Hello once more, my dear readers. It has been a very long time since I’ve updated this blog with my thoughts on professional wrestling. I do indeed apologize for the length of time that has passed since last I updated. Well OVER a year. Again I’m sorry for that. So this entry is going to be a little all over the place. Just some loose thoughts on things, then next time, I’ll make a more coherent, structured posting.
Ok. First thing I want to discuss is the Jeff Hardy situation. For those of you who do not know, the younger of the Hardy Boys had quite a great year. He was pretty much the most popular face on the roster, and had multiple world title wins. He was on fire. He was getting life back on track. He was clean (after MANY fights with drug abuse), getting married and building a new house. I was actually proud of Jeff. I always thought that he was given far too many chances for his mistakes, but the was very popular. That’s just the way business is done. At any rate, he announced that he wanted to take some time off and decided to not renew his contract with WWE. He dropped the title to CM punk, and went off on his way. I figured that he’d be gone for may six months to a year then return to a hero’s welcome. I doubt that will happen now.
On September 11, 2009 Hardy was arrested on charges of trafficking in controlled prescription pills and possession of anabolic steroids, after a search of his house yielded 262 Vicodin prescription pills, 180 soma prescription pills, 555 milliliters of anabolic steroids, a residual amount of powder cocaine, and drug paraphernalia. This could indeed spell the end of his career. Some of the pending charges could put him away for serious amounts of time. Like YEARS in a federal prison. We won’t actually know whether or not he’ll face charges until Novemeber.
Look. I do not know why he had the drugs. And that is indeed A LOT of drugs. If they get him with intent to sell, he’s screwed. If those were all for his personal use, then I’m very worried for him. Regardless, the only response I can muster is this…
WHAT THE HELL JEFF???
Next thing I’d like to talk about a little bit is the Raw situation. Now, I know that you’re wondering what I mean. Do I mean the fact that virtually no new talent is being pushed? Well yes there is that. Do I mean how this whole PG thing is killing me?? There is that as well. Do I mean the guest host thing? Yeah, there is that. So lets talk about this.
So, there is a small issue of little new talent being made on Raw. Now, do not get me wrong. This IS not happening on Smackdown. They’re working on it. Up until this past Sunday the champ there was CM Punk (the decided to put the title on Undertaker again, for what reason I’ve no idea). Anyway, the rumor is that upon returning from his hiatus Shawn Michaels walked back into Raw and asked “Who’s been pushed since I’ve been gone?” and nobody could answer.
This is a problem. There are a lot of big names on Raw right now. HHH, John Cena, HBK, Randy Orton, and Big Show just to name a few. Now, Orton and Cena have years left. They’re both young and don’t really have a laundry list of niggling injuries. But how many more times can we see Cena vs Orton? They work great matches together, don’t get me wrong there. However, it is getting stale. I don’t think that HHH is going to be around for anymore than 3 or 4 more years. His legs are pretty jacked up. Shawn, rumor has it, is going to retire this year at WrestleMania. Big Show hasn’t been considered for a title run for a long time as far as I know.
So, who is on the roster that could be put over?
The Miz. Now I know that a lot you people don’t really like the “Reality TV Star” turned wrestler, but you know what??? You’re not supposed to. He’s heel. If you hate him, that is great. It just means he is doing his job. They finaly put the a singles title on him this week. He was allowed to win the United States title from Kofi Kingston. The Miz has improved a lot over the past year. He has the potential to be one the top heels. Is he the greatest wrestler of all time? Of course not. But neither is John Cena. Miz can work the mic, he has charisma, and knows how to work a crowd. To quote him, he is The Miz, and he is AWESOME!!!
MVP. I think that MVP could very well be made to be main event. He’s a little older, but he got a late start in the biz. He didn’t really start until after he got out of prison. He can talk, we can go in the ring, and can get great heat. He could have a short run in his future, and I think that he could do good business as champ.
Kofi Kingston. They’ve been doing well with Kofi. He had a great run with the U.S. Title and I think will work some great matches with The Miz chasing him for the belt. I do not however think Kofi is main even caliber. He’s just too small. It’s sad but true. I just don’t see him making it past mid-card. It could happen, little guys have made it up there before. Shawn Michaels, Rey ( still don’t think he should have been given the world title and think he only won it because Eddie Guerrero died), to name a couple. But they’re few and far between.
Jack Swagger. The “All American, American” appears like he’s being seasoned for a main event run. He’s huge, lanky as hell, but very tall. He could go to bulk up a bit, but god help me, he has talent. His in ring work is superb, and he’s good on the stick. (He’s got a hell of a lisp, but so did Dustie Rhodes.)
Ted DiBiase Jr. What can I say? He’s got everything his father had. He can work the ring, the mic, and has a great look. Loads of personality and probably well over a decade of wrestling ahead of him. When he is split from Cody Rhodes, he will blow up. I’m saying now that with in 18 months, Ted Jr will be the world champion.
PG Rating. Hmmm… Now I understand why. Make the little kids watch, hook in a new generation of fans. Not a bad idea. Just a little problem. Those little kids don’t pay for PPVs and merch. They’re children, they don’t have money. Now I know that making it PG will make their parents be more accepting of wrestling and thus buy the things for their kids. But still. Most of the fans are my age. We saw the Attitude Era (which was often vulgar just for the sake of it). I can live without a ton of fowl language, and you can make the skits less risque’. That is all fine and dandy. But to try to make this less violent??? This is wrestling. It’s going to be violent. I’m not saying that every match should be a blood bath, but getting a little “color” in a match is often a part of the story that the wrestlers tell in the ring. It makes sense. People are still watching, but they’re going to go elsewhere for the more “hardcore” wrestling. TNA (which is getting so good) is picking up the slack a bit in that respect. The point is, WWE is PG now, and I wonder how long it will last. Before Vince has to push the boundaries of censorship once again.
This guest host of Raw crap has to stop. Nine times out of ten it does not work well for the show when it’s a non-wrestler. There are a couple that went well. Shaq did great as the guest host, but he LOVES wrestling. Can we please just have a GM again? I mean come on. I need a new job, I can do it. Vince, I can be free every Monday night if you need me to be. Hell I can start this week!
Sorry this has been such a long post readers. I’ll be back soon with more of my thoughts, and reports on the various shows. I’m going to try to update more than once a week from now on. So, until next time this is TTP saying: Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat!
2 comments:
Hey, I had to resubmit my comment because the original had a typo that made a sentence read incorrectly.
As far as the PG rating goes, it could be a good thing if they know what to do with it. In my opinion, the best era for the both the WWF and NWA/WCW was between 1985 and 1993. There's no real "mature content" anywhere to be found, but it's among the best wrestling television ever created because it focuses more on letting the matches tell the stories.
I think Jim Cornette put it best when he argued that the Attitude era and the ECW-fueled "garbage wrestling" craze set a nasty pattern of escalation in place. It might be time to consider dialing things back for the good of the business. When the fans become conditioned to accept table spots as commonplace, for instance, what does it take to make something seem like a "big deal?" A flaming, barbed wire table spot? Something is certainly wrong here. Sooner or later, this game of can-you-top-this is going to hit a wall, and that's not going to benefit anything. It's bad for business because it makes even the most dangerous spots seem stale. It's dangerous to the performers' health, and just generally self-destructive.
I also think a lot of people are blowing this "no threats of serious violence" thing clear out of proportion. It (hopefully)doesn't mean you can't threaten to break every bone in your opponent's body; that's a wrestling promo, not serious violence. It should mean that you can't threaten to embalm your opponent, hold a gun to the boss' head in the middle of the ring, or set your opponent on fire and throw them off from the top of the set. That's "serious" violence, and to me, it has no place in wrestling. It's not only uncomfortable to watch, it's just unsettling. With what has been going on in the "real-life" world of wrestling in the years since the Attitude Era as far as deaths, drug scandals, and especially the Benoit situation, this kind of violence just seems really tasteless. That was one of the main things from the Attitude era that left a bad taste in my mouth, and I can't imagine why anyone would want to see their shows ruined with it.
Pro wrestling has always had the social stigma of pandering to the absolute lowest common denominator, and in hindsight, the Attitude Era seemed to embrace that perception to the fullest extent. If this switch to TV PG could mean that the current WWE product keeps a focus on wrestling rather than Russo-esque shock TV, I think they're on the right track. That seems to be the case for ECW, Superstars, and (for the most part) Smackdown right now - but Raw is pretty much hopeless.
I miss having the emphasis on wrestling matches instead of storylines. I also miss clear-cut faces and heels, and the ability to enjoy a larger-than-life spectacle, but it's near impossible to put the cat back in the bag.
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