Moving, moving, everybody’s moving! Better to do it during the cold than in stifling heat. Our fearless leader, ThinkSoJoE, the Random One, JT, and the Unsinister Scotsman, Jamie Kennedy are all indulging in this ritual as we speak. Do you think that they all called each other and planned it out? You know, like guys think that girls do with clothes?
Boredwrestlingfan.com is proud to announce another special November birthday. It’s November 22. Let’s give a huge shout-out to a fantastic musician, a guy who generally totally reeks of awesomeness, a seriously drop-dead sexy beast, and unquestionably one of the three most desirable men of the Northern Hemisphere –
“Mat Musings” was a column idea I came up with a long, long time ago which basically involved me waxing lyrical about a bunch of subjects/news stories currently ripe within the pro wrestling world. Basically, we take a headline and then yours truly gives his take on that particular topic. It’s simple but really seems to be effective and is a column-type which I’ve always really enjoyed doing. Now I’m not claiming that it’s the most original conception ever conceptualized, but it has proved to be one which sparks debate amongst the wrestling fan base. With that said, on with the topics!
Having been a huge fan of the original “World Championship Wrestling” promotion, this headline really caught my eye. I actually have plans to do an entire article dedicated to the company and maybe even bust out some old ones from my growing library of wrestling article work. Look out for those!
The story basically runs that WWE are planning to release a DVD-set based on the popular “Monday Nitro!” TV show, similar to the 3-disc set they recently brought out for “Monday Night RAW”. It would document the first few years of the shows history (which arguably is the only few years worth watching!). Also hot off the press is that there is a DVD ready to be put together which would be a biography of one Bill Goldberg.
This is exciting news, certainly to a WCW fan such as I. I’m very sure both these DVD’s would sell pretty heavily, although perhaps not among the younger market of fans currently tuning into RAW and Smackdown. It’s long baffled me however, as to why WWE do not capitalise more on all that video footage they have for the Atlanta-based promotion. Sure, I’m not forgetting the “Rise & Fall of WCW” video they put out not so long ago, not the various DVD’s chronicling “The Four Horsemen” and the like.
Where I’m coming from more here is all those Pay-Per-Views they just have laying around. Surely it would be worth Vince McMahon’s time to pair these broadcasts up and release them under the “Tagged Classics” banner, just like WWE have done with events from their own history. I for one have long-awaited such a move and they’d definitely pry some money from my wallet! Many newer wrestling fans might not be so interested but it’d be worth the effort in order to make some dollars off all that old footage, much of which is highly significant to the annals of wrestling time.
There is of course the theory which has been reported as fact; that Vinnie Mac just wants the entire WCW thing to go away, which is exactly why he bought it and effectively buried it during the ill-fated “Invasion” angle. It’s merely my opinion but I’d be willing to say that McMahon is a trifle more intelligent than that. As an obviously shrewd business-man, he couldn’t fail to see the appeal these DVD’s would have to many a wrestling fan across the globe. Even some folks who may not tune into the product anymore could be caught, willing to part with the cash to relive fond memories from yesteryear.
Another idea, as an extension of this, may be to package a classic WCW event with a compilation of newer WWE matches, highlighting the superstars of today and attempting to draw those fans who have “left it all behind” back into being paying customers. Just a thought.
Let’s face it, the poor guy SHOULD feel a little aggrieved at how things have panned out for him in the past 2 years or so. Once a sure-fire bet to be one of the next headlining atop WWE cards, Mr. Porter now finds himself filling air-time on “WWE Superstars” and without a meaningful story arc to sink his teeth into.
It’s pretty difficult to make guesses as to where it’s all went wrong for the “Ballin’” grappler without having actually been backstage at a number of WWE events or pulling up a chair at one of the bosses production meetings/creative sessions. None of us really know what might have went on between MVP and WWE management which has left his career going cold. On the flipside, nothing at all could have happened. Management may have simply lost interest in the character or are biding their time with the man until they have something worthwhile for him to be involved in.
For most of us fans, it’s pretty darn clear-cut where it all turned sour in this particular wrestlers career; a frostily received babyface turn.
Sometimes it really does seem as though those and such as those in charge of writing the shows and making creative decisions just…get bored and decide to throw some changes out there without any real rhyme or reason. One example could be the sudden split of the popular brothers Colon, Carlito and Primo. This can be directly linked to their rapid descent down the cards into near-obscurity and also perhaps the parting between Carlito and his WWE contract. The MVP situation seems to be pretty much the same deal. A random change just for the sake of it, one which hasn’t really been planned out all that well with any clear vision as to why in the name of jebus we’re now supposed to be cheering a dude who’s claimed for many a year that he’s better than all of us, in character of course.
It’s as definite as day turns to night that everything I say here is simply speculation. I have no idea whatsoever the reasoning for MVP no longer being a focal point of WWE TV. As I also said before, there may not really be any real reason at all. One thing I do believe however is that his career and gimmick could still be rescued by a return to the heel kingdom. It just makes sense that a character such as his should be on the bad side of the fence.
It’s nothing more than my own idea (although I’m sure more than a few of you have had the same thoughts before) but the guy could be catapulted right back into the upper-card mix if he were to appear before us on RAW and decry the audience, blaming them for distracting him from his true potential and almost ruining his career by having him put more effort into entertaining them than winning matches and titles. Thus, MVP would be disowning the “WWE Universe” and getting an edge back into his disposition. Immediately, I feel WWE would have a hungry performer again. One who would be motivated to bust his ass both on the mic and in the ring, which can only be good for the product. One thing’s for sure, there is a hell of a lot of talent going to waste as we speak if MVP is kept as this ‘opening match relief’ like he is right now. He could be a major player within the company, no doubts.
I hope you enjoyed what’s going on in my head regarding the above subjects and the “Mat Musings” concept in general. Feel free to add your own viewpoints below as all your comments are surely as important as mine, maybe even more so! I’d love to hear some more opinions on these topics as that’s what being a wrestling fan is all about – mixing with other fans and debating till the cows come home! You can also send correspondence to my email at – jamiekennedy@live.com
I look forward to hearing from you and have a great week! TAKE IT HOME!
We know now.
Ladies and gentle/wild-men of the “Bored Wrestling Fan” community, welcome to my very first article here in the land of the strange, crazy and indeed wacky. Please let me begin this by stating how awesome it is to be here and how sweet it really is to be back writing about professional wrestling again! Oh wrasslin’ journalism, how I have missed thee!
I’ve basically been given free reign to chatter away to my hearts content about all things wrestling, which is perhaps the most fantastic welcome email I could have received by “the boss” (I’m very sure he walks just like Vince McMahon into the office every morning), ThinkSoJoe. So, with that said – feel free to thank that man for inflic…erm…bringing me onto your computer screens each week. You can thank him in anyway you see fit, likely by screaming at him in a voice akin to Paul Heyman, “WHO’S THE RAMBLING SCOTSMAN WITH THE GRAMMATICAL SKILLS OF A 4 YEAR OLD!?”.
It’s plainly obvious why I am here and why I have managed to stumble, with the help of the lovely Drowgoddess, blind drunk into the land of BWF; yours truly simply loves professional wrestling. I have done since I was a very small boy and will continue to do so until I’m a very small old man. It’s always hard for me to convey or put across my true passion for what all those men and women do each and every night. I’ve penned many an article for many a website regarding my thanks for the countless hours of fantastic entertainment they have given me over the years. The sacrifice and dedication to performance is evidently appreciated by millions, with me amongst those millions. I love wrestling for the drama, the spectacle, the over-the-top hammy acting and the head-in-hands moments where you’re failing to believe what you’ve just witnessed. It has made me laugh, it has made me cry. One thing it has never really failed to do however, is fail to entertain me.
I’ve long pondered why I am so enraptured by this unique form of scripted theatre. In the many years I’ve followed the grap-game, there have been many people I know who have moved on from it’s clutches. “Grown out of it” or grown bored of it, the numbers aren’t exactly sparse. In my circle of friends, I’d go so far as to say that 90% of them now view professional wrestling as “something for kids” or “entertainment for morons”. They don’t mean anything harsh by these statements but they seem to be missing the point of why I’m still heavily into it – it’s more than entertainment to me. I enjoy thinking about what might go on backstage. Where the storylines come from and how they’re put together is a topic which has long kept me awake at night, basking in the afterglow of another Pay-Per-View conclusion. Sure, I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that goes on when the lights go down and the show’s over, but it doesn’t stop me from daydreaming about it.
The above may seem like a pretty wacked-out piece of nonsense to a number of you. I appreciate that there are those and such as those who merely wish to watch the show week-to-week, never thinking of what goes on behind the curtain. Afterall, what’s wrong with that? If you’re getting what entertainment you need out of the product then by all means treat it how you wish to treat it. One thing nobody should ever do however, is tell another fan how to go about enjoying the same product. This is partly what makes pro wrestling such an exclusive commodity however. How many people do you know who watch…say…CSI and when they switch the TV off, they wonder for hours how the show is put together, what the cast are like as real people and will eagerly debate with others on whether or not William Petersen as “Gil Grissom” is protecting his spot and keeping the minor characters in their place, hogging the limelight all for himself?
Now we all know that if this does happen, it’s a very rare occurrence. Most fans of most TV shows are happy to tune in, enjoy and then tune out, getting on with the rest of their day/evening. Not so in the wrestling world. It’s one of those entertainment mediums which has it’s content scrutinised relentlessly by a huge number of it’s fanbase each and every day of the year.
The internet itself has become so renowned that the fans who like wrestling AND use the web are now referred to as the “IWC” or “Internet Wrestling Community”. There’s a negative stigma attached to this too, wherein fans who surf the net to talk about wrestling are perceived as fat nerds who just want to pick holes in what happened on Monday Night RAW. Now I’m extremely sure there are those of that ilk among us but, y’know, some of us just want to chat to fellow fans about what’s going down, where the promotion could possibly take the stories from here and wax lyrical regarding Velvet Sky’s entrance sequence.
Personally, and I’m sure I’m not alone here, this reputation irritates me. It’s not that many wrestlers and creative team members of the various wrestling companies have bias against opinionated forum-users that gets to me. It’s a large portion of the vast number of wrestling-based message boards userbase that gets to me. The very same userbase which I myself am a part of. There does seem to be so much negativity around, to the point that sometimes you find yourself wondering why most of these people even watch the shows anymore. What pleasure can be gained out of watching any entertainment medium you find ridiculous, seething over it and then venting your self-made frustrations to others over the internet? Surely to heck some of these folks need to relax and if wrestling isn’t as good to them as it was back during the “Attitude” era, they should just stick to YouTube clips, videotape libraries and memories?
Having said all that, I beg of you – please do not get me wrong. There are many things which happen on wrestling shows which perplex me to absolute unholy hell. Do these things ruin my day? No. Do these happenings destroy my enjoyment of the show as a whole? No. I wouldn’t watch it for one minute longer if they did! I guess I do understand where some of the bitching comes from but, like I said, it impresses me how some of these people beat the product up and yet still find the time to tune in. It’s simply something I may never understand.
If you’re still awake, I must thank you for taking the time to peruse through my article. I really hope it’s apparent how passionate I am about the weird and wacky world of pro wrestling. As much as I know about it, I like humbling myself by saying that I know next to nothing about it, really. I know what I think, what I’ve read and heard, which is possibly not actually what happens in the day-to-day running of World Wrestling Entertainment or Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling.
I’d really like to hear from you regarding the content of this column. Any opinions, questions or corrections you can think of, I’m more than happy to read them all. I just love talking to others about wrestling! That’s why I’m here! I’d also just like to thank ThinkSoJoe, Drowgoddess and each and every one of you for welcoming me here with such open arms. It’s great to be a part of the family! You can send all correspondence to jamiekennedy@live.com
I look forward to it! TAKE IT HOME!