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Here’s how it works: each time out, we’ll take three current hot issues in wrestling, and then one of us will argue for each, and one will argue against each. For each question, we flip a coin to decide who’s taking which side, and then it’s up to us to formulate a cohesive argument for our position.
This week’s topics…
1- In spite of the increasingly likely departure of Jeff Hardy from WWE, he continues to be programmed at the top of the card, challenging for the World Title at Judgment Day and again at the upcoming Extreme Rules PPV, as well as being a featured part of every edition of Smackdown and any other show he appears on. Is it a good idea to continue to feature Jeff in this way, or should they be deemphasizing him in case he doesn’t sign a new contract?
2- The end of last week’s CM Punk-Chris Jericho match ended without a decisive finish when Umaga came into the ring and brutally attacked CM Punk, leaving him laying. However, after the beating, Umaga grabbed a microphone and shockingly spoke to Punk in perfect English, despite being booked as a savage, nonverbal animal for years. Should Umaga be cutting promos, or will talking damage the Umaga character?
3- For months now, John Cena has been taking shots at the Rock in nearly every interview he’s done, taking Rock to task for leaving WWE to pursue a movie career. Cena feels that he himself has managed to juggle both careers, as he has starred is multiple movies while taking little, if any, time away from WWE. More recently, when asked by The Sun about the poor business 12 Rounds did at the box office, Cena responded by saying that people don’t give WWE or its talent a chance because of “personal ignorance.†Is Cena justified in making the statements he does, or are his arguments baseless?
Let the debate begin!
Topic 1 – Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy should continue being pushed at the top of the card.
Gregory: Are you kidding? The fact that he’s probably on his way out the door makes this exactly the time you should be using him at the top! Let’s be clear here, it’s not like he’s being handed the World Title on his way out the door: he’s on top, but putting people over. He’s lost to Matt, he lost to Edge and yeah, he beat Edge on Smackdown last week but it’s setting him up to put Edge over in a bigger match at Extreme Rules. It’s a time honored tradition that people go out on their back and that’s exactly what he’s doing. Besides, what would you do, bounce him down to opening matches and have him putting over Funaki? It wouldn’t be believable because he’s been a main eventer for over a year now. If he does leave, these are the last few PPVs that WWE will be able to use him in a main event to draw, so why not? It keeps Edge busy for a few months and then have him move on after dominating the feud.
Jeff Hardy should not continue being pushed at the top of the card.
Stuart: There are a few reasons he should not be pushed on his way out the door. The first is that yes, he’s made the decision to leave, and by keeping him in the top storyline on the brand, you’re basically rewarding him for leaving. If WWE’s handing him contract after contract and Jeff still isn’t playing ball, then WWE ought to say “Okay, if you’re not interested in continuing the relationship, then neither are we, and you’re going to spend the rest of your contract on your back.†Yes, to a large extent he’s doing that anyway in the feud with Edge, but we’ve already seen it. We’ve already seen Hardy and Umaga, we’ve seen Hardy and Khali, and we’ve seen Hardy and Jericho. He should be counting the lights as he leaves, but this is the time when he should be pushed down the card to start dropping matches to guys like CM Punk and John Morrison to help elevate them so they can step up and take his place. Remember, Smackdown is the wrestling show so it will count for something as long as he loses and LOSES CLEAN. Hell, give him a short run on ECW to work with the Harts while you’re at it.
Topic 2 – Umaga
Umaga should be allowed to cut promos.
Gregory: Part of the reason Umaga worked so well at the beginning was that WWE essentially modernized the Kamala gimmick where you have this mindless creature from the jungle whose manager (or handler, or whatever) does all his talking for him. In Umaga’s case, he had Armando Alejandro Estrada, and it worked great because Armando made a great mouthpiece. In fact, I’m surprised that once they were broken up, WWE didn’t keep Armando around to do the talking for some other charismatically-deficient wrestler. But the fact is that they’re broken up, and Umaga has been floundering ever since. The key to keeping a character fresh is to have him evolve, I think that it’s absolutely time to do something new with Umaga, and I think having him talk is a good start. For one, you have the shock that this jungle monster can speak English, but he’s got street in him too, and I think taking him in a sort of hybrid thug/jungle monster direction could be very entertaining. If he took elements from both the “jungle†and “concrete jungle†lifestyles and meshed them together, you have the potential to rehash stuff that’s worked in the past, but present it in a way that’s never been done before.
Umaga should not be allowed to cut promos.
Stuart: It totally destroys the silent monster dynamic. Take Yokozuna for example: he always had Mr Fuji or Jim Cornette doing his talking for him, and that helped create this aura of a giant, yet deadly monster who didn’t need to talk because all he had to do was look at you to instill fear. But then once Yokozuna started talking for himself, it destroyed that illusion and then he was just a fat guy whose manager left him. This also reminds me of many angles I’ve seen in the past where a down on his luck wrestler will cut the “I’m not (character name), my name’s (real name) and I’m being real now!†promo that never fails to be the jump the shark moment in a wrestler’s career. If Umaga suddenly starts speaking perfect American English, and then goes on to give the “I’m not really a savage†interview, you’re taking away everything that was interesting about the character to begin with.
Topic 3 – John Cena
John Cena has legitimate reasons for making the statements he does.
Stuart: You know what? He’s actually got some good points! First of all, Cena does find a way to schedule his life to do both. No, his movies aren’t big time Disney blockbusters by any means, but he has still managed to juggle both the wrestling and moviemaking schedules in a way that isn’t overly detrimental to either. As far as what he said to the Sun about WWE’s critics, let’s be honest here, how many of you reading this have not thought the same thing? I know for myself that every time people find out I watch wrestling and they give me the “I just lost a lot of respect for you†look, and every time people go “you know that’s fake, right?†and make cracks about “wrestling being scriptedâ€, I can’t help but think that yeah, they’re being ignorant and dismissing something out of hand even thought they probably have watched little to no wrestling themselves other than to make fun of it. I don’t know if I necessarily agree that this translates to lower box office returns on 12 Rounds, but I think we all have to admit at least to ourselves that on some level, we see where Cena’s coming from on that one and identify with it.
John Cena does not have legitimate reasons for making the statements he does.
Gregory: First of all, the likelihood is that Cena himself isn’t the one behind these remarks, and it’s really Mr McMahon feeding him lines. I think we’re all aware of how petty Vinny can be and how he’ll use any forum available to snipe at his adversaries. Anyone who saw Raw this week knows what I mean. But even if we were to give the credit for the remarks to Cena, he’s talking out his rear end. We’re not talking about Brock Lesnar coming in and being gone inside of two years, the Rock was with the company for seven years before leaving for Hollywood, eight if you count the Wrestlemania 20 match. He worked very hard to live up to the push he was given, and he made WWE a ton of money. But now it’s 2003-04, Rock is in his early to mid 30s, and he wants to be able to live relatively pain free in his old age. He’s having movie deal after movie deal waved under his nose, and we’re not talking about second rate WWE movies, we’re talking Disney and other big time stuff. If you were in the same position and can still say you wouldn’t jump at the chance to leave wrestling for movies, you’re flat out lying. And hey, nobody says he doesn’t love wrestling, he’d just rather do movies, it’s not so black and white. As far as 12 Rounds and ignorant fans, I think that’s just bitterness that Rock has had a lot more success at the box office than Cena has or ever will. But the truth is that if WWE was at the level it was during the Attitude Era, there’s a good chance Cena would be a better box office draw, but the company has sunk so badly over the last seven years that the interest in WWE isn’t anywhere near what it was pre-InVasion, so if people aren’t interested to tune in to the core business, what makes them think anyone’s going to be falling over each other to go see a John Cena movie?
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So there you have it. Some fun topics this week and we’ll be back with more of the same at some point next week. Until then thanks for reading, and if you have any topics you’d like to see discussed here in a future edition of Both Sides Of The Fence, or any feedback on this week’s topics or anything else, feel free to send it along to stupwinsider@yahoo.com. Take care, and we’ll see you next week!
