Breaking The Walls Down - Bits and Pieces Submitted by Chris Dailey on Tuesday, August 30, 2005 at 5:54 PM EST
Breaking The Walls Down
Hello all and welcome back to another edition of Breaking The Walls Down. Well, the month of August has flown right by. My wife and I moved with a TON of help from many of my good friends. A big thank you to all of you that helped. See, I told you my wife had a lot of stuff! LOL. Anyway, the world of wrestling has a bunch of news, so this week we’ll focus on Bits and Pieces.
Bits and Pieces
The general consensus right now is that Matt Hardy is being buried by The WWE. Fan reaction to Hardy has been dwindling and a focus on Edge has been at the forefront of this feud. My wife asked me last night if Matt Hardy looked bulked up and after watching him I definitely believe he’s beefed up considerably. Could this be because Matt doesn’t feel he will be taken seriously until he is sporting a chiseled physique? Possibly. It’s my belief that The WWE is pushing Edge at the expense of Matt Hardy and that is simply the way it’s going to go. Last night’s end to their match was interesting in the standpoint that they both were “taken to the hospital” due to the bump that they both took. I’m still waiting to pass judgment on this feud and the benefactors of this feud, but for now, I’d say the benefactor is Edge and Edge alone.
Lita hasn’t really benefited, in my eyes, from this feud. To be honest, last night on RAW, she really didn’t seem to “into” the whole angle. That could possibly be because she’s been reported to not like her personal life aired on TV. Maybe it’s starting to show through? I don’t know, but for Lita this has to be frustrating. She knows that her personal life was/is in shambles and now it’s out in the public arena for scrutiny. Personally, I know that would get to me. Remember, sex sells. . . but who’s buying?
O.K., I admit I stole that line and changed it to my own. Credit Megadeth and the album “Peace Sells. . . But Who’s Buying?”, but you get the point. The WWE right now is selling sex, are you buying it? I know, for that matter, they’re selling a lot, but let’s focus on the sex part. Whenever you put on a WWE program, it would be unusual to tune in and not see some form of female flesh in a revealing outfit or precarious position. But, and I’ve taken this stance before plenty of times in my columns, is it really making a difference? Do you turn in each week to watch some glorified T&A? Sure, I’ll admit, I don’t mind seeing it, but it gets to the point that it’s an overkill and an unnecessary distraction and time-consumer from more important developing storylines.
And that leads me to the whole Diva Search Contest. Why in the world does this still exist? The fans are not that excited about it and, seemingly, this past Diva Search Contest drew an even more negative reaction from the crowd. The viewing (and paying audience, may I remind you) simply have an apathetic if not downright negative reaction to this contest. The fans are tired of the sideshow carnival that takes place during the wrestling show. Heck, it’s hard enough for professional wrestling to gain any amount of credibility in the mainstream media. But when you have a guy like Rob Schneider out there on national TV with the Diva Search Contestants acting like a buffoon to promote his new movie, any form of credibility went right out the window along with Schneider’s failed attempt at being funny on live TV.
I am saddened to read and see the sad state that Tammy Sytch has tragically fallen to. By all accounts she is off the wagon and drinking or much worse again. One can only guess that her husband’s death has mentally destroyed her. I witnessed my grandmother’s mental destruction after my grandfather’s death, but that was after 51 years of marriage. It is apparent that Tammy is not dealing well with the loss of Chris and needs help. I am a Tammy fan. Not for her body, but for what she brought to the arena every day. I enjoyed her being on TV and I sincerely hope that she gets the help that she both needs and deserves.
Speaking of help, The WWE sorry state of affairs continues to linger. Help is what The WWE needs and help is what The WWE is not getting. The WWE has almost had a revolving door lately of writers. These writers have little to no knowledge of the professional wrestling industry. I would think a working knowledge of the business is necessary; however, The WWE is not going that route. I can somewhat understand why. I’m guessing that The WWE wants a fresh, clean slate to try and revitalize the business. Forget inside knowledge that can taint the final product. Maybe someone who is unfamiliar with the business is the key. That may be The WWE’s thought process in this matter. I, however, do not agree with this. The writers are asking questions of the wrestlers that show zero research and, therefore, zero effort or respect. Those kinds of things will make it very hard for the writers to work with the wrestlers. Those kinds of things will ultimately keep The WWE from ever achieving its goal of total superiority. As it stands now, the average professional wrestling fan is left wanting more after viewing The WWE product. And, that’s never a good thing for business, which is, after all what this is all about, business.
The state of tag team wrestling continues to be an enigma to me. While looking at The WWE, I don’t feel as if there really is a legitimate tag team in the company. The WWE has let go of its last big name tag team in The Dudley Boys (now called Team 3D). So, where does that leave the tag division? Not with much, that’s what. I am one of those fans that actually really enjoys a tag team match. A match that flows fluidly from one move to the next, involving hot-tags, double-teams, and tag team finishing maneuvers. Does anyone remember those days? I certainly do. I enjoyed those matches. I looked forward to those matches. Now, it’s nothing but a hodge-podge group of tag teams that do nothing to get the fans excited.
Hulk Hogan and HBK had a match at SummerSlam that saw HBK losing cleanly to Hogan. This was said to infuriate HBK, as he had zero input into the finish. And, not to mention that if he got a rematch, like he supposedly wanted, Hogan would have won that match, as well. I do have to say, at some point, it gets to be ridiculous, and this is one of those points. Hogan is old and hobbled by a bad knee. HBK, while not a young wrestler anymore, is not Hogan’s age and has earned and deserves a clean win over Hogan. I’m not trying to say that Hogan should exist to merely put over younger talent, I’m saying that when you have a talent such as HBK, Hogan should have to put him over. It won’t hurt Hogan’s career or standing with the fans. Heck, Hogan already won the first match. Why couldn’t HBK win the second match? Is this the ego that we all knew and despised when Hogan was in WCW in the mid to late 90s? I certainly think so. Hogan hasn’t won the world title. . . yet. I think that’s because he realizes he can’t handle the rigors of being world champ. But, one must wonder, will he get the urge? Will he get the urge and the guts to go to McMahon and say that he wants to go over a John Cena or a David Batista so that he can be a world champion one more time? I have no idea, but the idea of such an action certainly has become more plausible after Hogan’s latest actions before SummerSlam.
One last thing. Who misses The King of The Ring? I know I certainly do. I miss the developing wrestlers and see who The WWE was going to push next. Personally I feel that is one thing that is wrong with The WWE right now. The King of The Ring was always an anticipated event amongst myself and my friends. It is missed.
