Wrestling News June 24, 2005
There's an excellent, excellent interview with Kurt Angle up at IGN.
On his WM21 match with HBK:I'd have to say the Shawn Michaels match was the best, though, because I've had a lot of wrestlers come up to me, legends, former wrestlers like Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Paul Orndorff, Jesse Ventura call me personally and tell me that it was the best match they've ever seen in their life. There were also current wrestlers like Chris Benoit and JBL who came up to me and said "Kurt, I've never seen a match like that. That's the greatest match I've ever seen. That's what wrestling is all about." It surprised me, because when I was out there, I was feeling it, but I just did what I did then walked to the back like any other match. Before I knew it, everyone was on their feet clapping and I was like, "Wow, I didn't know it was that good." It made me very, very excited because at that point, it was something I needed. With all of the injuries I've had with my neck, what I needed was something to revive me, and that did. I think it showed Vince that I'm still at the top of my game and that my neck is no longer an issue. So he traded me to Raw and has given me a fresh beginning so now I can have an opportunity to make a run for the title. I think Vince was very concerned about my neck, and I think that's why you didn't see me in the title picture for a while, but now you're going to see me there.
SD: That was just an amazing match. But I do question the logic of him having to move to Raw to get back into the title scene. It does give the show another main event heel wrestler besides Triple H so hopefully they have some plans.
On amateur wrestling: And I think that finally, amateur wrestling as a community, they always felt like they took a backseat to pro wrestling and they felt that in people's minds, pro wrestling was just the next step of amateur wrestling. They were out there trying to say pro wrestling was fake and they were real. But pro wrestling is not fake, it's sports entertainment. We go out there and we perform, and a lot of what we do out there is real, but we're not going to insult anyone's intelligence, there is a predetermined winner. It's just the fans don't know who it is, and that's what makes it so intriguing. Amateur wrestling finally realized that by entering professional wrestling, I wasn't taking the next step, I was taking another career path and I opened it up for other wrestlers to follow.
SD: And we all owe Kurt a debt of gratitude for this. Shelton, Charlie and Brock are all amazingly talented in-ring performers. The era of crash tv is over so let's get back to the basics. In Terry Funk's autobiography he said that his father would train new wrestlers in amateur wrestling before they started doing pro-wrestling techniques. It gives them toughness, stamina and a solid chain wrestling background that the fans love if done right.
Check out the rest of the interview. It's well worth the time.
On SmackDown, Teddy Long announced a 6-man match for the new SmackDown Championship. Comic book author and screenwriter Steven Grant writes to the Observer and puts it all in perspective for all of us:
"So if they don't unify the World and WWE titles, do they really thinking having yet another title will make the titles seem more important? If they're not shifting one or the other to Smackdown, what's the point of
sticking yet another title on Raw when they don't do anything with the ones they've got?"
SD: If you'll recall, Grant is a long time wrestling fan and even wrote a few WWF comics for the now defunct Chaos! Comics; among them the Stone Cold Steve Austin and Mankind books. As to his entire letter, he's exactly right. Here we have wrestling fans who have been watching this sport for years and even we get confused as to who the champions are. Imagine what it must be like to the casual fan or even a first time viewer? I'm not suggesting they get rid of some titles. I just think they need to remember the sport in sports-entertainment. It's perectly acceptable to have storyline and personality conflicts. They are part of wrestling tradition as well. But the titles are just as important. Make people chasing the titles a primary goal again. This is the absolute easiest way to get over the wrestlers, the titles and the product itself.
After I wrote up that last tidbit, I found this article about former WWE Womens and Cruiserweight Champion Jacqueline. She agrees with me: "They tend to do more soap opera than wrestling," she said. "Have you noticed that? That's OK. We need that. But I think they need to focus more on wrestling. They need to bring it back.
"Right now, they are using a lot of Playboy models, a bunch of T & A. I have nothing against that. There is plenty of room for that, but there is room for both. People love to see pretty women, but you can see them anywhere. Get back to wrestling."
SD: The problems with WWE are so minute but everybody sees it. It just needs a little twist in the right direction and viewership will show upward mobility again.
The NWA World Championship stirs up strong feelings within TNA according to the PWTorch newsletter. Jarrett made the decision to bow out of the match voluntarily. Raven was instead added to the match during the pre-show. According to reports, Jarrett was upset that he wasn't being booked by the new writing committee in TNA to win back the NWA World Title on Sunday. Jarrett reportedly felt that it would have been damaging to his character to not win the match after putting himself over as the "King of the Mountain" all year in TNA. Dixie Carter was said to have stood her ground regarding the decision and would not allow a change in the match to take place to give Jarrett the win.
SD: If true, I have two opinions of Jarrett on this. First, I think it was really short-sighted of him to be doing the entire "King of the Mountain" as part of his gimmick. It was a gimmick match. He had to know there would be more. You don't see the Undertaker or Triple H calling themselves the Hellion of the Cell. Edge needs to be careful with this as well when referring to himself as "Mr. Money in the Bank". Second, I feel bad for him that the company he founded is moving ahead without his influence. From a company standpoint it is the right thing to do. But for him it has to be frustrating. Raven, who wasn't even supposed to be in the match until the situation developed had another reaction:
When Raven was informed hours before Slammiversary that he would be winning the NWA World Heavyweight Title, he reportedly broke down and cried. Being a long time fan and student of the wrestling business, Raven could recognize the history of the NWA Title and the significance of being put in the record books as a champion.
SD: Who says titles don't mean anything? The oldschool wrestlers (of which Raven is probably the last of) really understand the signifigance of being world champion. Unlike the mid-to-late '90s it seems the World titles are becoming important again in the industry. To be now listed in the record books as an NWA champion is an honor for Raven and makes his decision for a career path all that much sweeter for him. I'd like to publicly congratulate Raven for his accomplishment. You've earned it.
An interview with former New York Ranger, Chris McAllister had this little snippet:
Question: You're 6-foot-7. When was the last time you had a crush on a girl who was taller than you?
Answer: I wouldn't say I had a crush on her but I remember some girl who was 6-foot-8 coming up to me and saying, "You're cute." Scary. She was one of the girls from the WWE's Tough Enough TV series. She was a big girl.
SD: After a little research it turns out this girl was probably Paulina who is 6'3". Maybe she wore heels? If you recall Paulina later ended up making a couple appearances in TNA.
Here's a picture you've probably already seen of Mark Henry at the USA network's rebranding party:
Feel free to snark on it.
This item was also in a major American newspaper, the Oregonian, about a house show card at the Rose Garden Arena: "Batista better win it big time," she [Holli Dery] said before the big bout. And added her friend from Coos Bay, Victor Baldwin, 15: "Triple H is lame and his moves are getting old!"
SD: The move of Kurt Angle from SmackDown to Raw will help a lot with this image problem. Triple H is in the WWE for the long haul. Most likely that means he will remain at the top of the card. Now with Angle there and the potential upward mobility of Christian and Jericho (who both are among the top 6 Raw stars for the Raw-to-SmackDown draft graphic) Triple H can relax some and refocus on evolving his ring style and character some.
On his WM21 match with HBK:I'd have to say the Shawn Michaels match was the best, though, because I've had a lot of wrestlers come up to me, legends, former wrestlers like Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Paul Orndorff, Jesse Ventura call me personally and tell me that it was the best match they've ever seen in their life. There were also current wrestlers like Chris Benoit and JBL who came up to me and said "Kurt, I've never seen a match like that. That's the greatest match I've ever seen. That's what wrestling is all about." It surprised me, because when I was out there, I was feeling it, but I just did what I did then walked to the back like any other match. Before I knew it, everyone was on their feet clapping and I was like, "Wow, I didn't know it was that good." It made me very, very excited because at that point, it was something I needed. With all of the injuries I've had with my neck, what I needed was something to revive me, and that did. I think it showed Vince that I'm still at the top of my game and that my neck is no longer an issue. So he traded me to Raw and has given me a fresh beginning so now I can have an opportunity to make a run for the title. I think Vince was very concerned about my neck, and I think that's why you didn't see me in the title picture for a while, but now you're going to see me there.
SD: That was just an amazing match. But I do question the logic of him having to move to Raw to get back into the title scene. It does give the show another main event heel wrestler besides Triple H so hopefully they have some plans.
On amateur wrestling: And I think that finally, amateur wrestling as a community, they always felt like they took a backseat to pro wrestling and they felt that in people's minds, pro wrestling was just the next step of amateur wrestling. They were out there trying to say pro wrestling was fake and they were real. But pro wrestling is not fake, it's sports entertainment. We go out there and we perform, and a lot of what we do out there is real, but we're not going to insult anyone's intelligence, there is a predetermined winner. It's just the fans don't know who it is, and that's what makes it so intriguing. Amateur wrestling finally realized that by entering professional wrestling, I wasn't taking the next step, I was taking another career path and I opened it up for other wrestlers to follow.
SD: And we all owe Kurt a debt of gratitude for this. Shelton, Charlie and Brock are all amazingly talented in-ring performers. The era of crash tv is over so let's get back to the basics. In Terry Funk's autobiography he said that his father would train new wrestlers in amateur wrestling before they started doing pro-wrestling techniques. It gives them toughness, stamina and a solid chain wrestling background that the fans love if done right.
Check out the rest of the interview. It's well worth the time.
On SmackDown, Teddy Long announced a 6-man match for the new SmackDown Championship. Comic book author and screenwriter Steven Grant writes to the Observer and puts it all in perspective for all of us:
"So if they don't unify the World and WWE titles, do they really thinking having yet another title will make the titles seem more important? If they're not shifting one or the other to Smackdown, what's the point of
sticking yet another title on Raw when they don't do anything with the ones they've got?"
SD: If you'll recall, Grant is a long time wrestling fan and even wrote a few WWF comics for the now defunct Chaos! Comics; among them the Stone Cold Steve Austin and Mankind books. As to his entire letter, he's exactly right. Here we have wrestling fans who have been watching this sport for years and even we get confused as to who the champions are. Imagine what it must be like to the casual fan or even a first time viewer? I'm not suggesting they get rid of some titles. I just think they need to remember the sport in sports-entertainment. It's perectly acceptable to have storyline and personality conflicts. They are part of wrestling tradition as well. But the titles are just as important. Make people chasing the titles a primary goal again. This is the absolute easiest way to get over the wrestlers, the titles and the product itself.
After I wrote up that last tidbit, I found this article about former WWE Womens and Cruiserweight Champion Jacqueline. She agrees with me: "They tend to do more soap opera than wrestling," she said. "Have you noticed that? That's OK. We need that. But I think they need to focus more on wrestling. They need to bring it back.
"Right now, they are using a lot of Playboy models, a bunch of T & A. I have nothing against that. There is plenty of room for that, but there is room for both. People love to see pretty women, but you can see them anywhere. Get back to wrestling."
SD: The problems with WWE are so minute but everybody sees it. It just needs a little twist in the right direction and viewership will show upward mobility again.
The NWA World Championship stirs up strong feelings within TNA according to the PWTorch newsletter. Jarrett made the decision to bow out of the match voluntarily. Raven was instead added to the match during the pre-show. According to reports, Jarrett was upset that he wasn't being booked by the new writing committee in TNA to win back the NWA World Title on Sunday. Jarrett reportedly felt that it would have been damaging to his character to not win the match after putting himself over as the "King of the Mountain" all year in TNA. Dixie Carter was said to have stood her ground regarding the decision and would not allow a change in the match to take place to give Jarrett the win.
SD: If true, I have two opinions of Jarrett on this. First, I think it was really short-sighted of him to be doing the entire "King of the Mountain" as part of his gimmick. It was a gimmick match. He had to know there would be more. You don't see the Undertaker or Triple H calling themselves the Hellion of the Cell. Edge needs to be careful with this as well when referring to himself as "Mr. Money in the Bank". Second, I feel bad for him that the company he founded is moving ahead without his influence. From a company standpoint it is the right thing to do. But for him it has to be frustrating. Raven, who wasn't even supposed to be in the match until the situation developed had another reaction:
When Raven was informed hours before Slammiversary that he would be winning the NWA World Heavyweight Title, he reportedly broke down and cried. Being a long time fan and student of the wrestling business, Raven could recognize the history of the NWA Title and the significance of being put in the record books as a champion.
SD: Who says titles don't mean anything? The oldschool wrestlers (of which Raven is probably the last of) really understand the signifigance of being world champion. Unlike the mid-to-late '90s it seems the World titles are becoming important again in the industry. To be now listed in the record books as an NWA champion is an honor for Raven and makes his decision for a career path all that much sweeter for him. I'd like to publicly congratulate Raven for his accomplishment. You've earned it.
An interview with former New York Ranger, Chris McAllister had this little snippet:
Question: You're 6-foot-7. When was the last time you had a crush on a girl who was taller than you?
Answer: I wouldn't say I had a crush on her but I remember some girl who was 6-foot-8 coming up to me and saying, "You're cute." Scary. She was one of the girls from the WWE's Tough Enough TV series. She was a big girl.
SD: After a little research it turns out this girl was probably Paulina who is 6'3". Maybe she wore heels? If you recall Paulina later ended up making a couple appearances in TNA.
Here's a picture you've probably already seen of Mark Henry at the USA network's rebranding party:
Feel free to snark on it.
This item was also in a major American newspaper, the Oregonian, about a house show card at the Rose Garden Arena: "Batista better win it big time," she [Holli Dery] said before the big bout. And added her friend from Coos Bay, Victor Baldwin, 15: "Triple H is lame and his moves are getting old!"
SD: The move of Kurt Angle from SmackDown to Raw will help a lot with this image problem. Triple H is in the WWE for the long haul. Most likely that means he will remain at the top of the card. Now with Angle there and the potential upward mobility of Christian and Jericho (who both are among the top 6 Raw stars for the Raw-to-SmackDown draft graphic) Triple H can relax some and refocus on evolving his ring style and character some.
posted by Stefan at 5:27 PM
7 Comments:
Now with Angle there and the potential upward mobility of Christian and Jericho Triple H can relax some and refocus on evolving his ring style and character some.
Sorry LH, but BWAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I would love to believe that, but it won't happen.
As for the TNA thing, did Jarrett actually pulled himself out of the match? I haven't read anything about the PPV. If true, good for Dixie Carter for refusing to give in. For Raven, good for him. He always gave his all, and was a solid wrker (altho, I saw a recent match of his recently, and it wasn't that good). He deserves this. It's good to see a title like the NWA belt be treated with the respect it deserves.
Jim: I think it is a strong possibility and one that I think that Triple H himself would agree needs to happen. He isn't getting any younger. The less time he spends in the main events now the more time he can later. Now, I don't know him personally but I assume he has to realize the problems of having only one main event heel going strong. It's for the good of the company and his own health and longevity.
SA: I said "potential" upward mobility. The graphic they have been using forthe draft gives them a very prominent position. They've been getting a push and they're both very over. I see signs of the product as a whole turning around and this is a very good one.
As to TNA...well...who knows? I got the information at least 3rd hand. Could be true. Could be total BS. Most likely it is somewhere in the middle. I think it's a good assumption that maybe Raven was to replace somebody at the ppv and win the title and the Jarrett situation happened but there's no way for us to really know.
Angle-HBK was without a doubt the greatest match at this year's Mania..however as far as greatest match ever in WWE is concerned well there is some tough competition for that honor. HBK has had some classic matches over his long career and Angle had some good matches also in his short career including a better match with Benoit at Royal Rumble 2003. Then again both men had already wrestled each other so much that they were used to their styles..whereas for a *first time* match Angle-HBK did pretty damn good especially since they tried to do the other's style with HBK doing some matwork and Angle doing some high risk moves like the Moonsault. Chances are good that Sunday's match at Vengeance could be even better than the one at Mania of course depending on how much time they are given to work in the ring. You know HHH/Batista in the Cell will be like 35-40 minutes. Angle and HBK are two of my favorite guys in WWE and any time they wrestle you know its gonna be good.
Cool blog btw.
FunkyM has to agree with Mr. Ape and Mr. Ray. Other than Kurt Angle, he doesn't see any sign of another heel even approaching the level of HHH in the immediate future. It's obvious the WWE is trying to fix their recent mistakes with Randall Orton's face turn by building him into a major heel on Smackdown, but on the RAW side there's no one heel the WWE has shown the guts or instinct to get behind enough to put the company's future in their hands.
I really need to see that match again. I usually see ppvs at a bar which is good to see it with friends fairly cheaply but you do miss a lot. I remember loving the match though.
"Grant is a long time wrestling fan and even wrote a few WWF comics for the now defunct Chaos Comics; among them the Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin"
Beau Smith wrote The undertaker book. As a matter a fact I remember you doing a review of it on RSPW in the summer of 1998 years before I ever talked to you.
Eric: Dear God, you're right! You hear that people? I'm not a geek! Grant wrote the Stone Cold, Mankind and Chyna books however.
And I don't even remember that review. I need to look for it.
Thanks for pointing it out for me. I'm fixing the mistake now.
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