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Submitted by Wevv Mang on Sunday, October 24, 2004 at 9:11 PM EST
Ridin’ With The Bossman – Over-Analyzing Taboo Tuesday Greetings! Welcome to another edition of Ridin' With The Bossman! Another week of wrestling, and a very special event on a very special night. Taboo Tuesday was this Tuesday. Surprising I know. It could very well have been on Wednesday, just to mess with NWA’s head. But it was actually on Tuesday, and I did buy it. My buddy wanted to see it, and so we got it. Might as well jump right into it. WWE – The TV Series. The King of All recappers has left the building. Steven " Rommel" Scheaffer has given up his recapping crown and is moving on. I’m sorry to see Steve go. His work was always excellent, and he would do back to back shows, PPV’s and the following Raw. Steve, it was a pleasure working with you buddy, and I wish you the best in your future undertakings. You kick ass. Taboo Tuesday I’ll make this brief. It sucked. I want my money back. You want more? OK. The highlight of the show was an unbelievably hot Trish. Benjamin vs Jericho was good. Edge was awesome. Then I got Kane getting beaten by Snitsky. What the Hell? He’s taking time off to do a movie, but please. How about Kane beating Snitsky so severely that he gets suspended? Lita could back him and keep the angle alive while he’s off. But no. Fuck that, it might be good. HBK vs H was boring as hell. Orton vs Ric? You know what I saw at the end? A confused and lost looking Ric. That’s what I saw. Kimmel voiced the opinion of the common fan, and it was seen as insulting instead of eye opening. Guess what, Kimmel is more in touch with the casual fan than the internet and WWE combined. That’s what they see. Not a legend, but an old man. Accept it and work with it. Fuck Taboo Tuesday. Folks liked it, and I’m in the minority, but I’ll be damned if I’ll try to put a positive spin on it from an entertainment standpoint. The bad far outweighs the good. Monday’s Raw better get it’s shit together. The killer is that Smackdown kicked major ass. Start to finish it raised me from my black mood, and renewed the fan in me. Dave, you are the man. Never listen to Gerwitz again. He should be listening to you. So, instead of reviewing the matches, let’s get to the deeper purpose of both Raw and Taboo Tuesday, and that was to create a pipeline between WWE and it’s fans, and thus bilk them of their hard-earned cash. Let’s talk about the effect of numbers without actually using a lot of math. You can relax now. Special Thanks to Morpheus and his column in the forums "Enter the Dream". I got the numbers from him. See, it pays to read his work. WWE took down the detailed results. Bastards. So, in a roughly ten hour time frame, 4 million people voted. The voting wasn’t locked, so multiple votes could be cast. So, I’m going to throw out 1 million votes. It’s a lot I know, but it errs on the side of extreme caution. If the real numbers are about 3 million, it still says good things. It says that basically, nearly the entire audience of Raw cast a vote. That’s damn good considering the time frame. It’s not the 9 million Survivor was getting, but it’s a very respectable number. Let’s take a look at how the fans voted. Dress the Divas Nurse – 17% French Maid – 30% Schoolgirl – 53% The schoolgirl was the more heavily hyped of the three. Lawler voted on camera for the outfit. Having seen a lot of schoolgirl outfits, it’s easy to see how that one could come through on top. However, the 30% for the French Maid outfit does make a strong impression and can be used effectively for future angles. Here’s an angle, loser has to be a maid for the winner. Effective Marketing? Yes. I’d say that having the WWE pushing that vote worked. Intercontinental Championship Shelton Benjamin – 37.48% Batista – 20.11% Coach – 7.01% Christian – 6.69% Rhyno – 5.77% Maven – 4.23% William Regal - 3.81% The Hurricane - 3.77% Tyson Tomko - 2.49% Tajiri - 2.36% Steven Richards - 2.24% Val Venis - 1.69% Rosey - 1.10% Chuck Palumbo - 0.68% Rodney Mack - 0.58% Benjamin got the solid win right before the PPV. He got the promo time, and did a good job. Batista has been messing with Jericho for a while now, and his presence in Evolution is a big plus. Coach is surprising, since the impression that he is an actual wrestler is growing. Christian and Jericho have a long past, and he did get good promo time and tried to sway the crowd. Rhyno was a brief push for the shot, and he’s up there. Maven is from left field. Regal and Tomko has a strong TV presence, but Hurricane has been lacking, but still got a slight chunk of votes. Same with Tajiri. Stevie had a web campaign going for him, but apparently not enough. Chuck Palumbo and Rodney Mack have had no TV time, and frankly, I thought Chuck was banished to OVW. Effective Marketing? Yes. The last minute push of Benjamin worked perfectly. Batista, who wasn’t pushed as a direct contender, did a strong showing. Folks are ready to see Batista branch off from Evolution. Coach was a big surprise. He’s now more over than a lot of wrestlers, and it may have been for folks to see a comedy match, but there he was. Maven baffles me, but he got a nice chunk of votes with next to no TV time. Rhyno and Christian did well, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not IC material. Indeed, it could be that they’re seen as contenders, and the dynamic between Rhyno and Jericho isn’t quite there. Christian and Y2J have a history, but folks may be tired of it. But Christian vs Benjamin? Who knows. Weapon of Choice in Kane vs Snitsky Steel Chair – 30% Lead Pipe – 29% Steel Chain – 41% The main weapon used in the feud has been a pipe. But the Yapa-Pi Biker Chain won out in the end. How? No idea, but there it is. Proof that the fans can act in mysterious ways. Effective marketing? No. How the chain became the weapon of choice? Maybe that the fans wanted to see something different. It may also be lingering effects from Smackdown and the saga of Cena’s chain. Eugene vs Bisch, Post match Stips Wear a Dress for a Month – 21% Be the Winner’s Servant – 20% Have His Head Shaved – 59% The clear winner was the head shaving. There’s been a lot of that going around, so it’s not really a surprise, as the other stips had only been mentioned. Effective marketing: Not really. Yes, the one WWE wanted got the vote, but the others were barely hinted at. With the prominence of head shavings, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. However, by making Coach wear a dress, that may soon change. Diva Grudge Match Aerobics Challenge – 10% Lingerie Pillow Fight – 57% Evening Gown Match – 33% The potential for hotness was realized. I’m not even sure WWE knew what they were going to do with an aerobics challenge. It may have involved bouncing, but we may never know. Evening gown matches have been done before. But with the magic words lingerie and pillow fight, it was the clear winner. Effective Marketing? Yes, and it wasn’t that hard. The main competition was the Evening gown match. While curiosity may have swayed the vote to the aerobics, it wasn’t strong enough to be a significant factor. Heavyweight Title Shot Chris Benoit – 28% Edge – 33% Shawn Michaels – 39% A very telling survey. HBK got the biggest push out of the three. Yet he pulled only a slight victory off. All three were fairly even with about a third of the vote. Benoit, who only got to speak at the HBK facial Expression showdown, still managed to pull a 28%. Edge, who has been going more and more heel as the weeks go by, made a very strong showing, but not enough to sway the voters. Effective Marketing? Yes. HBK won, but not by the margin I think WWE was hoping for. All three are seen a clear title contenders, and would do well in the main event going for the strap. Legend vs Legend Match Stips Falls Count Anywhere – 20% Steel Cage – 68% Submission – 12% This was more a true test of determining what fans want. No match was hyped over the others. It was more about the participants. Left to their own devices, the fans clearly selected a cage match. Blood, I believe was the motivating factor. A submission match wouldn’t deliver. So, for true excitement, it was a cage the fans wanted. Effective marketing? Yes, but not in the usual way. The match was built up to be something special and it delivered. To help cement the occasion, a steel cage was selected. Cages are the mainstay of big events, and the fans responded. Looking at all of the results, a few generalities can be draw. The fans pretty much did what WWE wanted them to do. Looking at results and opinions about the show, the PPV seems to have been accepted, and that may be influenced by fans getting the impression that they had a hand in the crafting of the show and leading to less critical thinking about it. As far as determining who’s a star and who isn’t, the guys who got most of the TV got the votes, but surprise votes for Batista, Benoit, and Coach show that fans have there own favorites. Benoit still has strong following, and even though he was there, he wasn’t pushed as hard as the other two and in recent months, hasn’t been in many high profile matches. That’s staying power. As a social experiment, the PPV did well, but is only the tip of the iceberg. Now that it’s proven to work, that fans will actually vote on such a thing, it remains to be seen how well the event did in terms of buys. The next phase of the experiment is to use this information in a way to maintain fan interest and spark some excitement. Monday will be a most interesting night of wrestling. Smackdown Recap info provided by Chad "CMV1" Mathews This show was fantastic. From start to finish a great job. The low point? Heidenriech? Surprisingly no, it was something that can be forgotten quickly and painlessly. The question of WHO stabbed John Cena, which is stupid beyond measure. Carlito Caribbean Cool The guy keeps getting better. Nice touch having Torrie start off the show, but the spitting, eh, that’s not for me. But he still managed to pull off another victory and for once, Cole forgot to say that the chain was more important than the belt. Wow, imagine that. The Return of Chavo Welcome back Chavo. I was worried there for a moment, that this event was going to degenerate into some crappy sports entertainment, and was pleasantly surprised when it didn’t. Heidenriech Sweet mother of Moe, they finally did it. They figured out that a poetry reading homo rapist isn’t a good draw. Unbelievable I know. So, now he’s a crazed psycho and THAT works. Amazing. Montage Madness Torrie gets sung at by Kenzo and THAT was funny. He kept going as well after Teddy left. Then the stupid "Did You Stab John Cena?" angle is begin and I expect about the same results as Rikishi "I did it for the Rock" and so many other angles like this. What did I say about Gerwitz? Booker T and Orlando Really good, and it gets better. Tough Enough It made me really want to watch the show, but oh, wait, there is no show. Oh well, for a twenty minute infomercial it did it’s job, but it’s going to be brutal over time. The format is really simple, show contest, interview each guy for 15 minutes of material, play some music in the background, and viola, you got yourself a show. Kinda like those old NFL films highlighting a team or individual. Bradshaw/ Rene Dupree and Kenzo vs RVD, Rey Mysterio and Booker T An excellent main event, as RVD and Rey are easily the most exciting tag team to come along in quite some time. Those guys are working on spots that will blow the audience away. A good scenario with those two as champs is that they can wrestle for the belts only once a month, and in the mean time can be separated into singles action, while two other tag teams can e built up to challenge for the belt. Booker’s turn was a thing of beauty. A really good show that kept interest all show long. It even reached the fourth spot on that night in the second hour. Ratings were down all night long, so that is accomplishing something. Kane’s House Kane is in the living room with Lita. Kane is at the window, peeking out through the curtains while Lita is sitting on the couch watching TV. Kane: Something is going on over at JR’s house. Lita: Kane, leave it alone. Come watch TV with me. Kane: I don’t like it Lita. Lita: Kane, just let it be. Come on, have a seat. Nip/Tuck is on, and I know you love that show. Kane: Well, I do love watching women get mutilated, but dammit, I have to know what is going on over there! Lita: KANE! STOP IT! COME SIT DOWN NOW! Kane: WOMAN! I SAID NO! Lita: Fine, have it your way. Lita gets up and goes up the stairs. Soon the sound of running water is hear. Lita: KANE! GET YOUR BIG LAZY RED RETARDED ASS UP HERE! Kane drops the curtains, mutters under his breath and stomps upstairs into the bathroom, where Lita stands fully clothed, but the shower is running. Kane: WHAT DO YOU WANT??? I don’t have time to play psycho with now. Lita: Kane, you moron. Lita opens the bathroom window. She leans out and yells. Lita: Bossman! I know you’re out there! El Grande Bossman: QUE? Lita: Shut up Bossman. Kane, go talk to Bossman, I’m sure he can help you out. You stupid bastard. Kane: Good thinking, slutbag! Kane runs out. Minutes later, an excuse in heavily accented Southern is given, the sound of a branch cracking, a yelp, and then a thud is heard. Lita closes the window, turns off the shower and resumes her place on the couch. LATER… Kane and Bossman are lurking outside JR’s house. Both are peering in through a window. Bossman: I can’t believe JR didn’t invite me. Kane: You’re supposed to be dead, remember. Bossman: Huh? OH, yeah, esse, but that was Bossman and I’m El Grander Bossman! Hombre. I’m new to the neighborhood, and should have been invited. I mean, look, he even invited Big Show and Batista. It’s an outrage amigo! We’re sneaking in! Kane: Oh well. If you say so. I do love those little finger sandwiches, but usually hurt my teeth on the rings! Bossman: That’s not funny. Kane: I wasn’t joking. Kane and Bossman sneak around back and slip into the kitchen, after Bossman makes short work of the lock. Bossman: Just act natural. If anything goes wrong, yell out the code word. Saffron! Got it? Kane: What will that do? Bossman: It will give me time to escape. See ya, hombre! With that, Bossman is gone. Kane slowly makes his way out into the living room. He grabs a couple of sandwiches, and some crab puffs.He bumps into a person while reaching for a drink. The man, stagers and hits a lamp, which falls over to the ground and breaks. Kane keeps mingling, and moves away from the commotion. A small crowd gathers around. JR leads them JR: What happened here? Gene: Some guy bumped me and this lamp fell over. Kane: Wait a minute! GENE SNITSKY????? Kane, across the room by now, stops in his tracks. He turns to look where the crowd has gathered. He strains to se over their top of their heads. Gene: I’m sorry, I got bumped it and it fell over…It’s not my fault. Kane: GENE SNITSKY IS A DEAD MAN! Gene: It’s just a lamp! It’s not my fault honest! Kane goes charging through the crowd, sending people flying. Gene starts running. Kane: YOU’RE A DEAD MAN SNITSKY! Gene: I’ll pay for it honest! It’s just a lamp and IT WASN’T MY FAULT! Gene makes it out the door, but the crowd slows Kane down. Kane stand in the doorway. As Gene starts running down the street, Kane raises his arms, and drops them. Gene bursts into flames. He keeps running. Kane turns and looks at the startled guests. Kane: It’s been a lovely party. The food was delicious. He ambles back over to his house. Suddenly, Bossman comes rushing through the door, piled high with coats and purses. Bossman: Adios you bastards! He runs down the street as well. The crowd turns to JR, who just looks shocked. Kane stops halfway home and turns around. He calls out. Kane: I almost forgot to thank the host… He raises his arms and drops them. JR bursts into flames. Laughing Kane heads home while the guests try to put out JR. Over-Analyzing Wrestling Today’s Topic: Paid In Full Over a week ago, Daveyboy raised a question in his column, The Wrestling Menu. That column can be viewed here. The Wrestling Menu Now, I don’t question any of Davey’s points about the subject, and he looked at it fairly and honestly. Davey also stated that he wanted to ask the question due to email and that it was a timely topic. He was right, it is something that has been cropping up. He did a great job handling it. My issue is not whether Davey was right or wrong. It’s with the need to even ask that question. Paying one’s dues in wrestling is something that is a tradition. Everyone has to suffer to make it big. Every wrestler has to go through sleeping in their car, working and risking injury for next to nothing to make it in this business. They have to be degraded, and punished for not respecting the fact that they are going to be put into horrible gimmick after horrible gimmick and not be pushed because they haven’t spent ten years working for the company. Can they wrestle? Doesn’t matter, they have to pay their dues. Can they speak? Doesn’t matter because they have to pay their dues. Let’s tape up his genital with duck tape and leave him in the airport bathroom. Now, that’s a bit extreme, but when the question of dedication to the sport of wrestling comes up, it’s usually when that person is getting over. Or if they’re in the middle of getting a big push. Did anyone question whether Snitsky had paid his dues? How about Heideneriech? Big goof number 345? Nope, only now that Carlito, who just won the US heavyweight belt, and is over, does the question come up. It’s rather silly to be honest. I understand the need to form a team bond, like in most sports. But in sports, the linemen may raz the rookie QB, but they don’t tank a game to make the kid "pay his dues". They may miss a block or two, to rattle the guy, but when it comes crunch time, every single player want to win, and by doing that, you save your hazing for off the field and leave personal issue out of it. That’s how you win. That’s what really matters. It may be an initiation but getting your ass handed to you by your own team in a game hurts everyone. In wrestling, hazing is a part of the business and is an accepted right of passage. But to sabotage something that could make the show better, and thus make everyone benefit is self-destructive. The only thing getting hurt by this is the whole show. There’s a difference between Carlito and Heidenreich and Kenzo. Carlito has talent for one. He comes from a wrestling background and has performed in the ring in front of crowds. In other words, he’s not dead weight like Kenzo. Who’s going to make it out of the bunch of new faces is something completely different. Talent plays a part, but so do management and creative. No, I’d like to stick to the "Pay Your Dues" clause. It’s a tactic used by regulars to secure their spot. Some of them haven’t done much for years, other than put in time. For example, when the WCW guys came in. Granted, they had come from the competition, but instead of trying to make money off of them, they got buried. Some because they said they were green. Some used the Pay Your Dues logic. So they got buried for years. An opportunity to make everyone some money and put on some really good TV got squandered. By bickering. It’s the mindset that bothers me the most. Logic says that these guys got hired because they had talent. Maybe only management could see it, but they were brought in to make the company better. Instead of trying to make things better, things got worse. It’s the mindset that rookies can’t be good. Instead of realizing that rookies need work, not hazing, to make them better. I just can’t believe that when Michael Vick was brought to Atlanta, that he got buried by his teammates. If I remember correctly, he was praised. He knew that his job was going to be tough, and that he might not be up to NFL standards yet. But he worked with his team. He got better. Byron Leftwich was drafted to help Jacksonville. Did he get shoved into a locker? Maybe, but when it came time for the game guess what? They worked together and started winning. Ben Roethlisberger was riding the pines when his shot came. He’s a rookie. Pittsburgh has been rolling. Did he get itching powder in his jock? Maybe. But then again, when it came time to step up, he got his chance, and proved he was good. He’s the starter now. Pittsburgh is doing really well. Some times it takes time to become the level of athlete that the team expects you to be. Some don’t reach it. But the harshest criticism shouldn’t be in the middle of the game or after the first few plays. It should when the game is over and the decision needs to be made whether to keep going or try something else. The message I’m trying to give here is that you don’t have to love every rookie that comes along, but after a while, if it’s not working, then maybe the question of paying dues should come up. If it’s working, really, who cares? The guy who wasn’t cutting it, but has backstage clout? Maybe the definition of paying your dues should be changed to have enough training, or needs work. If the guy is a big goof, it’s not the guy’s fault, it’s management for not seeing it. It’s management who is supposed to be trying to put the best talent they have to work making the company strong. To put together a winning team. If not, they can expect a short tenure. Coaches and managers who make the wrong calls or look for the wrong type of player get fired just like players. It’s easy to see if there’s a bad season. Ability and talent are the only test that really has to be proven. First impressions are important, but it’s not the whole of the thing. The Rock made a horrible first impression, but over time, his talent shown through. Can Snitsky, Heidnereich, Tomko, and the rest make the cut? It’s been a few weeks now. It’s up to management to make the call, but the results can be pretty clear. If they’re looking for them. That’s it for today. Another late column, but hopefully that will change. My schedule has been hectic, but with some time management, I may be able to free up some time for writing. I already have a topic for next week, thanks to last weeks Wrestling Observer. It’s one of the main reasons that I love that newsletter. It’s going to take some research. Here’s a taste. 13 to 5, in four years. Not that bad eh, but wait. The real numbers are bigger. Try thirteen million to 5 million. It’s also Halloween, and that calls for another special Kane’s House. Wouldn’t these segments make for a great animated series on Experience? They do need to attract more viewers. Animation is popular right now… Also, it’s about time for WWE to announce when they’re coming back to Phoenix. I was hoping for the Rumble, but that location has already been announced. Fresno. Damn. Oh well, the show before or after would be a good treat. Quick Plugs! THE MOVIE BAR – read reviews, talk movies, TV, and just about everything Lop Forums LOP Columns Forums Until next time, Thanks For Reading and Thanks For Ridin’ Wevv Mang mrwevv@mac.com *NEW GALLERY* BRAND NEW Pregnancy Photos of a BIG Stephanie McMahon!
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