WWE Hires a Wrestling Writer to Write Wrestling

Via Baltimore Sun

Kevin Eck, the wrestling blogger/columnist for the Baltimore Sun announced today that he has accepted an offer to join the WWE Creative Team. This is a monumental occasion seeing that Eck covered wrestling for a living and is an actual fan rather than a failed sitcom writer who is trying to collect a paycheck between doing 2 Guys, 2 Girls, 1 Cup, a Pizza Place and Law and Order: Petty Crimes Unit and CBS' televised adaptation of the Jesus M. Christ Twitter feed.

More and more, it seems like the culture is changing in Stamford, or at least it's appearing to change. Maybe the pendulum is swinging back to a more old school feel, or at least one that embraces wrestling, whether in traditional forms or under a guise that still unmistakably retains its feeling as the unique form of entertainment it is rather than something it really isn't.

And above all else, a warm congratulation to Eck, who is getting what is hypothetically a dream job. Hopefully, the culture within the company when it comes to the atmosphere has changed too, because I'd hate for him to have to endure things like flying down to Florida for a meeting at Vince McMahon's condo, only to be sent home without Vince even opening his front door.

Do You Want Wrestling?

Pictured: Wrestling.
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Gabe Sapolsky posted his daily question on Facebook today, asking what people thought about RAW. The first comment was someone complaining about there being a lack of skits and backstage segments, implying that there was too much wrestling. It's funny, because the Sapolsky crowd usually is the one that's hashtagging #IWantWrestling on Twitter like it's their jobs. Then again, I have no idea whether this JP Ham fellow is part of that crew, but then again, he wasn't the only one. A lot of people were bemoaning the lack of segments on social media from what I saw. Some of them were calling the show boring before the show even began. One of those people was Sapolsky himself.

Yeah, the guy, who apparently is one of the godfathers of this push to want more wrestling saw that CM Punk wasn't going to be on the card and decided he was going to watch baseball instead. I guess he only wants wrestling if he's promoting it, which is fine, I guess. At the same time, to call a show boring before it even starts, one that was actually full of this thing called "wrestling", seems dishonest to me, especially among the fans, who don't have a monetary stake in wrestling and who proclaim to watch the product to be happy and be entertained.

So, when they get what they want, why are they clamoring for the status quo? I mean, there were seven matches last night, six if you don't want to count that Divas match and if you don't, I won't blame you. The only competitor in those six matches who was overexposed at this point was Rey Mysterio, and he had two borderline great matches with Dolph Ziggler and then R-Truth. The Miz worked babyface perfectly albeit possibly unintentionally. Kofi Kingston got to defeat Alberto del Rio and then cut a promo afterwards. This was everything that "we"₁ wanted. So why are there those among us who shit on the main event thrust of the show? It's the reason why we can't have nice things.

Granted, I know why people do this kind of thing. They're trolls, or they like complaining. I get it, but it's just frustrating, especially when that crowd for weeks says WWE doesn't give you wrestling. Two days in a row, two shows in a row, it was nothing but wrestling in the spotlight. I dunno.

But I'll tell you this. If you really want wrestling, then you're not going to comment on social media that there's too much wrestling on a wrestling show. There's no such thing as too much wrestling.

1 - "We" in quotes to poke fun at the stereotype that the Internet Wrestling Community has a hive-mind and thinks alike, disproven a clause later.

Destination X Matters

A Double Matters, Wrestling Matters

I asked Justin Henry on the latest episode of The Wrestling Podcast to sell someone who might not normally order an Impact PPV. He pretty much gave what I thought was the perfect pitch. Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Sting, Jeff Jarrett, Mr. Anderson and the rest of the regular rabble were not advertised for it. They're building it around the guys you want to see, the "10 percenters" so to speak. For the first time since rolling it out, their slogan of "wrestling matters" actually rings true, not some hollow, trite phrase they use to troll WWE's mantra of "we're an entertainment company".

Seriously, the card is loaded. About the only thing that looks unappealing to me is the existence of Abyss on the card, but at the same time, his feud with Brian Kendrick has been entertaining (even if it's been carried by the former Spanky). There's AJ Styles against Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe taking on Kazarian, a duo of matches that appeal to the old-school X-Division fans. There's a harkening back to one of the best in-ring feuds in ECW history with Rob Van Dam taking on Jerry Lynn. Douglas Williams has an open challenge. There'll be an Ultimate X match with Robbie E, Amazing Red, Alex Shelley and... ugh, Shannon Moore (okay, two unpalatable people on the card). Finally, in what's probably the most important match on the card, Austin Aries, Jack Evans, Shiima Xion (as Zema Ion) and Low Ki will be competing for a contract.

With that being said, this is the perfect opportunity for you to tell Impact that yes, this is what we want to see. It's this kind of wrestling that will make Impact a true alternative. The only way to send a message to Dixie Carter and company is to order this if you can. Obviously, if you can't afford it, then no, I'm not talking to you. If you're busy with other plans, then no, I'm not talking to you. However, if you've got the money and you want to watch this, then do it.

If you want to see the former TNA actually follow through, then buy this PPV. If more people buy this, then it sends an ultimatum to the people in charge. That ultimatum through your dollar is that you want to see more of this and less of the weaksauce bullshit they were giving you with the other PPVs. If you get the wrestling, you keep watching and buying. If not, you jump off-board. Simple as that. Because let's face it, Dixie and her cronies don't always listen to their fans. I mean, Hardcore Justice did good numbers last year, and it was business as usual within two months.

What you shouldn't do, though, is pirate this. More than any PPV, whether it's WWE, indie or Impact. A pirated view of this show is another voice that won't be heard. It also reinforces the stereotype that all the "10 percenters" don't care about spending money and will just steal everything. Plus, stealing is wrong, but that last argument never, ever stopped someone from pirating anything before.

Seriously, this is the perfect opportunity to send a message to Impact. Tell them that Destination X matters. Tell them that wrestling matters. It's a win-win. If they pay attention, then you get a better product to watch. If they don't, you can write Impact off forever.

Because believe me, if this PPV does good numbers and Dixie and Co. DON'T recognize that this is what people want to see? Then the company deserves to rot.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Austin Aries Back in Impact Wrestling

A Double - One last gasp in Impact

For those not in the know, Austin Aries used to wrestle in TNA as Austin Starr. Of course, those people not in the know are probably like me, folks who didn't pay much attention to either the indies or to TNA until recently. So suffice to say, I'm guessing a whole bunch of you out there knew that. Okay. Well, that's not the compelling news. What would be compelling? Well, if he went back, that would be pretty newsworthy.

Well, according to several reports, that just happened last night. There was a three-way match at the Impact tapings last night that pitted Aries against Kid Kash and Jimmy Rave, reportedly for a contract with the company. Aries won. Whether that was for a long-term deal or whether it's just through Destination X (since all three guys identify with the X-Division) is unknown at this point. However, I'm not really concerned with the news as much as I am with the implications here.

I always thought that Aries and the now-Impact Wrestling departed on bad terms. Then again, what bridge remains burnt in wrestling? Not many. It's no secret that Aries wants to make money in wrestling. He's at an age where he could either leave the business with his health intact and do something else with his life, cherishing his notoriety in the indies, continue on in the indies and degrade his body for no chance for more financial security or make one final play to get to the WWE or to make bigger money by breaking through in Impact. That's what this move says to me.

Now, whether it'll work or not is a different story. For as many times as the phrase "wrestling matters" is uttered in association with Impact, the actions in the ring don't show it. I mean, the top storyline is still about Sting feuding more with Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan, wanting to keep his title because of "stroke" rather than being the best in the company. With Destination X confirmed as being a X-Division themed event with the six-sided ring coming back one night only and everything, maybe there's a chance things turn around. Maybe they see the positive reaction to the event and start pushing guys like Aries and his brethren more meaningfully. But the former-TNA's track record suggests otherwise. You can't expect a leopard to change its spots until it actually goes through with the process, or else you set yourself up for failure.

Even with the lip service paid though, there's still a chance for A Double. Right now, both challengers for the top two WWE Championships made it in TNA before going back up North. They've taken fliers on Low Ki, Chris Harris, Consequences Creed, Lance Hoyt, Alexis Laree, Gail Kim₁ and other TNA talents to varying degrees of success. If using the month between now and Destination X is the audition that gets Aries by the mythical WWE age ceiling, then it'd be worth it, right?

Even looking at it that way, it might be a long shot. I wouldn't go back to Impact, but then again, I'm not a wrestler. I'm not Aries specifically either. I can't be in his frame of mind because I've never been in his position even in my own field of work. So if this is the way he wants to go, then so be it, it'll be the way he goes. If I get a month of things to actually look forward to on Impact because of it, then yeah, I can dig it. I can't get enough of A Double.

So while I don't have the highest hopes for his long term future, the immediate month will be something to enjoy. Hopefully, this turns out for the best for Austin Aries, because hey, he's one of my favorites, and I always want to see guys I like do well. Just don't expect me to be brimming with optimism about whether that will happen.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

1 - I know most of those names flop, but at the same time, Aries is way, way, WAY more charismatic than all those names.

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

The Impact Wrestling Commercials Offend Me

This segment disproves the notion that wrestling matters at Impact Wrestling
Photo Credit: TNAWrestling.com

If you watched RAW last night, then odds are, you probably saw a commercial for the newly rebranded Impact Wrestling. I'm not sure if it was locally-purchased or whether the folks at TNA grew balls and bought national advertising on USA, but my guess is that no matter what they did, they did it on a wide scale. I can commend that kind of advertising attack, although that's the extent of the praise that I'll deliver for it. I've been trying to find an embeddable video of said commercial as more of a reference for why I hated it, but I can't. For those who didn't see, it was basically Hulk Hogan, AJ Styles and Robert Roode talking about how wrestling mattered and how if they wanted to watch "entertainment", they'd rent a movie.

ON a deeply personal level as a wrestling fan, every second of that commercial offended me to the core. It wasn't because they made slurs or because they did something "insensitive". They insulted my intelligence, really. I mean, I watched Impact both weeks since they rolled out this "wrestling matters" campaign, and judging from what I've seen, it's nothing more than lip service.

I mean, it's one thing to try and brand yourself with a new identity, but that rebranding isn't going to work if the same people are in charge who were part of the prior identity. It's shown throughout the last two weeks. Two shows ago, there was barely any focus on the kind of things that would mark a "wrestling" show rather than an "entertainment" show until Mick Foley made the announcement halfway through. This past week didn't have a different feeling than your garden variety Impact since the Bischoff/Hogan regime took over either. There was still a massive focus on Immortal fighting a battle with a face NPC authority figure. There was still Eric Bischoff getting into ring gear and being an active competitor even though he's not a "wrestler". The angle where Winter is using voodoo magic to control Angelina Love.

And the most galling thing to me? A big segment of the show was surrounded around Robert Roode and Ric Flair acting out a scene that would better fit on a reality TV show about the back workings of a wrestling fed rather than a wrestling angle. Yes, there was a ham-handed attempt at saving towards the end to turn it back into a wrestling angle, but in no way, shape or form should anyone go out there and call out another wrestler for using a wrestling hold to win a wrestling match because of a non-kayfabed injury. I'm sorry. If wrestling mattered, then the backstage stuff wouldn't and shouldn't peer out into the on-camera world.

The opposition to my viewpoint is that I should give them time to change the game. I say feh to that, a feh indeed, because since the Hogan/Bischoff regime took over, they have proven nothing to me that they deserve the benefit of the doubt. As a wrestling fan, I am NOT obligated to give everything a chance to play out. Promoters, bookers, wrestlers, announcers, whatever, they have with me and should have with everyone a limited line of credit when it comes to what they want to sell us, and with each entity, they have a credit score. If NWA Hollywood or Chikara came to me with a questionable gimmick, I'd give them a lot of time for them to win me over. Why? They have good credit scores when it comes to the intellectual capital known as "the benefit of the doubt". The WWE has considerably less capital in that regard, and dragging up the rear is any promotion that Bischoff or Vince Russo has a hand in creative. If they've given me NOTHING to hang my hat on as a fan in the last 18 months (or really, 10 years to be honest), then why should I give this iteration time to develop without criticizing it?

That being said, if they deliver (even a blind squirrel finds a nut), then yeah, I'll praise them. But for now, what they're telling me is so patently offensive that I actually get angry when I see those spots on TV. I don't like being lied to, and I don't like having my intelligence insulted. For Hulk Hogan to tell me wrestling matters when he's the head of a company where they've yet to prove it in the last 2+ years that I've followed it closely is a slap in my face, and it makes me not want to tune in on Thursdays or record it to watch at my leisure.

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!