Some random thoughts and opinions I've
decided to churn out of my system since I've been asked certain
things, or just some shit has been nagging to be talked about.
Besides how many other wrestling sites or writers would dare say the
things I do? I'll give you hint, none really.
Someone asked me, “What would it take
to get you to watch WWE shows on a regular basis again”?
A fucking miracle.
Now the many people who have known me
for years will be cracking up laughing at that reply, because they
know that's exactly my sentiment for that company's shows. They need
a miracle and it's been shown time and again that Vince McMahon,
doesn't want fans like me anymore interested in his programming. I
used to watch it, hell one of my go to things from that company was
when Ricky Steamboat faced Magnificent Muraco and he and Mr. Fuji
'hung' Steamboat with a belt. Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch as a
tag team there is another. Flair when he showed up there wearing the
NWA World Title belt was a shocker nobody saw coming. But then? We
started getting Dusty Rhodes wearing polka dots, Dick Slater as “The
Rebel”, you see how this is starting to go down hill?
Plus look at how they've fucked up when
they golden eggs that would've maintained interest for a long time to
come, But because WWE has no damn clue on how to properly promote
something they never created to begin with, They fumbled stumbled and
fell on their face with having the NWA, ECW and WCW invasion angles.
One look on Youtube, SMW vs USWA or even ECW vs USWA are proper
examples of how invasion angles are done.
Which brings me to another question
I've been asked quite a bit recently. “If you were in charge of WWE
what would you do”?
Now my answer nearly ALWAYS pisses off
the Fanboys and fanatics of WWE, but fans of other promotions see
what I'm talking about. If I had total control, to do whatever I
wanted to do with absolutely NO INTERFERENCE? Figuratively light a
stick of dynamite, blow the shit up and start again from scratch.
Scripted promos? Thrown out the window.
Non Wrestling writers? Told to hit the bricks. All the goofy dumb
assed cookie cutter gimmicks and story lines that aren't getting
over? Put in a dumpster and set on fire. Because the bottom line is
you don't need members of the owner's family out there taking up
space and time that could be better utilized for actual wrestling
talent. Cut RAW down to two hours, hell even one hour and simplify a
lot of the micromanaged things that are too micromanaged to begin
with. Contrary to what Dave Scherer of PWInsider said in an answer to
a question sent in to him (more on that, in a minute) You CAN, write
and book a straight ahead wrestling show with simple angles and story
lines, created by guys who KNOW what gets over. You get guys like
Michael Hayes, Arn Anderson (ESPECIALLY Arn Anderson), Dibiase,
Rotunda and you book it simply. No stupid skits where a forklift
turns over a car, or a cement truck fills the owner's Corvette with
cement, you don't NEED that kind of wasteful crap to get over a
product if you book it simply and solidly.
Even if the company doesn't work with
other wrestling companies, you can 'acknowledge' them with an
interviewer asking “What brought you here to the WWE”? “I've
wrestled around the world and it's HERE, in the WWE where I hear the
toughest competition is and so I've come here to prove myself and
rise to the top here.. Seth Rollins (using his name as an example)
may THINK he's the best but when he faces me in the ring? He's going
to know why I... Am the best and if anyone else has a problem with
that? I'll be in the ring in two minutes, I dare someone to come out
and say something”.
So simple but for some reason in the
WWE, SSOO challenging.
Let the talent develop their own or
utilize their own mic skills. Bullet points go a LONG WAY, so just
give the bullet points. “This is your match, this is your opponent,
go”. And allow the talent to get the angle or reason for the match
over. How fucking hard is that to accomplish? If by some chance the
guy doesn't have strong mic skills? Then you get a Truth Martini, or
a James Mitchell or a Beau James, who DO have strong mic skills to be
the manager, and let THEM utilize their promo talents to get the
thing over. I know for a fact when the WWF's training Dojo was
headlining WWA New England shows back in 1998 the members of those
Dojos weren't having their promos written word for word for them
there. I know this because I worked for WWA New England back then and
had ALOT of access to watch the Dojos in action before fans were
allowed in. While my friends Dave, Kevin and his son left to go eat
somewhere after we helped set up chairs, tables, ring, etc. I was the
one who stayed behind, sat in one of those chairs and watched,
intently. I watched and I asked questions. I asked Tom Pritchard,
Bruce Pritchard and Dory Funk jr. (as well as Cornette when he
worked the Dojos as well) TONS of questions. They never got tired of
me asking and Tom actually appreciated the fact I did ask what I
asked. If you're gonna get smartened up, get smartened up all the way
if you can and who better to do that than guys who know the shit. So
not once ever, was a promo scripted for a WWF Dojo member on a WWA
New England show. THEY, were allowed to utilize and develop their own
mic skills. What a hell of a concept, eh?
Now Dave Scherer said (and I wish I
still had that screen shot so I could post it as proof), that and
I'll pretty much quote it, “A straight ahead wrestling show in my
opinion can't be done now”.
RREAALLYY NOW, Is TTHHAATT a fact.. It
“Can't be done” BUT.. AMW, Reality Of Wrestling, Defiant
Wrestling, OTT Wrestling, PROGRESS Wrestling, WWA In Kentucky,
Supreme Wrestling in Indiana, MEW in the UK, West Coast Wrestling
Connection, World Underground Wrestling, ECPW, Bert Prentice's USA
Championship Wrestling, The USACW in West Virginia, and I can go on
and on listing other companies, DO IT ALL THE TIME!? Explain the
logic of “can't be done” when the listed companies have been
doing it for a long time now? Obviously Scherer again has shown he
doesn't really know what the fuck, he's talking about if he can say
that, and I can show example after example of how wrong he is on it.
Bottom line is, it can be done but
companies like WWE and Impact Wrestling for some reason, it's too
much of a challenge for them.
I'll be writing another article for the
Australian based Feed The Gorilla Fanzine. It'll be an article on the
late Dale Pierce, who was well known in many Indy companies in
Arizona, California, Ohio and Washington state. It'll be an
interesting piece on an interesting individual that I had the honor
of knowing personally, and getting a lot of insightful advice from,
some of which I still use to this day.
As I posted earlier, I'll be watching
RAW tonight for the first time in a LONG LONG time. WHY would I
bother to waste my time like this, KNOWING how much that product
sucks ass? More to prove my point home that no matter what they do,
especially with this “Vince McMahon announcement” won't be enough
to maintain my interest. I'm pretty much guaranteeing I'll be
grabbing my remote and changing the channel over to Football. Not
even Houdini can perform enough magic tricks to get RAW good enough
to watch all the way thru. I won't have to 'look for' a reason to
change the channel because of how they present their shit product?
The reasons will come and I won't have to look for them.
That's about the one thing they are
consistent in doing well, presenting a shit product that has a long
time fan like myself? Always looking for something better than them
to watch. Sad, but that's just.. The way it is and it's on them and
their failure to present something entertaining. Some day they might
get it right again, but I'm sure, it won't be tonight, LOL!
