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Submitted by Pt2 on Friday, December 10, 2004 at 7:48 PM EST
Brand Extension.A lot has been written about the brand extension, both positive and negative, and I’ve heard countless arguments about why it should continue for the foreseeable future and why it should be scrapped and the tapes from the period burned to stop future generations from making the same mistake. As I say, a lot has been written about this subject, but I hope this doesn’t come off as dated. The main argument I hear against the brand extension is that there isn’t enough talent that can draw on each brand to fill up a show. That it’s too much of a strain on the writers to come up with meaningful angles for that many wrestlers. That instead of trying to come up with weaker angles for that many wrestlers, that they should just use the cream of the wrestlers, in the cream of the angles, and have that run across both shows, theoretically as it was pre-brand extension. Well, The way the company is structured at the moment, the brand extension is a complete necessity. It doesn’t make any sense to get rid of the split roster system. And here’s why. Ever since the demise of WCW, WWE has had a large number of their workers on their payroll. They took a decent amount of wrestlers on when WCW died. But one thing they didn’t acquire with WCW was any extra TV time. So now they have more wrestlers than they have TV time for. It’s a simple choice really. You either keep the rosters split, or you lay off half the wrestlers. With the rosters split, and different guys on each show, there is room for almost all the people in the company. The whole idea behind splitting the roster was to make enough TV time to keep wrestlers on, and to not put half of the pro wrestlers in the country out of regular work. If you re-combine the rosters and return to the pre brand split way of doing things, then you have half the TV time again, and you would be paying maybe 30 wrestlers to do absolutely nothing. While sitting on your ass and picking up a pay cheque may sound like a sweet job, it isn’t good business sense. If they are not doing anything, then its going to mean lay offs. And we know it’s going to be more likely the smaller guys who aren’t given a chance to receive their marching orders than any big guys…. Not that I have anything against the bigger wrestlers, but I am a fan of variety in a roster. It’s that simple. And yes, the creative team members aren’t going to be able to find solid angles for everyone, but that’s not the massive obstacle that it appears at first. So you don’t have something groundbreaking for Matt Hardy to do? Ok, no big deal. People seem to forget that in the road agents and much of the back room staff they will have lots of ex-wrestlers who will have been around the sport for ages. They will have tried a lot of angles, they will know what the wrestlers can and can’t do, and they will know what works. If they don’t have anything specifically new and exciting for someone to do, then why not try putting a slightly new spin on something that’s already gone and been successful beforehand. I can already hear some knives being sharpened and the howls of people screaming about originality, but Evolution is hardly original, and has proved to be one of the most entertaining and successful ideas on RAW. It’s better for these wrestlers to be on TV doing something less than groundbreaking than to not be on TV at all. If you only take the cream of WWE talent then you miss out on the opportunity of watching the cream rise to the top. It’s important that some of the younger guys get given their chance to shine, and the only way they are going to get that is through the brand extension. If the rosters are re-combined, then it’s a safe bet that half of these who could be future headliners will be given their marching orders by the WWE, because there is a limit on the amount of TV time the company has and “Creative has nothing for you.” CompetitionThe only time that the brand extension will be able to end without it being disastrous for the wrestling business will be when TNA becomes financially stable enough, and large enough, to realistically offer an alternative employment prospect to the pro wrestlers. As things stand, as decent as the TNA product is, I think it’s a long way off. While I enjoyed Victory road, what I saw of it, and think the on air product can give a WWE show a run for it’s money, money seems to be something that TNA don’t have a good knowledge of how to keep hold of. From what we are hearing, these guys are haemorrhaging cash like the late, great, World Championship Wrestling. Don’t be fooled by a smug RoH fan or an insane fan of the hardcore styles, TNA is the ONLY chance of competition for the WWE that there is right now. They have to get a better hold on the business side if the rumours we’re hearing about their cash flow is true. EVERYONE wants there to be competition in the wrestling business, even the mighty Vince McMahon himself. But they can’t provide any competition if they are losing cash at that rate. It’s not professional and they won’t even reach the level that the WWE has, let alone challenge them. When Eric Bischoff took over WCW, he managed to challenge the WWE, but first he had to turn a profit. Once he did that, and started to do that better and better, he could offer a realistic alternative. Once the company started to lose cash, especially at such a rate, then all they had to go on to stop themselves going under was the name. TNA don’t even have a name, the same way that WCW had one. TNA is still a young promotion, whereas WCW had the name of what was the number one promotion in the country for almost two years. Competition is something that got bitched about all the time in 2002-2003, but even now, where the product has improved and is a great watch for many people, it’s still absolutely vital to the health of the business. The talk of it has died down since there hasn’t been such a need for people to have an alternative to switch too, and the availability of TNA improving to viewers, but inside the business especially, it’s important to have a number of companies working at a high level. It gives the wrestlers a number of different places to ply their trade, and more importantly allows talent to get a chance that they might not get in another company. If WCW had been the only product going, Steve Austin would probably still be working the Indies now. Triple H on TSNOoh, shocking, the mention of another website. Well since they aren’t actually a pure wrestling news site, and they conducted the interview that I want to talk about, I don’t think there should be too many problems with my mentioning TSN. No, I don’t live in Canada, but mega props to TSN, their show Off the Record is that good, that I’m signed up so that I can watch it online. Michael Landsberg conducts a good interview and I recommend that everyone goes and checks out the most recent interview with a pro wrestler, the Triple H interview. Without knowing Triple H personally, I find it hard to talk about anything other than my own impressions. But he came off as very candid, and very open. He didn’t seem like a man who had anything to hide. Now, I know he makes his living as being a pro wrestler, which involves a lot of acting, but it didn’t feel like an act. One of the best things about the interview is that Hunter does seem to be on the level in the way he answers the questions. The best thing about this is the kind of questions Hunter gets asked, and answers. He answers everything, whether it’s about Chyna, Sabotage of careers, developing stars, his relationship with Shawn Michaels, the works. The relationship with Shawn is a segment I found pretty interesting. Hunter doesn’t dress it up, cover up for his friend, he shoots from the hip. He says about Shawn’s time away from the ring and his bittnerness, before intervention from Kevin Nash (a personal friend of both) and their eventual reconciliation. It’s not really the kind of story you expect to hear featuring the clique - we all know that many members of the clique have had their problems in the past, and have stuck together through thick and thin. This story about coming to terms, and the way the story unfolds, perhaps shows a growing maturity in their group. To be honest, in the way they do business these days compared to the past, it wouldn’t surprise me. Hunter does hit a great point when asked about why they don’t make stars the way they used to. He says it’s because the younger guys are green that they are working with now, while Austin etc. had been wrestling for years. Good call, shooting from the hip. He’s not trying to cover up for the talent, he’s being honest, and admitting the limitations and problems of working with a young roster. There are benefits to working with a young team, but the downside is that you have to wait for them to Mature. If you go into it with an open mind, if your not one of the brainless HHH bashers, then you do end up on Hunters side, and that’s basically down to his attitude. Not only does he come across as very honest and open, but also when talking about Wrestling he comes across as very positive for the most part. Opinionated, but very positive. There are times when the questions change, and his mood changes, but when it comes to his role in wrestling, or when Landsberg asks him about Jericho, Hunter is very upbeat, and very positive. He says that Chris Jericho is that good he can be a star anywhere, as big or as small as he wants to be. He talks about Ric Flair being his idle and being even better than he had imagined. When asked about what people on the internet say about him, he’s even very positive in his reply: Not bashing the net aimlessly like some WWE stars have in the past, Hunter just says that we don’t know him, which we don’t, and that he thinks he has a good relationship with the guys he works with. And I would almost think that this positivism was an act, if it wasn’t for the bits where he isn’t quite so optimistic. When asked about Brock Lesnar, Hunter doesn’t come off so much as angry or bitter, but the air has definitely changed - more sad about the wasted effort, and the useless sacrifices made by other wrestlers to get him over. When asked about Bob Holly’s recent conduct you can feel Hunter get quite officious, and react with the kind of resentment that any wrestler would have in a similar situation. I’d react in a similar way myself. As Hunter says, you don’t take liberties out there. All in all, even if you are not a Hunter fan, this interview is definitely worth checking out. I found it very entertaining. The previous YBTB champion, Random guy, was pretty upset he didn’t get a rematch clause. To placate him, I agreed to give him some time in the column to air his feelings and state his case to what he calls his “Public”. When I got his reply back, I was pretty shocked. Reader discretion is advised from this point on, and naturally, the views of Random guy 5 do not reflect the views of Pt2 or Take up thy wrestling boots and walk, or LOP. I wouldn’t have printed it, but it’s a good reflection on the dedication that people will be facing come the YBTB battle royal…. Take a look. The following announcement has been paid for by the supporters of the true YBTB Champion A Random Promo * In a dark room, lit only by a dim desk lamp…. Amidst empty dishware….and paper plates…with an intense gaze focused on his keyboard…. Feet propped up on a door handle as the door to his room swings tauntingly back and forth… Confused by the emotion….blinded by the feeling…* 14 months. 425 days. Over 50 different columns, including 46 in the wrestling columns forum…striving to make this very main page. Various bullshit accolades that amount to little, dozens of “great columns,” the respect of a few and the blind hatred of others. To say that I’ve ‘paid my dues’ in regards to the Internet Wrestling Community would be a gross understatement. Hell, I’ve done everything in my power to gain some notoriety, just pleading with people to have my voice heard. I launched “Project Random” in an ill-fated attempt to bring light to an otherwise dark world, and I was laughed at quite blatantly in the mightiest of forums. Along comes my chance to make some noise and finally let my voice be heard. I won the “You be the Booker” title in what many called an “upset” over Tinaali, though those really in the know understood she never had much of a chance. I’ve been held back too long, and even had my name slurred in the column of another writer for this very site. It hardly matters. I won. I fantasy booked in a way that would make Vince McMahon cream his thousand dollar pants. I was on my way to becoming more than a “columns forum legend”. I was destined for Internet stardom. For almost two months I reigned as champion-perhaps the challengers knew what few others did, that I simply couldn’t be beaten. Finally, after months of clamoring to defend my title I would have the chance to force the clowns of my Internet circus to stand idle and listen to my dominance of all things opinion in the world of Internet Wrestling Column writing. As that fateful day drew near, I was confident. My “challenger” Xanman, an honorable adversary to be sure, was simply not prepared for what was about to happen to him. The match comes to be, and I performed well. Very well. The judge’s decision came down, and I was instantaneously launched into a fit of rage. People have long since told me I take things too seriously with my Internet writings, but they simply don’t understand. To have the audience is to have the opportunity, the chance to change the world, one reader at a time. Even through something as simple as a wrestling Website, it’s an opportunity I would cherish above most other things. And that decision, that damned, subjective rating system based solely on the whims of one man that ROBBED me of my opportunity. I wasn’t screwed over….I wasn’t in the wrong…and I didn’t lose. I was ROBBED. A felony my friends. My crowning achievement in Internet writing was RAPED and taken from me. And now, it has come to be, that I will take part in the first ever ‘You Be The Booker’ Royal Rumble. Tis a sad state of affairs, when somebody who has come so far, and accomplished so much, only to be violated in this way, is forced to defend his manhood and again strive to achieve that which is rightfully HIS. The World should be ashamed. YOU should be ashamed for not writing in to these so-called “judges” and telling them what a true travesty of justice this really is. (stands and walks away from keyboard, turning back on the camera). Sadly there is no hope left in the world. We live in times that require us to not only fight for survival, to not only fight for food for our children’s mouths, but the world has evolved to the point when we must fight to keep the food we’ve already begun to chew. The fruits of my labor will not remain stolen from me. I will leave no doubt this time. (Deep breath) The day of reckoning…The Royal Rumble is drawing near. Perhaps only then will people come to realize just what they have done. Its appropriate in this time of Christmas holiday, I’ll close by quoting Jesus Christ himself… “Forgive them father….they know not what they do” -Randomguy#5 Can be reached at Randomguy_316@hotmail.com and currently writes several columns for our forums, including the weekly wrestling column http://lopforums.com/showthread.php?t=2431">The Nosebleed Section Wow, Talk about deranged. I think it’s obvious that Random wants that title back, and is working overtime to make sure he’s ready for the Rumble. With guys like Phantom Lord, Morpheus, Dubzilla and “The Dirtside Maniac” Joshua W. Knight in there, he’d better be on form! There are only a couple of places left in the Rumble, so if you want in, get your name to me ASAP! Well, that’s it for this one. I hope you’ll join me Christmas time for the YBTB title match. If you have any comments or suggestions for Scenario’s, then feel free to send e-mail to me at takeupthywrestlingboots@gmail.com Take care Pt2 *NEW GALLERY* Brand New Photos of a PREGNANT Stephanie McMahon! VIEW NOW!
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