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Submitted by Morpheus on Sunday, April 30, 2006 at 1:18 PM EST
April 2006 The Lashing Back at Backlash Edition Welcome back to Fact or Fiction from your favorite Dream Master, bitches. Our host, as always, is the one columnist I most wish I could quit, Boss Foxx ( as opposed to the one I most wish I could quit reading, which would be Random), and before I say anything I’ll regret, I’m going to turn it over to him so he can get this show under way. Thanks, sweetie. It's that time of the month again. That's right... cramps. No, wait. That's not right. It's FoF time. Yeah, that's the ticket. Unlike our special WrestleMania edition last month, there's no Columns Forum edition paired up with this one. That doesn't mean, however, that there aren't a treasure trove of quality columns in there that you could be reading as well to get your fix. In fact, the second annual Extreme Column Writing (E.C.W.) Tournament is in full swing right now as it heads into the semi-finals. Back on topic though, this month for FoF we have another sinister six to make our little round table of discussion. Aside from yours truly (Boss Foxx), we've got LoP's main page darling, Morpheus. We've also got a Columns Forum veteran, Zuma, joining us this month finally after a couple failed tries on his part to meet the ol' deadline (Marijuana's a helluva drug). Then we have one of my favorite Welshmen, Sheepster, who is also an accomplished columnist in the CF. That's not all though, as we've got an LoP Forums regular, Takeover, jumping on board for the first time. And last but not least, there's Jaro who just might be the second greatest wrestling lovin' Maritimer on LoP... second only to me of course. Bwah hah hah. That's enough introduction from me though, as no one wants to see me prattle on any longer. We want the good stuff, so let's kick this pig. Onto the topics! Topic #1: Randy Orton is this decade's Ahmed Johnson. By this, I refer to Ahmed's quick rise through the ranks of WWE in the 90's only to fail miserably within a couple years of his debut due to attitude problems and injuries. FACT or FICTION? Takeover - FICTION. If anyone in recent WWE history has proven to be a failed investment and a bad attitude problem, it’s Brock Lesnar. Here you have a man who was a multiple time WWE Champion and the star of the entire Smackdown! Brand (I’m sorry, Guerrero fans, but he was), and he just up and quits in the most childish move ever. Reports state that Lesnar was increasingly hard to work with as his departure neared, and even almost balked on losing at No Way Out 2004. That’s behavior unbecoming of a certified main eventer. It hurts me to say this, but Orton is still just an upper midcarder at this point is his career. I blame no one else than The Undertaker for that, too. Way to kill any momentum at Armageddon, Dead Man. In fact, Lesnar’s rise to stardom took what, 4 months? How long did it take Orton to win the title – about two years. Yeah, Lesnar was by far the bigger investment gone sour. Besides, I still don’t think we’re being told the full story here on Randall. Something is amiss, and I call WWE’s bluff. We’ll see Orton back on TV by SummerSlam, or Survivor Series at the latest. Sheepster - A conditional FACT. Randy Orton is notorious for his backstage behavior and as we all know, he’s been hit with a suspension. It was originally set for 60 days, but news has leaked out that it may be an indefinite suspension. Here’s the quite obvious condition: If he changes his lousy behavior over the next 60 days, then he’ll come back. But then again, he’ll fail just as miserably because the fans are indifferent towards him. This will make him swing back into his behavioral problems, hit the bottle and get into a long drawn-out court battle with a fan who he attacked while waddling to the ring at a house show after drinking a few too many bottles of JD. It took 7 referees and Sgt. Slaughter to get him off the fan. Not a nice sight. Boss Foxx – FACT. Now, don't me wrong. I'm not claiming that Randy Orton will ultimately end up like Ahmed Johnson (aka Tony Norris) in his fall from grace, working for a lesser company before being arrested for drug possession and pimping underage prostitutes. I do, however, think that Orton's career is further paralleling Ahmed's in WWE because fans are not buying into the hype that is being heaped upon him. Add in injuries and attitude problems, which also plagued Ahmed Johnson, and you've got an eerily similar scenario that I believe will ultimately see Randy Orton's career flounder to a degree where his failed tenure in WWE could tarnish the family name almost as bad as Sean Stasiak's run in the land of the Titans. Morpheus - After reading this topic, I sat here for approximately 36.84 seconds and reminisced fondly about my man Ahmed Johnson. Then I got around to thinking about the task at hand, and realized that it was true and utter FICTION on several levels. First of all, these two men cannot be compared, and not just because one is a ripped negro and the other is a lanky honky. Orton achieved a level of success in the WWE that Ahmed never did in the WWF, not to say that he couldn’t have, but he didn’t. On the reverse side of the coin, no matter how hard Randy tries, he’ll never be able to pull off a convincing Pearl River Plunge. I miss Ahmed… Jaro - FACT. Although, this comparison may be enough to make Ahmedheads like myself cry in my pillow. After all, Ahmed didn’t leave chocolate surprises in duffle bags. But everything else is definitely true. Orton was certainly making a name for himself prior to his suspension, but I don’t think his career can withstand too many more childish outburts before his momentum slows down like molasses on toast. The issue with Orton seems to be mostly due to his attitude about how he is a main eventer and feeling that he does not have to follow the same rules as everyone else, as opposed to mis-executing a move and putting someone's career in jeopardy like our good friend Mr. Johnson. Although I think I'd rather have a broken neck than have errant feces smeared on my new Armani suit. Perhaps I'm a materialist. Zuma - Randy has failed so far. He’s fucked up, he’s ruined a World Title run, he’s ruined the rub that he’s been given by just about EVERYBODY, and he’s now on suspension. He’s sitting at home, and he doesn’t know if he’s going to ever be coming back to WWE TV. However, what he has, which Ahmed didn’t have – is his youth. Ahmed wasn’t as young as Randy is, and he didn’t have the pedigree that Randy does. Randy will be back, he’ll be put into some “social re-adjustment” program, and he’ll come back in a year and hit Batista with an RKO from the crowd. This kid’s not getting fired, he’s going into some circle jerk – “I blame daddy” program. Now… imagine Ahmed Johnson in a program. Yeah. That’s what I thought. That’s FICTION. Topic #2. With the recent subtle teases by HBK and HHH of a D-X reunion, this is something that could really put some interest back in WWE's product. FACT or FICTION? Zuma - That’s an interesting way to put it. It’s not “is it a good thing”, or “is this going to be entertaining”, “will this give us some great matches” – but with the way the question is posed, I have to answer FACT. DX coming back will indeed bring some Attitude era marks out of the woodwork and pop the ratings a bit. Here we have two of the most high profile WWE superstars EVER teaming up to be fan favorites. Both of these men are treated as tweeners by the crowd anyway, so what’s the harm in teaming them up (since we all know they are friends, and it works storyline wise) – and having them try to entertain us. DX gave us a couple of my favorite all time WWE moments, so I personally would be extremely excited to see them return. Bring ‘em back, let HHH and HBK be “cool” again. Shoot… maybe there’s a “cool” kid out there that they could even put over with this angle. Takeover - I’ll preface this by saying that I always hated DX. Every single incarnation of it. But seriously, did the 1997 and early 1998 DX do anything to help WWE earn money? If so, how come I don’t remember anything real marketable or outstanding? Oh yeah, that’s right – the Austin-McMahon feud, and the rise of Mick Foley and The Rock. Silly WWE, thinking nostalgia will work every time. It only seems to work for The Rock and Hulk Hogan, both of whom are smart enough to pace out their appearances for maximum poppage (that’s right, I created a word). Come on Vince, do something groundbreaking with Cena, or with Edge, or even RVD. Embrace what made your company great in the 1990s – fresh, new ideas that have yet to be done. Not rehashes of old ideas that once worked, like DX, ECW, the NWO, and such. Oh yeah, I suppose I should say FICTION here to top things off. Morpheus - There are 3 types of people out there: those that loved D-X and miss it, those like me who completely missed the whole thing, and Takeover. The people who miss it will pop for its return and find their interest renewed. The people like me who never saw it will pop for it because it’s a chance to see what we missed. Thus our interest will be piqued. People like Takeover are only hanging on to sanity by a thread as it is, so their opinions don’t count. I think that this is a FACT as far as initial interest is concerned. However, the long term is another story… Jaro - FICTION. Basically, this was a wrestling incarnation of Generation X, the generation from the early '80s to mid '90s where nearly everyone wanted to be rebel. In the twenty-first century, however, society is more than willing to accept things for the way they are. The entire concept would be lost on the mindless drones of the present. Most of the current WWE audience wouldn’t even remember the origins of DX – Bret calling Trips and Shawn a couple of “degenerates”. A DX reunion would be exciting for all of 11 seconds, and that’s about how long it takes for Triple H to do his whole Michael Buffer “Suck It” spiel. Since D-Generation X-pired, we’ve been exposed to Candice Michelle, Billy and Chuck, the Kiss My Ass Club, Jim Ross’ ass surgery and Katie Vick… so I can’t foresee Triple H and Shawn Michaels sitting at an announce booth sucking on bananas being that enthralling anymore. Although we’d all still find it in our rebellious hearts to mark like little girls for the crotch chops. Admit it. Sheepster - FICTION. If it did happen, it would only work for a few weeks. And only if they don’t re-hire any of the almost-original pack. That’s the big danger here. WWE will possibly want some old guy to help get D-X over. Road Dogg and Billy Gunn are TNA guys, so only X-Pac could return. I’ll just leave you with that thought. A possible X-Pac return. Yeah. Boss Foxx – FICTION. D-X was great... back in the day. The day, however, was nearly ten years ago. The characters of Shawn Michaels and Triple H have evolved so much since that time that it seems almost pointless to have them regress back for the sake of a D-X reunion, which would realistically only have novelty value for a few weeks before it got old all over again. As much as I think fondly on memories of some factions like D-X, New World Order, and the Four Horsemen, I also realize that their days of usefulness and relevance have long since passed. The WWE has a problem with garnering long term interest in the product right now, but a D-X reunion is not the solution sadly. Topic #3. Vince McMahon has finally crossed a universal line by turning God and Christianity into a storyline to put himself over as the ultimate villain. FACT or FICTION? Jaro - FICTION. World Wrestling Entertainment is more than your ordinary "wrasslin'" company. Stories are told every week. A lot of these stories feature good versus evil. The McMahon family are set up as the representatives of evil, persecuting the happy-go-lucky Shawn Michaels and trying to pervert his moral standards. What better way to have good defeat evil than to have God defeat Vince McMahon. Since God is who he is, he obviously understands the importance of creative control, he has most likely already been assured that there won't be any sort of "Sabbath Screwjob", and RAW certainly brings in more viewers than those other cable networks God has devoted to him. Most of all, God is a huge mark. Ever try and have a prayer answered between the hours of 9 and 11 on Monday nights? He won’t be listening. Morpheus - If Katie Vick didn’t send him to Hell, this might. But wasn’t he already the figurehead of a dark cult? Ah well, fuck it. Fact is this storyline has put Vince over as the Ultimate Douchebag more than the Ultimate Villain. I’m going FICTION because it’s my God-given right to do so. Takeover - As a Lutheran, I’m tempted to go FACT. Then I remembered that this is entertainment, and I watch television for that purpose. You’ve got to be kidding me if you say fact. Remember, this is late-night (relatively…) cable television, which is dominated with jokes against religious figures (South Park anyone?). Oh, and perhaps we remember THE UNDERTAKER?!?! If you get in fits over Vince vs. God, you’re being a hypocrite for not jeering a man who supposedly steals peoples’ souls and calls himself the Lord of Darkness. And the crucifixion…Yeah. This one is blatantly FICTION. Zuma - Once again, Boss comes at it with an interesting viewpoint. McMahon is putting himself over as the ultimate, bat shit crazy, and unsanctimonious son of a bitch villain. Has he crossed a line though – that’s FICTION, or better yet, it’s more “Not Yet.” He probably will cross someone’s line some point soon, but it won’t be mine. As I explain, in my new column “Viva La Lucha #4 – Cue the Pyro”, now up in the Columns Forum (cheap pop) – there’s really not anywhere that WWE can’t go. Shit – there’s not really a whole lot left that they haven’t done. If HHH can pretend to be Kane having sex with a corpse, and Undertaker can crucify Stephanie McMahon, what’s the harm in Vince jobbing out Jesus to put Shane over as the new GM of Raw? Vince is a smart man, because he knows, messing with God is an easy way to get a very vocal group’s attention. He’s already looked at as a freak, so why not exploit that angle and push the envelope as far you can for some free publicity. It’s gotten him this far. Boss Foxx – FICTION. Maybe it's because I'm a heathen, but this storyline just does not offend me in the slightest. In fact, I think WWE could be doing a lot more to push some buttons on the issue. I don't think any line has been crossed, so to speak, but I do think that Vince & Co. are not meeting the full potential of using a God storyline to sell a PPV. The creative team should be on overload with the amount of satirical and social ideas for this storyline, but this is the WWE creative team that we're talking about here and their track record for firing on all cylinders is less than stellar. This storyline is simply not offensive in my eyes, but it isn't particularly effective either. Sheepster - On this, I am uncertain. I’ve not seen the full story play out, and I’m not really religious. Personally, I can’t think of any outcome that happens at Backlash that I would find offensive. Whatever happens, it’ll be a classic bit of entertaining wrestlecrap. I’m going to kick back with a few non-religious friends, crack open a beer and enjoy it. Whether any Christians would find it offensive, I don’t know. I’ve not heard of any international outcry about it, but I don’t think I will either. It’s WWE. It’s not real life, it’s a soap opera. Topic #4. The Great Khali will not last to the end of the year before being released or simply benched due to being "green" and his lack of compatibility in the ring with many wrestlers. FACT or FICTION? Morpheus - Who? When the fuck did he change his name? I’m telling you, if they hadn’t scrapped the Juniors Division, this guy could have gotten over huge as The Midget Killer. Seeing him actually makes me miss The Giant Gonzales. Remember when he showed up on Baywatch? Good times. I’ll go out on a limb and say FICTION, claiming that he’ll still be an active member of the roster, but will have a looser schedule than the Undertaker. Takeover - We’ve only got 8 months left in the year…plenty of time for Khali to fester on Smackdown! before being sent down to OV… Nah, I can’t keep up the charade. With the recent signings/re-signings of big men, I do believe that Vince has once again returned to his own naive belief that muscles sell more than wrestlers. I have yet to even see this Khali guy outside of a pic on WWE.com, so I can’t judge much. But, I smell a feud with Mark Henry, Jindrak, or maybe even Benoit or Angle before the year ends, with Khali STILL on the roster for some reason. FICTION. Zuma - Kenny Doane is 19 years old. He started training just a couple of years ago, and he’s been wrestling in front of cameras down at OVW for at least a year. He’s already a tag team champion, and a member of WWE’s flagship show participating in a main event level match just last week. Dalip Singh started training at All Pro Wrestling in the year 2000, and spent time with Masahiro Chono in Japan. He’s been trained, and he’s gotten over in Japan. I don’t think he’s going to be “green” at all. He is large enough for his compatibility to be an issue with many of the other poorly trained wrestlers that are trotted out on Smackdown, but if the matches are booked properly, he can be made to look very strong, and entertaining. I’m calling FICTION, due to him being an amazing specimen who should be trained enough to understand his way around the ring without killing anyone else. Sheepster - FACT. Factfactfactfactfactfactfact. Faaaaaaaaact. I don’t know if I got that across to the readers as clearly as I hoped. This guy can’t speak English, I’ve not seen him wrestle, and he’s got a more disproportionate chin than Buzz Lightyear. If he were any bigger and greener, he’d be picking sweetcorn for a living. There’s nothing more I can say about this. Fact. Boss Foxx – FACT. Even though I optimistically look forward to seeing this guy square off with the Big Show at WrestleMania 23, I am also a realist. I am simply more inclined to believe that this guy is the next Giant Silva rather than the next Big Show. Aside from his height and menacing face, there doesn't appear to be much more to him. As times goes on over this spring and summer, I think it will become ever more clear to Vince & Co. that this guy simply is not ready to be brought onto the main stage. I really think that by the time Survivor Series rolls around, the Great Khali's time in WWE will be done. I'm open to the idea that he could improve and come back, but I think that this push will ultimately fail unless there is a miraculous upswing in the quality of booking towards this giant. Jaro - FICTION. In 1993, Khali was still working as a road laborer in the Himalya hills when his life's circumstances began to change. By this time he had tried his hand at many sports. He excelled in all of them, but showed exceptional talent in bodybuilding. The Director General of the Punjab Police Department took notice of Khali and helped him join the police force. The change in employment allowed Singh to further his body building training and he subsequently won titles of Mr. India in 1997-98. His success and hard work led him to train as a wrestler in the United States of America in 1999, where he developed the skills necessary to compete on a global stage, enabling him to win numerous wrestling titles in Japan, where he is currently a very popular figure. Khali's training schedule consists of two hours of weight training, morning and evening, every day. He weighs in at approximately 426 lb. Maintaining his size requires a strict, and intimidating daily dietary regimen. Khali consumes five kg milk, five chickens and two dozen eggs along with chapatis, juice, and fruit daily. All of this – just like Khali’s run with the WWE – is irrelevant to anything. Topic #5. Charlie Haas, Mark Jindrak, Test, Chuck Palumbo, and others are being re-signed by WWE, but none of them will make any bigger impact than they did when they first worked for the promotion. FACT or FICTION? Sheepster - FACT. Most of these guys had a more than decent amount of time to make an impact, and half of them did. Some of them even won titles. Of course, it all depends on what WWE do with each of these guys, but I don’t think any of them will make a big impact. They usually save them for new guys or established guys. Very rarely does a wrestler who’s had a chance before come back and make a big impact. Then again, there are a few guys who’ve done precisely that. John Bradshaw Layfield seemed to be a perennial tag-team wrestler who would never get any success with another title. Look what happened to him. The only difference is, he was always a WWF person. As far as I know, they never fired him, and he worked constantly for them for years, without complaining. I can’t say the same for this bunch. Takeover - This one is so loaded to the fact side, it hurts. So, let me do them all one by one. Charlie Haas – former WWE Tag Team Champion and one half of the World’s Greatest Tag Team. Once touted as a future main eventer (or Jericho-like floater), he fell on hard times, being released in 2005. His return to WWE on the April 17 edition of RAW, with little to no fanfare and months past anyone’s expectations, was a nice surprise, but also utterly disappointing. Remember, this is a guy whose most recent WWE feud centered on tagging with Hardcore Holly against MNM. Suddenly, he was thrown into the RVD-Benjamin storyline. I’m sorry, but none of this is linear. I expect an eventual run with IC title contention, but no gold, for Haas in 2006 and 2007, and another eventual release, perhaps into a full-time TNA gig. So, FACT. Mark Jindrak and Chuck Palumbo. What the heck did they do to start with? Jindrak was the former Lex Luger ripoff turned Kurt Angle running mate with a punch for a finishing move. At least he didn’t get the Matt Morgan shtick. In any regard, WWE failed him from the start with a lack of decent storylines or a character the fans could connect with. Cena has it, Batista has it, hell, even Orton has it (although many fans don’t seem to see it). Jindrak doesn’t. Palumbo switched gimmicks so many times, I can’t even remember half of them. I’d almost like to see WWE bring in Mike Sanders to be his mouthpiece. Oh wait, the Natural Born Thrillers sucked. Never mind. Seeing as how both men never had a decent WWE resume to speak of, I can’t see Vince doing anything with them now. FACT and FACT. Now…Andrew Martin. Let’s go over his resume. Former Intercontinental, Hardcore and European Champion, as well as WCW and WWE Tag Team Champion. High-profile storyline with Stephanie McMahon that culminated in a great SummerSlam 1999 match. Former member of the Corporation. I can keep going. Yeah, he won’t top that. FACT as well. Boss Foxx – FACT. Even though I am a fan of Charlie Haas, and to a lesser extent a fan of Chuck Palumbo, I am aware that these guys did not light up the television screen with WWE fans during their time with the company. Now that these guys are being re-signed all of a sudden, I'm questioning the idea of what it is about them that's really improved in them so that WWE will take notice this time. All the time in Japan honing mat skills is great, but that's only a piece of the puzzle really... and a minor one considering the fact that this is WWE we're talking about here – a company that relies more on what happens outside of a match than what goes on between the opening and closing bell. Jaro - FACT. Charlie Haas has all the talent in the world. There is no doubt in my mind that this guy could put on the proverbial clinic with guys like Angle, Benoit and Triple H. Unfortunately, he has the charisma of a tumor. The same could be said for Jindrak and Palumbo… just without the talent part. With Andrew Martin, I’ll always be a “Testicle” at heart. There was just something about this guy that was captivating. Maybe it was the generic move set, the grossely large front teeth, or the fact that he threw my drunk ass out of Motley Crue concert in 1992. I look forward to seeing all these guys working at a Best Buy in 2007. Zuma - Again, I’m going to have to disagree. Due to the recent news that WWE is going to be bankrolling a new version of ECW. These men all have a great chance. Well, this doesn’t necessarily go for Charlie Haas - who is already back on RAW, and probably ecstatic - but the other three hosses have a chance to go hardcore and make something of themselves. All three of them can be utilized by Paul Heyman very easily, because they have built in characters that fans recognize and are established, who could fit into various storylines and then actually be relied upon to give a average to good match. Will they all be big ass jobbers? Not necessarily. Jindrak is really young, but seems to suffer from the “Orton syndrome” – I’ve read some of his words on the Internet and he comes off very arrogant. Hopefully, this time off humbled him, and he’s willing to work for the good of the company. Recent photos that I have seen of Test are rather amazing. He’s big time buffed up, and he’s healthy. I always thought Test got a sort of bum deal, because he got semi-over the first time around without a lot of mic time. He deserves another run. Palumbo will still be a jobber though. 3 out of 4 is still FICTION. Morpheus - This is a tough one to answer based on the group mentioned. Charlie Haas already has made a bigger impact in the singles ranks than he did before he left. I’ve always said that with the right push, Test is the next Diesel (same moveset, similar size, both Metal). Jindrak is my dogg and he brings an athleticism that few other big guys can boast, making him potentially very good. Palumbo, he’s cool, but the pinnacle of his career was as the bleached-blond faux-fag. The answer to this is obviously FACT AND FICTION. In conclusion, where the fuck is Henry O. Godwinn? I miss that son of a bitch. Topic #6.What is it that you love most about wrestling? SPORTS or ENTERTAINMENT? Boss Foxx – SPORT. I love entertainment as much as the next guy and professional wrestling does a lot in the way of entertaining me with the aspects that go beyond athleticism and wrestling prowess. What keeps me coming back to the shows and replaying the stuff of the past though is the sport of it all. I don't have any videos of memorable entertainment segments in my plethora of VHS tapes and mpeg files. I have wrestling matches, and most of them are matches that tell a story yet also exemplify the pure athleticism of professional wrestling. When I watch Bret Hart and Steve Austin beat eachother silly at WrestleMania 13, I'm not reliving the moment because of the promo's they have done or the antics they got up to outside the ring, but because of the absolute tenacity they show in putting on one of the very best matches that I've ever seen in my life. Sheepster - I could watch two great wrestlers put on a technical masterclass but I’d probably get bored. But two average wrestlers who can do a total of 12 moves between them might put on an entertaining match and I’d be happy. I’m not watching for the sport (and there’s no second “s” in “sports” by the way. It’s just “sport”), I’m watching for the entertainment. I like the individual quirks that wrestlers do to garner a reaction, and it’s usually the heelish tactics that I enjoy the most. Subtle things like poking someone in the eye. Like using the referee as a shield. And these antics are wasted if the guy doesn’t look toward the crowd and smirk at his own evilness. Despite the obvious physical exertion, it’s not a sport. You have to enjoy it for the ENTERTAINMENT. Jaro - ENTERTAINMENT. In what All-American sport can skin-tight spandex be worn and women flaunt giant biceps, while brandishing names such as Disco Inferno or Manna the Headhunter and still are adored by a mass audience? Why, in wrestling, of course. The dramatically choreographed sport entertains an audience of violence-starved fans who covet moves, such as the coined "People's Elbow". In fact, wrestling rises emotion from almost every viewer the industry draws in. Whether the emotion is intrigue, or pure disgust, this form of entertainment relies on the audiences' reactions, nonetheless. In this day and age, an industry has been built based on wrestling as a revolutionary form of mass culture entertainment. Mass culture is essentially the regime of content, theme, the formulaic regularity of simple explanatory myths, an art tied to the gives of an everyday world. Even though some individuals may have reserve to whether wrestling is art or not, the sport certainly finds an emotion resonance in the genre's audience. Wrestling's main motive is to reach a large-scale audience, and the sport relies on a predictable audience and appealing, symbolic entertainment. … I thought about that entirely too much. Zuma - That’s a column worthy question. There isn’t enough time here to answer that completely and properly. Both sides of the story deserve so much. Without one there is no other. They are the yin and yang to what makes Pro Wrestling. If one is lacking, the other side of the coin might not be as interesting. However, I can watch bad acting on the Spanish channel anytime I need to, so in the end, it’s always going to be about the wrestling. The entertainment aspect sets up what unfolds in the ring, when it’s all booked properly – but in the end we don’t watch PPVs to see feuds end in a sketch. Morpheus - Yeah, I came up with this topic, bitches. Since we’re all members of the PWA E-Fed on the LOP Forums, I figured this was a great choice. We obviously do that because we like the entertainment side, but then we write the shows up as matches because the sport side is so important. Personally, I need both. Without the sport, the entertainment is meaningless, and without the entertainment, the sport is dry at times. That’s why HHH is my favorite wrestler, because he’s a master of both aspects. At the end of the day though, I still enjoy TNA and ROH, even with their lack of story, or shitty ones more often than not, so I guess I lean toward the SPORT side being the reason I watch wrestling, even though it really is the entertainment that keeps me tuning in every week. Takeover – ENTERTAINMENT. I watch WWE and hate TNA. You tell me. When reminiscing about my favorite moments in professional wrestling history, know what comes to mind? Things like these: - The formation of the NWO - Steve Austin and Kurt Angle vying for McMahon’s affections - The Undertaker returning to finally face Kane (1998) - The Rock. My heavens, The Rock. - The Four Horsemen returning on Nitro and Ric Flair going nuts on Bischoff - Edge and Christian and the five second poses - HHH-Stephanie-Kurt Angle - Booker T’s attempts to outshine The Rock I can go on for pages if you ask me to. When reminiscing about matches, here’s what comes to mind: - Angle-Benoit at the Royal Rumble - Undertaker-Ric Flair at WrestleMania X8 - The Rock-Hollywood Hogan at WrestleMania X8 - The Alliance-Team WWF at Survivor Series And so on. As you can see, 3 of the 4 matches listed were storyline driven much more than wrestling driven. All the great wrestling in the world can appease pure wrestling fans, but Vince McMahon realized long ago that the casual fans are the most desired demographic. By creating characters that make you feel for them, boo them, cheer them, want to know them better…etc. you draw intrigue into what it is that makes us human. All the suplexes and power bombs in the world won’t show the uneducated masses what professional wrestling can offer. As Zuma wrote in a recent column, detractors of professional wrestling loathe the industry, citing it as a cesspool for homo-erotic fantasies, or so the usual argument goes. Oh, by the way, allow me to cite an excerpt from a certain book... “Finally, one night in October of 1998, I turned on RAW IS WAR, and nobody was being hung on a crucifix or anything. It was just great entertainment and more athletic than I’d ever realized. I was watching those guys thinking, “Damn, these guys are good athletes. Why does everyone else have a problem with this? I kind of like it.” So I started watching regularly, and after a month I was addicted. I saw how the matches were built around story lines to get people interested in the characters, not just the matches themselves. The more I watched, the more I felt like I could make the transition and be good at it.“ In case you haven’t figured out who wrote that, it’s Kurt Angle, former Olympic and amateur champion, 4-time WWE Champion, 1-time WCW Champion, and 1-time World Heavyweight Champion. If Angle of all people can appreciate the entertainment aspect after years in the amateur ranks, so can I. The End That wraps it up for this month. I'd like to thank Morpheus for posting this sucker up on the main page as always, as well as throwing his two cents in on the topics. I'd also like to thank all the boys that contributed to FoF for this month. It was a very good effort from everyone with some interesting diversity in opinions. I'd finally like to thank the readers for checking us out to see how we spew our rhetoric in the IWC. If you're interested in reading some more of what we have to offer, Morpheus can be found on the main page here with his column, “Enter The Dream Realm”. I'm skulking around the Columns Forum at http://www.lopforums.com with a new column titled “A Faith Based Guide To Choosing Your Favorite Wrestler”. Zuma can also be found in the C.F. with his columns, “The New Joint” and “Viva La Lucha”. Fellow Maritimer Jaro doesn't write columns, but is helping to perpetuate LoP's long standing e-fed PWA. Sheepster does write column, however... on occasion, “Under The Fleece” and can be seen in the CF as well. And as for Takeover? Well... Ummm... Yeah. Thanks, TO for your contribution. Bwah hah hah. Until next time please enjoy this parting gift. Here it is... Your Moment Of Zen.  “Irish Eyes Are Smiling On Torrie Wilson” E-Mail Boss Foxx E-Mail Jaro E-Mail Morpheus E-Mail Sheepster E-Mail Takeover E-Mail Zuma *NEW GALLERY* Amazing UP CLOSE Kelly Kelly Tease Photos! MUST SEE!
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