Wrestling Rumblings #95
October 29, 2010
By: Jose Marrero of Wrestleview.com
You know a few months ago I was talking with Anthony “Mr. V” Valvo and well a conversation with Anthony is always entertaining as we bounce around a variety of subjects but always come back to wrestling and of course our columns. Anthony during this conversation was discussing ideas for “The Teachers Lounge” and had talked about a weekly recurring segment called “What we learned this week?” As those of you who loyally listen to the show can attest to that segment has still yet to occur but in “Jersey Shore” fashion (I love that show) I’m going to commit a bit of “the robbery” this week and well we will my own little edition of “What I have learned this week?”…you’re reading “Wrestling Rumblings.”
Wade Barrett is the mystery GM of Raw.
Well how else can you explain his threats lately of firing John Cena? If you all go back and get a chance watch the first Raw after the Hell in a Cell PPV match that bound John Cena to the Nexus. If you do you will see that the mystery GM declared that Cena had to follow the orders of Wade Barrett or THE GM would fire John Cena. Where did the GM declare that Wade Barrett can go and threaten to fire Cena if he didn’t become WWE Champion? It would be different if he asked Cena for help and Cena refused than the GM would be able to fire him but to make a proclamation that says if I don’t win this match you’re fired well you’ve turned around and given Wade a bit more power than he should be entitled to. OK we all know Wade is not the mystery GM but would it be too much to ask for WWE creative to re watch the show and sew up some loose ends?
When you are 7 feet tall you are going to be given chance upon chance to get over.
I am writing this column before watching Impact but like all of you have the benefit of spoilers to know that by the time you read this Matt Morgan will be on yet another babyface run. This is his 3rd babyface turn in his 3 years with the company for those of you who are wondering which goes to show you why none of his dispositions are really successful because they don’t stick around long enough for fans to truly lean one way or the other. I don’t think Matt Morgan has had a single babyface run in the company that has lasted longer than 6 months and while there have been attempts to force him into the main event picture none of them have been successful. Why should this one be any different? It’s my personal feeling that Matt Morgan is a better heel anyway. I’ve never been a big fan of the 7 foot babyface wrestler. I mean who feels sorry for a giant anyway? Sure with the right gimmick attached to it you can make money as a 7 foot babyface but when you’re gimmick is really that you’re 7 feet… not so much. To tell you the truth with a little bit of tinkering and going back a few months I think Matt Morgan could have been an interesting candidate for the guy to be the frontman for Immortal. Doing that you get a fresh face in main events that has been on TV shows and such and will probably continue to do so and you put Morgan in his natural element. I don’t expect Morgan’s latest babyface run to lead to a championship but rest assured in 2 years I may feel different when he is on his 5th babyface run.
There are still wrestling fans out there.
OK unless you’ve been living under a rock everyone by now should know the situation that occurred this past weekend between The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar at UFC 121. I’m not going to go in depth on that since I have already done so on my VIP blog “Outside Interference” so for those of you are who are subscribers go and check it out. What I will point out is that when you add up all the video viewings of that altercation there have been anywhere between 3 and 4 million views of that video. Needless to say it’s a hit but one thing that no one mentions is that there have been more people to watch that video than to watch Monday Night Raw which shows me that there are still people out there who are dying to become wrestling fans again but are just disenchanted with the product at the moment. This video showed me that despite the beliefs of the so called experts those same fans can be bought back to wrestling. All it takes is the right angle. Do I think the Undertaker/ Brock Lesnar thing is the right angle? Yes if the company was on more solid footing. I think the key here is to work on the rest of the roster so that when you pull off something like an Undertaker/Brock Lesnar angle and both halves of that equation go missing (Undertaker to his usual sabbatical and Brock Lesnar back to UFC) there is something to entice people to stick with the product. To me the company is a good 6 to 8 months away from doing that if they started now and I just don’t see that happening, I do however find it encouraging to see that wrestling is still on the brains of many.
Television networks do want wrestling.
I love it when people come up to me and tell me how much networks are running away from wrestling but does anyone realize that there has never been more companies on TV in this era of national expansion than there is right now? Wrestlicious, Lucha Libre USA, Ring of Honor, CMLL, AAA, WWE and TNA are all presently on cable here in the United States and I am not going to sit here and act like all these companies have the best exposure right now because well they don’t but the fact that they are all on cable television and seen in many markets indicates to me that there is still an interest for wrestling on TV. Not just any wrestling either as with the case of certain promotions it is not even traditional wrestling but niche products like Lucha Libre or women’s wrestling. I also don’t see a UFC or MMA channel taking root in the United States but it is just a matter of time before we have the first ever all wrestling channel here in the United States. MMA may be the PPV king at the moment but Wrestling is still the TV God.
“Stand Up for WWE” is real.
As those who have read “Outside Interference” on the VIP blog can attest to I have literally received well over 100 emails since last week from fans of WWE who were “Standing up for WWE” and rising up against my last column. When I say over 100 emails (136 to be exact) I am not talking about repeat emailers, I am literally talking 136 different email addresses that rallied for their product against me. Needless to say I’ve spent a lot of time reading and answering emails and while I stand by my words from last week I have to admit WWE does a great job of rallying the troops. I am curious to know how others like Phil Mushnick have fared with this campaign but I am publicly coming out as the first victim of “Stand up for WWE”.
Politics and wrestling do not mix.
Look regardless of your political affiliation and what state you live in and what candidate you support I think we can all agree that Linda McMahon’s run for office probably wasn’t the best thing for WWE. No matter what happens now you have to imagine that WWE and for that matter the wrestling industry will remain under the political microscope of many who will not fail to underestimate the influence and desires of wrestling’s powerbrokers and well is that really what those in charge want? Think about it if Linda McMahon wins WWE will have to run the squeakiest clean of products or risk embarrassing her. If she loses…well you would have to imagine that things would still change. This might turn out to be the worst decision in the history of the industry.
OK that’s it I am done this week. Of course I still have to give you all something to do for the weekend and this weekend is easy. Dragongate USA is running a show here in the New Jersey area on Saturday which will be taped for PPV. Dragongate USA’s shows have always been rated pretty highly by fans from a work rate perspective and if you are in the area and want to check it out live by all means go ahead. Can’t see it live? Well Friday DGUSA is running their first live IPPV which will be on gofightlive.tv and well you’ve heard me champion the cause of Internet Pay per View for weeks now and with DGUSA running one it looks to be gaining steam. Of course we also have Raw in the area here where I live with a show at Nassau Coliseum this Monday which I remain undecided if I am going to attend live and well for those of you who enjoy reading I have been asked to plug the Tony Atlas autobiography which is available at the Crowbar Press website. I tend to enjoy the books from guys who traveled up and down the territories as Tony has and I imagine many of you would as well. Alright enough plugs if you want to email me please do so at wrestlingrumblings@hotmail.com and well that’s it, next week I will try to do better, and until then, I am out.