The Way I See It: A Look At MVP, Miz, & More
Posted by TWV Guest Columnists
on 10/21/2006
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Guest Column By Josh Garzoli
I generally don't talk about the same thing in two columns, but I felt there were a few more things that I left out in my last column when talking about Kurt Angle joining TNA. I know there are some already questioning TNA's motive behind hiring Kurt Angle, whether or not they're more concerned with taking another step to making themselves a household name (and the hiring of him will definitely without a doubt give it a boost) than the actual status of his health. Well it's obvious his popularity as a pro wrestling definitely had a factor to do with it and for anyone to criticize them for going after Kurt Angle is just crazy because they would've been insane not to go after a free agent like him. While obviously his popularity was a huge factor into hiring, I don't think for a second that they aren't just as concerned about his health also. For them to ignore his health would just be suicidal to the company and with TNA still trying to make a name for itself, especially with them doing what they can to keep a good image with the long time & real pro wrestling fans, I just don't see them taking that big of a risk. They've already taken measures to keep him healthy before he has even wrestled for the company yet by not allowing him to wrestle in other Indy promotions and keeping him exclusive to TNA at this time.
As an old school wrestling fan myself, I understand & appreciate the simple concept of the heel & face. Heel is the bad guy that does what needs to be done to basically piss off the fans which can be done in numerous of ways. Taking advantage of the rules in matches, talking BS but not getting in the ring and doing anything about it, or being manipulative. Face is the good guy that does whatever is necessary to satisfy the fans by accepting all challenges & keep on working in matches no matter what the circumstances are.
There's a new wrestler that recently debuted in the ring that showed one of those traits and I'm referring to MVP. For weeks, this guy would show up on SmackDown! claiming that he was the best, kept making the excuse that he wasn't under contract yet so he wasn't going to get in the ring or brawl with anyone, and he was demanding a big paycheck. Then finally comes the day that he accepts the proper contract for him and debuts at No Mercy, coming out in goofy ring attire, which, by the way, was necessary due to the nature of his character, and basically beating up the jobber. Then, to take his character a little further, on the 10/13 edition of SmackDown!, he claimed his opponent was a tough competition for him. Now that folks, is the old school way of being a heel.
Yes, there'll be people that argue that since he talked smack for weeks & walked around like he was a big shot that he needed to show something in the ring as in some moves & charisma of some sort, and those people need to be reminded he's a heel and not a face. He's supposed to do whatever it takes to get under the fans skin. I myself personally like where they're going with this guy so far. He's showing the same amount of personality as Carlito was before he officially debuted last year with all of his videos and in ring tactics. As for his ring attire, again there are people who will point out how goofy looking in it he is, but he's made it work for him already and it fits his personality perfectly. Just him acting arrogant as he's coming to the ring & adding some pyro to his entrance fits in with his character perfectly. He's the type of character that's full of himself and that's how he's acting. I see this guy being a future star and you can mark my words if you want because I say he will be.
Then there are those characters & personalities that aren't really going anywhere because they do annoying or meaningless things over & over again, instead of changing things up like Carlito & John Cena have done. One of the wrestlers I'm referring to is Mike Mizanin aka The Miz. He, along with Ashley Massaro, hosted this year's Diva Search Contest and he couldn't even do a simple thing like that right. He let himself get nervous, which caused him to mess up the lines & announce the Divas' names wrong at times. The crowd & the IWC were both in agreement that he was just terrible. There was a Miz TV logo that was similar to the MTV Logo that was being shown at one time also that was supposed to lead somewhere for him, but it never went anywhere because the person he was supposed to be feuding with (Palmer Cannon) quit. He also at one point became the "host" of SmackDown!, which lead him into nothing again. All he did was announce what was going on at the beginning and other minor things during the show and that's about it. Now at present time, he's a current active member of the roster and is wrestling now, but it's looking like he might not be going anywhere now either. He had no involvement with No Mercy or the 10/13 edition of SmackDown! either. The only thing that's worked for this guy is he's gotten some fans to chant hoo-rah along with him. If he was to actually put a little more effort into establishing himself into being a heel or face and not a mixture of both, then maybe the crowd & IWC would show the guy a little more respect. The announcers need to establish that also. I don't know what's more irritating, that they keep bringing back a guy that just isn't getting over with the crowd or the fact they just recently released Brent Albright (Gunner Scott), who was struggling a little to connect with the crowd, but had a lot of charisma & potential to be a star.
TNA is once again taking the next step into making there company a household name like WWE. They've gone from doing two hour weekly PPV's to FSN on Saturday nights to Spike TV on Thursdays and now, starting on November 16th, they will be airing primetime. Do they get praised for that? No, they're still getting bitched about Jeff Jarrett constantly being on the show week after week. Yeah, this is the same guy that, along with others, behind TNA getting started to begin with and who to this day still represents the company whenever he's in other countries or Indy shows in the States; and I hate to break it to all you Jarrett haters, but he's also involved with negotiating TNA's deals: TV, merchandise, & et cetera. Since TNA has been around, they've turned a lot of their own wrestlers into stars in pro wrestling. Christopher Daniels, AJ Styles, AMW (America's Most Wanted), Abyss, Ron Killings, Samoa Joe, and a lot more. It's looking like the possibility of another rising star turning into a household name and that person I'm referring to is Bobby Roode. The whole free agent storyline that they started with him after Team Canada split has been very interesting, but there are two mistakes that have been made already and if TNA isn't careful, they could end up hurting Bobby Roode before he even begins to shine as a singles wrestler. They started off great with him talking with big name managers from the past, Bobby Heenan, Sherri Martel, & Colonel Parker. Then came his return with his new push as a singles wrestler at No Surrender, his chance to shine as a singles wrestler. Only problem was he was on the pre-show instead of the PPV itself in a match that most probably didn't see or even remember. His new manager isn't a big name either. I won't say who it is for those of you that want to find out for yourself, but most will probably end up being disappointed. Now to find out that he'll be wrestling on the Bound for Glory pre-show instead of the PPV itself...I just hope that he won't wrestle another jobber. TNA has a chance to build a new star; I hope they don't mess it up.
In the past month, TNA has been the talk of the IWC ever since the announcement that TNA was finally moving to primetime. Since I can't seem to find any that isn't pointing out the positives & negatives of TNA and seem to be intent on sticking to one side or the other, I thought I'd give my take. Since TNA started in 2002, they've started a revolution in pro wrestling. They've made new & constant Indy wrestlers into household names which I've mentioned already. They've came up with their own gimmick matches to further separate themselves from WWE. Ultimate X, Six Sides Of Steel, Hangman's Horror, et cetera. They started a brand new division in pro wrestling, which of course is the X-Division. To basically sum that division up, it's a combination of cruiserweight & hardcore style matches, which again WWE has chosen to bury and/or keep them on a low profile. All of this was started from scratch from TNA to give a new alternative to pro wrestling fans after the closures of WCW & ECW and the failed & short lived XPW & WWA. Oh and don't forget the former WWE "A-List" Superstars that have jumped ship within a little over a year and I'm referring to, of course, Christian, Dudley Boys, & Kurt Angle, not to mention a big name from the past showing up like Sting. That alone says a lot about a person who could've easily gone to WWE instead, a company that's already established and popular all over the world. If that doesn't indicate a big future for TNA, then you're blind as a bat. To also quickly summarize their TV history, they went from two hours a week of PPV to one hour a week on FSN, then two different time slots within a year on Spike TV, and now moving to primetime next month. All of that said, it seems there are still some more negative than positive comments towards TNA, despite all of those accomplishments. Just because I'm a big TNA fan myself, I'm not blind to the negatives towards TNA. In my opinion though, there are more positive than negative attributes to TNA in general, but I'm a fair person and I'll look at the negative side to TNA.
The big issue still is the fact that they don't have a two hour timeslot, which considering all the wrestlers that are coming in now and the wrestlers they still have to use on their roster, is a big problem and needs to be solved soon. I've heard Spike TV intends to have a few two hour specials this year, which is fine for a while longer but isn't the solution to the long term problems that can happen. That, folks, is the only real issue in my eyes that TNA has. I know there's a big portion of fans who don't even watch TNA often that are bitching about the fact that Jarrett has been a main eventer since TNA started, with or without the belt in his possession. To a certain degree, yes, I think he shows himself on TV a little too much and should take some face time off from IMPACT!, but he's busted his ass for the company since the start and still does. Whether it be showing up for almost every IMPACT! taping to date or doing appearances in other promotions and still getting TNA over, he's getting it done and should be appreciated for it. By the way, name one wrestler in TNA that's either on the way or has made it to the top that he's held back. For you often viewers of TNA that are also complaining, don't forget that Jarrett was one of the main people behind the start of TNA and is the one that's involved with working out TV & Merchandising deals.
Now, there are some making comparisons of TNA to WCW and all I've got to say to that is wow. For anyone to even think that are either delusional or didn't keep up with WCW. Bischoff threw his money around to get top name wrestlers for his promotion, immediately challenged WWE RAW with the start of Monday Nitro in the same timeslot, and would attack RAW verbally by giving results of the show before it even aired, not to mention top stars like Hogan & Nash keeping wrestlers like Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, & Chris Benoit from shining. TNA are using their older stars to put over TNA's current stars. Sting would be the only exception to all of this because he still gets a great response from ninety percent of the wrestling fans and would like to see him have another Heavyweight title run. TNA are using their older wrestlers to help get more fans to tune into IMPACT! and not putting belts on them like WCW did. Now one can point out that in the past two years, TNA has brought in wrestlers and have pushed them on TV causing wrestlers that started with TNA getting the short end of the stick. Overall, that hasn't happened. The wrestlers that have come in and gotten the spotlight are the ones that fans are demanding to see. Christian, Kurt Angle, Dudley Boys, Rhino, Kip James, Spike Dudley. There are current TNA wrestlers that started with the company that are still in the spotlight. AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, AMW, Ron Killings, et cetera. So I ask: where are the similarities between WCW & TNA?
That's it for this edition of The Way I See It. Feedback or comments are always welcomed & appreciated.
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