It feels good to be able to write again. No, I haven’t been sick or away from my computer. I haven’t even been on vacation, just very, very busy. Remember this; Real life often gets in the way of real life.
Let me get this straight; Ariel and Trinity get released because WWE creative has nothing for them. Melina and Victoria, perhaps the two best female wrestlers in the federation are floundering. Former Diva search winner Christy Hemme was released and is currently working for TNA and former winner Ashley was expendable enough to be able to appear on Survivor. WWE has so many women that they can afford to lose all of these capable “divas” and they have the gall to hold another Diva Search. They are trotting out another bunch of swimsuit models and one will receive a contract from WWE, but we all know what is going to happen. At least three or four of the winners will be hired and will take up space on the roster while there are capable male wrestlers who can never get on TV. If WWE is serious about this, then they should start a women’s “brand” similar to GLOW and then they could hire all the women that they want because the way that they are doing it currently just doesn’t make sense.
Many wrestlers were “suspended” for their involvement with Signature Pharmacy and performance-enhancing drugs while Randy Orton, who was also involved with the pharmacy and has also committed several other offenses, was placed into a main event feud. Now, with Cena injured, it appears that Orton will leave No Mercy as the WWE Champion. If morale within the WWE is low, then this is a primary reason why. Orton seems to be covered in Teflon® because nothing seems to stick to him. He can do whatever he wants and he never receives anything more than a slap on the wrist. Maybe they should have told the world that he was Vince’s son because it sure seems like it.
There has been a lot of talk lately on the internet about this wrestler and that wrestler who deserves a title in WWE. Consider this; there is one wrestler on the WWE roster that, not only remained loyal to the WWF during the Monday Night Wars, he became a star in the business and he has never gotten himself into any trouble. If you are wondering who this is, I got two words for you…Glen Jacobs. That’s right, Kane. Chyna once said that she thought that Kane has the best physique in the business, but as many wrestlers who might be too busy to work out regularly because they are always working have, he has gained weight and his physique has faded some. In an era when WWE has been under fire because of all of the steroid allegations, it seems not too bright to have champions who look like they are chemically enhanced. Kane deserves more than a one day title reign. In thee past, whenever a wrestler was a “good soldier”, putting over the guys who the company felt needed a push and participating and whatever story line the writers wrote, he was usually rewarded with a title reign. The Undertaker just got his appreciation title reign earlier this year. Kane deserves one now. He has helped to elevate both Mark Henry and MVP. The best repayment that WWE could give to Kane would be a lengthy world title reign. Let Batista lose to Khali and then let Kane beat Khali and have a lengthy reign with Edge chasing once he returns. It’s only fair.
Wrestlers are brought to the main roster, placed in a tag team, given a silly name like Johnny Nitro, Deuce or Festus, and then elevated to single status, renamed, repackaged and pushed towards stardom. Elevating guys from tag teams to singles stardom is a practice that has gone on for years, but why not let the guys wrestle under regular names and just name the team. Shawn Michaels was not originally Shawn Devine and Bret Hart did wrestle as Billy Goodbody. John Morrison could have been John Morrison all along and Joey Mercury could have been Joey Matthews just as he was in ECW when he teamed with Christian York. With Melina they could have been 3M or something, but when the company decided to elevate Morrison (partially because of Mercury’s indiscretions); he would have just been elevated. When the company decides to elevate Deuce (which seems likely) or Festus (because Vince likes big guys), it is almost certain that they will have to take new names when their push starts. Just think about it, Nelson Frazier debuted as Mabel with the tag team Men on a Mission. Today, he is on his fourth different name. He went from Mabel to King Mabel to Viscera to Big Daddy V which he uses today in ECW. Why not just go back to real wrestler names and name the teams like in the 80’s? This would make elevating tag team stars into singles stars much easier because creative would not have to come up with a new name to replace the crappy name that they had as a tag team wrestler.
Speaking of Jesse & Festus, they made their debut this past Friday on Smackdown. Usually when a wrestler or a tag team makes their television debut, they are fed a sacrificial lamb to make the debuting star or stars look dominant as they work to appeal to the fans and get the crowd behind them. They also unveil some new move that sets the new wrestler apart from every other wrestler in the brand and possibly in the sport. What I saw from Jesse & Festus was, well, nothing special. Jesse wrestled like a cruiserweight who doesn’t fly much but moves around very fast (Jaime Noble) and Festus was just another big guy who is being billed as stronger than most of his opponents but has nothing different to offer (Snitsky). Then why not just team Snitsky with Noble? Anyway, not only did Jesse & Festus not look spectacular in t heir match, it looked on several occasions as if they were going to lose the match. Perhaps the most spectacular thing that I saw in the match was a somersault that Jesse performed from the apron onto one of his opponents, but after seeing Paul London hit a Shooting Star Press from the apron onto the floor on Monday night, Jesse’s move seemed ordinary. Jesse and Festus might be a great team and they might emerge as the stars of the tag team division before getting separated and having one of them become a singles star (see previous paragraph), but after their first impression, I am not impressed.
MVP and Matt Hardy are the WWE Tag Team Champions and are rivals for MVP’s United States Championship. Typically in a story line like this one, the two partners do not get along, fight among themselves in the tag matches, do not trust each other but still find ways to win until the rivalry pressures become too great and the team splits (see HBK & Cena). However, MVP and Hardy look like two brothers who love each other but spend the bulk of their energy trying to one-up each other at every turn. In fact, they are actually a formidable team that seems to work very well together. This is an odd story line that is serving no purpose other than to endear MVP with the fans while packaging him as a heel. This might be the plan but a wrestler whose gimmick is the highest paid rookie in the history of the business and walks around saying “I’m better than you” just might not make the best face.
Kurt Angle, who was also implicated in the Signature Pharmacy scandal, was arrested this past week for driving while under the influence of a controlled substance. It was also said that Kurt had pills in his mouth when he was arrested. It is not a good idea to keep the belt on Kurt with the furor over drug use in professional wrestling, just as it would not be a good idea to keep the belt on Batista since his name was brought up in the same scandal, even though he was awarded the title after the fact. TNA has made some bad decisions recently, not the least of which was to have not put the belt on Samoa Joe but to have awarded it to several imported talents while he was in the midst of his undefeated streak, but they really need to make a hard stance against these types of indiscretions, even though he is being presented as their biggest star. Fortunately for TNA, unlike WWE, there are several stars that are fully qualified to carry the ball if Kurt does not have the title, but unfortunately for TNA, they actually might not realize it.
Putting the TNA tag titles on Truth and Pacman was a huge mistake. There, I said it. TNA is doing something that WWE is not doing, promoting tag team wrestling. With Team 3-D, the Steiners, LAX, Triple X, Hoyt & Rave, VKM and the Motor City Machine Guns, TNA has more than enough capable tag teams to carry the gold. Pacman Jones was not needed, especially if he is not even allowed to touch or be touched. Having Killings carry all of their matches and then having Jones make the pin is fine, but as champions in matches against the Steiners or 3-D, Truth is going to get himself injured. Killings wanted a bigger role and he has gotten it, but when Pacman returns to football, what will Truth really have?
Lastly, I recently read Lance Storm’s commentary and it seems that Storm is really angry with the business. It also seems that his issues with the business center on the creative staffs of both TNA and WWE. I have one simple question for Lance Storm; if wrestling writing is so bad, and you feel the way that you do about it, then why don’t you get a job as a writer? My mother taught me that I should not criticize without offering a solution and you failed to do this. I offer you a suggestion, get a job as a writer in TNA and give them some semblance of what wrestling on television should be. Then, if it goes right, you can take the credit but if it goes wrong, you can take the blame.
Anyway, that’s all for now, but I promise that I will be back sooner than two months.
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.
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