Category: Wrestling Musings

All posts related to pro rasslin’ that isn’t covering specific shows or events.

Paulie Rants On The New EC-Dub… What?

So the story goes that WWE had (supposedly) let their ECW trademark expire and somebody bought the rights to use the acronym as the basis of a new wrestling company… fuck knows why anyone would want to try and bring back ECW… again. The only good to come out of this was Paul Heyman’s Twitter rant on the matter, translated here from Twit-To-English;

“Yes. Dumbshits who think they can recapture the magic. Some people never learn!

“Letters don’t mean anything. WWE’s ECW wasn’t ECW. Anyone can buy letters. Big deal. ECW was based on ORIGINAL IDEAS! It’s called “having an imagination.” Obviously, trying to be a duplicate ripoff of the past is not “new” or “original” nor “game changing.” ECW was a product of its time. When I wrote WWE Smackdown in 2002/03, I didn’t try to duplicate ECW. You move on with the times, people. ECW One Night Stand was supposed to be a ONE NIGHT STAND, not a way to re-marry your ex. If someone wants to take a try at re-doing ECW, knock yourself out. Go for it. Maybe your investment is smarter doing something NEW!!!”

Word, Paulie. Word.

Look, to whoever bought the rights, just sell them back to WWE and use the change to come up with something original and unique. Trying to relive a bygone era in wrestling – no matter how good (or bad) it was – is not a successful business strategy and only serves to piss on that bygone era. WWE had some success with their first One Night Stand, but beyond that, they didn’t stick with that formula for their revival show and used the brand to showcase new talent… which is probably the best thing they could have done with that third show, although it should have been something else.

And TNA? Well, they tried the Extreme Last Stand thing with their Hardcore Justice five years later and it was just sad to watch. Especially since the card that was originally booked for their PPV (and aired on free TV days later) was much, much better than whatever that Hardcore Justice show had to offer.

I’ve said it before… and fuck me, I’ll say it again…

ECW IS DEAD. LET IT REST IN PEACE.

The End.

I Did It… For Da Sons…

Despite my better judgment, I tuned in to RAW… and I saw Rikishi dance with his kids…

Because he did it for the Rock… or something.

By the way, this is their 999th episode… which means next Monday is the 1000th episode of Monday Night Overcooked… because it sure ain’t RAW.

Meanwhile, I’ll be hitting 1000 posts long before then… and it will be spectacular.

Yeah… About that…

So, as you could probably tell, there hasn’t been much in terms of worthwhile RAW overviews these past few weeks; any post with the RAW Bytes tag is pretty much a quick blurb or two. Not much more than that…

I’ll be quite honest with you here. At this point in time, WWE is becoming quite a bore and I haven’t made much of an effort to catch it whenever I can. There used to be a time when I would attempt to catch it either by setting a timer on my recording device and waste VHS tapes or DVD-Rs on the thing, because despite the low points, I still enjoyed watching the product and following the product.

This year… not so much.

The really sad thing about this? Last year, there was excitement in the air. With the CM Punk worked shoot promo, things were really looking up. Could this be the chance for WWE to be relevant again? Could this be the first shot in making the product interesting?

Funny how that turned out.

A year later, CM Punk is WWE Heavyweight Champion and feuding with Daniel Bryan Danielson in what should have been a main event feud of two guys fighting over the championship and the right to truly be “the best in the world,” but instead it’s all about a chick that is easy on the eyes and almost likable to a point, but is ultimately nothing more than a distraction and a turn-off to a feud that I was so looking forward to. Not only that, but Punk isn’t even allowed to main event the shows, playing second fiddle to the good ol’ boys of Johnny C, Single H, and the usual gang of numbskulls that formulate WWE’s glass ceiling.

Meanwhile, a couple days and a few channels over, TNA is slowly but surely evolving into a more refined and watchable product. Not only that, but it’s actually getting to be really, really good, with exciting matches, good feuds, minimal bullshit, and perhaps most importantly, potential new stars being made in the process. Think about this; the last three consecutive guys to hold TNA’s World title – James Storm, Booby Roode, and now Austin Aries – are all first time World champions. When was the last time something like that happened in WWE, if something like that happened at all?

So yeah… the WWE product is turning me off slowly but surely. Something I thought would take a miracle to happen, but that’s exactly what’s happening. Maybe I’ll stick with the DVDs I got – sometimes even pick the occasional set of classic matches or even nab a couple old VHS tapes. And maybe I’ll give TNA a fair shake or two one of these days.

But as far as Vince goes?

Nothing at the moment.

Later.

I beat a lowly jobber in 40 seconds. Therefore, I rule.

From Kurt Angle’s Twitter…

“I Whipped Robbie E in 40 Seconds. I’m The Best In Wrestling today. Not Orton or Cena or CM Punk. I Am the Best. And I’m TNA! I’m the Best Ever.”

So this guy claims to be the best ever because he beat Robbie E in 40 seconds. A shit stain could beat Robbie E in 40 seconds. Come on, Kurt. You can do better than that.

Besides, I’m sure Daniel Bryan Danielson can beat Robbie E in 20 seconds. He could sick AJ Lee after him even.

Hey, Moses. Where's My Car? GOOLLLDDBBEEEERRRRRGGGGG!!!!!!!!

You know, I noticed something strange on RAW when I was watching Sid’s return (seen below if nobody took down the video). Sid looks noticeably… smaller than last we saw him. And watching his WWE.com interview, Sid sounded noticeably… coherent. What happened to Sid that made him sane?

Maybe Goldberg should crush another car… just in case.

TNA Finally Did It…

They produced an episode of Impact Wrestling that was actually entertaining, with good storylines, good wrestling, and actually piqued my interest for next week’s show. Not only that, but it was a substantially better show than RAW was… not say much considering RAW was one of those putrid three-hour shows… but still, this is a stark improvement over the past year’s rubbish and if they keep putting out programming like this, I might be more inclined to follow them and give it a go.

(2020 Update: A pity that the show was so good, I couldn’t be bothered to provide any details on why it was a good show. I may have consumed something that altered my thought patterns, but then again, stranger things have happened.)

Tonight's DixieLand

While TNA is holding their Slammiversary PPV, it should be noted that TNA’s first PPV (the weekly variety) took place June 19, 2002. So rather than watch what should be an interesting show (if only because it’s going to feature reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion Christian Cage), I think I’ll check if I still have that first show laying around… maybe do a quick musings out of it.