Scripted Through Sin 10.28.08: Random Thinking

I’m really trying to get through this but every week I sit in front of this computer, my keyboard almost literally on my lap as I lounge back in my seat staring blankly at the big illuminated screen that rests atop my desktop, completely dumbfounded and incapable of coherent thought around the world of professional wrestling. The last time I sat down and wrote, again my eyes were bigger than my stomach for yet another project I thought would help separate me from the pack of other talented writers of this site, detailing one of the main issues some critics hold against the WWE promotion while detailing some ideas as to how I’d mold the ECW roster and how to best utilize their strengths. I mistakenly thought that Ryan Braddock was the same person as Kevin “Thorn” Fertig based upon their images. Had I done a little more research on the man I’d have come to realize that, unbeknownst to me for quite some time, Fertig had been released from his contract and that this was one of the many FCW talents the WWE had on reserve since bringing the company under their developmental banner, so for the second time since I’ve started writing on this site, and it wasn’t that long ago folks, I’m left apologizing for an oversight made on my part that I ended up printing on this site. So in my haste to do a portion of the article that I suddenly wasn’t feeling up to after laying down the ground work for, glossing over the Wrestling Observer article, I ended up making yet another careless error in my article and have to admit that I looked completely foolish. Probably not as foolish as when I printed the mistake about the ROH show in Canada being a Tuesday afternoon event, but nevertheless I still looked like a damned fool.

What else makes me look foolish on this site has been my complete inability to do the simplest of tasks for this site: writing a weekly column. It was my duty to provide content for this site every Tuesday along with several other writers and of them all I’ve been the most inconsistent despite having the most open schedule to do this. It wasn’t something that was completely unrealistic or beyond realistic grasps asked upon me to do every week as I volunteered for this duty and made it clear that this time slot was fine with me. It’s not like I’m being forced to do this against my will, it’s not even at a great inconvenience to my life and time as it was my decision to sign up for this duty and to my decision to perform it at the date and time I’m requested to hand in my material.

So for the past two weeks, while not being on this web site in the form of this column, I’ve looked like a complete and utter jackass – I can freely admit this without any issue.

And even as I sit here today, again going through my typical motions of trying to divert my attention into the usual channels, I still find it tough to actually type anything wrestling related. My mind is submerged in everything but wrestling at the moment, and I can’t even think of a single topic that I could touch up on that the rest of this staff wouldn’t have already brought up and placed opinions upon. However, in no way should this excuse my inaction on this site as it is still my duty to provide content for it every Tuesday like I had been asked to do when I first signed up.

What it basically breaks down to is that when I’m truly motivated by something the gears in my head really start churning and leave me inspired to do a piece the way I feel it should be done – it should try and look as professional as I can muster, and it’s been tough to do that when I haven’t had that kind of inspiration and have been, for a while, half-assing it by just trying to fill up pages. It seems that when I’m really driven to write a piece you can kind of tell by the manner in which I write – or maybe you can’t because my technique of writing always seems to remain so consistent that there are no differences in my tendencies. I don’t know, I feel like all I’m doing is adding filler as I wait patiently for something to strike me for a topic.

For what it’s worth, I’ll try and generally think aloud some wrestling related topics and hope that clicks something. If not, at least I’ll have actually done some discussion of wrestling in this column.

So last Thursday saw TNA enter into the HD era of media entertainment and held this live edition of iMPACT! at the Hard Rock Café, I presume, in Las Vegas. While I was happy to see that they did in fact use their new opening video, which is very well cut and looks very good, the show itself was still typical TNA, and the environment of the show looked like old school WCW Saturday Night tapings. The stage looked nice, some of the graphical upgrades were a welcome addition, but the production of this product was still the same – missing some very big shots and overall coming off amateurish.

It seems every time I open my mouth about TNA I seem to draw nothing but ire, but I’ve always looked at this company as being nothing more than a super indy with a television show. This show looked bad, and it shouldn’t have. They were reported to have a nice, big audience but you never got that feeling watching the show as it progressed and all because of the seating arrangement. The camera angles as typical for this company looked awkward and, in the words of Bryan Alvarez, “made it look like they only had 250 people” in attendance. What irks me about this is the fact that they kept hyping this show as being something so big, yet I felt like it was just another night for this company – just nothing special there.

The unveiling of the TNA Legends Championship was dull and completely pointless, the X Division title match was pathetic, Christy Hemme as a face was a failed experiment of 2007 – or am I the only one who remembers that – and the main champion isn’t the main focus of this company, it’s Kurt Angle, apparently. There wasn’t a thing on this show to draw back any new viewers, and that is sad because this company does have the best roster in the world and has some great potential with some of the ideas they’ve got.

It also doesn’t help that the big match they’ll be building towards, the Youth versus the “Main Event Mafia”, was rushed out there for almost no reason. Add to that further and this match had no emotion in it thanks to the producer in the back deciding that they were simply going to break in between this bout without a lead in to that break, and just before the heels had their way with the faces to build up the emotion.

The good news about this show? Well, they went up against the World Series and still maintained their casual rating of a 1.1[3] but given the hype and build for this show, is it really asking too much that they actually get more than a 1.2 by now? I’d hate to even trivialize how they managed to remain strong over the World Series, because regardless of why the Series this year may not do so well in the ratings the fact is that TNA went up against them in a primetime slot and still held strong to their usual figure and that’s something to commend them upon. But I wouldn’t go so far out as to claim this as their biggest victory because their biggest victory should be getting over that 1.2 hump and drawing bigger crowds for their live gates.

That’s what it all boils down to – better business for TNA so that they can stand strong as a true media company. At the moment they’re still failing that task as their last New York house show figures showed a decline in attendance from the previous New York tour and that shouldn’t be happening.

But at least TNA fans can rejoice as it appears that ROH may be heading into a decline as they’ve officially released Gabe Sapolsky as their booker. For some this decision was welcomed, and for others, it’s the calling sign of the apocalypse and we should all now make peace with our time and hope to be accepted into the heavenly gates of eternal bliss.

Personally I’m on the fence about it all. I’ve always thought Gabe too inconsistent with his decisions, too strong on repackaging some of the same stars and catering too much to the hardcore crowds. Above all of that, I’ve always thought him overrated in his role based purely upon the fact that what he does is give us some great matches but not enough in the way of great stories. In the time he’s been the booker at ROH; the talk has always been about the matches while the stories seem to be more for a niche audience for some odd reason.

This to me could be the blessing in disguise for ROH as they finally have a chance to move forward as a media wrestling product, something many of its fans have feared since the company started heating up in late 2004 and early 2005. I’ve always said they wouldn’t have to change much, just limit a lot of the vulgarity from their workers so that they can be presented on a national network. They’ve demonstrated they can appeal to a main stream crowd, and that they can manage their time for a televised broadcast.

For ROH, the decision to leave Gabe as part of its past could be a step in the right decision should they find a better replacement – but that’s like saying perhaps the antelope wouldn’t be eaten by the lion if the lion had Parkinson’s. Whoever ROH decides to go with the goal will be obvious as they strive to grow as a company and land a role on television somewhere.

Perhaps the trend of the company paying for so many special attraction wrestlers and getting very little back in return was the point to draw the end of the relationship between Gabe and Cary [Silken] because it does feel as though all of the money issues experienced earlier this year stemmed from the oversaturated bookings of these Japanese talents. After all, with the way things are going with the economy, the decision to keep with the current model that has worked for ROH so well has also shown some cracks in the foundation of the company with the financial issues earlier this year and something had to give. Obviously that something was Gabe despite the numerous accredits to being the Wrestling Observer’s booker of the year for the past, I believe, 3 years running. Perhaps it was also a decision based upon finances for this company as much as it was a hope to move into a new direction that keeps to the core of what this company is all about while performing on a new platform on the media.

At the moment this is all just speculation as details of the release haven’t quite come in as of my writing of this column. For all we know it could just be a difference of opinions as to whom the top star of the company should be that just escalated to the level of Gabe getting fired.

What may come from this decision in the end is ROH‘s partnership with TNA may dissolve in the physical form of TNA wrestlers no longer doing shows for ROH events just because the cost of bringing in these stars may not be viewed as worth the investment. Unfortunately for many ROH fans this is a bad deal for them as the desire to see so many form ROH alumni return to the halls of ROH is what entices them so heavily about this new working deal with the Nashville based company. So the hope of one day seeing Jay Lethal return to the company to possibly clash with Tyler Black is one of fading existence now that Gabe will no longer be around for the company.

No point talking about PWG‘s Battle of Los Angeles tournament this year as the site is going to be heavily discussing it and the brackets. Why go into detail over something I’ll be participating in with the other writers this week?

As for the WWE – oh, what am I going to say? I haven’t cared about this company in the past 3 weeks to actually pay it any mind. At this point it’s starting to feel like Raw is back to its 2004 form of rinsing and repeating the same tired and boring formula, SmackDown! is back to its 2005 antics of silly booking decisions while incorporating some of the 1995 antics that drove fans screaming away to the alternatives, while ECW remains to be the same failed experiment that lacks a steady voice like Dusty Rhodes. Maybe I’ll get over this eventually, but right now I’m not too thrilled with most of the things this company is doing at the moment like I was earlier this year. Perhaps this is just the rut the company is slumming through on their way to Survivor Series but I can’t help but feel that this should be the time the company really digs down deep and try to strengthen the revenue they make from the domestic market. The bulk of WWE‘s finances has been, as of late, coming from the international scene which has been very strong to the company.

Whatever the case, my comments about WWE are limited to “I haven’t a clue.”

And that’ll do it for me as I try and think of a better column to present for you all next week. For the time being, I’ll just do my best with the duties I’ve signed up for this week as I do Fact or Ficition, hang out with Lansdell on A Brace for Impact, participate in Bayani’s special PWG Battle of Los Angeles roundtable discussion, and whatever else that I can sign up for. Lord only knows most of you can only deal with me in small doses – unfortunately for me I’ve actually got to live with myself.

Until next week…hopefully.