You’re An Idiot And Here’s Why 8.09.07: Great Idiot Debate 2007 Results

Welcome once again readers to the show that never fails….to call you all a bunch of Idiots. Last week we had the historic first-ever Great Idiot Debate Of 2007, in which myself and esteemed wrestling mind E. E. Jacobsen debated whether or not The Great Khali is indeed an Idiot.

I found myself in the unusual position of defending The Great Khali, claiming that WWE’s decision to make him World Heavyweight Champion was not an Idiotic move worthy of my usual derision and childish name-calling. E. E. Jacobsen was arguing against me, claiming that the WWE couldn’t have picked a worse champion.

It inspired a barrage of feedback and votes from which we’ve picked the best and decided to dissect your democratic voice. Kinda like two candidates coming round your house after an election and asking what the hell you were thinking in voting for the other guy.

Click here for the full Great Idiot Debate Of 2007. And now, on with Democracy!

P-Kon
First I’d like to start off by saying I really enjoyed your booking of Flairs last 5 months in the payload. I just forgot to put that in with my submission this week.
Now is Khali an idiot? I could go either way, but i really really really really want to say yes. I thought, when it first happened, what the hell were they thinking? you’re in the middle of this steroid/media/anti-wwe fiasco and you go and make this guy champion just because he is huge? did jericho and cena not just say on larry king live that you get pushed based on talent not size? i thought it was the stupidest move i have ever seen. plus i want to get into the wrestling business. i thought i had what it took and wanted to start official training, but then i heard this and said fuck it. i’m not over 7 fucking feet tall 420 fucking pounds so i will amount to shit. it was a momentary outburst though and im over it i guess. but i recently attended a smackdown! event and khali seemed to draw MAJOR heat. that made me think it wasnt a bad choice. but i got to thinking and determined that these people werent booing him because they hated him, like they should, they were booing him because he sucks and does not deserve to LOOK at that title and they resented him for it. i’m not sure where you or anyone else stands on that but i dont think thats the type of heat the e wants him to receive. but, heat is heat and the crowd fucking HATES and DESPISES him. and even at the mention of his name the roof gets blown off by boos. so i guess i’ll have to, as much as i want to slit my wrists for typing this, i have to agree with you. putting the title on khali was not a bad move. and batista hasnt been this popular since his last days on RAW. so my official vote: NOT an idiot.
But still sucks ass in the ring and on the mic.

E.E. Jacobsen: I agree with 95 percent of what you said. The one thing I differ with you on is this. If people are boing him because he is a horrible worker who shouldn’t be champion then that is heat you really don’t want. That kind of heat drives fans away. It’s what happened to Jeff Jarrett in TNA. Fans didn’t want him with the strap and they lost a lot of their fan base in which a lot haven’t come back yet. It hurt TNA because their were in the first steps of becoming a national brand. The WWE can’t afford to lose anymore fans. Vince McMahon may not want to admit it but the WWE is in trouble. Fresh off Benoit, Steriods, and sagging ratings…. they need to rebuild. Khali is not the man to build off of.

Rob Halden: First of all, this is my boy P-Kon who’s a major player over at The Fink’s Payload every Monday on 411. And secondly Jacobsen, you’re interpreting that heat your own way. Unless the fans you hear are shouting “BOO-BECAUSE-OF-YOUR-WORK-RATE-SPECIFICALLY-AND-NO-OTHER-REASON-BOOOOO!” then shut the fuck up. Or did you buy one of them mind-reading machines from the concession stand again?

Score: Rob 1 – Jacobsen 0

Jeff Copeland
Let me just preface my message by saying I love the column and love that you take the wrestling companies to task for their boneheaded decisions. But I have to disagree with you on not naming The Great Khali as your latest Idiot. Here are some people who could’ve made a better champ and some reasons why.

Ric Flair- This man is still over despite being years past his prime. Plus he pretty much owned the big gold belt during it’s heyday. This was the perfect opportunity to give him one last run with the title before he rides off into the sunset. Another thing is that you could play up the evolution ties between Flair and Batista.

Finlay- If the belt was put on Finlay you would have a real “fighting champion.” He has also been the most consistent performer for Smackdown over the last year. Why not reward him with the belt? He is credible, tough, and he has the ability to make other wrestlers look like a million dollars; so when somebody does beat him they will look that much better for it.

Matt Hardy- This guy and MVP are the up-and-comers of this brand. He has worked his ass off and frequently uses “psychology” in his matches. He has a ready made feud when Edge returns and he is perpetually over no matter where he goes or what he does.

Kane- Another big man that could have carried the title. He has been a company man ever since day one (Katie Vick anyone?). This would have also put the belt on him for longer than 24 hours like his last title reign. He is still a believeable monster despite losing the mask (yes I think he lost some of his mystique when he started talking and then lost the mask). He also has the ability to be a face or a heel depending on who was challenging for the belt.

I don’t think Mark Henry should be anywhere near the title. I also think that the time isn’t right for Batista or Rey to win the title back. The Great Khali doesn’t have heat on him, he has apathy. Nobody really cares how big he is they want champion they can cheer or boo. I’m looking forward to your response.

E.E. Jacobsen: I agree Ric Flair would be amazing as World Champion right now. Personally, I thought his move to Smackdown would lead to a title run. He is the perfect image for WWE right now. A great worker, a great talker, and built in fan base. You could run a great program with Batista and he through Survivior Series. By that time you’d have Edge, Rey, Kane, Finlay, Undertaker, all back on Smackdown. So you could immedetly go into a title program where Batista defended against any of them.

Rob Halden: Actually the more I’ve thought about this, the more I think that I, personally, would like to see it. But y’know who I’m not? The majority of the freakin’ fans! I love Flair more than any man should love another man, but he’s been jobbed to the moon and back over this WWE stint and those losses to the Spirit Squad and Carlito ain’t gonna wash off anytime soon.

Score: Rob 1 – Jacobsen 1

Puddles
Khali has been great in his reign so far, the triple threat match at GAB was awesome (and I don’t just mean awesome for a khali/batista/kane match, I genuinely enjoyed it), and the party at the end of smackdown had to be TV moment of the year. Khali smiling and dancing is more entertaining than anything Batista has done all year.

E.E. Jacobsen: That same angle was run not one but three-four weeks before when Edge celebrated in Mardi Gras. It also shows schizophrenic booking. The unstoppable monster one week, big awkward smiling dancing jackass the next.

Rob Halden: Well it feeds into the wonderfully racist-heat you Americans love so very much. “Asians? Wearing clothes different to mine? Speaking a language I don’t understand? DANCING ALL FUNNY IN A WAY I’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE?! I HATE THEM SO VERY, VERY MUCH!!” Did I ever mention what a wonderfully enlightened nation you all are?

Score: Rob 2 – Jacobsen 1

Tony Unseen
I Vote Khali as an idiot because he looks, talks, walks, works like an idiot and he is the WORST possible choice for champion. Remember the W still stands for wrestling. If the so called bookers/writing team tried hard enough they could turn Jamie Noble into a credible champion. Thats my opinion.

E.E. Jacobsen: James Gibson (Jamie Noble) is a former World Champion in ROH. Great wrestler. This was the point I was making in my argument. Cheap easy booking and I can guarentee more people think like Tony here than you’d imagine.

Rob Halden: I’m a big Jamie Noble fan. Do you know how many of us there are? Oh we can fill a taxi-cab on a busy night. But again you two miss the point that the WWE didn’t have time. They had a huge vacuum at the top of the roster and a distinct lack of credible main eventers. How long would it take to turn Jamie Noble into that in the eyes of the fans?

Score: Rob 2 – Jacobsen 2

Derek Siow
Rob
I agree with you that Khali is ok as a champ – I can watch this. In fact, I only watch Smackdown and don’t watch Raw anymore because Khali is refreshing and different (and Raw is stale). I was on YOUR side.
But then, you made this comment (which I hope you’re regretting now because I hope you truly don’t believe this):
“Raw dropped a 2.5 because wrestling just doesn’t pull with the big markets unless it’s got a Diva Search of a Death Of Mr. McMahon angle, and the smartest booking in the world tells you to run in the opposite direction of that. Raw’s big ratings come from K-Fed, Limo Explosions and the Benoit Controversy, not from a smartly booked feud between two great workers. The rest of the audience doesn’t give a crap about that and they never will.”
You’ve probably got more heat now and are a bigger heel than Khali could ever be for putting that comment in print.
WWE Raw is getting very boring (I’m not tuning in to see one-off ‘explosions’), but I am a real wrestling fan, so I have to get my wrestling fix. Never saw ROH before in my life until this week when I bought 3 ROH DVDs after seeing the Respect is Earned PPV (the first thing I’ve seen from ROH). ROH’s code of honour, more wrestling less story and realistic promos makes me want more. But what has gotten me hooked is the actual wrestling and the feuds between the wrestlers. I wish ROH had a weekly show (reminds me a lot of the original ECW) so I could watch it every week.
Raw does have a weekly show, but I do not want to watch it every week. If Raw had some hot feuds (eg. Austin v Rock, Rock v HHH) more wrestling and less story, I’d watch it. Why wouldn’t I, I’m a wrestling fan. But I’m not going to sit there bored for 2 hrs like I have been for most of this year. The key is, I’m a WRESTLING fan, not a SOAP OPERA fan – if I wanted Diva search, I’d watch America’s Next Top Model, if I wanted ‘Who killed Mr McMahon’ I’d watch Young & The Restless, if I wanted celebrity appearances, I’d watch David Letterman. Dammit, I want WRESTLING – ie. Two guys that wanna fight each other and see who’s the best to hold the title.
Imagine one day on Raw if Orton (#1 contender) walked out (no Orton music) and interrupted one of Cena’s hokey promos at the start of Raw, grabbed Cena’s mic, slapped him in the face and said into the mic (whilst gritting his teeth and believing every word he was saying): “I HATE you John Cena, from the bottom of my gut I HATE you. You took my spot. Wrestling’s in my family, my father, my legacy is in that title. I am the best, you’re a joke, you can’t wrestle, you’re only fans are 12 yr old boys. You have disgraced ‘wrestling’. You might go down as a Legend, but I’m gonna KILL you before you do’. Throws the mic on the ground and walks off (no Orton music either, just silence).
If Orton and Cena convince us that they really hate each other so much because they see the person is in their path to the title, who wouldn’t want to see who really is the better wrestler and can win the belt. I’d watch every week on Raw to see what happens next.
Feuds and wrestling to maintain and improve their wrestling fan base = constantly high ratings. I’m not watching Raw for the next idiotic one-off ‘explosion’ that they can come up with.
For your comment alone, I think YOU’RE the idiot of the week.
Maybe Khali can repeat ur comment on-air to gain some heat (because if he told me that the reason I waste 2hrs of my precious time watching a wrestling program is because of Diva searches and because I want to see D-List celebs, I’d pay to see him beaten up).

E.E. Jacobsen: Wow, so basically Derek you backed up my arguement but because Rob is such an egotist he will take the first line of your rant and score him a point. You say Khali is ok as champion and then went into detail on the reasons he is NOT OK as champion. Part of my arguement last week was that Khali as champion represents a whole fucked up idea system on how to book wrestling. It’s cheap and easy. You say Khali is an ok champion but then you go into a rant about how you want well thought out smart booking. You can’t have both.

Rob Halden: So….another point for me then? “The rest of the audience doesn’t give a crap about that and they never will” This comment makes referrence, not to the wrestling fans, but to the rest of the audience, the so-called (and fictional) “casual-fans” that the WWE has been chasing ever since Austin drank his first beer on Raw. Hands up everybody who knew exactly what I meant because I typed it out word-for-word? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Derek, sit closer to the front of the class next time.

Score: Rob 3 – Jacobsen 2

Jacobs, Chris
My vote is for Rob Halden, Khali was the best pick they could have done right now. All the key players are out with Injuries right now, Batista getting the belt would be way too soon, and I dont see Ric Flair realistiacally having another world title reign. They booked Khali good for what they have to work with, the triple threat match with him, kane, and batista was awesome for what they had to work with, I didnt expect it to be anywere near that good. I liked it, I really did, and who couldnt forget the Punjabi Party, Khali dancin, smiling, and Batista broke the party up to a half cheer, and who would have thought half booing from the crowd, which means it is working, and people were actually diggin the party. They are giving Khali a character, letting him develop, wrestilng is about evolving, you cant keep the same character honestly.

blue blood-degenerate-cerebral assisin-king of kings = been here for a long time

harlem thug-thug gaining success and breaking from his brother-arrogant 5 time
champion-King Booka = Been around also for a long time

D-lo Brown in tha NOD- D-Lo Brown less colorful clothes, same gimmick- same music, same style, same D-lo brown, but now in TNA = Un-employed wrestler

123 kid underdog, crybaby heel- little Syxx pac underdog crybaby heel- X-pac, loudmouth degenerate (getting better), not long after we have little X-pac crybaby heel, TNA/Indy scenes we have either Pac or Sean Waltman, cry baby heel, same style, same character, same everything = Un-employed Pac.

Long way of saying, Khali is being pushed, Khali is evlovling, people are respoinding, oh and Rob was right, and Your a Idiot: E.E. Jacobsen believers…All for fun, love the articles guys.

E.E. Jacobsen: I honestly stopped reading this after D-Lo Brown was mentioned or at least wanted to. I somewhat agree with what you’re saying about evolving characters but what is Khali going to evolve into? He can either be a monster or a comedy act. Neither one have staying power in this business.

Rob Halden: Tell that to The Undertaker and Kane and Andre and Earthquake.

Score: Rob 4 – Jacobsen 2

Reid, John
That was awesome! Both of you presented very strong points in your arguments, but at the end of the day I have to agree with your assessment Rob. Smackdown didn’t have much of a choice in making the Great Khali World Champion. People say he’s no longer unstoppable because he lost to Cena; I say otherwise in that it took someone of Cena’s caliber to finally beat Khali, which makes him legitimate. So far I like how they’ve booked his reign to be legitimate (although I think Davari should be his spokesperson instead of Hadji Bischoff but whatever). Just so as long as Batista doesn’t ever get his hands on the title again I’m happy. I think they should give Khali a Honky Tonk Man title reign in which the fans will eventually love to see someone, anyone beat him for the belt.

E.E. Jacobsen: If Khali has the belt for that long I believe I’d slit my wrist and sell my soul to Bill Apter. I’d rather have David Arquette come in for his second reign as champion. If Khali is anything more than a transitional champion it will be a travesty.

Rob Halden: Jacobsen is going all Emo on me. And what’s that? Let’s take a look at the scores?

Score: Rob 4 – Jacobsen 2

Rob Halden: Oh yeah, baby! This right here….this is my victory dance! 4 to 2 Jacobsen! 4 to 2! Don’t think you can step up in here, in the Land Of The Idiots and fuck with the R-O-B-izzle! This is my house!

E.E. Jacobsen: It’s rigged. Rigged I say! But alas I shall concede defeat this one time. One time in the history of life are you better than me. I take solice in the fact that at the end of the day you are a fat hairy man.

Rob Halden: But dude…so are you?

E.E. Jacobsen: ….Thank you all for your feedback, I am glad you and so many others enjoyed the column and thank you to Rob Halden for bring me on to do it.

Rob Halden: That wraps up proceedings on the first ever Great Idiot Debate of 2007, I’d like to thank my good friend Double E for sharing his great wrestling opinion with us all, and I’d like to thank all you loyal Idiot Readers for supporting me in trouncing Double E. All of you arseholes who turned against me during the debate…this is going on your permanent freakin’ records