Truth B Told 12.25.08: Out with the Old, In with the Old

Posted by Bayani Domingo on 12.25.2008

He who comes last in booking, shall be first in the kingdom of Vince. We’re running out of “underdogs” and “redemption stories” so who is “Next” and who will be chasing that “brass ring” for the next decade?


Don't get too excited people, it's my Christmas vacation and I figured I'd shoot out a short column this week to tide you over while you're trying to find a diversion from the screaming nieces and nephews, drunken Uncle Chester, overbearing mothers who keep asking why you aren't married, have kids, have a girlfriend…or cleaned your basement "apartment" in a week and a half. It has been a hell of a week trying to get every last second task done before I shut down at work for the Holidays and my traveling plans have been seriously screwed with thanks for the snow storm in Seattle. Plus it ain't easy finding internet in 6" of snow stuck at the top of a God forsaken hill in a hick town like Skyway. But the show must go on and if the Post Office can deliver, then so can I. So I'm squeezing out a little commentary on X-mas eve or for you non-Christian "heathens"…Wednesday. There isn't a whole lot to talk about in wrestling this week, at least nothing that I care to rehash again, but I was sort of thinking I should stick with a Christmas theme this week and figured that I could touch on the subject of "giving and receiving" for all the good little boys and girls who have been good all year and deserve a little gift in return.

I think we've been talking about Jeff Hardy's "redemption" and first time title victory for about as long as we can before we start repeating ourselves, however that really is the biggest story of this quarter in the business of wrestling. In fact it seems like his brother's win has been all but forgotten in the wake of the more popular younger Hardy Boy. Not that this will lead to the much rumored "Matt Hardy turn" or anything due to jealousy, but you never know. With the Hardy Boyz (the "Z" makes it all "street" you know) back to back title wins it seems like all of the really anticipated first time championships have been fulfilled. When I think about all the contenders to titles in the "e" right now they are all former champions (Henry for the ECW title, Edge and HHH for the WWE Title, and a quartet of challengers for Cena's belt). So I guess I'm wondering now that "Rainbow Brite" and the "Uncharismatic Enigma" have their bright shiny belts, who's next in line?

I want you to go down a mental list of all the wrestlers left in the "e" that are long time veterans in the company or have wrestled at least a good 10 or so years in the industry and have never won a World Title and what do you have: D'Lo Brown, Goldust, Jim Duggans, Hardcore Holly, William Regal, Fit Finlay, Shane Helms, and Funaki. Not exactly the most impressive lot around and in my opinion there aren't a lot of great options amongst them to take the mantle of "Best in the World". If you get rid of the obvious names who will never become a World Champion like Funaki, Helms, and D'Lo you are left with a much shorter list. "Hacksaw" is way past his prime and although he was once a very popular wrestler he is no longer even a viable lower card wrestler. Hardcore Holly is in no condition to wrestle, let alone be champion and even when he was he was in no way real "Championship Material" as he was a solid hand and a school yard bully. Goldust is…um…well he's Goldust. So that leaves us with merely two options as the next "Redemption Story" or "Long time coming" storyline in William Regal and Fit Finlay.

There are many different kinds of title wins, some are built up from a slow build when a wrestler works his way up from young lion to mid-carder, get a head of steam behind him as his fan base grows and he becomes a legit main eventer and then a champion. John Cena, Kurt Angle, HHH, and HBK managed to work their way up in that manner. Some title victories are given to the "Next Big Thing", the Brock Lesnars and Randy Ortons of the industry. Then you have the "Lifetime Achievement Awards", the Booker T World Heavyweight Title win after a number of WCW title reigns, JBL's illogical rise from mid-card beer swilling tag wrestler to Millionaire Chicken shit heel champion, Rey Mysterio finally grasping the brass ring…after said ring was lowered down a few feet for him to actually reach, and then you have the Hardy Boyz. Two guys with talent, one with focus and dedication to the sport, one with freaky charisma (when he doesn't speak) with a huge following due to his daredevil attitude. The question is whether Fit Finlay or William Regal can follow in the footsteps of the "Veterans made good". the thing is that while I don't think either man has a real chance of becoming "The Man" in the WWE seeing as how Cena and HHH are still living and breathing, I couldn't imagine why either man wouldn't be able to get a pity title reign in ECW.

Vince let Mark Henry run with the title when no better options presented themselves, he let John Morrison get a shot to rise to the occasion after an unfortunate incident with an unbalanced Canadian, RVD, Kane, Chavo, Punk, Lashley, the ECW title has been the one "second chance/take a chance" title in the WWE. While the WWE and World Heavyweight titles have had their fair share of questionable champions (Khali and Vince McMahon, anyone?) it seems like unless you are an overwhelming fan favorite, an unstoppable monster, or a "Blue Chipper", the ECW title is the title you are most likely to chase. In the case of Regal and Finlay you could really make a case for either of these two men to earn a shot at being "a" World Champion if not one of THE most important two World Champions. If nothing else it just seems as though anyone who deserved a title reign has already gotten one, or isn't quite ready for one.

The "e" is made up of "main event" guys that consistently hover around title contention, young studs who are just learning the ropes and are "paying their dues" in order to get a shot a the big belts, or your middle class wrestlers, the guys who have been working for 3 to 7 years like Shelton, Haas, MVP, Kennedy, and Carlito. While they've all had their strong mid-card pushes at one point or another it seems like the "e" isn't ready to pull the trigger yet. That's when they bring in veterans like Finlay, Regal, Chavo, or Matt Hardy to work with them and hopefully give them the rub they need to take that next step. Sometimes it works and a relatively new wrestler becomes a champion as a result (look at what Angle did for Lesnar, HHH did for Batista, and Bret Hart did for HBK) but sometimes the reverse happens and you end up with MVP stuck in the mid-card on Smackdown and Matt Hardy holding gold…I mean silver in ECW or Chavo getting over on CM Punk. If you look at the make up of the ECW roster you see a lot of young guys who are too green to hold the title and the only really steady hands on deck are Matt and Finlay. You have to wonder if Vince feels better about a veteran holding the title to see if a youngster can rise to the occasion yet again, if so I wouldn't doubt that Finlay or Regal could help a "green horn" become a star. Now if only Regal could manage to stay out of the "wellness pool".

Sometimes however you miss the bus and you are left with wrestlers who "never were" and they just seem to circle the upper mid-card drain. I always felt guys like Christopher Daniels deserved better in both RoH and TNA. Giving him a chance to shine as champion of either company would have made sense at one point or another but the trigger was never pulled and AJ got his multiple TNA titles and guys like Xavier held the RoH strap. What makes RoH great at times also makes it a bit boring. A long title reign can really stabilize a company and create a single focus at the top, but that of course is at the risk of leaving guys like Jimmy Jacobs, Chris Hero, and Roderick Strong constantly treading water in the deep end of the mid-card. Guys like Homicide and CM Punk got "lifetime achievement awards while short timers like James Gibson got the strap, but then you have the veterans who just never got the chance. Could Finlay and Regal be the "Million Dollar Man" and Roddy Piper of their generation?

Vince and the bookers seem happy to let Regal and Finlay kick around the mid-card. They are mainly "Player-Coaches" in the old tradition of baseball, rather than full time wrestlers. They work with young guys, teach them, help get them ready for their bright futures, while being left to realize their own futures have probably peaked long ago. while given the occasional scraps like the IC title or a nice little main event on TV or PPV they aren't considered "main event guys", in fact they never really were. They have an IWC following but perhaps not much more than that. Even Finlay's leprechaun son is more over than he is. It's a sad but true fact of wrestling that not every dog has his day, but the one silver lining in the otherwise pile of crap that the non-existence of the "Brand Split" has created is that the entire roster is now watered down due to a 3rd brand. So even if it's a "C" class World Championship Title…it's still a "World Championship" and that means guys like Finlay and Regal have a chance…even a slight chance of getting their one day in the sun.

The Truth

Will Finlay or Regal get their opportunity first to become world champion? If I had money to put down I'd say Finlay for no other reason than he's less likely to be busted for another "Wellness Violation". Plus the guys is already on the ECW roster. If Matt Hardy were to actually turn heel then that really leaves Finlay as the most popular face left on the roster. While I've never been a huge fan of the man, he brings a great old school feel to his matches and a bit of realism and "shootishness" (sp?) that I used to love prior to the Hornswoggle non-sense. While I always felt Regal was the better overall package, his past may be catching up to him, as well as his male leotard hiding physique. We're running out of "worthy veterans" if no one has realized and at some point we'll be looking for that mid-class of wrestler to step up and be the new "steady hands". Then again, it seems like old wrestlers don't retire…they just stop working many House Shows to stay a bit fresher. It looks like the "e" has a lot more "star making" to do if they expect to not have to keep recycling championships among the same guys, don't they?

Coming Up Short

Nathan Jones still has employment opportunities in wrestling. While that should be enough to "come up short", what's amazing is that TNA is interested in the man and is looking to bring him into the fold. The problem I have with TNA doing this is that they are going to have to set him up in some kind of a feud with Kevin Nash, Matt Morgan, Lance Rock, or Abyss considering those guys are the only wrestlers capable of matching his size. When you consider that only Abyss and Morgan are really full-time wrestlers it really limits your ability to book good feuds with wrestlers of that size. While things have worked with wrestlers like Big Show, Undertaker, and even Kane when it comes to booking wrestlers that dwarf the rest of the roster, you only have to look at Khali, Giant Gonzalez, and Trytan to see what a disadvantage it can also become. TNA needs to really think about the direction of their company and adding a wrestler who brings so little to the table except for size may not be what they need right now. I would hate to think that the company is once again coming up short of any real purpose and direction and simply trying to add as many new toys to their toy box as they can.

6 Degrees of…



Well you know what day it is today, so let's feature a man who has become the one true symbol of Christmas. No, not Baby Jesus…sure he's the "reason for the season" but I'm talking about a man who gets much more publicity than anyone else does on the 25th of December…that's right…Tim Allen. To think the man used to have his own show on primetime TV, too bad the "Santa Clause" has run it's course. Oh well, let's link up the pudgy bearded man to another pudgy bearded man with just as much to be thankful for this time of year…a job.



Deck the halls with boughs of barbed wire…falalalala…lala…la…lardass. It will be interesting to see what Mick has left in the ring at the next PPV. It seems like Mick and Santa have something in common after all, they both only work one night a year.

Whatchu talkin' bout readers?

First thing's first: I'm picking the asian.

Now to the point of this post.

Now, I'm not sure how much you actually keep up with TNA, currently or in the past, but TNA did have a pretty decent storyline setup, for the transition from "Canadian Enforcer" Bobby Roode to Robert Roode Inc.

As I remember it, TNA had that pretty big storyline, leading to the dissolution of Team Canada.

In fact, it led to something for almost every member.

The way I remember it, TNA played it up like all the members of Team Canada had their contracts through the group.

Thus, when they "disbanded", each member had to sign contracts with TNA, with Cornette as the face of management.

In case you can't remember, TNA even made a huge deal about Eric Young finding a way to get a TNA contract, with "Showtime" EY getting over pretty quickly.

Anyway, the story was that Roode, being one of the best young talents in the company and a future star, held TNA up for a huge contract, with TNA obliging, seeing his potential.

Period. Point Blank.

TNA even spent a month of time, with the newly rich Robert Roode, trying to find a manager.

Not as confusing at it would seem, if you actually saw the story play out.

If you're going to knock TNA, spend some time following the product, and find some legit stuff to gripe about.

The Sharkboy to "Stone Cold" Sharkey was probably one of the most random and stupid things that Tna's done, in my opinion, so I agree on that point.

Still, it wasn't like TNA just told him to just show up immediately. They spent almost two months beating the "sharkboy" out of Sharkboy. Things went on long enough, that he was "beat into a coma".

The reveal of the character was really cheesy, but TNA at least put forward a plan for it, and , suprisingly, it got a bit over.

Still hokey, but it got over.

Posted By: scipio2009 (Guest)

I actually follow TNA pretty closely and to be honest the evolution of Roode's character was okay, but the fact is that it seemed like in the matter of a week or two he went from ex-member of Team Canada to millionaire without any real explanation until about 5 weeks later. It was just kind of stupid that they decided to give Roode a JBL/DiBiase type character and went with the easy, "He inherited money from a mysterious rich uncle" route. I think Roode has done a good job with the push and current gimmick he has, but it's just lazy. At least JBL's transformation made sense in a kayfabe and non-kayfabe manner. Everything you are talking about really comes after the one week change from anonymous mid-carder on his own to "Richie Rich".

6 Degrees Results

#2

1. Blago tried to sell Obama's Senate seat
2. Obama paraphrased The Rock when he asked "if we smell what Barack is cookin"
(now it gets really easy, and pointless)
3. The Rock wrestled Steve Austin
4. Steve Austin wrestled Mick Foley
5. Mick Foley wrestled Triple H
6. Triple H wrestled Jeff Hardy

Could have only been 3 degrees, since Rock surely wrestled Jeff Hardy at some point.

Posted By: The REAL MP

The easier link would have been from Obama to The Rock to Jeff Hardy smokin' a Rock.

#1.

I usually go default asian, but I'm leaning toward Latina this week.

Actually - we can do this 6 degrees

1. Jeff Hardy is known as the Rainbow Warrior.

2. Rainbow Warrior is also the name of the first Greenpeace ship.

3. Greenpeace uses Civil Disobedience as a form of protest.

4. Martin Luther King was one of the most famous Civil Disobedience leaders.

5. Jesse Jackson was present when MLK was shot.

6. Jesse Jackson's son may be involved in the scandal surrounding Gov. Blagovasuar (sp?).

Posted By: BobbyC

So are you saying that Jesse Jackson is the gunman on the grassy knoll, Bobby? Hmm…that explains a lot…okay, maybe only very little, but it's a possibility.

Left Overs…

The Metro-Manimal Batista is on the shelf for 6 to 8 months following a brand new experimental therapy to repair a bum hamstring that could also prevent future potential injuries. The therapy is known as "Violet Beauregarde Surgery"…where he'll be sent to a room to be de-juiced.

Tomko may be done already after turning down a full bodysuit/mask gimmick. I don't blame him, a stupid gimmick like that would be Suicide.

Looks like TNA is interested in bringing in Elijah Burke into the fold. With Christopher Daniels also potentially coming back the rumors are that they will team the "Black Pope" and "Fallen Angel" together along with a new revamped and hardcore Abyss. The stable will be known as "Black and White and Red all over".

Khali and Mae Young an item? Wow, I wonder when the feud with Mark Henry will begin? I hear that Khali got lucky on their first date when he took Mae Young to "Medieval Times"…which is the same time Mae Young first lost her virginity.

R-Truth not granted access into Canada? Well, it kinda makes sense right? They adopted Hockey as their national sport…if that doesn't tell you they don't want to let any Black guys into the country, then what does?

The Great Booty Debate 2008

Trust me, you aren't going to be unwrapping any packages this great this Holiday.

Random Asian Bitch Lookin' Good Pic of the Week



Tran Nguyen: I wish she was blowing more than just bubbles.

Random Latina Bitch Lookin' Good Pic of the Week



Kathryn Arbenz: One of the only times that I would love to "assume".

Congrats to Frankie Kazarian and Traci Brooks who are recently engaged to be married. Now all they need is for California to declare Prop 8 unconstitutional and they are ready to go.

Al Snow/Mick Foley feud ixnayed by Double J.

Hardcore Reunion was recently announced which will feature a load of ex-ECW wrestlers. The weekend will also include an autograph session, Q&A session, and a canned food drive to benefit the wrestlers after the show. I hear Balls Mahoney actually likes the canned pumpkin.

I read somewhere that Kurt Angle actually thought that his wife Karen was cheating with another and that was one of the reasons for the divorce. My money is actually on that wrestler being ODB or Gail Kim…well how else would you bi-sex an Angle?

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and early Happy Kwanzaa to you all…what the hell are you doing reading about wrestling right now? Get back to second helpings on that Ham, Turkey, or Hot Pocket. By the way, I hope you all got some kick ass presents this year…or at least got the gift receipts for the shitty ones. Back to full force next week with a little more wrestling for your pie hole.

So from all of me here at TBT to all of you...well...let's just let Hiromi say it for me...




Till then, the Truth will set you free.

-B