Wrestling Rumblings #53
February 5, 2010
By: Jose Marrero of WrestleView.com
There aren?t many things that truly upset me when it comes to professional wrestling. Sure there are things that bother me a bit but I wouldn?t say they necessarily upset me. There is one thing that upsets me and that’s when wrestling fans start to contradict themselves. It’s really a big pet peeve of mine and lately those contradictions are running rampant. Allow me to divulge some of the recent contradictions of you the wrestling fans?you?re reading ?Wrestling Rumblings?.
My first complaint is on those people who complained about the six sided ring in TNA for years. Do you know how many websites I saw knock that ring when it was first introduced? Countless upon countless sites and fans would say for years how this wasn?t Mexico and to introduce a ring that really just helps better showcase a glorified cruiserweight division (X Division) and makes your heavyweight division look awkward is not too smart. So what happens? Well TNA finally gets rid of the six sided ring and brings back the traditional four sided ring and you have a bunch of numbskulls (for lack of a more decorative word) repeatedly complain and clamor for the six sided ring. I said this during the Wrestleview Conference Call with Adam Martin and I will say it here at the end of the day it really doesn?t make a difference what kind of ring anyone wrestles in or whether or not they wrestle in a ring at all. If a talent is a good worker they will make the best of what they have in front of them. After all UFC has an Octagon and Strikeforce has a ring but at the end of the day a great fighter is a great fighter no matter what, it is really the same thing with wrestling. To the TNA fans that are complaining about this ring I ask this question: Who do you know ever bought a PPV to see a ring? The answer to that question is no one. It doesn?t make an iota of a difference unless you can?t work. Is there an adjustment process? Absolutely I mean it doesn?t take a genius to see that the four sided ring is much larger than the six sided ring but once that adjustment period is over you should still expect to see the same in ring action you were getting with a four sided ring.
For years all I have heard is fans complain of wrestlers who come back from injury looking incredibly put together like they were never injured at all and then being very accusatory (most of the time being 100% correct in there assumptions) that the wrestler in question was using illegal substances to achieve their look. Fans have complained about this for years from HHH when he came back from his initial quadriceps tear in 2002 to when Edge came back from his broken neck in 2004 and I never once argued that complaint because I am all for the well being and healthiness of performers. This past Sunday Edge made his return to the WWE from a torn Achilles tendon. I won?t lie I first looked at him and noticed that his physique was less than stellar but some of the stuff I heard during this past week really bothered me. If the guy was juicing and taking things he shouldn?t have everyone would have had his head on a stick so he does things the right way and just comes back as soon as he can and well he looks exactly like a guy who just came back from a serious career threatening injury should look. Think about it if you come back from an injury looking ?better than ever? than how serious could you have been hurt in the first place. Edge coming back looking less than what he was before only adds to the storyline intrigue if you ask me as to ?how ready is he?. Fans have complained for years about how cosmetic they felt Vince McMahon was, it makes me sick to see that many of those same fans are just as cosmetic.
The last big contradiction of the week has to do with the impending demise of ECW. Now I have to admit I like ECW. I really understood what it was right away and I had no problem with it. After all who wouldn?t like to see the stars of their favorite sport in the minor leagues? That’s what ECW was to me a chance to give new guys a break which in many ways was true to the spirit of the original ECW as there were many guys in that organization who would?ve never caught a break with any of the major companies if it wasn?t for the platform ECW gave them, and on that same note there were many guys that may have been finished in the business if the original ECW wasn?t there to give them that chance to refresh themselves and show that they had something to offer the industry. However there were many fans who for years criticized ECW for bastardizing what the original ECW stood for. These fans didn?t really stop to acknowledge that most matches in ECW were exactly the same and that the TV show that hooked them in the first place was a heavily edited highlight clip that would?ve made anyone look good and that in actuality the wrestling that took place in this current ECW at times was as good or in some cases better than what was taking place in the original ECW, they just wanted their wrestling unsanitized and felt what WWE was doing to ECW wasn?t true to the ECW spirit. OK I can?t argue that after all despite what I just said I was a fan of the original ECW also. So what does WWE do? They go ahead and pull the plug on ECW. Bear in mind they didn?t bury the ECW name in the same manner as they have other things (although they still have three weeks I guess to do that) they just pulled the plug and announced a new show that would sprout in its place. Basically just a rebranding of nothing but new talent which if you really think about it is bad for no one. However it seems that many of those fans that were complaining about WWE killing ECW by actually using the letters are more upset that the letters are going to be disappearing. I don?t get it at the end of the day all it really is, is letters. The Sy Fy show will still be a show that will showcase new talent and who knows maybe WWE gets rid of the ECW title with no substitution which really wouldn?t be that bad of a thing considering how little respect that championship gets anyway. Maybe WWE will actually just debut this brand as a full blown developmental that doesn?t interact with the other two brands at all. I really don?t see how you can go wrong with this; the worst case scenario is that nothing changes other than the name, in which case fans are just complaining over letters, pretty ridiculous if you ask me.
It gets worse, the last few weeks I have heard fans complain about the Royal Rumble being easily predictable in that they felt they knew the winner in advance (to those fans who knew Edge was winning you were right I exclude you from this). Well WWE goes and throws the curve ball and has Edge come back from injury as a surprise entrant and win the Rumble and then I see those same fans complain about how many times is WWE going to bring a guy back from injury and have him win the Royal Rumble? Basically complaining because they didn?t know who was going to win and WWE surprised them. So they wanted to be surprised but had rules for how that was to happen, sounds idiotic doesn?t it? Anyway for those fans who have been exaggerating this is only the second time that a surprise entrant has won the Royal Rumble (John Cena was the first). Sure HHH and Stone Cold Steve Austin would come back from major injuries to win the Rumble but Austin was actually back from injury three months before the Rumble and HHH returned to the company a month before his Rumble victory also and the truth of the matter is all three of those victories just as Edge’s made storyline sense.
I guess what I am trying to say is that wrestling fans shouldn?t ask for something lest they are actually prepared to get it. Too often I hear that promoters don?t listen to their fans, well why listen to fans who are so fickle that when you give them what they want they reject it and for those who will argue that there are fans on both sides of the issue than my argument to that would be promoters are always giving fans what they want, just maybe not what you specifically want at the moment and because it is you and some of your friends and maybe even the wrestling media may agree with you, you assume that you are the majority and well maybe you aren?t. At the end of the day the things I have bought up here aren?t really going to change anything. Edge winning the Royal Rumble will create a good Wrestlemania showdown with Chris Jericho (that’s my pick to be World Champion) and when you think about it Jericho is more than deserving of that spot, The Sy Fy show will still highlight new talent no matter what you call it, and six sides or four sides will not impact anything if the talent is there. Those of you that are complaining may not want to hear this but you complain to just complain and that’s not helping anyone.
I?m going to come off my rant now and wrap this week’s edition up but before I do so if you want to contact me to offer praise, complaint or just say ?hey? you can do so at wrestlingrumblings@hotmail.com I am presently finalizing all arrangements for my annual Wrestlemania trip as I plan to be in attendance and attend 5 shows in 3 days (Both ROH shows, DGUSA on Saturday, the WWE Hall of Fame, and of course Wrestlemania) and am considering doing some extra writing projects for the VIP section for what I am calling the F.Y.B tour (email me if you need to know what that stands for). I am also expecting to have Vince Russo’s new book sometime this weekend or very early next week and will be working on a review also for the VIP section and of course could potentially work on other writing projects and audio projects for Wrestlemania that will be in ?you guessed it the VIP section. So what am I telling you? If you want to enjoy any and all of this you need to hurry up and join Wrestleview VIP. I am not one to pimp myself out ordinarily but if you can do something and potentially make a buck doing it what’s the harm? So don?t send me any emails complaining about this stuff going on the subscriber site because ?Wrestling Rumblings? will always be here for free and anything I do for the subscriber site is extra and if I and others are willing to do extra so should those who want to partake in it. If you are uninterested don?t pay for it that’s your prerogative. Anyway that’s it for this week, next week I will try to do better and until then I am out.
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