The Lansdell-Made News Report 04.27.08

Posted by Chris Lansdell on 04.27.2008

Michael Hayes as a scapegoat, Matt Morgan backed into a corner, TNA taking a risk and RoH expanding. And no Byers, so the TNA hate gets lowered a level.

Backlash preview

Borchardt has the in-depth preview, and the 411 Staff have the Round Table, part one and part two.

As is usual for Backlash, a lot of the matches are rehashes of Mania. I've never liked this. As the biggest event of the year, I always preferred Mania to be a reset button, the jump-off point for new feuds. The problem comes when WWE schedules another PPV for 4 weeks later. There's not a lot of time to build a whole pay per view with new angles. As a result, I'm left not caring about Kane-Chavo, Undertaker-Edge can't possibly beat the Mania match, and if it wasn't for the elimination stipulation hadn't been added, I wouldn't care about the fatal four way either. Michaels-Batista could be good, especially if it leads to Jericho and Michaels teaming up. Anyway, my predictions:

Heel ladies (Natalya pins Kelly Kelly), Big Show, HBK via Jericho-nanigans, Matt Hardy, Chavo, Undertaker, Orton (pins Triple H).

Elevera Anoai Fatu succumbs to cancer

Sad news, as the sister of Afa and Sika, and the mother of Umaga and Rikishi finally lost her 7-year battle with cancer. As a member of one of wrestling's largest and most prominent families, the impact of this loss will be widespread. The thoughts and condolences of all of us here at 411mania go out to the family and friends of Elevera Anoai Fatu at this time.


Michael Hayes has been suspended 60 days after using a racial slur.

Wow, this story was a lot easier to joke about when it first came out and it was about cocaine. As the blackest man on the 411 staff (sorry Bayani), I find nothing amusing in a racial slur.

If it had been meant as one.

IF, and it's a big if, if the story that is being reported is accurate, than Mark Henry blew everything out of proportion. Which suits him well, dude looks like an overcooked Goomba with that small head, no neck, and back moobs. Unfortunately, and I know this well from my days as a supervisor in a call centre, once an allegation of harassment is made, the company HAS to follow up, or it can be liable as well as the offending employee. Make no mistake, this qualifies as harassment. Many people do not appreciate just how broad that law is in most jurisdictions. WWE's hands were tied, and Hayes is lucky to get away with the relatively light punishment he got. Bottom line is that someone in a position of authority, moreso than just another talent, has to keep their nose clean (see? I can work in one of my cocaine jokes anyway!).

There are two coincidences I feel should be pointed out, though. First is that Michael Hayes is the head writer on Smackdown. Mark Henry is a Smackdown talent. Mark Henry has been jobbed out like his name was Horowitz. I'm adding 2 and 2 together and coming perilously close to 60 days. Hayes put himself in a position for Henry to get revenge, and Henry did so. Also, this puts WWE in a sticky position....it would be VERY hard for WWE to release Henry now, because it would look a lot like retaliation, which opens up a huge can of cherry pie filling for Henry to scoff, I mean a can of worms.

The second coincidence? Well, as brilliantly discussed by the always-entertaining Bayani, and reported everywhere this week, the WWE suits recently mandated that they need more black people on TV, because less black people are watching. This suspension, though, will certainly not hurt matters. It makes WWE look like a company that punishes discrimination in all forms. I can't help but wonder if this suspension would have been mentioned, or even if it would have happened, had this directive not come down.

We Want Foley! *clap* *clap* *clapclapclap*

Apparently, WWE have contacted Mick Foley about returning to their programming as an announcer on Smackdown. I can only think it would be to replace The Coach, who is about a bazillion times better as a smarmy, obsequious lapdog than he is...well, anything really. He's the proverbial fish out of water behind that desk, and really needs to go back to Raw, especially if Regal is looking to take a more active in-ring role.

Foley, on the other hand, seems to have realised that his in-ring days are over, but he loves the business. This is probably the best way he can contribute. As much as Foley the Commish ruled, I think that ship has sailed. He's not going to replace Regal, Estrada is doing a great job on ECW, and Vickie Guerrero has a job for life. From behind the mic, he can deliver some good insight, some good comedy, and be the protector that Cole is lacking, both physically and in talking ability.


Ratings down across the board from January to February

WWE Raw
- January '08 Average Rating: 3.55
- Average Rating for February 2007: 3.94
- Average Rating for February 2008: 3.60
- '07-'08 Difference: -8.6%

WWE Smackdown
- January '08 Average Rating: 2.81
- Average Rating for February 2007: 3.06
- Average Rating for February 2008: 2.69
- '07-'08 Difference: -12.1%

ECW on Sci-Fi
- January '08 Average Rating: 1.23
- Rating for February 2007: 1.45
- Average Rating for February 2008: 1.36
- '07-'08 Difference: -6.2%

TNA Impact
- January '08 Average Rating: 1.17
- Average Rating for February 2007: 1.04
- Average Rating for February 2008: 1.09
- '07-'08 Difference: +4.8%

(Credit: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
In other earth-shattering news, Demolition lost the tag titles. Really, with the quality of ALL the on-air product from WWE and TNA declining sharply, why should this surprise us? The only minor surprise is that TNA actually GREW from 2007 to 2008. I'm no hater of TNA, but their product has only recently shown signs of improving. Or at least it did, until Sacrifice gut Russo-fied.

Writers in general, and WWE Creative in particular, at some point are going to have to wake up and realise that their product is bordering on unwatchable, and hardcore fans are starting to turn off. WWE is losing viewers hand over fist, with no Monday Night Football to blame. TNA is obviously not winning them all over, as they have yet to break a 1.3 rating in the couple of years they've had a TV slot. Professional wrestling as a whole is losing viewers. This is partly to do with a lack of megastars with wide appeal, but also because the writers think we want to see two ersatz politicians "fight", or a match so convoluted that the rules take 5 minutes to explain, and then the match lasts 4.

To hear Vince talk, though, the popularity of the DVR is the cause of his shows' low ratings. He may have a point. DVR viewers do not show up in the fast ratings that people tend to post, and more and more people are recording shows. I know my wife will tape a show when she is at home and could otherwise watch it, just to skip commercials. I am sure she's not the only one. My question, then, is this: isn't this a BAD idea for Vince? Advertisers know that people who DVR a show are not watching commercials. Why, then, would Vince tell his major revenue source that a lot of people who watch his show do not watch their commercials?

And before the TNA fanbois start their crowing, you might want to look at this week's ratings: ECW has their lowest week in a long time, and TNA follows suit, dropping to a 1.0 against ECW's 1.16.

But will the bad booking be a hard habit to break?

It's looking like Bound for Glory will be heading to Chicago. This is a good idea. Chicago is a strong wrestling city, with the "smart" fans who will enjoy TNA's style. However...Chicago's fans are right up there with New York and Toronto fans when it comes to brutal honesty and trend-setting. If they catch the merest hint of Russology, we'll be looking at a crowd similar to Brock-Goldberg, and it will be hard for them to say they're sorry. It's a gutsy move, and one that could either pay off huge, or bury TNA for good.

A Tale of Two TNA Big Men

In an interesting contrast of priorities, Matt Morgan and Tomko seem to be heading in opposite directions in Orlando this week. Morgan, who you may remember was offered a contract with American Gladiators, recently turned it down to concentrate on his wrestling career. Far from the stammering giant that he was portrayed as in WWE, Morgan has a lot of potential to go with his physical attributes, making it something of a surprise that Vince let him go. Many people are pointing to this decision and applauding both Morgan for choosing a priority, and TNA for giving him the chance to do both. Looking back, though, I'm not so sure. I remember thinking at the time that the inclusion of Storm and Morgan in Lethal Lockdown seemed both strange and rushed, but I dismissed it at the time as a way to start a Sting/Storm program. The timing, though, is right. What if this was TNA's subtle way of increasing Morgan's role, to force him into a decision that they were fairly certain would be in their favour? Either way, this augurs well for TNA viewers, as Morgan freshens up the midcard, can provide a new challenger for the title eventually, and is a name that was not made elsewhere.

On the other side of the coin, Tomko has shown that his priorities lie in the Orient. Instead of attending the fan fest before Lockdown, Tomko decided he would be better off wrestling for IGF in Japan on April 12. As in the day before the pay per view. As a result, Tomko and AJ dropped the tag team titles on Impact that week. Given TNA's track record for punishing those who slight them (the Motor City Machine Guns are STILL in the dog house), Tomko should be glad he didn't also take the fall in Lethal Lockdown.

In Tomko's defence, I am a touch puzzled as to why a top-level heel would be wanted at a fan festival. Kayfabe is not totally dead yet. It's been well established that all but the biggest names in TNA can make more in Japan and on the indy circuit than by staying with TNA exclusively, and Tomko is big in Japan, tonight big in Japan, be tight, big in Japan, ooh the eastern sea's so blue. So the question becomes, was the drop in status in TNA worth the extra pay cheque?
Random Video Interlude...of DOOM!



Smooth Moves indeed. I need a neck brace.

Mark Briscoe needs surgery, out 3-6 months

This is bad, bad, BAD news for RoH. The Briscoes have been pushed HARD on the fledgling RoH pay per views, and now they discover Mark needs wrist surgery. They did a nice job of covering it with a storyline injury, and later in the week announced that Jay will be allowed to keep the tag titles, choosing a partner with whom to defend them. He chose Austin Aries, who is a good kayfabe choice, but I would have hoped for something different. AT least the Aries-Jacobs angle plays into this match. It remains to be seen whether Jay will be able to choose a different partner for each defence. Presuming there's another one...

Now that's all well and good, but established faces are what RoH needs right now, and they've established the Briscoes. They are lucky in that they can use a taped match or two from some of the recent shows in a pinch, but that's going to be a tough one to sell.


RoH continues to expand to new markets

For a company that is allegedly looking to cut costs, RoH has done a lot of expansion recently. On WrestleMania weekend, they ran Orlando for the first time, they are moving their NYC shows to the bigger part of the Hammerstein, and they have a show coming up in Virginia soon. On the heels of this is the announcement of a planned Toronto show. RoH likes to tun their shows geographically close to each other, so there's a good chance they'' try and get a Cleveland or Buffalo show, if they don't get a double shot.

This can only be a good thing. Toronto is a big wrestling city, as in fact is most of Canada, and this show should fill 1500 seats without much trouble. I, for one, will be there. Never mind the naysayers and haters who claim that low PPV buys will equal low attendance: it's hard to find a Ring of Honor pay per view, and with the more relaxed downloading laws in Canada, it would not surprise me if several people got the shows by nefarious means.

Regardless, RoH is pushing the boat out in 2008, with some strong matches and the pushing of some popular guys (Steen, Castagnoli, Hero) to the title picture to replace Homicide, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels. What is needed now, though, is the promotion of some of the younger guys and possibly some of the RoH students to the midcard, ready to replace the bigger names when they inevitably leave.


Game, Set and Match

In a slow week, that's about all we have for you boys and girls. We'll have live coverage of Backlash tonight, El Jefe Randle is in tomorrow, and Byers will be back next week, SHIMMERing from this weekend. Oh, and I'll be here tomorrow, telling you The Way I C It. Until then...

Lansdellicious - Out.