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A lot of people have asked me why I haven't written a column in a while, and other than a busier that I am used to life, the answer is very simple. I haven't written a column in a while because there is nothing really to talk about.
Before I get a lot of hate mail from fans, understand that I am still as big a fan of professional wrestling as I was in 1974 when I first discovered the sport. The problem is that there is too much clutter and not enough substance, and even the newsworthy stories are predictable.
Batista left Smackdown because of an injury, and with Batista, Chris Benoit & Rey Mysterio all out with injuries, Booker T ascended to the top spot in the brand, perhaps more by default than by the federations choice, but Booker has succeeded in carrying the SD brand literally by himself, with some help from Ken Kennedy. But anyone who has been following the federation for any length of time knew that as soon as Batista was able to return, he was going to be returned to his rightful place as the World Heavyweight Champion even though Booker was booked to, and won the Champion of Champions match over the Big Show and the federations Golden Boy John Cena at Cyber Sunday one month prior. No big surprise here. Vince likes his wrestlers big, and Batista is as big as SD has, especially with Bobby Lashley having been moved to ECW.
Speaking of Lashley & ECW, with Rob Van Dam & Sabu in Vinces doghouse, and with the Big Show badly in need of a rest, was there any surprise in the fact that Lashley was quickly elevated to the top spot in ECW? With Batista on SD, Lashley would never have been champion, but before people misunderstand my feelings on Lashley, in no way do I feel that he was ready to become World Heavyweight Champion, not even on ECW, but
I also realize that he is big, well liked in the federation, and not in trouble like RVD or Sabu. Vince either had to put the belt on Lashley, bring someone else over from Raw or SD, give the belt to CM Punk (which is not going to happen anytime soon), or turn Test and put the belt on him. Since neither of those things was going to happen, Lashley was the
choice. No big surprise here either. Lashley couldn't get as over as WWE wanted him to on SD so they moved him to ECW.
Speaking of ECW, if a PPV happens and nobody watches it, did it really happen? Little joke. Seriously, a PPV with only one publicized match, a rumored match, a thin roster of wrestlers who are NEVER featured on television, and two to three hours to fill is doomed to failure. The semi-main event on the ECW PPV featured a Raw champion teaming with a SD mid-card performer against a top Raw title contender and a partner who was just released from personal issues, and this was the first match on the card. Add to this a bunch of matches that were thrown together at the last minute and you have a true recipe for disaster, and as with any disaster, there has to be blame placed. When that blame was placed, it wasn't placed with Vince McMahon. Nor were Stephanie McMahon or Kevin
Dunn held accountable. Paul Heyman took the fall for this one.
Heyman and others have said many times that Heyman comes up with ideas, presents them to Vince, and Vince tailors them to the overall WWE vision of ECW. When these ideas fail, Vince holds Heyman responsible, so when an entire PPV bombs, Heyman has to be the fall guy. Anyone who has been following WWE for a while knew that Vince would not take this hit himself, so Heyman being let go is news, but not newsworthy.
TNA has also made news lately, but it hasn't been newsworthy. Kurt Angle came into TNA and we all knew that Kurt wasn't going to job to any of TNAs top talent, at least not right away. We also knew that, despite my personal preference, Samoa Joe was not going to have his streak ended by a lower level star, and we knew this because it hadn't happened. So when Samoa Joe lost to Kurt Angle, while it was one of the better matches this year, it was not surprising. Many people felt that the Samoa Joe/Kurt Angle story line started too soon after Angle entered TNA and this is why. Now that you have done it, where do you go? But I digress.
Now, don't get me wrong; Abyss beating Sting was surprising, primarily because TNA invoked a long dormant rule that many of us had probably forgotten about and allowed Abyss to win by DQ. But since Sting was destined for a feud with Christian, and Angle already has a victory over Abyss, it only makes sense that Sting gets his rematch without
getting the title, and Angle finishes his business with Joe, and then Angle gets the NWA title from Abyss just in time for Jarrett's return. The surprising thing would be if Jarrett actually returned as a face as has been rumored.
Its also not much of a surprise when WWE raids talent from ROH, even though ROH is allegedly not even a blip on WWEs radar. For years WWE has claimed that they do not care about any other group, yet other groups guys seems to keep showing up on WWE television, so ROH losing one-half of their tag team champions to WWE is not news.
Now I know that this might sound a little cynical, but there really hasnt been anything truly newsworthy in the last few weeks. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Send comments, complaints or questions to me @ ericej@netzero.net
Eric E. Jenkins is an author who has written a semi-biographical book covering the last 30 years in professional wrestling through the eyes of a fan entitled Reflections of a Professional wrestling Fan: My 30 Years In the Business. He is currently writing Dead Too Soon, a book chronicling the careers of and paying tribute to many of the wrestling stars who passed away very young.
