High Road/Low Road 04.25.08: A One Night King of the Ring Tournament
Posted by Sat & Uncletrunx on 04.25.2008
Last Monday saw the whole King of the Ring tournament take place during the 3 hour Raw special. Some say this was a great idea, others that it was a horrible mistake. Which side are you on? Read the column and make up your mind.
Welcome back to the High Road/Low Road!
A brief explanation of the column: Uncletrunx takes the Low Road (negative view) on angles, gimmicks, and other wrestling related "stuff" while Sat takes the High Road (positive view).
The Results for Samoa Joe/Kurt Angle at Lockdown:
High Road: 75%
Low Road: 09%
Both Roads: 16%
A One Night King of the Ring Tournament
BEFORE THE SHOW
High Road:
Whenever RAW has a three hour edition, something special needs to happen to get the fans to tune in. A regular three hour show just does not cut it for me. The King of the Ring is something special and I think that it definitely deserves to be in this slot. Plus, we have seen King of the Ring tournaments occur in three hours, so it should work.
Low Road:
The King of the Ring used to be something of prestige, a tournament featuring top guys where winning meant something. This was the case because the event got its own Pay Per View event, dedicated to it. I often see it said that each PPV should have something which sets it apart and makes it unique. This used to be the case with King of the Ring, and now it's relegated to Raw. This makes it seem far less important.
High Road:
I was never a big fan of having the last two rounds of the King of the Ring tournament on the pay per views. I never liked that because of the fact that the first few King of the Rings that I saw featured one guy winning three matches in one night to become the King of the Ring. I think by going to the old format, it will work very well because I think that it is easier for the fans to get behind a wrestler who wins a tournament in one night.
Low Road:
I also liked the way the early winners had to wrestle three times in one night. It added importance. However, it worked as it was a Pay Per View event with the tournament final being the main event, at last in the earliest versions. The King of the Ring final isn't even the main event on Raw, making it feel far less important.
High Road:
I like that the WWE did not announce the wrestlers before hand because it creates an element of surprise. This forces you to tune in. Now, the reason that the wrestlers were not announced is that the tournament is going to feature a bunch of midcarders, but I would be surprised if this happened because fans would be pissed at the WWE. I think that the tournament this Monday will feature wrestlers that are main eventers and some that are just below it. Either way, by not announcing the wrestlers, we are forced to tune in to see who the participants are.
Low Road:
The main event guys will be in the main event. I expect to see midcard guys in the tournament; if WWE was going to put top guys in it, they would undoubtedly have released their names beforehand to get people to tune in.
High Road:
I think that most people wanted the draft to be in the spot, but I have to disagree. I think that the draft or the King of the Ring would have gotten the same rating in this spot. So, what I am hoping that the WWE does is that they do the four week draft that they did a few years back. That will draw them four solid ratings for RAW and a good rating for the King of the Ring. This is a win win for the WWE.
Low Road:
I personally am against a drawn out draft; I think it will only serve to heighten the brand confusion. I'm sure that some method of using the show to make a draft based on results (you win, you pick someone to transfer) could've worked, as it did before. I would rather have seen that and had the King of the Ring tournament on its own Pay Per View event, making both into special attractions and gaining twice as much attention.
High Road:
For the most part, the King of the Ring has been an event that can catapult wrestlers into one of the top stars of the WWE. Sure, it has had it failures, but for the most part, the King of the Ring has helped the wrestlers who have won it. Let's just look at the last winner. Booker T won the King of the Ring and then went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship. By having a one night King of the Ring tournament, the winner will win something very meaningful and it also seems like they will be elevated to main event status.
Low Road:
Possibly. However, for every Stone Cold, there has been a Billy Gunn. I would also suggest that what winning King of the Ring did for Booker T was gave him a comedy gimmick which got old quickly; Booker T was already at that level with 5 WCW Championships behind him. There are no guarantees that whoever wins will be elevated; that is as much down to long term booking as what happens on the one night.
AFTER THE SHOW
High Road:
I think that the wrestlers we got in this tournament were a decent bunch. I probably could have lived without having Great Khali and Hornswoggle in the tournament, but they served their purpose. I think that MVP, Matt Hardy, Y2J, CM Punk, William Regal, and Finlay were excellent choices to be in this tournament,
Low Road:
Seven out of the eight I thought were good choices. Then they brought out Hornswoggle and killed it dead. Why do they insist on including him in places where someone like John Morrison, a credible contender, could have been? It's little things like this which annoy me and take the shine off what could otherwise have been a truly stellar event.
High Road:
I think that this tournament had some decent matches. In the first round, we saw two decent matches in Hardy/Punk and Jericho/MVP. The second round had two decent matches with Jericho/Punk and Finlay/Regal. And the final match was also decent with Regal/Punk. Now, I will say that the argument can be made that the matches were short. But, we still saw some very decent matches even if they were a little short, but I don't think that is something to complain about. Remember, the WWE also had a pay per view to sell, so it made sense for the tournament matches to be short.
Low Road:
The argument will be made right now that the matches were too short! I think it certainly is something to complain about, especially when significant time on the show was given to watching a Hilary Clinton impersonator wrestle a Barack Obama impersonator. Given the quality of the competitors we had on display, why not give them those few extra minutes and let them really shine? Instead we had to cut the matches short to make room for awful political comedy. That borders on criminal.
High Road:
I loved the pacing of the King of the Ring tournament. In the first hour, we saw the first round. In the second hour, we saw the second round and in the final hour, we saw the final round. The King of the Ring tournament was very well paced and I felt that it made the tournament more enjoyable.
Low Road:
I have no complaint about the pacing. I think it's a shame that the final wasn't the main event, and that it took second place to a multi man tag match of very little long term significance, however. If WWE seriously wanted us to believe that the win meant something, it should have been the last match and given much more fanfare, rather than coming before the meaningless six man which did nothing except hype the next Pay Per View.
High Road:
I felt that going into the final match, either guy could win the match. First, CM Punk is the Money in the Bank winner and it seems like the WWE has big plans for him, so he could walk out the champion. Also, I could see William Regal walking out as the winner because he would play the king character perfectly. Going into the final match, I could see either guy winning this match.
Low Road:
It's nitpicking, but I would rather have seen Jericho in the final instead of Punk. Punk has the Money in the Bank briefcase and doesn't need the extra build; he's hot enough right now and a cheated loss in an early round wouldn't hurt his momentum. Jericho on the other hand needs a bit of rescuing, I feel, and the Intercontinental belt sadly doesn't mean enough anymore to build him up. I know that there's a likely heel turn in his future, but surely having him cheat to put Punk out of the tournament could have added to that slow build, while a loss in the final to a re-energised but very much heel Regal would have kept him as a tweener for a bit longer and drawn more attention to his ongoing storyline.
High Road:
I like William Regal winning because he has now gained a ton of credibility by winning the King of the Ring. First, by winning a one night tournament, he is considered a legitimate threat. Second, he beat a red hot CM Punk, which also helps his credibility. Plus, Regal came off as a bad ass after this tournament (by beating up Hornswoggle, getting Finlay to pass out, and getting Punk to tap out), something he hasn't been for awhile. William Regal is now a legitimate player on RAW.
Low Road:
It did help to establish Regal as a ruthless fighter with a submission finisher to be feared. That has to be a good thing but it only works in a meaningful manner if it elevates Regal to main event status. As it is, the main event scene is crowded; the 6 man match showed this. I'd rather see Regal in the place JBL is occupying and hope this is a move in that direction, but I think what we'll actually get based on the tournament, is a Regal vs Finlay feud. That's got a ton of potential in terms of match quality but elevates neither man and keeps both firmly in the mid card. That, to me, will be a waste of the King of the Ring tournament.
Simply write "High Road", "Low Road", or "Both Roads" in the comment section.
E-Mails:
These are all of the e-mails that we received this week. We do not respond to the actual e-mail, but the reply to your e-mail will be below.
Freddy Neuwendyke Writes:
I agree it's great that Joe finally one the belt I just wish they didn't make it so blatantly obvious. The whole "loser leaves insert name of company here" stipulation really doesn't work anymore. Most fans are pretty hip to the business and know that no company is
going to throw away one of their big stars just on one measly pay per view. Even casual fans wouldn't buy into that.
Also hopefully this is the end of goof Kurt Angle. There is a place for comedy in wrestling but not when you're trying to market yourself as a serious promotion and the goof is the flagship wrestler of your company. Plus it's the same schtick he'd done to death in WWE for years just throwing more fuel to the anti TNA fans' fire that TNA copies WWE.
Sat: Good point about the stipulation. It was kind of retarded and probably could have been left out. I wish goof Kurt was gone, but I find it hard to believe.
Uncletrunx: I truly hope that they've got rid of comedy Angle for good. The stipulation making the result obvious was one of the things which took the shine off an otherwise great match, as I said (a few times) last week.
Comments:
411 has added a new feature. Below are the comments for last week's columns and our responses. The comments that will be included will be the ones that pertain to this week's column. Also, your comment will not be included if you are commenting on another reader's comment. The comments are as of Monday Evening Pacific Time.
Save ECW 222 Writes:
Dont watch TNA but i read around 411mania that Joe is a big guy and will change the way we look at champs. Hopefully guys like him will be around longer because they dont shoot up in the back.
Sat: One thing we can definitely say about Samoa Joe is that he is not taking steroids.
Uncletrunx: Good point! If the fabled TNA steroid testing comes in, he won't fail...
Killah Writes:
Joe is a badboy, I'm all for Joe with the belt. What's people's opinions on Joe hitting the WWE in a few years time? Think it could ever happen? And if so, think he could be successful? I think he could if booked right, not sure if Vince etc would want to book a guy with his body shape as a champ though. I do remember hearing that he and Cena are quite good friends outside the ring though - which could work for him. Imagine Joe on an undefeated streak in WWE...
Sat: I don't see Samoa Joe coming to the WWE. If TNA does not go bankrupt, then he will be there.
Uncletrunx: If Joe does go to WWE, I can't see him going on an undefeated streak, somehow...
TJ Hooker
Too many low roads amounted to the same thing: "It was good but not as good as it could have been."
I don't know for sure but it seemed the offerings of someone who liked the match but was forced to find faults. The format is sound but you really need genuine polarised viewpoints to exploit it to its fullest potential.
Sat: I think that sometimes we are in a situation where we feel something else, but have to say something else. More so for Uncletrunx just because of the fact that he writes his stuff after me.
Uncletrunx: Some weeks, it's an easy column to write, as the thing we're discussing is a clear Low road. Sometimes I have to find Low road viewpoints for something really good like a match of the year candidate, which is where you'll find a lot of points repeated. My favourites are columns like this week, where something that has a few good and bad points is up for discussion. That's where this column works best.
Guest#8509 Writes:
Kurt Angle in MMA shorts = LOL
Sat: The shorts helped the match just because they were playing the MMA thing, but I will admit that he looked weird in them.
Uncletrunx: I thought it looked ok.
Evil Dave 83 Writes:
Both roads for me.
High Road:
The match itself was pretty good - the MMA-like style was a refreshing change and put a new edge on the submission-counter work that we know these two can do. Plus it actually made Angle look like much more of a threat than I had anticipated: I thought that between the stip and the style this match would have Joe as the main man. Instead Angle worked the style really well and was the master of the situation up until that sick lariat. At points it felt like watching The Game in his prime - get some hits in, get countered, but then work your way out from under and suddenly, bam, Angle's back in control. Nice storytelling right there. And the crowd seemed pretty hot for it at the start.
Low Road:
1) For all that it was well worked and innovative, I left the match thinking that there should have been more to it. I know Kurt's pretty broken but the finish did feel rushed and I think the match would have been better for a few extra minutes and a little more wrestling towards the end. Mattis called it right; it was a wrestling move that turned the match and the style did change, but whilst the tweener style did give the match a 'realistic' competitive edge I felt it ultimately took away from the impact of the finish by replacing some of the drama of wrestling with the combat of MMA.
2) I watched a good match between two wrestlers I really admire and, come the finish, I did not give much of a shit. It was telegraphed from a mile off with that stupid stip, and TNA made a huge mistake in not giving Joe the strap a year ago. He was so frigging hot back then, and so much of that has been lost. I like Angle, but too much crap HAS devalued what could have been a really special moment in Joe's win. I just can't put that aside. When the whole year's build has been total shite it takes more than a mid-length 4* match to redeem it, and one very good match is not enough to recreate the aura that Joe had last year. Fact is, TNA simply couldn't put Joe's reign off any longer and had to do their best to retrieve the situation. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't completely forget this fact during the match and that guaranteed that Joe's win could never be one of those golden moments. The match was spoiled by this pervasive knowledge of missed opportunities, and that just sucks.
Sat: In a perfect world, Joe should have won the title last year. Plus, I think that clothesline probably hurt Angle a lot.
Uncletrunx: Indeed; having Angle playing a goofy comedy character for almost a whole year doesn't help to build to moments like this; had the build been better it would have been an event like Rock vs Austin or Hart vs Michaels. The build through the year hurt the match, that's for certain and I only hope that from here on they manage to avoid making their top guys into goofy comic characters.
MC42 Writes:
Joe got the clean, no bullshit win in the middle of the ring with his finishing move to win the title. That in itself puts it in the High Road. However, there's one problem I had with the match itself. It wasn't that the stip made the result easy as hell to predict as some of the best moments are the ones where you know exactly what's coming but mark out for it anyway. It's not that they made it an MMA-style match; it was simply a different style of match to go along with the million others that pro wrestling has. My problem was that, until the last few minutes, Joe looked like shit. He got some token offense once in a while but overall was completely dominated by Angle. Then he came back, no-selled everything and killed Angle after a few moves. That's the only problem I have with the match but it isn't enough to make this Low Road or even in the Middle.
Sat: Again, I agree the stip could have been left out.
Uncletrunx: The stipulation didn't add anything and the MMA elements of the match didn't work as well as I would've hoped. To be honest, I didn't come away thinking that Joe was in any way devalued by the match. I thought he came across well at the end and that he had enough in the middle to stay believable.
Pete Writes:
High Road Joe got his long overdue world title reign. Enough said. Great match too
Sat: I think that the reason that this match is being liked so much is because it was something new. Credit goes to TNA for doing something different.
Uncletrunx: I think it's getting credit because TNA finally put the belt on Joe, something which has been overdue now for about 18 months.
L Mago Writes:
High Road. IMHO, Low Road arguments like "this match wasn't good enough" or "stupid stipulation" can't overcame positive efforts of this match. People saying about damaged credibility in the past, but forget about how Joe can restore his credibility in the future.
Sat: The match was good enough. The low road that has some legs was the stipulation. Plus, Joe's credibility is back because he won the title in a huge match.
Uncletrunx: Joe's credibility is now there and if the TNA booking team take advantage it should be no problem to build him up into a great champion. The questions for me are now about Angle; his year of comedy added to his loss here mean his booking will need attention to avoid him being ruined.
King Miker Writes:
High Road. I will admit that I did not see this match but I applaud TNA for trying something new. It wasn't a crazy stipulation, it wasn't marred by overbooking, it was everything it should have been. I can't wait to see this match when it comes out on DVD. I'll be picking this up August... 2009.
Sat: Am I missing something because it doesn't take TNA a year to get their DVDs out or does it?
Uncletrunx: I don't know. I only own 2 TNA DVDs and I bought both of those long after the events.
Col Writes:
Thankfully for once...TNA HAS HIT THE HIGH ROAD! While I'm not one of the people that thinks it's one of the best matches ever, Joe vs Angle at Lockdown was admittedly done very well and for the most part a damn fine match.
The best part of the whole damn thing was undoubtedly the build to the match, which was done as any big title match should be. I'm shocked that TNA could book anything without goofiness, but it happened and good lord did it have an effect.
So yep, great build + very good match + no screwjobs or shenanigans + Joe finally winning = TNA TAKING THE HIGH ROAD.
I never thought I'd write those words seeing as I didn't read this site back in 2005/2006 when TNA was everything I loved about wrestling. Now if only they can keep it up or at least build on it from here.
What's that? Angle's gotten himself into the Sacrifice main event after shenanigans this week on Impact? *sigh*
Sat: I think the goofiness was there with the stipulation, but it did not hurt the match. Yeah, Angle in the Sacrifice main event proably shouldn;t have happened. Personaly, I would have like to have seen Angle say he was going to use his rematch clause at the next pay per view.
Uncletrunx: Angle in the Sacrifice main event blows two huge matches in one month, I think. I wish they'd held off and gone longer term with the booking. An Angle vs Joe rematch with the belt on Joe could still be well worth watching, in my opinion.
Your reasons for taking the High Road, Low Road, or Both Roads and suggestions for future High Road/Low Road are welcome at satuncletrunx@gmail.com or in the comment section. Your reply will be included in next week's column.
Posted By: Guest#0467 (Guest) on April 25, 2008 at 12:06 PM
High Road. The KOTR was a good event this year and it helped do what it's all about - give a mid-carder more credibility. Punk didn't need the win, nor did Jericho or MVP. Regal was a good choice, IMO, especially as he can probably pull the "King" gimmick of perfectly.
Posted By: Michelle (Guest) on April 25, 2008 at 01:23 PM
Both
liked the outcome and believe Regal will be a great king. I liked how they set it up so it looked like he booked it so he would have the easy way in. "seemed believable". but at the same time they could of threw Benjamin and Morrison in there and had much better matches while giving King Regal more credablity as the king. It was a good set up but i hate the fact Khali was in it and really hate the fact Hornswoggle was in it.
Ill give it a B.
Could of done it better.
Posted By: George (Guest) on April 25, 2008 at 02:01 PM
High Road.
Regal is a great wrestler, has out of control hair, an awesome robe, and has "Villain" wrote across his tights...what more can you ask for?
Posted By: Ryan (Guest) on April 25, 2008 at 02:02 PM
Unfortunately, I gotta say this is probably yet another wait and see type of thing. I have to go high road for the King of the Ring tournament itself. Okay, so I think it sucks that it was on Raw instead of PPV. That set aside, the matches were mostly good, and it is really cool that Regal won. I've always been something of a Regal fan and always felt he was a bit underappreciated.
We'll have to see where they go with this. If it isn't used to push Regal, then there was no point to doing it. I would love to see Regal finally pushed to the main event. With the stale main event scene we have right now, it could really help to have Regal on top, and he could do the snobby King gimmick really well. I'd love to see Regal get the WWE or World title at some point, even if not for a very long reign.
Posted By: RavenEffect (Guest) on April 25, 2008 at 03:05 PM
Both roads? The matches were good,but a semi-retired Regal winning makes no sense.
Posted By: SaveECW222 (Registered) on April 25, 2008 at 03:25 PM
Only bitch I have is that the KOR final should have been main event of raw.
Posted By: Big Fat Fag (Guest) on April 25, 2008 at 03:29 PM
High road with one change. Each person in it should have to win a match to qualify. That way, the tourney would happen during one night. It would also give some other wrestlers a chance to be on T.V. Actually, I wouldn't mind if they had the final two people go at it at the next PPV. That way, you could build a fued.
Posted By: Capt. Smooth (Guest) on April 25, 2008 at 05:54 PM
Both roads: High for booking it in the first place, and low for the simple fact that, yes, the matches were too short (Punk/Hardy was WAY too short) and, primarily, because Punk looked very weak in the final round against Regal. Sure he had already wrestled two credible competitors, but he TAPPED OUT TO REGAL AFTER FOUR MINUTES! I can think of, literally, a dozen ways they could have put Regal over in that match without making Punk look so weak, and that's why I was outright angered at the way the match - and the tournament - ended.
Posted By: KanyonKreist (Registered) on April 25, 2008 at 06:53 PM
High Road. Ryan said it better than I ever of could.
Posted By: ButchReedMark (Guest) on April 25, 2008 at 09:12 PM
high road
Posted By: nanoman (Guest) on April 25, 2008 at 10:32 PM
Once again, a very good column. I'm going to go High Road on this one. When it comes to the likes of John Morrison not being involved...I'd be more concerned about what happened on ECW the next night to him. Morrison really didn't fit in my eyes, because his focus is the WWE Tag belts right now. I personally think Elijah Burke or Shelton Benjamin would have been better inclusions. They could easily have had Burke "hurt" Punk in a losing effort, or have Shelton Benjamin do the same thing Kahli did to Finlay. I mean if they are going to have Kofi defeat Shelton, then they could have easily had Finlay roll him up with injured legs. Hornswoggle was a necessary evil in this one though. Just to have Regal look lucky. As much as I like Regal winning the KotR, I feel that having Edge win a second one, would have been good for his "Ultimate Opportunist" gimmick. Hopfully Regal will be vaulted to the Main Event scene. Even if it is a brief stay for him to job to Triple H or John Cena. (Speaking of which, him using an STF to win all 3 matches?) Still, I'll take the High Road here. It suprised me, and I like being suprised. Oh, and I'll also say that despite the length of the matches, Jericho and Punk really made this the best RAW in a while with there matches. Having Undertaker and Edge involved boosted the quality as well.
Posted By: Joe Osborne (Guest) on April 25, 2008 at 11:21 PM
The more I think about it, the more I wish they'd held off the final round match until Backlash; it's not like Punk even has a match at the payperview, and that way they also could've given each of the tournament matches a little more time on Raw. Of course, that probably wouldn't have happened; they would've just filled the extra time with a John McCain impersonator.
Posted By: KanyonKreist (Registered) on April 25, 2008 at 11:31 PM
Low Road
Posted By: Justin (Guest) on April 26, 2008 at 11:09 AM
I have to disagree with those saying the final should have been held off for a PPV. The idea is that it is winning a one night tourny. The achievement is not only from winning the final but winning the final and the preceeding matches in one night.
Saying that, I think the whole thing should have been on PPV and had 16 competitors rather than 8.
I'll have to plump for Both Roads since, as much as I like King Regal, I would have preferred more of a big time feel to the event. A month of buildup with qualifying matches and promos from all the up and comers looking to make their name and the veterans looking to get back on track would have given it a greater sense of importance.
Posted By: Dr Domino (Guest) on April 28, 2008 at 02:56 PM
