Wrestling Rumblings #88
September 10, 2010
By: Jose Marrero of Wrestleview.com
As I sit writing this it is almost 2AM Friday morning and I have seriously contemplated taking my first week off as I am banged up, tired and had a busy day working on some Wrestleview stuff and just regular stuff as well but as they say on Broadway “The show must go on” so I am turning over the column this week to the readers. You see I can’t really wrap my head around a single topic this week but t hanks to all the emails and feedback I get there are plenty of things I get asked all the time so I’m going with the best questions…you’re reading “Wrestling Rumblings.”
Jose, many people are always talking about “Fire Russo” you have even mentioned yourself that you wouldn’t mind him being taken out of TNA but if you stop and think about it who would you replace him with? Jim Cornette is done with TNA and Paul Heyman looks like he will never come, who can realistically take Vince Russo’s place in TNA?
I don’t think I have ever once come out and said “Fire Russo” as I genuinely like the guy and really don’t wish that kind of thing on anyone. However I will say maybe it is time that TNA removes him from being the head of creative to more of a consultant role in TNA. With that being said its true replacing Russo is easier said than done, but the key thing is it can be done. I know there is an audience out there that would over and over again suggest Gabe Sapolsky. Hell I have a loyal reader who I’m 99% sure will email me Saturday how right Gabe is for the job but it is this writers opinion (and in this instance since it is my column it is the only opinion that counts right now) Gabe isn’t this great booker as much as he is a matchmaker and I don’t see him having what it takes right now to book a major league promotion as there is a difference between putting a card on paper and writing a TV show. Could he do it with the right help? Probably but you would have to assume people would want to help him and I don’t want to set Gabe up to fail. I have a very outside the box suggestion that I get the feeling many would disagree with and that’s OK but bear in mind this is not a job that people are banging down the door for. My idea is have Kevin Nash retire and let him try his hand at booking TNA. I think Nash is a really creative guy and with full creative control and lack of a personal interest due to him not being in the ring and his friends not being in the company I think he would make some changes there and help the young guys get ahead. I could be wrong and for all I know I probably am but again there is just not that many guys out t here realistically who can and would take the job.
In the Wrestleview Mid Year Awards you named WWC’s weekly show as your pick for show of the year. Why did you do that? Raw was clearly the best show of the year.
I’ve made no secret about it that I am a big fan of old school booking and that’s what I get when I watch WWC. It harkens me back to my childhood when guys feuded forever and the promotion focused more on selling house show tickets than PPV’s. Does WWC have monthly big shows? Sure they do but at the same time they tour the same towns weekly and invest a lot in building up long term programs. It is not uncommon for a feud to last years in WWC and still be as hot at the end as it was in the beginning. WWE and TNA can’t even hold interest for a month and WWC can hold it for years there is something to be said for that.
I remember when this column used to have interviews in it back in the DOI days how come you don’t do them anymore?
I hate to sound lazy but honestly I never was a fan of doing too many interviews and even less of a fan of transcribing them. The last interview I transcribed was one I did with CW Anderson and it took me forever between listening to myself and then listening to him and quite honestly I don’t like to hear myself talk. I am not one these days for doing interviews unless I feel I can get something out of them that you won’t get anywhere else and when those interviews are done I might as well record it and do it here for the Wrestleview VIP subscribers. Don’t be too surprised if there is a newsworthy interview to come in the future conducted by yours truly soon.
A few columns ago you mentioned being a wrestling manager, when was this? What companies did you work for and who did you manage?
I only managed on one show and only managed 3 wrestlers that being Diablo Santiago, Sledge and Jeff Libolt for a TSW charity show. It was something I did for fun with an open invitation to come back but I don’t think I see myself getting that involved in the future as I am a writer and not a performer and writers write and performers perform. As for any type of a background I did spend a very brief amount of time with WWE Hall of Famer “Unpredictable” Johnny Rodz training for a career in the ring but that didn’t last long and well there are some that can and some that can’t…I can’t.
How do you feel about Eric Bischoff doing an interview on Monday Night Mayhem just days after your open challenge to him?
I actually did mention this on my VIP blog “Outside Interference” but I guess it should be again stated here since this is where the challenge was made. I have nothing against Monday Night Mayhem but I think Eric went where he felt safe and was not going to put himself in the position to answer the questions I had for him. Bear in mind I wasn’t intending on being confrontational with Eric or anything like that but I wasn’t going to just sit there and blow kisses at him either. From what I understand Eric has been very aware of the challenge that has been made towards him. To some he acts like I don’t exist and to others derides me as another “Internet Geek” either way I obviously got his attention and am on his radar. In other words it’s his move at this point.
What person is out there that you would really like to interview but haven’t?
Most people go with guys they grew up watching with this question but I sort of fulfilled that dream when I interviewed Bret Hart a year ago. If you ask me I would like to interview someone that I know I would be interested in and hasn’t been out there that much. To be honest a guy I would really like to interview is one that many of you haven’t heard of yet but if he keeps going the way he is I am sure you will all hear from him very soon and that’s Bobby Fish. Bobby came out of the same school that Diablo did and I have been hearing Diablo praise him for years and well it seems like all the critics are catching up to that praise and I am sure that Bobby would have some good stories and great insight into things and I would probably enjoy the experience very much. Who knows? Maybe one day I will get off my lazy ass and try to make that interview happen but it would definitely be something I would be interested in doing and I don’t generally like to do interviews much.
Now that Low Ki has won NXT now what?
I keep getting the feeling that Rey Misterio is about to have the kind of year that Bret Hart did in 1993. If you recall that was the year when Bret Hart basically worked with a bunch of young, hungry underneath guys and brought them up to his level in working with Hakushi, Jean Pierre Lafitte and Isaac “Don’t call me Kane” Yankem. I can easily see Rey doing that this year working with Alberto Del Rio and guys like Low Ki, Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes and having great matches with all of them. Beyond a program with Rey it’s really tough to say. The next few months are crucial.
OK I think that’s enough for this week. Thanks again for all your emails, comments, etc. as they help fill gaps in the column when I have gaps in my head. Of course I still have enough in me to give you all something to do for the weekend. This Friday is the next DGUSA PPV which I believe is Enter The Dragon II. I have heard good things about this PPV and DGUSA usually gives you at least one match on a PPV worth the price of the PPV so you may all want to think about ordering it. This Saturday is the Glory By Honor IX iPPV on Gofightlive.com that ROH will be holding in the Manhattan Center. I will be attending that event live and will have a report on that Sunday. It should be a good time as last year’s GBH had the last match in ROH of Nigel McGuinness and Bryan Danielson and this year’s looks to be having the last match of ROH Champion Tyler Black. I’ll be sure to follow with a report on Sunday and from what I have been told there is rumblings that Wrestleview will for the first time ever have a post show for the IPPV so you all want to stay tuned for more on that if you are VIP subscribers. If you aren’t now is a good time to start as I expect ROH coverage to ramp up here on the site in addition to everything else.
OK I talk too much and I am tired. Of course you guys know I love the feedback so hit me up at wrestlingrumblings@hotmail.com and well that’s it. Next week I will try to do better and until then, I am out.