Truth B Told 2.14.08: Introducing....

Posted by Bayani Domingo on 02.14.2008

Introducing a new wrestler to your audience is like introducing your new girlfriend to your parents, timing is everything. Oh and hopefully they don’t smell like wine coolers and remember to wear panties. Yes, there IS a Randy Orton joke in there somewhere.


I had something of an epiphany on Tuesday night when I was watching Kofi Kingston wrestle Mike Knox. As skeptical as I was during the weeks leading up to Kofi's debut I realized that I was starting to warm up to him a bit. The vignettes run for him made it seem like he was the "face" version of Carlito, but after seeing him in action I realized he was more of a mix of Shelton Benjamin and Koko B Ware. They went with the "black wrestlers are great athletes" spin that is usually reserved for wrestlers with prior amateur backgrounds, i.e. Shelton, Lashley, Henry, and they peppered in a bit of the "ethnic" stereotypes that the "e" is fairly known for. Not "racist" but definitely focused on ethnicity as a way to immediately brand a wrestler and make them recognizable and distinguished. The only problem is that sometimes they go too far and sometimes not far enough, the Highlanders were Scottish and you could tell that from the accents and kilts, but what else did they really do? Carlito spoke Spanish and ate apples, because we all know how much Puerto Ricans love ... apples. Jimmy Wang Yang....yeah, let's just skip over him. Point is that while you sometimes end up with an Umaga who runs his cultural gimmick 24/7 a bit TOO stereotypically, you also end up with kind of half ass racial gimmicks too. I mean, what the hell is so Indian about Khali besides his interpreter? At least give him a cool name for his finisher like the Calcutter....maybe the Hin-duriver?

I'm not a huge fan of using racial gimmicks per say, but at the very least it's something of a strong identifier. So far it's working for Kofi because he is a unique wrestler and they are giving him a slightly modified moveset not being used right now. I was really hoping he'd be using more Copeira type moves, ala Eddie Gordo from Tekken, but at least he has a few twists that make him stand out. Plus, you gotta love that the music and the tights are fitting, although letting him rock some baggy pants would be just as good. I'm actually anticipating "creative" to go way past the line and have him switch up his gimmick a bit to where he has 8 other jobs besides a wrestler. One week he'll be the time keeper, next week he'll be cleaning the mats, maybe ringing the bell, selling hot dogs in the nose bleed section. Well no need to worry because if they ever decide Kofi isn't getting over in ECW I have no doubt they won't have any trouble getting multiple "jobs". While very "green" Kofi is off to a decent start. Mike Knox however is finding out just how hard it is to survive when your initial "push" ends up taking you off the side of a booking cliff.

Initially Knox started off with a decent little ‘push'. Problem is he had no gimmick. He debuted as Kelly Kelly's boyfriend and they quickly made him a "heel" by calling him a jealous jerk. Yeah, well to be honest if my girlfriend kept trying to show her tits to the audience at home and hook up with a skeezy looking straight edger I would be fixing to lay a whoopin' on CM Punk myself. Plus a little back hand action for my slutty slutty girlfriend girlfriend. He had no "gimmick", no "hook" no real memorable moveset or anything that made him stick out. Eventually he lost his push, was forgotten, and came back as nothing more than a "jobber". Any good push needs sustainability and in order to get sustainability you need a way to consistently stand out from the pack and get a following, either fan support or fan disdain. What guys like Mike Knox, The Dicks, Teachers Pets, or Deuce and Domino get are fan apathy. Hell, D&D at least have a solid gimmick, too bad their push was taken out from under them when the only reason for them existing, the tag titles, got bumped to ECW. Sustainability, focus, and a little something called visibility. You can't just disappear for weeks and then return, remember what happened to London and Kendrick's almost year long tag team title reign? Neither do I.

Chris Masters had an incredible push when he debuted, a strong gimmick, and a real fan reaction. Bobby Lashley, John Cena, and Randy Orton didn't. But look at how many titles those three hand between them compared to Chris Masters. The gimmick was solid, but the wrestling and the push wasn't. We can blame "wellness" but fact of the matter is that Masters was given an almost impossible gimmick to sustain, at least "healthily". While some wrestlers start out like they are shot out of a cannon others end up treading water in near anonemity until "creative" comes up with something for them. In John Cena's case it was a lucky break and a Halloween show. Randy Orton got repackaged after a rather fortunate "break", was kept in the mind of fans via vignettes and was given a push based on lineage and someone's belief that he was the perfect "next big thing" for "Evolution". Lashley basically got over because...he's a big scary black dude. That's pretty much enough now a days. Then again while those guys were both "green" and "vanilla" to start they became something much more, but that doesn't mean that guys with something in common with them like D.H. Smith, Cody Rhodes, or Paul Birchall will end up with the same success.

CM Punk was one of the few Indy guys who got to keep his gimmick after being signed. He had charisma, a good fundamentals, a unique look, and a history of success running his gimmick. The WWE ran with his gimmick and at first they did a good job of introducing him, they pushed him, kept pushing him, and he's clearly over. Problem is...he lost his gimmick. Sure he's straight edge, but what does that mean now? Is he merely a popular wrestler who started out with a fan base or is he a consistently evolving character? It's hard to even understand what being "straight edge" really has to do with him any more. If Taz and Joey Styles didn't mention it from time to time you probably would never know. I fear that Punk may end up more Masters than Cena in time. If you have a good gimmick and character that a wrestler can really sell, why not let him sell it? The vanilla-fication of wrestlers these days are why so many Brent Albrights and Johnny Jeters end up being "former prospects" and not "future HoFers".

You look at TNA and you probably think they aren't doing any better. Well Samoa Joe's debut was hyped and he delivered, he didn't have a "gimmick" per say but more a recognizable moveset and personality. While his booking has been questioned his debut really made an impact and he's still one of the top guys in TNA. Alex Shelley's first run in TNA was poorly handled, but like a Cena or Punk he was able to create his own push by working with Sabin in a familiar tag team that had a history of success, albeit in Japan. Awesome Kong is probably one of the best examples of making an successful debut as it's clear that the push, work, and gimmick were all in alignment for something special. That's not to say every wrestler fits that mold of success. Matt Morgan is on a treadmill, Judas Mesias has been somewhat underwhelming, Austin Aries and Roderick Strong didn't seem to last too long. Remember we're talking about "debuting" wrestlers who are fairly unknown to the normal TV viewing audience. Your Cages, Bookers, and Steiners don't really fall in with that crowd. TNA is as hit and miss as the WWE, problem is that they either go way too Gimmick heavy or way too gimmick light. Going light is fine so long as the wrestler can get over more on performance than character. TNA's audience or at least the Impact Zone seems to prefer workrate over gimmicks, but the problem is that the bookers aren't giving the workers enough time or a clean enough match to be able to get over and brand themselves based only on performance. It's hard to get over as just a "solid worker" when you only get 2 minutes a week, you know.

I think the problem with TNA is that they are so damn schizaphrenic and bi-polar that they can't stick with a wrestler long enough to give them a good solid and sustained push. They keep moving from program to program and feud to feud so quickly that they can't seem to maintain momentum for one given wrestler. Plus they keep "chasing the next big thing" and adding so much more "established" or at least familiar talent that the new guys don't get really rise to the top of the crowded main event scene. Long term booking is really a necessity if you want to keep moving along and evolving a new wrestler. TNA definitely has their problems, but that's nothing new. What about every IWC's wet dream, RoH?

RoH does a good job of hyping their debuting wrestlers. Well, certain wrestlers. Well, mostly Japanese wrestlers. To their credit they already own a lot of the premiere Indy talent so there aren't a lot of new big name wrestlers left to debut. The problem with that is it seems almost a given that most debuting American Indy wrestlers end up losing a lot of their first few matches as a way to either make sure their egos are in check or to serve as a "rite of passage". I could be wrong but it seems like it's more the rule than the exception. It seems like Puro guys get a lot more press than their US counterparts. While I applaud RoH for resisting giving anyone the "Goldberg Push" I think sometimes you have to just bite the bullet and go "all in" with a young guy and just ride the wave. I think in RoH you have to ‘earn' your sport more than most companies, but while that might make for a more competitive product over all, it's hard to build up a real "hot shot" and "Can't Miss Prospect" that people get on board with from day one. While guys like Albright, Claudio, Hero, and especially Erick Stevens are taking off now, it took a lot of time. Its hard to really pick out a significant "Rookie of the Year" in RoH because it takes a good three quarters of the year for a newbie to really get that momentum going. No one shoots out of the gate in RoH, I guess respect isn't the only thing earned.

I look at wrestling like any other sport. While you have your veterans, all-stars, and legends, you also have your Rookies and Young guns. People are often just as excited, perhaps even more excited about a rising star as they are the solid veterans. Being able to not only create a star, but maintain the evolution of a star is a big deal. While RoH has helped build a lot of stars for other companies, I find that sometimes they have a problem with not only being able to retain them obviously, but also brand new rising stars in a timely manner. Sometimes you have to jump the shark and take your lumps. TNA doesn't seem to be able to build their own stars. They either recycle the WWE's stars or steal Indy stars. Luckily they are able to call those Indy guys their own "homegrown stars" because a lot of their TV audience hasn't seen them, also they are able to trade off the small fanbase some of their wrestlers have built in other Indy feds and use that as a way to introduce them. Problem is that while you have all these great vignettes and made to order entry feuds for the ex-E guys, they don't bother to always do that with their Indy guys who really NEED that kind of jump start. The WWE? Well they do what they do. They build some stars like Cena, Kennedy, Lashley, Orton, etc., but they also miss the boat on a lot. Some like Masters and Carlito, Cade and Murdoch, or Morrison end up on a mid-card treadmill hoping to either breakout or recapture some of that past glory they once had, while others like Cryme Tyme, Mercury, and Heidenreich end up on the unemployment line. It's really hit and miss and luckily with the resources the WWE has they are able to live through the high turnover rate. If they can take 10 wrestlers and make 1 star, 2 mid-carders, and the odd jobber or two they'll probably take that every time. I guess it's a little easier to swing for the fences when you're working with 5 outs every inning when everyone else is working with 3.

The Truth

Well all like to see a wrestler ride to stardom. It's great to watch a local Indy guy and see him make it to the "big time" and win a nice big shiny gold belt. Seeing guys rise out of the mist and stake their claim to the throne is often a huge part of wrestling as bringing in "new blood" can often mitigate the aging of past stars. But not every wrestler is going to become the next Cena, Goldberg, or Lesner. Not sure if them doing so would necessarily be a positive or not, but you have to have that new blood flowing in because as we all know your old stars can't last forever. Flair, HBK, ‘Taker, they can't wrestle forever. Booker T, Angle, Sting, aren't getting any younger and you never know when a Samoa Joe, AJ, or Tomko isn't going to say "enough" and take that call from "Up North". Even RoH has their own unique set of challenges as they continue to get poached from as well as the rising risk of injuries to their young guys might end up amounting to some early retirements. Lighting a spark isn't always the hardest part, sometimes keeping that firing burning strong takes even more effort, but it can be well worth the hard work. Especially because "The Next Big Thing" needs to actually become "The Current Big Thing" every once in a while.

Coming Up Short

So I guess Kelly Kelly is the new female John Cena. She took a hell of an ass whooping for a good part of her match versus Layla El and to their credit they tried to tell a story in the ring, but in the end K2 made a 3 move comeback and planted Layla with the Rocker Drop in like 15 seconds for the win. The match was okay, but the problem is that Kelly Kelly totally no sold all the arm work while celebrating her victory, only to remember it right before they cut away from the ring. Way to go girls, you have done a good job of making baby steps towards almost being a real wrestler, although small set backs like forgetting to sell an injury is what ends up making your match come up short.

6 Degrees of…



Andy O'Connor

As for my pick for this week's 6DO, connecting Hall and Nash made me think of the original Outsiders, so my pick is Ponyboy himself: C. Thomas Howell.
Hey YO, Survey Time, does anyone know what the "C" stands for? The only two guesses I got both require a "*" for the 2nd letter to allow it to be printed on 411. Any who... this was a tough choice and when it all comes down to it you have to link a "Pony Boy" with a full grown "Colt".



Oh Colt, when will you ever debut? My guess is when they figure a way to brush off the Mantaur gimmick and make him half man- half horse. Don't laugh, you know they're working on the hind legs right now in Stamford.

Whatchu talkin' bout readers?

Maria Theresa Dalagan went a little joshi crazy this week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7WzzeyEt4Q
one of the prettiest girls to ever come out from All Japan Women's Wrestling, mimi hagiwara attached is her match against chigusa nagayo way back in the early 80's



but anyway, after seeing the judas mesias vs abyss barbed wire match, i felt the urge to send you the barbed wire match of megumi kudo, kudo's pics are attached in this mail, i hope you'd like them

part1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moX24W1tt3w
part2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBAZkt2R9ew
part3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hupw8Fu_hVM

Megumi Kudo

Not bad, I guess the saving grace is that these women would probably kill you with 2 fingers if you questioned their talent. Then again something about a women's barbed wire match seems kind of awkward. I mean, if I wanted to see a women bleed like that I would....you know, let's not even go there this week.

kapengmabula sent me some youtube stuff:

manami toyota singing

Video Description
It's time for another joshi music break with the one and only Kiss no Sekai. Since this is from Momoe Nakanishi's retirement show, there's some special guests in this all star version of Kiss no Sekai. We'll see Momo and Nana as usual, but as for the rest... All I'll say is this, Hotta-chan=KAWAII~!

when joshi wrestlers doubled as pop girl groups

Video Description
Wrestling and Music - usually not a pleasant combo, but for the sake of one Derekosh, I decided to break tradition and pull out this gem featuring the vocals of Kayo Noumi, along with Momoe Nakanishi, Nanae Takahashi and Miho Wakizawa as the idol group Kiss no Sekai. Gotta say, compared to most singing wrestlers, this isn't too bad! Here they are performing "Kiss of the World". Derekosh, got THIS in your collection?

Yeah, um...that was weird. I happen to love joshi wrestling but...I fear that the WWE will follow in this and have a diva start using a singing gimmick to....oh yeah. Damn it Vince. I guess this will eventually lead to a dance group too where a group of....oh shit. Hmm....well at least they can't reform "3 count" right?

6 Degrees Results

#2

Razor Ramon's partner Kevin Nash played Super Shredder in "Ninja Turtles 2" which had a cameo appearance by Vanilla Ice.
Vanilla Ice was the musical guest on an SNL episode which was hosted by Joe Mantegna.
Joe Mantegna is the voice of Fat Tony on "The Simpsons."
"The Simpsons" did a parody of the film "Rear Window", which was remade in the late 90's starring Christopher Reeve.
In "Superman II", Christopher Reeve battled three super villains, one of which (Ursa) was played by Sarah Douglas.
Sarah Douglas was in "V: The Final Battle" with Robert Englund.

I expect opinions on whether or not Ursa was a hot Kryptonian bitch to be sharply divided. Put me on the sharp side.

Andy

P.S. I gotta go with Francine this week.

I'm going with the "eh" on Ursa. Sure she looks like she could suck a golf ball through a garden hose. Only problem is...that's probably what she would actually do to you. Then again...my money's on her being a "clam diver". Word.

#1.

Here's my stab at this weeks 6DO:

1. Scott Hall formed the tag team "The Outsiders" with Kevin Nash
2. Kevin Nash played "Super Shredder" in TMNT 2, which featured the single "Ninja Rap" by Vanilla Ice
3. Vanilla Ice starred in the God-awful movie "Cool as Ice" along with Naomi Campbell
4. Naomi Campbell was featured in the Michael Jackson video, "Keep it in the Closet"
5. The Michael Jackson song "Will You Be There" was featured in the movie "Free Willy" which featured Michael Ironside
6. Michael Ironside was featured in V: The Series with Robert Englund

Cory Mann

Decent job my Mann. Get it? Alright, whatever, it's way too late on a Wednesday night to get anything funny down on paper now. I'm giving you the duke here based on the scary links between the frightening Robert Englund and an even scarier Michael Jackson. You're up next week Cory so get to work on picking a link.

Left Overs…

I always hear people like Kofi Kingston or RVD having "Unorthadox" offense. Does that mean Goldberg had "Orthadox offense".

Is it just me or does Snitsky have the WORST ‘Big Boot' in all of wrestling? If X-Pac had "educated feet", Snitsky's couldn't get a GED.

Are there motor cycle or bike helmet laws in Samoa? Maybe it's just the WWF brain washing me, but that just seem unnecessary.

My suggestion for picking the Presidential candidates? Forget the primaries, let's go with a GOP Elimination Chamber. Couldn't it be any worse than the ECW one?

Does anyone else think that Mr. Kennedy and Kelly Kelly need to form a Mixed Tag Team?

RoH PPV's were dropped in Canada due to only getting about 3 dozen buys. Shit, with the exchange rate...that's like $90....$95? That will only buy you like ¾ of a Jack Evans match. Which gets you like 58 spots, but still.

With the World X-Cup possibly returning, does anyone else worry that Russo will book a team from Dhurkadhurkastan? I can totally imagine them debuting a guy called Mohammed Jihad.

Vince Russo scripting 90% of TNA is like being told you're HIV positive...except for you left foot. That one is "all good".

The Great Booty Debate 2008

By a narrow margin, well not that narrow, about as narrow as Mayra's juicy rump, Ms. Veronica knocked off Francine's knockers. Mmm....that just sounds right. Well the Latinas are kicking and showing a lot of ass. This week we pit two "car models" (Christine Mendoza and Gloria Velez) against each other in a battle of...you know, I actually don't have any witty clichés....just check out the quality ass okay?

Random Asian Bitch Lookin' Good Pic of the Week



Yes, I WILL need a rubber...wait, what?

Random Latina Bitch Lookin' Good Pic of the Week



Get low, low, low, low, low, low, low....too low. A little bit further...Okay, that's good.

Do Dyslexic not get the point of "word scrambles"?

Is anyone else kind of suspicious that the only reason HHH and Steph are having another kid is bank another rehashed storyline for the 35th Anniversary of RAW? I wonder if Aurora or the new kid is going to "resurrect ECW" this time around?

Pimpin' In High Places

I've been too busy this week to even check out most of the stuff on 411 this week doesn't mean you can't though:

Ask 411 has a little something extra this week. No, it's not a ‘nubbin'.

Weyer looks at the high price of dropping business this week.

Slimmer on Small action in this week's Fact or Fiction. Kinky.

CoH is bullish on RoH this week. Then again, if he wasn't...it wouldn't be such a great column would it?

Take a look at Csonka now, 'cos there's just an empty space, and you getting 4 whole R's is Against All Odds and that's what you got to face.

Berman features David vs Goliath-san. Morishima eats Choo Choo and totally ruins his gaijin free diet.

Bauer gets his own column this week...for one week only. Yeah, don't worry, we'll shove him back down to the ECW dungeon soon enough.

A big Happy Birthday to the girlfriend this week. It's been a long, long week and it'll be an even longer weekend. Hopefully y'all got some big plans for Valentines Day, if not, no big deals, strippers need chocolate and flowers too. Naw, fuck it, they'd rather take the monetary value, at least try to origami those bills into a heart or something.

Till then, the Truth will set you free.

-B