Hi Scott,
Was wondering if you'd be able to plug my article/interview that I conducted with three UK wrestlers on the importance of training in British wrestling (and wrestling in general, I suppose)? It's bigger message is about getting the RIGHT training...
I'm not sure if this is a problem in the US, but here in the UK there seems to be a lot of people that think that they are wrestlers after having the bare minimum training... it's worrying.
I hope that this article can be seen by as many eyes as possible to spread awareness that not just any Tom, Dick or Harry can do this - you have to really WANT it, COMMIT to it and find training from reputable sources...
http://jimmosangle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/jimmos-angle-special-interview.html
HUGE appreciation if this is possible to plug!
Keep up the great work on the blog!
It's a huge problem here, in fact. One of the many things that is slowly but surely eroding the indy scene and thus the potential pool of future stars.
"Because they seem to have very little interest in actually building up guys as draws anymore and instead are only concerned with maintaining the general WWE brand."
ReplyDeleteNailed it. They're just playing it safe. They have a handful of guys at the top they like so they won't deviate unless something comes along and forces them. Low risk and low reward. I can't really blame them since they've been really profitable and they'll see an influx of cash coming in with the network.
What's the difference between the dreaded 50/50 booking and, say, stuff like Rock/Mankind, Benoit/Angle, and Benoit/Jericho? Rock/Mankind were two amazing promo guys, but Benoit, Angle, and Jericho aren't on their level? Is it that all of those wrestlers primarily wrestled each other on PPV?
ReplyDeleteI'm just curious how they all of a sudden thought "screw this, we're going a completely different direction."
ReplyDeleteI'm really happy about the network because I'd rather watch wrestling from my youth anyhow
That's part of it. *Most* of those guys were pretty established when they started trading wins on ppv also, it hurts them a lot less when they're at that level. The complaint about 50/50 booking should be more geared towards the midcard now since that's where it really hurts a guys ability to get over.
ReplyDeleteThe guys are booked so that no one becomes larger than the brand.
ReplyDeleteNo better example of that than John Cena, is there? He's their big star but they'rte absolutely nothing unique about him.
ReplyDeleteThe worst examples of 50/50 booking, I think, is stuff like when they have a tag match with the prinicpals from some major ppv, and the challenger pins the champion in an attempt to make you think the challenger is going to win.
ReplyDeleteThe best example of this I can think of is Booker/Goldust(I think) v. HHH/Flair the week before WrestleMania XIX. Booker pinned HHH and you just KNEW that meant Hunter was going over.
And I'd say the biggest reason they can get away with this now is because they are essentially the only game in town. The closest thing to competition they've had in over a decade has been TNA. WWE is pretty much McDonalds without the burdens of Burger King, Wendy's or Subway competing with them, so they can do almost whatever the hell they want with their menu, and fast food junkies who need their fix will swallow it and like it. The only other option is Jack-in-the-Box or maybe their local Mike's Hamburger Stand.
ReplyDeleteI'm suddenly hungry.
Mankind wouldn't randomly lose to Val Venis on Raw.
ReplyDeleteProbably when Lesnar told them to stick it and made enough money that he was able to leave and try for the NFL and then UFC.
ReplyDeleteNot that it happened immediately but between Rock leaving for Hollywood, Austin taking his ball and going home and then Lesnar, I think the wheels started to go in motion about figuring out a way to make sure none of the guys reach the point where they don't need WWE.
They dont want the wrestler to define the brand, the want the brand to define the wrestler.
ReplyDeleteSports Entertainer, not wrestler. C'mon Brian, you know better...
ReplyDeleteThe guys they don't intend to go any higher than they are get 50/50 booking and aren't separated from the mid-card pack, the guys they want to go higher are protected and gradually move up the ladder. Like Ryback - he beat a jobber, then 2 jobbers, then mid-carders, then higher mid-carders, then to the main event. Kofi can win every week and it won't get him anywhere if he doesn't eventually mingle with the guys higher on the card than he is.
ReplyDeleteYup. They call it the john cena era but pretty much no one outside of wrestling knows who he is.
ReplyDeleteRemember when he had a cameo on SNL? No reaction from the audience.
I think some of the 50/50 booking could be to protect him to. They've pretty clearly established they want him to be their top guy for as long as possible and have actively ignored or sabotaged anyone who came close.
ReplyDeleteI think in general they established that all of those guys were good. Benoit's tough to beat so there's no shame in Jericho losing to him, Angle and Benoit are both really good so it makes sense they trade wins...the big thing is that they were all featured regularly, treated like they were important and weren't downplayed because they lost. The next night they were back at it again, not jobbing to Bob Holly because it's his turn to be important for a month....but also they mingled with the top guys from time to time. Jericho lost to Benoit at the pay per view? Okay, team him with The Rock the next night and he's still important.
ReplyDeleteSee, I never minded that booking...when it was done right. I remember when Vader pinned HBK clean in a tag match just before Summerslam. It plants that seed of doubt that HBK is going to win for sure. And what's sad is that Vader WAS going to win until Michaels threw one of his hissy fits.
ReplyDeleteThe sad thing about how much money they're going to make from the Network is that it'll mostly come from the loyal fan base they've built up FROM their previous manner of booking.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if that analogy fits because usually the mom and pop places actually have better food. At least in my experience.
ReplyDeleteI guess the thing that bothers me the most is that they're being very hypocritical by doing the 50/50 booking and pushing the product, not a wrestler...only to then desperately bring back big name stars to bring up their numbers (profits, ratings, etc).
ReplyDeleteThey wouldn't HAVE to be so desperate if they worked hard again to create new superstars. Then those superstars would BE the thing that brought up the numbers.
I think it's always been a problem. There have always been questionable wrestling schools and questionable trainers. Hell, just look at my experience when Sledgehammer Spike was going to be my trainer.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem is that the ratio between good, upstanding trainers and unreliable ones now leans more towards the unreliable side.
Brock was probably the straw that broke the camel's back. Vince watched Hogan, Austin, Rock, Savage all leave the WWE and use their fame to leverage careers outside of the WWF and decide he's had enough of that.
ReplyDeleteThe big difference between 1996 and 2003 is guys were kept apart. Vader pinning Michaels in that six man set up his title match at Summerslam. Booker already had his title match . Booker pinning HHH in that tag match let everyone know he was losing the next week.
ReplyDeleteVader's pin set the next thing up..... Booker's was just a thing that happened.
Yesterday I saw him in an ad for some sort of scam weight loss product.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember his cameo on SNL, which I'm thinking proves your point.
ReplyDeleteHence, the analogy fits.
ReplyDeleteIgnoring TNA (they're a place that should be a big mom-and-pop restaurant, but chooses to make crappy food because "it makes them look like McDonalds"), you've got ROH (which is decent), PWG (which is AWESOME, but small, but has been destroying every other Fed the last few years outside of NJPW) and Chikara (which is quirky, but really, really good).
The thing that annoys me the most is the fact that so many of these things could be easily avoided. For example, they gave Kofi Kingston a big win by having him beat Orton. It was flukey, but still clean. The next week he survived Orton before Cena interfered. And instead of riding that momentum, or at least keeping him at that level, they needlessly have him fight and lose to Alberto Del Rio. And it had nothing to do with Kofi's story, and it had nothing to do with Del Rio's story. It was just a match that happened that Del Rio won cleanly. And suddenly Kofi is back where he started. Meanwhile, the same exact match and result could have happened if they used, say, the Miz or Rey Mysterio in that role.
ReplyDeleteSlightly off topic, but goes along with what's being said with different philosophies bookers have, but something I noticed when I listen to Cornette/Russo shoots is that when Cornette talks about wrestling, he always talks about what would draw the house, whereas when Russo talks about wrestling, he's totally fixated with the ratings and had never once bragged about drawing a huge crowd back in the Attitude era.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree. Kofi beat the WWE Champion, why isn't he demanding a title shot? Why isn't he in the Chamber? It means nothing because win or lose he's in the same spot.
ReplyDeleteYea. It just strikes me as a generational difference in philosophies. I actually side with Russo on this. If you're drawing huge tv numbers, there is more money in that, more national exposure, and assumimgly your gates assuming lyre sold out anyway. The key is to also male money on ppvs and assumimgly real the peripheral stuff.
ReplyDeletePlus in the jcp 80's day all the money was in drawing the houses. Look at how the great american bash wasn't originally a major ppv but just a big tour they did. That was the money in his era, and then in the late 90's Monday night wars the TV ratings were the be all end all.
ReplyDelete" have actively ignored or sabotaged anyone who came close."
ReplyDeleteYou can't possibly think this is true.
Welcome to the top 20 club. And thanks a lot, you dick, for denying me the chance to be the only guy to knock himself off the list. Asshole...
ReplyDeleteIt's also going to be bad for the company long-term because when those older stars can't work anymore, they aren't really building up the current crop of guys to come back and draw the business of someone on the level of Austin, the Rock, etc.
ReplyDeleteWhich is pretty ridiculous because having those guys in the "mainstream" actually brings attention back on the company. These things are so damn frustrating.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, competition can still produce some dumb results (although competition is better than none). For example, McDonald's decision to become Starbucks-light and cater to upper middle-class people with more expensive items is causing their profit margin to fall. Then you get people who never go to McDonald's complain that they need to be "healthier" and offer salads, unbreaded chicken, etc. I'm sorry, but if I wanted to eat those things I'd go to Panera or something and not McDonald's!
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU! That's what I don't get. Like, why aren't they trying to make Punk and Bryan into the guys that will be part-timers when they need someone to pop a buyrate for WM37 or whatever? Like you said, the well is going to run dry eventually.
ReplyDeleteWe actually have a parallel for this playing out right now when they have brought Batista in and he's not getting anywhere near the reactions the Rock got. Granted, Batista wasn't so much a victim of 50/50 booking, but it's showing a law of diminishing returns for the non-Attitude Era guys. I can only imagine when they try to use "LEGEND RANDY ORTON!"
ReplyDeleteDoes Booker T still run his school? I remember that it got some pretty good reviews.
ReplyDeleteI think the backlash against Batista is more just fans being angry about Bryan (and now, Punk) than it is anything to do with Batista.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I just don't get it... Actually I do, seeing how their stock price is the highest it's ever been right now.
ReplyDelete"Sabotaged" might be an exaggeration but they haven't been open to anyone taking Cena's spot. Look at when Punk was hot - even when they gave him the title they made sure to position him behind Cena. If they pushed him as the top guy maybe it takes off, maybe it doesn't, but they showed a clear unwillingness to make anyone seem bigger than Cena.
ReplyDeleteFuck McDonalds, last time I ate there I was 19. What they sell shouldn't even be legally called "food", same for any other fast food place.
ReplyDeleteThe "school" around here uses an insanely stiff ring that shudders when you run the ropes. It looks like it's left over from the sixties, and they have the nerve to charge two grand to bump on torn canvas with exposed bolts. It's fucking scary to watch anybody in it.
ReplyDeleteOf course, at least it actually exists, unlike the three "phantom scho
Another issue is there are not a lot of quality veteran wrestlers toiling around in the indies to carry younger workers through. I wrestled Greg Valentine once in some podunk town for 20 minutes and that was more informative and educational than any "school" could have given me. Furthermore, the stories and critiques he gave me after the show was worth a year in a "school".
ReplyDeleteWell, while we're plugging, here's my own take on wrestling schools:
ReplyDeletehttp://wrestling.insidepulse.com/2013/08/05/the-view-from-down-here-i-got-me-a-e-mail/