My Letter To FightingSpiritMagazine

[The Small Show]

I recently wrote a letter to FightingSpiritMagazine (It was a thread I posted here) and it got me in their magazine. I have the editor on my FaceBook & I also listen to a podcast he does (MinistryOfSlam). I am sending another letter. Here is the letter (I hope it gets added to the magazine):

WWE Raw's 900th Episode

Naturally, I stayed up to view the Monday Night Raw broadcast that aired on Sky Sports and what I saw was rather interesting. A show promoting a milestone in terms of the history of the show mostly featured wrestlers from a different show. Now, I don't have an issue with the likes of Jack Swagger, Alberto Del Rio, Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre on my TV as I truly think they will be stars soon but for a show which is celebrating it's achievements, I'm left wondering why WWE didn't include more Raw wrestlers on their broadcast. It did appear as though the Smackdown guys were attempting to takeover Raw. Every 20 minutes featured a Smackdown wrestler in some fashion.

Something that seemed very obvious throughout the show is how WWE really didn't have anyone special to be on the show from the past. The moments where wrestlers like Punk and Show commented and hinted comments regarding Hulk Hogan, Rock, Stone Cold and Brock Lesnar often came off like WWE were offended that these guys had declined an appearance and wanted to bury them.

The matches seemed very rushed and the show also seemed that WWE were running out of time and wanted as many wrestlers on as possible. The Morrison/Truth vs. Cody/Drew match promised big things.. Until the bell rung after 30 seconds of brawling and the referee revealed that the match was a no contest. I do hope they will clash again sometime.

As for the main event, Ugh. In a match where the kayfabe audience had no idea who to cheer (The live audience only cheered Orton. They boo'd Cena despite him being from the town). The action was quite good, Except for the elimination stipulation since it was just a spot fest towards the end. I like it when people do their finisher moves, Turn around and get nailed with someone elses finisher but it was OTT. As for Wade standing tall (On his own), I liked it but I would have preferred ALL of Nexus to be standing tall.

Overall, It appeared as though this show wasn't a celebration but a mere 3-hour special (Featuring both brands, of course) which had been shoved into a 2 hour format. I was left very disappointed by several things on this show. Raw stars like Miz, Cena, Jericho and Sheamus were given very simple jobs (Miz and Cena only appeared once, rather than their usual billion times throughout a normal broadcast). I wouldn't rate this show highly but I wouldn't rate it low because it was a good way for the Smackdown guys to show off their wrestling skills as the show aired live. Maybe WWE were grooming Del Rio and Punk for a trip to Raw.

 

[imported_Adam]

So your saying that you would have liked RAW's roster to seem like shit when their top stars got fucked in a clean sweep by Nexus? Honestly that would make alot of people lose faith in RAW's ability to fight back against Nexus.. and then the end of Nexus would never come

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

Wow. Allen is all up in your ass, Show. He's staving off a banning and you're stepping closer to one.

But your views are so narrow sighted. The E obviously tried to keep the surprise stars away because they are in such a deep transition period right now. The E is trying to infuse a large crop of fresh talent into it's blood stream because, well, not only does the WWE need it, North American wrestling in general needs it. The only long term young bankable talent they have is quite literally are only Orton and Cena. Taker is gone in the next five years, Trips will be winding down sooner than later, Jericho might be on his way out this fall and is 40, as is Edge. Show is almost gone. Punk isn't a money raker, but has possibility. So the E is doing things on their own, they have to give these guys chances. That's why they tried to spotlight as many different talents as possible. And you obviously don't know the meaning of buried, none of the names you mentioned were buried.

 

[imported_Adam]

Im really gonna be sad the day guys like Jericho and Big Show are gone, im gonna be pissed off the day CM Punk is gone (thats not gonna be anytime soon) your right about the young talent they have to bank off of being Orton because hes been a drawer as both a heel and a face and he can do either one as well as the other without changing his character... Cena is good to bank off of and could be even better if he got a new gimmick, went to a new brand, got out of the title history and into a decent feud, or turned heel. The only thing is, would Cena be as good of a heel as people like Orton were? Time will tell. As far as Edge goes, i really hope hes not gone anytime soon.. hes always been great and i WWE brings him back to where he was about a year or so ago, somehow. (maybe farther back.) I really think WWE needs to focus on how good their talent is though, Take Yoshi Tatsu for example, he was one of the most loved guys on ECW after pinning Shelton Benjamin in just seconds in his debut. What's he done since then? not much. Hes been pushed to abscurity because he has nothing that makes him stick out and the crowd has lost interest. WWE isn't going to find an Edge, Hogan, Jericho, Orton, Angle, or Benoit every time they recruit somebody, but they need to find people who would get atleast a reaction and would have something unique. As for Uniqueness, take Orton, people have insulted and attacked others families in WWE, but can you remember anyone who took it as far as him with the McMahons just to get at Triple H??? I think WWE should have built up the guys that are now just hanging around who have been here for years. People like Chavo, Goldust, Henry, Finlay have all been wrestling for a good amount of time but were never pushed and now its too late. They could have been people like Triple H with enough push and motivation but WWE didn't focus on that and after people like H and Taker are gone, Henry and Dust and those people aren't going to be any use and people won't want them anymore. WWE needs to look at more than just body and beauty(Divas, hopefully). Take Husky Harris for example, great in-ring skills, charistmatic (sort of), and decent mic-skills but do you think Vince would want someone with his looks on WWE's main roster? HELL NO! Vince wants people the fans like to look at and cheer for, not people like Harris. I think if you take a look at WWE's Divas past and present youll find there wasn't many who didnt have playboy good looks. TNA has had people like Awesome Kong and Rosie who nobody would want to see in playboy but Kong helped revolutionize women's wrestling in TNA. Thats why TNA has a better female division. For NXT Season 2, could you have honestly thought that Alex Riley would have outlasted Husky Harris? i don't know if you did but i sure didn't. IMO the reason Riley lasted is because of the fact that he looks better than Husky Harris and Vince liked him more because of that reason.

 

[...god...]

Wow. Allen is all up in your ass, Show. He's staving off a banning and you're stepping closer to one.

But your views are so narrow sighted. The E obviously tried to keep the surprise stars away because they are in such a deep transition period right now. The E is trying to infuse a large crop of fresh talent into it's blood stream because, well, not only does the WWE need it, North American wrestling in general needs it. The only long term young bankable talent they have is quite literally are only Orton and Cena. Taker is gone in the next five years, Trips will be winding down sooner than later, Jericho might be on his way out this fall and is 40, as is Edge. Show is almost gone. Punk isn't a money raker, but has possibility. So the E is doing things on their own, they have to give these guys chances. That's why they tried to spotlight as many different talents as possible. And you obviously don't know the meaning of buried, none of the names you mentioned were buried.

Rey..? And Jeff Hardy will be returning sooner than later.

 

[imported_Adam]

I can't vouch completely for this because i don't have the link but i saw on impactwrestling that the reason Del Rio is getting such a push is because Rey is one injury to the knee away from retirement. As far as Hardy goes, IMO he might return but theres always the chance he might not. Besides, Hardy isn't the young guy that revolutionized the TLC math, sorry, but hes just not, he is still an amazing performer but the years have taken their toll on Hardy and if he wrestled his old self he would probably have his ass handed to him. One reason i think he might not actually return is because of his legal issues with drugs, etc. His real life friend Shannon Moore is also in TNA (and are him and RVD friends onscreen or both?). Also it seems like hes been pushed more in TNA, it took him years to get to main event status in WWE but after a few months in TNA hes in the world title picture competing with the best in the world, Kurt Angle.

 

[Airfixx]

[Hardy's] been pushed more in TNA, it took him years to get to main event status in WWE but after a few months in TNA hes in the world title picture competing with the best in the world, Kurt Angle.

Nonsense... Jeff left WWE probably the most over babyface in mainstream werstling and he's been floundering teaming with Kennedy, putting his mates over and generally doing fuck all since arriving in TNA (he's been there since January!).... You call that a push????

Name one proper fued he's had?

You also seem to be forgetting (or ignorant to the fact) that he had 2 pushes which were derailed cos he failed drug tests.

 

[imported_Adam]

Hes had some decent matches with Abyss, TNA has kept him as a top star but just not decided what to do with him yet.

 

[The Small Show]

I can't vouch completely for this because i don't have the link but i saw on impactwrestling that the reason Del Rio is getting such a push is because Rey is one injury to the knee away from retirement.

Alberto is mostly being pushed because Rey is close to retirement and WWE want someone from Mexico to be featured weekly on Smackdown. Of course, He is a talented wrestler and is great at doing promos and he currently fits his gimmick perfectly (Minus the smiling).

As for Hardy returning to WWE, I very much doubt it. If you notice him on iMPACT, He's getting very tired and lazy. A simple walk to the ring seems enough for him and if you notice, he usually appears as though he seriously can't be bothered. As for last nights contest, It was a rare enjoyable match. That was Hardys best match in TNA by a LONG LONG way. These reasons conclude me to saying that I doubt Vince will want him back. His popularity has also decresed heavily recently.

 

[imported_Adam]

I disagree that it was his best by a long long way.. he had a pretty decent match against Samoa Joe a few months ago..

 

[Airfixx]

Hes had some decent matches with Abyss, TNA has kept him as a top star but just not decided what to do with him yet.

So, a couple of "decent matches", SINCE JANUARY(!!!), with a guy that occasionally main events on TV equates to a push?

I think not.... Even if you are considering his ten minute no contest with Joe (wow! : P ) and last weekend's match vs Angle.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

As for Hardy returning to WWE, I very much doubt it. If you notice him on iMPACT, He's getting very tired and lazy. A simple walk to the ring seems enough for him and if you notice, he usually appears as though he seriously can't be bothered. As for last nights contest, It was a rare enjoyable match. That was Hardys best match in TNA by a LONG LONG way. These reasons conclude me to saying that I doubt Vince will want him back. His popularity has also decresed heavily recently.

The only reason he is the way he is is because he doesn't give a shit about TNA. It's a mutually beneficial relationship for each party involved. Jeff get's a place to ply his trade with minimal effort while he's still in hot water and TNA has easily the biggest name they've ever gotten, but TNA being incredibly inept in marketing has done absolutely nothing with that name.

 

[The Small Show]

^ He's bored in TNA?

He should go back to WWE, once his contract ends. I hate it when stars go to a different company but end up being boring and add nothing to the company. Hardy is involved in 3 storylines: The title chase. His own one with Angle and one with Abyss for hurting his best friend. He still can't find any excitement? I gurantee you that Angle went up to Hardy before the PPV & said that he needs a good match that night.

 

[pumpt73]

The only thing can Hardy go back to WWE??? I thought he had a 3rd strike with them??? Then again I wouldn't be a bit surprised since the "Wellness Policy" is a laugher. Not saying it hasn't worked, but not as well as some would think.

 

[Airfixx]

^^^ He LEFT last year, they didn't fire/suspend him.

Officially at least, he's amazingly still only on 2 strikes.


@ John: I don't recall seeing the word "bored" in Enzo's post. :FFS: