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/wrestling /guests /Mike S. |
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/wrestling /guests /Mike S. |
| Guest Columns | Mike S. |
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DISSECTION OF THE SUPERSTARS This week's column isn't going to be exactly what I had planned on. See, I had planned on dissecting Al Snow at the request of a friend of mine. But then I read a few interesting things online that really pissed me the fuck off. So we'll do Al Snow next week, if I remember to.But this time around, it's time to dissect the WWF booking situation and oneof it's current writers in particular, Vince Russo. WWF = THE BOOKINGS AND THE BOOKERS Let's look at the WWF's current situation, shall we? The WWF is probably the number one wrestling organization on earth. The ratings are at an all-time high, WWF merchandise sells like Las Vegas hookers to guys who just won the jackpot, and their closest rival, WCW, appears to not have a hope in hell of ever catching up to them. Things couldn't get better or possibly fail for them, right? They have to be either flawless or near-flawless to be achieving this kind of success. Yeah right. When I think of the WWF now as opposed to a year ago, I'm in a state of shock. A year ago, the WWF was on track. They had good characters, good storylines, and good matches. I was a WWF mark and was praying to whatever higher power existed that WCW would realize that they would and will always forever be nothing compaired to the MIGHTY POWER OF WWF ATTITUDE! A year later, and everything seems to be falling apart slowly. Sure, they're still killing WCW in the ratings and they're still selling merchandise like hotcakes, yadda yadda yadda. But the WWF machine is starting to show some wear and tear. Let's look at what made 1998 great and then compare it to the current situation now, shall we? Three points, like I listed above; good matches, good storylines, and good characters. First, the easiest one, good storylines. How could a wrestling fan NOT like what the WWF was putting out? Everyone could identify with Austin vs McMahon and were wanting Vinnie Mac to die a horrible death (hell, I marked out every time I saw Vince get his ass stunned), DX vs the Rock/Nation was cool as hell, Sable was there to give the 12 year olds some eye candy and occasionally wrestle, The Undertaker seemed to be at his creative peak, not as a walking dead man, but as an evil biker from hell who wanted his brother dead, and then later decided to team with him to wipe out Austin, and even the mid- carders had good feuds going on. As far as good characters go, I think little more need to be said as far as 1998 WWF goes. Everyone could put themselves in Austin's shoes, the Rock was majorly over as a badass trash talking heel, and DX were at their peak as authority-hating renegades with a monster following. The characters were great, not because they were too outrageous as to not be realistic, but characters that the fans could understand and commisserate with. And finally, the WWF had its share of good matches. A few that come to mind are Hell in the Cell 2 (maybe not the most technically perfect match out there, but one that no wrestling fan who's seen it will ever forget), the ladder match from SS 98, Austin/Foley from April and May, and scores of others. To sum up, the WWF in 1998 gave workrate fans and regular fans everything they could possibly want. So what the fuck happened to change the WWF into what it is now? Before I go into that, let's examine the current WWF situation using the same three guidelines as before. Good storylines-Austin vs. McMahon is very likely to flare up again, which is fine by me except that Austin can't even wrestle anymore, HHH vs McMahon is boring as shit (every week seems to follow the same tired formula between Austin/HHH/ Mcmahon), there are very few storylines that don't involve some sort of sex, and the storylines in a nutshell are...just boring. Why should I as a wrestling fan give a shit about Austin/McMahon? Austin has done nothing new or interesting to gain my interest since coming back. In 1998, who knew where the Rattlesnake might strike next? In 1999, he's just about 100% predictable. Same with the rest of the angles. BORING! Good characters-The wrestlers/characters in 1999 are a shadow of themselves. The Rock has gone from being a total asshole with catchphrases to being a catchphrase-spewing-at-90-miles- a-minute joke, Austin has not grown or changed one iota since 1998, and UT may not becoming back to wrestling (though he was a joke also before leaving). Most of the other characters in the WWF have personalities/gimmicks revolving around sex and at least two/three catchphrases each. God forbid a wrestler should be in the WWF without a signature line that McMahon and co. think the fans love. Good matches-This is the one that pisses me off the most. The first two I can somewhat live with. Not this one. In 1998 the WWF did their best to put out **** and ****+ matches on almost every PPV, and in fact they did this up until the first part of 1999. Now we're lucky if a match goes over 10 minutes. The wrestlers, in a nutshell, do not care about good-quality matches. They want to go out there, do their thing for five minutes, and have a damn run-in during every match. I am so sick of run-ins.... So what happened to change the WWF? What event or events occ- ured to replace the WWF that I loved into nothing more than a pale shadow of its once-great self? A number of things. The Greater Power angle/fiasco, the misuse of Jericho ever since he arrived in the WWF, the fact that HHH hasn't done as well as a heel as the WWF thought, all these and more lead to the WWF's decline. Either way, the WWF needs to fix their mistakes as soon as possible, or the empire that they've sacrificed so much for and built over the past few years with regards to the fans and ratings may begin to tear apart. And to start off with, they need to fire one man. Vince Russo. Vince Russo can probably, in my humble opinion, be almost single-handedly blamed for the general decline in wrestling in the past year or so, and the past few months in particular. His statements about the fans and what he thinks they like and dislike are sickening and insulting. The angles that he writes may be popular with the 12 year old crowd, but frankly I feel a bit insulted at times by some of the crap he puts on my TV on Mondays and Wednesdays. Take, for example, the skit on RAW which peaked a 8.4 quarter-hour rating involving the Rock and Mankind. Yes, the fans loved it and it brought in the viewers. Know why? Because two men who drew in ratings were on TV to- gether. It would have been just as easy to have Rock and Man- kind quote Shakespere as go through that skit. The skit itself was an insult to the intelligence of the wrestling public, and a slap in the face to fans like myself who have stuck with the WWF through thick and thin. Yes, the skit, and others that Russo is behind, bring in the ratings, I'll not deny that. But think on this. Eventually, the fans are going to start to realize that they are being treated like idiots by Russo and Co. And when they do, they'll switch to another product. Russo has already shown that he doesn't care about true professional wrestling or any of the great action from the past. All he sees is dollar signs. Unless the WWF realizes the mistakes they are making, we'll see a 1993 WCW situation with the WWF soon, I predict. I hope this isn't the case, because the WWF can put on great cards and angles when they choose. But if they keep on in the way that they have been, even my patience may come to an end. Feel free to write me with your thoughts. Mike S. freelance Mail the Author |
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