Csonka’s Random Mania Week Takes: Alberto, Joey Janela, Streaming Fails, More

Welcome back to column time with Larry. We have just completed the busiest time of the year, the gloriously fun but hellish WrestleMania week. There was a ton of great stuff throughout the week, and there will be tons of takeaways from WrestleMania, Takeover and the big stuff, but today, I want to share some takes on stuff that isn’t just about those shows, as there is a ton to discuss. Please feel free to share your opinions. It’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful, and don’t be a dick.” You can check out reviews of WrestleMania 34 here, NXT Takeover here, ROH Supercard of Honor here, SHIMMER 100 here, Matt Riddle’s Bloodsport here, EVOLVE 102 here, EVOLVE 103 here, Mercury Rising 2018 here, Joey Janela’s Spring Break 2 here, and Impact vs. Lucha Underground here.

Streaming Fails: It’s 2018, and you’d think with the advance in technology and promotions getting smarter about what to expect in terms of volume during the biggest week of the year, that streaming issues would be a thing of the past. Unfortunately, they were just as bad as ever. The first offender is WWN Live. I have a membership to the WWN service, and due to that, I got a great deal ordering the EVOLVE shows, Bloodsport, Janela’s Spring Break. SHIMMER, BEYOND, and the WWN Supershow. FITE TV had a package for everything they offered, but I got a better deal through WWN directly, but when all was said and done I should have got the FITE TV deal because I ended up spending just as much to complete my coverage. My issue started with EVOLVE 102’s poor stream, and I had to buy the FITE TV version to do my work. The same issue happened with the WWN Supershow, costing me an extra $30 overall to get both on FITE TV. This was extremely inexcusable, and the lack of preparation was again one of the biggest sins of the weekend. But then ROH arrived and said hold my beer. The company opted to make the Supercard of Honor event available to all Honor Club subscribers, even the lowest tier, causing server overload, and making me question the over $100 VIP service the site purchased. While I appreciate the effort to get new subscribers to the premium tier and wanting fans to see their biggest show ever. This was a huge miscalculation. The stream was generally poor, it went in and out for many, and others couldn’t access the show at all. The fact that these companies cannot properly prepare for these shows is completely ridiculous, you’re losing money, you’re costing others money, and you’re failing to build trust within the fanbase. Basically, get your shit together, and get properly prepared.

The Genius of Joey Janela: Joey Janela isn’t my favorite wrestler, and I think he’s far from a great performer (he’s not bad mind you), but this dude is a hell of a promoter. Last year’s edition of Joey Janela’s Spring Break was far from my kind of show, it was certainly different, but it didn’t make me want to see it again. And if I am being completely honest with you, I really had no plans on covering the event this year but a strong promotional campaign, including some amazing promotional videos, a wide variety of names and interesting matches pulled me in. And I wasn’t the only one, as they pulled in over 1,500 fans for the show, making for a tremendous environment. He buried the EVOLVE & WWN show attendances, and what’s even more impressive is that he did it on his own and without the benefit of a WWE affiliation (EVOLVE & WWN). As a whole show, Joey Janela’s Spring Break may never be fully for me, but overall I had a lot of fun watching it and commend Janela for providing a very different show on a loaded week that drew a huge crowd and has to be considered a success. Much respect Joey Janela.

Longer is Not Better; Pacing & Show Proper Show Layout is Essential: Another lesson that was clear over the week is that longer is not always better, and that pacing and show layout are essential to success. I know some of you will say, “but Larry, you loved WrestleKingdom, and that show was really long.” And you are right, the show is very long, but it is paced and laid out very well, peaks at the right time, and the crowd doesn’t die. In my opinion, NXT, EVOLVE, WWN, SHIMMER, Bloodsport, Impact vs. LU, & JJSB thrived because they were focused shows that didn’t run for an ungodly long time. But ROH & WWE didn’t get the memo, and it showed. ROH Supercard of Honor was the biggest event in the history of the company, and it started out like we were about to see an absolutely great event from the company. And then they took an unneeded intermission, and the show’s pacing went to hell and the quality took a downturn. The tag title match was good while the TV title match was killed by interference and a horrible finish, due to that unneeded interference. Cody vs. Kenny was good but felt like it was missing something, especially considering the build. Things then went off the rails with a horrible Bully Ray segment that was added late, and then during the main event, it went way too long contained way too much bullshit and was everything ROH claims that they aren’t. The show had great potential but went nearly 5-hours, and when you add poor pacing and layout, was dragged down to an average show. Vince McMahon arrived, and said “Hold my beer.” The WWE main TV (Raw & Smackdown) may be extremely average most of the time, I always get excited for Mania and thought that there was a ton of potential of the card. In many ways, WrestleMania 34 was oddly similar to ROH Supercard of Honor, starting like a great show, and then pacing and matches slowly under delivering dragged down the show. WWE WrestleMania 34 was a tale of two shows. While the Andre battle royal was no good, everything through Cena vs. taker was really great overall and I felt that we were on our way to an all-time great Mania considering we had some big matches yet to come. The IC Title and mixed tag matches were great, and the Charlotte vs. Asuka match was VERY good and gave us a surprise ending. But from there, I felt it took a big downturn in quality. The Bryan return made for a great moment, but the match was lacking. Styles vs. Nakamura was pretty good, but a disappointment overall. Nia’s win was the right call for the story, but the match was ok at best. The Raw tag title match felt like a copout by not giving us a cool tag partner for Braun, but it was a great moment for the kid. And finally, Brock vs. Roman was a good and intense physical battle, but unfortunately, no one cared. There are important lessons for both companies to learn from here, but I highly doubt that they will take those lessons to heart. It’s a shame that two companies with so much talent allowed what are seemingly basic issues hurt their shows.

So Long Alberto, You Won’t Be Missed: Impact and Lucha Underground finally got into the WrestleMania mix, and it was about time. The companies came together and put on a good and fun show with solid production, and I hope that the relationship lasts because there is opportunity for a lot of crossover shows. But the biggest thing from the show was something that didn’t happen, and that was the fact that Alberto El Patron no-showed the event, giving us Pentagon Jr. vs. Austin Aries vs. Fenix as the new main event, and we were better of for it. And then he reportedly no-showed another Impact event, and the company fired him and I all could think was Good, Fuck That Guy. Outside of a few moments, I have never been a big fan of Alberto. I never bought into him as a big star, and never bought into the myths that he’s a great draw & worker either. But Impact brought him in out of desperation, hoping he’d be a star and a draw for them, but with Alberto came baggage. His legal issues with Paige came with him leading to a suspension, derailing the title scene, which was to be built around him. The company recovered and carried on, but his return at BFG was an embarrassment and in my opinion, ruined a potentially great main event. His return after that has been lacking, he has never really been interesting, and on top of all of that, he was a financial drain on the company. With his departure, the company has freed up some much-needed money and can focus on locking up or signing more talent to build around. In my opinion, losing Alberto is no real loss when there are better people out here to bring in. While some may see this as a setback, I for one think the company will be better off not having to deal with his baggage, his shit attitude, and his bloated salary. Even better than him being gone is the fact that we now get Pentagon Jr. vs. Austin Aries vs. Fenix in a rematch as the Redemption PPV main event.

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”