Monday night the WWE announced they were inducting Sunny into the WWE Hall-of-Fame. They showed a video package reviewing who she was and what she did. I realized that I could not explain to my wife what she meant to wrestling and what she meant to me as a fan during the era she reigned supreme. She was Sunny.
Who was the first “Diva?” Sherri Martel wore skimpy outfits and caked on the make-up. Missy Hyatt definitely has her place in the great canon of women in wrestling. Miss Elizabeth was definitely seen as a sex symbol, even though she was always treated with class and elegance. Nancy Benoit was a great female manager, but she was more wicked, and people didn’t tune in to see her. Sable was the first WWE superstar to pose nude for Playboy. But what made Sunny special?
I’m going to be honest. I started watching wrestling in early 1996, before Wrestlemania XII. I was 15. I was at the height of my hormonal teen years. Sunny was every 15-year-old boy’s dream. And in the WWE at that time, Sunny reigned supreme. Todd Pettengill used to host a show called WWF Mania on Saturday mornings. WCW Pro was at 8 am. WWF Mania was at 9am. That’s what I did with my Saturday morning. When I first started watching the show, Sunny was the host. And yes, my little 15-year-old heart pitter-pattered.
I have a lot of great memories watching Sunny. I remember her coming out with the LOD at Wrestlemania XIV and forming LOD 2000. I remember the feud with Dawn Marie (“Tamara Lynn Bytch”) in ECW. I remember her showing off those buns of steel to the live crowd in Dallas at Raw. And of course, who could forget her getting slopped by Phineas I. Godwinn (a then-clothed Naked Mideon)?
Last night they showed a video package that showed Sunny’s greatest moments. Tamara Lynn Sytch was a pretty girl. She was athletic, naturally very pretty and had lots of charisma. She was the girl you wanted but you knew you could never have, but you were going to dream about her anyway. She was one of the first Divas to draw. What makes her the first Diva, you might ask? Here is what I think. I think she was one of the first females in wrestling to do lingerie shoots and bikini shoots and, at some point in her career, served no other purpose than to come out and wave to the crowd. Sherri was a manager. Woman/Nancy Benoit was a manager. Miss Elizabeth was a manager/valet. And while Missy Hyatt did her share of bikini modeling, she pushed the envelope nowhere like Sunny did. Sunny was a pioneer who set the standard for every Diva we watch every week.
That being said, when I watch her footage, while she was the highlight of my mid-adolescent years, her stuff actually was pretty tame, all things considered. Her character was pretty simple. “I’m the drop-dead gorgeous woman you want. You can’t have me because I’m with Chris Candido.” That’s all she needed. Her body also looked like something that would be a foreign concept to Divas nowadays. She was natural. Her breasts didn’t enter the rooms three days before she did. Her lips didn’t look like flotation devices. And her hair didn’t look like Extension City. She was an insanely beautiful woman. And speaking from the fantasies of a 15-year-old boy, she more than got the job done. And I’m not alone. She was the most downloaded celebrity in 1996 on AOL.
The woman has earned her place in the annals of WWE history, and for what little it’s worth, I wish her congratulations for this time.
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I haven’t done an original column here on bWf in a while, but with it being my (and JT’s) birthday today, I thought I’d write a column I’d thought up yesterday afternoon, entitled “How to get over…”
This is simply an extended reponse to my previous column dealing with the wide-open subject of John Cena. “Bored Wrestling Fans” very own Jana always provides a good read and I thought that her opinions were so great that it’d be a shame not to share them with the rest of you! Couldn’t fit THIS into one measly comment!
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The current anti-Cena attitude can be traced to several factors.
The easy thing to do, which is also incorrect, is to make blanket assumptions, such as “The IWC hates Cena,” or that only women and kids cheer for Cena. Both of those statements are demonstrably false. Show me a fan of ANYTHING today who doesn’t spend time on the internet, researching and seeking to connect with others of like mind. I don’t remember anyone ever claiming that only women and kids cheered for Hulk Hogan back in the 80s, and if it were true for Cena, it would almost have to be true for Hogan. The argument that Hogan was a star in a more innocent time, where older kids and guys would have felt comfortable supporting him, and that we today have already experienced the age of the anti-hero, making the more traditional hero less attractive, doesn’t stand up either. Hogan’s heyday in the 80s was the time of Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry, the X-Men comics (which I know were created earlier, but were still very popular), the golden age of hard rock and heavy metal, and a host of other tv, movie, and comic book characters who were as dark, edgy, and of the anti-hero vein as anything that we have today.
Wrestling fans have grown up accustomed to “cool” heels. The nWo holds much responsibility for this, as does DX, the original ECW, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and the Rock. We’ve almost been trained to be contrary, cheering for heelish characters and booing babyfaces. The example of the Rock is always trotted out, and the comparison has some merit. Rocky Maivia was too goody-goody and boring. The Rock was everything that we wanted to be. Cena was quite popular all around when he first started the rapper gimmick, largely because he was unpredictable on the mic. He would cut down anyone, including Vince McMahon. Nowadays, he grunts and makes rather constipated-looking facial expressions while repeating lackluster catchphrases like “Never give up.” Cena is doing exactly what he is supposed to do by playing the indestructible super hero that every kid loves, but in doing so, he has completely alienated the rest of the audience that is not part of the PG demographic.
This leads me to the next point. Whether it really happened because Linda McMahon decided to run for Senate or not, the shift to the PG product and tightly focused marketing on kids is, to a degree, a very sound business decision. The golden age of WWF in the 80s (I consider the Attitude Era a completely different creature from any sort of “golden age.”) targeted kids. Business boomed. Now those very kids are grown and have their own kids. It’s a basic business concept to “get ’em when they’re young,” and then you have customers for life. It certainly worked before. The problem with catering to a new generation of fans is that the previous generation of fans, who have supported the product with time, money, and passion, feel slighted and even cheated. The resentment and hatred over that is transferred to the company’s poster boy, John Cena. The thing that WWE seems to have forgotten in their new business model is that the kids aren’t paying for anything. Parents and guardians, adults, in other words, have to take the kids to the shows, buy tickets, t-shirts, masks, and all the other merchandise that gets created, and sit through the shows with the kids, both live on on tv. If the parents think that the content is stupid, or embarrassing/insulting to human intelligence, they won’t want to spend the time and money on WWE that they once did. Basically, there has to be something in it for them as well, and WWE is ignoring that.
This ties in with my final point. You were dead-on about having a company that has a bit of everything. That’s why I (and so many others, by the sound of it) feel so disappointed and let down by both WWE and TNA. I wouldn’t mind sitting through a John Cena match if I knew that I would get an Alex Shelley match somewhere else on the card. The most effective and profitable concept for pro wrestling has always been, and always will be, what I call the circus model. It has a little bit of everything, and all of it is good. Comedy acts, like Santino Marella and Hornswaggle. Over-the-top epicness like the Undertaker and Kane. Special attractions like the Great Khali and the Big Show. True tag teams like the Hart Dynasty, the Usos, Beer Money, and the Motor City Machine Guns. Legitimate women’s matches with actual wrestlers like Beth Phoenix, Natalya, Mickie James, Daffney, Sarita, MsChif, and Sara Del Ray. Mat-based technical wow-fests with people like Douglas Williams, Nigel McGuinness, Christopher Daniels, AJ Styles, Davey Richards, KENTA, and Roderick Strong. Powerhouses like Drew McIntyre, Samoa Joe, and Sheamus. Super-athletic high-fliers like Brian Kendrick, Kofi Kingston, Evan Bourne, Justin Gabriel, John Morrison, and Austin Aries. That would be every wrestling fan’s dream.
The company with the broadest appeal does the best business. ROH caters to a very specific audience, and that’s great for that audience. They specifically say that they aren’t interested in the casual fan, and that they provide serious wrestling that has nothing to do with sports entertainment for fans of real pro wrestling. Fine, that’s their thing. The big two aren’t much better. WWE hates tag teams, most of the smaller and more athletic high-fliers, and legitimate female wrestlers who don’t look like Barbie dolls. They focus on children at the expense of the adult audience. TNA prides themselves on being a more adult product, but Eric Bischoff mocks the hardcore wrestling fans and says repeatedly that they don’t matter, that the casual fans were the target audience. As you said, TNA has tried so hard to be WWE that they have lost almost everything that made them different. The X-Division, the six-sided ring, the legitimate Knockouts division, the focus on true tag teams, and the international talent are all gone.
How does all this tie back in to John Cena? While there are a given number of douchebags who have to make sure that everyone knows that they are far too cool to ever like something that is popular or mainstream, most of it, I honestly believe, stems from frustrated and disappointed fans who feel that there is nothing in the WWE product for them anymore. They resent having devoted so much time, money, and passion into something that has essentially ditched them. Because John Cena is the embodiment of the current WWE product, all the negative feelings are transferred to him. Booing and criticizing him is easier than actually getting the desired changes from Vince and the WWE. It’s rather like spending huge quantities of time, effort, and money on dating someone, and then you get kicked to the curb for someone else. Of course you hold that individual up as the epitome of all that is wrong with the world. It’s how human nature works.
Hello, fellow Bored Wrestling Fans! It’s been a couple of months since I’ve done anything here on the site aside from the weekly Power Polls put on by Jason Mann of WrestlePerspective, so I thought with JT away, I’d jump in this week and ramble on with a rare “ThinkSoJoE’s Thoughts” column! And what better week to return than the weekend following TNA’s HardCORE Justice PPV and “Whole F’N Show” free-per-view on Spike?
I actually planned on ordering HardCORE Justice last Sunday, but I woke up around 8:07 and figured it was pointless by then to spend the 30 bucks on the show. I promised myself I wouldn’t read any spoilers before I actually got to watch it, and damn, that would’ve been $30 well spent. Nearly every match had a purpose, settling feuds from back in the original ECW, and the last minute Main Event change to RVD/Sabu was a great move IMO. The only other person on the show that could’ve filled the void left by Jerry Lynn’s absence would have been Rhino, in a storyline sense anyway, but there was so much history between RVD and Sabu that it really was the best choice.
The only BWF stuff I did for RAW was a quick tweet asking folks to use our #BWF hashtag to help AlyKat notice them for her review. I watched the show as a fan, but I knew damn well that it was going to suck in comparison to the PPV I watched the night before. I was right. It’s not that RAW sucked in comparison to other recent RAWs, it’s that it happened to be on during a week where it would have had to outshine some of the best RAWs of all time to even compete with what TNA was putting on. Look, I’m not one of those guys that floods the comment boards on other sites with anti-WWE stuff or pro-TNA stuff. Typically, I’m a WWE supporter no matter what, but TNA just had the better wrestling this week.
I haven’t watched any of NXT Season 2 aside from the one where The Nexus were on. I just don’t care. JT can vote for Kaval all he wants, I’m just bored with the whole NXT deal.
And then there was Thursday. TNA promised us a PPV style show on free TV, and that’s what they delivered. Every match was amazing, and Shannon Moore proved that he can hang with a main eventer in his match with Jeff Hardy, but from a wrestling standpoint you have to give it up for Beer Money and The Motor City Machine Guns, and from a hardcore standpoint, RVD and Abyss. Initially I missed the Fortune beatdown on EV2.0, but after being told about it Friday night and reading Drow’s statement that it made the initial Nexus attack look like “a junior high play,” I had to go back and watch it. It was absolutely brutal – James Storm was just maiming people left and right with pieces of broken glass! I can’t wait for the aftermath of this, when the EV2.0 guys try for revenge. Extreme Violence? It’s just beginning!
I still haven’t watched SmackDown. I’m not even interested in watching. Initially I considered ordering SummerSlam tonight, but that’s probably out of the question too. There’s nothing that’s captured my attention booked for tonight. The only thing that would possibly make this worth the money is if The Miz cashes in and wins the WWE Championship tonight, and I highly doubt that’s going to happen.
If any of our readers live in Western New York, come on out Friday, August 20th to Chuggers in West Seneca as DTD Entertainment presents the Honoring The Idol 2010 Pre Party featuring my band thinksobrain, whom G so graciously puts over in his SmackDown review every week. Also, don’t forget that Empire State Wrestling returns to the St. Johnsburg Fire Hall in North Tonawanda on Saturday, September 11th. The main event is set to be ESW Tag Team Champions Famous defending against Kevin Grace and Pepper Parks. Also announced for the show is Jonny Puma vs. Ryot, and Ceasar’s Legion members Tommy Mandrake and Superbeast taking on our friends Barry and Brian Hardy. Hope to see you guys around!
Due to the length of today’s post, I have edited it to better suit the front page. The draft picks will be listed here by brand at the top of the post, and the in-depth analysis will be found after the jump. This is done in Real-Time, so click your browser’s refresh button every 10 minutes or so for the latest picks!
RAW
The Great Khali & Ranjin Singh
Natalya
Ezekiel Jackson
Goldust JTG The Hart Dynasty
SMACKDOWN
Chavo Guerrero
Cody Rhodes
Chris Masters
Hornswoggle
Rosa Mendes
Montel Vontavious Porter
Full analysis of the 2010 supplemental draft picks, after the jump!
Welcome everybody to the critically acclaimed BWF Roundtable. I am your host as tonight we talk about the 2010 Royal Rumble. Joining me tonight are BWF authors Tharvey1 and ThinkSoJoE, as well as message board and Roundtable regular RYMAN to give everyone their picks for the Royal Rumble. Well without further ado, lets get this show on the road: (more…)
Hey, my Peeps! I’m back from a 2 week hiatus. I have been out of town skiing. Let’s get this thing started.
Match 1: Jillian Hall vs Kelly Kelly
Jillian comes out first and sings a Miley Cyrus song. Kelly Kelly interupts with her entrance. I don’t like diva wrestling, but Kelly Kelly has gotten better. She is still nowhere near good enough to be an in-ring performer. Why can’t WWE get women who can actually wrestle? How does TNA get women who look good, but can also wrestle? Anyways…Kelly Kelly wins with a Leg Drop to the back of Jillian’s head. Michael Cole called it the Kelly Kick. I guess we can go with that name for now. Too much time was devouted to this craptacular match.
Match 2: Shelton Benjamin vs Vance Archer
This match should not be on ECW as a top level fued for the show, so Superstars is the right venue for this one. I hate Archer’s tramp stamp too! This match is really clumsy tonight. Vance Archer is normally pretty aggressive and physical, but going into the commercial break, he really hasn’t displayed it in this match. We come back from commercial, with Archer in control. He is starting to be more dominant, but still seems slow and unsure of what to do. I’m not sure what to think of his character. The fans are really dead on the guy, but Shelton isn’t getting much pop in this match either. Josh Matthews and Byron Saxton even commented on how boring this match is by saying not to fall asleep. The clumsiness of this match is mind-boggling. It’s no wonder that Shelton Benjamin has never been pushed to the main event level. The guy can’t carry a match with a guy who is clearly low-level at this point. It wouldn’t surprise me if Archer was released during the next batch of firings. Shelton gets the win over the undefeated Vance Archer with a very anti-climactic role up pin. This match was awful.
Ask the Divas….yawn
Main Event: Chris Jericho vs Kane
Random main event match for Superstars…what else is new??? WWE has missed so many opportunities with Kane. He can be pushed to be so dominant if creative will just book him correctly. I also feel as if they have sort of ruined Chris Jericho’s persona. They have him cowarding out to everybody right now. They need to freshen him up a little bit. However, this might be the best main event we have ever had on Superstars. These two guys are Hall of Famers in my opinion. The match goes to commercial with Kane flipping over the top ropes and to the floor below. When was the last time a match didn’t go to commercial after someone went to the outside? Back from commercial and this match really picks up. It ends when Jericho cowards out of the ring and walks away for the countout.
Alrighty then…see you guys next week for another Superstars.
Welcome to the War for this special occasion. Your Legend Killer is declaring war on the festive season. That means Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, plus any other celebration you can come up with for this holiday season.
First of all, I’m writing this on three hours sleep after pre-christmas drinks, so I’m as tired as tired can be.
The WWE boycott is running loud and proud at about five months. In all honesty, I have completely lost track of how long I haven’t watched. All I know is that the last thing I watched, was Shaq guest hosting RAW. That’s how long ago it’s been since I last watched, and to be honest, I don’t miss it. Now that I am in the process of receiving every WWF RAW and SmackDown! from 1998 and 1999. Oh, The good ol’ days.
Christmas is too expensive. Especially when buying presents for yourself.
If you want to buy me something for christmas, give me money. Money is always a wanted christmas present in my books.
D-Generation X. Destroying their legacy one stupid unfunny skit at a time. Remember when they made christmas time fun? Here’s the longer, but censored version. Censored, because they are soft.
Anyways, a short, but sweet War on Christmas, is proudly brought to you by a rather tired Legend Killer. That means, I’m ending this way too early. No time to talk about Hulk Hogan signing with TNA. No time to talk about Bret Hart signing with WWE. No time to talk about Tommy Dreamer’s departure from ECW. Just no time for that. Blame pre-Christmas drinks, and my ability to not sleep during any decent drinking session.
However, this is time to give you, last second advice, on what to buy the rest of the BWF staff. No screwjobs here, folks. Although, the aftermath of one can be seen here, here aaaaaaaaand … … … … here.
A tip for Drow. I wouldn’t just give her the tip, I’d give her the whole damn thing.
For Joe. Beard trimmers.
For JT. A cardboard cut-out of Velvet Sky.
For tharvey1. A capital ‘T’ for his name.
For Jason. A friend to watch ECW with.
For everyone else, there’s MasterCard.
From myself, and the rest of the crew that help me in my war, I’d like to wish all of you the best this holiday season, and hope that you all get coal, or doggy doo, or stuff of that nature in your presents. Tune in next week for the special New Year’s edition. The only place to start your New Year’s party, is right here at BoredWrestlingFan.com… oh, except that other place… you know the one.
