Posted in: The Eyes of a Monkey The Eyes of a Monkey #69: A Radical Change of Scenery Part 1
By Doc Monk
Oct 18, 2009 - 8:41:53 PM
The Eyes of a Monkey # 69: A Radical Change of Scenery Part 1
Sometimes no matter how much we try and much the best of a situation we find that the only true solution in order for us to find happiness is a change of scenery. You can only do but so much to try and make something work and if those who you are working with aren't willing to meet you halfway then you are left without a choice. At times the choice pans out while others it does not. That's what we call a learning experience. Unfortunately, just like their are win/win situations some choice we make ultimately become lose/lose situations. We have no way of seeing these circumstances in advance though, so all we can do is try and make the choices that best suit our needs. In the business world, those needs tend to be the need for success. Wrestling is no different, and just as all decisions sometimes has consequences that are unavoidable. Live and learn they say.
The Man of 1,000 Holds
Some say opportunity only comes knocking once but I'd very much argue that point. When I got my first big break in the states in ECW it was a very good time for my wrestling career. Maybe I wasn't selling out the Garden or other luxurious arenas but rest assured that every ass in those seats were blown away by the things me, Eddie, and Chris could do. I'd known those guys for a whlie so it didn't take anytime to find my comfort zone and really take that promotion by storm. Chris and I ran rampant over the tag division and beyond that me and Eddie had what many consider to be a legendary feud over the TV title during our stay. The feud was so good that it actually caught the attention of WCW. While it was the right move from a business point of view it definitely was hard to make on a personal front. ECW had become like family to me and was even full of wrestlers whom I considered to be just as close as my blood. The decision was made a little easier knowing that I wouldn't be leaving alone. A classic 2 out of 3 falls match with Eddie? It simply doesn't get any better than that.
I'll admit it, the first time I saw Eddie Guerrero vs Dean Malenko on Nitro my thoughts weren't exactly "these guys are going to be legends." When they made their entrance all I could think was "who the hell is this guy with the mullet and this bland looking guy he is facing?" Boy was I wrong though because that night they debuted those two put on a clinic in every respect of the word. People can try and poke fun at WCW all day but I promise you that the WWE didn't even have matches close to the wrestling level of that bout at that time and Eddie/Malenko was just a throw away bout on free television. Having only seen their ECW stuff after the fact, I was simply stunned at how good both wrestled and how they brought a new style to wrestling that I hadn't seen. While TNA may like to use "Total Non-Stop Action" as a tag line these guys were out there living it. People can say that the WWE was the better product all day but when Nitro hit it's stride there is simply no denying that they had the better wrestling outright. Mind you I'm a huge WWE fan and anytime given the choice to watch both, I'd pick WWE but that doesn't stop the facts. While everybody loves to credit the NWO as a huge turning point, and they were; I'd argue that the true turning point for fans was that first Eddie Guerrero/Dean Malenko match that started the cruiserweight movement.
WCW was fun for awhile I won't argue that. Met back up with a lot of old friends from ECW, Japan, and Mexico and we really got a chance to go out there and perform our magic on a nightly basis. Sometimes though it gets to the point where you feel like you are stuck in second gear and simply feel like you aren't moving. That's how things got as a lot of us guys felt like we were busting our ass every night holding down the actual wrestling aspect of the show yet weren't getting the recognition we deserved by the guys in charge. When it came down do it some of us decided that the ship had veered too much off course and decided things needed to change. It wasn't necessarily a revolt or some sort of random act of rebellion. Honestly I was surprised that releases were offered to all of us but I guess management called our bluff and we accepted. The grass is always greener right? I guess I'd find out.
I was definitely excited about Malenko and the guys showing up in WWE how could you not be? Never had something so crazy transpired that led to four guys leaving a company and going to the competition at the same time. Mind you these guys were all under contract and granted releases. One of the dumber WCW decisions I can think of. To put it into perspective it would be similar if CM Punk, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, and John Morrison were all granted releases from WWE tonight and went to TNA. No matter how stacked your roster is you can't deny the impact that such a change would have on your product. I won't say that it crippled WCW because it didn't but they lost a large portion of their actual "wrestlers" that day and the balance was very much altered. Was it a good move for Malenko? Yes and no I suppose. He's actual wrestling run was pretty lacking. It started off with high hopes but quickly faded. The whole Radicalz thing could only take him so far and feuds with Too Cool and a James Bond knockoff gimmick weren't going to win over anybody. In retrospect maybe his fate was the best though...
Some might say that my WWE run didn't go as I liked and I can agree to an extent. Sure wrestling on Sunday Night Heat week in and week out wasn't my idea of being on the big stage but I made the most of what I was given and I'd say I did pretty well. Besides, the guys were able to keep my dream alive for me even after an injury ended my career prematurely. Wrestling is in my family and it's not something that I can just walk away from and never look back. Vince gave me that chance and now I get to go on the road with the guys as an agent with ECW. How can that be a bad thing? I get to work everyday with the future of the business and show them the ropes while they are still young enough for it to matter. You can say my career ended when I stepped foot in WWE but I say that's when it truly started. While you might not seen another Dean Malenko match, my influence will be seen through matches in that ring for years to come.
The Man, The Myth, The Mop
People used to give me perhaps more credit than I deserved during my ECW run. That's not to say that I think that what I accomplished there I shouldn't be proud of, I simply think the role I played wasn't that much of a role. I mean I was for the most part simply a tough guy who refused to let people get the best of him. That's not really a character, since I don't really know of anybody who doesn't apply that to their life. My time there was fun though, me Kronus tearing that tag division apart over there. They brought us in to be jobber fodder to the Steiners so they could add spark back to their legacy. What ended up happening was we ignited something that was bigger than me and George both. When people talk about dominant tag teams in the 90's it's impossible not to bring up our name, and considering the talent pool to select from I view that as a huge honor and compliment. Unfortunately things don't always have a happy ending and I felt I needed to branch out. I loved Kronus but the guy didn't have the best work ethic in the world and I felt that being associated was only starting to hinder my career. When I was granted my ECW release and signed my WCW contract I knew things were about to start looking up.
The only tag team in ECW history that you can argue were more of a dominate force than the Elliminators were the Dudleys. There weren't many guys that didn't get beaten and battered at the hands of those guys and their style was one that forced you to take notice. One of my favorite Saturn moments in ECW was during one of ECW's semi clusterfuck run ins during a PPV main event. I can't remember the exact match but I do remember seeing this guy come out on crutches and climb the top rope in a leg brace. Seeing Saturn hit an elbow drop from the top rope just a mere few months after having reconstructive surgery on his leg was one of the most insane spots I've ever seen. Not only that it was a true testament to the legitimate tough guy that Saturn was. Though it would be weird to see him separated from his long time partner, I was very open to seeing what Perry could accomplish in WCW.
The flock, I guess it made sense really. Team the ECW alumni up and have them involved in a stable. I honestly didn't mind being the so called "Enforcer" of our group. Hell, it allowed for me to capture gold even before our fearless leader Raven so that was a pretty big compliment to me. The whole story kind of ran it's course a little too fast and I honestly think some of the booking was suspect involved in it. The whole Lodi dynamic and losing to Hammer just seemed a little disjointed to me and by the time it was over, even if it was premature I was honestly glad to be done with it. Of course everybody brings up the dress incident, how could you not? Some said it took away from my tough guy image but I can only work with what I'm given and I think all things considered it actually helped me get over in some sick kind of way. Things just were so strange there, like I always felt like the bookers didn't really know what to do with me and were simply winging it. Case in point, before I knew it me and Raven were friends again and going after members of the Horsemen and fellow ECW alumni Benoit and Malenko. In the end though I guess my displeasure with the writers shined through and we butted heads a little too often. Kevin Sullivan finally told me that he more or less had no faith in my ability to win over a crowd so I asked for my release and it was granted. With a WWE contract on the table, I knew this just might be my last chance to prove Sullivan wrong and I intended on following through.
I loved the Flock, I really did. They possibly could have gotten some stronger members in the long run but I just liked the group. Saturn in particular had already won me over but it always seemed like every story he was involved in had continuity issues. That was always a problem with WCW in the late years, it simply didn't seem like there was any natural flow to their shows. You could watch every minute of WCW programming week in and week out and still not be able to keep up with some of the story lines. That's where Perry Saturn fell most weeks it seemed just floating in storyline purgatory never really being able to establish a character. You almost have to feel bad for the guy because while guys like Kevin Sullivan accused Perry of being incapable of WCW, you have to really question whether that's a fair assessment with regards to his WCW career. I can't really think of anybody who would be able to get a character over under those circumstances, so kudos to Saturn for even halfway suceeding in WCW. WWE.....well that's a different beast.
The Radicalz they called us. Me, Dean, Chris, and Eddie all together. We went strong for awhile and things were a blast but I guess the high ups didn't really see much in me and Dean as the focus tended to stay on Chris and Eddie. Once they were out of the equation there wasn't a whole lot of hope for us. Then when I got into it with Mike Bell during a squash match I more or less had a foot sticking out the door. My punishment for roughing up that kid? I had to walk around with a mop. Now I've heard jokes all the time about "so and so is so good that he can pull a five star match out of a broom stick" I guess this was as close as it gets. The injury was the last straw as I guess it pretty much gave them no incentive to keep me around. After that? A whole lot of nothing. I floundered around in some Indy feds making appearances here and there but nothing too stable. It hit me pretty hard, as much as I wanted to prove Sullivan wrong I couldn't help but guess that perhaps he was right.
You know what's so funny? Carrying around a mop was supposed to be punishment for Saturn but looking back that gimmick was probably the most over the guy was with any company he was with. Sucks that it took something so out there to get the guy over with an audience but stranger things have happened. It's the manner in which he left WWE and his post WWE life that is disturbing though. Supposedly Saturn broke up an attempted rape attempt back in 2004 before being shot in the neck and causing him to get screws and plates put in. Things get stranger though as by most accounts he hasn't been seen since 2004. He no showed the last event he was booked for back in September of that year and that was the last most claim they've seen of the guy. Not only that but he missed the funerals of his good friend Chris Candio, long time tag partner George "John Kronus" Caiazzo, and even his wrestling mentor Killer Kowalski leaving many to speculate that he may have passed away himself. It's a tragic end if that's the case but either way may just go down as one of the bigger wrestling mysteries.
Well that's going to do it for this edition and we are halfway to our goal, as we've looked at two of the paths taken by the former "Radicalz" members. One had an ending that could have been better, but ultimately wasn't too bad. As for the other, not really sure what you can say. While Perry Saturn may be alive and kicking, disappearing for years on end usually isn't the best sign that things are going good in your life. Could these fates have been avoided or perhaps altered? How knows; there are a lot of things to consider before making such statements. I can say though the neither of these men had quite the run that they would have liked when they moved to WWE. Is it the fault of the performers? Perhaps they weren't given the proper room they needed for growth. For now though all we can do is speculate, until next time.
As always I am the Monkey, and you've just seen the world through my eyes.
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