The Shoot #29
September 2, 2009
By: Joshua Piedra of WrestleView.com
-The First Shot-
Welcome everyone to your 29th edition of The Shoot. No PPV on Sunday so I?m enjoying the nice break of having to predict matches, but all your other favorite segments are here and we also have the end of the Hulk Hogan debate in The Final Shot as well. No single Quick Shot this week? we are back to our normal three so without further delay…
-Quick Shots-
Rey Misterio. Rey Misterio. Rey Misterio. Everyone and their mother has an opinion on it so I figured that I would chime in with mine as well. Rey Rey gets suspended for violating the wellness policy. He said he had a prescription for the drug he tested positive for since it was for his injury rehab. My question is? didn?t the WWE say that if a wrestler is injured that they are made aware of the medicine they are on? I thought that was part of the wellness policy? if it’s not, then I am just imagining things and am completely wrong. If it is true, wouldn?t the WWE just match up the drug found in his system to his prescription? If not, why would the WWE send Rey to England and then demand a prescription in such a short amount of time knowing that they sent him overseas? Something just doesn?t add up here, but we?ll see in the future, I suppose.
I kind of find it funny that Michelle McCool had to justify herself for stealing the Styles Clash as her finisher. Jimmy Rave didn?t really answer for it? in fact, it was a nice little storyline. Billy Gunn even used the move a couple of times while he was in the WWE as well. I mean? how many wrestlers have stolen their finisher or at least used a move that another wrestler has done? I suppose people will need to justify using a punch or a clothesline or an elbow drop? It’s wrestling? it’s a wrestling move. Use it.
Continuing with the heat thing? it is said that TNA has some heat with Brutus Magnus for his poor performance. This was after his great performance in a singles match with Sting. Not every match will be perfect and this is really the only reported incident where TNA is unhappy with him. Then again, I?m not really a Brutus Magnus fan, but I just found it quite funny that they jumped on him for one poor performance. Makes me wonder about what TNA management is thinking? Speaking of that? it’s kind of the main focal point of my column. I smell segue!
-The Big Shot: Having a Meaningful Tournament-
Who doesn?t love a good old tournament? Tournaments are used for many purposes, but the two biggest reasons to have a tournament are to determine who will occupy a vacant championship or to create a new star. A couple of wrestling companies have gotten that importance of utilizing tournaments down pretty well? and TNA? well? it seems as if they hold a tournament just for the sake of holding one.
Now? I don?t watch TNA religiously. I just don?t care about the product enough to watch it. If I flip past Spike TV and see iMPACT! On? I may just stop and watch it? and that is exactly what I ended up doing last Thursday night. Even while I ?watched? iMPACT!, I was looking up other stuff on YouTube so I was kind of half paying attention to it and I heard about two tournaments for the right to face Kurt Angle at the next PPV and I think for the Knockouts title as well. That is something I just don?t understand. They have these major storylines going on and they cannot build a main event off of them? They have to hold these tournaments just to get a match for one PPV?
I mean? I guess you could name the person the number one contender, but it’s just going to be a flavor of the month challenger to the title, who will just end up losing, only to get back on track with either the main story or a kind of side story for the next PPV. It kind of defeats the purpose of holding a tournament and it really demeans the importance of actually having one in the first place.
But even though TNA doesn?t really know how to really make a tournament meaningful, there have been a lot of great tournaments in the wrestling world. In fact, Ring of Honor has brought back the importance of having tournaments with their Survival of the Fittest show each and every year. The winner of that tournament, usually, goes on to bigger and better things in ROH. Past winners like Bryan Danielson, Austin Aries, and Roderick Strong are great examples. Some do slip through the cracks (COUGHchrisheroCOUGH), but it does usually spell success if you win that tournament. ROH even introduced the Race to the Top tournament where it helped out Claudio Castagnoli’s ROH career. Even the early days with the Round Robin Challenge series was meaningful as it helped build the company’s main eventers while the company was in the building blocks stage.
Even the WWE have grasped the importance of having a tournament? well? at least until they canceled doing King of the Ring. King of the Ring was WWE’s Survival of the Fittest (or ROH’s Survival of the Fittest was their version of King of the Ring? however you want to look at it) from the conceptual standpoint. You have a tournament with young up and coming WWE wrestlers and the winner usually went on to bigger and better things. It helped make careers and it’s a real shame that the WWE got rid of the PPV and even the entire concept. If WWE wants to make new stars, bringing back King of the Ring would be a step in the right direction. It would give the WWE an outlet to choose a wrestler that they want to build and help elevate them by having them become King of the Ring. At least that’s my opinion and I am only one man after all.
I know that this is kind of a sidetrack-type thought, but if the WWE were to bring back King of the Ring? who, in this day and age, would benefit the most from winning it? There are so many hungry young wrestlers in the WWE that could take that title and launch themselves into bigger and better things. I could see Jack Swagger and Evan Bourne maybe making it to the finals? perhaps The Miz if the WWE really wants to push him, but I think with all the young guys, my money would probably be on MVP, Cody Rhodes, or Ted Dibiase Jr. Those three just seem closest to being the next ones receiving the big push.
I?m interested in your thoughts on that little side thought. Who would you pick to win a modern-day King of the Ring?
Moving on? as aforementioned, another great reason to hold a tournament is to crown a new champion when a championship has been vacated. All tournaments don?t have to be about creating new stars, even though, this kind of a tournament could be used to do just that. Take a world title tournament for example. I say this because nine out of ten times, it is the world championship that usually does end up getting vacated due to injury or just storyline purposes. If it’s a world title tournament, I would stuff it with my most over characters. I would put my most established stars in the tournament because this would generate interest to see who will snag the brass ring and carry the company on their back. You could put a dark horse in there and have them win and ‘shock the world? if you are willing to take the risk, but generally when it comes to a vacant world championship, you would be better off putting people in there that would make sense.
If it was a lower championship, say, the X-Division Title, or the United States Title, then that’s when you could build a tournament around the younger guys looking for their shot, rather than go with a King of the Ring or a Survival of the Fittest style tournament.
But I hope you are seeing the points I am making. Tournaments should be few and far apart and they need to have meaning. TNA hasn?t really grasped that concept. As I said before, these tournaments just feel like a flavor of the month ordeal for the sake of filling in the blank as to who will face their respective champion. There’s really no building, no long-lasting recognition for winning these tournaments? it just has a ?hey! I won a title shot and I just jobbed! Back to mid-card for me!? feel to it and that doesn?t really make it special like a tournament should be. It’s kind of a waste of television time and a waste of my time to even care about it and that’s the last thing you want your fans to feel if you?re going to have a tournament? that it’s a waste of time.
Anyway? deep breath?
-The Final Shot-
So yeah? the Hulk Hogan debate. I received an e-mail that finally put the definitive end to this thing. Here is a snippit from an e-mail I received from ?esparo? on his blackberry:
Hogan began his career as a heel and stayed that way until he started in the AWA. Once he faced off with Nick Bockwinkel around ’82 or ’83 then Hulkamania was really born. He actually tore off his shirt and started the Hulkamania thing in the AWA with their owner Verne Gagne. When he left to go to the WWF (at the time), Hogan had MAJOR heat with Gagne and in the World title match that Hogan had with the Iron Sheik, Gagne was willing to pay Sheik $10,000.00 to break Hogan’s leg (legitimately). Of course the Sheik refused and the rest is history.
So there we have it. Hogan started as a heel, turned face and technically ?turned? heel for the first time with the nWo becoming a heel for the second time in his career. That debate was actually pretty fun. Maybe I?ll do these as a regular thing for the column. Let me know if you think that would be a good idea or not.
As you all know.. I?m a sucker for anything Japan and anime is no exception. In my effort to convert you guys and gals to the culture shock that is the land of the rising sun, I have another anime recommendation for you. I haven?t finished watching this series and I think it’s one of the greatest shows I?ve seen. It’s called Shakugan no Shana (Shana of the Burning Eyes). It has a terrific story, some great humor and enough sexual tension to bring out the fanboy (or fangirl) in you. Look it up and check it out? I HIGHLY recommend it.
But if you?re sick of me shelling Japanese stuff and are a poker fan? I know it’s been out for the longest time, but I recently started watching it because I recently discovered it. It’s called High Stakes Poker on GSN every Sunday night. It’s more interesting than World Series of Poker or World Poker Tour because they play with bricks of cash along with chips. When they make a $200,000 bet with actual cash.. the hand just means so much more. I know I?ll probably get a few ?LOL That’s been out for a WHILE, dude? e-mails, but I don?t want television as much as I used to and like Charles Manson, if I haven?t seen it? it’s new to me! So if you love poker? check that show out.
That does it for me this week. If you wish to drop me a line? you may do so by using any of the following:
E-Mail: syscrash2002@hotmail.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/itoshinojjp
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/joshuapiedra
Until next week?
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