RavishingRickRudo

The correct answer was: "You're right, the pickings are slim. I takes what I gets." Your answer missed a key point in "at this level of wrestling". If Masters were working the way he does at an indy show, I probably would have praised him for his basics - since that sort of thing is lost on many indy workers. But this is the big time - I don't accept that, and neither should anyone else (that has an ounce of self-respect as a wrestling fan). I don't care if he's inexperienced, green, "not quite there yet", or however you want to explain his inability to produce anything worth seeing in or out of the ring, who the fuck watches the WWE to see someone go from rookie suck to experienced suck? I don't. I expect a certain level of ability, if I don't get it, then I don't care if it's his first day wrestling, the only thing I consider in this matter is the end-results.

I liked WCW, though. Hasn't it been enough time since WCWs collapse that Eric Bischoff being put in these situations is more sad, than anything else? I can't help but feel sorry for the guy. I don't think that's the WWE's intent.

It's ok to say Masters is terrible. Fuck these motherfuckers who think because the pickings are so slim in the WWE, when a guy comes in who doesn't fuck up moves, that that's something worth seeing. Masters is basic, and when the fuck is basic acceptable at this level of wrestling?

I admit it, I did not think of that brilliant match. Why should I hate Bischoff again??

But MMA fans would know about the show, anyways. If SPIKE _were_ taking this seriously, then there would probably be more advertising for it, ya? I don't think the lack of advertising is an oversight on their part where it just escaped their mind to promote the show. I think the whole situation is being inflated, where Dave and Vince seem to be going nuts and UFC and SPIKE are playin it cool. Too cool? It depends on what they expect. I think, given the spontaneous nature of it, it's more of an experiment than anything else. SPIKE is like "Hey, we have this audience available for us... and we are just going to give it up?? Let's throw this out and see if we can pick up some strays. If it works, fuck yeah. If it doesn't, we won't lose anything we otherwise wouldn't have lost". Whereas Dave is like "OMG! If UFC doesn't get a good number than SPIKE will drop them completely and lose faith in MMA! If they do good than Vince would go insane and I was right all along!!!!!" and Vince is like "SPIKE TV didn't pay me a billion dollars for a show that has consistently gone down in ratings for the past 4 years and are now trying to compete with me, well FUCK THEM. I'll bring back a bunch of Mega Superstars that haven't been on TV in months, to show that the WWE is fresh and hip and the kids love it". And then you have Dana White, who is like (with the signature Dana White Sleazy Grin) "SPIKE TV is going to give us money to do this shit? Git er done. If we get good ratings, great, I'll get a blowjob from one of the ring girls. If we get a bad rating, well, that's not the audience I want. I'll still get that blowjob"

You know, last night sorta played out like I laid out, but my scenario was so much better.

Unless you look at it in the sense of "the UFC is trying to capture the RAW audience who will turn to SPIKE at 9:00", where it doesn't matter if there is the publicity, the fans they want to catch are going to be there already. Infact, if they DID advertise, it would announce to those fans that RAW would be gone and something else would be in their place, so they wouldn't bother tuning it at 9. Of course, in the tradition sense, it makes no sense whatsoever. But maybe SPIKE isn't taking this as seriously as Vince and Dave are, and just want to see "what would happen" and see if they can actually sustain some of those initial viewers.

Meltzer, while not as credible as he is in wrestling. is still a leading MMA journalist and is sourced by many other MMA journalists. The guy has been covering it for well over a decade now, has been a UFC judge, and has ties to many of the organizations and fighters (Frank Shamrock is, I believe, one of his (better) friends.) He's pretty darn credible. It's when he puts his inadequacies for being a wrestling journalist onto MMA that there comes the problems. Stop trying to convince the world what you do for a living isn't a joke, Dave.

It's times like these where I really Really REALLY Really. REEEEEEEEEEALY miss Brock Lesnar.

I'm not sure it's a business ambition of Dana White's to see his champ's head get kicked off. If it happened I'd watch it and love it regardless, though I'd rather see them bring in Khanitorov (sp?) or Fedor. Fedor in a cage would be fine. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Fine...LOTC, you did it again.

Meltzer wants the UFC to compete with the WWE, but it's a win-win-win-lose for him anyways. If the UFC promotes their show heavily against the WWE, it would prove Dave was right and Dana was wrong about advertising to pro wrestling fans. If the rating is poor, it will show that the ppl who watch UF are pro wrestling fans who chose RAW. If the rating is good, then the increased advertising worked and they successfully attracted pro wrestling fans. If they don't advertise and get a bad rating, Dave will say "I told you so". The worst thing to happen for Dave is for the show to be a (relative) success without advertising - and of course, even if it is, Dave will spin-it otherwise unless it's a huge number.

You'd think they'd use a ladder match, as well, given their respective histories. You could book it for the 6th year anniversary of their No Mercy match.

Maybe they will be called "The Mudley Boyz", where they come out covered in mud. Their finisher can be called "Dur-D".

Why isn't Edge/Matt a HIAC?? I mean, fuck, they've been using the word "hell" and saying things like "I'm going to take you to hell", and the theme of the match is "no one can escape", and they just make it a CAGE match? It's akin to: Edge: Ya, so what are you gonna do Hardy? You can't stop me on my quest to move up the ladder of the WWE. Matt: Oh, I will stop you from moving up the LADDER, Edge. Edge: You think you can throw me off the LADDER, Matt? Matt: Oh yeah Edge, I'll throw you off, I'll throw you on, I will even throw the ladder on you! Edge: You wish you could do all those things with a ladder Matt! Matt: I can do all those things with a ladder, Edge! Edge: Ladder! Matt: LADDER! Edge: LAAADEEEERR!!! Matt: Alright, that's it Edge, you and ME, in a LUMBERJACK MATCH!

A lot of the actors are small names - Fox, Andrews, O'Quinn, Dom, even DDK and Shooomahaaalda! (I will spell it how I say it). I wouldn't say Rodriguez is out of their league in terms of fame. I mean, shit, they had the guy who played Jay Leno in The Late Shift on the show - you don't get bigger than that.

That's like a WWE guy telling Vince that Hunter is bad for TV. Vince would probably give them the same explanation as Dixie gave too, cept HHH has some figures to support his title reigns JJ and Dixie are tight, that's pretty clear. JJ has his guys in the company, and I imagine it's enough to scare anyone off from going against him. And I imagine Dixie has been told that the naysayers are just "jealous" or "don't understand" or "everyone is like that on the internet". Besides, if JJ has given her the impression that "he doesn't want to be on TV", then that puts him in an even better light. "Get the fuck off my TV" heat isn't exactly something you just pick up, especially when you have people telling you that it's good heat. I don't imagine TNA is exactly the "family" that it is portrayed as, since wrestling has never really been a team sport. JJ is better as a friend than an enemy, so guys will work that to their advantage.

Previous interviews I've read with her painted her as rather intelligent, especially for a wrestling promoter. She looks at it from a Marketing POV, which -to me- is a strong-point. The JJ stuff is more bias and inexperience, than stupidity

I think it's simply a case of Dixie not knowing enough about wrestling to distinguish between what JJ is, and what he isn't. I imagine (I don't watch TNA, so maybe I am wrong on this) she hears JJ get heat and thinks that's the best they can do, because she doesn't have the proper frame of reference to judge. She says "star power" in the regard of "people know who he is", and no doubt most wrestling fans who have been watching for the past 10 years do. But those people know JJ as a career mid-carder, which is damaging to an unknown company when he's your top star.

I don't think Angle could get his heat back through the post-match beatdown. I mean, the contention is is that he's the best wrestler in the world. If he can't get it done in the ring, then he has failed. I don't think they can compromise that at this stage in the game, if they hope to continue the feud. Would Angle be dead-in-the-water after a loss? No. But I think he would be a lot more strong if he didn't lose. The problem with the Jericho feud is that no one believed Jericho would win, and I think the same thing goes for Angle right now (a lil less for Angle), simply because its clear this is "John Cenas time". By Angle getting the victory at Unforgiven, it puts him in a stronger position. I agree with you on the fact that Cena can't lose either, since they have invested so much in him already and that he's one of the few hot properties they have. I think the ref stoppage thing would be the best possible finish. Cena could be hurt slightly, because the visual and logic behind the anklelock finish would suggest that Cena really did "lose" the match, but then again it could help Cena in that Cena never gave up. There is also a polarity in the finish, and I think that would benefit the feud because Angle -at least the last time I saw him on TV- was getting more and more over as a fan favourite, and Cena was receiving some boos. Both guys have good reasoning behind their arguments, so you get the Angle fans thinking one thing and the Cena fans thinking another, putting more heat on the feud. But because it's the best possible finish doesn't mean that it's the one they will do. I think your suggestion is more likely, because that's the one they often do use. But what they've been doing lately has me wondering...

Agreed. Jarrett is a good wrestler, a good talker. He's a solid addition to anyones roster. He, however, has limited growth (mainly) on account of his size. The guy just isn't a convincing champion. I don't look at JJ and think "that guy could kick my ass". To use the airport analogy that Kevin Nash likes to use, if you see JJ walking by, you wouldn't think he was a wrestler. And worse, he doesn't look tough in the ring. He's average. No one sees average on TV and stays on that station. I can see this moving into a Raven/Dudleys vs. JJ/AMW** feud, which is actually a pretty strong feud for TNA on television (The Dudleys' "big surprise" on TV is a pretty good hook, you have the ECW connection, and a 6 man feud can last for a few months), but only as a secondary feud with a bigger headliner. The X title would be an OK headliner in general, but when trying to capture the most audience possible, you need a big name to get their attention, and then in between the big name(s), you sneak in the unknown guys and try to get them over as fast as possible so you can shift the focus towards them. I don't really see any big names out there right now (Jericho would be border-line) that would do that, so maybe they may have to bite the bullet and get the X-title over as the main title through force and hope that the fans cling to it. (** the more I think about it, the more a Dudz/Raven (how was Raven able to keep the name, btw??) vs. AMW/JJ sounds good. It can have legs in that you have more guys joining the cause - Jeff Hardy joins Dudleys and Raven (Hardys history with the Dudleys, and the fact that he is an "outsider" in TNA along with the ECW guys), Monty Brown joins AMW/JJ cause he's TNA born and bred. Rhyno has to make a choice, since I believe he is with JJ, and he eventually joins the Extreme Team. Abyss gives his loyalties to the TNA team. That way you can mesh the guys the fans would know with the guys they wouldn't know. I don't know how much TV time TNA will get, but one big arch with lots of wrestlers would be PERFECT for this day-and-age in a very serialized/hour-long-drama television season. Booking/writing television would be a breeze if you had that one big storyline, some storylines that surround it (and eventually become a part of it), and then your headlining X-Division staying outside of it. Some people would contend that having the TNA guys has heels wouldn't be wise, since TNA is the show. Why would you want the fans to hate TNA? First of all, it's easier to hate someone you don't know, than to get behind them. And, ultimately, fans are more likely to cheer the guys they DO know, than cheer the guys they don't know. With that said, I would have the feud play out in a way where most of the TNA guys turn on JJ, to get the TNA guys over as faces. The way this feud could be booked, there's like months worth of TV to use.) ...dammit, why am I not putting this in my own blog? This = Ratings. Oh, and I'd start off the first TNA show with AJ Styles coming out dressed like John Cena, acting like John Cena, and then saying "The reason why you can't see me, is that I'm moving way too fast" and throwing off the Cena stuff to reveal AJ Styles. Lemme revise this: I'd start off with an intro package to AJ styles where he says and does all this - then having him wrestle to show it.

I think they have been building Angle up too strong for him not to lose. The position on Angle is, "this is the best he's ever been" - it would do some severe damage to him if he were to lose this.

Why wouldn't the title change hands if Cena passes out? I never said pass out. Think of it more as Tim Sylvia/Frank Mir. Cena comes out the next night, in crutches, and says he never lost the title. Angle comes out and says he won the title fairly. Cena says he never tapped. Cena says "let's do it right now". Before Angle agrees, Bischoff comes out and says that the refs ruling stands because the ref was looking out for Cenas safety. Vince McMahon comes out and asks the audience if they agree with the title ruling, which segues into Taboo Tuesday. Vince says something like this has never happened before in the WWE, so the title is in dispute and will be suspended until Taboo Tuesday where the fans get to decide the fate of the WWE title (the matches will be one that favours Angle, one that favours Cena, and another match that doesn't favour either). After Vince leaves, Bischoff puts Cena on a 30 day leave period, preventing Cena from wrestling on a bad ankle, or as Bisch puts it "to protect Cena from himself". Hell, he could even call Angle the "interim champion", where Angle goes on to defend his version of the WWE title against tomato cans. This leads to Cena, who is banned from competing, to run in from the audience at various times to fuck with Angle and whatnot. Would all this happen? No, of course not. I suck at predicting what the WWE is going to do, because I usually use their own logic better than they do and mix it in with good booking. But, they _have_ been doing more unconventional finishes for matches that mirror UFC finishes - KO's spots, for example. Excessive Bloodloss is another one. I still don't see Cena losing the belt, even if it is only because the title is suspended. But this would enhance Cenas current character. Cena is all about "real, recognizin real", and HE'S the REAL champ, cause he never lost. "THE CHAMP IS HERE" takes on a newer meaning. You could go so far as to Cena calling himself "The Peoples Champ"

I could see Angle beating Cena by ref stoppage after Cena refuses to quit from the anklelock, but can't escape it either. Much drama happens and the title is suspended and will be decided at TT in a match by the fans' choosing. That way you can keep both guys' heat, continue the feud, and give the TT match added importance.

Or that Vince McMahon is totally bullshitting there and no one takes what he says seriously. If this were the case, Steph would have been fired a long time ago due being a massive failure in every single regard of her position in the company.

Well, "not knowing how to work" can fall under "pretending to be a wrestler", but it is more along the "interaction with the fans" side of it. Not necessarily pandering to the audience, but working a tempo and controlling the pace so that you can move the audiences emotions around. Benoit/Angle RR03 is the example I like to use most - the crowd was dead, and they brought it back to life. How did they do that? Unique moves like the DDT on the apron, hard work shown by the two men through a fast pace and hard-hitting action, and in particular, two spots that was able to get the crowd into it. There was a sleeper spot which got the typical "clap clap clap" from the audience, and then there was the double ko spot which got a "1...2...3...4...5..." count - both these things pulled the fans into the match by getting them active. Other things like blood, near-falls, unexpected spots, humour, trademark spots, etc. are good high spots in a match. Of course, time is a big factor and that match went 20 minutes and the fans were familiar with both guys - still, it was quite the accomplishment. I wonder why HHH -expert on working- couldn't do the same? With a WWE crowd, if you are unfamiliar to them, you have to do something special to get their attention. Humour is probably the best way to do that, rather than trying to get over on "hard work" and grunting. I don't mean gimmicks or anything, which is what the WWE thinks, I mean in-ring comedy. Wrestling is underrated in terms of slap-stick and physical comedy and actual comedy matches are pretty rare to see in the Fed... well, intentionally funny... Another way to get over with the crowd is through interaction. Clapping your hands to get them to clap their hands, taking signs/beer/etc. and using them in your match, the 10 punches in the corner (better than the sleeper/cometolife spot), stuff like that. And exceeding expectations is a good way to get over with a WWE audience as well. Make them think you are one thing, and then do a complete 180 and make them take notice that their first impression was wrong. Listening comes into play when a spot gets the fans' attention, or doesn't. Do you continue holding that headlock despite it not getting the reaction you desired in hopes that they eventually wake up, or do you try something else? If the crowd pops for something, do you pick up the pace and try to sustain their interest? Should you go through the motions because you think the office doesn't want you to stray, or do you take advantage of the situation and do something you think would get the fans up? The purpose of a wrestler in the WWE should be to pop the audience - not because that's what wrestling is, not because that's what the WWE is, but because that's what Vince responds to best. He is the biggest mark for crowd reaction. Unfortunately, he may not be watching everyones matches and may only get information second hand. So, if -say- HHH is the one feeding him info and HHH probably doesn't mark for the pop as much as Vince and looks for something else, he'd probably say "That kid did a crazy move that he shouldn't have done" rather than "That kid just made the crowd go nuts".