May 12th, 2006. An epidemic has begun. It is spreading worse than any ailment known to man. It has infected the top industries in professional wrestling, and doesn’t look like there is any quick cure. The disease is known to all of us as… booking confusion.
Let’s Be Pro-Realistic: Epidemic of Confusion
It has been a hellacious week for wrestling. Commercial filming brawls, rumors about midget sidekicks, and the idea of a has-been gunning for a no-limits title has been almost enough to make me fall out of my chair reading it all. What the hell is happening? Can anyone explain it to me? No? Then I'll explain to you the problem.
Now, on to our feature presentation…
In order to understand why I feel confusion is running rampart in pro-wrestling, let’s start by breaking down the night that Raw was. In order to hit the points more easily, let’s start with the ending that really drove me into writing about this concept.
“Triple H is back! He was given the night off but he has returned! Will he be saving Cena & HBK as the Squad… OH MY GOD, Triple H just Pedigreed the Champ!”
On a night that John Cena finally had the crowd behind him during a match, he ran into a huge Pedigree by the Game. For weeks it seemed Triple H was ready to make a face turn, but he goes and takes out John Cena. Although he leaves HBK alone, teasing the DX reunion even further, his attack on Cena left me with a blank expression on my face. What the hell? It was announced that Triple H would indeed challenge John Cena for the WWE Championship… at the start of Raw next week. After Vince McMahon threatened HHH not to disobey him, he gives HHH his title shot anyways. Not only does HHH get another shot (and believe me, I am behind HHH all the way), it will kick off Raw. Does anyone know how to book a show anymore? Raw showed a lot of promise the last few weeks but all of a sudden, it fell apart.
It really began with the Foley turning on Edge bit. I was ecstatic to see the Innovator of Violence return to Raw, but not to see what happened. Tommy Dreamer was destroyed by Foley & Edge. Could this all be for ECW? Probably. But there is no reason why a MICK FOLEY HEEL TURN could go so horribly. Just like when HHH pedigreed Cena later on, it was just too much confusion for one night. No one knew what was going on with the Foley segment, and yes I say segment because that was not a match. Raw rarely hypes matches the week before, usually only telling us what might happen, and when it does finally tell us a huge match, it fails to deliver. This is not the way to get people to want to watch Raw. This failure to deliver almost makes me want to cry for a refund. Mick Foley was one of those legendary figures that just always gets cheered. Foley hasn’t been boo’ed in years, I think he might actually forget what it sounds like. A heel turn would be fine, something new and fresh, but it missed its target by a mile. At first, it seemed Foley was just trying to get things started quickly by blindsiding Dreamer, but as Foley pounded on him with Edge just standing there, I saw something wasn’t right. Then there was hand shake and the hand kiss by Foley. I don’t think I was the only one who said “What the f**k?” out loud.
It just didn’t make sense. Now I know he will explain himself on Raw, but I am not looking forward to it. Obviously Foley found a hardcore friend in Edge, much like he did with Chainsaw Charlie. It just left with me anger that they hyped a match and failed to deliver. Do I need to start on Carlito pulling a Triple H and attacking the face, Eugene? This night of confusion really began with the opening segment. It just ended abruptly by Vince who announced the fatal four-way match. The only good thing I got out of this quick ending to an intense opening promo was the RVD and John Cena stare down. Definitely going to happen at One Night Stand. But the tempo for a confusing and an over-all let down of a night had been established. I just had no idea what was going on.
A little too much dwelling on Raw? I guess, but trust me; it is not the only one that is suffering from a confusing series of events in its show. Smackdown, once thought to be the better produced show, has shuffled things around so much it is hard to understand at all. It is one thing for a makeshift plan to be introduced when all your main event guys have problems. Batista was injured, Angle too, Mysterio as well, Orton suspended. And did I mention Undertaker is a no-show? Well with all these flaws, Smackdown has continued to put together its best attempt. But it jumped around way too much. Mark Henry attacking Lashley, I can get that. But him to come back out and super splash Angle through a table? That made ZERO sense, story line wise. I thought JBL & Benoit had a good feud going for the US title, but then it stopped. JBL chose Mysterio as his next target. Although I enjoy JBL’s racist & arrogant character, he shouldn’t be gunning for Mysterio. He should be trying to maintain the mid-card’s stability. He & Benoit could have made for a great PPV match again, but instead they shove JBL back into the main event randomly again. Well maybe not randomly, last time Smackdown had a main event shortage crisis they did this as well. Must make JBL feel good to know he is Plan B. Mysterio getting pinned by Mark Henry doesn’t help either. Feuds that are just dropped hurt the show’s flow, and Smackdown does not need to be hurt anymore. It is just adding to the confusion I am sure many people have as well.
I just tore the WWE a new one, but its not just them. TNA is all over the place. Kevin Nash wants into the X-Division? Samoa Joe & Sting a team @ Sacrifice? Isn’t Samoa Joe a defending X Champion… who will not be defending it at their PPV? Kevin Nash’s interview was dead on when he said TNA grasps that X-Title, because it is the only thing that has maintained its credibility. If Nash goes for it, he should have just said “I’d single handedly ruin TNA”. There is no stability in TNA at all. From month to month, the roster is changed and altered with no real sense of progress. Samoa Joe is the next Brock Lesnar or Goldberg, the only making his way up the ladder. Unfortunately, he is holding a title that needs to be for other guys who also want to make a name for themselves. Here is a list of guys who have actually moved around the proverbial ladder:
-AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels are now Ex-X Division members, and new Tag Team partners.
-Samoa Joe is now a main eventer.
That’s it. TNA gave an already established star a World Title, a title that is obviously not on the top of the list of priorities. It continues to reuse and recycle old wCw garbage in order to ‘draw’ viewers in, but the ratings have not changed at all. This means that the only people ‘tuning’ in are the same fans that tune in week in and week out. I may bash the WWE here and there, but at least I know its roster. TNA makes more adjustments to its roster than I have ever seen before. No one is moving up, only side to side. The confusion to who is actually on the roster for good or not is non-existent, and it is sad for all its fans.
The bottom line is that wrestling right now has a lot of promise. The return of DX and ECW are in the horizon and are making for a more exciting summer. But it seems that with all the anticipation for the summer’s big events that the current state of wrestling is in a mess right now. I can’t tell who is a face, a heel, a rising star, a has-been, or what the hell is going on. It’s not the good kind of craziness either, it’s the annoying kind. And unless both promotions shape up soon, all this anticipation and expectations will bomb. The epidemic of confusion is continuing with no signs of stopping. Someone needs to save it all before it self destructs! S.O.S.!!! (Save our Sports-entertainment)
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