OK, let's see if I can remember how to do this...
For those of you that are new to the fold, I am resurrecting a column that I used to write many years ago dealing (for the most part) with the state of professional wrestling. There will be times that I go off the page (more than I used to), but this is the focus of this thing. Now, you may be asking yourself, "What prompted you to do this again?" Well, my good friend (and one of the handful of original readers of this thing) Chad, and I were talking last week, and I did a search on my favorite columnist, Hyatte, whom has landed here at Blogspot. In reading his column that I had not seen in YEARS, it inspired me to get my brain working again and do this thing. Plus, I have a nice little circle of fans who have become friends over the last few years, so hopefully there will be reading here. That being said..
We'll start on a bit of a down note. The great Captain Lou Albano passed away today. This was a guy who was one of the key components in making wrestling fun for the mainstream (his work with Cyndi Lauper both in his arena and hers was HUGE... it was even mentioned on PTI today on ESPN), and he knew how to cut a promo. Some of the guys today can learn something by going back and watching his stuff (and Rock's promo from SD two weeks ago, which is posted on my Facebook... for those of you that aren't on my friends list, the user name is DJBammBamm). He will be sorely missed. Vaya con dios, sir.
We start with SmackDown from last week (I know the new one was taped last night, but I'm not reading spoilers here... at least on this). It's good to see CM Punk actually acting like a heel now, thinking he can bully Teddy Long into giving the remach with the Undertaker to be like it was before, a submission match. My wife (who does not watch much) thought it was odd that they turned him heel by basically saying a positive message (don't drink to excess, don't take drugs, don't abuse prescriptions), and I felt the same way. Just be a heel, dude. Granted, you'll never be a WWE top dog (and don't give me "He was champ in Ring Of Honor".... it's RING OF FREAKING HONOR, which we'll get to in a bit.), but you're giving us SOMETHING to watch from a heel standpoint. I don't even think Edge will be heel when he comes back.
Here's a question, and I've always said this: How can Rey Mysterio be a contender for the HEAVYWEIGHT championship of the world? The belt ways more than he does. Just sayin'.
Memo to the people who record theme music: give Michelle McCool her own theme music. She's got to be sick by now with using Candice Michelle's OLD (like three versions ago), music. And help with mic skills might be a good thing, too.
Anybody else shocked by the fact that this is only the Undertaker's 7th run with the belt? I think it's good, personally. I think some of the title runs as of late is cheapening the fact that Flair's done it 16 times. To this generation, it may come to the point where it's not that big of a deal. (As far as HHH, we'll deal with that in an upcoming column.)
As far as this next point, I only have three words: Why Vickie Why? Narf.
Hey, kids, it's Maria! Where the crap has she been for the last month and a half when it comes to the spare known as Dolph Ziggler? I thought the job of a valet was to actually BE THERE when your man has a match. I do wonder if she turns heel or Melina does. Could go either way.
Lastly on this part of the column, I would just like to plead with stopping with the live intro for R-Truth. Or a character overhaul. Or just putting him with somebody else he can play the lackey role to. This bit plain SUCKS.
OK, one down, three to go....
We now turn our attention to that which is known as Ring Of Honor. If you do not have HDNet, you don't see this one-hour "show," but I'm not a recapper, so if you wanna know what actually happened, you'll have to go elsewhere.
I once had a discussion about professional wrestling in general with a dude who worked at a local video game store (my GOD, could that statement have propetuated the stereotype any more?), and he SWORE to me up and down about the greateness that is ROH. At the time, Samoa Joe was their champ, and CM Punk had just left. So, when HDNet announced that they would be carring one hour of their programming each week (which now airs on Monday nights, right before Raw... hey, they ain't STUPID enough to go head-to-head), I was intrigued. Sometimes, you find a bit of gold in a coal mine, so I'd give it a chance. Granted, I'm still watching, but it's from the standpoint of "this HAS to get better". Then, I find out that one of the guys that I feel is in the upper echelon of the promotion, Nigel McGuinness, has been signed by the WWE and is making the jump soon. (Brian Daniels is also going, who is GREAT technically, but I'm not sure about the personality there.) The presentation is real amateur, the commentary team is HORRIBLE (I'll take this week's SD team of Cole & Grisham over these two). Some MAJOR upgrades are needed for this thing to be even viable anywhere but in the northeast. And don't get it twisted, this isn't even on the street that gets to the interstate that gets to the exit that gets to the frontage road that gets to the remote parking lot that gets to the ballpark of even the original ECW, so don't even try that comparison.
And Bison Smith? I thought the Nasty Boys retired YEARS ago. And that's what I have to say about that.
Sign Of The Week goes to the one made for Chad for his 40th birthday last week by our friend, Tonya. So there, public.
Ah, now to the mainstay of this column: Monday Night Raw. (Put it to you this way: at the height of the Corner, I was still evaluating Nitro.)
To all of the d-X haters: even YOU have to admit that they have been the best thing about this show for MONTHS. Shawn's answering machine ALONE was more entertaining than anything else on that show (except Santino, he ALWAYS can bring the funny). We've been seeing this Legacy split coming from a country mile away, and even Cena seems bored with this. Maybe he can have more fun on SmackDown.
By the way, how can the book be "unauthorized" if THEY WROTE IT?
It's good to see the Divas division coming more to the forefront again, but it has to be understood that there is a SEVERE difference in skill levels between ladies like Mickie James and Jillian on a Grand Canyon-esque level. That was just SLOPPY. I understand you needed to put it on a heel for a nanosecond to get it on Melina, but damn. That was BAD. At least go with Beth Phoenix. Then, the trade might have carried some more weight. And to say Jillian had the shortest reign doesn't carry much weight to a belt that is less than a year old.
And as much as I am all for Snoop hosting, I thought this was supposed to be a "family-friendly" shizzow. This can't be to pimp an album. Then again, Ozzy and Ice-T (both of whom I am a fan of) are hosting before the end of the year, too. So go figure.
As far as ECW goes, yeah, I watched. But this show is ABYSMAL. When Christian finally is done paying his penance to Vince and gets moved off of this show, there may be NO reason to watch, except to comment to you, faithful reader. But that's another topic for another time.
Speaking of topics...
We always wrap up the column with the Topic Of The Week. This week, I answer the question that is: "Hey dude, what about TNA? What about iMpact?"
It's simple. I can't watch it right now.
I have been an avid fan of TNA for almost two years now, ever since I saw them do a house show here at the House of Blues (they've only done one here since... don't get THAT). I really enjoy their product, and sincerely believe that they are at a crossroads where they could either just "stay the course" or step up and could give Vince the competition that he so desperately needs to get the creative juices flowing for rock-solid product.
Enter the banana peel under Dixie Carter's feet.
You see, iMpact! comes on at 8 PM Central Time on Thursdays. Problem there is that I have two other shows on my DVR at that point (The Office and CSI: Vegas), and my DVR can only do two shows at a time (even U-Verse can only do two HD programs at the same time, so THERE), and both of those shows are higher priorities, so iMpact! didn't get recorded then during normal viewing season.
This didn't used to be an issue, as they replayed the show on Saturday mornings, and I would get it then. Again, I REALLY like their product and enjoy watching it. However, two weeks ago, TNA decided to cancel the replay to try to up their ratings on Thursdays. This is not a good idea, kids.
Again, you are on opposite THE OFFICE AND CSI: THE MOTHERSHIP. These two have been ratings juggernauts for YEARS, and you aren't going to beat them. Keeping the Saturday replay is actually better for your ratings, as that is when people of my ilk record it. Bring it back, and you have me back before rerun season.
Or make a move to at least Tuesday nights. You can definitely take on ECW.
And there is the same problem with "WWE Superstars," but come on. It's SUPERSTARS.
That's what I've got for this week. Thanks for reading, and we'll keep this thing up on a weekly basis as much as I can.
BB
No comments:
Post a Comment