Pro Wrestling Ponderings

It would be easy to write about the world title reign of Nigel McGuinness, but he had the distinction of bringing another title so much prestige, the company felt that no one man could possibly top his title reign. For just under a year, Nigel McGuinness took the Pure wrestling title from a goofy second-tier belt into something that people cared about.

On August 25, 2005, Nigel McGuinness wrestled an ROH legend in Samoa Joe. Joe was the Pure champion and since he had already been a world champion, Joe was trying to add prestige to the Pure championship because of his status. Everyone seemed to expect the same long title reign that had accompanied Joe’s world title reign. It was not meant to be as Nigel McGuinness became the fifth Pure champion in company history.

McGuinness’ title defenses were not very frequent due to lack of challengers and a couple tours to the orient. However, his work as a heel champion who would do anything to retain his title, made him one of the most elite players in the company. Even if the matches were not four star classics, they were at the very least compelling pieces of storyline nirvana. He would defend his title against a wide variety of challengers that included both Ring of Honor world tag team champions and the Ring of Honor world champion. He would also defeat two TNA stars in Joe and Jay Lethal while also defeating a former ECW superstar in Tony Mamaluke.

His most notable rivalry in the first half of his title reign came against Claudio Castagnoli. Castagnoli was brand new to the company and got a huge rub just from narrowly beating McGuinness twice in title matches. Even with a match involving two referees and a climactic battle in New York city, McGuinness found a way. Just as he did in his entire ten month reign.

He was not involved with the CZW feud during any of 2006 but was instead content to just play the foil. That is until a unification match on April 28, 2006 against world champion Bryan Danielson. It was on that night that McGuinness retained his pure title by count-out. The world title could not change on the countout necessitating a rematch on July 29, 2006 where only Danielson’s world title was on the line. McGuinness would lost this match via small package and one more unification match was set up to take place in McGuinness’ home country.

On August 12, 2006 McGuinness lost in his championship in one of the best matches in company history. He had defended the Pure title in a way no one else had. He practically made bad finishes, count-outs, and disqualifications into an art form. In a company founded on the principles of great wrestling with clean finishes, McGuinness defied these things in such a way that it came off across as brilliant instead of eye-rolling.

Perhaps the finest example came in a title defense that took place against Homicide on June 24. Homicide had earned this title chance by helping ROH in the war against CZW back on May 13 against Necro Butcher. With the need for Homcide to once again help the company out against CZW on July 15, it would have only been appropriate to possibly have him as one of their champions, but it was not meant to be. McGuinness and Homicide brawled in the crowd for roughly 18 seconds until McGuinness scrambled into the ring. Homicide also scrambled in one second too late.

McGuinness retained his title but the win created a question in the minds of fans. Would Homicide join Team ROH? We did get our answer three weeks later, but it was the type of storytelling that made ROH such a great company in 2006. And the final story about the pure title did indeed come on August 12 as the greatest Pure champion in history lost his belt to perhaps the best world champion in history.

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Stepping ot of my usual Smackdown comfort zone, it has fallen to me to rock the ECW recap this week. I haven’t watched a full episode of ECW in quite some time, with the feud between John Morrison and CM Punk in process the last time I watched it properly. Shameful. Let’s get stuck in.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Zack Ryder: Following a recap of the recent skirmishes between Benjamin and Ryder, the match begins. A short match (I’d be surprised if it hit the five minute mark), but a good one with Benjamin in particular looking great, both in his offence and in his selling. Benjamin picks up win, hitting his finisher on Ryder. Strange that this match ended with Ryder taking the clean pin given that the feud appears to be in its infancy.

After some hyping of tonight’s main event featuring a no DQ, no count out match between Seamus and Goldust, it’s time for the Abraham Washington talk show segment. I haven’t been privvy to this nonsense yet since I haven’t been watching ECW but, based on what I’ve read, I predicted I’d be in for a laugh riot of horrible TV. And it was horrible, but in no way amusing. Tony Atlas introduces Washington and he comes out, launching into some banter about Cleveland (where tonight’s show was filmed) and how it sucks. Atlas does a terrible fake laugh throughout. Gregory Helms is introduced by Abraham and comes out, explaining that due his neck injury, he is now going to be a backstage announcer for ECW. He denies being the Hurricane. Atlas laughs again. Paul Burchill comes out and gets in Helms’ face. A pre-taped promo by the Hurricane plays and he challenges Burchill to a match next week, which Burchill accepts. Tony Atlas is still laughing. Is this his new gimmick? The sychophantic, shitty fake laughing guy? Ugh.

A great video package for the Undertaker airs, with various superstars talking about the mystique of the Deadman, in order to big up the encore presentation of Taker vs. HBK from this year’s Wrestlemania that will air tonight. Sweet.

Vladimir Koslov & Ezekial Jackson w/ William Regal vs. Mike Tolar & Jim Parks: Uh oh. I fear for the two jobbers’ safety in this one. After Tolar gets thrown around for a while, Koslov pins him and Regal enters the ring, applying the Regal Stretch to the youngster. Christian comes out. He says he’s brought back up. It’s Tommy Dreamer, who Regal openly laughs at. Christian and Dreamer attack Jackson and Koslov with singapore canes. Regal manages to escape. It’s later announced that Christian and Dreamer will face Koslov and Jackson next week on ECW.

A video package similar to the earlier Undertaker one airs, this time about HBK. It’s also rather splendid. Tiffany then introduces the encore presentation of the Taker vs. HBK, although it’s a highlights package, rather than the full match. No matter though, as the video is great and brings some goosebumps to my arm and some very happy memories of watching the match in person to my mind. Good stuff.

Seamus vs. Goldust (No DQ, no count out): I was looking forward to this main event as the only work I’d seen of Seamus was back in Irish Whip Wrestling in his O’ Shaunessey days. The match features a ton of back and forth action that highlights Seamus’ potenital and the rejuvenation of Goldust, which is a pleasure to see. Seamus eventually picks up the win, with a Rock Bottom into a backbreaker, which is apparently called the Irish Curse. Isn’t that a euphemism for having a limp dick? Perhaps not the best name for a finisher, especially in the eyes of Britons, but a good match that ends this week’s ECW nicely.

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Welcome back to the only weekly column where yours truly rants and raves about the mental impairment of those in the wrestling world! It’s been quite the week both in the ring and in the news, but before I jump in, I have to announce a new feature for “I’m With Stupid.”

When I first got the idea to do this column, I wanted to list the dumbest moments of the week, with the thing I deemed “most stupid” getting an award. When I re-tooled the column before publication, gone was the list and instead the recap format was chosen. Events this week have convinced me to bring one aspect of the original idea to your computer screens. So, starting this week, I will crown one person The Stupidest Person of the Week!

Since this is only the second column, I can take the liberty to go back in time and crown someone from last week the first ever winner. I barely mentioned this person in the inaugural edition, but this particular person managed, in the span of only a few seconds, to completely ruin one of the World Title matches at Summer Slam. So, Week 1’s Stupidest Person of the Week is none other than Lilian Garcia! Congratulations on COMPLETELY botching the result of the WWE Championship match, confusing the crowd, and taking a lot of momentum away from the entire show, Ms. Garcia! As a plus, given your propensity for botches on pay-per-view, I’m sure this will not be your last time winning this award!

Now, on to the week in stupidity!

TNA: Before I discuss Impact, let’s start with some wrestling news. Just two weeks removed from Kurt Angle’s arrest, the one-and-only Daniels got caught driving while impaired. According to reports, Daniels registered a 0.14 on a Breathalyzer while in North Carolina on Friday.

Hasn’t TNA gotten enough bad press in the last few weeks? Their road agents need to really hammer in that the boys need to be on their best behavior for the next few months. The last thing they need is more of this kind of press.

Impact was, again, quite good. If you didn’t catch my Impact review from late last week, you’ll see that I enjoyed the hell out of the in-ring product in almost all cases. Hamada’s debut was excellent and the six man main event worked well. There were, however, two moments that demand my attention.

In retrospect, I understand why Rhino destroyed Jesse Neal the way he did. If Rhino’s going to face Bobby Lashley, he needs to be built up. Having him destroy Neal and then lose via DQ isn’t the way to do it. Rhino looks like he has problems controlling himself against jobbers; he doesn’t look like someone who’s going to seriously challenge Bobbo.

The real crap of this week’s Impact was the segment with Foley, Abyss, ODB, and Cody Deaner. Abyss’s role wasn’t that bad, plus he got some groceries out of it. This ODB/Deaner stuff HAS to stop, though. It just has to. Deaner referencing The Hangover and then making a Chuck Norris reference to justify his getting the Knockouts Title caused my already precariously low IQ to drop significantly. The fact that the belt is being held up and that TNA might actually consider making a man the champion of the Knockouts Division makes me think that they want to kill it while they’re trying to build it up with their Tag Titles. It reminds me of when WCW instituted the Cruiserweight Tag Titles because they had killed the real Cruiserweight Title dead.

WWE: Again, let’s split it by show.

Superstars: Superstars bounced back in a big way this week, but this “Ask the Divas” garbage needs to never happen again. I do not need to hear Alicia Fox’s big hint about when a girl is into me, nor do I care what Mickie James thinks on the subject. Moving on!

Smackdown: No Kane-Khali? NO COMPLAINTS. Smackdown was excellent this week.

Raw: Too bad the same can’t be said for Raw. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was actually entertained by Raw this week (an odd break from the norm) and I loved the Dusty/DX comedy stuff (especially with a reference to the Shockmaster!), but there was still a whole lot of stupidity.

I don’t know what happened to Gail Kim. When she was on TNA she was one of the premier women’s wrestlers in the world. Now? She’s seriously delving into Rhaka Khan territory after Monday’s six diva battle royal and the disaster a few weeks back with Mickie James. Is her gimmick that she’s forgotten how to wrestle and needs to be re-taught? Honestly, I can get down with that, but I need to know. I’m sure the segments of her learning how to wrestle again would be a hell of a lot funnier than the next segment I simply must talk about.

I know I mentioned it last week, but I’m sick of Hornswoggle/Chavo. It now feels like these matches have been going on for an eternity. We get it. Chavo keeps getting outsmarted and nobody backstage likes him. I’m sure next week when Hornswoggle bests Chavo at Plinko, only Michael Cole will be laughing, and that’s only because Vince will be screaming “LAUGH DAMMIT” into the headset. Everyone else will just be sitting, waiting for these painful segments to end.

ECW: When it was announced on Raw that Taker-Michaels from Mania XXV would be shown on ECW, besides immediately thinking ‘RATINGS GRAB,’ I had to think that WWE’s opinion of the Extreme Brand was even lower than assumed.

WWE: “We’re gonna use a portion of your show to rebroadcast a match from WrestleMania. You know, that show where your title wasn’t defended!”

ECW: “We’ve sort of got a lot going on right now. We’re building a Christian-Regal feud and we need time to develop it. Plus we need to get Regal’s stable over.”

WWE: “Regal has a stable?”

ECW: “Yeah, with Ezekiel Jackson and Vladimir Kozlov.”

WWE: “…Those guys are still employed?”

ECW: “Didn’t you watch our match at SummerSlam?”

WWE: “To be honest, we took a bathroom break.”

ECW: “Right. So anyway, we’re also trying to build up Sheamus.”

WWE: “Who the Hell is Sheamus?”

ECW: “The Irish guy.”

WWE: “Finlay?”

ECW: “No. The young Irish guy.”

WWE: “Hornswoggle?”

ECW: “No. He’s not young, he’s a dwarf. The tall, young Irish guy.”

WWE: “Are you sure this guy’s under contract?”

ECW: “Trust us. We’re developing him.”

WWE: “Sure you are. And if he does get built up like you’re saying, we’ll just take him off your hands!”

ECW: “Isn’t this why our ratings are down? Our brand getting raided, leaving us with nothing and then forcing us to rebuild?”

WWE: “Yeah. Pretty much. But your fix of making people care about the guys you’ve got is gonna take too long, so forget what you’re doing; we’re gonna show clips of Taker-Michaels.”

ECW: “Clips?”

WWE: “Yeah! I mean, we’ve got to give you some time for your show, right? We’ll show five minutes of it set to music.”

ECW: “You think ratings will be spiked by advertising a five minute clip of Taker-Michaels?”

WWE: “Well, we’re gonna imply it’s the full match in advertising.”

ECW: “You really want to just piss off everyone who watches us so we can be cancelled. That’s got to be it.”

WWE: “Pretty much. Yeah.”

That conversation happened almost word for word. I’m sure of it.

Oh yeah; Tony Atlas needs to be punched in the voice box.

All of this brings us to The Stupidest Person of the Week. While Daniels nearly got it with his DWI, the simple fact of the matter is that this week’s SPOTW has to be, without question, Rey Mysterio!

Wellness violations are bad, but probably not worthy of being called “stupid” on the level of a DWI. But Rey’s is a special case. Let’s examine:

First, and this is probably the least important reason Rey deserves this week’s award, Rey is forced into dropping the Intercontinental Title much, much sooner than he wanted. For those that don’t know, (according to dirt sheets) he petitioned to keep the title, holding off on the Dolph Ziggler title win because he felt his previous reign was too short. Getting popped for Wellness now, in the middle of that reign he petitioned for, makes him look like an idiot.

Second, Mysterio should know better given the people he has surrounded himself with in the past. While steroids were probably not the primary factor in the death of Eddie Guerrero, they most certainly played a part. Likewise, given that Mysterio was a patient of Dr. Phil Astin (the guy who gave a whole lot of steroids to Chris Benoit), he should have considered himself lucky for not getting in huge trouble then and stayed away. I admit this isn’t as bad as when Harry Smith got busted for steroids even though they killed his father, but come on. The man should know better.

Third, the excuse he gave to Record, a Mexican newspaper, cemented his status as Stupid Wrestler of the Week. I know that when I’m on vacation and doing promotional tours that I’m just having too much fun to care about my pending suspension and can’t be bothered to show the prescription for the banned substances I’m taking. Apparently, I’m not alone. Seriously: Mysterio knows what’s on the list of banned substances for WWE. If he had a prescription like he claims (and believe me, I don’t buy that for one second), he probably should have provided it when he took the drug test, rather than try to blame the company for giving him a vacation right when they were about to suspend him. Give me a break.

Finally, the fact that his other reaction to getting caught involved throwing a hissy fit and nearly quitting (as was the word during Tuesday’s Smackdown taping) just puts the icing on the stupid cake.

With that, I bid you all a good week. Hopefully next week, my Stupid Person of the Week will win the award for something in kayfabe as opposed to a real life screw-up but knowing wrestling, I doubt it.

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CM Punk made his WWE (technically ECW, but work with me here) debut on August 1st, 2006 in the Hammerstein Ballroom competing against ECW Original Justin Credible. The reaction for Punk was astonishing, as the ballroom greeted Punk with cheers, chants, and all sorts of fanfare that a debuting wrestler never gets. This fanfare was the result of a couple factors. First off, WWE had done a tremendous job of building Punk’s character on television. For months now, Punk had cut promos around the 30 second mark telling people that he was a master of many fighting styles such as Jiu-Jitsu, Muy-Thai, etc. as well as informing the fans of his straight-edge lifestyle. While he didn’t preach this in his promos, he most certainly let us know that competition was his addiction.

The second reason was of course CM Punk’s tremendous history on the independent circuit most notably in IWA: Mid-South and of course Ring of Honor. CM Punk became known in the early 2000’s in IWA for his mic work, his matches with Chris Hero, his partnership with Colt Cabana, and for being somewhat of an unpleasant person both in regards to how the fans perceived him, and how the “boys in the back” perceived him. Regardless, you couldn’t argue his talent which is why he was picked up by Ring of Honor in October of 2002. He started off a face in a friendly rivalry with Colt Cabana, which while entertaining didn’t put a spotlight on him like you would expect. Then Raven stepped in and it became a whole new ball game. Punk began spewing his straight-edge lifestyle as if it were the gospel. Raven played the perfect foe to Punk with his sordid un-clean lifestyle being made very aware to the “smart” fans who attend(ed) Ring of Honor shows. Mostly competing in hardcore type matches, CM Punk moved on from the feud in the upper-echelon of Ring of Honor. He cemented his name there when he gave Christopher Daniels, a guy who main evented the first Ring of Honor show, the Pepsi Plunge from off the top rope through a table. Daniels wouldn’t be seen in Ring of Honor for a year and a half after that.

Punk’s success picked up with a small feud with AJ Styles in regards to the new ROH Pure Championship. Although Punk ultimately lost, he tasted gold for the first time soon after when he and Colt Cabana won the Ring of Honor tag team titles on ROH’s debut show in Chicago Ridge, IL. Punk began opening the eyes of the wrestling world soon after for two reasons: 1) His feud with wrestling legend Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and 2) His three astonishing ROH World Title matches against Samoa Joe. Because of this, it wasn’t too long until the WWE finally came knockin’. In Summer of 2005, rumors began swirling that WWE and TNA had offered contracts to three of Ring of Honor’s top dogs: CM Punk, Samoa Joe, and Bryan Danielson. Joe took the contract with TNA which meant he’d still be able to compete for Ring of Honor. Danielson chose neither, and spent the summer off to take a break and reengage in scholastic activities. Punk obviously chose the WWE, which is why no one expected that CM Punk would win the Ring of Honor title before he left. But he did. On June 18th, 2005 CM Punk defeated then Ring of Honor World champion Austin Aries to become the fifth champion in the company’s history. And thus began the best angle Ring of Honor has run.

Although it is only seven shows long, “The Summer of Punk” is widely regarded as one of, if not the best period in the company’s history. Punk changed his attitude becoming a WWE lackey. Punk went as far as to sign his WWE contract as it sat on top of his Ring of Honor title. What would happen? Would Punk take the belt with him to WWE? If not, who would beat him? ROH threw many different challengers his way, including one Christopher Daniels who returned at this time to exact a measure of revenge on the man who took him out of Ring of Honor back in January of 2004. It surprised fans that James Gibson, who also had been recently rumored to have signed with WWE, defeated him in a Four Corners Elimination match on August 12th, 2005. On August 13th, CM Punk had his final ROH match against Colt Cabana. It was 2 out of 3 falls, and Colt was able to score the upset. Although Punk cried and all the wrestlers and fans celebrated with showers of Pepsi, they all knew Punk was off to greener pastures.

Punk came in and really didn’t do too much of note for about his first year. He teamed with DX and the Hardys at the Survivor Series which took place in Ring of Honor’s hometown of Philadelphia, PA. He wrestled in Money in the Bank, and finally won his first WWE title when he defeated John Morrison for the ECW Championship on an episode of ECW on Sci-Fi in September 2007. Punk would hold the belt for a few months eventually losing to Chavo Guerrero the week before the Royal Rumble in Charlottesville, VA (a show I was in attendance for). Punk won the World Heavyweight Championship in summer of 2008, then won the World Tag Team Title and Intercontinental Titles soon after. Still, with all these accomplishments, CM Punk didn’t really arrive to the WWE until July 31, 2009.

That night, Jeff Hardy, who had just defeated CM Punk to recapture the World Heavyweight Championship the previous Sunday, put the title on the line against John Morrison in an incredible match. CM Punk came out, and patted John Morrison on the back as he headed down the aisle. He grabs the microphone, says very few words, and then bashes Jeff right in the head. For weeks now, Punk had been teasing his heel turn, by beginning to spout his straight-edge rhetoric in the WWE, most notably a promo at Night of Champions in Philadelphia, PA right before he lost the World Heavyweight Championship. But tonight was the night. Punk tossed Jeff to the floor and wasted no time following up. After a vicious attack on Jeff, it was clear that CM Punk had arrived.

The next week, Punk opened up Smackdown! with a promo explaining his actions and once again talking about his ideology. Jeff came out for their title match, which escalated quickly and was screeched to a halt. Later that night the match took place with Matt Hardy as the Special Enforcer. Matt cost Punk the match, and once again Punk struck Jeff tossing him into the steel steps. But the best heel stuff Punk does, is the little things. For example, the pat on Morrison’s back before he came down to attack Jeff the week before was such a great, slimey heel tactic. I also loved how Punk made the EMT’s go the long way around the ring to get to Jeff, causing Jeff to lay in pain even longer. Punk’s reaction to Teddy Long signing him to a TLC match for Summerslam was perfect, and the fans are gobbling up every piece of it.

Even though Punk has been a former World Tag Team Champion, Intercontinental Champion, ECW Champion, and two time World Heavyweight Champion, he has just now arrived in the WWE. The CM Punk that the Hammerstein fans were clamoring for back on August 1, 2006 has finally made his presence known in the WWE. Even though Punk has his fingerprints all over the WWE’s history for the past three years, his impact now will be far more substantial. We all know what Punk is capable of with the character he is portraying now, and I think he’ll be the top heel in the company for years to come. With Edge out of the picture, and Jericho embroiled in his tag team with The Big Show, Punk now stands as the top heel on Smackdown! and rightfully deserves the World Heavyweight Championship to give his push more value. I say Punk defeats the fans hero Jeff Hardy at Summerslam and we see 2009 close as the true Summer of Punk.

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We kick off the last ECW before Night of Champions with a real trial by fire contest as Yoshi Tatsu in his fourth match on ECW is up against the snug and tough Lord William Regal.  Regal always known for working a tad stiff does not disappoint in this match.  Though I will say that with each passing Yoshi Tatsu match we see development in his ring ability, this match really had some great fluidity.  Yoshi Tatsu has been groomed very well as the chants  against Regal and for Yoshi were very audible as they have been since his debut.   A great job also by Regal who really shows that he is a true test for the younger talent as this showcased, albeit  slow, how tough Yoshi could be against other opponents who will try to slow down his style.  One not-so-surprising-again kick to the head and we have an upset for our youg newcomer Yoshi Tatsu.  Good way to start off the show in my opinion.

The returning Mike Williams gets another sound beating by the gigantic Ezekiel Jackson.  Jackson really didn’t even break a sweat as two moves in he soundly defeats Williams who then suffers the wrath of Kozlov who comes down and massacres him with the Iron Curtain finnisher as if to say to Jackson, ” You took way too long..”  A budding feud and god bless the agent in charge of this.

We have the gold standard Shelton Benjamin against the gold enigma Goldust.  During the match I found myself asking once again what did Shelton do to get pushed so far down the ladder and then the botch spot during the match occured and I found myself wondering if Goldust could actually win.  Goldust and Benjamin are sound workers and so the finish was a tad out of nowhere but did show the elite precision that the PayDirt can be hit at.   Short and decent match that for some reason I was hoping would go somewhere.

Sheamus gets in a short backstage skit where he basically is declaring that WWE has decided that his last name is too complicated and thus Sheamus is all we’re going to get.  Big fan of the guys work in FCW and so I was really hoping for a match of his to be on next but hopefully he’ll be on next week.

Burchill backstage with Helms and Katie Lea mentions how he’s going to decimate Reks when Goldust starts to distract Burchil.  Can we let the Bale thing go already.. damn!  Looks like Goldust will be on next weeks ECW.

So we have the debuting, on ECW anyway, Tyler Reks and honestly a comparison can be made to Mark Henry.  Reks starts off with the whole chant for me signal of reaching into the air, I don’t know how successful that has been on Superstars but the crowd is so dead silent here that it just popped into my head that he’s trying to get a Mark Henry reaction and yet is getting the Henry reaction of last month.  Seriously, no one in this arena gave a crap who this Tyler Reks guy was and I think it was obvious even to him that he had better be impressive in this match.  Burchill came out to a chorus of boos while a few cat calls were given to his “sister”.

The match honestly wasn’t bad and to me was everything the fed would want their future to look like.  Two larger than average athletes going at a pace that is beyond what we would normally expect.  Reks definitely hit some decent high flying spots drawing the crowd over to his side while Burchill proved further that he is an asset to the company in that he can have a decent match and still put over the other talent and somehow still come off as if it was sort of an upset.  How long as it been since we’ve seen Burchill win and yet it seemed as if he should have dealt with this newcomer a lot easier.  Upon the finish of this match with a simple roll up, Reks got a few spatterings of cheers and we of course had the attack from behind from Burchill which will obviously lead into anther 3 match fed for him and then off to another new comer.

Overall an action filled episode as we lead into our final segment that would have minimal action but get across the ECW championship match at NOC.  The new and brash mouth of ECW Abraham Washington came out once again to tell everyone how great his show is and asked that we all cheer to bring out the nmber 1 contender and campion of the ECW championship.

Dreamer and Christian both had their chops biten as Washington took cheap pot shots at them verbally but in the end it was all about the two friends getting it on and proving to eachother and the world at NOC who the better man was.  Abraham continues to sound off his scripted promos very well and damn I wish the fed would let him give the promos he gave down in FCW.  Anyway a stare off between the two friends-turned-opponents to fade the show off and god damn it why can’t someone from TNA watch this show and learn how to run a wrestling tv show.

Anyway, that’s it for tonight folks. Thanks for reading.

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It seems like no matter how many times I try to leave, I’m always drawn back to the squared circle. There always seems to be something that entices me enough to rethink my decision, and it’s usually something completely innovative that makes a genuine effort to rejuvenate the sport.

After The Cool Kids Table - for which I was a writer for three months - shut down and the burnout I was experiencing from professional wrestling still had not yet subsided, I decided that once Wrestlemania 25 had wrapped up I would be taking a break. This wasn’t the first time I decided to stop watching wrestling. Right after Wrestlemania 19, I had grown distant enough from the sport that calling it quits seemed like an inevitability. Eventually, various college roommates brought me back to the fold in late 2005, right around the time that Samoa Joe and Kenta Kobashi were making headlines with their epic encounter in Ring Of Honor. I was hooked again.

During the resurgence of my fandom, I witnessed some pretty extraordinary events. I made the first of many trips to the ECW Arena, the most memorable of which came from TNA, which featured the homecomings of Jerry Lynn, the Dudleys Boys, Rhino, and Simon Diamond. I witnessed several amazing moments in the history of ROH first hand, and also met the majority of the roster circa Fall 2006; the most gracious of whom I found to be the Briscoe Brothers and Colt Cabana. I was there live to witness the last match of Ric Flair at Wrestlemania 24 - an instant classic. I got to be there for the two nights of filming for “The Wrestler,” and even managed to appear briefly in the movie. Above all else, I finally fulfilled a lifelong dream of meeting one of my heroes in Bret Hart.

I also experienced the worst days of my fandom. Many heroes passed, such as Eddie Guerrero, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Mitsuharu Misawa - whose death I wrote of at length several weeks ago. The darkest of all occurred two years ago when one of my all time favorites permanently blemished the sport with it’s darkest mark yet. I considered walking away then and there, but I managed to stick it out for a little while longer, even though I knew my heart would never be into wrestling the way it use to be.

So I called it quits this past March. Now I can only make assessments from what I hear in passing. Occasionally I’ll find myself perusing the ROH website or overhearing a friend say that Edge and Jericho are the tag team champions. I would hardly say that I’m in a position to judge the post-Wrestlemania landscape and the decisions that have been made booking-wise since I’m not 100% certain of what’s going on, but one thing I’m not going to do is start watching a product again just out of sheer curiosity when I have no interest whatsoever.

I know there are other things that I could be doing for this site that would be more beneficial to you, the reader, than telling you why I’m hardly interested in this sport that you are clearly into to such an extent that you frequent our little site. I could be telling you which ROH DVDs to buy or whether or not that last episode of RAW was worth catching. But I’m not going to do that anymore. Giving you a half-hearted report on a product I don’t care all that much about is not something I’m interested in doing, and I doubt you’d be interested in reading it if it sucks. But just because I’m not into the majority of the current wrestling landscape doesn’t mean that I don’t have a lot to say about wrestling as a whole.

I have no personal ties to this industry. I have supported it long enough, given thousands upon thousands of dollars and God knows how many hours to it. It has caused me to stand up and cheer because I’ve had something to believe in. It has also made me shed tears and feel grief for the losses suffered and for the frustrations that have accompanied being a fan. This column was based upon me giving my opinion. I did the best to limit the amount of words (1,000 or less) I could use for the sole purpose of giving you the strongest argument that I could. And over the next few weeks, I’m going to give you the best arguments I can for and against certain aspects of this industry. This week’s edition is about a little promotion that will be opening it’s doors in the next two weeks, and if anything, it’s making me second guess my feelings about the current product…

My Case - Dragon Gate USA makes me care about wrestling
Despite making a promise to myself to go on a hiatus from wrestling, a conversation with fellow-former Cool Kid and good friend Kevin Ford brought me to the Chikara website for a scroll down memory lane. This was where I found out about Dragon Gate USA. Could this be, I thought to myself? Is Gabe Sapolsky going back to work? Will there be a brand new promotion that will bring the action and excitement of Dragon Gate to the United States? And would that promotion be partnering up with Chikara, the only other promotion exciting enough to maintain my interest in the current wrestling landscape?

How could one not be intrigued by such an announcement? I mean, there’s always going to be a buzz when a new promotion, particularly one with such notable names attached to it, starts up, but this is truly something else. After all, this seems like every wrestling-geek’s wet dream come true. All the right elements are in place for this one: An offshoot of the most exciting wrestling promotion on the planet. A seasoned booker. The continuation of some classic rivalries. The array of talent, ranging from new blood (The Young Bucks) to the pioneers (2 Cold Scorpio). And two wrestling capitols of the world - Japan and Philadelphia - colliding for a one of a kind showcase. How could I possibly pass up this opportunity? I knew right away that this was not an event to be missed, and if I was going to give wrestling another shot, I was going to have to be there in person to see it for myself.

I always was and still am a big Gabe supporter, and I believe what he needed was a fresh start. With DGUSA, that’s exactly what he’s going to get. This is his opportunity to break new ground the way he did when Ring Of Honor first opened it’s doors in February 2002. Only this is not some kooky experiment for the diehard indy fan base that will be there to fill the void. This is the entree portion of the appetizer that was Ring Of Honor’s first three Supercard Of Honor Dragon Gate showcases. He has Dragon Gate and Chikara - the best of the east and the west - at his disposal for the inaugural event. DGUSA is going to bring a different kind of action and a whole new cast of characters to the national platform. Put simply, it’s going to be a breath of fresh air. That’s exactly why I’m excited for this event. It’s given me cause to say, “Okay, I’ll give this sport another shot.”

The aptly titled “Open The Historic Gate” will be just that - historic. It will open many minds to the bombastic world of Dragon Gate, something that the fans here in the States have only skimmed the surface of. My expectations are mediocre to high: I know this event will be tremendous and will probably cause my jaw to hit the floor several times during the night. At the same time, however, I have to remind myself that this is the first show for the promotion and I want to keep my expectations in check, because I have been disappointed in the past for allowing my own over-hyping to get the best of me. That will not be the case for “Historic Gate.” Gabe promised in a recently-published article that the quality over quantity format will help prevent burnout, and with his experience in booking shows where burnout was a serious problem, I think this is a big opportunity to right a wrong. I think DGUSA will prove to be a promotion that leaves it’s hungry fans salivating for more once they have come down from the post show euphoria.

I’m walking into the Arena with a clear head, as the lack of wrestling in my life for the past several months has given me the opportunity to recharge my batteries. I’m playing the wait and see game, but regardless, I will have coverage of this event as soon as it happens. To say that I can’t wait for it is an understatement. Give me your best Dragon Gate - and I know you will - because I am ready to be made a wrestling fan once again.

Number of words it took me to state my case - 717

That does it for this week’s edition of the Case. I will be back with another edition within the next two weeks about another promotion that I walked away from and don’t anticipate returning to. I hope to have results from “Open The Historic Gate” in as soon as they happen, followed by a complete write-up. Until next time wrestling fans…

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Each week I’m going to have a general column covering a wide variety of topics in the world of professional wrestling. Thanks to my friend Matt Woronko for providing me with this column name. Matt Woronko… yes.

Every time I read the various news sites and messageboards, I get to hear about how sucky the world of professional wrestling is. The old days were better while all the new wrestlers/superstars just plain suck. Amazing how that thinking seems to apply to every generation.

Ever since the draft (and also because I’m running this here website, I’ve re-dedicated myself to catching RAW, ROH, ECW, Smackdown, and Superstars. What has shocked me most is well produced and written one of the WWE brands in particular has been. This week I want to highlight ECW. It may not be as extreme, but there is still a lot to embrace.

I know people have a bad taste in their mouth because this isn’t what ECW was originally all about. I happen to agree with many of the complaints, but if the brand’s letters didn’t add up to E-C-W, I don’t think people would be so quick to whine and complain.

Since all good brands start out at the top, let’s look at the ECW champion, Christian. I wasn’t sure WWE would give him a chance when he made his return after three years in TNA, but through sheer force of will, the man has gotten himself over to the point of being able to carry the mantle of ECW champion. It may not hold a great deal of prestige, but this is a veteran who knows what he’s doing in the ring and isn’t a walking screw-up. I honestly don’t see him in the same light as a Chris Jericho or Edge from a wrestling standpoint, but he’s a great guy to have in ECW. The old “big fish in a small pond” theory. Why bury him in mid-card feuds or get lost in the background on another brand when he can main event on another and give fans a reason to watch this television program every Tuesday.

The man Christian beat has also impressed the heck out of me too. Jack Swagger is relatively new to WWE and is a little rough around the edges, particularly on the microphone, but he’s got a tremendous presence in the ring. And the cockiness seems to come naturally to him. Swagger will likely be shifted to one of the bigger brands soon, and he’ll definitely end up being one of the cornerstones of WWE. Until then, I hope that he and Christian continue to have matches as good as the one they had at Backlash.

Some of the other ECW guys that have shown me a lot include Evan Bourne. When he was Matt Sydal in Ring of Honor, I felt like he was just another flippy-flop guy; however, in WWE he really stands out with some of his maneuvers. His mic skills aren’t all that great either, but I think he carries himself like a natural babyface who can get sympathy from the crowd. That compensates a great deal for not being able to talk.

Tyson Kidd is a great smaller heel who I hope they continue to program with Bourne due to their comparative sizes. Having Natalya Neidhart around really adds something because it gives him an added dimension. That manager who’s competent enough to be able to credibly help her man win matches. For a smaller heel, I think this is such a crucial aspect to have, and it’s something WWE rarely does anymore because for whatever the reason, managers aren’t deemed to be important. A manager adds heat to a match and since it’s a hot women, the perception of him is immediately raised because the perception in our society is that beautiful women only associate with successful men.

Perhaps one of the most surprising aspects of both ECW and WWE in general is how Finlay has become a highly popular star. This guy was a hated heel who just stiffed everyone he got in the ring with back in WCW. Finlay was not gentile, never smiled, and just liked to beat people up. Thanks to Hornswaggle, Finlay was given a chance to embrace his softer side. Say whatever you want about Vince McMahon, but he’s the only person who could have a chance at making Finlay this kind of babyface. With his “son” now being drafted to RAW, I’d like to see him return to a guy who just loves to fight. However, I think he’s a great guy to have around to work with some of the younger heels or even babyfaces.

Of course things aren’t all rosy on ECW as there are a pair of stiffs who drag the roster down slightly.

Mark Henry has been around for years and years, yet having consistently watchable matches eludes him. Even putting former legend Tony Atlas with Henry has done nothing. Vladimir Kozlov continues to squash guys… and that’s about it. Watch any match more than five minutes containing the big Russian is a chore. The only possible way I think his in-ring work could improve is by getting into a program and having a series of matches with Finlay. Otherwise, I’d prefer to send Kozlov back to Russia.

Teddy Long used to be the GM of the brand until he got a promotion back to Smackdown. Since then, WWE has had Ms. Deerintheheadlights out pretending to be in charge. Tiffany is so remarkably awful that she circles around back to being entertaining again. I highly recommend going back to the May 5 edition of the show when she announces the main event. I could not possibly believe what was coming out of her mouth. She could say “My name is Tiffany” and the only thing I’d be convinced about is this woman has more air in her head than the Good Year blimp.

To me, the person who should be the GM of the brand is Tommy Dreamer. His contract is coming up in a few weeks, and rumors have surfaced about the possibility of him not returning to WWE and possibly even retiring from the ring. I know that Vince McMahon and WWE have never been fond of any of the originals. Hell, Dreamer is basically the last original left. Why not have Dreamer hang around and serve in this capacity? He can be a link to the past while also cutting far more credible promos then say… Tiffany.

The final piece to the ECW puzzle are the announcers. Todd Grisham somehow got a promotion to Smackdown, and the former “Tough Enough” star Josh Mathews is now doing play-by-play. His partner is the brilliant Matt Stryker. These two immediately had chemistry, and they’ve become the broadcast team in the whole company. Stryker has a knack for making great pop culture references and putting guys over. Stryker comes off like a huge Jack Swagger fan, and when you’ve got one announcer gushing over you, it can only benefit Swagger’s chances of getting over with the fans… errr, WWE Universe.

ECW should continue to be a solid one hour program with their current roster. Obviously, the huge stars that WWE consider to be their moneymakers are on the other brands, but there are some young highly talented athletes and a couple older veterans that can teach the kids how to work.

Next week, I’ll talk about the WWE brand that I’ve come to enjoy even more than ECW. Here’s a hint. It ain’t RAW.

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