411 Fact or Fiction 7.12.07: Santino as IC Champ, Congress Regulating Wrestling, Impact’s Improvement and More!
Posted by Larry Csonka on 07.12.2007
Week ONE HUNDRED and THIRTY-FOUR features Ari Berenstein and JT Thomlison discussing TNA dropping Daniels vs. Sting, Rebuilding ECW, Homicide’s mic skills and much, much more!
Welcome back to another week of 411 Fact or Fiction: Wrestling Edition! I apologize for last week's vacation but we are back and better than ever! This week, two 411 standouts go head to head as "Column of Honor's" Ari Berenstein battles former "WWE Byte This" reporter and one half of the "Hidden Highlight" column JT~!
And remember to go to TigerFlashGames.com and play addictive, free flash games when you're bored at work, school, or whenever! Ashish made this place because he loves you.
Let's get to it!
1. Santino Marella is one of the worst IC Champions of all time.
ARI:FICTION. I really hate to label Santino as the "worst" because let's face it, the guy had almost no chance to be successful from the beginning of all of this, and it's not really his fault. He was put in the position of a guy coming out of nowhere no one had ever heard of in another country to win the a mid card level title. If the WWE expected the world to embrace the guy just because of that they were sorely mistaken. Santino did the best he could with what he had, but he wasn't nearly as ready to be in that role. The bookers in the WWE should have recognized that and not even put the strap on him to begin with, especially if they weren't going to follow up in any decent way to his story of learning the ropes day by day. I think there were other IC champs who were worse on their own merits and of their own fault.
JT~!:FACT. Ari is completely right here. Everything from the set up to the booking to the end result was complete shit and did Santino no favors. That being said, the question was "one of", and the "worst IC champs" list has no member limit. Chances are that ten years from now, nobody will specifically remember the fact that booking and overall handling of the situation was to blame here. It's like a pitches who gets no run support, the pitcher still takes the L in the record books. Like a pitcher, quarterback, or actor/actress etc., if you are the face in the matter then you get credit for the good and blame for the bad. It's no different in wrestling. You're right, he did what he could with it, but in the end he was the one on TV and he is the one who didn't get himself over (despite the shitty circumstances), therefore, it's his name that goes on the list.
Score:0 for 1
2. Congress should step in and regulate wrestling.
ARI :FACT. It's with a hard heart I say this, but professional wrestling needs regulation of some kind across the board and its never going to happen under McMahon's watch without some outside involvement. In this case it involves the government and while I generally loathe mixing government with entertainment, the fact of the matter is there is nothing left to do but ask for Congress to step in and devise some sort of program or solution. This really isn't anything to do directly with the Benoit murder-suicide, but rather an inevitable end to what we as fans know is a systemic and endemic series of abuses of situations involving a wrestler's health and in some cases salary and retirement benefits. Also, just because wrestlers refuse to form a union of their own doesn't mean they shouldn't have one.
JT~!:FACT. Pretty much what Ari said. The E's Wellness Policy is never going to be handled seriously enough or be effective enough to be the sole monitoring system in wrestling. The number of bodies dropping like flies is becoming ridiculous and SOMEONE not in the business needs to have their eye on these guys; because the way that the system is currently in place, most of them are not going to be looking out for themselves.
Score:1 for 2
3. TNA Impact has improved in recent weeks with the promotion going back to more wrestling on the program
ARI :FICTION. Yeah TNA has started to balance itself just a little by finally giving Kurt Angle a solid character direction and they've concentrated more on a core cast of characters and storylines, but for me its almost too little, too late. I am completely uninterested in anything TNA does as far as storylines go and as far as the in ring aspect, sure there is more "wrestling" on the program, but with the same amount of run ins and screwy finishes. Can any match end cleanly?. That one match that went the entire show had a billion run ins and if you could tell the players without a scorecard, I tip my hat to you. The past six months have seen illogical booking and storylines that run the gamut from insulting to the ridiculous TNA has always been a flawed company in that respect. More wrestling on a show doesn't automatically mean things have improved.
JT~!:FICTION. But they have started to get better. The thing to remember (as was mentioned in HH) is that when TNA was on a roll, it was because they were able to keep their main title important while letting the X Division and Tag Team Division shine in a way that completely separated itself from the E. Now though, with all the new main-event type talent on the roster, they are forgetting those two titles (and a great deal of the under card in general) and the importance is fading. If they want to truly improve, they will remember what made them an "alternative" in the first place, and that was the fact that they placed seemingly equal importance on ALL of their titles (while providing good, entertaining wrestling) instead of just their world title. One good thing is that I don't think they're completely oblivious to this, and if they can get a second hour or another show somewhere on FOX they will get back to booking that makes sense and makes all titles a priority.
Score:2 for 3
---SWITCH~!---
4. With Konnan out of TNA, Homicide will finally get a chance to shine as the mouthpiece of LAX.
JT~!:FACT. Although ARI will probably have a lot more substantial reasons why. To be honest, I do not know that much about Homicide, and off the top of my head cannot think of one single instance where I heard him talk other than last week's Impact, which was decent. That being said though, if a promotion is willing to let YOU be the guy to end the American Dragon's title reign, they obviously see something in you. Therefore, I see no reason why if he is giving the reigns to run with, he won't take advantage of it like he has seemingly always done wherever he has gone.
ARI :FICTION. If I'm being honest Homicide has at best a weird interview style which works for him, but that doesn't necessarily jive with what TNA is trying to represent with LAX. Homicide is a good talker in his own rights, but he can mix up his words and his meanings very easily. He also doesn't have the same conviction to the cause of LAX as Konnan did. Homicide will have to come at this from his "gang leader" and thug mentality but will that translate to a more mainstream television program? I have my doubts.
Score:2 for 4
5. Rebuilding the ECW brand around two young stars like CM Punk and Johnny Nitro is a good move by WWE.
JT~!:FACT. What else are they going to do? Build it around Tommy Dreamer and Sandman? No. Those guys are fan favorites but that is all. They are not in a position to be the face of an entire brand in the largest wrestling organization on the planet. In my opinion, the most successful time in the new ECW's short lived career has been when the old guys were being challenged by the new blood. ECW is not big or important enough to hand over to established stars like say Booker and Batista, and it is the perfect grooming grounds for guys like CM Punk, Johnny Nitro, and Elijah Burke (and even Thorn and Striker) to find their niche' with the company before moving on to one of the big two (or, in a perfect world, bringing ECW as a show up to the level of the other two).
ARI :FACT. Completely agreed with JT—WWE has nothing left in the ECW brand except for Punk, Nitro and Burke and to a lesser extent Cor Von (but even a big a Monty Brown fan as I am can realize that he still needs some work in the ring and in his "newer" character). Benoit's death left a very huge hole of veteran leadership, and the answer to replacing that hole is to go to the younger guys and let them go do their thing, on their own. It's sink or swim time for Punk and Nitro and the new ECW, but at least they will get the opportunity to do so.
Score:3 for 5
6. TNA made a big mistake by dropping the Sting vs. Christopher Daniels program so abruptly.
JT~!:FICTION. This is a matter of personal taste though. In the logical world of professional wrestling booking, these two were certainly capable of much, much more and a far more important feud. So from that perspective, it probably is stupid to really in no way capitalize on the star power they have with those two. However, this just did nothing for me. It in no way sparked my interest and with the direction they were taking with it, no promo or match was going to change my mind about that. Maybe TNA felt the crowd felt similar and scrapped it ahead of schedule.
ARI :FACT. So let me get this straight, TNA spends five months on the Abyss-Sting program, which only makes some kind of vague sense in the Man vs. Monster sort of mentality we've seen since the days of David and Goliath. This was where Sting was the worst Christian ever by attacking Jim Mitchell and Abyss and making them "confess their sins" and just basically not taking no for an answer. Yet, all Christopher Daniels and Sting get is ONE match, after weeks and months of teasing this huge connection between the two of them? Ridiculous. There was so much untapped potential in this feud. There were religious themes and questions of hypocrisy that could have made this a rich, detailed storyline. Not to mention that Christopher Daniels can actually wrestle a good match and could have gotten a huge rub off of Sting. Instead, a potential heavyweight feud that could have catapulted a very deserving wrestling to the upper echelon of the division was scrapped…for what? What exactly are Sting and Daniels doing now? Nothing much it seems. What a waste.
Score:3 for 6
These two finish 3 for 6! Join us next week for more Fact or Fiction!
