This week saw two new videos advertising returns to WWE and it made me think of some of the better reveals/surprises that have occurred in wrestling. So in this list I'm looking at wrestlers "revealing" themselves (not like that) or just general surprises, you'll get the idea when I start listing them off. So let us begin.
10) The Power Trip Begins
At Wrestlemania 17 Stone Cold challenged the Rock for the WWE title. This was one of the biggest matches at the time and the Reliant Astrodome was jammed packed, partly because of the great card (this Mania was one of the greatest ever in my view) and for their own Steve Austin going for the title. The match is still one of the best I've seen and is one of my personal favourite Mania main events. As the match went on Vince McMahon, who had been feuding with Steve Austin constantly for years, headed down to the ring. Everyone was worried about what he would do but no one expected him to help out Austin, it was a great twist. The biggest problem was where they did it, you could of had Steve Austin shot a bunny in the face with a shotgun and they still would of cheered him like crazy. Anywhere else and this would of worked so well but in Texas was a big mistake.
9) Andre wants his shot
Andre the Giant was one of the biggest stars in wrestling and probably one of the only true global stars when he was around, everyone knew who he was. Andre became one of the main guys in WWE and when they were looking to expand they hit the mother load with Hulk Hogan and he became just as big of a star as Andre maybe even bigger. The two biggest babyfaces had met in matches way before Hogan rejoined the WWE but it never really went down well. Hogan's reign as champion went well and he was beating everyone, we come to a Piper's Pit and a big surprise. During the segment out came Andre with Bobby Heenan, Bobby announced that that Andre wanted a title shot and that Hogan had been ducking him. It ended with Andre ripping Hogan's shirt off and necklace and walking away. At the time this was a massive deal and it was done so well that it drew 96,000 *cough* it didn't draw that many at all, they lied *cough* for Wrestlemania 3 and it became one of the most iconic matches ever.
8) They're Here
When Abyss mentioned that "They" were coming at 10/10/10 in TNA we all knew that it involved Hogan & Bischoff turning heel. The date was for Bound for Glory and as the night went on we were waiting to see Them at some point. They were so many rumours running around that Kurt Angle or Mr. Anderson would be involved in the group. As the main event began a Triple threat between Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle and Mr Anderson, we were sure that They would show up to help Angle. So as we waited for an eternity for Hogan to make it down the ramp while Eric Bischoff was in the ring we thought it was time and then BAM it turned out Jeff Hardy was apart of them. Hardy was one of the biggest babyfaces at the time and the turn was a big surprise. I haven't been able to praise TNA much over the past two years but this was one of the better planned and executed turns.
7) You know that girl you want to marry, I married her first
First off this is one of the funniest things I've seen in wrestling. In 1999 Test was set to marry Stephanie McMahon (on-screen) and there were some big angles based around it, including a great match between Test and Shane. The ceremony had started but as it went on Triple H came out and said he had something to show the world. What was shown was a drugged up Stephanie being married to Triple H in a drive-thru ceremony. It was a truly hilarious and one of the better twists in wrestling, I really didn't see it coming and I think the fans didn't either. All I can say here is go and find it.
6) The Next Entrant is
I would love to write about one specific moment on this one but it's just too damn hard to pick one. Let's face it the Royal Rumble match is always one to watch every single year and in part it's due to the surprises that we expect, there are always surprise entrants or returns that gets a pop out of us. Whether it was RVD, Diesel, Booker T or the Honky Tonk Man we always get a pop from it. But the two bigger shockers in terms of Rumble surprises were the return of John Cena and Edge (in different years) both at the time were recovering from major injuries and hadn't been expected back for months, they received some of the biggest reactions and then went on to win the Rumble. The rumble is and will forever remain one of my favourite matches every year and the surprises is a key factor there.
5) I now pronounce you man and man?
Bischoff was playing the priest and then his monster squad (3 Minute Warning) destroyed everything. The reason why this is on the list is because you really couldn't tell that it was Bischoff or that it would end the way it did. You can look back now and say it "Oh I knew it was Bischoff" but I'm pretty sure that at the time you didn't, and if you still say you did then you're a liar a dirty, dirty liar.
4) Congratulation and I'm gonna beat you up
At Summerslam 2009 one of my personal favourite matches took place, the main event saw CM Punk face Jeff Hardy in a TLC match for the World Heavyweight title. Oh what a match it was, those two probably had the best series/feud that year to be sure. The ending to this match saw Jeff take himself out by Swantoning Punk on the outside, as Jeff was being taken off Punk began to climb. Hardy battled back and began to climb but was caught by a kick and Punk won the World title. Punk began to celebrate and even stood over Hardy to gloat. But then the lights went out and when they came back on the Undertake replaced Hardy and chokeslammed Punk. This was beautifully done and set up Punk's next feud while ending his previous feud. The problem then came with the fact Punk had to work Taker and Punk couldn't really win in that feud and he didn't.
3) The Millennium is here
When we saw the countdown clock we knew something special was coming. Ultimately that clock would lead us to one of the best debuts ever in wrestling. We all wondered what that clock would exactly lead to and it ended up being the debut of Chris Jericho. The debut became one of the greatest TV segments ever as the clock ran down while the Rock was in the ring, the two then proceeded to have a great back and fourth with each other and it showed that Jericho was going to be a big deal, he wasn't at first but he did in the end. Again all I can say is search this out as it's worth watching and harder to describe.
2) A King in a crap hole
Every wrestling fan See's the ECW arena as a holy grail in wrestling but it looks like a dump and the fans in their are mostly dicks (personal opinion I really don't like the arena fans). Anyways in 1997 a big program occurred in ECW with some of their guys (Rob Van Dam and Sabu) announcing their alliance to the company. ECW's main guy, Tommy Dreamer, was about to end his feud with Raven and just after he had won he was ambushed by RVD and then Sabu. ECW seemed to always have the lights go out on a show but after the first two times and big surprise came with the third as Jerry "The King" Lawler then appeared. No one expected to see The King, who truly hated ECW and still does to this day. While RVD and Sabu were ECW wrestlers claiming to be WWE guys this was a true WWE guy. The reaction the fans gave was one of true hatred so much so that the King had to sink out afterwards as he was truly afraid for his life. It was a great time to be a wrestling fan with angle likes this could happen.
1) Oh Yeah time to drop a leg
I may be a little predictable here but how could this not be number 1, we've all seen the Bash at the Beach in 1996 and the infamous third guy of the Outsiders. While the Outsiders were beating up Randy Savage everyone asked who could save WCW now, out came Hulk Hogan and the Outsiders ran. Hogan then proceeded to dropping a leg on Savage who was lying on the mat and Hogan became the third guy. The fans couldn't believe it and began to throw garbage into the ring, you could feel real passions from the fans. Hogan was the quintessential babyface and no one expected him to turn heel. This was one of the biggest heel turns ever and more to the point one of the biggest surprises we've seen in wrestling. Hence why it's number 1 on this list.
So that's my top 10 surprises/reveals, were you surprised? Probably not but hey I tried. Anyways let me know what you think and thanks for reading.
Sunday 27 November 2011
Wednesday 9 November 2011
High Noon Preview
So this weekend has Chikara's offical Season finale, I saw offical because they will also hold Joshimania a three day special show involving all female wrestlers and lots of japanese wrestlers. Back to the season finale on November 12th the annual Cibernetico takes place but I'm not looking at that the next night has Chikara doing their first iPPV. So here's a little preview of the show and what I'm expecting from it.
Before I mention the first match Amasis from the Osirian Portal is set to update his wrestling status on the show. For those of you who don't know he was involved in a car accident and had to quit wrestling. We'll have to see just what he has to say. But onto the show.
El Generico vs. Jigsaw-Free Pre-show match
No back story here just one awesome match and it's FREE! I like Jigsaw he's a great wrestler but has had problems working outside of Chikara mainly due to his mask in my view, he did wrestle in ROH without it but he just went downhill until he put the mask back on in Chikara. His opponent, El Generico, is probably one of the best wrestlers I've ever seen. Seriously think about it, when was the last time you saw Generico in a bad match? Generico deserves main event pushes where ever he goes and thankfully Pro Wrestling Guerrila aren't afraid to make him World champ. I'm also looking forward to him challenging Davey Richards for the ROH World title but that's not being discussed here. This free match should hook those who are on the fence about buying the iPPV.
Winner: Jigsaw-This is really a toss up and anyone could win but I'm going with Jig because he's Chikara's own while Generico is just a visitor.
Colt Cabana vs. Archibald Peck
Archibald Peck is one of the weirdest gimmicks I've seen in a while but it works well in Chikara and it works even more by the fact Robert Evans is the man behind the gimmick.
So the backstory here is at King of Trios this year Peck beat Cabana, he said that Eddie Kingston sent him to the future via the Backfist to the Future and he saw who he was going to be facing. Since then Peck has re-introduced Colt Cabunny to Chikara. Colt has declared war on Peck and said he was going to stop his abuse on the Cabunny.
I expect this match to give you some laughs and really just entertain you, these two are two of the most entertaining men in wrestling today. If you don't know who Peck is then you may have seen him working with the Embassy in ROH in a non-wrestling role. And we should all know Colt who is probably the best wrestler to mix comedy into his wrestling and put on great matches. If you don't get a laugh from this match at some point I'd be surprised.
Winner: Peck-Once again it makes more sense to give the win to someone who is always at Chikara instead of someone just visiting the promotion. But having said that I could also see Colt winning.
Sara Del Rey vs. Jakob Hammermeier
These two were once part of the BDK faction in Chikara Sara was a part of the faction while Jakob was their personal ring announcer. Over the last year a lot has happened, Jakob was trained to wrestle and started to regularly. While Sara broke away from the BDK and was left to fight on her own when her tag partner Daizee Haze was injured. Sara scored some big wins over the two BDK leaders (Claudio Castagnoli and Ares) in singles matches. So the main backstory here is that Del Rey was to beat all of the BDK members and so she's on to Jakob.
This is a weird one to me, Sara is one of the best female wrestlers and generally one of the best wrestlers going today but I haven't seen much of Jakob's work so I don't know how good he is. Sara can probably make him look great and if Jakob is good then the match can be good.
Winner: Del Rey-She beat the top dogs of the group so I'm pretty sure she will beat Jakob here. I'm personally more interested in just who she will be wrestling over the Joshimania weekend.
Green Ant vs. Tursas
This is not the first time these two have met but this time it doesn't have as much build, let me explain. Earlier this year these two were set to meet and Green Ant decided to copy the infamous Lex Express from WWE in 1993/4. They even got Luger on a Podcast-a-go-go to add his support. On the day of the show Green Ant showed off a new red, white and blue outfit and had the fans going crazy, sadly he did not win that match. So we now get the rematch. Tursas has not been beaten often during his Chikara run only losing a handful of single matches. He is a real big man but is a good worker for his size. Green Ant has really shown talent during his time in Chikara, I was actually surprised that he didn't win the Young Lions Cup this year. I expect this match to be good but short as a long Tursas match just doesn't work for me really.
Winner: Green Ant-It just makes sense to have him get this big win here and Tursas doesn't really need the win.
Gregory Iron vs. Icarus
Gregory has really exploded in the world of wrestling this year, he has gained a lot of attention and has proven himself to be a great wrestler as well. These two have met twice before, scoring one win each. The main story here is that Icarus has often made fun of Greg's cerebral palsy on Chikara shows and on his Chikara blog. This is the big grudge match between the two and the story is pretty simple. I expect this to be one hell of a match, Icarus is extremely underrated in my view and Greg has shown serious talent as well.
Winner: Gregory Iron-With this season rapping up once again it makes sense to give the good guy the win.
The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant) vs. The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson)
No real story here except that both teams are on two points and want their third. For those of you who don't know in Chikara teans gain points by winning tag matches and when they get three they can challenge the champions (currently Team FIST aka Johnny Gargano & Chuck Taylor). FIST and the Colony have had some serious history in Chikara and have started up again recently, the Colony have been champions before and could be the first to become two time champions. While that match could be great I'd personally prefer to see the Bucks challenge for the tag champions. Either way you will get a great tag title match and this will be a great tag match as well.
Winners: The Colony-As I said I'd prefer the Bucks but it just makes more sense for the Colony to win this one.
The Spectral Envoy (Ultramantis Black & Hallowicked) vs. The BDK (Tim Donst & Ares)-No DQ match
Pretty much two years of feuding could come to a end here. When the BDK formed Ultramantis was one of the guys leading the charge, Mantis tried to get Hallowicked on his side but wasn't able to due to their history. At last year's Season finale Wicked joined up with Mantis and they've been in a stable ever since. This is really two feuds put into one. Mantis and Ares have had some a series of matches, including a wild Falls Count Anywhere's match at The Germans. Their feud has really been Chikara vs. BDK but Hallowicked vs. Donst has more story. Donst has made it his mission to be recognised as the greatest Young Lions Cup champion ever problem is that Hallowicked is a former champ. They have traded wins and the feud even saw Hallowicked beat up Donst and made him lose to Max Boyer in the shortest match in Chikara history.This match should be crazy, I expect outside interference from both parties but overall it should be awesome.
Winners: The Spectral Envoy-After all this time between these four it's about time to move on and the Envoy winning could put a end to it.
Eddie Kingston vs. Mike Quackenbush to crown the first Grand Champion
Earlier this year Chikara announced they would crown their first Grand Champion, they held the 12 Large Summit which had two blocks of wrestlers having matches and scoring points. Mike Quackenbush won the highly competitive Block A which could of been won by any one while Eddie Kingston won Block B by beating everyone except Vin Gerard who injured Eddie's knee at the last event. So Kingston enters this match with a injured knee which could be bad since Quack is the Master of a 1000 holds. Now I'm pretty sure this tournament final was meant to be Kingston vs. Claudio Castagnoli but Claudio signed with WWE and that match can't happen.
Quackenbush has done pretty much everything there is to do in wrestling he's won tournaments and titles throughout his long career. Over the last couple of years Eddie Kingston has really became the MAN in Chikara, he has beaten some big name stars including Chris Daniels, El Generico, Homicide and more.
Winner: Eddie Kingston-He is the man in Chikara and deserves to be the first champion. A first challenger already seems in the making in Vin Gerard and Kingston has pretty much been facing whoever for the last two years now so making them title matches makes sense to me.
So that's my preview of High Noon, Chikara has been one of my favourite companies for years now and I always love their shows. I expect this show to be just like their others and by that I mean truly awesome.
Before I mention the first match Amasis from the Osirian Portal is set to update his wrestling status on the show. For those of you who don't know he was involved in a car accident and had to quit wrestling. We'll have to see just what he has to say. But onto the show.
El Generico vs. Jigsaw-Free Pre-show match
No back story here just one awesome match and it's FREE! I like Jigsaw he's a great wrestler but has had problems working outside of Chikara mainly due to his mask in my view, he did wrestle in ROH without it but he just went downhill until he put the mask back on in Chikara. His opponent, El Generico, is probably one of the best wrestlers I've ever seen. Seriously think about it, when was the last time you saw Generico in a bad match? Generico deserves main event pushes where ever he goes and thankfully Pro Wrestling Guerrila aren't afraid to make him World champ. I'm also looking forward to him challenging Davey Richards for the ROH World title but that's not being discussed here. This free match should hook those who are on the fence about buying the iPPV.
Winner: Jigsaw-This is really a toss up and anyone could win but I'm going with Jig because he's Chikara's own while Generico is just a visitor.
Colt Cabana vs. Archibald Peck
Archibald Peck is one of the weirdest gimmicks I've seen in a while but it works well in Chikara and it works even more by the fact Robert Evans is the man behind the gimmick.
So the backstory here is at King of Trios this year Peck beat Cabana, he said that Eddie Kingston sent him to the future via the Backfist to the Future and he saw who he was going to be facing. Since then Peck has re-introduced Colt Cabunny to Chikara. Colt has declared war on Peck and said he was going to stop his abuse on the Cabunny.
I expect this match to give you some laughs and really just entertain you, these two are two of the most entertaining men in wrestling today. If you don't know who Peck is then you may have seen him working with the Embassy in ROH in a non-wrestling role. And we should all know Colt who is probably the best wrestler to mix comedy into his wrestling and put on great matches. If you don't get a laugh from this match at some point I'd be surprised.
Winner: Peck-Once again it makes more sense to give the win to someone who is always at Chikara instead of someone just visiting the promotion. But having said that I could also see Colt winning.
Sara Del Rey vs. Jakob Hammermeier
These two were once part of the BDK faction in Chikara Sara was a part of the faction while Jakob was their personal ring announcer. Over the last year a lot has happened, Jakob was trained to wrestle and started to regularly. While Sara broke away from the BDK and was left to fight on her own when her tag partner Daizee Haze was injured. Sara scored some big wins over the two BDK leaders (Claudio Castagnoli and Ares) in singles matches. So the main backstory here is that Del Rey was to beat all of the BDK members and so she's on to Jakob.
This is a weird one to me, Sara is one of the best female wrestlers and generally one of the best wrestlers going today but I haven't seen much of Jakob's work so I don't know how good he is. Sara can probably make him look great and if Jakob is good then the match can be good.
Winner: Del Rey-She beat the top dogs of the group so I'm pretty sure she will beat Jakob here. I'm personally more interested in just who she will be wrestling over the Joshimania weekend.
Green Ant vs. Tursas
This is not the first time these two have met but this time it doesn't have as much build, let me explain. Earlier this year these two were set to meet and Green Ant decided to copy the infamous Lex Express from WWE in 1993/4. They even got Luger on a Podcast-a-go-go to add his support. On the day of the show Green Ant showed off a new red, white and blue outfit and had the fans going crazy, sadly he did not win that match. So we now get the rematch. Tursas has not been beaten often during his Chikara run only losing a handful of single matches. He is a real big man but is a good worker for his size. Green Ant has really shown talent during his time in Chikara, I was actually surprised that he didn't win the Young Lions Cup this year. I expect this match to be good but short as a long Tursas match just doesn't work for me really.
Winner: Green Ant-It just makes sense to have him get this big win here and Tursas doesn't really need the win.
Gregory Iron vs. Icarus
Gregory has really exploded in the world of wrestling this year, he has gained a lot of attention and has proven himself to be a great wrestler as well. These two have met twice before, scoring one win each. The main story here is that Icarus has often made fun of Greg's cerebral palsy on Chikara shows and on his Chikara blog. This is the big grudge match between the two and the story is pretty simple. I expect this to be one hell of a match, Icarus is extremely underrated in my view and Greg has shown serious talent as well.
Winner: Gregory Iron-With this season rapping up once again it makes sense to give the good guy the win.
The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant) vs. The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson)
No real story here except that both teams are on two points and want their third. For those of you who don't know in Chikara teans gain points by winning tag matches and when they get three they can challenge the champions (currently Team FIST aka Johnny Gargano & Chuck Taylor). FIST and the Colony have had some serious history in Chikara and have started up again recently, the Colony have been champions before and could be the first to become two time champions. While that match could be great I'd personally prefer to see the Bucks challenge for the tag champions. Either way you will get a great tag title match and this will be a great tag match as well.
Winners: The Colony-As I said I'd prefer the Bucks but it just makes more sense for the Colony to win this one.
The Spectral Envoy (Ultramantis Black & Hallowicked) vs. The BDK (Tim Donst & Ares)-No DQ match
Pretty much two years of feuding could come to a end here. When the BDK formed Ultramantis was one of the guys leading the charge, Mantis tried to get Hallowicked on his side but wasn't able to due to their history. At last year's Season finale Wicked joined up with Mantis and they've been in a stable ever since. This is really two feuds put into one. Mantis and Ares have had some a series of matches, including a wild Falls Count Anywhere's match at The Germans. Their feud has really been Chikara vs. BDK but Hallowicked vs. Donst has more story. Donst has made it his mission to be recognised as the greatest Young Lions Cup champion ever problem is that Hallowicked is a former champ. They have traded wins and the feud even saw Hallowicked beat up Donst and made him lose to Max Boyer in the shortest match in Chikara history.This match should be crazy, I expect outside interference from both parties but overall it should be awesome.
Winners: The Spectral Envoy-After all this time between these four it's about time to move on and the Envoy winning could put a end to it.
Eddie Kingston vs. Mike Quackenbush to crown the first Grand Champion
Earlier this year Chikara announced they would crown their first Grand Champion, they held the 12 Large Summit which had two blocks of wrestlers having matches and scoring points. Mike Quackenbush won the highly competitive Block A which could of been won by any one while Eddie Kingston won Block B by beating everyone except Vin Gerard who injured Eddie's knee at the last event. So Kingston enters this match with a injured knee which could be bad since Quack is the Master of a 1000 holds. Now I'm pretty sure this tournament final was meant to be Kingston vs. Claudio Castagnoli but Claudio signed with WWE and that match can't happen.
Quackenbush has done pretty much everything there is to do in wrestling he's won tournaments and titles throughout his long career. Over the last couple of years Eddie Kingston has really became the MAN in Chikara, he has beaten some big name stars including Chris Daniels, El Generico, Homicide and more.
Winner: Eddie Kingston-He is the man in Chikara and deserves to be the first champion. A first challenger already seems in the making in Vin Gerard and Kingston has pretty much been facing whoever for the last two years now so making them title matches makes sense to me.
So that's my preview of High Noon, Chikara has been one of my favourite companies for years now and I always love their shows. I expect this show to be just like their others and by that I mean truly awesome.
Thursday 13 October 2011
Oh I Hate Your Face!
Do you ever watch wrestling and think to yourself "Man that guy annoys me so much" well then this list is for you. I'm going to focus more on a wrestlers personality instead of just their work in the ring which might be a small factor in my choices. Now these are the people who just annoy me for one reason or another and like most lists I'll give you 10.
10) Randy Orton
I never really noticed his problem until I watched a build up video to one of his matches with Christian, his match at Summerslam I believe. Orton's personality fits a cold hearted heel to a tee but there lies the problem, Orton is a babyface. Randy keeps the same tone in every interview and it's hard to relate to a guy who doesn't show actual emotions, oh and when he does show something it's just anger and nothing else. The reason why Randy is number 10 is because this flaw is often ignored because of his fantastic ring work, he is my pick for wrestler of the year right now he's had so many good matches this years with such a variety of wrestlers.
9) John Cena
Shock horror Cena isn't number 1. Why? Because if he was then I'd be like everyone else and I'm better than that! Now I'm not going to pick a part his wrestling ability, what he does in the ring or the fact he won't put anyone over cleanly without burying them in the end. No what bugs me most is his attitude on the microphone. Now you get one of two things from Cena, either extremely childish which makes him look like he's 5 years old (seriously putting on stupid voices) but at least that appeals to his fan base who probably are 5 years old. Or you get MEGA ego who is a guy who destroys people's reputations by mere words (before he does it in the ring). You want proof he's something he said on a Raw before facing Alberto Del Rio: "I am so sick and tired of trying to make average seem awesome. There is only one man in this company that can go toe-to-toe with me. You are not CM Punk" what a way to put over your new WWE champion!
8) Vickie Guerrero
Excuse Me! I truly believe Eric Garguilo used that to a much greater effect while in CZW. Vickie is amazing at getting the fans to boo the living hell out of her, she has to be one of the most over heels the company has had ever since she turned heel while on TV. Those two simple words gets the crowds going. That's part of the reason why she's only number 8 because I know she is actually doing her job well. What annoys me is the fact that she often drags her segments on just to get that reaction, she spends more time saying excuse me than anything else just because she knows it gets a reaction. Good heel or annoying? Wait it's annoying.
7) Karen & Jeff Jarrett
Did you know that Karen was married to Kurt Angle? No well then TNA will drag that onto TV for 6 months! This is probably more about Karen as I don't really mind Jeff, he did annoy me when he had a guitar involved in every single match he had but he's not so bad now. The problem is Karen doesn't really fit into the world of wrestling well and her personality is horrible, I actually believe she's not putting on a act and that's just her which makes me feel bad for Jeff in a way. The most annoying thing about the couple on TV is the fact they go from one extreme to another, first they do a storyline that is way to personal and now they are disrespecting Mexicans on a weekly basis. Not the best TV but with TNA there is very little good TV in the first place.
6) Rob Van Dam
Are you worried that someone will forget your name? Well apparently Rob is because he has to remind us 10 times in every match he has! Now I've expressed my views that I feel Rob just doesn't care at all in TNA and doesn't give it his all in his matches, which annoys me in the first place. But what is more annoying is the fact Rob doesn't show his anger when he's meant to. Remember his match last year with Abyss at Bound for Glory? Well Abyss was the guy who destroyed him and forced Rob to give up the TNA World title, so you'd assume that Rob would want revenge right? Well he spent more time pointing to himself and playing to the crowd then wanting revenge. That might have been a one off, I don't watch enough TNA to be a full judge, but Rob's personality has bugged me for years now. That relaxed, "stoner" personality is fun for a while but it gets old and Rob is getting old so should of stopped by now.
5) Hornswoggle
Talk about a waste of time and money. Who in WWE is looking at Hornswoggle and thinking "This guy deserves TV time and deserves to go over stars who could actually become main eventers in the long run". All Hornswoggle does is come out to the ring, he does a "comedy" skit which no one laughs at and embarrasses wrestlers who deserve so much more. The fact he gets TV time while guys like Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes etc. struggle to get a segment truly gets me pissed. I will simply say this whoever is writing for Hornswoggle should stop right now, the guy should not be on TV at all. Unless he's in Mexico as the midgets are huge down there.
4) Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff
These two go together because you rarely get one without the other. These two men just HAVE to be involved in every other segment on Impact and have to be involved in some way in nearly every storyline. They are old, over the hill and shouldn't be wasting our time. I can't believe I'm going to say this but the Ultimate Warrior was right in a recent video he released "It's not Kevin Nash's time, it's not Hogan's time and it's not the time of the old timers. It's time for these old guys to move out of the way and let the young guys shine". The fact Hogan and Bischoff are in TNA who probably has one of the greatest rosters in wrestling today is a even more important factor as they could showcase main difference between them and WWE instead all we think of is WCW 2000 with these two putting the spotlights on themselves.
3) Jeremy Borash
We've all known that person, you know that person who wants to be one of the guys so badly he'd do anything. Well that is Jeremy Borash in a nutshell. Whenever he's given a job he has to be one of the guys instead of doing his job. If he's interviewing a guy backstage he has to act up and be a part of the interview instead of letting the star shine, if he's in a vignette he gets heavily involved. Borash has always annoyed me because he just comes off as desperately needing approval like a little kid saying "Hey look at me, you're not looking. Look at me now!". And lets face it we've all had a interactions with a kid like that and it's truly annoying.
2) Michael Cole
Is Cole just being a good heel commentator? NO! He's being annoying and he's taking away from the action. It's funny when I decided to write this up today I listened to the Aftermath Radio podcast with Arda Ocal and Jimmy Korderas and Cole came up during the podcast. There is no better way to put it then how those two did: "Is Cole doing a good job? No as he's getting the wrong heat. He's not getting heat he's getting annoying to the point where people would rather mute him and that's the problem. He's not like Bobby Heenan who was getting heat while keeping people listening, Cole is just getting the wrong kind of heat". That is Cole's biggest problem, people don't like listening to him. He takes away from the action and insults those who should be respected e.g. Jim Ross (although that's probably McMahon's doing). What is more annoying is his switching back and fourth, one minute he's loving the heels and then he's cheering for Cena like there's no tomorrow. I think I speak for everyone when I say please Cole just stop your vintage crap and shut up!
1) Teddy Long
Holy crap is Teddy Long annoying! Whether it be his one sided actions towards babyfaces or just how he talks (seriously stop saying Holla and playa, also thugging and bugging sounds stupid). What is more annoying is that you forget that he's even there until he pops out and reminds you that he has some power "I'm the Smackdown GM you know?" "Really I thought the show ran itself" recently it seemed that Zack Ryder had more power then Teddy Long does. I mentioned earlier that he's completely one sided towards the babyfaces and that shows in many title matches of the past, here is a prime example. Batista challenged Undertaker for the World title in a Chair match (don't ask) the match ended after Batista hit a low blow on Taker behind the referee's back and hitting Taker with a chair. Teddy then comes out and demands the match is restarted. What bugs me here is that you could use a chair to beat the hell out of your opponent but you couldn't low blow them? May be if he did it with a chair it would of been legal? And this has happened a lot in the past. Teddy is just the stereotypical goody goody who just appears from time to time to bug the crap out of you. Teddy Long is truly the most annoying guy in wrestling.
Well there you go, my list of the Top 10 annoying guys in wrestling aka the I hate your Face list!
10) Randy Orton
I never really noticed his problem until I watched a build up video to one of his matches with Christian, his match at Summerslam I believe. Orton's personality fits a cold hearted heel to a tee but there lies the problem, Orton is a babyface. Randy keeps the same tone in every interview and it's hard to relate to a guy who doesn't show actual emotions, oh and when he does show something it's just anger and nothing else. The reason why Randy is number 10 is because this flaw is often ignored because of his fantastic ring work, he is my pick for wrestler of the year right now he's had so many good matches this years with such a variety of wrestlers.
9) John Cena
Shock horror Cena isn't number 1. Why? Because if he was then I'd be like everyone else and I'm better than that! Now I'm not going to pick a part his wrestling ability, what he does in the ring or the fact he won't put anyone over cleanly without burying them in the end. No what bugs me most is his attitude on the microphone. Now you get one of two things from Cena, either extremely childish which makes him look like he's 5 years old (seriously putting on stupid voices) but at least that appeals to his fan base who probably are 5 years old. Or you get MEGA ego who is a guy who destroys people's reputations by mere words (before he does it in the ring). You want proof he's something he said on a Raw before facing Alberto Del Rio: "I am so sick and tired of trying to make average seem awesome. There is only one man in this company that can go toe-to-toe with me. You are not CM Punk" what a way to put over your new WWE champion!
8) Vickie Guerrero
Excuse Me! I truly believe Eric Garguilo used that to a much greater effect while in CZW. Vickie is amazing at getting the fans to boo the living hell out of her, she has to be one of the most over heels the company has had ever since she turned heel while on TV. Those two simple words gets the crowds going. That's part of the reason why she's only number 8 because I know she is actually doing her job well. What annoys me is the fact that she often drags her segments on just to get that reaction, she spends more time saying excuse me than anything else just because she knows it gets a reaction. Good heel or annoying? Wait it's annoying.
7) Karen & Jeff Jarrett
Did you know that Karen was married to Kurt Angle? No well then TNA will drag that onto TV for 6 months! This is probably more about Karen as I don't really mind Jeff, he did annoy me when he had a guitar involved in every single match he had but he's not so bad now. The problem is Karen doesn't really fit into the world of wrestling well and her personality is horrible, I actually believe she's not putting on a act and that's just her which makes me feel bad for Jeff in a way. The most annoying thing about the couple on TV is the fact they go from one extreme to another, first they do a storyline that is way to personal and now they are disrespecting Mexicans on a weekly basis. Not the best TV but with TNA there is very little good TV in the first place.
6) Rob Van Dam
Are you worried that someone will forget your name? Well apparently Rob is because he has to remind us 10 times in every match he has! Now I've expressed my views that I feel Rob just doesn't care at all in TNA and doesn't give it his all in his matches, which annoys me in the first place. But what is more annoying is the fact Rob doesn't show his anger when he's meant to. Remember his match last year with Abyss at Bound for Glory? Well Abyss was the guy who destroyed him and forced Rob to give up the TNA World title, so you'd assume that Rob would want revenge right? Well he spent more time pointing to himself and playing to the crowd then wanting revenge. That might have been a one off, I don't watch enough TNA to be a full judge, but Rob's personality has bugged me for years now. That relaxed, "stoner" personality is fun for a while but it gets old and Rob is getting old so should of stopped by now.
5) Hornswoggle
Talk about a waste of time and money. Who in WWE is looking at Hornswoggle and thinking "This guy deserves TV time and deserves to go over stars who could actually become main eventers in the long run". All Hornswoggle does is come out to the ring, he does a "comedy" skit which no one laughs at and embarrasses wrestlers who deserve so much more. The fact he gets TV time while guys like Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes etc. struggle to get a segment truly gets me pissed. I will simply say this whoever is writing for Hornswoggle should stop right now, the guy should not be on TV at all. Unless he's in Mexico as the midgets are huge down there.
4) Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff
These two go together because you rarely get one without the other. These two men just HAVE to be involved in every other segment on Impact and have to be involved in some way in nearly every storyline. They are old, over the hill and shouldn't be wasting our time. I can't believe I'm going to say this but the Ultimate Warrior was right in a recent video he released "It's not Kevin Nash's time, it's not Hogan's time and it's not the time of the old timers. It's time for these old guys to move out of the way and let the young guys shine". The fact Hogan and Bischoff are in TNA who probably has one of the greatest rosters in wrestling today is a even more important factor as they could showcase main difference between them and WWE instead all we think of is WCW 2000 with these two putting the spotlights on themselves.
3) Jeremy Borash
We've all known that person, you know that person who wants to be one of the guys so badly he'd do anything. Well that is Jeremy Borash in a nutshell. Whenever he's given a job he has to be one of the guys instead of doing his job. If he's interviewing a guy backstage he has to act up and be a part of the interview instead of letting the star shine, if he's in a vignette he gets heavily involved. Borash has always annoyed me because he just comes off as desperately needing approval like a little kid saying "Hey look at me, you're not looking. Look at me now!". And lets face it we've all had a interactions with a kid like that and it's truly annoying.
2) Michael Cole
Is Cole just being a good heel commentator? NO! He's being annoying and he's taking away from the action. It's funny when I decided to write this up today I listened to the Aftermath Radio podcast with Arda Ocal and Jimmy Korderas and Cole came up during the podcast. There is no better way to put it then how those two did: "Is Cole doing a good job? No as he's getting the wrong heat. He's not getting heat he's getting annoying to the point where people would rather mute him and that's the problem. He's not like Bobby Heenan who was getting heat while keeping people listening, Cole is just getting the wrong kind of heat". That is Cole's biggest problem, people don't like listening to him. He takes away from the action and insults those who should be respected e.g. Jim Ross (although that's probably McMahon's doing). What is more annoying is his switching back and fourth, one minute he's loving the heels and then he's cheering for Cena like there's no tomorrow. I think I speak for everyone when I say please Cole just stop your vintage crap and shut up!
1) Teddy Long
Holy crap is Teddy Long annoying! Whether it be his one sided actions towards babyfaces or just how he talks (seriously stop saying Holla and playa, also thugging and bugging sounds stupid). What is more annoying is that you forget that he's even there until he pops out and reminds you that he has some power "I'm the Smackdown GM you know?" "Really I thought the show ran itself" recently it seemed that Zack Ryder had more power then Teddy Long does. I mentioned earlier that he's completely one sided towards the babyfaces and that shows in many title matches of the past, here is a prime example. Batista challenged Undertaker for the World title in a Chair match (don't ask) the match ended after Batista hit a low blow on Taker behind the referee's back and hitting Taker with a chair. Teddy then comes out and demands the match is restarted. What bugs me here is that you could use a chair to beat the hell out of your opponent but you couldn't low blow them? May be if he did it with a chair it would of been legal? And this has happened a lot in the past. Teddy is just the stereotypical goody goody who just appears from time to time to bug the crap out of you. Teddy Long is truly the most annoying guy in wrestling.
Well there you go, my list of the Top 10 annoying guys in wrestling aka the I hate your Face list!
Saturday 17 September 2011
Series Review: Best on the Indies
I am a massive fan of the American independent wrestling scene. I still follow WWE, TNA and ROH but most of my attention goes to the indies. So when I found www.smartmarkvideo.com and the best on the indies series I was over the moon. I have a lot of them and I recently got three more so I've decided to give a little mini review for each one. Before I set I'll share some information on them. The DVD's usually consist of 3 disks which has a shoot interview, which changes on length depending on who is interviewed, and a series of their best matches. So I'll give a little overview of the shoot and the matches on the set. Now some of the names you'll know and some you won't. I'll focus on some of the better ones as I have so many and don't want to write about them all otherwise I'd lose the will to live.
From Parts Unknown to Revolution Avenue The Jimmy Jacobs Story
The Shoot: Not an overly long interview and he comes off as a bit of a dick however this was done in 2008 when Jimmy was famously known as having a ego and being a dick. But with that said it is a good shoot. You learn that he stole the spike which is his trademark now and we learn his side to the story of him throwing the IWA Mid South World title in the trash during a AAW show. It's a shoot worth watching once but you'll probably won't watch it again.
Matches: Jacobs has had many big feuds and you get one of the best from the series e.g. Alex Shelley and Delirious, a lot better then over doing it like with some DVD sets *cough* Rey Mysterio *cough*. His match with Chris Sabin is great and has a truly unique finish, the old school throwback working with the Barbarian is just funny and the match where he loses the IWA MS title to Arik Cannon is fantastic. No real bad matches on the set even the last match against Jack Thriller (who had the nickname Serial Killer but looked like a geek) is truly great and shows that Jacobs can get great matches out of anyone.
Psycho Shooter The Drake Younger Story
The Shoot: If you watch this shoot then I recommend getting the Naptown Dragon Stories as this was done prior to the Diehard Dustin Lee incident and that's something that should be covered (and is covered by others in the series). Drake is such a nice and likable guy and that will shine here. You'll get to see what a deathmatch worker is like and what goes through their heads when they suffer major injuries (Drake covers three incidents which would make most people stop). It gets emotional when the subject of JC Baily comes up but overall it is a fun shoot which includes a wrap up and then continuing since Mike Burns (the interviewer) forgot to mention.
Matches: A nice mix of deathmatches and pure wrestling showing how good Drake is. Only downfall is that there are a lot of matches from his feud with CJ Otis but the matches were great so it's not so bad. Highlights are his legendary Barefoot Thumbtack match with JC Bailey, his No Rope Barbed Wire with CJ Otis and his grudge match with Brain Damage that closes the set. The SAW deathmatch with Thumbtack Jack you probably won't get through without cringing as it's sick for no real reason but that's TJ.
Tries His Hardest The Chuck Taylor Story
The Shoot: Chuck Taylor is probably one of the funniest guys in wrestling today and this comes off here. You can find some of the highlights on youtube which includes losing a guy in England and dealing with a drunk Doug Williams in Germany. You will laugh for sure and be entertained which is the key thing.
Matches: Some great matches here including a tag match with Cloudy against Richochet & Player Uno which gets a standing ovation, his matches with Richochet/Helios in Chikara are not only great but will get you laughing and his matches with Low Ki are fantastic as expected. However his match with Steve Corino is not great and probably could of been left out and his match with CJ Otis is a little awkward but two bad ones out of a set of 15+ isn't bad.
The Anarchist The Best of Arik Cannon
The Shoot: A great look into his career here which includes some really funny stories and a running gag of inserting a Homicide headbutt clip at certain points. But this shoots really shows of is how Ian Rotten can turn on a guy after they leave IWA Mid South and how that company worked. Overall this shoot is a great insider look and is really funny as well a shoot you can watch again and again.
Matches: Some of the biggest stars are included here and it's all great quality. Highlights are matches against Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson, AJ Styles and Cheech but you'll struggle to find a bad match if I'm honest. The only odd thing about the set is that his least favourite match, against Homicide, is included and his favourite match, against Chris Hero at TPI 2005, wasn't included. Bit odd that a best of includes such mistakes for lack of a better term.
Danny Havoc Volume 1 & 2
The Shoots: Danny gets 2 volumes here as his first was done just a year or two into his career. The first shoot is just pure humour and only lasts 30 minutes or so. The second is much longer and includes serious points as well as humour. The funniest thing is that in the end of volume 1 he says what he'd like to achieve and by the next shoot he's done that. But it's worth watching as Danny is just a character and entertains you.
Matches: First off you have to love deathmatches to like this set, the only straight wrestling match on both sets is with Arik Cannon which is great for the commentary alone. The first volume is fine but there is too much DJ Hyde and Hyde killing Havoc which gets boring but the other matches are great. There is a lot more variety on volume 2 including some matches from his feud with Sami Callihan, which are also on Sami's volume and on a DVD set of just the feud so it's a little over done but the matches are great. A lot of opponents are done over but as a deathmatch wrestler there is a serious lack of wrestlers in that field. If you like deathmatches then you'll love this set and if you don't you'll probably become a fan.
The Last of a Dying Breed the Eddie Kingston Story
The Shoot: First of I'm a HUGE fan of Eddie Kingston so of course I'll recommend it. So the shoot, really entertaining and it shows what type of person Eddie is which is a guy who wears his heart on his sleeves. This shoot is done just after Eddie was having problems which isn't really covered in great detail but what is is the leaving CZW incident and his problems with the owner. But it's not all serious as there is some funny stories included.
Matches: A really good selection of matches with some highlights being his Last Man Standing with Chris Hero (showing why these two have had such a great feud), Tim Donst which makes Donst as he was only a few matches in, Drake Younger, Arik Cannon and his first deathmatch with Zandig. The first two matches (a 6 man tag and against Jolly Roger) are not the best but it was early in his career, his match with Ricochet has a DQ finish which hurts it a bit and his first match with Larry Sweeney just stops randomly but also includes Sweeney hitting Eddie with a car to help the feud move on. Side note I wish Sweeney had got the chance to get a volume in this series or at least a shoot as would of loved to hear his point of view.
Choose Death the Necro Butcher story volume 1 & 2
The Shoot: Only one interview here as the second volume is just all matches. A good little shoot but it often seems like Necro mixed shoot with work when he talks about his story. It does go into a lot of personal issues here and includes the story of how he got into the Wrestler. I'll a little mixed on this shoot, it has it's good points and some bad.
Matches: So many matches here so can't really go into that much detail. Some matches are highlighted by the commentary by Dave Prazak & CM Punk which is just hilarious. It's a great mix of straight wrestling and death matches. The matches against Samoa Joe, Low Ki and his tag with Toby against the H8 Club are over done and highlighted to much else where but are still a must watch.The only downside is his match with Gyspy Joe which just has very little and puts Joe over for no reason and a match against JC Bailey were both seemed drunk/out of it and the match just ends randomly.
Zandig Volume 1 & 2
The shoots: Now there is a 3rd volume but I haven't seen it yet. These sets are all about the interview. For those of you who don't know John Zandig was the owner and creator of one of the biggest indies going today which is CZW. In the 2 interviews John covers his early life, his start in wrestling, creating CZW and then some of the most infamous moments in the company which includes the ECW invasion at Cage of Death 3, the IWA Mid South invasion, the hanging incident and much more. John also gives his own views of some of the stars who were made and some who were brought it. It's a great shoot as not many former owners do shoot interviews. It also helps that he isn't afraid to express his true feelings. I do plan on getting volume 3 sometime soon which covers the worse Cage of Death ever and him selling the company to DJ Hyde.
Matches: One thing about Zandig and the same can be said for Ian Rotten (I'll be surprised if he doesn't get the same treatment soon and gets multiple best on the indies) is that they are involved in pretty much everyone else's set. If they've been worked by someone it's usually their best matches. So Zandig has a good selection but it's also very few as the shoots take up a lot of the space which makes sense. Some highlights are his matches with Wifebeater, Joker, Lobo and his legendary Tournament of Death 2 match with Nick Mondo with the biggest spot EVER!
Confessions of a Switchblade: The Sami Callihan Story
The Shoot: Sami doesn't hide anything in this shoot and gets very personal. He talks about numerous companies some of which he's had a lot of say in. There are many stories and subjects covered one that is left out his him getting knocked out by Necro Butcher, which is included in the matches. Besides that, which is minor, it's a great watch and you can't help but feel for him when it's all said and done.
Matches: You'll struggle to recognise Sami in the first match, he's changed so much since then it's insane. All the matches included are great some showcase how great of a team him and Jon Moxley were, some show how good he is and how vicious he can be when wrestling. The only downside, as mentioned earlier, is the coverage of his feud with Danny Havoc which has been covered in a lot of other places. Besides that you'll struggle to find anything to complain about with this DVD.
Stories from the Street: The Jon Moxley Story
The Shoot: Moxley has had a really long career and not everything is covered here a lot of his HWA stuff is overlooked as is his stuff in IPW. The shoot many focuses on CZW and what he's doing lately. There's some great stories told included what really happened when Gage got hurt at Tournament of Death and Moxley went out there with Thumbtack Jack, who lasted until 5 in the morning in a bar in Germany and some major comments towards B-Boy and his actions. What I find funny is that when asked if he thinks doing deathmatches hurts his careers he says "I doubt anyone in the WWE is really paying attention to me" well he was wrong since he's now working there.
Matches: A nice little selection here. Highlights include his title victory over B-Boy, getting the hell kicked out of him by Nick Gage, a brilliant brawl with Brain Damage and an amazing match with Robert Anthony. A downer is that a match with Jake Crist where the referee will annoy you by asking "do you give up" ever 5 seconds and the matches is rather long for an I Quit Cage match and his match with Ricochet which is mainly hurt because it's held in a dark garage and it takes away from a good match. But again there minor complaints.
Notorious Scumbag: The Devon Moore Story
The Shoot: You will not be more entertained by a shoot then you will with this one. Devon is brilliant and is not ashamed to say anything. He seemingly buries everyone and puts over everyone it's brilliant. You will get lost on just what the hell he's talking about as he gets asked one thing and goes off on another for example when asked about his semi-final King of the Death match with Gage and Dustin Lee he goes off on Dustin Lee. But it's that same quality that makes the shoot so entertaining. You will watch this over and over.
Matches: There is a great selection of matches here with some incredibly big spots involved in some of them. Some matches will surprise you like the match with Pinkie Sanchez and his tag with Drew Blood against Ty Hagen & Adam Cole. Some of his biggest moments are included here like his King of the Death win against Danny Havoc, which is covered an awful lot elsewhere as well, his Loser must Retire match with Drew Blood and a true classic with Drake Younger that closes the set.
Now that is just some of what I own. I also have Nick Gage, Mickie Knuckles, Mike Quackenbush, Nate Webb, Toby Klein, Thumbtack Jack and JC Bailey which I didn't include here for one reason or another.
I seriously cannot say enough good thing about these series you can see just how many I have and there are so many more out on www.smartmarkvideo.com and there probably all worth it. If I had the money I would be getting a lot more. Anyways that's all from me, may be next time I won't be so stupid and decide to review something that I have a lot less of. But as always cheers for reading, if you did and let me know what you think.
From Parts Unknown to Revolution Avenue The Jimmy Jacobs Story
The Shoot: Not an overly long interview and he comes off as a bit of a dick however this was done in 2008 when Jimmy was famously known as having a ego and being a dick. But with that said it is a good shoot. You learn that he stole the spike which is his trademark now and we learn his side to the story of him throwing the IWA Mid South World title in the trash during a AAW show. It's a shoot worth watching once but you'll probably won't watch it again.
Matches: Jacobs has had many big feuds and you get one of the best from the series e.g. Alex Shelley and Delirious, a lot better then over doing it like with some DVD sets *cough* Rey Mysterio *cough*. His match with Chris Sabin is great and has a truly unique finish, the old school throwback working with the Barbarian is just funny and the match where he loses the IWA MS title to Arik Cannon is fantastic. No real bad matches on the set even the last match against Jack Thriller (who had the nickname Serial Killer but looked like a geek) is truly great and shows that Jacobs can get great matches out of anyone.
Psycho Shooter The Drake Younger Story
The Shoot: If you watch this shoot then I recommend getting the Naptown Dragon Stories as this was done prior to the Diehard Dustin Lee incident and that's something that should be covered (and is covered by others in the series). Drake is such a nice and likable guy and that will shine here. You'll get to see what a deathmatch worker is like and what goes through their heads when they suffer major injuries (Drake covers three incidents which would make most people stop). It gets emotional when the subject of JC Baily comes up but overall it is a fun shoot which includes a wrap up and then continuing since Mike Burns (the interviewer) forgot to mention.
Matches: A nice mix of deathmatches and pure wrestling showing how good Drake is. Only downfall is that there are a lot of matches from his feud with CJ Otis but the matches were great so it's not so bad. Highlights are his legendary Barefoot Thumbtack match with JC Bailey, his No Rope Barbed Wire with CJ Otis and his grudge match with Brain Damage that closes the set. The SAW deathmatch with Thumbtack Jack you probably won't get through without cringing as it's sick for no real reason but that's TJ.
Tries His Hardest The Chuck Taylor Story
The Shoot: Chuck Taylor is probably one of the funniest guys in wrestling today and this comes off here. You can find some of the highlights on youtube which includes losing a guy in England and dealing with a drunk Doug Williams in Germany. You will laugh for sure and be entertained which is the key thing.
Matches: Some great matches here including a tag match with Cloudy against Richochet & Player Uno which gets a standing ovation, his matches with Richochet/Helios in Chikara are not only great but will get you laughing and his matches with Low Ki are fantastic as expected. However his match with Steve Corino is not great and probably could of been left out and his match with CJ Otis is a little awkward but two bad ones out of a set of 15+ isn't bad.
The Anarchist The Best of Arik Cannon
The Shoot: A great look into his career here which includes some really funny stories and a running gag of inserting a Homicide headbutt clip at certain points. But this shoots really shows of is how Ian Rotten can turn on a guy after they leave IWA Mid South and how that company worked. Overall this shoot is a great insider look and is really funny as well a shoot you can watch again and again.
Matches: Some of the biggest stars are included here and it's all great quality. Highlights are matches against Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson, AJ Styles and Cheech but you'll struggle to find a bad match if I'm honest. The only odd thing about the set is that his least favourite match, against Homicide, is included and his favourite match, against Chris Hero at TPI 2005, wasn't included. Bit odd that a best of includes such mistakes for lack of a better term.
Danny Havoc Volume 1 & 2
The Shoots: Danny gets 2 volumes here as his first was done just a year or two into his career. The first shoot is just pure humour and only lasts 30 minutes or so. The second is much longer and includes serious points as well as humour. The funniest thing is that in the end of volume 1 he says what he'd like to achieve and by the next shoot he's done that. But it's worth watching as Danny is just a character and entertains you.
Matches: First off you have to love deathmatches to like this set, the only straight wrestling match on both sets is with Arik Cannon which is great for the commentary alone. The first volume is fine but there is too much DJ Hyde and Hyde killing Havoc which gets boring but the other matches are great. There is a lot more variety on volume 2 including some matches from his feud with Sami Callihan, which are also on Sami's volume and on a DVD set of just the feud so it's a little over done but the matches are great. A lot of opponents are done over but as a deathmatch wrestler there is a serious lack of wrestlers in that field. If you like deathmatches then you'll love this set and if you don't you'll probably become a fan.
The Last of a Dying Breed the Eddie Kingston Story
The Shoot: First of I'm a HUGE fan of Eddie Kingston so of course I'll recommend it. So the shoot, really entertaining and it shows what type of person Eddie is which is a guy who wears his heart on his sleeves. This shoot is done just after Eddie was having problems which isn't really covered in great detail but what is is the leaving CZW incident and his problems with the owner. But it's not all serious as there is some funny stories included.
Matches: A really good selection of matches with some highlights being his Last Man Standing with Chris Hero (showing why these two have had such a great feud), Tim Donst which makes Donst as he was only a few matches in, Drake Younger, Arik Cannon and his first deathmatch with Zandig. The first two matches (a 6 man tag and against Jolly Roger) are not the best but it was early in his career, his match with Ricochet has a DQ finish which hurts it a bit and his first match with Larry Sweeney just stops randomly but also includes Sweeney hitting Eddie with a car to help the feud move on. Side note I wish Sweeney had got the chance to get a volume in this series or at least a shoot as would of loved to hear his point of view.
Choose Death the Necro Butcher story volume 1 & 2
The Shoot: Only one interview here as the second volume is just all matches. A good little shoot but it often seems like Necro mixed shoot with work when he talks about his story. It does go into a lot of personal issues here and includes the story of how he got into the Wrestler. I'll a little mixed on this shoot, it has it's good points and some bad.
Matches: So many matches here so can't really go into that much detail. Some matches are highlighted by the commentary by Dave Prazak & CM Punk which is just hilarious. It's a great mix of straight wrestling and death matches. The matches against Samoa Joe, Low Ki and his tag with Toby against the H8 Club are over done and highlighted to much else where but are still a must watch.The only downside is his match with Gyspy Joe which just has very little and puts Joe over for no reason and a match against JC Bailey were both seemed drunk/out of it and the match just ends randomly.
Zandig Volume 1 & 2
The shoots: Now there is a 3rd volume but I haven't seen it yet. These sets are all about the interview. For those of you who don't know John Zandig was the owner and creator of one of the biggest indies going today which is CZW. In the 2 interviews John covers his early life, his start in wrestling, creating CZW and then some of the most infamous moments in the company which includes the ECW invasion at Cage of Death 3, the IWA Mid South invasion, the hanging incident and much more. John also gives his own views of some of the stars who were made and some who were brought it. It's a great shoot as not many former owners do shoot interviews. It also helps that he isn't afraid to express his true feelings. I do plan on getting volume 3 sometime soon which covers the worse Cage of Death ever and him selling the company to DJ Hyde.
Matches: One thing about Zandig and the same can be said for Ian Rotten (I'll be surprised if he doesn't get the same treatment soon and gets multiple best on the indies) is that they are involved in pretty much everyone else's set. If they've been worked by someone it's usually their best matches. So Zandig has a good selection but it's also very few as the shoots take up a lot of the space which makes sense. Some highlights are his matches with Wifebeater, Joker, Lobo and his legendary Tournament of Death 2 match with Nick Mondo with the biggest spot EVER!
Confessions of a Switchblade: The Sami Callihan Story
The Shoot: Sami doesn't hide anything in this shoot and gets very personal. He talks about numerous companies some of which he's had a lot of say in. There are many stories and subjects covered one that is left out his him getting knocked out by Necro Butcher, which is included in the matches. Besides that, which is minor, it's a great watch and you can't help but feel for him when it's all said and done.
Matches: You'll struggle to recognise Sami in the first match, he's changed so much since then it's insane. All the matches included are great some showcase how great of a team him and Jon Moxley were, some show how good he is and how vicious he can be when wrestling. The only downside, as mentioned earlier, is the coverage of his feud with Danny Havoc which has been covered in a lot of other places. Besides that you'll struggle to find anything to complain about with this DVD.
Stories from the Street: The Jon Moxley Story
The Shoot: Moxley has had a really long career and not everything is covered here a lot of his HWA stuff is overlooked as is his stuff in IPW. The shoot many focuses on CZW and what he's doing lately. There's some great stories told included what really happened when Gage got hurt at Tournament of Death and Moxley went out there with Thumbtack Jack, who lasted until 5 in the morning in a bar in Germany and some major comments towards B-Boy and his actions. What I find funny is that when asked if he thinks doing deathmatches hurts his careers he says "I doubt anyone in the WWE is really paying attention to me" well he was wrong since he's now working there.
Matches: A nice little selection here. Highlights include his title victory over B-Boy, getting the hell kicked out of him by Nick Gage, a brilliant brawl with Brain Damage and an amazing match with Robert Anthony. A downer is that a match with Jake Crist where the referee will annoy you by asking "do you give up" ever 5 seconds and the matches is rather long for an I Quit Cage match and his match with Ricochet which is mainly hurt because it's held in a dark garage and it takes away from a good match. But again there minor complaints.
Notorious Scumbag: The Devon Moore Story
The Shoot: You will not be more entertained by a shoot then you will with this one. Devon is brilliant and is not ashamed to say anything. He seemingly buries everyone and puts over everyone it's brilliant. You will get lost on just what the hell he's talking about as he gets asked one thing and goes off on another for example when asked about his semi-final King of the Death match with Gage and Dustin Lee he goes off on Dustin Lee. But it's that same quality that makes the shoot so entertaining. You will watch this over and over.
Matches: There is a great selection of matches here with some incredibly big spots involved in some of them. Some matches will surprise you like the match with Pinkie Sanchez and his tag with Drew Blood against Ty Hagen & Adam Cole. Some of his biggest moments are included here like his King of the Death win against Danny Havoc, which is covered an awful lot elsewhere as well, his Loser must Retire match with Drew Blood and a true classic with Drake Younger that closes the set.
Now that is just some of what I own. I also have Nick Gage, Mickie Knuckles, Mike Quackenbush, Nate Webb, Toby Klein, Thumbtack Jack and JC Bailey which I didn't include here for one reason or another.
I seriously cannot say enough good thing about these series you can see just how many I have and there are so many more out on www.smartmarkvideo.com and there probably all worth it. If I had the money I would be getting a lot more. Anyways that's all from me, may be next time I won't be so stupid and decide to review something that I have a lot less of. But as always cheers for reading, if you did and let me know what you think.
Sunday 28 August 2011
Top 10 Wrestling Video Games
I'm a massive video gamer and I'm even more of an old school gamer, I can happily sit back and not care about new games but when I get the chance to play some old school games I'm there. I have a Super Nintendo and am getting a N64 in a matter of weeks for my birthday. So I got to thinking there have been a lot of wrestling games out there and I've played a lot of them so I thought I'd share my personal Top 10 with you the "viewing" audience. Prepare for some slagging off and some serious praise!
No.10-Backyard Wrestling the Video Game Series
One thing can be said about this game and that it perfectly sums up what backyard wrestling is. It's random, makes no sense and is just a serious of big moves and weapons. While the game allowed for some indy wrestlers to get a pay day it didn't make it a good game. The only up side was some of the extras you could get, mainly music videos. Seriously not much else can be said about it, much like the game I've forgotten a lot about it and that's better for everyone.
No.9-TNA iMPACT
Like many wrestling fans when I heard this game was coming out I was excited as it was something different than WWE Smackdown vs. Raw which seemed to be the only game. So when I got my hands on it boy was I disappointed. It was frustrating to play, all the characters practically had the same movesets except for their finishers and the story mode revolved around a guy called Suicide who would get created and put on TV because of the game. So what do they do with Suicide in the game? Give him the most insane finishing move that no human could actually do! Smart move TNA since they knew they would create the character. But lets be honest it wasn't the first or last stupid decision TNA ever made. And apart from the Ultimate X match, which didn't play to well, the game didn't really add anything to the wrestling games that were out before it. Hopefully Chikara will do a better game when Rudo Resurrection finally comes out.
No.8-The Def Jam Series
What does Def Jam records and wrestling have in common? Nothing at all! Alright lets move on, number 7.....
OK more info on it. For some reason the guys over at Def Jam records decided to make a wrestling game and what do you know it was pretty damn good. I'm not the biggest fan of rap but the sound track was good, the gameplay was fun and remained me of the old THQ wrestling games. The moves were insane and over the top and the stages included some special finishers. The problem is that unless you were into rap you wouldn't know anyone who was playable and the story line was relatively stupid. But besides that it wasn't too bad.
No.7-Legends of Wrestling series
How Accailm manage to create this and get 3 games in the series amazes me when you consider how sue happy the good ol' US of A is. But it was a simple concept put all of wrestlings past legends into one game and allow the fans to create dream matches that never happened or would happen. However problems would arise. By the third game in the series they had ran out of legends to add but still wanted to add so we got a ton of Von Erichs and Koko B.Ware, I would rather play as his bird than him! Also the game play was really slow. You would tie up, wait to see if you were reversed, then get them in a move, wait to see if you were reversed, then try to hit a move and wait to see if you got reversed and that was the case for EVERY move. And speaking of the moves they gave the guys moves they had never done before, I don't know about you but I don't remember Hogan doing crazy powerbomb moves. Also the reversals were awful a little bar would come up underneath your name and a point would fly across, you had to hit the right button in a small yellow section to reverse. It was a real pain and often hard to pull off.
But the game had it's up side. In one version you could have 8 players. The create a wrestler mode was pretty good and the career mode was well done. In career mode you would jump from territory to territory facing its talent becoming the top name and then moving on, like the wrestling of old. A nice idea which if done again could work well.
No.6-ECW Hardcore Revolution
So back when the N64 was just introduced there were many wrestling games that looked and felt like this game, mainly from WWE. While the games may not have flown well when actually playing and when compared to other games in the past and the future it looked like crap. But it was still really fun to play and had so many more options to mess with. For example you could make the game "adult" which as a young kid I obviously did when I found it, this basically changed what the wrestlers said from being PG to a more 18 rating. You could include blood and not just from the head but all over the body. The reason why I picked ECW's game over WWE's version, even though they were the same games, is because for one I liked the roster better and two ECW's version had more match types including No Rope Barbed wire and I'm a huge fan for No Rope Barbed wire after seeing Terry Funk vs. Sabu when I was young. I still remember playing that match and running into the ropes as I forgot and my guy fell down.
No.5-WCW/nWo Revenge
Now we're getting to the good stuff. THQ made many wrestling games for the N64 and this was one of many good ones included in that list. They all played the same and it was extremely well done. The game looked brillant for the times and there was a great cast of characters. The championship mode was great, you had to work through the rankings of each title and at the end you would face a guy who you would unlock if you beat them. You then got the title as well,
But there was some weaknesses when compared to the other THQ games. One problem was that the main menus didn't change when going from one screen to the other and they were very dull. The other problem was there was no create a wrestler but you could edit pre-existing wrestlers. So if you wanted to make Kevin Nash into Diesel or Scott Hall into Razor Ramon you could try your hardest but would likely do a crappy job.
No.4-Virtual Pro Wrestling 2: Odo Keisho
A second THQ wrestling game on the list this one was based on the land of Japanese wrestling and what a difference that made. Boy what a game. Tons of unlockables, a HUGE roster that covered several wrestling companies and MMA companies and a vast improvement on the move list. What I thought was a great addition was a secondary finisher for some wrestlers, like many japanese wrestlers have a special move that they would use every once in a while to win a match eg. Misawa's Tiger Driver '91. You would be able to do such moves by taunting while in special mode. The biggest problem with this game, it's in Japanese and I can't make head or tales out of it. But like the gamer I am the language barrier didn't slow me down one bit.
No.3-The Smackdown vs. Raw Series
While some games in the series are easily missable there is no denying that the Smackdown series is probably the biggest wrestling video game series there have ever been. The continous addition we get from every new game in the series is amazing. From a simple feature like limb damage to the insane level of customization you can do which has included creating your own finishing move. Not to mention it's probably one of the best flowing wrestling games ever and is probably the closet thing to an actual pro wrestling simulator there can be. When you mix in the great soundtrack you will get with every game and a ton of game modes and match types you have a winning formula. The only downfall is the changing of the controls that happens every once in a while. You get used to playing it one way and then in the next game it's completely changed and you have to relearn it all! Kind of annoying. And while the series is no dead and many of the later editions weren't that impactful as the others the series still deserves this spot.
No.2 Fire Pro Wrestling
I have never played this game however it's infamy can not be ignored. Check out youtube and you'll see exactly what I mean. What makes this game so special is the fact you can modify it to such a huge degree. I've seen TNA mods, Chikara mods, CZW mods and so many more. I don't know how it's done, hell creating a wrestler these days takes it out of me in most wrestling games so modify a game is wwwaaaayyyy beyond me. This is one game I have to search out and play and I feel that all wrestling fans should because lets face it we've all played games and said "man I wish I could play as this guy" and Fire Pro lets you do that.
No.1 WWF No Mercy
If you're a wrestling fan and a gamer than this game being number 1 should not surprise you in the slightest. Again it's another THQ wrestling game and I love all of them as they just play so well but the thing that seperates this game from the rest is there is just so much depth. There is championship mode where you can unlock titles, a shop which after gaining money allows you to unlock new moves, weapons, gears and even wrestlers. There were so many match types to play that it was hard to get bored. There were a number of slots available if you wanted to create wrestlers so while you were ultimately limited the number you were given was fair enough I thought. But the biggest positive to this game was the unlockables, you couldn't get them all one way or another you really had to work to get everyone and while some were a waste e.g. the Godfathers Ho, they were all worth unlocking. The best way to do so was in the survival/gauntlet mode, you would start off with 4 in the ring and if you knock them out of the ring or beat them the next guy would enter, at certain numbers a new unlockable wrestler would enter and if you beat them then you unlock them. I still remember playing that mode and seeing Andre the Giant run out, I pretty much pissed myself and then was beaten before unlocking him but I still remember it. And speaking of Andre this brings me to another great feature which was including weight differences for example if you were X-Pac you couldn't do all your moves on Viscera, you would be put in a position where your wrestler tries to pick them up and if they do you will see a dramatic difference in your momument bar if you succeed.
I can praise this game all day and I can play this game all day. Believe me when I get my N64 in a matter of weeks this is a game I plan to get and it's a game I plan to play to death once again. It is by far the greatest wrestling game ever! FACT!
You know what's really funny I think this list will actually stand the test of time. A lot of times as the years go by there are new things that come out and you rethink what are your favourites but you go check out the release date of No Mercy and see how long it's been and how many wrestling games there have been. No Mercy stands the test of time and more to the point no new wrestling games have really stood the test of time. When you look at the Smackdown vs. Raw series there's a new game every year and so even if they were really great you wouldn't be able to appreciate it. The way the gaming industry has gone a new sequel to a game comes out every year and that likely won't change as it gets them money.
So that's another blog in the books. If you give it a read a big thank you and let me know what your views are on it, good or bad I always welcome feedback.
No.10-Backyard Wrestling the Video Game Series
One thing can be said about this game and that it perfectly sums up what backyard wrestling is. It's random, makes no sense and is just a serious of big moves and weapons. While the game allowed for some indy wrestlers to get a pay day it didn't make it a good game. The only up side was some of the extras you could get, mainly music videos. Seriously not much else can be said about it, much like the game I've forgotten a lot about it and that's better for everyone.
No.9-TNA iMPACT
Like many wrestling fans when I heard this game was coming out I was excited as it was something different than WWE Smackdown vs. Raw which seemed to be the only game. So when I got my hands on it boy was I disappointed. It was frustrating to play, all the characters practically had the same movesets except for their finishers and the story mode revolved around a guy called Suicide who would get created and put on TV because of the game. So what do they do with Suicide in the game? Give him the most insane finishing move that no human could actually do! Smart move TNA since they knew they would create the character. But lets be honest it wasn't the first or last stupid decision TNA ever made. And apart from the Ultimate X match, which didn't play to well, the game didn't really add anything to the wrestling games that were out before it. Hopefully Chikara will do a better game when Rudo Resurrection finally comes out.
No.8-The Def Jam Series
What does Def Jam records and wrestling have in common? Nothing at all! Alright lets move on, number 7.....
OK more info on it. For some reason the guys over at Def Jam records decided to make a wrestling game and what do you know it was pretty damn good. I'm not the biggest fan of rap but the sound track was good, the gameplay was fun and remained me of the old THQ wrestling games. The moves were insane and over the top and the stages included some special finishers. The problem is that unless you were into rap you wouldn't know anyone who was playable and the story line was relatively stupid. But besides that it wasn't too bad.
No.7-Legends of Wrestling series
How Accailm manage to create this and get 3 games in the series amazes me when you consider how sue happy the good ol' US of A is. But it was a simple concept put all of wrestlings past legends into one game and allow the fans to create dream matches that never happened or would happen. However problems would arise. By the third game in the series they had ran out of legends to add but still wanted to add so we got a ton of Von Erichs and Koko B.Ware, I would rather play as his bird than him! Also the game play was really slow. You would tie up, wait to see if you were reversed, then get them in a move, wait to see if you were reversed, then try to hit a move and wait to see if you got reversed and that was the case for EVERY move. And speaking of the moves they gave the guys moves they had never done before, I don't know about you but I don't remember Hogan doing crazy powerbomb moves. Also the reversals were awful a little bar would come up underneath your name and a point would fly across, you had to hit the right button in a small yellow section to reverse. It was a real pain and often hard to pull off.
But the game had it's up side. In one version you could have 8 players. The create a wrestler mode was pretty good and the career mode was well done. In career mode you would jump from territory to territory facing its talent becoming the top name and then moving on, like the wrestling of old. A nice idea which if done again could work well.
No.6-ECW Hardcore Revolution
So back when the N64 was just introduced there were many wrestling games that looked and felt like this game, mainly from WWE. While the games may not have flown well when actually playing and when compared to other games in the past and the future it looked like crap. But it was still really fun to play and had so many more options to mess with. For example you could make the game "adult" which as a young kid I obviously did when I found it, this basically changed what the wrestlers said from being PG to a more 18 rating. You could include blood and not just from the head but all over the body. The reason why I picked ECW's game over WWE's version, even though they were the same games, is because for one I liked the roster better and two ECW's version had more match types including No Rope Barbed wire and I'm a huge fan for No Rope Barbed wire after seeing Terry Funk vs. Sabu when I was young. I still remember playing that match and running into the ropes as I forgot and my guy fell down.
No.5-WCW/nWo Revenge
Now we're getting to the good stuff. THQ made many wrestling games for the N64 and this was one of many good ones included in that list. They all played the same and it was extremely well done. The game looked brillant for the times and there was a great cast of characters. The championship mode was great, you had to work through the rankings of each title and at the end you would face a guy who you would unlock if you beat them. You then got the title as well,
But there was some weaknesses when compared to the other THQ games. One problem was that the main menus didn't change when going from one screen to the other and they were very dull. The other problem was there was no create a wrestler but you could edit pre-existing wrestlers. So if you wanted to make Kevin Nash into Diesel or Scott Hall into Razor Ramon you could try your hardest but would likely do a crappy job.
No.4-Virtual Pro Wrestling 2: Odo Keisho
A second THQ wrestling game on the list this one was based on the land of Japanese wrestling and what a difference that made. Boy what a game. Tons of unlockables, a HUGE roster that covered several wrestling companies and MMA companies and a vast improvement on the move list. What I thought was a great addition was a secondary finisher for some wrestlers, like many japanese wrestlers have a special move that they would use every once in a while to win a match eg. Misawa's Tiger Driver '91. You would be able to do such moves by taunting while in special mode. The biggest problem with this game, it's in Japanese and I can't make head or tales out of it. But like the gamer I am the language barrier didn't slow me down one bit.
No.3-The Smackdown vs. Raw Series
While some games in the series are easily missable there is no denying that the Smackdown series is probably the biggest wrestling video game series there have ever been. The continous addition we get from every new game in the series is amazing. From a simple feature like limb damage to the insane level of customization you can do which has included creating your own finishing move. Not to mention it's probably one of the best flowing wrestling games ever and is probably the closet thing to an actual pro wrestling simulator there can be. When you mix in the great soundtrack you will get with every game and a ton of game modes and match types you have a winning formula. The only downfall is the changing of the controls that happens every once in a while. You get used to playing it one way and then in the next game it's completely changed and you have to relearn it all! Kind of annoying. And while the series is no dead and many of the later editions weren't that impactful as the others the series still deserves this spot.
No.2 Fire Pro Wrestling
I have never played this game however it's infamy can not be ignored. Check out youtube and you'll see exactly what I mean. What makes this game so special is the fact you can modify it to such a huge degree. I've seen TNA mods, Chikara mods, CZW mods and so many more. I don't know how it's done, hell creating a wrestler these days takes it out of me in most wrestling games so modify a game is wwwaaaayyyy beyond me. This is one game I have to search out and play and I feel that all wrestling fans should because lets face it we've all played games and said "man I wish I could play as this guy" and Fire Pro lets you do that.
No.1 WWF No Mercy
If you're a wrestling fan and a gamer than this game being number 1 should not surprise you in the slightest. Again it's another THQ wrestling game and I love all of them as they just play so well but the thing that seperates this game from the rest is there is just so much depth. There is championship mode where you can unlock titles, a shop which after gaining money allows you to unlock new moves, weapons, gears and even wrestlers. There were so many match types to play that it was hard to get bored. There were a number of slots available if you wanted to create wrestlers so while you were ultimately limited the number you were given was fair enough I thought. But the biggest positive to this game was the unlockables, you couldn't get them all one way or another you really had to work to get everyone and while some were a waste e.g. the Godfathers Ho, they were all worth unlocking. The best way to do so was in the survival/gauntlet mode, you would start off with 4 in the ring and if you knock them out of the ring or beat them the next guy would enter, at certain numbers a new unlockable wrestler would enter and if you beat them then you unlock them. I still remember playing that mode and seeing Andre the Giant run out, I pretty much pissed myself and then was beaten before unlocking him but I still remember it. And speaking of Andre this brings me to another great feature which was including weight differences for example if you were X-Pac you couldn't do all your moves on Viscera, you would be put in a position where your wrestler tries to pick them up and if they do you will see a dramatic difference in your momument bar if you succeed.
I can praise this game all day and I can play this game all day. Believe me when I get my N64 in a matter of weeks this is a game I plan to get and it's a game I plan to play to death once again. It is by far the greatest wrestling game ever! FACT!
You know what's really funny I think this list will actually stand the test of time. A lot of times as the years go by there are new things that come out and you rethink what are your favourites but you go check out the release date of No Mercy and see how long it's been and how many wrestling games there have been. No Mercy stands the test of time and more to the point no new wrestling games have really stood the test of time. When you look at the Smackdown vs. Raw series there's a new game every year and so even if they were really great you wouldn't be able to appreciate it. The way the gaming industry has gone a new sequel to a game comes out every year and that likely won't change as it gets them money.
So that's another blog in the books. If you give it a read a big thank you and let me know what your views are on it, good or bad I always welcome feedback.
Wednesday 10 August 2011
Top 10 Music tracks that I think should be used in Wrestling
One of my biggest loves in life is music I love a huge range of music and can happily just listen to music for hours on end. So with that being said there have been many times when a track will pop up on my ipod and it will make me think "This song could be used in wrestling in one way or another". Over the recent years wrestling has had some amazing music tracks involved in it in one way or another so I decided to come up with my Top 10 tracks that should be used in wrestling. I will explain why I think each track should be used and how for each entry. Also if I do it right I'm hope to put each track in the blog for you to listen to a judge for yourself. So lets begin with number 10 (of course).
10: Taikutsu
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/82ASQcyrx1Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
So if you check out the videos you'll see this track if from Death Note. I'm a huge anime fan and Death Note has quickly became one of my favourites and this track is something I just love. It's calm yet dark at the same time, there's a real peacefulness to it yet a level of depression. I've listened to the entire soundtrack and I described it as a perfect fit for depression but it's still beautiful. When I think of this song being used in wrestling I imagine it being used in a dark video package/promo of a feud, if used in the right way it would be a great fit for a build up video and because it's an instrumental you can have the wrestlers talk and not miss out on the song. It's number 10 however because it is seriously limited in how you can use it in my view.
9: Lulled by Numbers-IAMX
<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rdDW4Lc4OUI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I found this album by IAMX by watching a recap video of a feud on youtube between Human Tornado and Chris Hero. I found this track and immediately thought of a promo video, just like the last entry which explains this ones position. This can be another dark video build but I also think it would fit most feuds as long as it has enough build. The range in background music is great and all the effects make the song just that little bit better.The lyrics wouldn't mean much in the world of wrestling but who pays attention to things like that really, well besides me obviously.
8: Careful-Paramore
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kZ3B8QKzgrg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
How can you not like Paramore? Hayley Williams is hot as hell and her voice is simply amazing, one of the few people who is as good live as recorded. The starting off slow and then bursting out is something that a wrestler could use as a entrance theme, if not then you could just use the theme for a wrestling shows theme. It's just a generally awesome song and that's mainly due to Hayley Williams!
7: Pardon Me-Incubus
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BKX7VB9LjlM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Found this song on a episode of Daria, anyone seen that or even know what it is? It was a cartoon on MTV check out it seriously it's great. Anyways when I hear this song it screams out entrance theme. Once again it's the slow opening building to a burst of energy. A common theme on this list will be rock type music and lets be honest rock is a perfect fit for wrestling. I don't like to over analysis music so will just leave this by saying I really like this track and it fits alright.
6: Rewrite-Asian Kung Fu Generation
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_t8rnKreNSI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
My anime side comes out again. Well let me say this at the moment I am completely loving Japanese rock and most of the time, and a lot of my current music, is Japanese rock. Do I know what there saying? No of course not. Does it matter? Hell no. This song is awesome and one I can listen to over and over. But back to wrestling, again I see this as a entrance theme of sorts. The song really works if you let it play all the way through however it's fast pace doesn't make for long entrances and fits more of a over hyper wrestling personality. But having said that I probably like the song to run all the way through because I love the song. Oh well if a wrestler came out to this would happily went 4 minutes until the match started and would be happy if that match lasted 30 seconds and the guy took 4 minutes to leave.
5: Anything from Sevendust
For those of you that don't know Sevendust provided the song "Enemy" for WWE's Unforgiven 2003 and in my eyes it was the first time that a theme song actually meant anything for a show. They used it in the promo video for Goldberg vs. Triple H in the main event, while the match would suck the music didn't. I don't know if Sevendust
4: Ultimate Flow 2-Re-Up Gang
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mqki-u91veI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
OK I'm kind of cheating here. This song uses Drugs by Lil' Kim as a sample and all you Ring of Honor fans will recognise that as the Embassy's/Prince Nana's theme. That's how I found it and I love that instrumental, I still do to this day. But hearing this song using it makes me think this is just a good a fit. Now I do imagine the Embassy entering when it plays but that's beside the point. The fireworks that go off in the song would be a perfect fit to actually use pyro (hint WWE). And lets face it wrestling loves to use either rock songs or rap songs and this is one of the better rap songs out there but what would I know being a white guy!
3: This Close-Flyleaf
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/l26Ad8rSKW0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Little fact Thumbtack Jack used I'm So Sick by Flyleaf and it described him perfectly as he was a little out of his mind, just watch a match of his and you'll see what I mean. Flyleaf are a great band and I love both of their album but this song is the best in my view. My main theory here is that an actual wrestler used one of their songs so their others would fit as well and hell I think I'm right. This would be a fantastic entrance theme and it could fit any type of entrance in my view, a fun energy filled entrance or a slow serious entrance it's just one of those songs.
4: Sierra Leone-Mt Eden Dubstep
<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oIEEIif21g4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I'm in no way a fan of dubstep, it ends up sounding exactly the same to me but this song is the exception. I love this song so much that I have 3 remixes of it and just got a fourth when finding this video to embed here. But let me explain why it would fit. Again it's a great song for an entrance theme no matter what type but when I think of it I see a heel or heels using it, taking their time to talk crap to the fans. It would be a dark arena with different coloured lights going around to create a slight rave atmosphere which fits the song. But the main thing I think about this song is that it's catchy as hell, there are hardly any words and the song is stuck in my head. Plus how many wrestlers use dubstep? They would be unique!
1: Broken Youth-NICO Touches the Walls
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_yJXCsyqNa4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This is a little selfish choice as it's my absolute favourite song at the moment and it has been for months now. Again this is a song I found through watching anime and it's Japanese rock but it's unbelievably good! NICO Touches the Walls have become one of my favourite bands and I recommend finding their songs Diver, Hologram and Leo (which could also fit on this list at number 11 I'd say). Now I couldn't find the original which has a slower build in the beginning but this version is just as great. This just screams energy and would get you're attention during a show, it's hard not to tap your feet when listening to it and that's the kind of song you need. Again a little selfish as I think this is the greatest song at the moment and likely will for a while but I still think it would fit into wrestling.
Now before I wrap up let me say one more thing. I literally just mentioned the fact that this song gets a reaction from you and gets you doing something and that can be said for the other songs on this list as well. The worst kind of entrance themes are those that you just can't react to or doesn't create a reaction, I mean even John Cena's theme gets a reaction the second it starts playing and that's what you need. I saw a show were Silas Young used Don't Stop Believing by Journey and it's just not a good fit, people sing along but for the wrong reason they sign because the song is a classic and not because of the wrestler using the song. Look at Bryan Danielson when he used Final Countdown, again it was a great song but Bryan would wait until the first Final Countdown in the song to climb up on the ropes and it got the fans going nuts.
So I've got my little rant about nothing out of the way. So if you've just read through without listening I recommend listening to the songs but cheers anyways. If you give this a read let me know what you think either on here or on Facebook.
10: Taikutsu
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/82ASQcyrx1Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
So if you check out the videos you'll see this track if from Death Note. I'm a huge anime fan and Death Note has quickly became one of my favourites and this track is something I just love. It's calm yet dark at the same time, there's a real peacefulness to it yet a level of depression. I've listened to the entire soundtrack and I described it as a perfect fit for depression but it's still beautiful. When I think of this song being used in wrestling I imagine it being used in a dark video package/promo of a feud, if used in the right way it would be a great fit for a build up video and because it's an instrumental you can have the wrestlers talk and not miss out on the song. It's number 10 however because it is seriously limited in how you can use it in my view.
9: Lulled by Numbers-IAMX
<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rdDW4Lc4OUI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I found this album by IAMX by watching a recap video of a feud on youtube between Human Tornado and Chris Hero. I found this track and immediately thought of a promo video, just like the last entry which explains this ones position. This can be another dark video build but I also think it would fit most feuds as long as it has enough build. The range in background music is great and all the effects make the song just that little bit better.The lyrics wouldn't mean much in the world of wrestling but who pays attention to things like that really, well besides me obviously.
8: Careful-Paramore
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kZ3B8QKzgrg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
How can you not like Paramore? Hayley Williams is hot as hell and her voice is simply amazing, one of the few people who is as good live as recorded. The starting off slow and then bursting out is something that a wrestler could use as a entrance theme, if not then you could just use the theme for a wrestling shows theme. It's just a generally awesome song and that's mainly due to Hayley Williams!
7: Pardon Me-Incubus
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BKX7VB9LjlM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Found this song on a episode of Daria, anyone seen that or even know what it is? It was a cartoon on MTV check out it seriously it's great. Anyways when I hear this song it screams out entrance theme. Once again it's the slow opening building to a burst of energy. A common theme on this list will be rock type music and lets be honest rock is a perfect fit for wrestling. I don't like to over analysis music so will just leave this by saying I really like this track and it fits alright.
6: Rewrite-Asian Kung Fu Generation
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_t8rnKreNSI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
My anime side comes out again. Well let me say this at the moment I am completely loving Japanese rock and most of the time, and a lot of my current music, is Japanese rock. Do I know what there saying? No of course not. Does it matter? Hell no. This song is awesome and one I can listen to over and over. But back to wrestling, again I see this as a entrance theme of sorts. The song really works if you let it play all the way through however it's fast pace doesn't make for long entrances and fits more of a over hyper wrestling personality. But having said that I probably like the song to run all the way through because I love the song. Oh well if a wrestler came out to this would happily went 4 minutes until the match started and would be happy if that match lasted 30 seconds and the guy took 4 minutes to leave.
5: Anything from Sevendust
For those of you that don't know Sevendust provided the song "Enemy" for WWE's Unforgiven 2003 and in my eyes it was the first time that a theme song actually meant anything for a show. They used it in the promo video for Goldberg vs. Triple H in the main event, while the match would suck the music didn't. I don't know if Sevendust
4: Ultimate Flow 2-Re-Up Gang
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mqki-u91veI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
OK I'm kind of cheating here. This song uses Drugs by Lil' Kim as a sample and all you Ring of Honor fans will recognise that as the Embassy's/Prince Nana's theme. That's how I found it and I love that instrumental, I still do to this day. But hearing this song using it makes me think this is just a good a fit. Now I do imagine the Embassy entering when it plays but that's beside the point. The fireworks that go off in the song would be a perfect fit to actually use pyro (hint WWE). And lets face it wrestling loves to use either rock songs or rap songs and this is one of the better rap songs out there but what would I know being a white guy!
3: This Close-Flyleaf
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/l26Ad8rSKW0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Little fact Thumbtack Jack used I'm So Sick by Flyleaf and it described him perfectly as he was a little out of his mind, just watch a match of his and you'll see what I mean. Flyleaf are a great band and I love both of their album but this song is the best in my view. My main theory here is that an actual wrestler used one of their songs so their others would fit as well and hell I think I'm right. This would be a fantastic entrance theme and it could fit any type of entrance in my view, a fun energy filled entrance or a slow serious entrance it's just one of those songs.
4: Sierra Leone-Mt Eden Dubstep
<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oIEEIif21g4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I'm in no way a fan of dubstep, it ends up sounding exactly the same to me but this song is the exception. I love this song so much that I have 3 remixes of it and just got a fourth when finding this video to embed here. But let me explain why it would fit. Again it's a great song for an entrance theme no matter what type but when I think of it I see a heel or heels using it, taking their time to talk crap to the fans. It would be a dark arena with different coloured lights going around to create a slight rave atmosphere which fits the song. But the main thing I think about this song is that it's catchy as hell, there are hardly any words and the song is stuck in my head. Plus how many wrestlers use dubstep? They would be unique!
1: Broken Youth-NICO Touches the Walls
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_yJXCsyqNa4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This is a little selfish choice as it's my absolute favourite song at the moment and it has been for months now. Again this is a song I found through watching anime and it's Japanese rock but it's unbelievably good! NICO Touches the Walls have become one of my favourite bands and I recommend finding their songs Diver, Hologram and Leo (which could also fit on this list at number 11 I'd say). Now I couldn't find the original which has a slower build in the beginning but this version is just as great. This just screams energy and would get you're attention during a show, it's hard not to tap your feet when listening to it and that's the kind of song you need. Again a little selfish as I think this is the greatest song at the moment and likely will for a while but I still think it would fit into wrestling.
Now before I wrap up let me say one more thing. I literally just mentioned the fact that this song gets a reaction from you and gets you doing something and that can be said for the other songs on this list as well. The worst kind of entrance themes are those that you just can't react to or doesn't create a reaction, I mean even John Cena's theme gets a reaction the second it starts playing and that's what you need. I saw a show were Silas Young used Don't Stop Believing by Journey and it's just not a good fit, people sing along but for the wrong reason they sign because the song is a classic and not because of the wrestler using the song. Look at Bryan Danielson when he used Final Countdown, again it was a great song but Bryan would wait until the first Final Countdown in the song to climb up on the ropes and it got the fans going nuts.
So I've got my little rant about nothing out of the way. So if you've just read through without listening I recommend listening to the songs but cheers anyways. If you give this a read let me know what you think either on here or on Facebook.
Monday 25 July 2011
The Gimmick PPV: Doing it's Job or Over-Doing it's Job!
It seems these days taking time to build a feud with the match taking place at a pay per view does not equal buys or at least not enough to please the higher ups in WWE and TNA (although TNA aren't getting that many buys regardless of what they put on their pay per views). But the "gimmick" PPV has been around for a long time.
Gimmick PPV are shows built around a certain type of matches occurring throughout the night or just one or 2 special matches occurring on the night. You can say that the first "gimmick" PPV was Survivor Series 1987 the show was built around 4 on 4 elimination matches and that would be the type of match that filled the card. Just months later WWE would hold it's first Royal Rumble a show built around the first time ever unique battle royal this would be the only time 20 men took part as it went up to 30 the next your and stayed that way until last years when it went up to 40. These two events would happen ever year and still do to this day. These shows were unique and have made such an impact that the Royal Rumble has been ripped off by so many companies and indy promotion even promote 4-on-4 elimination matches as Survivor Series style. While this was probably the start of gimmick pay per views there was a good reason for them in my view. At that time WWE only had 4 pay per views a year the other two being wrestlemania and summerslam the rest of the year was completely free to watch including Saturday Night's Main event which was a supershow of sorts so WWE needed to come up with a way to get the audience to buy these shows and what better way than to have shows which were completely unique and wouldn't happen any other time. It was a great idea and when WWE started adding more pay per views ending with one a month those two shows were still the only gimmick shows on their lists.
The gimmick PPV wouldn't really be used again until WCW's Uncensored PPV in 1995 started the show revolved around idea that their was relaxed rules and it consisted of many gimmick matches throughout the night. However it never really worked well as the Uncensored PPV's ended up being rubbish and confusing for example at one Hogan beat Vader in a strap match by dragging Ric Flair (who was in a dress) around the ring and touched all 4 corners! The only show that was OK was the 98 show which was mainly held together by the undercard. The main problem was the gimmicks were just weird and confusing plus the main event stars were old and couldn't carry them, I'm looking at you Hogan! So the Uncensored PPV was a bad attempt at WCW starting a gimmick PPV.
The gimmick PPV was a forgotten thing by the 2000's as the Rumble and Survivor Series were just accepted and the Survivor Series would often have less and less 4-on-4 matches sometimes having none at all. But it would be revived in 2005 when TNA held it's first ever Lockdown PPV. Lockdown was the first PPV that had cage matches from the first to the last, it was originally meant to just have two but TNA decided "If we put it up at the beginning and leave it then it would make a good show" well they were kind of right as Lockdown is one of their best brought shows. TNA would often do gimmick shows being built around certain matches including shows focused on the Ultimate X or their Slammiversary show being built around the overly confusing King of the Mountain match, luckily they've got rid of that match but they haven't fired Russo the man who came up with that crap! And in a weird turn of events WWE decided to copy TNA and started doing more gimmick pay per views throughout the year, usually TNA copy everything WWE do so they must of loved the fact WWE used their idea. Now we've got to the point were their are more gimmick pay per views than normal ones but the question is do they work?
Gimmick pay per views much like anything else have good points and bad points. One positive to gimmick pay per views is that they can increase the quality of the overall show, TNA's latest gimmick show Destination X which focused on the X Division was one of their best shows in ages but when you look at over gimmick shows the wrestlers will usually have more creative freedom than in a normal match. I personally also like gimmick matches because of that if you watch shows like Extreme Rules they are often good from start to finish because you get such a range of gimmicks and creativity coming out. Having so many different gimmicks happening during the show can keep the audiences attention as you're unlikely to see the same thing one match after another. But one of the biggest positives to gimmick pay per views, in my eyes, is that it allows the fans to see matches that we wouldn't at any other time and that could be due to the fact you cannot build a story around these matches. Let's face it no matter how many times WWE tries to build a story around the Royal rumble match it never sticks and the reason why people watch is because we love the rumble match itself, it's just something special that we get caught up in for that hour plus that it's on. I personally never miss a rumble match as their one of my favourite matches to watch every year. But the rumble match isn't alone here. Let's be honest when WWE introduced the elimination chamber they tired to build stories around them but they failed mainly because it's hard to book 6 guys to work the one match and another reason was that it's not needed. WWE have done the perfect thing placing a pay per view around it and saying that if you want to be the main event at wrestlemania you have to win this match it's your last chance. The same can be said about Money in the Bank that is just a match that happens and the winner gets a push and a eventual World title run you can't put a story on that.
So that's the positives to gimmick pay per views "But Christian what's the negative?" I hear you all ask well I'll tell you!
While gimmick pay per views allow us to see matches we wouldn't normally see they also over due matches that we do normally see. TNA Lockdown is the perfect example one a show with 7 matches it results in 7 cage matches OK that would be fine if it was just for the one night but TNA hold cage matches on a regular basis so holding a show with all cages is nothing special. This also leads to my next problem which is adding gimmicks to gimmicks, TNA are famous for this. In order to separate one match from the other they add another match type to one that's already standing look at the first Lockdown and you'll see a tables match inside a cage! WWE are no different here as during their Breaking Point PPV built around submission matches they held a "Submission Counts Anywhere" match which made no sense since all the wrestlers involved (DX vs. Legacy) weren't known for submissions nor did they build the story around submissions. The ultimate gimmick on gimmick match has to be the King of the Mountain match which was a "reverse" ladder match which also had pinfalls/submissions, guys going into a cage when pinned and wrestlers having to earn eligibility to hang the belt! By adding gimmicks onto gimmick matches you are making the matches too confusing and harder to follow the ultimate solution would be to not have so many gimmick matches on the show.
In my last point I mentioned a story being built and that brings me nicely onto the fact that some gimmick pay per views revolve around matches that should occur when the story is right. The best example I can make here is the Hell in a Cell PPV. When the Cell was introduced to the WWE it was the ultimate solution and the ultimate conclusion to a feud. The match would probably only occur once or twice a year mainly because that's when it was needed. Look at some of the famous feuds that have ended in the Cell. Undertaker vs. Batista ended in the Cell at Survivor series after starting at Mania of that year, Undertaker vs. Edge lasted a year and a half (on/off) before ending in the cell at Summerslam and Undertaker(he's been in a lot hasn't he and I'll get to that in a moment) vs. Randy Orton started at Wrestlemania 21 and ended in the cell at the final PPV of the year. This was the perfect end to the feuds and they happened when they did. Look at the last two Hell in a Cell PPV's did CM Punk-Undertaker deserve to be in the cell? No as they only started working together 2 months before. Did Sheamus-Randy Orton deserve to be in the cell? No as they hardly feuded with each other. You lose the matches meaning when it's literally just a gimmick for one show. Hell in a Cell was one of my favourite matches to watch, not so much now that it's gone PG, but it's just another gimmick to me now that I'll only get to see for one night. Maybe WWE should do matches when they are meant to happen and not for just one random night or remember that they have that show and place time and effort into the feuds so they make sense when they are in the cell.
Having mentioned the Undertaker's repeated Cell matches in my last point brings me to my final grief with gimmick ppv's. As I've mentioned some gimmick shows over due certain matches and one of the problems is that these gimmicks are synonymous with specific wrestlers. Undertaker has been involved in the most Hell in a Cell matches than anyone else in WWE and it's hard to imagine a Hell of a Cell show without him however they must take their toll on him, Taker is a physical wreck right now who seems to only be able to wrestle once a year. The same can be said for Edge and Ladder matches, Edge recently retired and part of the credit has to go to the huge amount of ladder/TLC matches he has been in. By doing these gimmick matches too often you are risking injuring your workers on a more regular basis and cutting down their career length in the long run.
So do gimmick PPV's work? Basically NO! WWE now have more gimmick PPV's than normal PPV's and yet they still aren't getting any more buys than they wish they could get.
But my ultimate example showing that gimmick PPV's don't work is ECW's December to Dismember PPV. That show spent months promoting one match, later two, that being the "Extreme" Elimination chamber and the Hardy's vs. MNM, which was a brilliant match and it's a shame that Jeff is to busy messing up his life with drugs and Matt is too busy getting himself over on Twitter to put on anything close to a good match these days. The show is remembered as one of the worse ever and promoting a 3 hour PPV with 2 matches that will take up less than an hour is a stupid move and their is no reason to watch the other matches that will be thrown out there.
As you can see there is more negative results in the gimmick PPV's than positive, in my view. The question is will WWE go back to holding more normal PPV's, who knows I kind of doubt it though. While gimmick PPV's can help build a feud along by placing them into gimmick matches it can also rush them which ultimately hurts them and cuts them short. For example Randy Orton faced off with John Cena in the Hell in a Cell, which like I said was meant to be the ultimate end, and yet they worked a hour long match just one month later which was meant to be the end!
The common theme of this blog seems to be removing the meaning behind the gimmicks and if done enough those gimmick matches will soon just become just another normal match to the fans and the wrestling companies will have to go to new extreme which will likely end up adding gimmicks to gimmicks and like I said it will make it harder to keep up with and just lose even more meaning. I'm all for gimmick PPV's if they are held 4 times out of the 12+ PPV's WWE put on ever year.
Gimmick PPV are shows built around a certain type of matches occurring throughout the night or just one or 2 special matches occurring on the night. You can say that the first "gimmick" PPV was Survivor Series 1987 the show was built around 4 on 4 elimination matches and that would be the type of match that filled the card. Just months later WWE would hold it's first Royal Rumble a show built around the first time ever unique battle royal this would be the only time 20 men took part as it went up to 30 the next your and stayed that way until last years when it went up to 40. These two events would happen ever year and still do to this day. These shows were unique and have made such an impact that the Royal Rumble has been ripped off by so many companies and indy promotion even promote 4-on-4 elimination matches as Survivor Series style. While this was probably the start of gimmick pay per views there was a good reason for them in my view. At that time WWE only had 4 pay per views a year the other two being wrestlemania and summerslam the rest of the year was completely free to watch including Saturday Night's Main event which was a supershow of sorts so WWE needed to come up with a way to get the audience to buy these shows and what better way than to have shows which were completely unique and wouldn't happen any other time. It was a great idea and when WWE started adding more pay per views ending with one a month those two shows were still the only gimmick shows on their lists.
The gimmick PPV wouldn't really be used again until WCW's Uncensored PPV in 1995 started the show revolved around idea that their was relaxed rules and it consisted of many gimmick matches throughout the night. However it never really worked well as the Uncensored PPV's ended up being rubbish and confusing for example at one Hogan beat Vader in a strap match by dragging Ric Flair (who was in a dress) around the ring and touched all 4 corners! The only show that was OK was the 98 show which was mainly held together by the undercard. The main problem was the gimmicks were just weird and confusing plus the main event stars were old and couldn't carry them, I'm looking at you Hogan! So the Uncensored PPV was a bad attempt at WCW starting a gimmick PPV.
The gimmick PPV was a forgotten thing by the 2000's as the Rumble and Survivor Series were just accepted and the Survivor Series would often have less and less 4-on-4 matches sometimes having none at all. But it would be revived in 2005 when TNA held it's first ever Lockdown PPV. Lockdown was the first PPV that had cage matches from the first to the last, it was originally meant to just have two but TNA decided "If we put it up at the beginning and leave it then it would make a good show" well they were kind of right as Lockdown is one of their best brought shows. TNA would often do gimmick shows being built around certain matches including shows focused on the Ultimate X or their Slammiversary show being built around the overly confusing King of the Mountain match, luckily they've got rid of that match but they haven't fired Russo the man who came up with that crap! And in a weird turn of events WWE decided to copy TNA and started doing more gimmick pay per views throughout the year, usually TNA copy everything WWE do so they must of loved the fact WWE used their idea. Now we've got to the point were their are more gimmick pay per views than normal ones but the question is do they work?
Gimmick pay per views much like anything else have good points and bad points. One positive to gimmick pay per views is that they can increase the quality of the overall show, TNA's latest gimmick show Destination X which focused on the X Division was one of their best shows in ages but when you look at over gimmick shows the wrestlers will usually have more creative freedom than in a normal match. I personally also like gimmick matches because of that if you watch shows like Extreme Rules they are often good from start to finish because you get such a range of gimmicks and creativity coming out. Having so many different gimmicks happening during the show can keep the audiences attention as you're unlikely to see the same thing one match after another. But one of the biggest positives to gimmick pay per views, in my eyes, is that it allows the fans to see matches that we wouldn't at any other time and that could be due to the fact you cannot build a story around these matches. Let's face it no matter how many times WWE tries to build a story around the Royal rumble match it never sticks and the reason why people watch is because we love the rumble match itself, it's just something special that we get caught up in for that hour plus that it's on. I personally never miss a rumble match as their one of my favourite matches to watch every year. But the rumble match isn't alone here. Let's be honest when WWE introduced the elimination chamber they tired to build stories around them but they failed mainly because it's hard to book 6 guys to work the one match and another reason was that it's not needed. WWE have done the perfect thing placing a pay per view around it and saying that if you want to be the main event at wrestlemania you have to win this match it's your last chance. The same can be said about Money in the Bank that is just a match that happens and the winner gets a push and a eventual World title run you can't put a story on that.
So that's the positives to gimmick pay per views "But Christian what's the negative?" I hear you all ask well I'll tell you!
While gimmick pay per views allow us to see matches we wouldn't normally see they also over due matches that we do normally see. TNA Lockdown is the perfect example one a show with 7 matches it results in 7 cage matches OK that would be fine if it was just for the one night but TNA hold cage matches on a regular basis so holding a show with all cages is nothing special. This also leads to my next problem which is adding gimmicks to gimmicks, TNA are famous for this. In order to separate one match from the other they add another match type to one that's already standing look at the first Lockdown and you'll see a tables match inside a cage! WWE are no different here as during their Breaking Point PPV built around submission matches they held a "Submission Counts Anywhere" match which made no sense since all the wrestlers involved (DX vs. Legacy) weren't known for submissions nor did they build the story around submissions. The ultimate gimmick on gimmick match has to be the King of the Mountain match which was a "reverse" ladder match which also had pinfalls/submissions, guys going into a cage when pinned and wrestlers having to earn eligibility to hang the belt! By adding gimmicks onto gimmick matches you are making the matches too confusing and harder to follow the ultimate solution would be to not have so many gimmick matches on the show.
In my last point I mentioned a story being built and that brings me nicely onto the fact that some gimmick pay per views revolve around matches that should occur when the story is right. The best example I can make here is the Hell in a Cell PPV. When the Cell was introduced to the WWE it was the ultimate solution and the ultimate conclusion to a feud. The match would probably only occur once or twice a year mainly because that's when it was needed. Look at some of the famous feuds that have ended in the Cell. Undertaker vs. Batista ended in the Cell at Survivor series after starting at Mania of that year, Undertaker vs. Edge lasted a year and a half (on/off) before ending in the cell at Summerslam and Undertaker(he's been in a lot hasn't he and I'll get to that in a moment) vs. Randy Orton started at Wrestlemania 21 and ended in the cell at the final PPV of the year. This was the perfect end to the feuds and they happened when they did. Look at the last two Hell in a Cell PPV's did CM Punk-Undertaker deserve to be in the cell? No as they only started working together 2 months before. Did Sheamus-Randy Orton deserve to be in the cell? No as they hardly feuded with each other. You lose the matches meaning when it's literally just a gimmick for one show. Hell in a Cell was one of my favourite matches to watch, not so much now that it's gone PG, but it's just another gimmick to me now that I'll only get to see for one night. Maybe WWE should do matches when they are meant to happen and not for just one random night or remember that they have that show and place time and effort into the feuds so they make sense when they are in the cell.
Having mentioned the Undertaker's repeated Cell matches in my last point brings me to my final grief with gimmick ppv's. As I've mentioned some gimmick shows over due certain matches and one of the problems is that these gimmicks are synonymous with specific wrestlers. Undertaker has been involved in the most Hell in a Cell matches than anyone else in WWE and it's hard to imagine a Hell of a Cell show without him however they must take their toll on him, Taker is a physical wreck right now who seems to only be able to wrestle once a year. The same can be said for Edge and Ladder matches, Edge recently retired and part of the credit has to go to the huge amount of ladder/TLC matches he has been in. By doing these gimmick matches too often you are risking injuring your workers on a more regular basis and cutting down their career length in the long run.
So do gimmick PPV's work? Basically NO! WWE now have more gimmick PPV's than normal PPV's and yet they still aren't getting any more buys than they wish they could get.
But my ultimate example showing that gimmick PPV's don't work is ECW's December to Dismember PPV. That show spent months promoting one match, later two, that being the "Extreme" Elimination chamber and the Hardy's vs. MNM, which was a brilliant match and it's a shame that Jeff is to busy messing up his life with drugs and Matt is too busy getting himself over on Twitter to put on anything close to a good match these days. The show is remembered as one of the worse ever and promoting a 3 hour PPV with 2 matches that will take up less than an hour is a stupid move and their is no reason to watch the other matches that will be thrown out there.
As you can see there is more negative results in the gimmick PPV's than positive, in my view. The question is will WWE go back to holding more normal PPV's, who knows I kind of doubt it though. While gimmick PPV's can help build a feud along by placing them into gimmick matches it can also rush them which ultimately hurts them and cuts them short. For example Randy Orton faced off with John Cena in the Hell in a Cell, which like I said was meant to be the ultimate end, and yet they worked a hour long match just one month later which was meant to be the end!
The common theme of this blog seems to be removing the meaning behind the gimmicks and if done enough those gimmick matches will soon just become just another normal match to the fans and the wrestling companies will have to go to new extreme which will likely end up adding gimmicks to gimmicks and like I said it will make it harder to keep up with and just lose even more meaning. I'm all for gimmick PPV's if they are held 4 times out of the 12+ PPV's WWE put on ever year.
Wednesday 13 July 2011
Well we gave it a Shot!
They have been many times when a company will try to establish a new star as it's main attraction but it doesn't go according to plans. So I decided to look at 8 guys who were given a run with a big companies main title and see what went wrong (in my opinion). So lets begin!
Xavier-ROH World Champion
Ring of Honor has been around since 2002 and since that time it's world title has been held by 15 guys (16 reigns as Austin Aries held it twice) and 14 out of those 15 are a whose who of wrestling who became huge in wrestling, in one aspect or another. The other one was Xavier. Xavier ended the Low Ki's reign as the first champion in September of 2002 and would lose the belt in March of 2003. Over this time Xavier never looked like a main event guy and especially didn't look like he deserved the World title. After his reign had ended he was barely used in ROH and just left soon after, he wouldn't receive another title shot until Bryan Danielson's reign where he made a surprise one night return to little care. So what went wrong?
Well there were several factors that hurt his reign. First was him being apart of the Phophecy group, while the group was the main heel stable he never looked like a main member and just a sidekick. Christopher Daniels was the groups main star and probably should of been the man who was World champion if he wasn't already involved in programs. And this leads me to the other problem he had. Xavier was a OK worker in a roster full of fantastic workers so why was he chosen to be champion and so many others were over looked? Xavier didn't stand out and while his title matches were good it was mainly due to the guys he worked with. This ultimately summed up the issue with the fans, we couldn't understand why Xavier was champ. Sure that could be the "you didn't see it coming" factor that wrestling bookers love but it has to make sense in the long run. I'll put it like this, lets say that Justin Gabriel gets a match for the World title and he wins it right now while we all will say "Holy crap I didn't expect that" you also wouldn't accept him as champion as the win came from no where and he's sent the last year in a mid-card tag team. That's what we got with Xavier, someone who screamed mid-card being played as a main event and it just didn't work.
Ron Killings-NWA World Champion Twice
While R-Truth may be one big push away from being a main event in WWE now back in 2002 he was a far cry off. For this argument I'm going to look at his first reign as his second reign lasted just two weeks and it could of been anyone holding the belt. For Killings first reign we once again got the shock factor as he beat Ken Shamrock when no one thought he would but saying that Ken wasn't very committed to wrestling at the time and was probably more MMA than wrestling. Killings would keep the belt for 105 days until losing it to Jeff Jarrett. And that is the main problem and it would be a common one for TNA for years. While Killings was champion you hardly knew it as the focus was all on Jeff's "rise" to the championship. I can't tell you of any matches Killings had while champion as I just don't remember them. It was all on Jeff Jarrett and so when Killings lost to Jarrett instead of continuing the program they just said well that's it and put him in the 3 Live Kru. While the focus on Jeff was probably the biggest problem I have to say the timing probably hurt his chances as well. Killings was just a few years into wrestling and only a couple years removed from his K-Kwik gimmick which sank so fast in WWE. Now my thinking is TNA put the belt on him as a way of saying "We push the stars WWE don't" but it really didn't work. Killings is only just now being seen as a possible future champion 9 years after the fact he was a world champion.
Justin Credible-ECW World Champion
I could put any ECW Champion from the last year of it's existence here but decided that Jerry Lynn, Steve Corino and Rhino actually went on to do big things while this was the last big thing Justin ever did sadly. WWE and TNA used him but never in the right way and he never got past their mid-cards. So lets look at what went wrong during his ECW title reign, there are a few things in my mind. Probably the biggest problems were his big PPV matches and how he won the belt. Justin won the title at Cyberslam 2000 by beating Tommy Dreamer but that match happened just seconds after Dreamer beat Taz to become champion, the match was long it wasn't a money in the bank moment which has become over done lately but it still didn't help establish him as a main event star. His next PPV title defenses didn't go well either, when he retained against Lance Storm the fans were more bothered about Tommy Dreamer who was meant to be in the match but left after Justin threatened to thrown the belt in the trash, kind of stupid when you consider you could then reach in to that trash can and pick the belt up! So the fans didn't care about the match taking place. His next PPV match against Dreamer in a Stairway to Hell match i.e. a Ladder match for no reason what so ever, got overshadowed by the XPW guys trying to get themselves over and then them getting the crap beat out of them. When Justin lost the belt to Jerry Lynn at Anarchy Rules the match went well however it was Justin himself who hampered it here. The match was in Lynn's hometown so you knew the crowd would be red hot but Justin decided to go overkill and talk on the mic while attacking which was kind of cheap. Justin would remain in the title picture until ECW closed, which wasn't long but he would never be a main star in other companies. But before I move one there is one more reason I think he didn't get established or make that two, that being Francine (see what I did there!). This being ECW they focused on Francine, how hot she was and how little she wore in doing so she really out shadowed him, hell in his match with Dreamer one of the things I remember is her being stripped of her shirt and her boobs being covered by tape! When Justin was with Jason at least Jason could do stupid crap which would help get Justin over, like most managers do, but Francine couldn't take those bumps without gaining focus because it would usually be a guy doing the bump to her. So while placing her with him was meant to help it probably damaged him more.
Diamond Dallas Page-WCW World Champion Three times
DDP was WCW champion three times is that impressive? Not when you consider the fact he only held the belt for 29 days! That's about one month. While I love DDP and he is a legend the fact is he was never accepted as a main event star and his short time as champion proved that but who's to blame DDP or WCW? WCW it's WCW lets face it. DDP was the first victim of the Russo booking crap that helped destroy WCW. I remember watching WCW Nitro one night and in the first hour DDP lost the WCW title to Sting and then in the second hour he won it back in a four way! And lets no start on the fact it was him who lost the WCW title to David Arquette! I mentioned in another blog that WCW should of pushed DDP earlier, he was the biggest babyface in 1997/1998 and should of be champion then especially since the Hogan heel run was so horrible and boring but instead they decide to give DDP one month as a heel champion and he looked like crap because of the booking. So basically that sums up went wrong with DDP, the booking and nothing else.
Booker T-WCW World champion Five times
While Booker may be a five time champion it was in the final year of WCW and nearly everyone could of been champion and the fact is after his reigns and going into WWE he had to become a mid-card talent all over again and that was the problem. It was once again a "Let's surprise the fans" decision but WCW decided to stick to it. Booker had never really been pushed and just kind of stayed in the same spot then all of a sudden he was in the main events, which was a huge mess at that time and Booker was forced to work with guys who either didn't really care what performance they put on or wouldn't be able to put on a good show. Booker may have been a 5 time champion but the that championship was a joke by that time, remember this was the same year that David Arquette and Vince Russo got reigns as champion.
Samoa Joe-TNA World champion
This has links to Booker T just wait. Samoa Joe finally became TNA World champion after being the fans want for years by beating Kurt Angle in a classic at Lockdown 2008 he would lose it to Sting in another great match at Bound for Glory of the same year. The problem occurred inbetween those two events. Joe would be the first man to enter and retain the title in the King of the Mountain match which was full of odd names that year including Bobby Roode. But the biggest problem was the he was stuck with Booker T for 3 months plus. In their first one on one match they failed to deliver and that was probably more Booker's fault as he just didn't care much and Joe was fantastic at the time. So instead of seeing something that didn't work and ending it they decide to run 2 more months with it and then they built it around Sting and Jeff Jarrett's returns which overshadowed both men and the championship. Joe's reign would be seen as a flop and it's mainly due to how TNA booking handled it. If Joe was to take on the challenger of the month he could of worked with great names, him and AJ would of been a believable main event. Hell he had a fantastic match on Impact with Kazarian they could of built on that. But instead they focused on yet another former WWE guy as the main star and it seriously hurt one of the only guys that was in the main event and you could call a TNA guy.
Jack Swagger-World Heavyweight Champion
Where to begin here? The beginning would be a smart idea so let's start there. Swagger push to the main event was all of 2 days. Swagger won the money in the bank at Wrestlemania and then cashed in on the Smackdown taping the next week. Rushed isn't the word, stupid would do it. WWE could of built him so well, on the Raw before he ran in about to cash in and Cena started getting up so he grabbed the briefcase and ran off. You could of done that several times over months while having Swagger beat big names, hell you could have had him run to get the briefcase after the champion was getting up and be late and then actually beat the champion, making it look like he wasted his shot. But lets move on to the reign itself. Swagger didn't look like a champion, over his 3 month reign he hardly ever won. Now he did put on great performances with everyone he worked with but losing every match hurt him way to much. Hell he worked with Big Show and had to lose by DQ, a win would of helped him so much more. It's basic you can't build stars without sacrificing others and it's not even sacrificing as wrestlers can lose and not lose everything. WWE should of had guys put him over instead of him losing to everyone, which brings us too...
Sheamus-WWE Champion Twice
So you know where I'm going here so let's cut to the chase. During Sheamus' two reigns as champion he hardly ever won. He only just beat Cena in a tables match to win the belt (which was botched) he then lost continually by DQ to Cena, beat Orton by DQ and then lost the title in his reign. Then in his second he did pin Cena in a four way but it was because of the Nexus that he won and that was drilled home! The same occurred a month later in a cage as it was the Nexus stopping Cena from escaping that lead to Sheamus leaving the cage. He then lost by DQ to Orton and then lost the title to Orton. Just like Swagger the continuous losing hurt him more than they had planned. Now it is early days and it seems that Sheamus could be getting a push again on Smackdown lets just hope they do it right this time.
Well there you have it 8 guys who were given a chance but just never clicked. Now I was going to put Lex Luger's WCW reigns and Ron Simmons reign as WCW champion on here as well but I didn't see much of their reigns so don't want to talk about what I don't know. Anyways let me know what you think, if you agree or disagree I'm guessing the latter.
Xavier-ROH World Champion
Ring of Honor has been around since 2002 and since that time it's world title has been held by 15 guys (16 reigns as Austin Aries held it twice) and 14 out of those 15 are a whose who of wrestling who became huge in wrestling, in one aspect or another. The other one was Xavier. Xavier ended the Low Ki's reign as the first champion in September of 2002 and would lose the belt in March of 2003. Over this time Xavier never looked like a main event guy and especially didn't look like he deserved the World title. After his reign had ended he was barely used in ROH and just left soon after, he wouldn't receive another title shot until Bryan Danielson's reign where he made a surprise one night return to little care. So what went wrong?
Well there were several factors that hurt his reign. First was him being apart of the Phophecy group, while the group was the main heel stable he never looked like a main member and just a sidekick. Christopher Daniels was the groups main star and probably should of been the man who was World champion if he wasn't already involved in programs. And this leads me to the other problem he had. Xavier was a OK worker in a roster full of fantastic workers so why was he chosen to be champion and so many others were over looked? Xavier didn't stand out and while his title matches were good it was mainly due to the guys he worked with. This ultimately summed up the issue with the fans, we couldn't understand why Xavier was champ. Sure that could be the "you didn't see it coming" factor that wrestling bookers love but it has to make sense in the long run. I'll put it like this, lets say that Justin Gabriel gets a match for the World title and he wins it right now while we all will say "Holy crap I didn't expect that" you also wouldn't accept him as champion as the win came from no where and he's sent the last year in a mid-card tag team. That's what we got with Xavier, someone who screamed mid-card being played as a main event and it just didn't work.
Ron Killings-NWA World Champion Twice
While R-Truth may be one big push away from being a main event in WWE now back in 2002 he was a far cry off. For this argument I'm going to look at his first reign as his second reign lasted just two weeks and it could of been anyone holding the belt. For Killings first reign we once again got the shock factor as he beat Ken Shamrock when no one thought he would but saying that Ken wasn't very committed to wrestling at the time and was probably more MMA than wrestling. Killings would keep the belt for 105 days until losing it to Jeff Jarrett. And that is the main problem and it would be a common one for TNA for years. While Killings was champion you hardly knew it as the focus was all on Jeff's "rise" to the championship. I can't tell you of any matches Killings had while champion as I just don't remember them. It was all on Jeff Jarrett and so when Killings lost to Jarrett instead of continuing the program they just said well that's it and put him in the 3 Live Kru. While the focus on Jeff was probably the biggest problem I have to say the timing probably hurt his chances as well. Killings was just a few years into wrestling and only a couple years removed from his K-Kwik gimmick which sank so fast in WWE. Now my thinking is TNA put the belt on him as a way of saying "We push the stars WWE don't" but it really didn't work. Killings is only just now being seen as a possible future champion 9 years after the fact he was a world champion.
Justin Credible-ECW World Champion
I could put any ECW Champion from the last year of it's existence here but decided that Jerry Lynn, Steve Corino and Rhino actually went on to do big things while this was the last big thing Justin ever did sadly. WWE and TNA used him but never in the right way and he never got past their mid-cards. So lets look at what went wrong during his ECW title reign, there are a few things in my mind. Probably the biggest problems were his big PPV matches and how he won the belt. Justin won the title at Cyberslam 2000 by beating Tommy Dreamer but that match happened just seconds after Dreamer beat Taz to become champion, the match was long it wasn't a money in the bank moment which has become over done lately but it still didn't help establish him as a main event star. His next PPV title defenses didn't go well either, when he retained against Lance Storm the fans were more bothered about Tommy Dreamer who was meant to be in the match but left after Justin threatened to thrown the belt in the trash, kind of stupid when you consider you could then reach in to that trash can and pick the belt up! So the fans didn't care about the match taking place. His next PPV match against Dreamer in a Stairway to Hell match i.e. a Ladder match for no reason what so ever, got overshadowed by the XPW guys trying to get themselves over and then them getting the crap beat out of them. When Justin lost the belt to Jerry Lynn at Anarchy Rules the match went well however it was Justin himself who hampered it here. The match was in Lynn's hometown so you knew the crowd would be red hot but Justin decided to go overkill and talk on the mic while attacking which was kind of cheap. Justin would remain in the title picture until ECW closed, which wasn't long but he would never be a main star in other companies. But before I move one there is one more reason I think he didn't get established or make that two, that being Francine (see what I did there!). This being ECW they focused on Francine, how hot she was and how little she wore in doing so she really out shadowed him, hell in his match with Dreamer one of the things I remember is her being stripped of her shirt and her boobs being covered by tape! When Justin was with Jason at least Jason could do stupid crap which would help get Justin over, like most managers do, but Francine couldn't take those bumps without gaining focus because it would usually be a guy doing the bump to her. So while placing her with him was meant to help it probably damaged him more.
Diamond Dallas Page-WCW World Champion Three times
DDP was WCW champion three times is that impressive? Not when you consider the fact he only held the belt for 29 days! That's about one month. While I love DDP and he is a legend the fact is he was never accepted as a main event star and his short time as champion proved that but who's to blame DDP or WCW? WCW it's WCW lets face it. DDP was the first victim of the Russo booking crap that helped destroy WCW. I remember watching WCW Nitro one night and in the first hour DDP lost the WCW title to Sting and then in the second hour he won it back in a four way! And lets no start on the fact it was him who lost the WCW title to David Arquette! I mentioned in another blog that WCW should of pushed DDP earlier, he was the biggest babyface in 1997/1998 and should of be champion then especially since the Hogan heel run was so horrible and boring but instead they decide to give DDP one month as a heel champion and he looked like crap because of the booking. So basically that sums up went wrong with DDP, the booking and nothing else.
Booker T-WCW World champion Five times
While Booker may be a five time champion it was in the final year of WCW and nearly everyone could of been champion and the fact is after his reigns and going into WWE he had to become a mid-card talent all over again and that was the problem. It was once again a "Let's surprise the fans" decision but WCW decided to stick to it. Booker had never really been pushed and just kind of stayed in the same spot then all of a sudden he was in the main events, which was a huge mess at that time and Booker was forced to work with guys who either didn't really care what performance they put on or wouldn't be able to put on a good show. Booker may have been a 5 time champion but the that championship was a joke by that time, remember this was the same year that David Arquette and Vince Russo got reigns as champion.
Samoa Joe-TNA World champion
This has links to Booker T just wait. Samoa Joe finally became TNA World champion after being the fans want for years by beating Kurt Angle in a classic at Lockdown 2008 he would lose it to Sting in another great match at Bound for Glory of the same year. The problem occurred inbetween those two events. Joe would be the first man to enter and retain the title in the King of the Mountain match which was full of odd names that year including Bobby Roode. But the biggest problem was the he was stuck with Booker T for 3 months plus. In their first one on one match they failed to deliver and that was probably more Booker's fault as he just didn't care much and Joe was fantastic at the time. So instead of seeing something that didn't work and ending it they decide to run 2 more months with it and then they built it around Sting and Jeff Jarrett's returns which overshadowed both men and the championship. Joe's reign would be seen as a flop and it's mainly due to how TNA booking handled it. If Joe was to take on the challenger of the month he could of worked with great names, him and AJ would of been a believable main event. Hell he had a fantastic match on Impact with Kazarian they could of built on that. But instead they focused on yet another former WWE guy as the main star and it seriously hurt one of the only guys that was in the main event and you could call a TNA guy.
Jack Swagger-World Heavyweight Champion
Where to begin here? The beginning would be a smart idea so let's start there. Swagger push to the main event was all of 2 days. Swagger won the money in the bank at Wrestlemania and then cashed in on the Smackdown taping the next week. Rushed isn't the word, stupid would do it. WWE could of built him so well, on the Raw before he ran in about to cash in and Cena started getting up so he grabbed the briefcase and ran off. You could of done that several times over months while having Swagger beat big names, hell you could have had him run to get the briefcase after the champion was getting up and be late and then actually beat the champion, making it look like he wasted his shot. But lets move on to the reign itself. Swagger didn't look like a champion, over his 3 month reign he hardly ever won. Now he did put on great performances with everyone he worked with but losing every match hurt him way to much. Hell he worked with Big Show and had to lose by DQ, a win would of helped him so much more. It's basic you can't build stars without sacrificing others and it's not even sacrificing as wrestlers can lose and not lose everything. WWE should of had guys put him over instead of him losing to everyone, which brings us too...
Sheamus-WWE Champion Twice
So you know where I'm going here so let's cut to the chase. During Sheamus' two reigns as champion he hardly ever won. He only just beat Cena in a tables match to win the belt (which was botched) he then lost continually by DQ to Cena, beat Orton by DQ and then lost the title in his reign. Then in his second he did pin Cena in a four way but it was because of the Nexus that he won and that was drilled home! The same occurred a month later in a cage as it was the Nexus stopping Cena from escaping that lead to Sheamus leaving the cage. He then lost by DQ to Orton and then lost the title to Orton. Just like Swagger the continuous losing hurt him more than they had planned. Now it is early days and it seems that Sheamus could be getting a push again on Smackdown lets just hope they do it right this time.
Well there you have it 8 guys who were given a chance but just never clicked. Now I was going to put Lex Luger's WCW reigns and Ron Simmons reign as WCW champion on here as well but I didn't see much of their reigns so don't want to talk about what I don't know. Anyways let me know what you think, if you agree or disagree I'm guessing the latter.
Saturday 25 June 2011
The Word Legend
The word legend seems to be over used in the world of wresting. I don't want to be negative for the sake of being negative but it seems to me that the word is beginning to lose it's worth. What's the point of calling someone a legend when the word can be throw onto anything.
The main reason this has been on my mind is because of a shoot interview trailer I saw a few months ago. RF Video released a trailer for a wrestler called Bobby Jagger, by watching the trailer you get the feeling that he thinks he was one of the biggest stars in the world back then but in reality he did nothing of worth. Sure he was around during the territory days and was apparently backstage during when Bruiser Brody got stabbed but besides that what did he do. RF Video took out several hours to film an interview which resulted in this guy getting a blown up ego, he was talking crap about loads of legends. What really annoyed me was that same week they released a shoot with Paul London & Brian Kendrick and it got overshadowed by this. I even got into a debate about it when commenting on Youtube.
Here's the thing, RF Video and Highspots for that matter actually go out of their way and spend money filming shoot interviews with EVERYBODY! I understand that there are wrestlers out there who I've never heard of but have made a impact in some sense but that still doesn't change the fact that these companies probably shouldn't take the time to film a long shoot interview with them when the market with them will be a lot smaller than say a shoot with Ric Flair. When you watch some of the trailers for these wrestlers you've never heard of you will find one of two things they will either run their mouths off and act like a mega star or they will act bat shit crazy. A prime example is Billy Jack Haynes Conspiracy Theories shoot from RF Video, Billy Jack may have worked for the big leagues but he never made a lasting impact and by watching that shoot you wonder what the heel went wrong with him (seriously if you haven't seen it Billy Jack just comes out and says that Vince McMahon caused the death of a ton of wrestlers and was directly involved in the Chris Benoit disaster).
But the biggest problem I have with calling so many wrestlers legends comes in the form of one man, Koko B.Ware. The guy who went into the WWE Hall of Fame. I said it before he doesn't deserve to be in there! What do you think when you say his name? Oh he was the guy with the bird. Nothing more. Why would such a quality put you in the Hall of Fame when guys like Jake Roberts, Bruno Sammartino and Randy Savage are still not in there! Koko may have been a good worker but what did he do?
This basically sums up my argument here. In my view to be a legend in wrestling you should of achieved something big through out your career. If I said the name Ricky Steamboat you would likely think of a classic match or feud he was in, the same can be said for many of the other names within the WWE Hall of Fame but a guy like Koko B.Ware that isn't the case. You would struggle to remember a "classic" match that involved Koko and if you did I bet many others would disagree. A match like Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage is called one of the best matches of all time by everyone.
I'm not saying this stuff to create a reaction or start a argument I'm saying it because I can't stand the fact that the word legend gets thrown around and will result in it becoming meaningless. Look at it like this, would you call the Brooklyn Brawler a legend? No and why? Because he did nothing of worth, he may have stayed in WWE for a really long time but he was just used as a jobber. All I'm saying is that if you want to be called a legend you should do something during your run. Rowdy Roddy Piper is regarded as one of the greatest of all time, did he win countless titles? No but he may a huge impact without winning titles.
A legend is not someone who breaks records like winning more titles or having the longest title reign, a legend is someone who made a lasting impact on the wrestling business and that's how it should be.
The main reason this has been on my mind is because of a shoot interview trailer I saw a few months ago. RF Video released a trailer for a wrestler called Bobby Jagger, by watching the trailer you get the feeling that he thinks he was one of the biggest stars in the world back then but in reality he did nothing of worth. Sure he was around during the territory days and was apparently backstage during when Bruiser Brody got stabbed but besides that what did he do. RF Video took out several hours to film an interview which resulted in this guy getting a blown up ego, he was talking crap about loads of legends. What really annoyed me was that same week they released a shoot with Paul London & Brian Kendrick and it got overshadowed by this. I even got into a debate about it when commenting on Youtube.
Here's the thing, RF Video and Highspots for that matter actually go out of their way and spend money filming shoot interviews with EVERYBODY! I understand that there are wrestlers out there who I've never heard of but have made a impact in some sense but that still doesn't change the fact that these companies probably shouldn't take the time to film a long shoot interview with them when the market with them will be a lot smaller than say a shoot with Ric Flair. When you watch some of the trailers for these wrestlers you've never heard of you will find one of two things they will either run their mouths off and act like a mega star or they will act bat shit crazy. A prime example is Billy Jack Haynes Conspiracy Theories shoot from RF Video, Billy Jack may have worked for the big leagues but he never made a lasting impact and by watching that shoot you wonder what the heel went wrong with him (seriously if you haven't seen it Billy Jack just comes out and says that Vince McMahon caused the death of a ton of wrestlers and was directly involved in the Chris Benoit disaster).
But the biggest problem I have with calling so many wrestlers legends comes in the form of one man, Koko B.Ware. The guy who went into the WWE Hall of Fame. I said it before he doesn't deserve to be in there! What do you think when you say his name? Oh he was the guy with the bird. Nothing more. Why would such a quality put you in the Hall of Fame when guys like Jake Roberts, Bruno Sammartino and Randy Savage are still not in there! Koko may have been a good worker but what did he do?
This basically sums up my argument here. In my view to be a legend in wrestling you should of achieved something big through out your career. If I said the name Ricky Steamboat you would likely think of a classic match or feud he was in, the same can be said for many of the other names within the WWE Hall of Fame but a guy like Koko B.Ware that isn't the case. You would struggle to remember a "classic" match that involved Koko and if you did I bet many others would disagree. A match like Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage is called one of the best matches of all time by everyone.
I'm not saying this stuff to create a reaction or start a argument I'm saying it because I can't stand the fact that the word legend gets thrown around and will result in it becoming meaningless. Look at it like this, would you call the Brooklyn Brawler a legend? No and why? Because he did nothing of worth, he may have stayed in WWE for a really long time but he was just used as a jobber. All I'm saying is that if you want to be called a legend you should do something during your run. Rowdy Roddy Piper is regarded as one of the greatest of all time, did he win countless titles? No but he may a huge impact without winning titles.
A legend is not someone who breaks records like winning more titles or having the longest title reign, a legend is someone who made a lasting impact on the wrestling business and that's how it should be.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)