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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the return of Slammin Synapses...had a bunch
of things happen in the life that kept me away from posting these so now I am
back from time to give you my thoughts, so here goes....
Was listening to one of the many fine audios on PWInsider today with regards to
Cena and decided to come up with a mini shopping list for what certain feds can
do or keep in mind for future reference to get better so here goes...
WWE
Gonna touch on John Cena first and with that, going go to something I wrote
previously....reprinted with permission from yours truly :)
Was watching Backlash from a while ago when Cena
faced Lesnar and came up with these thoughts from and before that era of time.
We will have to go back in time a bit here. I
am a big fan of the Ultimate Warrior...and still am to this date. Here was the
most intense, most powerful person in the then WWF at the time. He would
epitomize said intensity until the Wrestlemania 6 when he would then beat Hulk
Hogan for the WWF heavyweight championship...then things would change. The WWF
would then change him into a family friendly world champion...a person who
actually cared about the title whereas before he couldn't have cared less about
it and a person who would bring about the 'Amanda Ultimate Warrior' era. For
those of you just joining the story in progress...once Warrior won the belt...he
did an interview segment where a little girl was brought on and her name was
Amanda...so Warrior called her Amanda Ultimate Warrior. Here was a man who went
from being Ultimate Warrior and cared only about war and himself to being family
friendly (since he was now the WWF champ) and doing crap segments like the
'Amanda Ultimate Warrior' segment. I believe this took a lot of luster of the
Ultimate Warrior persona and why a good majority of wrestling fans turned on
him...me a bit as well...but I still remained a fan of hisbut did not likhis
bute his character went and lost a bit of respect there.
Flash forward to current times...I am a fan of John
Cena...ever
since he entered the WWF/E.I knew he had potential from the first time I saw
him...remembering the Prototype segment I had seen from the special on A &
E. I saw him come in to the WWF and remember the segment with Vince McMahon
where he promised 'Ruthless
Aggression'
to Vince. Here was a guy who wasn't tied down by anything and was a breath of
fresh air to the federation.I liked his raps and the freshness he brought even
during the John
Cena- B2 (Bull Buchanan)era. Here was a guy who brought something to the fed
that wasn't there before...an originality all it's own....then somewhere down
the line there came the structured segments...the time where once he became
something the WWE wanted to get behind that John
Cena
would then change. He went from being someone you either liked or didn't, to
someone who would fit the mold of "gotta cater to the WWE way of
life". Cena
went from someone who freestyled everything to a style that was
structured...listening to his interviews nowadays sometimes has the feel of
something that has been fed to him and he is trying to get over. John
Cena
has transcended into the 'Amanda Ultimate Warrior' feel and I think the fans are
not going to let him forget it.
Comparisons have been made between the Rock and
John
Cena
(predictable movesets (I would love to see Cena
do the five knuckle shuffle after the FU since it seems fans like that more ala
the People's Elbow (a move which was the precedent to the Rock Bottom back in
the day) following the Rock Bottom) and being forced down everyone's throats)
however I believe that the major difference is that the Rock had the carte
blanche and flexibility to do his promoes as well as his matches.
I believe that creative needs to go back
to those days....they have a whole video library to work with...and see what was
being done when John Cena got over with everyone. But as long as he's SuperCena
doing completely overscripted interviews....the guys will not like him because
he comes off as corporate. Rock and Austin (despite angles which made them that
way) never came across that way and no matter whether they were heel or face,
they knew they could take the crowd and make them like putty with the
flexibility and the range to do anything they felt like...in ring or interview
wise.
Next order of business...bring back the brand extension. No matter how much WWE
may try to spin it, the brand extension died some time ago. Nowadays, every
month's PPV are all the same for the most part with some slight changes put in.
I wish they would go back to brand only PPV's...then people would have reason to
become invested in the people on the individual brands. Took a while for me to
get used to La Resistance as tag team champions after the extension but it
eventually happened. If anything, they could do the brand only PPVs again
between the big four, throw in a mixed brand match or two, and on those months
of the big four, do a two hour ECW PPV at a cheaper rate (not because they are,
but because of the limited roster. Personally if I see another PPV highlighted
by the same people that highlighted it the week before, i'm gonna scream.
Also, with brand extension PPVs again, nothing has to be hotshotted as much as
they are now.
Third and final for now with WWE....especially to creative...use the WWE video
libraries for inspiration and ideas. I tell you, I watch WWE 24/7, most notably
the TV Classics, and while I know where the storylines are headed, I get
enthralled all over again with what the stories are and get involved with them
again as if I am watching it for the first time...back then, as I stated in a
previous column, everyone mattered...Sam Houston mattered....Black Bart
mattered....Flair, TA, Rhodes, Garvins, Horsemen,...they all mattered..hell even
the Mulkeys mattered. Nowadays, if you're not supposed to matter but somehow you
matter to the crowds, your legs will get cut from under you very quickly...and
if you still matter to people after that, you will get a half hearted full push
to appease the people but then you'll be presented in a very negative light
because of it (see Punk, Rey, hell Christian might have been added to this list
if he hadn't left for TNA). WWE Creative, embrace who you have, realize who the
crowd gets behind, and stop getting rid of high quality people and keeping
people like Snitsky. Now time to get to...
TNA
Not much I say about TNA but this. If you look back at the early days of TNA
when they first started and wonder...who'd pay every week to watch TNA? Well, I
would be one of them. Every week, TNA was a given, and I would regret the times
when I couldn't (either due to finances or otherwise). But for the most part I
did. Why, you may ask? Because it was different, it was a mixture of people you
knew in addition to people who might have been known from places like NWA
Wildside...but it always felt like a homegrown product. Eventually, they would
go to once a month PPVs and there would be times I'd bypass a WWE PPV to order a
TNA PPV because the quality was such that I could love and become totally
entertained by. When you've been watching wrestling as long as I have, it's hard
to be entertained or surprised because you've seen it all. However, problems
that plaqued TNA...belt always went back to Jarrett...PPVs ended with the same
equation (ref bump, run in, pin doesn't count, ref wakes up, other guy wins
after guitar hit, interference, or other)...and the biggest problem...overreliance
on WWE castoffs, matches with the most convuluted rules or setup, and a creative
team that's not so creative. If you can't get behind the people who brought you
to where you are, why should the people watching it would? We've seen Angle,
we've seen Booker, we've seen Christian...Rhino...3D...etc. Instead, we want to
see people that are homegrown or not seen much before, but have the talent to
get over to no end but are held back.
Another major issue with TNA is the network they're on. Spike...formerly TNN...had
RAW on and it was getting 3.0s or 4.0s depending. Now TNA gets 1.0 and Spike is
jumping up and down over in. I see Spike as the jilted lover who got into a
rebound relationship with TNA after RAW left and will basically go along with
however the relationship is because they don't want to be alone. Spike has
essentially become complacent with regards to the ratings it seem and doesn't
want to push TNA (at least that's the way it looks from the outside) to become
better. Therefore, the product itself doesn't become better...and as long as
Spike deals with TNA this way, I'm sure Dixie Carter and creative will deal with
it the same way. 'There's nothing wrong with our product, because the network
we're on thinks it's ok that not many people view us' It's no surprise that TNA
does not have as someone else stated "A strong brand name" Guess I had
more to say then I thought....last but not least
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor to me suffers from the same issue the old ECW had. It's a fed a
lot of people love to watch....love to talk about...and full of talent that is
of a quality that you want to see them. However, you had to either tape trade or
buy the ECW/HHG tapes to see them. (Sidestep a bit...while they were the most
nondescript tapes out there....just a tape with a plain label on them and just a
white tape box...the match quality of ECW was definitely the best to see.)
Anyhow, back to the point, granted you can see ROH on PPV but I think the longer
they go without TV, not as many people will know they exist. All the wrestling
I've gotten into was due to their TV presence with exception of ECW. Eventually
ROH will have to find a TV outlet if they want to have a bigger coverage area
then they do now. However, the problem with TV for an up and coming fed or to
one that has never had TV before, is that you put your athletes out there on a
stage where if more people see the athletes, other feds are seeing them too and
they might try to steal them away. If you do not have a firm foundation and have
your brand defined people, this will happen. However, for ROH to survive, TV
will have to be in the cards soon....otherwise, ROH will be the independent
promotion that almost was.
Guess I'm wrapping this, but first, a way overdue tribute to someone I knew and
will forever miss. Back when I was growing up in Los Angeles, I listened to this
wrestling show on the Cable Radio Network. It was all call in and as such I
called in on it many times using the name Magnum AG. The host was knowledgeable
about wrestling and was one of the most courteous and nicest guys I can say I
had the fortune of knowing. It was because of that show, I also made a long time
friend (now known as Raven (not that one) and now a porn producer for Kickass
pictures (cheap plug for you buddy)). But anyhow, I would have the fortune of
being a long time caller on his show and would see him one time while he was
training a guy named Terrific T. His name is Darren McMillan...otherwise known
to most of you as Mr 80's Dynamite D of XPW fame. I can truly say that D never
made you feel any less of yourself and any interaction you had, you left feeling
just a little bit better than you did before talking to him that day. Dynamite
D, you forever will be missed....
Now we come to a close here for Slammin Synapses...you can reach me at agourrier@yahoo.com
or at my myspace page at www.myspace.com/pwamradio.
Next time, some more random thoughts from the outer regions of my mind....plus
how I got into the wrestling business. Til later....
