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About ten years ago, the wrestlers that were generally considered to be the best in ring wrestlers, were guys like Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and Shawn Michaels. I was curious to know who each of you think are among the best in ring wrestlers today.
Right now, I would have to say the best technician around today is Bryan Danielson. He's just amazing. He won our technician of the year for 2006 for his work in Ring Of Honor (www.rohwrestling.com) and he absolutely deserved it. Some other guys I really like are Nigel McGuinness and AJ Styles.
Many observers see late Gorilla Monsoon as a great commentator and maybe the best in that category. I agree in part, but found it negative that he never sold the bad guys as a commentator. Although he was a wrestler before becoming a commentator, he never seemed to be feared while doing interviews or a wrestler threatens him. Your thoughts please!
It was a different time then, for one thing. He was a pure good guy so like John Wayne, he stood up to evil. For another thing, he was huge! It wasn't like he was Jim Ross or Mike Tenay, he was a monster and wouldn't be afraid of big guys giving him crap. That was part of what made him great in my opinion.
Okay, hypothetical situation here. So let's say the Benoit/Congress situations had really hurt the WWE after a while with low ratings, poor live attendance, poor merchandise sales, etc. Do you ever see USA, MyNetworkTV or Sci Fi suddenly deciding that they're okay without wrestling on their networks? And if so, what do you think Vince's options would be?
Nothing usually happens all that suddenly in the TV business. If ratings drop, then shows become vulnerable. MNTV just bid on Smackdown so I think it's safe there for a while. How long that is depends on how it performs.
In the case of USA, they fiercely want to be, at least, the highest "ad supported" cable network on TV. As long as Raw does a good number, they will keep renewing its contract. I don't see much fear of them letting WWE go presently. If they did, Spike or FX are the only real options (and by that I means options that will pay solid money) out there for Raw.
ECW on Sci Fi is purely a ratings deal. If it performs, it will be renewed. If not, it's in trouble.
The bottom line here is that WWE needs to perform. As they found out with Heat, they don't want to be forced into broadcasting on their website.
It was reported initially that Vince McMahon would be able to use the "scratch" WWF logo on home releases after the case with the World Wildlife Fund was settled, but then the decision was obviously reversed. What exactly did Vince do that now prevents WWE from using the scratch emblem? Also, and I'm betting this is a reach, but is there ANY chance that WWE will be able to show some of their great Attitude era matches without any blurring?
That was reported "initially" years ago, after the sides came to an agreement for usage. Then Vince McMahon chose to ignore the terms of the agreement and the Fund took the Fed to court in England, where a judge ruled that WWE couldn't use the WWF name to market itself worldwide. Since the world included the web, the Fed became WWE and had to blur out all of the scratch logos from that period. Vince has no one to blame but himself for that. Had he abided by the terms of his deal with the Fund, he would still be running the WWF. The only way it will ever change is if he can put a deal together with the Fund. Since the company already went back on their word to them once, I don't see it happening, or at least happening cheaply.
You mentioned in a previous Q and A that the IC, United States and World Tag Team Titles are nothing but props now. I wish I could disagree with you (Especially the IC Belt since Tito Santana was my favorite wrestler growing up.) But sadly, You are right. Back in the 1970's to about the late 1990's I thought that all three belts were considered hot belts to hold and the IC Belt and the U.S. Champions were considered Number 1 Contenders for the World Titles (WWF,NWA and WCW). When do you believe the belts lost their value and credibility in today's WWF/E??
It's happened over the last few years as the company got away from the formula of, in many cases, having tomorrow's champion cut his teeth by holding the IC Title first. I don't have an exact date but as the creative team got into the habit of booking the top talent up at a high level and everyone else down there, the IC title and the tag belts have suffered and lost their credibility. As for the US Title, I don't think it really ever had much credibility in WWE. It was a WCW import and thus was largely treated like one. With two brands and two top belts, it makes the secondary straps look, well, secondary. There isn't much they can do about that. But, they certainly could push the tag belts better. There is no excuse for the way they promote those titles. I think they could do a great thing by unifying them and make one set of belts, a title that they then have people actually want to win.
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