNA dream matches. I was salivating at the thought of Angle V Joe, Angle V AJ, Angle V Daniels or even a good fued with a younger X-division star.
This is the reason why I am excited to see RVD in TNA, I dont believe he is the saviour for TNA, I dont believe he will draw millions and millions of fans but i feel that any fan who really enjoys good wrestling matches should be positively wetting themselves with the idea of the whole damn show facing the likes of AJ styles and Samoa Joe. If you put AJ styles and RVD in an ultimate X match and give them a decent ammount of time you have a match of the year candidate right there. Providing they dont waste him, providing they have leart from the mistakes they made with angle, RVD will provide fans with dream match after dream match. RVD can for the first time in years make the phrase "we are wrestling" actulaly be accurate.
Your Faithfully,
- Alex Windos
Thanks for writing, gents, and it is reassuring to see that some fans like yourselves are able to set realistic, POSITIVE expectations for performers and the product so as to avoid being let down in the future when their pipe dreams come tumbling down around them. Sadly, MeeThinks fans like you and Mee are probably in the minority when it comes to the IWC's perception of RVD -- as while we're able to see that yes, he could certainly put on a great match or two with AJ, Daniels or Joe -- bottom line is that the injection of one Rob Van Dam is simply *not* the panacea that TNA has been holding out for in their last step before taking on the "evil empire" that is WWE.
Look at the early rumors and already we're hearing that TNA might well try holding off signing/debuting RVD until they can secure the two-hour timeslot in the fall. While this is all well and good (and would certainly make for a great first episode if TNA can swing it) -- perhaps here as well we're already seeing that TNA execs (or the rumor mills) are already pegging Van Dam as the guy who'll earn the company a buzz if they are to debut him in their first-ever "shocking" two hour program. Again, you and Mee might see things a bit differently (and more realistically) here -- but the bottom line is that things already seem to be in place to tout RVD as "the next big thing" to hit TNA.
(Check the 411 message boards for proof, ya' know?).
Fact is --
STING's (re)debut was hella-hyped, and TNA is just about where they were before he came in.
Team 3D's signing was equally "buzzed," and they spent six months getting boring as all getup before a sabbatical and a perfunctory run as NWA tag champs (which still didn't sit well with LAX fans).
Christian Cage was a HUGE acquisition -- yet the ratings stay just about the same.
Kurt Angle was *THE* (long sounding "eee") major story of 2006. But after the initial buzz, TNA's ratings and buyrates are right back to where they used to be.
Rob Van Dam is a charismatic, popular performer in his own right for sure. But he is certainly no Sting, he is certainly no Kurt Angle, and -- as we learned from the Memphis/Lawler fiasco of late -- even Hulk Hogan has a hard time drawing when he's out of his element, and Van Dam is CERTAINLY no Hulk Hogan. So RVD and TNA fans, do yourselves a favor here: Mike and Alex have the right perspective and the right idea when it comes to what all to expect from Rob Van Dam and TNA. Look forward to a few exciting encounters, "dream matches" or whatever you wanna' call them -- but don't get your hopes up that Rob Van Dam is going to be the guy to fire the first shot in a new Monday Night Wars.
Switching gears, Will Mayberry has some Thinks of his own:
Hey man,
I want to keep this positive but I have to disagree with your feedback in response to what I wrote the previous week.
On the CM Punk as the choice to beat Big Show at the ONS II PPV. My point on that whole situation is that in theory the idea could of worked with the right choice of wrestler to face Show. I think that is Internet hogwash that Spike Dudley was even under consideration but who knows. The main point is, that Big Show didn't even belong on an ECW show to begin with. The proof was evident when they went back to the Hammerstein Ballroom for Show vs Batista and the fans shit all over it. It was the wrong type of wrestling for that brand if they truly wanted something unique. If Vince just wanted another WWE show they should have called the show on Sci-Fi something totally different and not have even brought the name ECW into the equation. As far as someone going out of the woodwork to beat Show, I bet Vince wishes he did it now with Show calling Big Show his "slave name" and siding with Hogan. I digress though, main point is SHow did not belong in ECW as a champ or otherwise.
As far as Paul Heyman goes, I think he is a better booker than you give him credit for. The time he had the most control in WWE was when he was the head booker of Smackdown before Wrestlemania 19, when he made Lesnar a superstar, helped resurrect the Big Show, helped successfully debut Rey Mysterio, helped introduce acts such as Team Angle and John Cena, etc. Pretty successful and the reason it stopped is because Paul being Paul didn't want to take shit from the McMahons(namely Stephanie). So I think the man is litt;e bit more dangerous than you give him credit for. Did you ever watch the old ECW? I really don't think you did.
You use Hogan as an example of Vince hiding someone's weaknesses. First off while Hogan is not a good wrestler he is a good performer. With Hogan, Vince was smart enough to steal him from the AWA and Verne Gagne was stupid enough to not have Hogan locked up in a contract. Vince knew enough to take what Verne had in the midwest and take it to a national stage. John Cena is a hell of a performer. I think the matches with Cena prove that in fact he is not a weak performer in the least. My point with weaknesses is that Paul can take misfits and make stars. Vince never has proven he can do that nor that he would want to. I think that can take away from the product and robs I think that Vince has so much wasted talent right now that Paul would most likely make better use of. As far as people wanting to see The Great Kahli, I think you should go back to Wrestlemania and listen to the crowd's reaction.
I get tired when people think because someone doesn't think the Big Show belongs on ECW that they are a mark for technical wrestling. I like technical wrestling, but I also like performers like Cena, Umaga, The Rock, Taker, even Hogan back in the day. So thanks for the little marketing lesson, but you miss the point entirely. ECW wasn't about technical prowess it was about a fast paced, intese, entertaining product in which a guy like Big Show was not the right fit. Vince and Heyman didn't get along because Vince wanted Velocity instead of what ECW was. It is a shame to because as much as Vince was trying to create a more mainstream product, DVD sales of the Rise and Fall of ECW and buyrate of ONS 1, would indicate fans were looking for something different. Vince does what he does well. I like the current direction of WWE. RAW lost a bit of steam since Mania but Smackdown was especially strong this week. Vince is great at marketing and a great wrestling mind, but I think Paul Heyman has greater ability to create a fresh and interesting product in today's marketplace. Thats proven by the fact Vince pays him to sit on his ass and keep him away from TNA. Vince would never do that if Paul wasn't a player, as it doesn;t make any business sense.
So hopefully that clears up my main point, another good article.
- Will Mayberry
Good letter, Will. Some Thinks to YourThinks of my own:
1) Yes, I watched the original ECW... and seeing as how I grew up just about an hour and fifteen minutes outside of Philadelphia, I probably watched it quite a bit more than many of the same critics who come out of the woodwork these days and whine about how badly the "new" ECW misses the point of the "old" one, too.
2) I'm gonna' have to call shenanigans on the whole "Big Show didn't fit and missing the point on what the original ECW was about" thing. Even though Vinny Mac gets the rep for it these days, it's no secret Paul E. had a thing for some big guys of his own (911, Mike Awesome, etc.) -- and with Heyman being the booker behind much of Show's "revitalized" success on Smackdown from a few years back (the Brock Lesnar stuff, for example), I think it's more than fair to say that Paul E. was high on Show for QUITE some time as well. So yeah, maybe he had a brain-fart and thought putting Spike over the guy would win back some "original" fans... but in many ways, Heyman's sudden about-face on Show is also pretty easy to understand when you realize that Paul E. finally had the chance to write programs (and not have to worry about writing paychecks!) for some of his all-time favorite employees of old.
Sandman, RVD, Dreamer, Sabu -- the list goes on. It's like having the chance to trade whatever car you're driving today for a fully-restored, "just like it used to be" carbon copy of whatever the first car you ever owned. Sure the new car has air conditioning, GPS and satellite radio... but dammit, look at the alternative -- it's your first car for cryin' out loud! Maybe you had your first beer in there. Or maybe it was your wheels for your first big drive cross-country. Heck, maybe you hooked up with that girl from junior year of high school in the back seat... whatever the case may be, "old habits die hard" and nostalgia is a HUGE lure for many a person (wrestling-related or no) when push comes to shove.
So now you're Paul Heyman. You spent a fortune of time and investment in that sweet new 2008 Ford Mustang (named Kurt Angle), but as soon as you get that puppy off the lot the thing inexplicably craps out on you. A sucky turn of events, and you're right back to driving a crappy (but reliable) Dodge Stratus (Big Show), when one day -- the chance comes along to get a no-strings-attached chance to go back to your roots and get behind the wheel of an old Chevy El Camino, Ford Maverick, or maybe a sweet 1975 Buick Electra 225 (ok, maybe not the most ideal choices but you get the point). What do you do? If I'm Paul Heyman, I say "see ya later, Stratus" and I'm back tearing down the road in a muscle car made in the mid-seventies.
The only problem is (as is also the case with those classic cars mentioned above), the longer you go the more you realize that your "no-strings-attached" chance to get back in the drivers' seat with the old favorites came with a high and unexpected price tag. The 2008 Mustang was a bust (Angle), but the Camino's engine's been tweaked, so its emissions won't ever pass current legislation for clean air (RVD/Wellness). The Mav's still one hell of a muscle car... but gas is topping three bucks a gallon and so it's useless for long drives (Sandman). And the Buick... shoot, the Buick was never all that reliable to begin with (Sabu) -- plus it's almost a decade older than the last time you had the chance to take it for a spin.
In the end --
Paul E. might have abandoned his latest craze (Show) and jumped at the chance for a fresh start (Angle) or "one last hurrah" with the old favorites, but once the new hopes were dashed and the classics went bust -- Heyman was standing squarely at the door of the used car lot begging the dealer to trade him back that reliable old Dodge Stratus named Big Show after all. It wasn't perfect by any means, but with everything else flaking out and falling apart around him -- at least Paul E. knew that the Stratus, err -- the Show -- could get him from "point A" to "point B" while he tried to figure something else out along the way.
CJ from Baltimore has a few RVDThinks of his own:
Howdy John,
CJ here from Baltimore, MD. I'm a first time reader of your column and I have to say you've acquired yourself another loyal reader. I thought your comparisons of the Taker's Streak to Edge's was right on the money. I also enjoyed your take on the whole RVD leaving the "E" situation; it's actually what got me to write this letter to you, as I have a slightly different take on RVD as well as some other questions.
RVD Sitch:
If RVD really does decide to call it quits, then I feel that he should head off not to TNA but to ROH. Especially since ROH has finally made that jump to PPV, I feel that it would be a win/win situation for everyone involved. At least in ROH RVD would be able to have top notch matches minus the whole BS gimmicks & the freedom to be what he once was back in the glory days of ECW. Isn't that what RVD was bitching about back at the 1st ECW ONS? How the competition isn't what it used to be? How he isn't allowed to say more than "Yeah & cool?". How could he not go there? Especially with the Talent Roster they have, so many dream matches can be created. Strong/RVD, Evans/RVD, KENTA/RVD, Danielson/RVD, Nigel/RVD. His name could bring even more $$$ to the company & The company would bring the best out of RVD in regards to competition, and quite possibly be the one to fill in that Void that Colt Cabana left there. If I were the ROH owner, I'd even reactivate the Pure title, just to let RVD run with it for awhile, like he did with the TV title.
I honestly don't think Vince would get too upset of RVD decided to make ROH his new home; for I truly feel that Vince is sorta ROH friendly and would very much prefer he go there as opposed to TNA. Think about it, remember back when the whole Edge/Hardy feud was seriously heating up and Matt was jumping out the crowds and beating on Edge? There was one incident where security was trying to "take him away" and Matt was screaming "I'LL SEE YOU GUYS AT ROH" I believe it was just a little before he had that match with the Fallen Angel, which was quite good. Vince didn't give him the Sh*t treatment then, and I'm damn sure ROH's sales went up even more for that event. Simply put, ROH+RVD=GOLD!!
SD tag team Situation.
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm thinking that Kane and the Boogeyman are being bred to take the belts off of Deuce and Domino later down the line. For a short term run, maybe about 2-3 months I think this wouldn't to bad of an idea. Kane like Edge is WWE's "Go-To" guy when it comes to fill-in matches and storyline ideas, which he seems to be fine with. I mean nobody seriously hates him, he's been with the company just almost as long as Taker, has a steady fanbase & he can actually put on a decent match. Putting Boogeyman with Kane would not only help him go over better with the fans, but his in ring work should improve a bit too, next to Taker Kane too is actually good ring psychology teacher. I see them winning the belts in a fatal four way match against D&D, Team Regal, & Londrick.
My Dream Mania
John I'd love to know you're thoughts on my makeshift Mania card, rating each potential match 1-5. Keep in mind this card is based on pure skill, nobody's creative team has a factor.
Sabin & Shelley vs The Hardys
The Briscoes vs The Worlds Greatest Tag Team
Orton vs AJ Styles
Danielson vs Cena
Fallen Angel vs HBK (Iron Man Match)
Petey Williams vs Finley
Abyss vs Umaga (Hell in a cell)
Samoa Joe vs Taker
Edge vs Jeff Jarrett vs Christian vs Homicide vs Chris Hero vs CM Punk (Ladder Match)
HHH vs Nigel Mcguinness
Kurt Angle vs Colt Cabana
well that's it for me for now. Can't wait to see your reply. thanks for listening.
- CJ
Killer letter dude, and thanks for writing! To your points in order:
RVD) In ROH would indeed be something to see. Unfortunately, I just don't see it happening as Van Dam seems to be more concerned with "time off" and "easy schedule" than with "dream matches" and "quality in-ring product." Let's face it, RVD isn't a technical wrestler's technical wrestler, and though his matches are flashy and high-octane, more often than not they usually just devolve into spotfests with a whole bunch of flipping and no-sells. Ring Of Honor prides itself in delivering a high-quality in-ring product (even moreso than TNA and WWE), and guys who are just there for a paycheck and a flip-floppy-spotfest (remember Jeff Hardy?) usually don't fare too well in an ROH ring before long. All that said, TNA probably *is* the best place for RVD -- I just wouldn't get my hopes up for a string of five star matches, is all. Plenty of five-star-frogsplashes, of course, though!
SD! Tag Ranks) You might be onto something with Kane and Boogey being given a run with the tag straps, believe it or not. Smackdown has long been the home to tandems of "gimmick," "comedy" acts whenever creative couldn't think of much better to do (remember Billy & Chuck? Edge and Hulk Hogan?), and so there's every reason to believe that this latest Blue-brand pairing could follow in similar footsteps. Thing is, Kane is rumored to be nursing a bad knee these days -- and so I just dunno if they'd put the straps on 'em just yet, as it would either require more in-ring time from Kane OR it'd mean that we'd have The Boogeyman handling the bulk of the in-ring duties while The Big Red Machine hung around on the outside.
Sketchy, ya' know?
Dream Mania) I'm always skeptical of fantasy booking, simply because so much can change in a year's time and people always tend to book their personal favorites higher up on the card than might otherwise be warranted... but purely from a "what if" standpoint, I'll indulge a sentence or two on the matches/card you've drafted below:
Sabin & Shelley vs The Hardys - Killer match, and could well be the best of the night.
The Briscoes vs The Worlds Greatest Tag Team - Briscoes are hot, but TWGTT have really floundered since reforming... so they'd need a LOT of push to make people care about this one, and a LOT of in-ring time if it were to be well-received.
Orton vs AJ Styles - Not great from an in-ring perspective, but a solid pairing of two really good sub/main-event heels. If AJ played babyface, I'd be interested.
Danielson vs Cena - Meh. We all know which way the "smart" crowd would cheer, and since Cena always hits his trademark spots but never plays heel... I just dunno what the purpose would be.
Fallen Angel vs HBK (Iron Man Match) - Iron Man match mid-show? Well it's pretty clear you've got a full card! LOL! Still, would be a good match and one I'd very much like to see.
Petey Williams vs Finley - Kind of a throwaway, simply because Petey never wins on PPV.
Abyss vs Umaga (Hell in a cell) - Hahahaha. Awesome. A whole match of no-sells! I love it.
Samoa Joe vs Taker - If Joe ever does sign with WWE, we might just see this one at WrestleMania one day after all. Certainly a "dream match" if WWE could pull it off.
Edge vs Jeff Jarrett vs Christian vs Homicide vs Chris Hero vs CM Punk (Ladder Match) - Again, your card starts to suffer from a bit of Russoverbooking, as you've got a Ladder Match AND a HITC AND an Iron Man match all on the same show. Were this a match headlining a PPV unto itself, however, I'd wager that just about EVERYONE would pay to see it.
HHH vs Nigel Mcguinness - Interesting, and it would depend on what version of Triple H we got. "2003 Triple H?" = Not a promising sign. "2006 Triple H?" I'm a bit more intrigued...
Kurt Angle vs Colt Cabana - Honestly, I just don't think I could justify having these two guys main event on a card as stacked as the one you've offered up here. A solid bout, for sure, but no WAY could it headline with so many of the others already listed!
Brian has a few questions on the Great Khali:
Here is what the WWE ought to do with Khali...Get him some backup by reforming the "Oddities"!!! (Did he once belong to that group?)
I'm tellin' ya...surround him with others who also have no talent or personality, and then he wouldn't appear to be so terrible. (Compared to his "buddies" anyway...Well okay, he'd still suck.) To top it off, hire Giant Gonzales to manage the group. They could even rename them, "YAWN." Or even...Zzzzzzzz.
Can't get the original members of the Oddities back? Well then combine Khali with Mark Henry, Finlay's midget, and Snitsky, and then call them the Four DorkMen.
I cannot believe that Vince is SO enamored with the man who's arms are bigger than his legs!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, I hope they either give up on him, or just make him someone's body guard. He has no place in the ring, let alone main eventing!!!!!
Love your articles!!!!!!!!!!
~Brian~
Hahahaha... ANY stable with Khali and Hornswoggle standing side by side would be worth the price of admission alone.
In all seriousness, though -- no, Khali never once belonged to The Oddities -- you're probably confusing him with Giant Silva. And as far as Khali's days in the main event picture go? MeeThinks they're pretty well numbered, too, as there's probably not all that much left to do with Khali once he's through giving an additional rub to "Superman" Cena. (A Lashley program might be a possibility, though).
Regardless, here's why guys like Snitsky and The Great Khali are awesome --
Because they're huge, they suck, and NOBODY likes them. Sure, a bunch of that is probably "X-Pac heat" in the sense that people genuinely dislike them AS PERFORMERS and not just as the characters they portray on television, but the bottom line is that these guys are thorough-going "duds" when it comes to their fan support. Believe it or not, this is a very good thing for polarizing champs like John Cena and Bobby Lashley. It's no secret that Cena couldn't keep the crowd on his side when he was facing off against such charismatic baddies as Chris Jericho, Triple H, Rob Van Dam, Edge, HBK and Kurt Angle (shoot, Angle even said stuff like he hated the troops and he didn't care too much for "those dark-skinned folk" or something equally racist along those lines in a desperate attempt to win back some heel heat) -- and WWE was in a *tough* spot having a sizable chunk of their audience ("smart" fans, male fans, older fans) so vocally rooting AGAINST the guy who just so happened to sell the bulk of the company's merchandise and tickets (young fans and ladies buy that stuff like nobody's bidness).
So what'd they do?
Abandoned all hope for Cena vs. "the cocky, cool heels" and moved full-out into a Cena vs. "the monsters" mentality instead. That gave fans a chance to see Cena against a nasty string of heel opponents who nobody liked (think Umaga), and it allowed things to return a bit closer to "normal" as the plucky young babyface champion (Cena) received the cheers whilst the evil, ugly, foreign bad guys earned the lion's share of the boos.
First Umaga, now Khali, next Snitsky... etc.
What this does is it allows WWE to keep a better control over their audience so that, in effect, they're pretty much "telling you who to cheer for" *WITHOUT* coming right out and "telling you who to cheer for" (as they had tried to do with mixed/disasterous results in the cases of Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle and the like). Along the way, the most vocal of Cena's critics have grown tired and/or quieted down (because let's face it, even if he ain't that great in the ring, the matches against Umaga and the booking against Khali has been pretty entertaining nonetheless), and the Cena-hate has tempered quite a bit. Look at Cena's matches against HBK over the past few months, for example, and you'll notice that the boos for 'Da Champ have been nowhere NEAR as bad as they were, say, a year ago at WrestleMania 22 against Triple H.
Bobby Lashley finds himself in a similar spot (though for different reasons) because even though he's got "the look," he's pretty terrible on the mic and he's nowhere near ready to carry an entire brand on his shoulders. Problem is ECW is suffering from a dearth of bona-fide stars, at present, and so WWE has been smart in programming Lashley against opponents (Umaga, McMahon, Snitsky in the coming weeks perhaps) who are pretty much guaranteed to keep the fans firmly in the corner of their opponent. So long as people continue to hate Khali, Umaga, Snitsky, and (yes, even) Mr. McMahon himself -- it will continue to go a LONG way in making things a LOT easier for WWE's creative team, as it's pretty much a surefire bet that ANY face challenger to ANY combination of WWE's current crop of top-level "monsters" (or McMahons) is guaranteed to win fan support to the babyface.
Finally, Brandon Fields takes us to TNA with a YouThink of his own!
Hey man . You're article is by far the best on 411, and I've been reading every week for the past couple of months. I have a question though. I read a while back that you went to a tna taping. I know to get into the show is free, but do you have to pay to get into universal if you only plan to watch tna? Also, do you think it is a good idea to show up early , if so how much earlier? And is there any schedule on when they do their tapings?
Thanks,
Brandon Fields
Thanks for the kind words, Brandon! To your questions:
TNA Tickets: How to get 'em, schedule, cost, etc. TNAwrestling.com has complete details on this one -- click away!
Regarding paying for Universal Admission: No need. From TNAwrestling.com...
Total Nonstop Action wrestling fans - be a part of TNA Wrestling's Pay-Per-View events and "iMPACT!" on SpikeTV tapings at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida at SoundStage 21! Tickets are free for both guests of Universal and Islands of Adventure theme parks, as well as the public. Doors open at 6pm with a bell time of 6:45 p.m. Free parking is available at the Universal parking garage after 6pm. For more information on seating, call the Universal Orlando Resort "iMPACT!" hotline at (407) - 224 - 6000.
Regarding getting there early: YES. Seating is limited (we're talking like 2,000 people, tops) and it is just about ALWAYS full -- so if you've got an afternoon to kill, hop on line with a good book and a friend or two any time after they open the queueing area -- I hopped online sometime after like 4 p.m. and got a GREAT seat, but people were there as early as like 2 p.m.
Taping schedule: head on over to TNAWrestling.com for all the upcoming live events in Orlando and beyond. Basically, TNA tapes in Universal every two weeks (and sprinkles in PPV's, house shows, etc. in between). With luck, I might even be able to swing a late-August TNA appearance of my own! But that all depends on booking (yet) another trip to Orlando from D.C. this summer, so we'll have to see on that one.
The MeeThinks Pay Per View Tracker
Well, PPV season is in full swing with WWE Judgment Day this weekend. Though I'm becoming somewhat notoriously BAD at picking winners in these things, here's the track record of my predictions so far...
WWW New Year's Revolution - N/A TNA Final Resolution - 3/7 WWE Royal Rumble - 2/5 TNA Against All Odds - 2/9 WWE No Way Out - N/A TNA Destination X - 4/9 WWE WrestleMania 23 - 4/8 TNA Lockdown - 7/9 WWE Backlash - 2/6 TNA Sacrifice - 5/9
Cumulative Total: 29/62 Percent Correct: 46.77%
WHOOHOO! I'm almost at 50% correct! Let's see if I can keep the ball rolling with my picks for this weekend's PPV extravaganza...
Carlito (he'll cheat-o!), Randy Orton (needs the win), Elijah (save the Punk win for the ECW pay per view), MVP to win it in fall three, McMahon retains (shenanigans!), Edge retains (more shenanigans!), Cena retains (better hope it's clean or fans will complain that all three title matches had screwy finishes).
Here goes nothing, eh? Certainly couldn't be any worse than Backlash!
And With That, I'm Outta' Here...
Thanks again for reading, all. An additional thanks to everyone who's sent e-mails and the like, as YourThinks continue to play an integral role in making this bad boy work on a weekly basis. 'Till next week, enjoy the jumpstart on summer if you happen to live anywhere but the east coast of the U.S. (rain!? WTF?!). Congrats to all those new graduates (I'll be up in Gettysburg for my brother's graduation this weekend), enjoy the PPV tomorrow, and always stay positive!
