wrestling / Columns
Scripted Through Sin 7.22.08: All Apologies
Last week saw fit to grant me a much needed vacation from the keyboard of this article. It came suddenly and almost without warning, and it was all due to my own drunken belligerence as I typed up a nasty little trash piece while semi-watching Victory Road. To say the least, Larry did me a huge favor not printing up that drivel because, to be honest, I never actually paid enough attention to the show to really know just how good or bad it truly was.
I’ve been vocal against many others in this community for being too harsh or too kind to a product just because of its name recognition or whether they had a blind allegiance to the product because it wasn’t the other company that they didn’t like. I’ve berated others for trashing shows that weren’t nearly as bad as claimed, and have talked down to those who praised shows without reason, and last week I swallowed a bitter sweet capsule of ironic poetry, as I became, for that one instance, the very people I looked down upon. But, hopefully, now I sit here with a much clearer head and a fresh eye upon things that I’ve been missing out on.
Lately, my only form of enjoyment in the world of wrestling has come from RAW as they continue to try something fresh and new that has worked in favor of the show’s ratings. Other than that, I’ve been out of the loop with what else has been going on in this whacky little world of ours. Although I did manage to get my hands on the Jerry Lynn shoot interview, and I can’t understand how some TNA fanboys flock to it to try and put down ROH fans such as myself. But I’ll get into this a little later – assuming I don’t ramble on incoherently again, forcing Larry‘s hand to fire me out of a cannon and into Small‘s love interest, The Great Khali. Lord only knows what could happen upon iMPACT! (PUN!)
Just Plain Unfair
So last week saw fit to deliver unto us all Victory Road, and while I vividly recall being sober enough to write down the urge to punch certain people in their faces for that horrible ending to a pay-per-view that I have not seen in such a long time, I do recall hearing many other things about this show. But I’d rather not talk about that show rather than the overall impression this company leaves on me and many others.
The common mistake in leaving these sorts of opinionated columns is that many interpret what the author says as if the author is speaking for absolutely everyone, especially when they speak of a majority. It’s a good assumption considering the way some choose to speak with vague tones when they throw around words such as “everyone” and “no one”. What gets lost in this view is that perhaps the author really is part of that majority and has a right to voice out what the majority is thinking, even if they may not seem the most appropriate voice in the eyes of that minority.
I’ve said before that many fans are turned off to the TNA product, and while some will try and stretch that to mean that I’m speaking of 99.98% of the world’s population that’s an exaggeration of the party of people out there who are turned off by this company’s direction and shows. It’s a sad fact that many TNA fanboys try to erase in order to make themselves out to be the majority – they’re not. I think we can safely say they never were the majority. The reason behind this is because you’ll always have that legion of casual fans who blindly pledge their allegiance to the WWE moniker of product and refuse to look beyond the scope of the WWE products to get their wrestling fix.
I’m sorry to say but there are more people in the wrestling community than the 1.3 million that tune into iMPACT! every week, and considering that pay-per-view buy rates have always been estimated near the ball parks of 65,000 viewers or less, I think we can safely state that the majority of wrestling fans, both the hardcore and casual, are turned off by what this product has to offer. It’s just something one can easily see for themselves based upon these cold numbers, but because I’m the one saying it then it can be dismissed as the ramblings of some “fat, nerdy, lonely, virginal, drunken Spic loser of a smark” by many who just can’t accept the opinions of another individual who is using logic and evidence to back up such statements. Did I really just come off as that much more arrogant in that last statement by pointing to myself as using logic and evidence to back up my own opinions? I really don’t think so considering that’s really what I’ve always tried to do – be fair about my opinions and the voicing out of such an opinion.
Many like to write me off as the guy that is “biased against TNA“, but that’s one of those statements that doesn’t make much sense to me. It’s like Lewis Black’s infamous statement, “if it weren’t for my horse, I wouldn’t have spent that year in college.” Like what the fuck does that even mean? It draws you in to want to find out more, but all that can follow up such an “interesting” statement is, “because you’re fat, and gay.” I always question how some can perceive me to be so happy if I’m clearly fat, a trait that clearly would be depressing for most human beings who live in this society, but snarky comments aside it really doesn’t answer what the statement even means.
For me, what this breaks down to is a lame retort to explain why someone would be harsh against something they, themselves, enjoy. Are some of their criticisms unfounded? Of course not when you consider there are actual voices against their product who are just harsh on the product for the sake of being harsh on it. The problem is that some of these people don’t realize that they’re reaping what they sowed, especially if your champions are people like pspower or rvdtito4life who spend most of their time lambasting the “competition” and the fans of the WWE product. You have to expect people to fire back at you when you’re openly criticizing someone else’s preference, especially when you take into account the manner in which you voice out against something others enjoy. If I have to walk on egg shells for you TNA fanboys, then you should also be considerate of the WWE fanboys out there who may take offense to the nonsense you spit out, yourself.
But lost in this all are the loyal fans who get burned by both sides of this online banter of arguments that lead to nothing. Not the fans who are blind to the company’s flaws and only look to proclaim it as the pinnacle of perfection, or the shining beacon of what this industry should thrive to become – the ones who understand what is hype and what is reality. The ones that have to put up with the oppositions fanboys constantly chiming in about something they don’t understand, throwing their cents around like it ever mattered to anyone but themselves; who have to deal with people who claim to be their peers but are so blinded by their infatuation with the product that they can’t pull themselves far back enough to see that there is, indeed, a problem with it.
Let’s pull away from my own views on the company – a friend of mine who at one point was very excited by the prospects of this company has now become completely weary of its direction and writing. That’s one fan that the company turned away, and I had absolutely nothing to do with it as at the time he was a fan of TNA so was I. Of course that’s just one story and in no way does one person, other than myself, mean we’re representatives of the majority.
But in the end, the writing on the wall that even the fanboys can see is when the “for sale” sign rests outside of the promotion headquarters. Not saying that’ll happen really soon, nor would I want it to as this promotion has always had an air of promise circling it, but it’s bound to happen if this company can’t turn around and expand upon their audience to draw themselves even with their creditors and debts and finally rid themselves of that one monkey scratching and clawing at their back. After all, you can’t call what they’re making a profit if it’s already money spent to pay off past debts, can you?
Despite it all, though, many fans will still hold onto the company, blindly following it and proclaiming it to be greater than what the rest of the world sees it as, all while many who jump off of the promotion’s banner see it as a sinking ship. Jerry Jarrett, Konnan, Ron Killings, Jerry Lynn, Matt Bentley, Chris Harris – all of them have, at one point or another, addressed the company that some were loyal to since day one, a company without direction in one way or another. Then you add in comments from some who are still under contract with the company such as Kip James, and you have to wonder if anyone else can shake management, namely Dixie, to pull the reigns hard and get this company on track with what the fans truly want. One can only hope that she does, and soon. I’d hate to hear anyone else make the comments about how this company resembles WCW on its last leg considering the wealth of talents this company has always had in its arsenal.
BASH It Up!
So The Great American Bash was the event to behold this week, particularly when considering nominations for the Wrestler of the Week. Of course, my friends and I witnessed this event on a big, flat screen HD television in between hands of Texas Hold ‘em. There were some matches we pulled away from our own chip action in order to enjoy the pay-per-view we ordered this go around, but for the most part, it was an event that mostly passed by with us calling, raising, betting and mucking.
It wasn’t so much that it was a bad event, just a bland one. For starters, as fun looking and sounding as the opener was, it still felt thrown together. It also didn’t show any care on the creative’s part for a division that desperately requires an over haul in, and perhaps they’ll get that attention now that Ryder and Hawkins are the champions – I doubt that considering there isn’t much reason to care for this glorified job team that is now going to be standing on their own.
Then you head into what felt like a randomly thrown together match in Matt Hardy and Shelton Benjamin. It delivered as a wrestling match should, but the emotion was seemingly lacking if only for the fact that the storyline and build for this was completely flat. It also showed that once again, a face chasing a heel champion draws in a lot more than a face champion defending. I’d blame this on writing not remaining consistent or strong around Hardy once he was in the driver’s seat of a US Champion role, but even still this run hurt him more than helped him. With Randy Orton still out, we can forget about any future teases of Matt in the main event, especially now that his heat has died down considerably.
Following this would be Mark Henry and Tommy Dreamer which was another attempt to pull at our heart strings using the lovable memories of Tommy’s heydays in ECW. Of course this would lead to us feeling betrayed by Colin Delany’s actions – except for the fact that none of us cared for what came. Honestly, did anyone really think Henry would drop the strap to Dreamer in the first place? Especially during the pacing of that match, did anyone wander off and really think the company would pull the trigger on another Dreamer run? The turn could be interesting, but for the start of it all the match was already dictated to the fans as being a title retention for Big Marky-Mark. The turn of Delany didn’t take away from this point, nor was it seen as necessary to get to that point as Dreamer doesn’t have the type of build, character, look or momentum to make us believe he could beat Mark Henry in a straight fall singles match. So overall, the match didn’t do anything but deliver the predictable to us with a side helping of “do you care?”
Shawn Michaels is growing into a joke, particularly on HD television. He’s two shades away from looking like Chavo’s before picture, and one flick away from looking like the scoundrel that crawled out of a Clint Eastwood Western film. It’s becoming painful to see him perform now if only for the fact that he doesn’t look like the sexy boy we grew up admiring and wanting to be – that lady killing, well conditioned athlete that just had all the charm in the world and the looks to land any chick he desired upon any given night. Now, he’s really looking like the old guy in the crowd that doesn’t realize his thinned out, long hair looks poor, and his eyes look crossed giving him this goofy look. But looks aside, the man can still perform – when he’s not busy fighting the tables, the barricade, the ring apron and floor mats and losing. It was a tremendous bout between he and Jericho upon this night, and while it won’t be considered in the same league as the classic encounter of these two from Wrestlemania XIX, it’s still a fun view that tells such a tremendous story for the year. It seems Michaels still has the golden touch to make people care about him and all he does while never losing sight to keep interest upon his opponent. No classic, but at least the storyline continues to pick up steam and impress a lot of fans with its direction. I’d just wish Jericho would go the full monty with Sean O’Haire’s old devil’s advocate gimmick.
The Divas Championship match certainly had a couple of us in the apartment cursing and muttering obscenities that would have left baby Jesus crying of reasons other than the stable stinking of horse shit. While I knew that Michelle would be granted the title just because of the structure of her feud, and because the WWE loves how marketable her look is post-implants, the manner in which she won the match was horrible. A heel hook to close out a match against an actually strong female wrestler who has worked with many a technical wrestler who are well versed in submissions has to tap out to the Diva who happens to be dating a big name of the locker room – why? Would a pin not have been sufficient enough for this? It just reeks considering the stories of the two’s interaction in the backstage in where Michelle just comes off as arrogant in her trying to teach Natalya, an 8 year veteran, the rules of the WWE game when she’s barely tolerable in the ring herself. I could understand this if the roles were switched, but Michelle trying to coach anyone when she’s still a baby in this industry is really just ridiculous. Oh well, the chick we figured would win, did.
Here’s where the problems of the show begin to glare out heavily – CM Punk is the “A” show champion, come hook or crook, but yet he’s not even the second to last bout to finish out this card. In fact, his match, a highly anticipated bout to see whether the WWE would continue to hold faith in him as a champion played second fiddle behind JBL and John Cena’s feud, which would, of course, end up hurting Cena’s heat just a bit. Not only this, but at the end of the bout, Punk is once again treated like the small fry in the big pond who simply shouldn’t be here. I have no problem with trying to build Punk as an underdog champion, but what irks me here is the fact that the company is even thinking about turning Punk, a seriously hot face champion and draw, into a heel. It’s not necessary at this point and time – forget that his heel character is always going to be cooler and more entertaining to watch. He’s a hot commodity at the moment and him in the championship role draws in interest for the sole fact that he’s a fresh faced face who has never been in the main event picture – he’s new and something fresh to enjoy. Fans aren’t going to turn on him any time soon, and probably don’t want a reason to within the coming months. It’ll be a while before his current heat dies down some to allow even the slightest hint of a turn to be acceptable in many eyes.
Now, if they’re really just teasing a mean streak in him against these bigger bullies that just pick on him in times of his celebration, then let’s pull the triggers on these men turning heel already. Seriously, WWE, you’ve wanted a reason to turn Batista for over a year now, and you’ve had opportunities to do it. Let’s just pull the trigger and have a heel Animal run amuck on RAW, while you figure out what you can do to salvage any care the fans have in Kane.
Oh, and for every match that Batista “shows up” to sandbag, can we please do something drastic to wake his ass up? Like, say, private meetings with Undertaker at the end of every bout in which people in the back feel he was lackluster? I mean, I hold more respect for Scott Hall’s unprofessionalism in no-showing events than I do in Batista’s no-showing matches, because at least you know, at the end of the night, to not bother cutting Hall’s paycheck and sending it out to him. With Batista, when he no-shows, you still have to pay the big lug just because he was physically in the building “performing” his job. It’s really disgusting to think how he manages to get away with this bullshit every year. At least Hall gives you the common courtesy of saving yourself some pennies for his unprofessionalism.
But as for the match, Punk really tried everything he could to showcase to the world he was a deserving champion. It was fun and, for what it was worth, pretty entertaining. Certainly not one of his best, but then again there’s only been one other person capable of pulling out tremendous bouts in Batista and that’s the MMA fan, Deadman.
We then rolled into the John Cena and JBL brawl, and this was every bad experience that made up the Attitude Era, and the time to follow that era, all rolled up into one bad experience. Seriously, I already stated how big a mistake it was for the WWE to have Cena involved in an angle where he was run over by a car going into this pay-per-view event, and then at the show he not only comes out looking great and sporting no visible injuries from the car incident, but at the end of the bout, he doesn’t even look fatigued from the war he just fought. This completely revamped his Superman gimmick, a gimmick we fans have grown tired of in him. This bout completely killed a lot of his current stream of momentum and really took a step back in what he has been accomplishing for the past couple of weeks.
A lot of us had already figured that he, much like Rock and Steve Austin before him, had gotten to the point where he was so over that he didn’t need to be around the title scene to maintain his heat. The problem is that the WWE only now started realizing this. So what do they do in response to this revelation? They sabotage it to the highest degree and spoil most of his new found heat to try and justify how he needs the title to push sales and keep crowd reactions around him. Brilliant.
I’m about ready to call this a year for the company before it gets any worse for them.
To round out the event, Triple H and Edge put forth yet another battle in which Edge displayed, once again, that he just can’t ever beat Triple H in the main event when the title is on the line. I do believe Edge is now 0-4 against Triple H when a main event strap is on the line between the two.
At this point, I wasn’t even bothering to look up at the screen to see what was going on as I focused more on rebounding from losing half my stack on a bad flush call, taking what looked to be the big stack. Honestly, I couldn’t have cared less at this point for the event because it was so obvious what was being done. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; if Triple H can’t find it in himself to do the right thing by the company in dropping the title to Cena last month, why would I buy that he would drop the strap to Edge at The Great American Bash, just a month shy of SummerSlam?
Oh well, here’s to another week of focus on RAW, and drawing in enjoyment from its currently young, fresh, and uniquely new direction. I’m sure that while it’ll never be perfect, it at least is doing enough right at the end of the night to get fans interest up, and keep it up. As for the event itself? I certainly couldn’t tell anyone that it was horrible, just overly bland and at points clearly uninteresting. I would have preferred to look back at this show and claim it to be a worthwhile event that is a must view, but it wasn’t. I guess the summer time blues are starting to kick in as the WWE continues to slip away from the awesome start to the year that they had.
Out with a Limp Wrist
It’s literally almost 3 in the morning of this Monday after The Great American Bash. My mind is losing focus, and I’m more fixed on getting my nominations for Wrestler of the Week in then trying to remember Jerry Lynn’s shoot interview and how some TNA fanboys misinterpret what he said about ROH fans and how overly critical they are. I doubt I’d get around to talking about this next week, as well, as I’m planning on putting in some heavy research for the next article to point out the follies of Triple H and how he hurts the company rather than help it out.
This all while I juggle some meaningless bullshit on another site, plan my return to YouTube video for some daft reason, and try to catch up with what I’ve missed in the wrestling world as of late. Oh, and did I fail to mention the fact that I need to burn like a madman to clear my DVR and hard drive of all of the wrestling I have? Yeah, there pretty much won’t be any sleep for this wicked in the coming days, apparently.
I’d much rather end on the note of Jerry Lynn’s words, but as it stands I’m already tired, grumpy and hot. So instead of getting into his quote and how it was misinterpreted by those who were so quick to shun him on his exit from the company, I’ll just end on this whimper: until next week.
