With New Year’s Eve on our doorstep, we should take time to reflect upon the year that was in TNA… actually, if you think about it, no we really shouldn’t. Too much trauma, actually. Let’s just go with the usual Batman KAPOW! style that is iMPACT. This is to be the last episode to spill over into Reaction as well, since Spike announced the Reaction program is no more.
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IT’S WAFFLE TIME!
‘Ave a Olli Jolli Christmas! Man, for those not in the know, Toronto Maple Leafs fans FINALLY did something to endear them to me. They started the waffle meme.
Often cited as one of the busiest shopping days of the year, December 23rd is one of madness in the malls. How better to celebrate the insanity, than to delve into the inane booking that is iMPACT? Furthermore, it’s the holiday season, and with that, I’ve invited a particular TNA talent to express his sentiments for merry times and jovial festivities! AJ?
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This should have been posted earlier, but there’s still time to be relevant. Every year at around this time, wrestling websites ask readers to post lists of what they, as wrestling fans, would ask Wrestling Santa Claus for as gifts. Bored Wrestling Fan is no different, and I now ask you to post away! Any and all companies, everything goes. Make your “wish lists” as long as you like. Here’s mine, in no particular order: (more…)
The title of tonight’s episode is “Head Games.” Ok, obviously there is psychological side of angles and storylines, but this title ALSO implies the punditry of Mr. Anderson’s concussion storyline. Because head trauma is funny. We get it… Credits and whatnot roll… I hope you’ve got your suffering boots on, friend. Because we trek through the mire and fens together as you read the experience of watching iMPACT with me…
…like Sliced Bread #2, only not as yummy!
With quite a lot going on in the wrestling world as we head towards the end of the year and into the annual “Wrestlemania Season”, you fine readers may well see a lot more of the “Mat Musings” concept. This is simply because there is a hell of a lot to talk about this time of year, specifically when it comes to World Wrestling Entertainment. Having said that, one of the topics in this article has absolutely nothing to do with the biggest company in all of the wrestling kingdom! With that said, on with the topics!
I have no clue how familiar many (or indeed any) of you are with the wrestling scene here in the UK. As it happens, it’s going through quite the boom period in regards to talent – which will be obvious to any of you who regularly tune into WWE or TNA television. The amount of British-born grappler’s currently making headlines in the major promotions is at an all-time high. This obviously bodes well for my local scene as the bigwigs at WWE and TNA seem to be on the lookout on this side of the water.
Recently, none other than Jeff Jarrett was flown in at the expense of TNA wrestling to hold a seminar with the young students of The “Scottish Pro Wrestling Academy” and the hard-working roster members of “Premier British Wrestling”. PBW has recently joined up with the “British Wrestling Council” (an institution put in place to improve the safety and working conditions for all those involved in the British wrestling scene, be they wrestler, manager, announcer, referee or ring crew) and this marks a clear statement of intent from TNA to sweep the shores of the UK for talent.
Adrian McCallum, who goes by the ring name “Lionheart”, was the man chosen by Jarrett at these training sessions to show the biggest amount of potential. Lionheart has long been a local favourite in Scotland, specifically Glasgow, and there is a fantastic buzz and excitement over him being given this opportunity. Having had the chance to see him wrestle a number of times, I can tell you that he reminds me of a younger AJ Styles and will no doubt thrive in front of a huge crowd at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow. Go get ’em buddy!
A special mention must be given to Ross Watson and his gang over at PBW too, for all the hard work they have put in removing the stigma and overall ‘cheapness’ of the British product. Their live shows are regularly jam-packed full of wrestling-hungry spectators and it wouldn’t be stretching the truth to say that nobody leaves a show feeling disappointed. This writer is in no way associated with PBW but feels that credit is due for all their efforts! It’s exciting to think, for somebody like me who is trying to break into the British wrestling scene, that someday I could perhaps be a part of all this. You just never know!
When WWE announcers start mentioning something heavily on TV at the direct request of their boss, it’s a good indication that the company and its owner are fairly confident said thing will come to fruition. The undoubted largest company in professional wrestling have always been very careful when it comes to things like this. Mr. McMahon really does like to follow through on things and doesn’t often leave things to chance, with his wrestling promotion at least.
There is still a lot of talk regarding the possible appearance of UFC performer and ex-WWE superstar, Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania this coming spring. Personally, I’m not entirely sure what to make of it all. I find it very difficult to imagine that Dana White, the owner of UFC, would allow one of his contracted fighters to show up on a WWE show for any reason. WWE and UFC may be two different monsters but they are in the business of ratings and trying to secure a bigger audience than the other, on the face of it. On the flip side, Lesnar appearing at the most-watched wrestling show of the year could be seen as the perfect advert for UFC. The chance of grabbing some new viewers could be a clever move, with WWE receiving the “cool” rub of being associated with mixed martial arts. Perhaps there is something in it for both sides afterall.
From a purely personal standpoint, I would love to see Brock back in a WWE ring. The chances of him ever returning full-time are extremely slim, which I realise, but a one-off appearance would only heighten my anticipation for the event. By far one of my favourite superstars from the past decade, “The Next Big Thing” became a world class main event level wrestler very fast – learning off peers such as Kurt Angle and The Undertaker with superlative quickness. With his intimidating size and impressive agility, I’d be a liar if I said I wouldn’t “mark out with my mark out” if the master of the “F5” showed up with his game face on.
Yours truly can recall being mega-disappointed with the way the man’s wrestling career ended. Coming to a close in complete and utter insouciance, his match with fellow-leaver Goldberg was treated with disdain by those in attendance at Madison Square Garden. It was a sorry end for the man in whom Vince McMahon saw great things. It would be entirely fair to say that Lesnar would still be a huge star in the land of the WWE had he not decided to pursue an American Football career, tired of the long roads he had to travel with the industry.
The only thing for us fans to do, is play the waiting game. It’ll certainly be an interesting watch to see if WWE ramp up their interest in their former champion. Or perhaps they already know something the rest of us do not..
I’d love to hear YOUR opinion on the topics discussed here. Quite frankly, they’re as important as mine. Sometimes even more so! The banter and chatter amongst fans is truly what makes pro wrestling such an amazing form of entertainment. Almost everybody has something to say. I love that. You can leave a comment below or send a quickfire email my way – jamiekennedy@live.com I’ll be sure to respond to anything and everything. Quite frankly, I just love talking to people about the wild and wacky world of wrasslin’! TAKE IT HOME!
Last Sunday was the Final Resolution PPV. So naturally, with everything resolved, there will be no more conflict. Total Nonstop … umm…. umm… presents: iMPACT!
I generally take a peek at the non-spoiler card for shows I suffer through and review. And normally I don’t start off these intro segments with any reference… but tonight is different. Daffney is back on my television tonight! Let’s find out if TNA presents her as a threat, or uses her as enhancement…
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Welcome, one and all! Particularly the one, as he turned up alone. With “Final Battle” for 2010 rapidly approaching, there is much to ponder in the world of ROH. Onward, wrestling soldiers! (more…)
Rather ironically, when I was approached about penning a column on wrestling house shows – I picked up the latest copy of the UK-based grap magazine “Fighting Spirit Magazine”, only to find that they themselves had written an article dedicated to the art and history of the non-televised event. This has happened to me quite a few times in the past when writing for various websites and it’s always freaked me out. I start thinking about an idea for an article, randomly flick through some old or current wrestling mag/book and see what I thought was my idea spread out across the page! This particular instance was no different to all the other ones and actually made me laugh a little bit, kinda like Michael Cole does when John Cena acts all immature. Thankfully, the piece was an awesome read and really helped get my creative juices flowing for putting together my own diatribe.
Still I find myself lacking the means to really write as many columns as I would like. We don’t have internet in our new flat yet and therefore I’m only managing to write this due to being home for the weekend to visit my family and spend some time chilling out. Quite honestly, I can think of no better ways to relax than watching, thinking and talking about professional wrestling. With that said, let’s take a look at the wonderful world of ‘wrestling on tour’..
Earlier this month, my good friend Richard Flynn (who is responsible for this weeks WWE Smackdown report – check it out!) and I attended a WWE live event featuring the superstars of the Friday Night Smackdown brand in action. This is a pretty regular occurrence nowadays; for us to attend these shows. On a few occasions in the past, other friends have joined us for a night of live and in colour wrasslin’ entertainment but most of the time it’s simply Flynn and myself geeking it up. To say I love spending time with the guy and watching wrestling with him would be an understatement. The amount of hours we’ve let go past by watching WWE and TNA shows is probably mind-boggling. Not to mention the oodles of time we’ve dedicated to chatting about the aforementioned companies and also our favourite moments from the past. Seriously, we have spent a lot of time thinking about wrestling together. We seem to feed off one another’s passion and it has made for some very cool and very pleasurable afternoons and evenings, to say the least.
Our continued excitement at attending these WWE and TNA shows is equal to that of pretty much any kid you know who likes wrestling. I’m glad I can say with all seriousness that I am just as thrilled by the thought of seeing this brand of entertainment live today as I would have been had I been fortunate enough to grab tickets for a show when I was 10 years old. Rather unfortunately, whenever the then WWF and then WWE visited these shores back then, I always found myself facing a ticket hotline with no more remaining tickets. As much as my parents tried (my mum phoned as early as she could every time and my dad even drove the 150 miles from our home in Campbeltown to Glasgow on the off chance the venue would still have some seats left), it just never seemed to happen. This is probably just aswell – 10 year old me would likely have passed out with excitement had he been privy to The Rock or Triple H up close!
As it pertains to the day-to-day running of any wrestling organisation, there can be no arguments that non-televised or “house” show events are the least important they have been for quite some time, maybe even in the entire history of the industry. There is far more stress placed on the signification of a Pay-Per-View event or the rating for an episode of Monday Night RAW than there is for how many fans are drawn to arenas for the next WWE nationwide tour. House shows used to be the place to see your chosen wrestling promotion but has in more recent times been usurped by TV tapings and major shows such as “Wrestlemania”. This shouldn’t take away from the overall necessity of a company touring the country or indeed the world however, far from it. The revenue boosts WWE alone will feel from visiting the UK must be worth the trip. In between ticket sales (and the fact these tickets are snapped up readily due to the scant nature of shows in any given town each year), merchandise and crossover TV appearances, it’s clearly worth the promotions while to head on over the Atlantic frequently. It’s also a valuable tool for TNA, who have played before their biggest crowds when not in the United States. Big, American pro wrestling companies are simply devoured quickly in foreign markets, such is the fascination with only having one or two chances per annum to see them.
Due to this shift in how a wrestling company, specifically WWE, views its un-televised product, it’s far more of a mixed bag when you attend one these shows. What I’m getting at here is that it’s a clear learning ground for younger members of the roster and a chance for established superstars to try out new things and further develop their characters, far away from the scathing perfection of television. It has been really rather interesting to view things at the handful of house shows Richard and I have bought tickets to which would NEVER feature on WWE TV or PPV. As mentioned before, this can bring both positives and negatives along with it. It’s engrossing to view someone such as Chavo Guerrero, a man scarcely used on the air, be allowed to partake in a 12-minute long match and fully show off his skills to the audience. On the other side of the coin, it can be disheartening to know that nothing of any great significance is likely to happen on the show in your town.
This leads me rather nicely onto an argument which has been permeating wrestling writers and fans over and across the world; have WWE officials decreed that their wrestlers shouldn’t work quite so hard and take so many chances at a non-televised show as they would when the cameras are rolling, thus reducing the risk of injuring themselves or a peer?
If this is the case then it could be argued as short-changing the loyal fan who is excited to see the company and expects to see something pretty close to what he sees on TV each and every week. Surely, with the prices as they are for admission to the typical WWE or TNA house show (I.e not very cheap!), it’s not being cheeky to expect a level of performance matching that of what you are used to. To be completely fair to TNA, they encourage their performers to give their all, regardless of the platform or if the event is being filmed. Having witnessed this with my own 2 eyes, it does make for a thrilling spectacle.
Again, using the proverbial “other side”, I really don’t think the overall feel of the shows have suffered that much. Having been in attendance for a couple of RAW-brand house shows and a few Smackdown-brand ones, the match-quality has been pretty darn good. Sure, there are restholds and not nearly as many high-flying antics as we would see on TV but it’s not exactly a million miles away from your typical match on Monday Night RAW. Infact, I’d go as far to say that the promotion makes up for this with some well-placed and excellently executed (oh boy..) storyline goodness. This writer can recall just earlier this month some TV-inspired goings on with the “Nexus” stable and also some in-ring promo’s which draw you closer into the show. Therefore, I don’t think it’d be fair to say that either WWE nor TNA treat the fans with disdain in the house show market, certainly not on this side of the pond.
With all this said, what do YOU think? Have you attended a WWE or TNA house show event in which you’ve wished you’d saved your money? Did you wish instead that you’d spend some extra cash to go to a TV taping or Pay-Per-View? Or were you like me and felt both companies did their utmost to put on a good evenings entertainment and ensure the fans would come back in droves the next time around? Your thoughts are every bit as important as mine and opinions are definitely a huge part of what makes Bored Wrestling Fan and wrestling fans in general so great! Let me know what you reckon, either by leaving me a comment below or by sending me a quickfire email to jamiekennedy@live.com ! Until the next time, TAKE IT HOME! To your house. To your house uh…show..
MVP is totally going to show up in the iMPACT Zone tonight! He got future endeavored by the WWE today, so obviously with the no-compete clause, the last sentence you read is a lie. I miss the days before that clause… Let’s see what REALLY happened on this pretaped go-home episode…
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The tag-team of moving house and work has recently nailed me with a fearsome double-dropkick to the solar plexus with all the power of “The Rockers” back in the late 80’s. Needless to say, that awesome double-team move has left me struggling to make the hot tag to my partner – the Bored Wrestling Fan community. This, my friends, is why you’ve been let off the hook for the past few weeks when it comes to my Scottish ramblings! Alas, I am back! Best break out that bottle of Scotch you’ve been saving for a rainy day…
One of the biggest topics currently filling up many a conversation between many a wrestling fan is that of the over-exposure suffered by today’s professional wrestler, specifically those in TNA and WWE. Now, I’m not referring to the ‘over-exposure’ of one Juventud Guerrera on an ill-fated tour of Australia with WCW. No, there’s a real feeling nowadays that it’s harder than ever for any given performer to get over with the people the way they used to – given that they’re put in front of said people more often than before. What with weekly TV shows featuring the same select band of (genuinely talented, it has to be said) men and women and sometimes more than one Pay-Per-View event each calendar month, WWE and TNA wrestlers find themselves thrust into that beautiful spotlight a hell of a lot. However, with that said, isn’t this the way it’s always been? Hasn’t wrestling always been a ‘sink or swim’ kind of business where the old saying “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen” comes to mind?
Despite the fact I’ve just drowned you in cliché, most wrestling fans are aware that the pressure to perform successfully night in and night out is simply a by-product of this form of entertainment. Nobody can really say, honestly, that the wrestler of today is under more scrutiny than those in the 1980’s or 1990’s. WWE, in particular, has always been a company producing a high volume of shows – both in the television and Pay-Per-View markets. The argument that there is less patience amongst the creative team and management/Vince McMahon than ever when it comes to superstars being given the time to hone their craft is perhaps valid however.
The breakneck speed with which the WWE product runs along these days must make it extremely hard for any young grappler to fully come to terms with the character he or she are expected to play, especially within the time frame they are expected to. Take Sheamus for example. The big Irishman is clearly one of the brightest young stars the “WWE Machine” has churned out since the last group of big names, such as John Cena, Randy Orton and Batista. He has a distinct look which sets him apart from the rest, can talk and put over the point of a promo, looks intimidating as hell and his in-ring skills have come a long way in such a short period of time. If what I’ve heard is correct, “The Celtic Warrior” has fallen behind Wade Barrett in the pecking order, due to management not feeling he is making the same progress as his highly-similar peer. This would make sense given the differing treatment of the pair on “Monday Night RAW” over the past little while. Sheamus appears to be killing time in a feud with John Morrison, waiting for HHH to make a glorious comeback and vanquish the man who put him on the shelf. By contrast, Wade Barrett is ear-marked for a high-profile title run and possibly even a match against The Undertaker at Wrestlemania.
This writer would really see it as a shame (no pun intended) if World Wrestling Entertainment decided to throw the towel in on the milky big devil at this point in time. I’m far, far from one to tell those folks at ‘Titan Towers’ how to do their jobs and I’m sure they have a plan for the guy but, it’s clear as day how much potential he has to be a head-liner for years to come. Sheamus has improved vastly compared to other WWE push-projects such as Vladimir Kozlov or The Great Khali, has shown a self-depreciating sense of humour and a real determination to be one of the best. Let’s face it, he’s not done himself any harm by hanging around with “The Game” either, whether intentionally planned or not. Fingers crossed this is merely a bump in a very long road and the company are biding their time and are actually giving the man some time to find himself. He has only been around for less than 2 years afterall, with only a year of that spent on ‘RAW’.
Another good example of how fickle a beast exposure can be would be the case of TNA wrestling. Ignoring the arguments of the cyclical nature of the pro wrestling business, let’s look at what TNA actually have in their favour. With the massive amounts of talent in the locker room, a weekly prime-time TV slot on a good network (who are 100% behind the company – something a certain ‘extreme’ promotion could have done with) and free from the shackles of the “PG” model, TNA really have a lot going for them. Their product, it could be said, isn’t all that much worse than the WWF/WWE product of the late 1990’s. The phrase “car crash television” comes to mind here.
What TNA seem to lack is probably one of the most important factors in what made WWF/WWE such a success in the latter years of the 20th Century – character development. There’s just nothing that keeps people tuning in week-to-week on TNA “iMPACT!”. The show is usually a confusing mess, full of irritatingly inconclusive story development and so many turns and swerves that it makes “The Matrix” series seem like the most simple movie trilogy of all time! Not to mention the companies Pay-Per-View shows which seem unimportant and frustrating when placed next to the WWE ones. Most of the time, the PPV’s just come across like a 3 hour TV show, which just happen to have a few more matches.
It is not my job to bash Total Non-Stop Action wrestling whatsoever, I’m actually a fan. A fan who has been conditioned to not expect to understand the storylines, care about the outcome of matches or really care about missing the next show. That, surely, is the fault of those with the power at TNA. If I don’t fit into the ‘bitter, hard-to-please fan’ category then the promotion must be to blame for my continued indifference towards what they are putting out there. It’s supposed to enjoyable afterall. I would pay to watch most WWE shows, but wouldn’t often stump up the cash to watch a TNA one – as much as I’d really love to say otherwise. I want to enjoy both products!
In the case of this particular wrestling company, it’s less about over-exposure of their superstars and more about the wrong kind of exposure. Why is it that I care less about Jeff Hardy now as TNA main eventer than I ever did while he was in WWE, even as a lower-midcarder?
So, what are YOUR thoughts on the topic of exposure. It’s now your turn to rant my friends! I’d love to hear your thoughts and views, whether on the topic at hand or on my writing. Any and all feedback is more than welcome. I’m writing these pieces for my own enjoyment, sure, but also hoping that it can spark debate and that you’ll have some fun reading them. So let loose and don’t hold anything back, as if you need telling twice! jamiekennedy@live.com
TAKE IT HOME!