wrestling / Columns

Your News, My Views 11.04.08

November 4, 2008 | Posted by Larry Csonka

WELCOME~!

Welcome back kids! It’s Tuesday, it’s the wrestling zone, there is news to discuss and I am here as always! I hope that this finds everyone doing well, relaxed, and having a good start to the week. Last weekend was a traveling weekend as the marching band I wrote drill and arranged music for was competing for the state championship. They took third overall, which is their best placement in 10-years. I was proud of the kids, and it was awesome to see my work come to life. What, you’re surprised? I have two music degrees kids and yes, I put them to use. Working from home is a great gig if you can do it. Anyway, we need to get to the column, but first, some happy day offerings…

Also a happy…
– Citizenship Day in Northern Marianas
– Community Service Day in Dominica
– Constitution Day in Tonga
– Election Day in the United States of America
– Flag Day in Palau Panama
– National Day in Micronesia
– National Unity Day in Italy
– Unity Day in Russia
– St. Charles Day in Andorra

BUYS or NO BUYS

BUYS or NO BUYS is a new feature here, similar to what I used to do in discussing random events and small bits of wrestling news. BUYS or NO BUYS is a phrase I use all the time, even outside of wrestling. In a way it is just another way of ranking GOOD or BAD. So each week I will kick off the column with BUYS or NO BUYS, discussing the world of wrestling, this website and or my life. Feel free to skip it, I won’t be offended.

MANY BUYS to FREE SHIT! I think we all like those times in life when we get things given to us for free. Last week was awesome as my Blockbuster account had three free rentals on it, the local bookstore had a basket of CD’s by the register and if you spent $35 you got a free CD. This allowed me to grad a copy of “George Carlin: Complaints and Grievances.” Finally I took Hana mini-golfing on Sunday, and hole #7 was “get a hole in one, get a free game” day. The little shit got it for the free game. Good times.

NO BUYS to my Father-in-Law. This poor bastard just doesn’t get it. Listen up dude; you just cannot play Madden, not at all. I will give him credit, he is great at Halo, Ghost Recon and games like that. Actually he is excellent at those games. But Madden? No, just no. This weekend we once again played many games, four to be exact, and again he got defeated badly.

– LARRY: 49, Father-in-Law: 0
– LARRY: 52, Father-in-Law: 0
– LARRY: 50, Father-in-Law: 10 (I slacked here)
– LARRY: 63, Father-in-Law: 3 (I was mad that I slacked)

Better luck next time dude.

MANY BUYS to Christi and her mother. Now that we have moved into SC and live within the same housing development as Christi’s parents, she and he mother have finally pulled the trigger on starting their own business. Both are artists and actually spent the weekend in Virginia at a craft show cleaning up sales wise. I haven’t seen Christi’s mom so happy in years.

NO BUYS to JIM ROSS. Many times I agree with good old JR, but recently his blog entry made me cry: ” On Vladimir Kozlov: Said it before…I like where Vladimir Kozlov is headed but how much better would he be with a bona fide, main event level manager? BTW there are none available which speaks to the shape the business is in regarding talent development.” James Mitchell and Larry Sweeney say hello there JR.

Speaking of no buys, sup Randle? I’m just saying…

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

HOW CAN ANYONE EAT THIS?

…LINKZ…
Remember that fun, free, addicting flash games await you at 411’s new sister site, TigerFlashGames.com! Go there or Ashish will cry!

Cook takes one for the team and covers Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling!

Column of Honor Part I!

Column of Honor Part II!

Thoughts from the Top Rope!

Five Star Conversation!

WOTW!

The MMA Zone, it’s like my third child.

Dixieland Developments and Diatribes:

When TNA ran their live Impact two weeks ago, one of the things that people complained about was the Sheik Abdul Bashir vs. Jay Lethal match. In my opinion it was some major league bullshit. It wasn’t just bullshit because it was a match they hyped all week. And no it wasn’t just bullshit because it was a 2-minute TITLE match. It WAS bullshit because it was a match they hyped all week, that happened to be a TITLE match that the #1 contender had to survive the entire division just to get the shot. Seriously, they had Lethal get the win at the PPV in the Steel Asylum, where as I said he had to survive the entire division. He is then hyped as the #1 contender last week and then they announce for the SPECIAL, LIVE and in HD IMPACT that he would try to win the title once again. I knew Bashir was going to win the match. I didn’t even have a problem with him winning the match clean; because even the heel champion needs the occasional clean win. But I absolutely HATED that they put this 2-minute match out there and acted like it meant something. Apparently the original plan for the X-Division title match was to have a good amount of time and be the “good” wrestling match early in the show. But the Christy Hemme vs. Velvet Sky match as well as the post-match angle went too long, as did some of the other early segments. While I do not always like to use the “WWE vs. TNA” comparison, and yes these things do happen in the WWE from time to time, this is an area that TNA needs to improve in. Also, they need to CUT DOWN ON THE NUMBER OF SEGMENTS! If you extend the matches, you don’t have to run so many damn segments that end up not meaning that much. Also, Hemme vs. Sky was a waste of time and not only was it a bad opener, but took time away from matches that needed the precious time. In the end the company felt handcuffed and the feeling was with the gauntlet match having 60-second intervals that they couldn’t cut the match any shorter. I agree with that, they really didn’t have the choice there. Also they couldn’t cut the women’s title change or main event, both were matches that were already too short to begin with. Again, CUT DOWN ON THE NUMBER OF SEGMENTS and allow some bumper time incase something goes long.
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I think that many figured Mick Foley coming to TNA would cause some changes, unfortunately for some of the roster it is a change that they didn’t want. Since Mick Foley has come into the company, many of the “regular talent” have not been flown into Orlando for the Impact tapings. There are a few reasons for this. First of all the show is focusing on more interview time, and with more interview time and less matches, they are simply not needed. The other thing is that with Foley’s pay, not known as of this time, there is no need to pay for flights for talent that will not be used on the shows in any way. Also, a lot of the regulars weren’t even brought to Las Vegas for the live Impact special. This was seen as a surprise as the live Impact in Vegas was seen as a big party for the company. But again, this is all about the bottom line ad while it sucks for some of the guys that aren’t getting paid when they don’t work, financially this makes sense.
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In a cost cutting move, TNA has cut backstage agents Glen Gilbertti and Pat “Simon Diamond” Kenny. Both men were involved on and off with the company since the beginning. Once their wrestling careers ended, they were both used as agents. When BG James was taken from the active roster to a backstage role, some felt as if someone would have to go. As mentioned above, many of the “regular talent” have not been flown into Orlando for the Impact tapings, partly since they won’t be used, partly to cut costs that don’t need to be used and to pay for Mick Foley. While TNA continues to grow and become more financially sufficient, they are still a company that is small and has to watch the bottom line closely. This was likely the right move to make, but damn I would give anything to get Scott D’Amore back.
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And to close out the TNA news for the week, we have a story involving TNA Legend’s Champion Booker T. Booker was scheduled to picket the Houston sports bar “Vito’s Deck House” as he claimed that they racially discriminated against the Christian faith. The story goes as so, on October 26th Booker T and Marty Wright, known to wrestling fans as The Boogeyman went to the establishment to watch an NFL game. Two guys hanging out, and shit, I don’t know about you but I want so see these guys hanging out. The conversation has to be amazing. Anyway, a short while after they arrived, a bartender came up to Wright and asked him to take off his cross, or leave the establishment because it violated the dress code. Now, Booker got upset at this and asked to speak to the manager. The manager then explained that it was part of the dress code, but when Booker asked to see where the dress code was posted, guess what? The dress code wasn’t posted anywhere in the establishment. From there Booker refused to leave and also told Wright not to leave. The police were then called and told Booker and Wright to leave, and then they filed a report.

Booker is claiming that he saw two other patrons wearing crosses and they were not approached by management or told to leave. Those two people left the sports bar when they saw Booker and Wright being kicked out over Wright wearing a cross. Booker scheduled a protest march and wanted to get as much publicity as possible to tell about the sports bar suppressing people’s freedom to express their belief in God. I have to say that I agree 100% with Booker here. Yes I am a Christian, no I do not wear a cross usually, but the facts are this. While they CLAIMED to have this dress code, it was NOT posted anywhere for the patrons on the establishment to see. While the bar does have the right to set the code, without it being displayed it comes across as if they selectively enforce the rule. What about the two guys that were also wearing crosses, but never told to leave? Seriously, if the bar doesn’t want any “religion” displayed in there, how hard is it to POST the dress code? It is cool if people don’t believe in God, and if that is your choice, cool. But post the dress code and properly enforce across the board, not this way.

I mean, I am sure that they wouldn’t have any sort of double standard.

Vito’s looks like an upstanding place…

Wait, CAMERAMAN…ZOOM!

SHOCKING! An employee, in a picture, on their website, wearing a CROSS! Yeah, I am now leaning towards the “it’s because they were black” theory.
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Stamford Occurrences and Outbursts:

With Elite XC folding, Kimbo Slice’s name was recently brought up by at least one WWE writer. Vince McMahon had no real reaction to Slice’s name. Kimbo Slice is an interesting name to bring up. The man is a ratings draw; there is no denying that. Let’s look at the facts. FACT: Kimbo Slice’s fight with Tank Abbot is the highest rated Elite show to ever air on Showtime and due to the promotion closing and nothing will change that. FACT: Kimbo Slice was the reason that Elite XC drew their first sell out crowd and due to the promotion closing and nothing will change that. FACT: Kimbo Slice was the reason the first CBS show did well in the ratings with a constant increase (up to 6.5 million viewers). FACT: The next Elite special lost 43% from the ratings of the first special; Kimbo was NOT on that show. FACT: The third event was back to 4.3 million viewers, with Kimbo on the card. FACT: Kimbo Slice in prime time was in the highest rated fight both times he fought. FACT: HE. IS. A. DRAW.

A draw in MMA that is…

While there is some cross over in the fan base, there is no guarantee that it will translate to wrestling. Also, while Slice is a bigger than life character, as well as a big guy; but he lacks one thing, charisma. Kimbo in about every interview I have watched comes off as a wet noodle, I don’t feel the charisma. That is the one thing that will hold him back. Also, I don’t think that the US Wrestling audience would take to him as much as say, the Japanese audience. Shit, Bob Sapp was God there for a while. I just have the feeling that Kimbo in the WWE wouldn’t work outside of a one shot deal.

Sticking with fighters without a place to work, there is Gina Carano, the OTHER draw from Elite XC. Unfortunately it doesn’t appear that anyone has brought up Gina Carano’s name, which is a shame in a way. Carano was great on American Gladiators, and as much as I would love to see women’s MMA thrive, part of me would love to see what she would accomplish in wrestling. She has a playful personality, is an athlete, is hot and well, yeah, she’s hot.

I’d let her take me to the mat and get full mount… I’m just sayin…

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Funaki is currently working with Ricky Steamboat on improving his ring work with the new “Kung Fu Naki” gimmick. This is the first push in a long time for Funaki, the first since 2004 when he won the Cruiserweight title. The Kung Fu Naki gimmick is one I think that people will love or hate, but hey, I am glad to see the guy get a chance. He’s worked hard, done everything they have asked of him over the years and while mostly an enhancement guy, he did the “job” as well as you could expect. With the Kung Fu Naki gimmick now, he needs to do it as well as possible, and who better to work with than Ricky Steamboat? Sure Kung Fu Naki will never be a main event guy, and hell he likely won’t see the mid-card, but if you are going to do something, do it to the best of your ability. I just hope that we get some wacky vignettes with Kung Fu Naki-san working with Sensei Steamboat. MANY BUYS! Well, not really, but it would be fun.
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San Diego has been one of the company’s hottest markets, largely due to Rey Mysterio being such a strong local draw. This is the reason that Rey was added to the October 28th Smackdown tapings. Unfortunately for WWE, the show only drew about 4,500 fans. This was seen as a disappointment internally since shows in the area, especially with Rey on the card have sold very well. Right now this is, of course not something to get bent out of shape about. So many people rush to the “sky is falling” deal when the read something like this, but that shouldn’t be the case just yet. Yes, when a market that has been hot starts to drop, there needs to be concern, but not after one time. If this happens again, then yes they should worry. With the state of the economy, we have to remember that the “entertainment dollar” won’t be as much as it was. The thing that is good for WWE is that they are the big dogs in the wrestling world and overall they will be the last to be hit hard by the economy. Local Indy groups will get hit, then the big ones like ROH, PWG and CHIKARA, followed by TNA and then WWE. In the end it is something to keep an eye on, but nothing to cry about right now. Don’t worry kids; Daddy Warbucks (aka Vince) is doing just fine. No generic purchases in the McMahon house.
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The official word on Evan Bourne is that he has suffered a torn deltoid ligament and a dislocated ankle and has been fitted with a huge boot. Now, while I have bee critical of Bam Neeley, I have to say that this was NOT his fault. I saw a lot of people blaming him for the injury, but after watching it, it was just a freak accident. He dove, Bam caught, they went down and the ankle got trapped underneath Neeley. It sucks, but no one was at fault. Also, Vince and the WWE were NOT at fault for him getting hurt. I have heard so much shit about, “WWE made him work three hard matches three nights in a row!” Listen, first of all this doesn’t happen that often. But secondly, and more importantly, Evan Bourne is USED to working three nights in a row and working much harder in those matches, while taking more risks. Between his time on the US Indy scene and Japan, he has done this a lot; it was nothing new to him. Again, it was an accident and no one was at fault.

Now that I have had my time on the old soapbox, let’s discuss the injury. While there is NEVER a good time for someone to get injured, this was the worst possible time for young Evan Bourne to get an injury of this magnitude. Bourne was in the middle of the biggest push of his career. While he was on the losing end at Cyber Sunday and on Raw, his performances were very good. Also his match against Chavo to get into the voting for Cyber Sunday was a great match. His association with Rey Mysterio has also helped his stock rise in the eyes of the fans, to make them give him a chance, while his athletic ability has been so good that they have stayed with him. He was planned to work with Rey more and tag against Kane and Henry last night on the big three-hour Raw, but due to the injury that was obviously off.

“What will happen next” is the big question. With WWE, many times a guy will come back with fanfare from an injury: see Cena, John, and H, Triple. Other times they just show up and are there: see Ceros, Rhino. While they seem high on Bourne right now, four months is a long time, and there is the chance he will get the Rhino treatment. I hope not, but we need to be prepared for that. Also, Bourne has been allowed to be himself largely as a performer in the ring, and has also been allowed to do moves (shooting star press) that had been supposedly “banned” to other performers. But he is a “high flying” performer that was just injured while performing a “high risk” move. WWE has been quick to control high flyers in cases like this, and there is the possibility that they could do that when Bourne returns.

Personally I hope that they think long and hard about his return, see how well he was doing, hype the hell out of his return and then I hope that they don’t change a thing with him. All right, let me correct that, let’s have him hang out with Hayes, Dusty and some others and teach the kid to cut a promo. That they can change.
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Today in Wrestling History
Today in Wrestling History is what happened on THIS DATE in wrestling history.

1980 – Dory Funk, Jr. defeated Dusty Rhodes for the Florida State Heavyweight title

1982 – Greg Valentine defeated Wahoo McDaniel for the NWA U.S. Heavyweight title

1991 – Tom Prichard defeated Eric Embry for the USWA Southern Heavyweight title

1991 – Doug Masters & Bart Sawyer defeated Jeff Jarrett & Robert Fuller for the USWA Tag Team titles

1994 – 2 Cold Scorpio defeated Jason for the ECW Television title

1994 – Dean Malenko defeated 2 Cold Scorpio for the ECW Television title

2001 – Event – Rebellion, Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester, England

2000 – Shark Boy defeated Rory Fox for the HWA Cruiserweight Title

1950 – Died – Danno O’Mahoney in an auto accident at 37

2001 – Died – Helen Hart of organ failure at 76

Independent and International Insights~!

In a move that most expected after last week’s shocking announcement from ROH, Gabe Sapolsky has stepped down as the booker of Florida’s Full Impact Pro. The bottom line is that with him being released from ROH, it was no longer feasible for him to continue working for FIP. Gabe would go down to Florida to work on the production of ROH DVDs, FIP DVDs and as well as work with the commentary teams and then book for the FIP Shows, which also worked into ROH shows with the cross over. I discussed Gabe leaving in detail last week, so no need to rehash that. I figured the move to oust him from FIP was coming, so now the question is, where does Gabe go from here? I doubt that WWE would be that interested, nor would I think that Gabe would want to work the WWE grind. And then there is TNA. Gabe has never been a big fan of the product, and I don’t see TNA getting rid of Russo any time soon. It will be interesting to see if Gabe resurfaces somewhere, or disappears into the sunset.
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In news that I would like to title, “don’t get your hopes up,” the NWA and Big Vision Entertainment (the producers of Wrestling Society X) are combining to shoot new episodes for “NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood.” The taping will take place on 11/14, 11/15, and 11/16 in Hollywood, CA. This is not the first time that the NWA has tried to come back in the last few years. They had the show on MAVTV that failed, the show on COLORS I believe that no one saw and now they try this. The plan is for the show to be a throwback of sorts to old 80s style wrestling shows with the hope is that the show will land syndication and cable deals. Now don’t get me wrong, I would LOVE to see the NWA and or ROH get some kind of TV deal on an actual channel that people get and would watch, but history has shown that this will likely not happen. I wish them the bets of luck and I would be down with an old 80s style wrestling show on TV in 2008. I love watching classic wrestling and old 80s style wrestling, so it would be a welcomed addition to my wrestling viewing. I wish them the best of luck, but I am not holding my breath on this one. I will say that the relationship with Big Vision Entertainment is a good thing, and will help with production and distribution, which is a hard battle to fight especially with the machine that is WWE dominating the industry.
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In what has to be considered bad news for the promotion, Perro Aguayo Jr, Damian 666 and Mr. Aguila have all left CMLL to work Independently. CMLL was counting on the return on Perro Aguayo Jr to bolster declining attendance, which obviously is not happening now. Aguayo Jr. plans to book himself on Indy shows, but will also plan to work Arena Mexico and big shows for the company down the line. As of now Aguayo Jr plans to take some time off until some new guys get over, and then he plans to return with fresh opponents. I think that this is a good idea, not only because he will get fresh opponents, but also so he can make sure he is 100% when he comes back. The other thing that I feel is smart is that he doesn’t want to work against any CMLL talent for the time being. Again this is to make things feel fresh when he comes back, and to maximize his booking fee. The other thing that could mean big money for Aguayo Jr, Mistico and CMLL is the fact that he also has said that he would like to have the promoted hair vs. mask match with Mistico. That of course would be further down the line, but is a match many fans have anticipated for some time. Right now the plan is for Aguayo Jr to book shows and use foreign stars, with the idea that he could work against the best talent in the world. Again he is trying to maximize his revenue as well as keep himself in the spotlight as much as possible. With his popularity and drawing ability, I think that Aguayo Jr has a decent chance to succeed here. The plan is to promote his first independent show in December under the Los Perros Del Mal promotional banner and is promising lower tickets prices and better match quality than any other promotion in Mexico. We’ll have to wait and see if that happens, because we all know how many times promoters have promised things and never delivered.
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With Perro Aguayo Jr, Damian 666 and Mr. Aguila all leaving CMLL, Mistico is now scheduled to return on November 7th. This is nearly two months earlier than expected. It has been reported that Mistico aggravated his injury during rehab, and that he would be out until January. If he is returning to ring action this soon, I feel that this is a HUGE mistake. While Mistico has been great over the years, he has also been saddled with injuries and until recently never took the proper time to heal. Attendance may be down, and the return of Mistico may seem like a good idea Perro Aguayo Jr, Damian 666 and Mr. Aguila all leaving CMLL, but I personally think that this is a HUGE mistake. Mistico coming back early is a desperation move by CMLL and just foolish for Mistico. I won’t be surprised if he ends up in worse shape than Rey Jr. at this pace.
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Marco Corleone (the former Mark Jindrak) is currently taking lessons in stripper dancing. Right now the pseudo stripper gimmick he is doing is getting great crowd heat, as the men in the audience hate him and the women love. First of all I think it is great that Corleone/Jindrak has done so well in CMLL. When I used to get the shows regularly I always followed his progress. I thought he would do better in WWE, but it just never worked there for him. Secondly, I personally love when guys take the extra effort to make themselves better. Like guys like Paul London and Rhino taking acting lessons, to Corleone/Jindrak taking dance lessons to improve his pseudo stripper gimmick, this is going the extra mile to get over and to get to the top. It doesn’t always work of course, but as a fan I always appreciate the guys that go the extra mile.
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~TNA TURNING POINT PREVIEW~

~FEEDBACK~

From Peter: For those of you (Larry & Michael) who think your NFL teams have issues let me tell you how hard it’s been being a Niner fan this last 8 years. Then you can complain about your teams who have been good (and won championships) for the last few years.

LARRY: I didn’t mean to make you upset, trust me I know I have it much better than a lot of people. But I have to voice my frustrations when my team, who was winning and SHOULD HAVE WON throw away a game.

From USAUSA1: TNA tv deal in Mexico is so weak no one will know it’s on. That’s why WWE left the network because it sucks and only a limited of amount of people get the network.

Just remember, despite low attendance CMLL is the only wrestling company in the world that gets 100% profits from their shows. 5000 might be low but they get all the money including food, drinks, etc. That’s why CMLL will never be on the verge of going out of business. Owning an arena is a smart investment.

LARRY: I understand that the TNA deal is a weaker deal, but the point was that with more products to choose from, it could hurt the local product. And yes you make an excellent point about CMLL owning the arena, it is a very good thing and a smart investment. But the fact that they are losing talent, have injuries and the attendance is down is a cause for concern. Thanks for the comment.

From THIS GUY: Larry made me happiest fucking person today by remembering Diwali (an Indian festival)

LARRY: I do what I can with what I got.

From The Phemon: Hey was gives Larry? Only two E Entertainer’s amongst all those TNA Wrestler’s? Showing a little bias are we, haha.

LARRY: Knox – Independent
Melina – WWE
Love – TNA
Sky – TNA
Mickie – WWE
Layla – WWE

1 Independent
2 TNA
3 WWE

From Nick: Oh yeah, forgot to say I’ve put down about 10 McRibs over the last 2 1/2 weeks and I’ll put another one down today for you, Larry.

BEST FAST FOOD SAMMICH EVER
McRib FTW

LARRY: 10!?! How in the hell are you still alive?

A Beautiful Sendoff…