The Shoot #41
December 1, 2009
By: Joshua Piedra of WrestleView.com
-The First Shot-
Hello everyone and welcome to the 41st edition of The Shoot.
Call me slow to jump on the bandwagon, but today I finally picked up a copy of WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009. Yes? you read that right? 2009. I haven?t actually played it yet, but I plan to do so after I finish writing this column. Why so late? Well, unemployment struck me so I was trying to save money? plain and simple, but when I saw it on Amazon.com for $15.99, brand new and in retail packaging? well? I couldn?t pass it up. Now I just need to get 2010 into my collection so I can, once again, have every smackdown vs raw game out there, including the original smackdown games from the PS1/PS2 days.
But enough about my late entry into the SDR2009 world, let’s take that weekly trip around the internet and check out some headlines. Here are your Quick Shots.
-Quick Shots-
The December 31st edition of TNA iMPACT! Is scheduled to be a four hour show. Yes?. Four hours. I don?t know about you, but I have enough trouble sitting through two hours of this stuff and now they are going to be doing a four hour show? I understand that they want to ring in the new year with a countdown and such, but? ugh.. God no. I think I?ll watch Dick Clark’s Rockin? New Year’s Eve instead? and I hate American pop culture!
Bobby ?The Brain? Heenan is set to receive a lifetime achievement reward as part of the 2009 Pro Wrestling Report’s Year End Rewards. This is a first of its kind and no one deserves it more than one of the more colorful managers and commentators in wrestling history. Well deserved Mr. Heenan!
Cutting the Quick Shots short this week as these were the only two news stories that really interested me. I mean, I could comment on Nick Hogan’s car accident.. but just reading the headline speaks for itself!
-The Big Shot: When Gimmick PPVs Become Redundant-
This column is a kind of a sequel I did about 20 weeks ago. The Shoot #20 talking about Gimmick MATCHES becoming redundant, but after the latest string of WWE PPVs? this crap is just getting out of control!
I understand that the WWE has been changing a lot of their PPVs lately, but one has to wonder if they are overdoing it just a bit. It started back when we got the Hell In A Cell PPV where all the main events were a Hell in a Cell match.
First off, we got WWE Breaking Point. This was a PPV where most of the matches involved submission or last man standing matches. It focused on the fact that wrestlers would enter the ring and you would only lose once you reached your breaking point. Not a bad idea, but the fact that most of the matches were some sort of gimmick matches all centered around a theme was just a step above TNA standards, to be honest. It was a noble idea, but it wasn?t all that great to me.
Then we got WWE Hell in a Cell. The Hell in a Cell is supposed to be a special match? usually reserved for the big payoff for the end of a feud. They used to be few and far between. Then the WWE used this as the main event for their December Armageddon PPV where they placed six guys inside the cell and let them go at it. We got some great and memorable Hell in a Cell matches over the years that actually meant something, but now we got a PPV where three matches were made Hell in a Cells. Talk about killing off that special feeling. Not to mention that if you saw the PPV, the entire booking felt a little wonky.
So not only do you water down the special feeling of one of your top gimmick matches, but you just book the PPV so awkwardly that it just seemed like a joke.
If that wasn?t enough, one month later, we got WWE Bragging Rights where it placed brand against brand. Ironically, ECW was left out in the cold on this one and they had a pretty bad excuse for it on ECW the following week. But this was just a live version of the Raw vs Smackdown video game and what did it really do for the company other than promote a show that they could have done with some creative advertising in markets where the show is being shown. The main event was resembled that of a Survivor Series match where it was one fall to a finish instead of elimination. How convenient since the following month’s PPV was, in fact, Survivor Series.
Now we have TLC replacing Armageddon in December where every match will be either a tables match, a chairs match, a ladder match or? get this.. a tables, ladders, AND chairs match. I don?t know about you, but just hearing the theme of the PPV doesn?t really want me to go out and order this one? not only that, but I have no desire to even watch a? ahem? creatively acquired internet stream? of this show. I am getting really tired of gimmick shows.
The fact that WWE decided to do this so close to every show at the end of this year is also a bad decision. If they wanted to do this? it probably would have been better to actually space these out so that we don?t feel overwhelmed. I mean, WWE already changed three of their PPVs that their fans are used to, and if they have any new fans, they are giving the wrong idea by making them think that this is what they are going to get each and every month and when it comes time to actually have a real PPV that’s not centered around some sort of gimmick, theme, or set of matches, they might end up disappointed. It actually baffles me as to why they would go ahead and think that this is such a good idea. I know that they might want to test the waters and see what might work and what might not? but when the WWE is talking about raising their PPV price to $44.95, I for one, don?t like the thought of fans shelling out $45 every month just so WWE can test the waters.
If you think that this is ending with TLC? think again. WWE’s No Way Out PPV is Out The Window. Now we have Elimination Chamber in its place. I hope to God that they just keep it to one chamber match because if they treat it like another Hell in a Cell PPV? then? I?m just going to throw my hands up with complete disgust.
I know this is turning into another senseless rambling, but then again, that’s what I do best. I just shoot my thoughts on the things going on in professional wrestling . I did a column a while back about gimmick matches becoming redundant due to TNA just stuffing their PPVs full of them, but now we have WWE dedicating entire shows around themes and gimmicks. I mean, at this point.. the only difference between TNA and WWE is that WWE is actually promoting their shows as one big gimmick-fest whereas TNA just lets it occur seemingly naturally.
Oh well, I?ll get off my soapbox this week for now? a couple tidbits for your culture shock?
-Culture Shock-
Ewww? I knew that Pats/Saints game was going to be ugly, but we got rocked to hell and back on that one. Pats go 7-4.
I am happy that the D.Gray-man manga is publishing again, but I am not happy that it switched to a magazine that only prints monthly. It just got to the most interesting part of the story thus far and now I have to wait 30 days apart to see how it continues.. it’s torture! Hoshino? I beg you? go back to Shonen Jump so I can get my weekly fix!
I know I plugged the 11eyes anime a few weeks back, but if you are an anime fan and haven?t watched it yet? you would be committing a grave sin. It’s only a 12 episode series and it’s on episode 8 so it looks like this one will be wrapping up soon, but I wish it wouldn?t end so early. This is probably one of the best shows I?ve seen so far and it’s pretty hard to impress me when it comes to anime. So what are you waiting for? Go check it out!
Oh? and Keiji Inafune.. the father of Mega Man? is still adamant about getting Rockman DASH 3 (aka Mega Man Legends 3) up and running and there will soon be a new feature on the Capcom Unity forums where you can voice your opinions more effectively. So if you are a Mega Man fan like I am? head over there, keep an eye open and when the feature launches? DEMAND Legends 3!
-The Final Shot-
That’s going to do it for me this week. If you would like to submit anything as far as column feedback, wrestling discussion, culture shock topics, anything? you can do so by using any of the methods below.
E-Mail: syscrash2002@hotmail.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/itoshinojjp
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/joshuapiedra
Until next week?
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