Hey, it's DSM, "The Whole Football Show" and YOUR 2012 Fantasy Football League of DOOM! World Heavyweight Champion
We talk a lot about the stale and uninteresting guys on TV nowadays, and I feel like a big part of that is the death of the backstage interview. Sure, they still exist, but it's pretty much a formula of Striker or Mathews or whoever throwing out one question and then the wrestler just cutting his own promo with little regard to the interviewer. It's not an "interview" because there's no back-and-forth. I feel like in the past, this is where we really got to know the personas; whatever memories I have as a child of Hogan or Savage in the early 1990s was not them cutting a Main Event Promo in the middle of the ring, but their coked-out exchanges with Mean Gene, who would question and banter and basically be an equal part and character to the whole segment.
What got me to send this e-mail was from when I dropped the El Dandy reference in the Bret DVD post; that's a great interview because we see Bret's weasel-y antics of giving a title shot to an underserving (yes, I doubt him) El Dandy (on RAW, that would be the GM's job and Bret would be incredulous just for having to actually wrestle) and has a great back-and-forth with Mean Gene, who is appalled at both Bret's attitude and failure to remember Psychosis's name. I think the last time we had this sort of thing was The Rock and Coach, who killed it every time, with Rocky pretending to be chummy with Coach then forcing him into something embarrassing like doing the Charleston (the best one was the "Bessie" promo, with Rocky's hilarious expression when Coach kept interrupting him and Coach unable to keep a straight face as Rocky was slagging him).
I think it's a very useful tool in the arsenal to clearly define someone outside of a Main Event Promo that goes almost unused nowadays. If a guy wants to just do a quick 30-second promo about how he's gonna kick someone's ass, they should just bust out the old-school picture-in-picture on-the-way-to-the-ring technique for that. I know Matt Striker is no Mean Gene, but I hope there is a time they utilize the backstage interview, along with bringing back vignettes (which strongly helped Los Guerreros and Dashing Cody Rhodes), as a way to bring more definition to their guys so that we can give a crap about them. It's certainly more beneficial than the eight 60-second squashes we get on Monday nights.
WHO ARE YOU TO DOUBT EL DANDY?!
C'mon, you knew it was coming.
Anyway, using the Rock as an example is kind of unfair to every other interview in the history of wrestling, but definitely it's a tool that could be better utilized. I wish they'd do more Rumble buildup on the shows now, like the old "picking a ball from the tumbler" spots that are such easy character development. They have been doing drop-in promos, though, and anything that makes Orton slightly less boring can only be a good thing.
The "interview" has largely been tossed aside in favour of the "promo" since the attitude days. I think that both have their place, but agree that the interview is a better method for a lot of wrestlers, especially if you get an interviewer that's talented and can lead a weaker talker or banter well with the better ones.
ReplyDeleteBanter is cool.
Aside from all of the other good reasons mentioned, backstage interviews, cut-ins from unspecified locations, etc. are all great ways to make the wrestling world seem like a bigger place. The fact that so much takes place in the ring really stagnates the production IMO. Just like any show or sport, just having some variety in the visual production makes the show feel fresher, which they need more now than ever with these marathon shows.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Whether it is backstage interviews or training montages or some type of update desk segment, they really need to do something to mix things up a little bit and give you a reason to emotionally invest in these guys. The only type of video packages they ever really do are recaps or self congratulatory shit about how they help kids read or something. How about using that time to try and get somebody over?
ReplyDeleteThe main problem with the in ring promos is that they feel like they need to do a back and forth or go on forever. Meanwhile, a quick backstage promo/interview is a great way to introduce some character to someone who isn't ready to do a long Austin/Rock back and forth in the ring. Also some of the most memorable promos are ones that aren't any where near a ring. The original NWO vignettes, some of the WCCW stuff where they went to the Von Eric's Ranch, and some of my favorite Horsemen promos from 1991.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8Vg5NL_eoQ
Royal Rumble buildup?
ReplyDeleteOne word:
BIZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRE
Yeah, even with the back and forth confrontation interviews, they could easily do some of those from a podium located away from the ring just to mix it up. I remember some classic ones between Roddy Piper and Bret Hart with Gene to lead up to their WrestleMania match.
ReplyDeleteI miss those Horsemen promos! You can tell WCW thought they were good too, because they put them on one of their tapes that came out 1991/1992.
Totally agree. The promos that go on forever are mainly the writers' fault for telling the talent to do a 3 minute promo in 20 minutes. Great examples of this are the Big Show/Sheamus feud, every John Cena promo and the opening to every show. Why do you need 20 minutes to tell us there's going to be a tag match at the end of the show? That can be accomplished by Michael Cole in about 5 seconds.
ReplyDeleteAlthough at the rate they're going, I'm wondering when they're going to fill time by doing live commercials in the ring ala Larry Sanders.
Or even if they had one of the little desks off to the side like Jim Crockett had in 80's. A place where they can cut quick promo like "He you know that guy I'm gonna fight next week in X town? Well, he's good but I'm better and I'm gonna prove it!" - that's all ya need really. Instead it's useless backstage "scenes" with the invisible camera man that don't do any good unless the people are really talented and can get anything over.
ReplyDeleteId be happy if Vince would announce the names for the Rumble like he did in 1992.
ReplyDeleteMean Gene was never truly a part of most of those backstage interviews. He was the straight man inserted into a coked out wonderland of hostile masculinity. If you listen to Hogan or Warrior or Savage they'd completely ignore Gene and go off on some tangent like Warrior talking about murdering Hulk Hogan and bathing in his blood or some other crazy shit like that. Gene was great in that role, as the exasperated interviewer, but he was never on equal footing unless it was Ken Patera. Or he was telling Juvi to stop speaking Mexican.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I want them to bring back the ten minutes of pre-Rumble (or SNME) promos. I loved seeing them cut back and forth between random ass guys all shouting about how they're going to win. That was some funny shit.
I would pay huge monies to see e.g. Brock and Ryback feud over a Garden Weasel sponsorship deal.
ReplyDelete"Mean Gene was never truly a part of most of those backstage interviews. He was the straight man inserted into a coked out wonderland of absurdly hostile masculinity."
ReplyDeleteBut he was something there, even as something as small as, "Well, I think you're completely wrong, [wrestler], but nevertheless..." Like the PBP commentators, it was a good way to get over what you want the audience to get out of the character they wanted to build, whereas now, Matt Striker can throw one question and basically go take a powder and never be seen again. I think it's a small tool but an incredibly handy one when utilized.
Favorite backstage promo: Jake Roberts' "wallowing in the muck of avarice" one from Wrestlemania VI. He never raises his voice once, and yet comes off as a total badass. Plus, "I'm going to make you BEG." still gives me chills a little when I watch it.
ReplyDeleteGene is definitely leagues ahead of anyone they have today, but I think we're overestimating his role. Gene was almost like a surrogate for the viewer, so yes, he was important, but he was never meant to be as important as any of the crazy, colorful characters he was interacting with. He didn't get much to work with beyond the occasional quip at the expense of a heel. He never debated someone like Savage. He simply existed in the same room while Savage barked glorious nonsense.
ReplyDeleteTHAT is what is missing from wrestling, the utterly insane promos. I had hoped they'd let Ryback go down that path, but now he's trying to do the same restrained menace that everyone else does where he...uh...says...things...uhh...like...uh...he's watched...uh...too many...uh...Triple H promos. Look, someone like Jake Roberts didn't need to shout unintelligible nonsense because he was Jake fucking Roberts and we understood what the fuck he was saying, and even when it didn't make sense he could at least make it sound cool. Warrior needed to shout because SCREAMING ABOUT THE GODS RAINING DOWN A FURIOUS ANGER is more entertaining than some dude simply saying it; also, simply saying that exposes the fact that it's nonsense, while the screaming at least builds an emotional response in the person so they can ignore what's actually being said. Cena's actually somewhat good at doing this when he goes all shouty. So yeah, we need to reposition the needle back towards the crazy.
I was first introduced to that one in "Beyond the Mat". When I finally got to seeing the whole thing...wow.
ReplyDeleteWell, Chael Sonnen and Jon Jones just cut a pretty good backstage promo.
ReplyDeleteOnly if he uses his old-school announcer voice. Imagine him growling RRRRRRRRRRRRYYY-BACKKKK
ReplyDelete"SHERRI! DAMNIT! SETTLE DOWN YOU ARE HYSTERICAL!"
ReplyDeleteProbably one of my favorite Mean Gene lines.
One thing I really miss is the guy in the ring (say, Okerlund or Brother Love) holding the mic, and pointing it to the wrestler cutting the promo, then pointing it over to the other guy for the rebuttal. As it would get heated, they'd slowly move toward each other and end up in each other's face. Now, we have AJ Lee having an argument with which ever wrestler she's paired with at the time, having relationship issues, and they're BOTH holding microphones.
ReplyDeleteIt's yet another side-effect of the increasingly lazy visual production of the show. It's not just back stage promos which have gone, but all the stuff they used throw out about the wrestlers training. Go back to the Bret-Shawn Iron Man match and you had all these Rocky type videos them running in the snow. It made out the hour stip was a big deal and they really needed to step up their fitness for it. Or the stuff they did when Brock debuted - it was all part of his character.
ReplyDeleteIts made worse by the interchangable nature of so many heels these days - black trunks and the intense interview style. I think RoH is even worse - I can't tell half their damn wreslters apart. The last two heel characters which really stood out for me were Punk when he did the SES gimmick and the first appearance of Jericho when he channeled No Country for Men. To me that says it all - the WWE is full of these failed Hollywood writers and yet it takes two wrestlers to create their own fresh characters.
Of course if you read an interview with anyone in creative its no suprise - as everyone is on the road so much that none of them have time to see anything outside their little bubble or slow down and think of anything really creative.
Agreed about the crazy. They're so intent on being respectable that they've sanded down all the edges. I watch wrestling for huge personalities, not to see a bunch of rational guys talk about their issues. They make it seem like the match is a chore, that they'd rather settle things in the interview.
ReplyDeleteBut I wouldn't underestimate Gene's role, either. I think the difference is that Gene has a presence that their backstage now guys don't. He comes across like a lot of sports broadcasters back in the day - a professional who has no interest in b.s. and wants to get to the heart of the story. He actually felt like a sports journalist with an opinion, even if he was just there to bear witness to Macho Madness or Hulkamania a lot of the time (and hey, at least Hogan acknowledged him! "Let me tell you sumthin', Mean Gene, brutha," at least made it seem like Gene was on his professional level). The young, handsome guys they've got doing the interviews now just seem like awestruck little boys. "Sheamus, you glow like the moon! The WWE Universe wants to know: do you like my tie?"
The other nice thing about promos was that when they were interrupted it was a big deal. When you have somebody in the ring spouting off, you aren't surprised when they are interrupted, or even when they are attacked.
ReplyDeleteWith interviews, as long as they become a regular thing with no attacks, make it more of an insult when the subject is attacked. Remember when the Rock attacked Mankind during an interview and just wouldn't stop hitting his knee with the cigarette disposer? With the in ring promos, we all know the script by now, but with those interviews, you could use them for weeks to actually build up wrestlers, and then use them at just the right time to make it seem like the action had spilled over into real life.