Professional Wrestling

That Hogan/Sting showdown was at Starrcade 2007, notable for a few things:

The highest grossing WCW PPV ever.

The botched fast count finish - ref Nick Patrick was supposed to do a fast count and give Hogan the victory. Bret Hart would arrive (fresh of the Montreal Screwjob) and restart the match which Sting would win. Instead Patrick made a regular count so the whole thing went to shit.

Then again, the match should have seen Sting fucking storjm through Hogan in less than 15 minutes and claim the title. Every fan wanted to see that, but according to Eric Bischoff (in his book) Hogan was disappointed Sting was a little out of shape and Eric and the bookers gave in to Hogan's demands for the fast count finish.

Oh, if you needed another reason why WCW went out of business: They got Hart in December 2007, right after the Screwjob. They proceeded to do nothing of importance with him!

How the fuck is that possible?

After Sting's win you simply have Hart either challenge Sting or attack Hogan! Yeah, he's the good guy attacking the bad guy Hogan but it would make sense once Hart cut a promo detailing how Hogan refused to do the right thing in WWF and bailed on the whole company.

Anyway, my creative writing can be done later:

I have never been to a show.

I think they came to Brisbane once while I was living there but otherwise they have never come close to where I live.

I never let that ruin my fandom though. A buddy and I put together what we thought was the best tap library ever - every single RAW, Nitro and ECW tv show or PPV.

We spent a fucking fortune until we discovered the internet and realised that they have wrestling all over the world. He continued to build the library but I went through one of those stages where I didn't wanna be a fan so I gave up helping him.

I don't know what ever happened to "our" library - I moved away and we lost contact.

And how a guy like Matt Morgan is still a mid-carder and not in the main event is baffling. The dude is a freak.

Re: Matt Morgan. He is impressive, and should be a headliner.

Then again, why isn't Great Khali, or "The Strongest Man In The World" killing people in the WWE? Logic would have it that once someone like Big Show gets his hands on you, it's over.

There used to be various titles in the WWF/WWE, like the Heaviweight, U.S., Intercontinental, and I believe Cruiserweight (though i could be wrong). Now, the titles mean nothing. WHAT IS the Intercontinental title? Why does it exist? The U.S. title? OK... so what?

Make those titles relate to something, and there'll be more value placed upon the respective champions.

As far as Morgan goes, there's a lot of personal shit that weighs heavily upon who succeeds and who doesn't (Pharaohs posts detail quite a bit of this). Maybe Morgan has an issue with helping wrestlers get over with the crowd (a Hogan problem). Maybe Morgan doesn't have the kind of personality that'll work well as either a headline face OR heel. Or, maybe TNA are a Bunch of Punks® who couldn't tell a solid angle if a million fans screamed in their redneck ears "Hey! We want this guy!!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by DennyMcLain

There used to be various titles in the WWF/WWE, like the Heaviweight, U.S., Intercontinental, and I believe Cruiserweight (though i could be wrong). Now, the titles mean nothing. WHAT IS the Intercontinental title? Why does it exist? The U.S. title? OK... so what?

Make those titles relate to something, and there'll be more value placed upon the respective champions.

The lesser titles are not hyped anymore because the business has changed. Back in the day if a promotion thought you had "World Title" potential they gave you a decent run (or runs) with the lesser title. You fought former World Champs, veteran guys that the crowd knew and respected and you won! They put you over. If your run with the lesser title was a success at the box office (in-ring ability isn't everything) you were elevated to the World Title.

At least that's how the NWA/WCW did it - which is why Ric Flair has so many title reigns. He was the guy that elevated you. Sometimes the elevation paid off (Sting/Lex Luger), sometimes it didn't (Ron Garvin).

Today the business doesn't work that way. No one gives a fuck that Shelton Benjamin has been US Champ for ages (and if WWE had made a big deal out of his reign MVP's recent win would have seemed more special, but that's a long tangent that I don't wanna type).

Today the TV shows are all about hyping PPV's and getting a good quarter hour rating so that they can bring in more ad money. That's why a guy like Benjamin doesn't get much TV time (dude is shit on the stick, but can be awesome in the ring. No mic time = who the fuck are you?)

I don't see the day coming when the IC, US and Tag titles mean a great deal. I'm sure there are people behind the scenes that claim that if the IC and US Championships are highly valued then that "de-values" the World Titles. I have a different opinion, but I can see both sides of the debate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DennyMcLain

As far as Morgan goes, there's a lot of personal shit that weighs heavily upon who succeeds and who doesn't (Pharaohs posts detail quite a bit of this). Maybe Morgan has an issue with helping wrestlers get over with the crowd (a Hogan problem). Maybe Morgan doesn't have the kind of personality that'll work well as either a headline face OR heel. Or, maybe TNA are a Bunch of Punks® who couldn't tell a solid angle if a million fans screamed in their redneck ears "Hey! We want this guy!!"

I have yet to read or hear of any backstage shit fucking with Matt Morgan. I have read that Kurt Angle thinks Morgan has the potential to be a "featured attraction in this business. That means he'll be so over he doesn't need the belt".

What Angle is saying is that like Triple H, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels etc Morgan can be one of those guys that fans just respond to. He doesn't need to be elevated (in Angle's opinion).

Morgan's problem in TNA is that he is a lot bigger than their real talent (when I say real talent I mean guys like Angle and Styles - smaller than the average WWE guy). This means that if Morgan has an even match with most of them he looks weak.

That's why WWE likes to have only bigger guys in the Main Events - Look at Cena, HHH, Orton, Taker, Batista etc - a guy the size of Rey Mysterio or CM Punk can't really beat them in an even match because it would make the bigger guy appear weak.

The solution for TNA and WWE is to copy a little bit of what Ring of Honor has done - make the "sporting" aspect of wrestling more of a feature. That way a guy who can actually wrestle (like Punk or Benjmain) would not make Batista look weak if they win - because they won due to their superior "technical" skills.

Morgan hasn't really been presented on TV (that I saw) with a personality that people can relate to or connect with. Now that he's a heel it should be easier to make him hated by the masses, but simply beating the crap out of Abyss and slamming him onto tacks isn't enough. He's gotta cut a killer promo where he explains why he's the baddest motherfucker on the planet, what he intends to do to his victims and why he's gonna wreck shop and win the title.

I firmly believe that I could write a 6 month outline that culminates with Morgan winning the title with little to no thought. That said the guys in Creative (lmao) at TNA are a bunch of punks and could not book a long-term angle to promote Samoa Joe and AJ Styles.

I seriously doubt they could book Morgan effectively for 3 weeks in a row and his hopes of winning the World Title in TNA within 5 years depend on Dixie Carter waking up from her fucking slumper and hiring Gabe Sapolsky or Paul Heyman or both.

Maybe he could jump to WWE - a guy that big will always be welcomed by Vince, especially now that it's obvious Morgan can wrestle a bit

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pharaoh

The solution for TNA and WWE is to copy a little bit of what Ring of Honor has done - make the "sporting" aspect of wrestling more of a feature. That way a guy who can actually wrestle (like Punk or Benjmain) would not make Batista look weak if they win - because they won due to their superior "technical" skills.

They had that for a while with Angle, and recently with Mysterio. I simply think:

a) they couldn't be champion for too long, it would be too unbelievable

b) their bodies probably wouldn't be able to take the week by week abuse
of continuously battling bigger opponents... scripted or not.

c) the fans would rather see Kane vs. Morgan than Punk vs. Styles.

I agree with your earlier assesment. the WWE may realign Smackdown to how it was before, a large contigent of cruiserweight wrestlers with a few big boys mixed in, and get the heavy hardware to Raw.

In fact, if Raw and Smackdown WERE different brands, rather than divisions of one brand, then it would be a perfect scenario for Matt Morgan to come on to the lighter Smackdown roster and positively lay waste. Smackdown would try to land a trade with Raw and try to get a big man, in which Raw would basically tell them to fuck off.

This would ignite a Raw vs. Smackdown war (Alliance vs. WWF all over again), with the general managers ordering their stables to infiltrate each others shows and cause havoc.

This could culminate in a PPV which is solely Raw vs. Smackdown in every match. The overall winner of the PPV would win the war, and everything would be settled.

That is, until the final heavyweight match is the tie-breaker, and one of the brands cheats to win....

Here comes another essay:

See how easy it is - Denny is not a diehard wrestling fan that knows the inner workings of the business like the back of his hand...

And he can write a fucking outline for a 12 month angle in 30 fucking seconds!

And Morgan laying waste to lots of jobbers is exactly what I would do to get him over. It's the done thing - Goldberg, Brock Lesnar - shit, WWE does it with every big guy they bring in. You do that for a month or 2, with Morgan taking the mic after each squash and demanding better opponents until just before a PPV someone in the upper mid card comes out (someone on the Booker T/Matt Hardy level) and accepts the challenge. (this plants a seed for a future feud)

Morgan gets rocked a few times in their PPV match, but nothing serious before he smashes them too.

Then as the PPV main event is about to reach the climax Morgan would come out, smash the good guy and allow the heel to win the belt. On the next TV show you have a ready made battle between Morgan and your former World Champion Good Guy.

That battle could last 3 months, with Morgan being the big time villan (attacks backstage, in parking lots, interfering in the good guys matches on TV, cutting kick ass promos). The battle would be more of an even fight in the ring but this would be the big test for Morgan - if fans seriously fucking hated him near the end of the 3 months you would use your former World Champ to elevate him (top guy losing convincingly) and if the reaction was not there Morgan would have to do the job (lose to the good guy) and settle back into the middle of the pack for a while before you tried it again.

The difference between him being elevated each time would simply come down to mic skills and the message he was sending on the stick. That's why being able to talk does matter. Shelton Benjamin is awesome in the ring but can't fucking use the stick to save his life so he stays in the middle of the pack. Sorry man, you're quality - but such is life.

And Denny - the reason the Angle reign didn't really work is because of the bullshit storylines that go with the top spot. If Angle v Batista was built more like a MMA match-up (different strengths/weaknesses of each pointed out by commentators) then the tension is there. Both men have certain abilities that allow you as a writer to book that battle well (Angle as the chicken shit heel talking up his technical skills while Batista is the big powerhouse just dying to get his hands on the smart ass that always attacks while his back is turned before bailing)

The pay off? (and this is the proven formula for heel champions)

Batista and Angle #1 - Angle cheats to pin Batista. It has to be as tainted as you can get without it being obvious the ref is fucking blind.

Batista and Angle #2 - Angle gets himself disqualified or counted out - he can't handle Batista.

Batista and Angle #3 - either is a stipulation match (No Holds Barred, No DQ/No Countout, Cage etc) or a straight up match. I would go with a straight up match - Batista wins the title but suffers a beatdown afterwards.

Batista and Angle #4 - this time it is a stipulation match. I'd book Batista to challenge Angle to an I Quit match (and I'd make everyone think Angle had the advantage due to his superior technical skills). Batista would kick his fucking ass. Angle would be beaten bloody.

Now, here's the kicker - you (as writer) don't have to make Angle say "I Quit". You can have him pass out from the pain of some move or you can have him actually tap. You don't need him to utter the words.

Which option you choose can change the way Angle is viewed as a character and can change future shows in many ways but I can't continue on this long ass tangent cause it really is never ending so:

In my scenario Angle would pass out from the pain and not tap or say I Quit. On the next TV show Batista would give Angle props for his courage and he'd ask Angle to come down to the ring - sign of respect as 2 warriors exchange a hand shake. To explain why Batista forgives the earlier attacks from behind you can have him (or the commentator) say "Angle made him a better wrestler with all those tactics or some such shit. Angle would come down and then Batista would fucking lay waste to him. I mean seriously fucking slaughter him. 3 spinebusters and 2 Batista Bombs kind of shit. No chairs or any of that shit though.

Batista explains his actions by saying he hasn't forgiven or forgotten all the shit Angle did. Angle is a coward blah blah blah. Then the next week you team Batista with the next biggest good guy and his brutal assault is forgiven

I'd take Angle off TV for a little while before either bringing him back as a good guy (time away led to change of heart) or bring him back wanting revenge on Batista.

BTW, the whole "sporting aspect" thing would really work if the entire federation/company was booked that way. Wrestling might be fake but if you take out as much of the "fakeness" as you can you will appeal to the both the wrestling and MMA fan.

MMA fans don't wanna see that ground and pound shit - they wanna see pro wrestling that doesn't look fake. Pro wrestling fans want to believe - they wanna see something almost real. The death defying high spots takes you out of the moment.

If a company could successfully merge the 2 that company would kick ass and would reach out to millions ... and millions of fans worldwide.

That's why ECW was so fucking popular. They weren't just hardcore garbage fights. They made cruiserweights popular. They had wrestling matches that were hot shit. They had Rob Van Dam, Shane Douglas, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio in the same company at the same time (Chris Jericho arrived after Malenko, Benoit, Eddie had left)!

And Paul Heyman and his team knew what the fuck they were doing but didn;t have enough cash

Why does Jeff Hardy look like a clown? He just looks retarded.

Because WWE creative is fucking stupid.

Everybody knows that facial expressions are essential in connecting with the audience. That's why Eric Bischoff forced Rey Mysterio to lose his mask in WCW. There are movies with actors laying in bed for half of it and you connect with that actor (Bone Collector - Denzel in bed for 99% of the fucking flick but you understand him, respect him, connect with him, care about him when he's about to get killed).

So what does WWE do? They paint Hardy's face so badly that you can't really see his expressions. I understand that Hardy isn't the greatest actor (and his mic skills are not where they should be) but they are actually hurting his character by painting his face.

Maybe it was done because Hardy just couldn't make the transition that his character required?

In the beginning of his feud with "brother" Matt young Jeff played the "I don't wanna fight my brother, even though he fucked me over" guy.

Then he had to play the "I'm turning the other cheek - that automatically makes me the good guy" character.

Now he's gone into the "Fuck you Matt - I done run out of cheeks. At Mania I'm gonna kick your ass" mode.

There is no way Jeff Hardy can switch it up. In his defense not many wrestlers can. They just don't know how to do subtle. That era is over. Chris Jericho and guys his age are pretty much the last generation that came up through the old territory system.

That will have a giant impact on the business in the next 5 to 10 years, I guarantee it. Today it's very rare for a wrestler to make an impact in WWE because they are all trained through the same system by the same few guys. They are creating wrestler rebots IMO (that opinion is shared by many).

The only guys that stand out are:

Jack Swagger - big guy with some skills
Ted DiBiase Jr/Cody Rhodes - having Hall of Fame fathers helps
Evan Bourne - worked through the indys and can do a shooting star press!
CM Punk - worked through the indys and is the closest thing to current trends that WWE has.

Morrison/Miz are good too but Miz came up through the development system WWE has now. It took him years to overcome that problem and it took Morrison to bring him up a ton of notches to the point that Miz was worth having on the roster.

Everyone else (I might have missed some people) is a "vanilla midget"

LMAO - that's an inside joke that I just realised no one will get. The term vanilla midget is what Kevin Nash and his buddies use to describe what is essentially a cruiserweight - no character, no tv time, bland, can be replaced with a similar midget and no one will care.

Nash was proven wrong by Benoit, Jericho and Eddie Guerrero (yes, Nash and his crew called them vanilla midgets) so maybe the guys I forgot about in WWE can prove me wrong too.

I seriously doubt we'll see another Jericho or Benoit again though - they are/were the shit IMO.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pharaoh

Everybody knows that facial expressions are essential in connecting with the audience. That's why Eric Bischoff forced Rey Mysterio to lose his mask in WCW. There are movies with actors laying in bed for half of it and you connect with that actor (Bone Collector - Denzel in bed for 99% of the fucking flick but you understand him, respect him, connect with him, care about him when he's about to get killed).

Sting?

Sting was from a generation where none of that shit mattered, so he kind of got grandfather'd in.