The Wrath of Tito - Thick ECW analysis, RVD bashing, RAW, HBK, more
Submitted by Mr. Tito on Wednesday, June 28, 2006 at 11:27 PM EST
Let freedom ring... let the whole world sing... Welcome, one and all, to the Wrath of Tito. I'll tell ya what... wrestling's popularity is growing. After years of bad, bad wrestling, the WWE got their stuff together and realized "hey, we have a monopoly... it would be great to forever keep that monopoly!". The WWE product, since 2004, has been very good and it's keeping me clinging on as a wrestling fan. After a horrible 2003, I was just milli-seconds away from saying "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH AND IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE", ala the late Owen Hart. But 2004's product reeled me back in and wrestling has been fun again ever since.
In fact, wrestling's popularity and profitability has improved so much that Universal, when asked if they would allow Extreme Championship Wrestling onto their Sci-Fi Channel, said "SURE, WHY NOT?". Low and behold, we get one of the biggest trainwrecks in professional wrestling history.
IF you're a fan of the older version of ECW, this is a complete shell of that product. When you have guys such as Danny Doring, Justin Credible, and Amish Roadkill coming out to zero introduction or acknowledgement of their past success as ECW, and I stress the word ECW, wrestlers, then the older fans need to realize that it's 2006 and not the 1990's when ECW thrived as a small independent company that innovated the edgier style of wrestling.
If you've read my column, I've TOLD you this was coming. Vince McMahon owns ECW and he'll produce it in his own light. He could absolutely care less about Paul Heyman's creative ideas or how he ran a company that went bankrupt in 2001. Vince could care less. Vince cares about the almighty dollar and ONLY when it's made from his ideas. He tried the same thing with the Body Building federation and the XFL, two money losing failures. With ECW, Vince McMahon sees it as additional television time for him to create ratings with absolute shock value. In fact, the shock value will be the draw, NOT the wrestlers. Why do you think Kelly, the exhibitionist, gets the most attention on the show? Vince has a warped mind and with the ECW television show, he has nothing to lose and that fact enables him to take serious risks. I think Vince sees ECW as more of a toy than something that could be revenue driven from its past.
Besides, what's wrong with Vince's approach? It's HIS money. He won in 2001. Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff did not. With McMahon winning, he's able to rewrite history, buy up tape collections and present those feds his way, and bring those feds up from the dead in his own light. Vince McMahon absolutely has that right. We, as fans, however, have that right to say NO and change the channel. I think in the end, ECW is absolutely doomed because Vince McMahon owns the company. Soon enough, he'll stop associating RAW with ECW and let ECW swim on its own. Then, Vince McMahon will try out some of his zany ideas for shock value instead of letting the wrestling sell the product (just as he tried goofy ideas instead of letting the football, itself, sell the XFL). Vince will soon get bored and ECW will be dead by the end of Summer.
I've said it 100 times... ECW needs to be independent of the WWE. However, it's Vince McMahon's money. No businessman out there is going to throw money at a project and not have some sort of say. Vince won't be like Mark Cuban of the NBA and surround himself with geniuses to run the team. Vince is the owner, president, general manager, and the coach of the WWE franchise and he won't surround himself with experts to help ECW flourish on ECW.
The question, however, is would ECW flourish if it were independent? It's a question I've rattled, as I've said it before... The times have changed. ECW's style of violent matches and sleezy storylines has passed the world by. The United States's entertainment tastes have changed over the last 6 years and so has wrestling fan tastes. If Vince McMahon lets Paul Heyman run the company, what says that Paul Heyman would do a good job? Heyman is good at creating an in-ring product. If you want to see good LIVE wrestling, Heyman is the promoter you want to buy tickets from. Heyman is well known for getting the most out of wrestlers and lord knows he fooled Vince McMahon into signing a bunch of his guys to nice contracts because of what they could do in ECW (Justin Credible, Tazz, Jerry Lynn, Blue Meanie, etc.) and WCW took the bait often, as well (Sandman, Mike Awesome, etc.). While Heyman had a strong underground following, he only produced marginal Pay Per View buyrates and horrible ratings on ECW on TNN. And as I've repeatedly said and I'm growing tired of myself for keep repeating it... Times have changed.
And let's give Vince McMahon some credit. He's smarter than wrestling fans give him credit for, including me. He saw the need for a 3rd alternative on the market. So instead of ever letting TNA grow (which they can't on their own; thanks Jarrett), he created a 3rd brand. What brand used to be popular? WCW is beyond a joke, but ECW's One Night Stand was a moderate success on Pay Per View last year and their DVD sales have been ridiculous (I swear, the Rise and Fall of ECW is the best selling DVD of all time for wrestling no matter how much the WWE insists that Undertaker's DVD is #1). ECW is more popular in its death than WCW, so ECW got the call and was resurrected. Additionally, I think Vince has been fair about assessing ECW's talent. Let's face it, Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Danny Doring, Roadkill, Justin Credible, Stevie Richards, Balls Mahoney, etc. are NOT the same wrestlers they were in the 1990's. It's a FACT. They are all older, their times in ECW took horrible tolls on their bodies, and many of the wrestlers are 5 years removed from television (TNA doesn't count).
In fact, the only non-WWE guy in ECW who even matters is Sabu. Unlike the rest of the talent, Sabu is seeing a rejuvenated career! He's got a great attitude on his shoulders, he's healthy again, and he's been delivering, bigtime, in the ring. He worked a great program with John Cena (which I think benefitted Cena and earned him some respect for various cynical fans) and his bouts with Rey Mysterio (especially, Match of the Year Candidate!), Tony Mamaluke, and Roadkill have been the ONLY thing ECW on the ECW shows. In terms of looking at ECW from their older brand standpoint, Sabu is it. He's ECW, through and through. He's the one guy that's worth marketing from the crop of ECW guys and that's primarily because he's clearly not a shell of his former self.
*** Column interrupted by lightning storm and about 5 paragraphs were lost in the process... I did hit save, but that one didn't register, damn it! FINGER OF SHAME TO LIGHTNING STORMS!!! ***
Trying to regain my train of thought here... What I tried to say before I was so rudely interrupted, it could be suggested that Vince McMahon is attempting to do what he did to the WWF in the 1980's to today's ECW. Most of this opinion is derived from Roddy Piper's book, which I absolutely agree with... During the 1980's, Vince McMahon bought up many WWE territories and replaced those territory wrestling shows with his own product through syndication and later cable. In addition to buying up territories, Vince also bought up the top stars of the top territories (nearly sucked AWA dry!). The idea, as so very well laid out by Piper in his book, is that Vince would get fans from those territories hooked on the WWF by having those big stars on his programs. However, in due time, once the fans were hooked, Vince would start to ease out those top stars and replace them with his own, homegrown wrestlers. Piper, for instance, cites "Macho Man" Randy Savage as such an example who came up and bumped several top territory stars out of their spots in the WWF hierarchy. I'm guessing that Vince McMahon is applying the same, exact model to ECW with the purchase of older ECW stars and the use of RAW wrestlers as a means to get attention to the product. Only then, maybe, he'll start to introduce the CM Punk's and the overstocked Ohio Valley Wrestling wrestlers... At least we can hope.
But, I said it from day one when the WWE first thought up the concept of bringing back ECW. Vince McMahon has a horrible history with side projects (XFL, WBF, music label, WWE New York restaurant, etc.), and ECW will be no different. You are already seeing Vince having a power struggle with Paul Heyman. Vince sees ECW as a toy or a means to experiment with angles he's always wanted to do, such as Kelly, the exhibitionist. He also has a stroke of ego in that HE can make ECW successful again and on a national basis instead of the Northeast, not Heyman or the ECW loyalists. After Rob Van Dam loses the WWE Title, I reckon that the RAW wrestlers will go away and less promotion will occur on RAW. That will, in turn, diminish ECW's ratings. Eventually, Vince will get bored with the project, as he does with everything, and tank it before it could lose any more money. I predict that by the end of the summer, ECW will be no more. Once ECW on Sci-Fi gets below a 2.0 rating, panic will set in... I figure this will happen after RVD loses his WWE title.
If ECW, however, lives beyond the summer... I'll gladly serve up a plate and eat my words, just as I did with DX. I have this great sense of history, however, that tells me that Vince McMahon will tank this project OR Sci-Fi will tank the project once ratings start to dip. In economics terms, my rational expectations have been long adjusted in knowing how the WWE company runs. I already see Vince's fingerprints all over the product, and though he's doing a great job with RAW, that's his baby and he's loaded that show with great wrestlers. ECW, however, is someone else's creation and Vince's jealousy of that will get the better of him.
ECW Show #3 Thoughts: 2 matches sandwiched the show well, I thought. Sabu vs. Roadkill was a great ECW-style match. Sabu is the star of this show, no doubt about it. I'm sure Sci-Fi loves him, too, because he's rather mysterious. I liked Kurt Angle vs. Rob Van Dam. Solid main event that saw Angle carrying and Rob Van Dam actually hitting all of his spots. I'm still in shock that the WWE is letting RVD win matches against top WWE established names. I liked Mike Knox... he looks like a poorman's Gene Snitsky, but with more athletic ability from first viewing. I see some potential, but we'll see. Nice bottom on Kelly... I am, I'll admit, interested in seeing how Test will do under Heyman's tutoring. However, it just adds another WWE established guy to the ECW roster... Pretty solid show, B+
Watching this show, however, gave me a very solid thought on the show's champion: it's time for Rob Van Dam to step it up. Watching RVD in his match with Kurt Angle, it was, at moments, frustrating to see him have a lack of psychology and performing the same 10 spots in the match (which, to his credit, he hit them all). This guy is your world champion? The one who is not only ECW's champion, but he holds the WWE title, which by the way, is the unified belt between the old WWE/WWF/WWWF title and WCW title. If he's got that around his waist, it's time for RVD to step it up. Maybe grow up a little bit... Mature... It's time for Rob Van Dam to realize that he's a WRESTLER and not some former kickboxer who can perform acrobatic moves. His wrestling ability is a joke. He's wrestled the same way for well over ten years now... He does the same spots, over and over and over and over again. Nothing changes. He HAS to do the rolling thunder. He HAS to do the monkey flip. He HAS to do the split legged moonsault. He HAS to do that stupid leg whip when somebody catches his leg. Same stuff, over and over again. He is absolutely horrible at psychology. When Kurt Angle had him in the Anklelock, RVD barely sold it. Instead, he jumped up to the top rope with ease and seemed to do jumping kicks and spots as if nobody wrenched his ankle. Hello?!?
And it doesn't just end with wrestling ability. It's attitude and his look. I think RVD's attitude is piss poor. To me, he seems to be too lazy to improve himself. He still looks and acts the same, 10 years later. Nothing has evolved with the guy. He does nothing to improve his character or his moveset. He refuses to step up his game and accept the challenge of higher glory in professional wrestling. His look needs a significant refreshing. Who the hell has the shaved sides pony tail? That's so mid 1990's and it was a geeky hairstyle back then. I remember losers had that in school and that one kid from Home Improvement had it briefly. Get a haircut or ditch the pony tail! He has the same tights with graphics that look like high school art students put them together. Hardly a look of a World Champion. And finally, to get back on the attitude stuff... It's time he acts a little more mature? Welcome to 2006, where even drug references aren't even as fashionable as they were back then. They might have been funny to wrestling fans during the late 1990's when RVD boasted "RVD 4:20 means I just smoked your ass", but boasting that is no longer cool. Therefore, acting like a stoner in your interviews is very stale. A World Champion should be a representative of the promotion, and to me, RVD doesn't have the demeanor to be champion. The truth is that had ECW not reformed, RVD would never see championship gold for the very reasons I've mentioned. Now, guys who have a lot of qualities that RVD lacks, such as Kurt Angle, Edge, and even John Cena, have to job to this guy.
Send all of your ECW and RVD hatemail to wrathoftito@yahoo.com.
RAW Thoughts: Good show, I thought... The whole DX segment where they mocked the McMahons was funny. Vince and Shane are very easy to imitate, and it made for a funny segment. Keep doing the Stephanie jokes, as that inside joke never gets old. The dropping of Feces was a bit tacky, especially after the Spirit Squad was douched with green fluid last week. I liked the psychology of Mickie James defeating Trish cleanly on Trish's first match back. It makes sense, as Trish has to be rusty after screwing her shoulder up. It should get interesting to see where Trish and Carlito go... I can't stand watching Umaga, but I absolutely love Armando Alejadro Estrada as a manager. Ironic that the WWE is putting out a managers DVD, yet there are barely any around these days. Estrada's speeches at the beginning of his matches rule. It's a shame however, that Umaga is just so lame of a wrestler. Funny how Ross/Lawler tried to act shocked that Kamala was defeated so easily. Randy Orton has racked up wins against Angle and now Kane... Nice how the WWE punished Orton so well. It's good to be close friends with HHH. The main event was alright, which saw Cena outworking RVD, once again, and instead of interfering, Edge attacked both wrestlers for a DQ finish. We'll go A- on this show. RAW is certainly headed in a strong direction heading into Summerslam.
~Apple Dumplings~
-Mr. Tito's Wrestling Tape Update!!! Speaking to my brother, he wants to put up his Wrestlemania VHS collection up for sale as well! That's right, I will be selling TWO box sets of Wrestlemanias plus additional Wrestlemanias thereafter on VHS through Ebay. One set will have Wrestlemania 1 through 18, while the other will have Wrestlemania 1 through 17. I'm thinking of maybe setting up a Buy It Now for like $50-$75 for anybody who wants the set immediately and doesn't want to dick around with Ebay bidding. We'll see. I'm not sure how I'll sell my books, but suggestions would be welcome. I may do the entire book collection (minus Flair, Foley's 1st, DDP, and HBK, as well as a few from contests) for something like $100. That's a LOT of books and shipping for the entire thing could be hell. I might do those in sets. I also have the "Best of 1998" that I'd like to sell and maybe I'll include that as bonus on a purchase? Either way, the prices seem reasonable and I've always taken good care of my stuff.
-ECW on Sci-Fi came in at a 2.2 rating... I would suggest that it's not that statistically different from last week's 2.3 rating when taking into account sampling errors. I'll stand by my analysis that anything above a 2.0 is good. Ratings are hard to come by in the summer, so I wouldn't panic, just yet, from the drop from the first week to the 2nd and 3rd weeks. Not just yet...
-I wouldn't make much out of Shawn Michaels having reservations about doing the Degeneration X is blown out of proportion. I think HBK has legit worries, given that he's a born again Christian, about how far the DX gimmick will go with sexual references. I think HBK probably worries more about his children watching him on television, if you ask me... but his religion, too. HOWEVER, I think easy concessions can be made. Remember when HBK covered his eyes for the cheerleaders... that's an easy example. I think fans care more about HBK and HHH together again than the DX gimmick in general. Those are two of the top WWE stars and fans know their friendship in real life. That's what matters and the DX gimmick doesn't have to push the envelope that much.
-Kurt Angle, on the shelf again... It appears as though it will be short-lived and just for rest, but I'd worry. Angle's neck is made of glass and the guy pushes himself too much that it probably causes injury. The injuries are definitely a key reason why Angle was bounced around from brand to brand and never given full attention as champion or contender.
-Congrats to the WWE on throwing away Kane's character... the "Imposter Kane" angle was a complete joke and it was reportedly canned this week. People mock me, all the time, for my support of Kane and I always destroy them with facts. Nobody has been dealt worse storylines than Kane. Nobody. Do I have to list them again just to get my point across? Fake Kane should be bad enough...
-Pardon me, but did I see former WWE wrestler, Orlando Jordan, taking independent bookings through Rob Feinstein, of all people? I'll let an article do the talking. All I can say is if I was someone in professional wrestling, that's a guy you stand clear from.
-I thought Randy Orton was joking during the interview with Silvervision about wrestling Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania, but Orton smiling at the television with Brooke Hogan could set the wheels in motion. I guess that's the alternative when it's impossible to get Austin vs. Hogan, when two egos collide!
Speaking of Brooke Hogan... Good lord! While she looked her gorgeous in her video, her music was soooo overproduced... You know that your music career is in trouble when Paris Hilton can put out a song that's actually better than yours... Brooke needs to drop the singing career and use her dad's money to invest in something far more worthwhile: COLLEGE.
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OH MY GOD! Some of the Hottest Kelly Kelly Pix Ever!
