wrestling / Columns

Dino’s Holiday-Themed Wish List

December 25, 2016 | Posted by Dino Zee
Broken Universe Matt Hardy Hardy Boyz Image Credit: Impact Wrestling

It’s that time of the year where columnists get lazy and gift the readers all sorts of “Best Of” and “Top _ of 20XX” columns, and I am no different. This week, I hope to appeal to the Fat Man in the North Pole, El Señor Papá Noel himself, Santa F’N Claus, and see if he can grant my wishes for WWE, TNA, Lucha Underground, Ring of Honor, and maybe a few others, too.

Nice and easy, and that’s the way we like it during this time of rushing to buy last minute gifts, waiting for deliveries impatiently, and pretending to suddenly like everyone you usually don’t, simply because it’s December.

With that out of the way, we’re going to ape the old Smart Marks format, and commence the wishin’!

Sure… and the jigglin’, too.

WWE Wish: Have Fun Again

This is probably going to sound either sightly corny, or really stupid to some people, but that’s the way it is sometimes. We can argue all day about who gets a push in WWE, or who should get one, or what part of the show is good, or terrible, or what have you, but I’d like to think that we could at least somewhat agree that WWE Main Roster programming just isn’t as fun as it used to be, and I think we all wish it could be again.

And just for clarity, I don’t equate fun with great, so when I call for a return of the former, it doesn’t mean that we’ll automatically get television the quality of the latter.

I think of, quite specifically, Roman Reigns, and how dreadful his treatment – both from fans and WWE – has been since the fall of 2014. As I’ve said before, we can always quibble about which details actually matter, but overall, I’ve watched a company actively engage its fans in a war of attrition regarding who is “right” when it comes to Roman Reigns.

The fans, to their credit (or fault), have happily encouraged it, even when it became clear that this wasn’t going to be a winning battle. And, in my opinion, the fans should never have to stop cheering or booing guys they like or don’t like, just because it’s clear what the plans are. If your favorite wrestler is a guy who will never rise above mid-card status, for example, why shouldn’t you cheer your guts out for him, even if he’ll never be a World Champion? Why not boo Roman Reigns if you dislike him, regardless of the plans for him looking like he’s staying a face for a while?

But WWE, the company who, during the Attitude Era actively told us in no uncertain terms that we were free to cheer who we wanted, boo who we wanted, and that they loved us for expressing ourselves, now gets angry at that practice, and it’s really freaking jarring.

Sure, sure, this is the part one of our resident Business Experts lets me know that the company isn’t run in the same manner as it was at the time, that their practices don’t match what they were at the time, and that it’s simply a different era. I can say that while I don’t like it, I can at least understand the point. But that doesn’t change how hard it is for those of us who’ve been around the whole time, to go from being told one thing, to now basically being punished for it.

And this isn’t intended to simply be a gripe about Roman Reigns. Because like I said, while the fans have done their best in this war, WWE hasn’t helped his cause at all, completely changing the character that got any sort of over with the fans in the first place, and then consistently treated like a world beater who didn’t care about anything, even when these were the very things some fans cited as reasons they didn’t like the guy.

But this new-school WWE wants to craft and create the world it wants, and anyone who voices a disapproving tone is mocked and discredited, even if the person that disapproves is one of those paying fans that just happens to know what he or she likes.

WWE has absolutely every right to do what it wants, and the fans have every right to leave or stay, and to voice approval or disapproval. It’s more fun when the fans feel like they’re being heard. It’s more fun when WWE plays with the fans, instead of openly scolding and punishing them. Shawn Michaels playing Bret Hart’s music, for instance. That’s a good time, and a company showing it’s aware of what the sensibilities of the fans are.

We’re fans, not enemies of the state. We accept that we’re not going to love 100% of everything on the show, but we also expect that we won’t be openly resented for not simply going with the flow. We (meaning at least myself and one other fan who agrees with me) want to see the new guys treated as threats, not just given empty title reigns so they can gloat about hollow credentials. We want heels getting meaningful wins. We want faces that are people you want to root for.

We want to be friends again, WWE. There’s so much to love on your roster, you have this incredible Network where I can go on the greatest nostalgia trips, and you’ve been a part of my life from the start. I ain’t going anywhere, but it sure would be cool if we could be cool.

A little bit of that current “F the fans” vibe, followed by some of that old-school “fun.”

TNA Wish: Find Your New Identity

TNA has been an unbelievably fun ride this year, much more than I would have ever expected as 2015 ended, and I hate to be that guy, but I feel like many of the things that made 2016 so good probably aren’t going to work out for 2017.

For starters… the Broken Hardys. *Ducks thrown trash* I know, I know, lots of the TNA fans are feeling Matt Hardy, and have been since he started this crazy turn. I don’t begrudge them at all for it, and I even spent a few weeks this summer having some fun with it here.

However, the facts are that we’re about to enter the year 2017, and Matt and Jeff Hardy have seemingly been given free reign over anything and everything they do, and it hasn’t necessarily been for TNA’s benefit.

Sure, perhaps we can bring up the added attention he’s brought to the company, and how the specials from the Hardy Compound have allowed TNA to show a new artistic approach to how they present their matches. We can talk about how Matt Hardy should be given credit for making himself the most talked about wrestler of the year after wallowing in stagnation for years. These are all fair points, but they’re lacking from any type of a long view on this.

In terms of the story itself, we’ve already passed the point of sense. Matt Hardy was “broken” after his brother Jeff (currently Brother Nero) took him out, showing no remorse for his own sibling. Matt, already angry over his brother’s stupidity costing them the tag titles, was now hell-bent on a quest to delete Jeff Hardy from history, force him to do his bidding, and regain the TNA Tag Team Titles.

And he did. He literally did all of that. And yet, he’s still broken. And Brother Nero, despite being forgiven, and being allowed to act however he wants, still does his brother’s bidding. TNA even killed a few weeks with a silly amnesia diversion because we’re so far past the point of sense with this thing, that they have to go full-force into to the most nonsensical stuff in the hope that people will keep believing it’s on purpose, that it’s shtick, that it’s still “so bad it’s good.”

Along the way, Decay had to drop the titles and lose their appeal as a top heel act, now relegated to side players in the TNA Hardy Movies. The DCC was almost immediately rendered normal following one interaction with Jeff Hardy on his own. Everything and anything that gets involved only does so in the quest to have The Hardys win.

It can’t continue. TNA needs to make someone off of this whole thing. Someone has to take Broken Matt Hardy out. There needs to be a resolution to this, so that the company can move forward. Much like WWE, TNA has very good pieces that could be used in better positions, they just have to believe in them.

Andrew Everett, Trevor Lee, DJ Z, EC3, Drew Galloway, Mike Bennett, E_Li_Drake, Lashley, and all the rest of the crew can form a show that can stand on its own, with the Hardy oddness able to serve as a quick detour from our usual broadcast. They can be the company that they always wanted to be – the one that focuses on wrestling, and delivers a solid in-ring product – while using the new tricks they learned in presentation to set them apart from what WWE does in their sports entertainment.

I still believe in this company. I still love to watch Impact. I just really hope they can find some fresh footing this year. Not some ridiculous “It’s a new era!” proclamation followed by no real change. I’m hoping for a rebranding, as I think the name “TNA” is beyond toxic at this point. I hope they focus on their younger stars, and focus more on their championships. And, I hope they find a way to cut the Hardy cord. Both are still valuable parts of the roster, but at some point, it has to come to an end.

Still, a huge “My bad” to Matt Hardy from this columnist, as he proved me completely wrong this year regarding how “done” I thought he was. Quite the freaking comeback.

The Other Guys: Keep On Trucking, Keep On Thriving

I hope Lucha Underground stays around for at least a few more years. I know it can’t last forever, but every week, it’s one of my favorite shows to watch, and not just wrestling-wise. Pentagón Jr. / DARK has been my favorite wrestler since he showed up, and I only hope his star continues to rise.

I wish for Ring of Honor to land another TV deal that gets them back on my screen. I do my best to follow them online, but I wish I had better access to them, and Dalton Castle. May 2017 truly be the year of the Party Peacock.

And for New Japan and CMLL, who I still catch every so often, I wish for more amazing matches, incredible lucha libre, dazzling characters, and all the things that make your products stand out.

Overall, I just wish for another great year of wrestling action. Whether it’s on Raw, or Impact, or something else altogether. Because at the end of the day (or in this case, year), the name of the company really don’t matter. It’s the wrestlers, wrestling, that brings us here. The interviews, the skits, everything else is just additional frosting to an already delicious cake.

I wish for the indies to continue to thrive, for Hoodslam to continue to bring the best damn show in the California Bay Area (FUCK THE FANS!!!), and for every fan out there to find the product that suits them the best, and to absolutely enjoy the shit out of it.
Because, as I think you may have heard me say once or twice…

It’s all wrestling. It’s all silly. We all love it.

Even you, WWE.



article topics :

Matt Hardy, Ring of Honor, TNA, WWE, Dino Zee