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Guest Columns | Tom Gally |
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TALES FROM THE MAT Can WCW Rebound? That is the question that has been on the minds of wrestling enthusiasts from coast to coast. The funny thing a lot of people don't realize is that the mere mention of that question out loud gives us our answer. If we have to ask the question, then a possibility exists. Though a possibility is no where close to a guarantee......mmmm, there is that word again. What is guaranteed in wrestling today? The only thing guaranteed in wrestling is the fact that we as fans might be a mark for one fed or another, but the fact remains we will always switch over to see what the other one is doing. I will be the first to tell anyone that I am a WWF mark. I've watched wrestling like many since I was a kid. When I compare the products of wrestling then to what it is now it's very different. I did find one similarity though. That being the fact that it was exciting. Watching wrestling is exciting because you get that unpredictability factor which makes us jump from our seat. Is WCW unpredictable? Well, I say with modesty that they try to be, David Arquette for instance. Vince Russo said in his interview on wrestline.com to all the critics arm chair cries from their living room and newsboards on the Internet to sit tight because they were going some where with it. WCW did go some place with it on Sunday when they had their Slamboree PPV. The main event itself was the place Vince Russo said they were going to. I assume he is referring to the "heel turn" by Dewey, ...I mean David Arquette.
Sunday David turned on DDP to help Jeff Jarrett regain the WCW world title. I
have to say for the first time, in a long time I actually watched a WCW PPV.
Now when I say that, for all you WCW marks out there who think you have
reformed me and won me over to your side, I am sorry to disappoint you. I
said I watched the PPV, I never said I actually paid my cable company for it,
if you smell what I am cooking.
I liked the actual cage concept used for the main event. I had no idea what
this thing looked like, because like most people I didn't go see Ready To
Rumble. DDP and Jarrett made the match look decent, both worked and sold
spots during the match and should be commended. Jarrett and Paige must have
been a little uneasy when Jarett was swinging near the edge of the top of the
cage while holding on to the cable. The Kemper Arena will always have echoes
of that tragic night last May where Owen Hart fell to his death. Under those
circumstances the guys worked harder then I have seen any WCW wrestler work
in a while and I noticed.
How could they do a better job on this PPV? Well, number one and always
number one on my list is put WCW through Chemotherapy and rid it of that
cancer known as Mark Madden. Comments like, " this match can end quick or
might go a bit longer," just have no place on television in any sport. The
match is going to end either then or later, how can we not know this? That
comment is like saying this football game is going to be decided in the
fourth quarter, if it's still tied after that the game is going to over time.
Sometimes I have to wonder if Madden just says what ever the hell he can come
up with just so he says something. Mark Madden is the nothing more than a WCW
mark, but the thing that pisses me off is the fact is he is a hired mark. He
is not a mark because he loves WCW, he just loves the check that he gets
every other week from them. Even though it was amusing to see Tank Abbott
disrobe Mark Madden to display that Bastion Booger physic of his, the
occasional "laugh at the fat guy" comedy can only go so long before it dies.
Either from bordom or Cholesterol. Madden should really be taken off
television and go back to practicing one liners on the Internet until he can
get a clue how to be a heel commentator. Maybe he should go to Memphis and
talk to Jerry Lawler for some pointers.
Something that easily could be fixed in the WCW product is the entrance
music. When WWF music, or even when ECW entrance music plays you know who is
coming. WCW lacks that intensity. The only theme music that really is descent
is the Wolfpac music Nash has, the NWO theme and old Hendrix song Hogan used
to come out to. Two of those three are pretty much buried now. Besides that
every other piece of music sounds exactly like the previous, which is like
crap. Compare Jeff Jarrett's theme in the WWF to his WCW theme now, their is
no comparison. The WWF handed Jarrett a great theme while WCW gave him one
that stinks up the arena from the moment it plays, which is exactly my point.
If WCW would stop paying a few thousand dollars for Michael Buffer
appearances, maybe they could find a new, talented composer and stop trying
to squeeze every drop of talent from a washed up Jimmy Hart. Music is
essential to any product, that's why you see these huge studios pay the big
bugs to artists to do music for their movies soundtrack. They pay the price
because they know it will benefit them tenfold in the long run.
Finally, I personally want to see WCW climb to the level they were at once.
Even though I am a WWF mark I see the WWF product has lost a step from what
it once was and I believe that to be because of the severe lack of
competition. Right now WCW can go no where but up and I hope they do. Because
if they can it will mean better wrestling for fans all across the board. At
the very least Hogan has realized he is not the main event any more. Though
since WCW is making Hogan break out the tables during a match and juice
pretty much every week I hope they do him one favor. Please at least give the
Hulkster a table that does not break before he even has a chance to open up
the legs. Speaking of legs, I have to say Miss Elizabeth still has a very
nice pair from my eyes on Sunday. Glad I am seeing more of her and Kim, they
are hot and what is wrestling without the ladies showing a little skin.
Simple things that WCW can correct without spending huge amounts of cash, the
question out there though is will they take advice from an Internet mark? If
anyone ever in power in WCW would listen to Internet fans, it's Vince Russo.
Don't take my opinion though, you be the judge.
Tom Gally |
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