Booking Out Of A Bind

Good news, I got the green light from the man who holds the rights to the MMWA footage to put together the shoot interview/DVD package. Also Dod March, MMWA play by play man, has told me he has much of the footage already that we can use to put together this collection. So now it is figuring out how to present everything, and sitting down to record a shoot interview.

I've been jotting down notes for the shoot interview. I'm a professional talker and I know it is important to create a road map before you start jabbering on. I could talk and tell stories for hours. If I'm unscripted, and probably drinking, then I'd talk forever with all the tangents I'd go on. Somehow we'd start talking MMWA then detour into my hatred for a variety of things before taking a brief stop to wax poetically about the NFL draft and end on the MMWA. I'm pretty sure nobody wants that.

Don't worry the shoot interview won't be ten hours long. I'm aiming more for two.

As I write down notes, I figured I'd share a few things here on the blog. It'll help me weed through the thoughts. The biggest one I am tackling right now is the problem I faced when taking over the booking for the MMWA. That being the evil owner angle that had taken center stage since the first anniversary show in October of 2003.

It's maybe the most common angle in indy wrestling. A wrestler or authority figure challenges ownership for control of the company. That person is usually a bad guy. He, or she, wins the feud and the company is changed forever under their cruel rule. The large flaw that always gets overlooked is how do you resolve the situation in a believable manner. The same went for the MMWA.

Let me rewind things a bit.

I was put on the booking committee just before the anniversary show. The plans for the takeover angle had already been locked up. Talent was booked. I was brought in to help plan out the fallout. I can remember the big booking meeting we had at Jim Hall's fortress of solitude (A.k.a. MMWA Video Production Dungeon). Myself, Jim, Dod March, and MMWA owner Mike Galloway huddled together to plan out the next few shows.

We started putting together January, February, and March (which later became May). We knew that Matt Maverick and his stable, Magnificence Inc, would have control of the MMWA. We also had "Spyder" Nate Webb as champion, who was going to be in & out for the promotion with him traveling overseas to wrestle for Big Japan. We needed to get the belt off him and onto Matt quickly. That is where Shane Douglas came in.

As stated in an earlier blog, Shane Douglas was booked for the January show. At the time I thought this was a great get. Now that I'm older, I know that was far from the truth. Don't get me wrong, Shane was awesome. He did everything we asked and was great for our locker room. There was just no way he was going to draw anywhere near what his his price tag was. It was our fault for not booking for our market.

In any business you need to know your customer base. If you are running a business in a town where everyone is allergic to peanuts then you're going to go broke selling snicker bars. Snicker bars are awesome, but nobody will eat them in this fake town. Northern Michigan was the same way with Shane Douglas.

To that crowd ECW never really existed. Some people through the internet knew about ECW but it wasn't on their TV like old 1980-90's WWF was. Shane wanted over a thousand dollars plus trans & hotel to come up to Cadillac for the event. I was asked what I thought about it and at the time I was 100% behind it. That was my fault for not knowing the market. That mistake costs us huge.

For that price tag we could have booked two former WWF stars. I could have gotten Mr. Hughes to drive up from Atlanta & booked a local former WWF star like Pat Tanaka. I'd worked with Mr. Hughes in the past and his character would fit what we had in mind for Shane Douglas.

The way the angle played out was Shane wrestled MMWA champ Nate Webb for about 10 minutes before getting disqualified when he bashed Nate's head in with a chain wrapped around his fist. He then grabs the mic and talks about how he has always been about the money and the reason he was at the MMWA was because he was paid to do a job. Shane then puts on a referee shirt and announces Matt Maverick will be facing Webb right now for the title. We could have done the same with Mr. Hughes.

I'd bet, knowing what I know about Hughes & Tanaka's price tag at the time, that we still would have saved about 35% booking both former WWF stars than what we paid in total for Douglas. It's decisions like this that helped bring down the MMWA. Not only would it have been cost effective, but in the market it might have drawn better because of them both being former 90's WWF stars.

See a tangent just happened. Now back to the actual topic of this blog.

Matt had taken control of the company. We got the belt on him as it should have been. If you're the evil power hungry wrestler that just won the company you're next goal is the title. Now where would we go? He can't just keep torturing baby faces. We needed to build towards an end game. Our choice for his challenger, and MMWA hero, was Joe E. Legend.

For those that went to the bathroom during Joe's run with the WWF, he played the character Just Joe. I kid, I am forever grateful to have worked with him. He not only was great in the ring but an amazing sounding board behind the scenes. He had a mind for the business and was always looking for the best way to have angles make money.

In fact on the booking sheet for Kalkaska in the notes section I simply wrote "Joe Finish". It pissed off Matt cause he thought I was changing the finish for Joe to win or make Joe outshine him. When we sat down and I let Joe explain his idea, everyone was on board. It was the finish that was going to help us draw going forward.

We started gearing our TV to help build Joe up as the challenger and Matt look like the evil boss. He would set up obstacles and Joe would conquer them. This led to their first match at Kalkaska Karnage.

That night I made the decision to put the match on last because for 3 months our TV was all about Matt avoiding Joe. This was the first time Joe was going to get his hands on Matt for the title. That meant Joe vs. Matt was following Raven vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Petey Willams vs. AJ Styles (the first time those two had met). At the time AJ was the NWA champ and Raven was his #1 challenger in TNA. Needless to say a lot of people thought I was crazy for putting Joe & Matt on after those two matches.

Those matches were awesome. I'll go deeper into both on the shoot interview. Both had really special moments. Yet the most pleasing was Matt and Joe. Their match started and the crowd was into it. For months this had been building and we got the payoff we wanted. Every person wanted to see Joe take the strap from Matt.

Of course Matt found a way to keep it. Joe was thwarted by outside influence. Matt pinned him clean in the ring. The crowd was hot for all forty minutes from entrance to end bell. Then we had our tag champs, the Bump-n-Uglies, come out for the save post match. They backed Joe for a rematch in June. To persuade Matt to give it to him they would put their titles on the line. If Joe lost they would forfeit the belts.

This is when the promotion ended. We were too far in the red to go on and the owner was burnt out. He had a family to think about. Nobody should go to the poor house for pro wrestling. Yet I had already written the rest of this story.

During the Kalkaska show, which was supposed to be a TV taping, I began working on a story with Jimmy Shawlin. He was a great lovable goofball. He was part of Maverick's stable. So I had him be the reason his team lost the tag belts. Then I made him the reason his partner lost the Marquee belt. Finally he almost cost Matt the title in the main event. These events would have played on different weeks on TV painting Shawlin as the weak link of Team Maverick.

In June as the event started Matt was to come to the ring and announce some special guests for the main event. Jaime D would be the guest time keeper, A-1 would be the guest enforcer, Frankie the Face would be the guest ring announcer, and Jimmy Shawlin the guest referee. Each of course is a member of Matt's stable.

In the main event they would keep taking advantage of Joe as he fought against impossible odds. I had this great vision of goofy Jimmy Shawlin covering his eyes as Matt & co kept cheating. Eventually the Bump-n-Uglies would try to help but be outnumbered. This would lead to "Death Dealer" Tommy Starr coming out of the crowd.

Tommy was a crowd favorite before I got to the promotion. After Matt took over in the anniversary show, he fired Tommy in story line. Tommy would come back in June to help Joe and the Uglies. I wanted a funny scene of Shawlin pressing his face in the turn buckle as a brawl was going on so he didn't see anything only for Starr to come out and cane everyone including Maverick. Then when Shawlin peaks his head up and turns around the Uglies & Starr would have fought Jaime, A-1, and Frankie to the back leaving both Legend & Maverick laid out.

Legend would be the first up and pin Matt. Jimmy would be forced to fight counting but eventually do a really slow count. Matt would kick out at 2. I wanted Maverick to yell at him for that. Then the two would team up on Legend. Matt would get the belt and try to slam it into Legend but almost hit Shawlin. As Matt turned around after the near collision Legend would load up a superkick that Matt ducks and it hits Shawlin. Matt then rolls up Joe with a fistful of tights as senior ref Art Mendez hits the ring for a two count. Joe & Matt wrestle for a minute and Joe hits his finisher. He pins Matt as Art makes the three count.

Joe grabs the belt and leaves the ring. Matt at first would demand the belt back. He would say he is stripping Joe of the belt. In his fury he would blame Shawlin, who is finally back to his feet, for the loss. Then fire him for it.

Over the rest of the summer Matt would demand that Joe give the belt back. I wanted to do a reverse stolen belt angle. Normally it is done where the heel takes the face's belt. I wanted the face to steal the belt here and not give it back. Then have Joe do the lawyer bit that a heel would normally do that says he is legally entitled to the belt. Basically stopping Matt's power from forcing a belt stripping. They would then meet for a rematch that Joe again would win in August.

In August Tommy Starr would also beat Frankie the face for the Marquee title. That means Joe, the Uglies, and Starr would hold all the belts. This needed to be known going forward because it plays a huge roll.

All of this sends Matt off the deep end. At the September event he would announce at the start that since he can't have the belt, and he can't strip any of his champions because of fear of legal action, then nobody will have a title. He does have the power to end the MMWA. He would say this is the last MMWA show.

That brings out Joe, the Uglies, and Starr. The four men say that the fans deserve for the MMWA to go on. Joe offers to have an all or nothing match at the 2nd anniversary show in October. If Matt's team wins then he gets to keep the company and all the titles. If Joe's team wins then they get to pick the new owner of the MMWA. He then proposes a 5 on 5 WarGames match.

They've got their five and Matt could find his fifth. In fact Matt will meet Joe's fifth member tonight when they face off later. Of course Joe's fifth man was going to be Jimmy Shawlin, who was fired months earlier. The two would face off in a match that ends in an all out brawl between the groups. Where the 5 faces chase off the four heels.

This is where Matt says he has found his fifth member. He will keep his company and get his gold even if he has to make a deal with the devil, and that is exactly what he did. Next month their fifth member will be "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan.

I'd worked with Kevin in the past a lot. We had a good relationship at the time and I was already working on getting him up for shows before our May event. He would have been great in the WarGames environment and it was the kind of match where it would highlight his strengths and hide his weaknesses. Plus his team could lose without him taking the loss.

I would have done the Matt vs. Jimmy match on the September card before intermission so we could go into the break hot. I'd then hand out flyers as people left after the event with Kevin Sullivan on the event flyer promoting WarGames.

That was how I had it booked to get out this bind. I don't know if it would have worked, but I would have liked to see it.

It will be stories like this that will be on the shoot interview. I'll keep people posted on the progress. Keep checking back for more details.

Monday Night RAW: I'm A Paul Heyman Guy

I want to start off by wishing Jerry “The King” Lawler a speedy recovery from his heart attack. I still remember when I was 19 and I got the call that my dad had been rushed to the hospital for an emergency quadruple bypass.  It’s a long road to full recovery, but if anyone can win this fight it is the king.

Also I want to recognize all those who lost their lives, or their loved ones, on this day eleven years ago when a group of religious zealots acted like cowards by flying two planes into the towers, another into the pentagon, and brave Americans made sure a fourth never made it to its destination. I woke up that morning late for class at college. I rushed to get there without knowing what had happened. I got to class and I was the only person there. This was before smart phones and Facebook. I waited for a half hour for people to show up but nobody did. So I walked out of class and noticed nobody was on campus. I poked my head into the lounge and saw a large group crowded around the TV. That’s when I learned about the attacks.

I later that day got a job delivering pizzas. I dropped out of college, and got back into pro wrestling. I decided that college could wait because I had a dream to be a wrestler, and 9/11 proved to me that at any moment your time to live your dreams can be taken away. I spent five years chasing my dream, making tons of great memories, and then I went back to college to achieve new dreams. To me 9/11 will always be the day my eyes got opened to the reality that the time we have on this planet is shrinking by the moment.

Now on to the lighter side of life: Monday Night RAW. Normally I would break down all the different parts of RAW but really this was the CM Punk show. There was some stuff that quickly developed a few undercard matches for Night of Champions this Sunday, but really this PPV is a one match show.

I am a fan of Daniel Bryan and Kane being a tag team. I like that they are doing the reluctant partners storyline. I have a feeling they become tag champions this Sunday. For a division that has been left to drift, this could be a blessing. I also like them using the choke slam/cannonball as a finisher. Imagine when they come together as team and Bryan runs in asking to be choke slammed. The crowd will pop. Hell, imagine a top rope choke slam bomb by Kane & Bryan. It will be awesome.

Then there was the stupid Sheamus/ADR storyline. Why is a kick banned? It’s a kick. They have dropped the ball on this one. Also the two GMs are stupid. I hope the rumors that they are both getting fired is true. They need to get that whole situation fixed, and quick. Finally Cody looks to be facing Miz for the IC title. Talk about tossing something together quick.

Yeah there is more that happened on RAW but none of it really mattered. It was place holder stuff. Hell I think CM Punk took up almost 40% of RAW last night. He was the opening promo, he was the whole 9 o’clock hour, and he was the show closing promo. Let’s break all of that down.

The opening promo was good. Punk has gone full blown egomaniac. I like that he talks about how if he was the champ back in 97 that he would have sunk the WWE and jumped ship to WCW. Too bad the attitude era wasn’t started in Montreal. Most would say it began when WCW had the NWO and it forced the WWE to go away from campy character wrestling.  So Punk would have just been another part of that need to go extreme. He should just ask Paul Heyman about why ECW was brought in for a few RAWs. Overall the opening segment was good, and did what it needed to set the table for the end of the show.

The 9 o’clock hour was a decent match between Punk and Orton, then an angle tag match between Orton/Lawler & Ziggler/Punk. I love how they are handling the Punk and Heyman “alliance”. Nobody knows why they are together. All we know is that Punk is a Heyman guy. We also know that Brock hates Cena because he lost to him a few months back.

Finally it seems that Punk is going to be champ going into the Royal Rumble. There is a Survivor Series PPV between now and then. Imagine an old school Survivor Series match with Punk & Brock on one team and Cena & Rock on the other; then maybe toss in 6 others talents. I suggest HHH, HBK, and Undertaker on team Cena. The other three for Punk & Brock can be other “Heyman” guys.

Ziggs lost to Orton. Again. Hopefully this means on PPV that Ziggs will finally pick up a win against the Viper. If not then I have no clue what creative is thinking. Their MITB winner shouldn’t be jobbing out to the guy who might not be there next month.

The last part of the show was about trying to get Cena over as the face with the help of Bret Hart. John Cena gave one hell of promo to Punk. The two have a great chemistry in every aspect. By the end the Montreal crowd was very pro Cena. It was a really strong finish to the show and probably sold a lot of people who were on the fence about this PPV.

I also like having Bret Hart punch out CM Punk. Cena makes the original save to pop the crowd, and then Hart is on the defense to block the second attempt. It’s one shot from one of the greatest in the world, and Punk peppers out of the ring. It is the perfect way to handle it because Hart shouldn’t be able to hang with the champ, but a good shot to the jaw works at being believable.

This Sunday will be interesting. Traditionally on these middle of the road PPVs, the guy standing tall on the last RAW is the guy losing the match. By that math it would be CM Punk who slithers out after Sunday night. I think there will be more Heyman interaction. I also think the Boston crowd will be a great crowd for this match. It may be the most pro-Cena crowd the WWE has.

Monday Night RAW hasn’t been knocking it out of the park. Last week was a place holder besides the very end segment. This week it was all about Punk. Once this PPV is over, and we move on to Hell in a Cell, I would believe things should pick up to compete with Monday Night Football. If the WWE waits until their build for Survivor Series, then it could be too late. Then again next Monday is coming together as a can’t miss show because something big is brewing for this Sunday. When it comes to good RAWs, I find it’s the mystery that sells the best. That is why I’m a Paul Heyman guy.  

String Pullers: The Evolution of the Creative Process in Professional Wrestling (Part 3)

Here is the final part of my Senior Thesis. It takes a look at the future of professional wrestling. This includes my theory on what will make a successful booker/writer in the current wrestling environment. Enjoy!

The Main Event: The Future of the Creative Process

            As professional wrestling continues on with this constant evolution, the rift created in professional wrestling will widen, or begin to verge into a new era of the creative process in professional wrestling. I believe that the next stage of evolution that will solve the rift in professional wrestling is a hybrid of the traditional skills of a wrestling booker to weave the history of the sport inside the limitations of the genre fused with the trained skills and natural talents of a college educated English major with a background in various creative mediums. In seeing the growth of professional wrestling as an evolution then the same traits of the theory of evolution apply to the creative process. The theory of evolution is based on the strongest attributes “accumulating and the result is an entirely different organism” (Allaboutscience.org). This belief in the theory of evolution would lead to the eventual hybrid of traditional booker and creative writer.

            The creative process hybrid that would come from this next stage of evolution would possess the trained skills of a professional writer to develop in depth story lines enhanced with the writer's natural talents in the creative realm. These natural talents in creativity are no different than the athletic skills of a sports figure. As in sports all athletes must respect and understand the limitations of their sport to fully achieve success, something understood and practiced by bookers.

            In the game of basketball the ability to jump is necessary, just as the ability to create a basic story line is necessary to the creative process in wrestling. If a person could jump twenty feet that person would be seen in the same light as some of the professional writers who possess similar amazing abilities when it comes to creative writing. The limitations of basketball would dictate the restrictions of this ability as the basketball hoop, which represents the purpose of the sport, is only ten feet high. If a player has tremendous skills, such as jumping twenty feet, but is constantly violating the limitations of the sport by jumping beyond the basketball hoop then that player is letting that tremendous ability prevent success instead of achieve it.

            This same respect for the limitations of the creative process in professional wrestling is found in the history of professional wrestling. This ability to know and excel under these limitations is what the professional booker in wrestling brings to the new hybrid in the evolution of the creative process. As professional wrestling moves beyond the niche audience that has made up wrestling's fan base, and expands to a global audience, the need for bookers to develop trained skills in creative writing, and to possess a natural ability to understand how to thrive in the new global digital age, becomes a requirement for survival.

            As professional wrestling evolved the need for these skills became a kin to that of predator, who excelled in a small habitat, needing to gain a stronger and faster approach when that habitat became expansive. No longer can the usual skills that helped on such a small scale be of the same effect on a larger scale. This is the purpose of evolution, not only just in wrestling, but in life. Now that the habitat for professional wrestling has changed; the people behind the scenes need to change with it, or become extinct.

The Post-Show Reviews: Criticisms and Conclusions

            As with all things that involve change there can be skeptics toward the evolution of professional wrestling’s creative process. Gabe Sapolsky, when asked about this theory of the next phase in professional wrestling, had his doubts when he said, “This would seem like it would be the best of both world's on paper, in reality I'm not sure if it would work because the two viewpoints might not be able to co-exist” (Sapolsky). I agree that the two viewpoints wouldn't exist because the role of evolution would weave these viewpoints into one viewpoint creating this new creative process in wrestling. In doing this both viewpoints become a thing of the past as the evolution in the creative process replaces them with one viewpoint built on the strengths of both viewpoints while weeding out the flaws.

            While those in professional wrestling can be skeptical towards change; there is consensus that wrestling in some way will always be changing. There is an agreement that for better, or for worse, professional wrestling is in a constant state of change with new ideas and characters to continue the path of wrestling's history that extends centuries before today's current state of wrestling. This new evolution of professional wrestling writing is seen by Jimmy Jacobs when he says,

“There are old traditional wrestling bookers who book good enough television aimed to traditionally get fans emotionally invested with traditional heel and baby face roles; this can work to an extent but can often be unspectacular. There are also many wrestling television writers that, while perhaps entertaining, can fail to emotionally captivate fans and can come off as over the top or cheesy. The foundation of traditional professional wrestling concepts set in new creative ways will, in my opinion, always make for good television“ (Jacobs)

This recognition of the need for a hybrid of the strengths of both traditional booker and professional writer is the beginning of the evolution of professional wrestling's creative process in the decades to come.

            As this evolution continues through professional wrestling, one aspect will never change as pointed out by Roland Barthes. This aspect is that “wrestlers remain gods because they are, for a few moments, the key which opens Nature, the pure gesture which separates Good from Evil, and unveils the form of Justice, which is at last intelligible” (Barthes 25). This basic moral situation is the heart of professional wrestling, and will remain a constant during the evolution of professional wrestling. As the hybrid form of the creative process begins to take shape this role of professional wrestling in society will keep wrestling anchored to its purpose. The evolution of the creative process in professional wrestling, fusing the strengths of both booker and writer, will bring a new way to extend the purpose of professional wrestling to a wider audience in the new digital age for the near future and beyond. 

String Pullers: The Evolution of the Creative Process in Professional Wrestling (Part 2)

This is the second part of my Senior thesis. This part covers a deeper look in the change of kayfabe in the creative process that allows for fans to peak behind the curtain and know the ins/outs of professional wrestling.

The Curtain Jerker: Removing the Veil

            Jimmy Jacobs says, “When I started in nineteen ninety nine, wrestling was in a huge boom. It was wildly popular. Fast forward eleven years later, pro wrestling is the black sheep of the entertainment business” (Jacobs). Jacobs had started his career during the creation of the rift in professional wrestling. He had seen the curtain pulled away as not only a fan, but also a budding wrestler. This boom in popularity in professional wrestling created a need for a new kind of writer, as professional wrestling had moved its focus from the tens of thousands of fans in local arenas towards the hundreds of millions of fans around the world viewing professional wrestling on various mediums during the dawning of the digital age.

            With this shift in professional wrestling writing the view of wrestling also shifted, as stated by Jacobs, that no longer was wrestling its own sports genre, but soon wrestling became known, and judged, as entertainment. This began in “2001 when World Wrestling Entertainment began putting ads in the trade magazines for television writers” (Oliver). This was unheard of to publicly admit that professional wrestling was theater. The largest professional wrestling company in the history of the business had placed a classified ad for the biggest secret in professional wrestling. At this moment the traditional role of professional wrestling booker had changed and been replaced by the more modern, television friendly, creative writer.

            Professional wrestling had evolved into a new age and the creative process needed to evolve with it. For the first time the audience was in on the story lines of wrestling, and the writers needed to create the sense of reality without an illusion of legitimate sport. While this sounds impossible, Roland Barthes believes this task was not because he sees that the belief in the reality of the story isn't what is truly important to the creative process in professional wrestling. Barthes believes that in professional wrestling “there is no more a problem of truth than in the theatre. In both, what is expected is the intelligible representation of moral situations which are usually private” (Barthes 18). This belief in the purpose of professional wrestling is a strength for the modern creative process as the currently sought after colleges educated English majors with backgrounds in creative writing, and television, possess the exceptional ability and trained skill to create these moral situations for the modern wrestling fan.

            The advantage of hiring professional writers with degrees in creative writing is the talents and developed skills they possess over a traditional booker. Due to professional wrestling protecting the secret of the creative process the position of booker was usually held by former wrestlers or performers. In being a former, or even current, performer gave a booker the knowledge of how to manipulate a crowd to believe what they were seeing was real. Bookers didn't write story lines like a television script with written interviews and detailed segment break downs. It would not be farfetched to have the whole show for an evening written out on the napkin of the restaurant the booker had eaten dinner at.

            When wrestling became entertainment the ability to acquire highly skilled writing talent also became available. No longer did companies have to search amongst the secret circle of wrestling to find the creative minds behind the stories and characters. World Wrestling Entertainment could find the greatest writing minds of the twenty first century. With all this great ability and skill professional writers had a very prominent weakness when compared to a traditional booker; they had a disconnection with the essence of professional wrestling.

The Mid Card: The Booker vs. The Writer

            The issue with the creative process of professional wrestling moving into this new need for professional writers, instead of traditional bookers, becomes the loss of the connection to professional wrestling's history. While most of the professional writers will have their own personal histories with professional wrestling, the exposure can't compare to the pedigree instilled in a traditional wrestling booker. This knowledge of wrestling's history also becomes an important part of knowing the limits of the creative process in professional wrestling.

            Due to professional wrestling's authentic connection to reality as a fun house mirror that reflects reality back onto reality; there are certain limitations of reality that have to be respected in writing a wrestling story line. These types of limitations on creativity don't apply for other mediums that professional writers work in. When asked about these limitations, Jimmy Jacobs says,

“There's nothing really like wrestling. The range for the suspension of disbelief from the audience is very small. What I mean by this is that in any given TV show there can be terrorists, rape, flashbacks, and a number of other scenarios and tools the writers can use. In wrestling all of that is very limited. So often creative writers in wrestling come up with an idea that may work on a different stage, but for pro wrestling, it's either offensive or cheesy” (Jacobs)

In presenting such a wrestling product that relies on a genuine connection with its audience, this violation of the limitations creates the rift that is present in the current state of professional wrestling. This limited window for creativity gives wrestling a sense of reality that can be used in developing the characters that will be the roles of the wrestlers.

            The role of the wrestler is crucial to the creative process in wrestling. Barthes says that, “wrestling is an immediate pantomime, infinitely more efficient that the dramatic pantomime, for the wrestler's gesture needs no anecdote, no décor, in short no transference in order to appear true” (Barthes 18). Barthes is stating that for the genuine connection of wrestling to happen between the wrestling match and the audience, the role of the wrestler must come from the wrestler. This is something that, as a former performer, a traditional booker has a better grasp on than a professional writer, who find actors to take on characters. The characters that wrestlers take on are like the sport of professional wrestling, exaggerated realities.

            Gabe Sapolsky approaches his creative process the same way when it comes to developing characters for his writing. Sapolsky believes “in developing a character out of a person's real life personality. I think if you develop a character and then force someone to play it you won't quite fit” (Sapolsky). This has become the pitfall with the current process of professional writers who have been trained to create characters and find actors after creation to fill the roles. The roles become hollow and without the spark of reality to create a connection with the audience. In looking at wrestlers as having the same skill set as professional actors, creative writers produce roles that don't transfer the ideas from the story lines to the audience with the same effect as when those characters are forged from the personalities of the men and women who will assume those roles. The opposing roles of booker and writer create a paradox where one side’s weakness is the other side’s strength resulting in a perpetual struggle between the two styles. The solution to this struggle is the eventual evolution of the role into a hybrid resembling a yin yang of writer and booker.

String Pullers: The Evolution of the Creative Process in Professional Wrestling (Part 1)

This is the first of three parts for my Senior Thesis on the creative process in professional wrestling that I wrote a year ago before I graduated from the University of Saint Francis. It takes a look at the changing environment in pro wrestling over the last few decades. I have provided my work cited page in an earlier post. Enjoy!

String Pullers:
The Evolution of the Creative Process in Professional Wrestling

            The landscape of professional wrestling is constantly changing. Each year professional wrestling continues to evolve with the story lines, and characters, that make up wrestling's expansive history. This history of wrestling has become connected to human history, as until only a few years ago professional wrestling existed under the veil of legitimate sport. While the wrestlers are world class athletes; the knowledge by an audience, kept completely in the dark, about predetermined out comes would have changed the original belief about wrestling as a legitimate sporting contest.  Professional wrestler Jimmy Jacobs sees the genuine connection between reality and wrestling because “professional wrestling has always been a fun house mirror of sorts to the world and culture” (Jacobs). This ability of wrestling to take an exaggerated look at reality has always been protected by the veil around professional wrestling, that in some way wrestling was reality, because it was seen as a legitimate sporting contest. When this veil that protected wrestling's reality was removed it created a new wrinkle in the evolution of professional wrestling as the role of creative writer became an option not just for those in the protected circles of professional wrestling, but for professional writers from other mediums such as television, theater, and cinema.

            The removal of the professional wrestling veil created a rift between the traditional style of a pro wrestling match maker, also known as a “booker” (Oliver), and the modernized creative skill found in a college educated English major. This rift can be seen today in the ratings of World Wrestling Entertainment's flag ship show Raw is War, that has seen television ratings cut in half since the boom period at the turn of the century when the veil of professional wrestling was being removed (Wrestling Information Archives). With this rift I believe that professional wrestling is preparing for the next evolution in the creative process as the future role of a writer will become a hybrid of a traditional wrestling booker's knowledge of the sport and history fused with a college educated creative writer's trained skill and natural ability to produce highly developed ideas in story lines for various creative mediums.

The Pre-Show: A History of Wrestling's Creative Process

            Only a few decades ago the veil of professional wrestling was firmly intact as fans gathered from far and wide to cheer their heroes, and jeer their villains. Roland Barthe's essay on professional wrestling, entitled The World of Wrestling, says that this connection between the crowds and the wrestlers is because “wrestling partakes of the nature of the great solar spectacles, Greek drama and bullfights: in both, a light without shadow generates an emotion without reserve” (Barthes 15). This ability to generate an emotion without reserve is the foundation for the creative process in professional wrestling. Since the day the first bell rang, until the somber day when the last bell sounds, this ideal will be the heart of the creative process in professional wrestling. This ability originally gained its strength in the veil of professional wrestling as the secrets of how the magic was made were kept on a very strict need to know basis. Legendary professional wrestling manager, and seasoned booker, Jim Cornette remembers that when he began in the wrestling business that he “didn't know there was a booker until a week before he went on television” (Oliver). Since the knowledge of wrestling being a full contact theatrical performance was so tightly guarded the history of the sport became a tool that bookers used.

            The role of history in professional wrestling came from wrestling's general public belief that professional wrestling was a legitimate sporting contest. Since the nature of the business was protected the matches, and actions of the wrestlers, became recorded by fans and the media much in the same way professional sports like football or baseball are kept. Bookers could build feuds on history between wrestlers, or even their families from generations ago, because in the eyes of the fans professional wrestling had a legitimate sports history. This type of emotion is comparable to the connection a rivalry has in sports. When a professional wrestling booker used history to generate emotions from fans it was no different than when teams like the New York Yankees got their fan base riled up by showing negative Boston Red Sox highlights from decades ago. While none of the players on either team are the same, the history of the teams creates the energy used to fuel the hatred one team has for the other, as the only constant is the jersey that the players wear.

            Gabe Sapolsky, a booker during the current rift in the creative process, says, “I feel it can only hurt to not have a basic understanding of what works in wrestling. You still need to have the fundamentals of storytelling in wrestling” (Sapolsky). The most basic of fundamentals that all creative writers in professional wrestling have is wrestling's storied history. Sapolsky broke into the wrestling industry with one of the wrestling promotions that helped remove the veil from professional wrestling: Extreme Championship Wrestling.

            When it comes to professional wrestling history the letters E-C-W carry a lot of weight as a wrestling promotion that had left a mark on the wrestling time line. A decade after the demise of ECW fans still chant the name of the promotion, and others like World Wrestling Entertainment have tried to restart the promotion because of these loyal fans (The Rise and Fall of ECW). These actions by fans and wrestling promoters are a testament to the strength of the role history plays in the creative process in professional wrestling, as a defunct promotion can carry a fresh connection with a business and an audience over a decade later. This role in professional wrestling history also played a role in the current state of creative in wrestling as ECW literally removed the curtain that separated the fans and the wrestlers.

            During a segment featuring two wrestlers, Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman, one wrestler injures the other wrestler with a lit cigarette and strikes him in the eye with a cane. This incident led to the cameras for ECW going backstage to see both good guy and bad guy wrestlers co-mingling as Tommy Dreamer pleaded his case that he didn't mean to hurt The Sandman (Rise and Fall). This segment was part of ECW's counter culture cutting edge style. There was no true motive in taking away wrestling's greatest tool. The rumors and theories behind removing the veil of professional wrestling are plentiful. ECW, and other companies, were trying to deliver new and fresh ideas to an audience of fans that, mostly thanks to the internet, had started to get wise to the reality of the business. The breaking of the greatest taboo in professional wrestling became the only way to stay ahead of the fans, if only for a short time.

            This was just one example of how the veil of professional wrestling was torn off from the nineties into the turn of the century. At this moment fans were being allowed to see that the men, who in the ring hated each other enough to make them bleed, were friends behind the scenes. Actions like this had destroyed the illusion that professional wrestling was still a legitimate sporting contest. As seen in the ratings for WWE's Raw is War during the time period, this move to reveal the secrets behind professional wrestling generated instant attention as professional wrestler Jimmy Jacobs saw during the time.

Pro Wrestling Senior Thesis

When I graduated from the University of Saint Francis with a BA in English: Creative Writing, I wrote my senior thesis on the creative process in professional wrestling. I decided that people may enjoy reading this researched piece with interviews from Gabe Sapolsky and Jimmy Jacobs, plus other sources such as the widely popular "Guest Booker" series. Before I begin I wanted to share my work cited page that can be used when I cite my quotes in the next three posts (today, Thursday, and Friday).

Work Cited

Allaboutscience.org. “Darwin's Theory of Evolution”. 2002. 20 Nov. 2010 <http://www.darwins-theory-of-evolution.com/>

Barthes, Roland. “The World of Wrestling” Mythologies. Translated by Annette Lavers, London: Paladin, 1972. 15-25

Jacobs, Jimmy. Personal interview. 8 Nov. 2010.

Oliver, Sean. “Guest Booker with Jim Cornette”. Interview. Jim Cornette. DVD. Kayfabecommentaries.com. 7 Nov. 2010.

Sapolsky, Gabe. Personal interview. 16 Nov. 2010.

The Rise and Fall of ECW. Dir. Kevin Dunn. Perf. Paul Heyman, Eric Bischoff, Vince McMahon, and Tommy Dreamer. 2004. DVD. World Wrestling Entertainment, 6 Nov. 2010.

Wrestling Information Archives. “Raw is War Ratings History”. 9 June 2008. 20 Nov. 2010. <http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/wwf/wwfraw.htm>

The Internet Is Not Enough

I’ve always been a big Steve Corino fan. He doesn’t seem to take himself too serious. He was one of the most entertaining ECW champions during the time I was a diehard ECW fan. Corino is the modern age Terry Funk, in that he understands the best way to ensure a cushier future for him is to prepare the next generation of wrestlers. That might stem from his son being a budding grappler. He also has a great blog and twitter feed.

When I was working with Eddie Farhat Jr. I tried to get Corino booked for a couple of shows, but never could convince Eddie to bring him in. I traded emails with Steve, but I couldn’t get Eddie to agree to his price, which wasn’t out of bounds for a recent ECW champion. Later on I found out it was because Farhat wasn’t willing to pay anyone their market value and used his cousin/father’s name to bargain shop talent. It was one of the reasons I left to go book for the MMWA in Northern Michigan. I would have loved to bring Corino in there, but I learned that ship was already oars underwater when I took over.

When I read Corino’s latest blog he covers a lot, but in one section he talks about the role of promoters when it comes to promoting their shows. The King of Old School talks about a common occurrence in indie wrestling where a wrestler shows up to a town, goes to the gas station down the block from the venue, and the people working there don’t even know wrestling is going on that night a football field away from their job. Basically a promoter failed at promoting. It’s like a father who isn’t a good father. They’re a deadbeat promoter.

Just like kids with a deadbeat dad, it is the wrestlers that suffer because then the promoter does the dance of, “The house was light, so that means your pay envelope is light too”. The wrestlers showed up, they put on a match, and yet they have to get stiffed. All because a promoter couldn’t even do the one thing they’re supposed to do: Promote. It happens because people think if you set up a ring it will be like field of dreams, and fans will just come. As if pro wrestling fans have a spider sense for boiled hot dogs, gold bond powder, and men in tights.

A lot of promoters I have met spend more time booking and re-booking a show, than getting the word out about the show. They think a facebook post, a twitter update, a website with a message board for ten fans to trade insults on, and flyers at the local comic shop is all that is needed to draw. The only thing is that the internet is not enough.

The people following you on twitter and facebook already know about your show. The same goes for your message board. If you’re actually doing flyers then you need to put it where people who don’t normally go to wrestling will see them.

So many times I have seen flyers up in a comic shop or a tattoo parlor, where the customers already have pretty low dispensable incomes. Yet the local grocery store, gas stations, and hardware store don’t have a single mention. It takes ten seconds to ask the manager if you can put one up, and the customers coming through there usually have deeper pocket books. Plus they are new customers, which is essential for any business to grow.

Out of every 10 new people who check out a business for the first time, only 1-2 will be repeat customers. That is basic business economics. The ratio might be worse for pro wrestling because it is such a niche market. So you need to keep bringing in new blood like a dialysis machine for Keith Richards. Every show your audience should be at least 80% new faces.

The one thing every promoter seems to miss the boat on is Press Releases. I don’t know why because they are really easy to do. They take very little time to do, and you can send them to every media outlet in the area. There are a lot of small town papers, radio stations, and even television stations that are looking for local flavor to fill time. I know, I used to do morning radio for a decade. It might not be at 7AM drive time, but even a 6:10 AM talk break because of a press release is better than nothing.

A great example is when I took over for the MMWA. Going into my first booked show with the promotion the ticket sales just weren’t good enough. It was going to be another bad showing. I then found out nothing had been done to reach out to the media. With the help of my friend Jim Hall, we put together a press release talking about Rick Steiner coming to Northern Michigan, and guess what the local paper wanted an interview.

Rick was great about doing it, and we hooked the reporter up with Steiner for a short interview. He wrote an article in the Sunday edition the week before the show that took up half the front page because this little town usually had nothing more than quilt shows and fishing competitions to talk about. Low and behold the house went from 20 tickets sold to nearly 150 tickets sold leading up to the event. It was because we took an hour to make a press release. I think it cost us like 2 dollars in copies to send out. If I remember the walk up ended being good for that show too.

If promoting wrestling was easy then everybody would do it. I would quit my job and do it. The thing is pro wrestling will always be a labor of love. You’ll probably lose money at it. Some don’t have the discipline to run a tight show with a budget. Others can’t figure out how to get the word out. Most won’t survive the year or more it takes to establish a fan base that allows you to just break even.

Indie wrestling in most cases will be as profitable as playing poker with your buddies on the weekend. You might make a dime or two every once and awhile, but you’re not walking out on your job to go chase the dream. You’ll have fun with your friends, new and old. You’ll get a couple of stories. Finally, you’ll look forward to the next month, which helps get you through your 9 to 5. That’s the real life of an indie promoter.

Not to say there aren’t promotions making it. There sure as hell is. Just like there are a few weekend card players who make a splash at the World Series of Poker. The thing is those promotions are working their tails off to put as many butts in the seats. They have the flyers up at the laundry mat four towns over. They have phone calls into the local media for interview requests and ticket giveaways. They are doing everything besides relying on the internet. These promoters know the internet is really just the place to keep the fans hooked once you’ve caught them. Nobody accidently Googles your indie wrestling promotion.

If you’re willing to put in this work then you’ll see results. As the crowds grow then so will the quality of the shows, because wrestlers do better when there are less empty chairs. The better shows will keep bringing people back because quality is the best way to retain customers. This is the cycle of life in pro wrestling and in business as a whole.

Yet, like Newton said, “An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force.” The promoter has to be that outside force that gets the crowds in motion, the crowds will get the wrestlers in motion, and then houses will grow, which is a motion. It all begins with the promoter.

There is a lot more that goes into indie wrestling promoting than what I talked about here. This is one aspect of hundreds that go into running shows. Yet it seems to be such an important one that gets overlooked.

As the title says, the internet just isn’t enough. It’s great for interaction, but does little to put asses in the seats. Hard work, commitment, and patience will always be what determines if a show is going to be 20 butts every 18 inches or 200. It’s old school promoting, and sometimes what’s old school is right.

Monday Night RAW: At Least It Wasn’t 3 Hours

I’ve never been waterboarded, but after watching last night’s episode of WWE’s Monday Night Raw I believe I have a round-about understanding of it. From what I gather it makes you believe you’re drowning as you struggle against a water soaked towel that forces liquid down your throat. It is said to be a very traumatic experience. That is what watching RAW was like last night. Every minute I just felt like I was drowning as they shoved a bunch of crap down my throat, and when it was done I knew I had gone through a traumatic experience. In short, people in Gitmo have it better than wrestling fans this week.

Even the CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and AJ storyline that has been so good felt a little off the tracks. The opening was a ten minute segment stretched to 20. The over dramatic pauses and facial expressions from Punk & AJ were almost too much. I found myself yelling at the TV, “Just say it”. I don’t mind the AJ proposal. It fits her crazy chick character. I even liked the Daniel Bryan proposal, because it fits his do anything to become champ character. I didn’t like that CM Punk, Mr. Pipe bombs on the mic, couldn’t tell AJ no for two hours. The man who verbally ripped apart the company a year ago starting the summer of punk gets tongue tied by a wedding proposal from the nut job. It was a good idea for the night, but was poorly executed.

Besides the tag match in the middle of the show, each match was quick. It felt like the old 80’s WWF when you would watch wrestling on Saturday mornings and each match was a star versus a jobber. Unless my memory is faulty I believe Jack Swagger is a former ECW and World champion but now he is a door mat for anyone. For a guy who can bring it in the ring, he really has pissed off the wrong people backstage.

The same goes for Drew McIntyre. He was once Vince McMahon’s golden boy. Then shit hit the fan and he is fodder for the dancing funkasaurus. I knocked Ring of Honor yesterday for looking like a small time carnival act, but when the kids get in the ring to dance with Brodus Clay it looks like an indie moment. I am surprised more fans don’t jump the rail after watching all the kids get in the ring. I guess it sells more T-shirts, or makes kids drag their parents to the events. You know what else does that? Good storylines & great wrestling. I guess taking the easy way is the WWE way.

I get that Heath Slater is living a dream working with all these legends. He is getting tons of TV time each week. People are starting to take notice of his character. He also did just get beat by a man who held the title in the 70’s; that’s four decades ago. He literally got his ass handed to him by his grandpa. Don’t get me wrong. I have tons of respect for Bob Backlund, but was I the only one who saw him coming to the ring in his blue trunks and thought about an old man in his tighty whities screaming for kids to get off his lawn?

Also what does it say about Sin Cara, who just beat Heath Slater, that Grandpa Backlund can beat Slater in twenty seconds, while Sin Cara takes 4-5 minutes. Unless this leads to some kind of resurrection storyline of Slater getting humbled and then building himself back up over a couple of months, then what is the payoff? He is getting noticed, but only as the guy getting beat by people who won’t be back on RAW at any point. Jack Swagger & Drew McIntyre have room on their jobber cycle built for three when you’re done Slater.

You know one thing I did enjoy; the new spark between Vickie Guerrero and Tensai. The tag match was just a showcase to remind people there is a second ladder match this weekend at the PPV. It also helped Tensai get his heat back by crushing both Christian & Kidd. After, when Guerrero was staring down Tensai like a new piece of meat, it clicked. Vickie needs Tensai to freshen her up, and Tensai needs Vickie to get him over. How great of a feud will Tensai and Dolph Ziggler be? They both can go in the ring, and it is the perfect storm to turn Dolph face. This must have been the part where they took the drenched towel off my mouth to let me breathe.

It didn’t last long as the unwritten tag team rules got thrown out the window. I get you want Big Show to be a beast and destroy everyone. I get that John Cena is Superman and he will always come out on top. I get you want the tag match to be a no contest. I don’t get how Big Show pulling John Cena off of Jericho is a DQ. When does breaking up a pin attempt ever lead to a DQ? Now whenever it happens in a tag match I’ll wonder, why isn’t that a DQ? Again it’s logic. It might not get under most people’s skin, but come on creative, stop being lazy. Write a decent finish. Hell, just have Show grab a ladder and destroy everyone during the match. It’s sloppy booking, but it’s at least logical.

Speaking of tag team matches, why don’t the Prime Time Players get a tag title shot at the PPV? Why are Hunico and Camacho getting a shot, even if on the pre-show? I guess being #1 contenders isn’t what it used to be. Does nobody care about being champs anymore? Last week Gail Kim used her lawyers to get out of a title match on TNA, and now AW is letting another tag team wrestle for the gold before his clients. Why even have the belts if they mean so little?

The end of the show tag match, damn there were a lot of hodgepodge tag matches. Like I said last week, it has become the WWE creative crutch. This match was all angle driven. I enjoyed the tip of the cap by Punk and Bryan to Sonnen & Silva. The missed spinning back fist followed up by a Bryan knee to Punk’s chest made me pop. The end was a retread of this storyline. She kisses both men last week, she slaps both men this week.

I for one would have rather seen a double kick to the balls. It would have popped the crowd, and the visual of AJ “yessing” standing over both men as they squirm on the mat grabbing their jewels would have been another strong closing visual. This feud is in cruise control going into the PPV, which should be looked at as a good thing, because this week creative was shooting themselves in the foot left & right. Staying course through choppy booking might be a blessing in disguise.

Finally, and I almost blocked this out, was the whole RAW Anonymous General Manager. Not only did we have to be victims of another show of Michael Cole being more character than announcer, but then the payoff was the drizzling shits. Yes it did put closure on a storyline, but was it needed? It was one of the worst stories in WWE history, and just when we forgot about it, we had to relive it. Then on top of that it ends up being Hornswaggle.

There is nothing redeeming about this at all. It wasted time that could have been put toward the matches that got cut short. It could have been another former RAW GM that people wanted to see. It could have been left in the deep dark forgotten realms of the WWE where things like ICP & Katie Vick live. Jerry Lawler should be ashamed he let himself get involved in this crap. Andy Kaufman is spinning in his grave knowing he is six degrees of separation from this abortion.

If this is what we have in store for us when Monday Night RAW goes to 3 hours then God have mercy on us all. I’ll tune in every week because I still believe that good wrestling will return. I’ll crawl through the miles of crap in hopes that a few moments will shine bright. Yet after shows like this, I struggle to not put the towel over my head & drown myself, because RAW isn’t WAR, its torture.

One Wild Week

Talk about a crazy week. When last we ranted Ring of Honor was coming off a great iPPV and Monday Night RAW was ramping up. Then the rollercoaster began. I moved this week from my shoe box apartment to a deluxe apartment in the sky. Ok, a nice townhouse in the burbs, but still feeling like George Jefferson. That meant I lost my internet for the week because I had to switch providers. Hoping Xfinity is as a good as Cox, which shouldn’t be hard because Cox sucked.

Then when I got my Internet on Friday, the worst storm outside of a hurricane in Virginia’s history came busting through the state like Shockmaster goes through a brick wall. In short, it was a big disaster. We lost power until the end of the weekend. Now it looks like things are back to normal. Just in time for a new Monday Night Raw tonight.

Instead of writing a ton about old news, I figured I would do a week in review to get everyone caught up in the wacky world of wrasslin’. Monday Night Raw was one of the best episodes in months. TNA again goes up and down with great moves and boneheaded decisions. Plus the spirit of ECW won’t die.

First, Vickie Guerrero should be the GM of RAW and Smackdown after her showing last week. I missed Smackdown due to the storm, but RAW was hands down one of the best episodes in months. The beginning talk was limited to five minutes, and the opening three way dance was off the charts good. Again if CM Punk and Daniel Bryan wrestled for all three hours every week, the WWE couldn’t go wrong. They are hands down the two best talents in professional wrestling today. There is nobody who is even in their league. Then Austin Aries right behind them.

No better example of this is Kane. Do you remember the last time Kane looked this good? How about never! I think you could put the Great Khali in a feud with Bryan & Punk, and he would look like a stud. That’s literally possessing the ability to have a great match with a broom.

The match set the whole tone for the show, and it seemed like the rest of the talents felt the need to step things up. When Ziggler turns face, I really hope Albert Del Rio is in his future. The two could have some great mid-card matches that would add to any pay per view. The hot potato gimmick at the end of their match was a little bit of stretch, but they made it work.

Sheamus being excited about defending his belt in a triple threat is a little stupid. Who gets excited about defending a title in a match where you can lose your belt without being beaten? I guess ginger the moron ghost does. Then again he probably saw the booking sheet, and realized no champion gets beat on a taped show.

Even John Cena’s promo was good. I’m a Star Wars geek, and Cena had me cracking up. I might be biased, but his Yoda was sweet. It was a good moment to showcase the WWE title contract ladder match for Money In The Bank, which is making the PPV tip towards the “buy list”.

At the end of the day Monday Night Raw had good matches, some storyline advancements, and set up the pay per view with interesting tid bits. It did everything a free wrestling television show is supposed to do.

Bryan pinned Punk, so now we have them wrestling for the title at the PPV. It makes sense, and on Smackdown we found out AJ will be the ref. That makes even more sense. The former WWE champs compete in the ladder match, and that gives viewers an All Star cast who don’t usually wrestle in these danger matches. Plus I wouldn’t be surprised for a Rey Mysterio inclusion this week. Finally new talent is getting highlighted with the World title ladder match. Yup this was a good week for the WWE.

On the other hand TNA continued its rocky boat ride. The Gut Check segment last week was a highlight, but having Taeler Hendrix win this week ruined it all. Her showing was subpar at best. Her look isn’t that good. It just screamed, “This is a huge work”. She didn’t cut the mustard, yet TNA gave her a contract. It just took a giant dump on the whole angle. These judges were worse than the blind mice scoring the Bradley vs. Pacquiao fight. It ruined an entire angle that I will have a hard time taking serious in the future.

On the bright side the X-division tournament is a great idea. Using current TNA wrestlers and outside talent is another awesome way to show all the promising young talent on the indie circuit. There is potential for unique matches that bring a new perspective to the X-division. This has me excited to see the Destination X PPV that already has promise with Austin Aries & Robert Roode.

The Bound for Glory series is still going on. It’s still over complicated. It still makes no sense. Does the booking committee get ten points for making me tap out and change the channel when they start talking about the ins and outs of this convoluted brain child? If so then they’re on their way to 100, and quick.

Oh and Boobs Hogan had more camera time. Anyone else notice her face is what Hulk Hogan would like if he wasn’t going bald? Yeah that’s what I found out when I put it on mute. Poor Knockouts have to pretend they care what she has to say. No wonder Angelina Love left the company.

I refuse to talk about the AJ and Dixie segments. That’s talent abuse. AJ needs to be in one of those Sarah Mclachlan SPCA commercials after this whole angle is done. Just show his face in black and white with a sad song in the background. Then we can donate money so TNA never does this again.

TNA needs to figure out a lot before they commit too much to going down the over booked bad segment trail. This week’s episode was not going in the right direction. Just like Extreme Rising.

For those that don’t follow the indie scene, then you might not know about the ECW bastard child known as Exteme Rising. It is a cash grab by Shane Douglas to squeeze what is left out of the beaten corpse of ECW. After the first show that ended up being a trainwreck, they had round two over the weekend. It was two shows in New York City and Philly.

The concept is to take old ECW stars and mix them with new stars. This weekend was a positive start in rebuilding from the flaming crap storm that was their initial show. Yet this need to somehow associate the promotion with ECW only hamstrings how the shows will be seen. It will always be compared to ECW, and that won’t help the promotion. ECW was not as amazing as people remember, because like when people die, nobody remembers how big a douche bag they really were, but only the good moments. The same can be said for ECW.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved ECW. It was one of the reasons I got into wrestling. Yet people today seem to forget that ECW had its bumps. It had its failings. Anyone remember their deal with TNT? Yet now it is thought of as this promotion that did no wrong, and having Extreme Rising live in that shadow is going to make fans hold this new promotion to an unreachable standard.

I think that covers the week that was. I’m looking forward to RAW tonight, but history doesn’t look favorable as pre-holiday shows usually tread water instead of advancing storylines. Then again Punk & Bryan will deliver, and Jericho is back. Plus we should get some Ziggler love. All that is a good base for a quality RAW, and that is all I can ask for. That and AJ Styles getting traded to the WWE for Tensai. That should be part of the lawsuit settlement between TNA and the WWE.

Ring of Honor: Hard Hits & A Few Misses

Yesterday I decided it was worth the 12 dollars with my ringside membership to watch Ring of Honor’s latest iPPV offering, “Best in the World 2012: Hostage Crisis”. An iPPV with a title as long as “Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol”, and equally as enjoyable. Who doesn’t love a film with Bobcat, Bubba Smith, and The Guttenburg? The same people who don’t like wrestling shows involving teeth missing, broken tables, and girls in tight outfits. Luckily for me I am a fan of all these things, especially the Guttenburg.

Like Police Academy movies, Ring of Honor had its flaws on Sunday, but it was overshadowed by a slew of successes. I mean who thought it was a good idea to give Bobcat a gun? Probably the same person who came up with idea for the Guardians of Truth, including having them open the show.  Then again who cares about that when Adam Cole is stealing the show!

The iPPV problems Ring of Honor had during Border Wars seem to be a thing of the past. The feed for this show was crystal clear, and had minimal glitches that are not uncommon with normal cable HD. After a few minutes I had forgotten I was watching an iPPV. It was that good of a picture.

ROH kicked things off with the Briscoe Brothers against Truth Martini’s new mystery tag team, The Guardians of Truth. The Guardians are former WWE tag team champions the Headbangers in all black including full masks that make them look like generic versions of the Villanos. I’ve seen the Briscoes wrestle for almost a decade, and this might have been the worst match in their RoH careers. It could have been the loose and sagging ring ropes that threw them off, but I would give more credit to the Guardians.

The former Headbangers seemed to be having a bad day at the office. Their timing was off, and it looked a lot like when old aging stars work young guys at an indie show. A perfect example of this was at the finish when one stood at ring side watching the other about to get demolished by the Briscoe finisher, and did the “it takes me 20 seconds to slide under these ropes & help you” thing. These two are supposed to be athletic killing machines that can’t even slide under a rope. It might just be me, but this match wasn’t my cup of tea.

When I’ve booked shows in the past I have always had one important rule. The main event is the most important match, the opener is the second. The opener sets the tone for the night. It is the pace car that every other match is going to be judged on. This match told me that tonight was going to be sloppy. Luckily that turned out to be wrong, but it did take until Adam Cole got his teeth knocked out two matches later for my spirits to change. This put a damper on a good Homicide & Eddie Edwards contest between the two matches.

Homicide & Eddie Edwards had a good back and forth match. The announcers focused on Eddie’s injured arm, and a part of me wished Homicide did too. The thing is that wouldn’t have been in character for Homicide. He did some stuff with Eddie’s arm, but I wouldn’t call it an all-out assault on his arm.

Homicide has developed this amazing brawler persona, and that means he shouldn’t be taking apart his opponents injured area. He should be tossing everything including the kitchen sink at them, which is exactly what happened to Eddie Edwards. In the end it was too much as Homicide hit the gringo killer, a neck/shoulder based finisher, for the win. Picking up a “W” against Edwards can only mean Homicide has big things in his future, possibly a World title shot.

Holy Shit is all I can say about Adam Cole. There are matches or moments you can point to that make a wrestler in the eyes of the fans. It happened for Eddie Edwards when he wrestled with a broken elbow, and it happened last night for Adam Cole when he had his two teeth knocked out.

The concept of the match between Cole and Kyle O’Reilly was idiotic. The Hybrid styles concept should just be put in a shredder and forgotten quickly. The whole thing stinks of the Bound for Glory series in TNA, which is the stupidest thing in pro wrestling today. There are all these rules and regulations that can lead to fouls, and then on top of that there are different types of fouls. Plus there is a standing ten count, and probably a five minute penalty for roughing. I don’t know, but it wouldn’t have surprised me with all the ins and outs of this match. Anytime you actually need something longer than the Ten Commandments to describe the regulations of your wrestling match then it is overbooked. Just follow some advice from my grandma, Keep It Simple Shithead. My grandma had a dirty pirate mouth.

The match itself was off the charts good. The two traded blows with such violence that at one point a kick knocked out Cole’s teeth. Credit goes to the RoH camera crew for the close up of the teeth on the mat. Both had an amazing showing but it was Cole, who embraced the waterfall of blood spewing from his mouth, that put his stamp on the match. In the end Cole won with a figure four leglock, but that doesn’t matter as he skyrocketed himself into something bigger in RoH. I’m talking Tommy Dreamer taking a caning in ECW bigger.

Fit Finley & Michael Elgin followed with a good technical match. It started out slow, but had to after what had just happened. Fit Finley is one of the best vets on the Indie scene, and he looked to be moving better than both members of the Guardians of Truth combined. The two turned it up in the second half of the match as Elgin picked up the win with his impressive power bomb combo. Elgin is beginning to start his face turn as a feud between he & Roderick Strong has begun to brew.

Ring of Honor had a logic slip up during the match as Fit Finley used a Tombstone pile driver on Elgin for a two count. The main event was built around pile drivers being illegal. Something that was later rectified by the announcers during the main event when they said the ref was fined for not disqualifying Finley. It isn’t major, but little brain farts like this can mar a promotion if they are kept unchecked. Especially when one of the major angles is based around a move being banned, it doesn’t sell the idea well if other wrestlers are doing the banned move.

After intermission Mike Bennett with Bob Evans and Maria came to the ring. If it wasn’t for Maria Kanellis then I don’t think I would ever get excited for a Mike Bennett segment. In fact if from now on the camera just focused on Maria, it would greatly improve the segment all together. Mike Bennett continues to follow the “Being a Heel for Dummies” handbook.

Mike Mondo comes out. He drops a lot of F-bombs. He talks about beating Bennett and after he’ll do the humpty dance with Maria. Now if only that was a real stipulation. The two fight. It kicks off a new feud for ROH TV. It was good for what it was. Plus it got Maria in front of the camera in the best daisy dukes outside of Hazard County.

The television title three way dance was a good change of pace as it really ratcheted up the speed on the card. All three men were great in their roles, but Roderick Strong is heads and shoulders above most in the ring. His dropkick is a thing of beauty. Mia Yim doing a super kick was a cool moment that I hope gets included in more matches.

The end was all circus to further the story line between Ciampa, the embassy, & the house of truth. Then the quick finish between Strong & Lethal caught almost everybody by surprise, which wasn’t a bad thing. It made sense with all the chaos going on. Strong’s finisher is something everyone should see. When it is done right it might be more impressive than the Canadian Destroyer.

The World’s Greatest Tag Team and the All Night Express had a good tag match. The referee played up the WGTT too much as he would warn Haas about being in the ring, but never warned the ANX about it. That and he told Haas he wasn’t the legal man because he never tagged but turned around & counted a school boy when Haas was rolled up seconds later. Stick to your logic, and don’t count the guy you said wasn’t legal.

In the end the ANX won the titles. The place went nuts. It’s good for them, but the attack after looks like things are far from over. It stinks that they couldn’t celebrate more to get over the title change.

The main event was off the charts good. Kevin Steen is probably the best character in the whole company. He has charisma, a unique look, and can wrestle his ass off in any style. Davey Richards is growing into more than just the MMA guy. These two killed each other in a brutal match that featured tables, ladders, chairs, spikes, and some of the nastiest falls I’ve seen in years. This wasn’t a technical match, it was a brawl.

For those that enjoy the old ECW style then this is a match you’ll want to hunt down. It had tons of unique spots including a great moment where Jim Cornette gets manhandled by Steve Corino. Jimmy Jacobs as the lackey of Steen is a great tool for the champ. The two work really well together. I don’t expect Steen to drop the belt anytime soon as he is easily the biggest draw for fans.

His post-match verbal assault on the crowd proved that smart wrestling fans are idiots. He basically opened their mouths and shit down their throats as they cheered every moment of it. Smart wrestling fan really is an oxymoron. His anti-New York rant has me believing that Homicide could be next in line to end the reign of terror known as Kevin Steen, with a possible blow off match at Final Battle in December back in New York City. I don’t know for sure, but the booker in me sees the biggest dollar signs in that.

Overall Ring of Honor delivered on the best “pay per view” of the month. It was easily better than WWE’s No Way Out, and edged out TNA’s slammiversary. If you have a couple dollars, and four hours, then I highly recommend getting the replay. Either that or go watch Police Academy 4 on Netflix because Maria’s daisy dukes might be as good as Lt. Callahan’s white t-shirt.

Monday Night Raw: Back To The Future

(courtesy of the WWE)

The 995^th episode of Monday Night Raw was a showcase of how good the WWE used to be. The best parts of the night involved all the people that now reside outside the active roster. Just as Vader’s return last week, the parade of former stars reminded the fans that the best WWE product is the old WWE product. Besides a handful of talent, most of which appeared in one tag match, there is nothing for fans to truly be excited for in the current roster.

RAW started strong with a cheap pop from the crowd when local boy, and WWE hall of famer, Mick Foley made his way to the ring. Mick always gets a good reaction from the crowd because for years the creative staff made sure that he was memorable to the audiences during the famed attitude era. Mick announces he’s the guest General Manager for the week after Johnny Ace was fired at the No Way Out PPV the night before.

Each week there will be a former GM coming to both Raw & Smackdown until the WWE brain trust finds a suitable replacement for Johnny Ace. A mentally handicapped monkey as the replacement would be on par with those standards. That’s when the entertainment ended and logic left the building as Johnny Ace came out to say his goodbye to the fans.

First off, Johnny Ace should come out to let the fans get closure on a storyline that has been on RAW for the better part of a year. I have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the lack of logic that followed. Johnny Ace was fired last night, but before the PPV he booked a main event of John Cena vs. The Big Show, David Otunga, & himself for RAW. Somehow Mick Foley & the WWE have no power to overturn his decision and tell him to hit the bricks.

Mick Foley is the new GM for the week and he can’t even make his own main event or change the plans of the guy who was fired. In what business does this happen? A guy gets fired for being a horrible boss and the company can’t change any of his plans, WTF? The even bigger head scratcher is that Mick Foley is the GM for the week and he appears briefly while Johnny Ace has multiple segments throughout the show, including his own dressing room. Like I said logic goes out the window.

Luckily the show was pulled out of the pits by a good tag match between four of the bigger talents on the show. World champ Sheamus teamed with WWE champ, and snow angel aficionado, CM Punk to face the team of Daniel Bryan & Kane, who fought each other in a three way dance the night before. The match was good, not great.

Sheamus seemed to be off during the match with miscues and timing issues. The best part of the match came when Daniel Bryan and CM Punk got to exchange a barrage of counters that reminded me of the awesome opening parts of the RVD vs. Jerry Lynn matches from ECW. The crowd really got into the match, and Kane has really been resurrected feuding with both Bryan and Punk. Again I will say a short feud with him and CM Punk as the Bryan/Punk feud is put on the back burner to simmer until Summer Slam could be really good for all talents. What about a title match at the Money in the Bank PPV while Daniel Bryan competes in the MITB ladder match? Not too complicated, and it looks like that maybe the plan.

I say that might be the plan because near the end of the match AJ, the crazy chick, comes strolling out in her Kane outfit, mask and all. Kane follows her as she skips back up the ramp and Daniel Bryan is screwed over by a monster & his hormones. Of course AJ is working with CM Punk to play games with Kane’s heart, which can only lead to mayhem for the two. Daniel Bryan is left holding the bag and that means issues between him and Kane. I smell a #1 contender’s match in their future. Overall a good segment that furthered storylines and kept Sheamus at the forefront of the WWE Universe as the World champ waits to find out who his next feud will be with.

One thing we know is that Sheamus won’t be facing Dolph Ziggler again after he was jobbed out on the PPV the night before. Now Dolph is feuding with his tag partner Jack Swagger over the “services” of Eddie Guerrero’s widow. Their emotions boil over and Vickie puts them in a match because what cougar doesn’t like a good boy toy fight.

The WWE needs to figure out what they are doing with Dolph Ziggler because each week he keeps getting buried by creative. The self-proclaimed show off faced off against Jack Swagger in a bout of the new era job squad. The match was built around a Ziggler injury that seemed to hinting towards a Dolph face turn, but in the end Swagger controlled 99% of the match only to lose in one move to Dolph. Swags not only lost the match but also Vickie Guerrero, who lays a big smacker on Ziggler. Not sure who really was the loser here. I’ll say Ziggs because the crowd wants to cheer for him and now he’s stuck in Vickie’s big shadow as he returns to playing second fiddle to the queen of the cougars.

The second hour of RAW was two good segments, and as Heath Slater said, “A Train Wreck”. It started out with Paul Heyman, another non-regular, coming out to chants of ECW. The exchange between him and HHH was better than the promo HHH cut on PPV last night, and it was free. That’s got to sting. Almost as much as not seeing Ryback on free TV and knowing you paid to watch his RAW match the night before.

Paul Heyman might be the best weasel in the business. Who didn’t get a big smile on their face when thinking about him running the WWE? Oh what a tease that is. When Heyman said he had something for Stephanie, I was hoping it was booking lessons. In the end HHH gets the cheap pop by knocking out Paul Heyman with a right cross, but it looks like Paul won the war as now he’ll own the former WWE champ.

We moved on to the return of Albert Del Rio as he destroyed the US champion Santino. It continued the Santino feud with ADR’s ring announcer from their Tuxedo Match the night before. It’s like previewing the fact that I’ll be water boarded for the next few weeks. It was later topped by the tag team match.

Who are the Prime Time Players, and who cares about Primo & Epico?  The match tried to establish the PTPs as slimy egomaniacs who walked out on their match because they’re #1 contenders already. That works when you’re facing the tag champs in non-title match. It doesn’t work when you’re facing a team nobody thinks much of. If the Prime Time Players are the next contenders for the tag titles, and nobody knows who they are, then maybe racking up a few wins to build their credibility won’t hurt. Having them walk out of a match against two low card talents doesn’t do much to make me believe they have a shot against the champs.

When Cyndi Lauper came out with Wendi Richter I gave a small pop. No matter what you say, Lauper did a lot to get the WWF into the main stream that launched their success today. She had wrestlers in her videos, including the video for the title track for “The Goonies”. In the 80’s that was huge. Whenever she appeared in a WWF ring she looked more like the talent than a guest. Something only a handful of celebs like Andy Kaufman have been able to do.

The Heath Slater part was disjointed and could have been better. The Rowdy Roddy Piper entrance was great but had its hills & valleys. In the end Slater takes a gold record to the skull and the WWF 80’s all-stars celebrate. It looks like after his squash by Vader last week and getting smashed this week that Heath will be the legends jobber leading up to the 1000^th episode of RAW. At least we can look forward to some good trips down memory lane over the next few weeks.

To end RAW there was hopefully the last appearance of Johnny Ace with Otunga & the Big Show. Again I will state, WHY? Why is Show even coming out for the match? Why is Otunga kissing the ass of a guy who holds no power? Why is this match the main event, not a tag match with both the World & WWE champs? Why didn’t John Cena just come out to start the show and end this whole storyline? Why am I still watching this as even Rick Martel under a blindfold could see what was coming?

The Big Show walks out and says goodbye to his former boss. It makes some sense. Would have made more sense at 9:10 PM not 10:57 PM. Otunga stays to help Ace against Cena because well, I don’t know. Cena comes out and slaps around Otunga for a bit. I will say David Otunga is still green but, like the Miz years ago, he is really making strides in the ring. He has great charisma and mic skills. He could have a bright future down the road if handled correctly. He also came to his senses when he realized Ace wasn’t hurt.

Johnny Ace gets smashed by Cena, and the crowd gets closure on this horrible storyline. Now John Cena can move on into another feud, possibly with Dolph Ziggler. Johnny Ace can be off the television. I can move on from this whole mess. That is until next week when somehow Ace appears on TV for nine more segments because being fired ain’t what it used to be.

Overall Raw was better than last week, and better than the Pay Per View. It was still a middle of the road show. When they go to three hours starting on July 23^rd the WWE better figure out a lot of the bumps, or they are going to fall flat on their faces. It’s not like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk can wrestle all three hours … or could they?

Next week is in Fart Wayne, IN at the memorial coliseum, which is my old stomping ground. It’s the armpit of the Midwest, and possibly the birth place of the term slack jawed yokel. That means the WWE should fit right in with their current intelligence and creativity. Look out for a mullet on a pole match!