The Wrath of Tito - Congrats to Stephanie/Triple H, TNA & ECW bashing, and more
Submitted by Mr. Tito on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 at 12:37 PM EST
I'm all right... don't nobody worry about me. Why do you try giving me advice? Why don't you just let me be... Welcome to the Wrath of Tito, quoting the classic Kenny Loggins song from Caddyshack. Would that song be as popular if it wasn't on a classic comedy? Would any of Loggins's songs be popular if they weren't associated with a soundtrack? Maybe. Wait, is this a wrestling column?
I'm on vacation from work... first real, paid vacation, and let me tell you, it feels great. I highly suggest that everyone work hard in college so that you can obtain the status of receiving a paid vacation.
-So I've been getting bother lately by TNA fans... I get the usual "how can you comment on our ratings when you aren't a TNA fan or don't watch the show". I'm a numbers guy, and analyzing numbers is what I do for a living. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to notice that NWA-TNA ratings on Spike TV are an absolute joke. TNA is getting the same rating at 11pm on Saturday nights than they are on 11 pm on Thursday nights. Thursday is historically the top viewed television day in America and TNA still can't get it done. CLICK HERE to view their ratings history since coming to Spike TV in October. They aren't getting the job done, period. They are a second-rate... correction, they are a third-rate promotion that's been nothing short of embarrassing to the pro wrestling industry due to a lack of growth.
I, like many wrestling fans, have given NWA-TNA a chance. When I've tuned in, I was impressed by the likes of AJ Styles or Samoa Joe... then, I look at the main event, and it's Jeff Jarrett tagging up with Scott Steiner to take on other former WWE or WCW wrestlers. That's their promotion. The midcard is emotionless, as wrestlers just hit spot after spot after spot in a six sided ring (way too much space) without an ounce of psychology to get the fans emotionally involved. It's a horribly run promotion that has done nothing but sucked since 2002. That's right, folks, NWA-TNA has been around for FOUR years. Granted, there should be a degree of patience with a start up promotion, but with the television deals, talent, and money thrown at TNA since the beginning, this promotion is downright embarrassing.
At least MMA fan can show me buyrates and say "Tito, how about them apples?". TNA fan can't show me a thing but bitch at how it's a better product that nobody's watching. Huh? TNA was on cheap Pay Per View, Fox Sports, and Spike TV for the past 4 years. Wrestling fans have tuned in and they DON'T like what they see. It's completely evident when Jeff Jarrett has been nothing but a failure for whatever promotion he wrestles at. He must be a failure all around, for he can't run a company, manage wrestlers to perform properly (no psychology), and can't book worth a damn.
Anybody can just look at their ratings and see a hovering around a 1.0 rating, with 0.6 being the lowest and 1.2 being the highest. Horrible, horrible, horrible. And unlike UFC, TNA can't brag about their buyrates because nobody buys their shows! TNA's buyrates aren't even in the same ballpark as the worst WWE buyrates. Why cable outlets or Pay Per View distributors even give this failure of a promotion the time of the day is beyond me!
-UFC/MMA writers have yet to respond to the challenge I placed last week. Some minor webpage guys have tried to accept the challenge, but I'd like someone a little more relevant. If UFC must be compared to the WWE, I'm willing to place out an open challenge to have a paragraph vs. paragraph conversation against any bigshot MMA writer. Do you think my criticisms of UFC are valid? Kurt Angle vs. UFC fighters debate? Ratings, buyrate, and product discussions? It could be fun and I'll plug your webpage...
-Alright, let's talk about REAL topics... talk about the one product that's great in pro wrestling, and that's the WWE baby! The World Wrestling Entertainment has been great since 2004 and I don't miss Monday Night RAW because of that...
Congrats to Stephanie McMahon and Triple H on the birth of their first child, a baby girl named Aurora Rose Levesque (Triple H's real last name). I've always been consistent in saying that I wish these two the best in love. I'm happy for them both, as they've been a great couple since late Summer of 2000 and their marriage has been very successful. In pro wrestling, love is hard to find, especially wrestler to booker/promoter. Those have torn promotions apart! It's great that these two are in love and are how sharing the joys of childbirth.
My criticisms of HHH and Stephanie is how lousy of bookers or writers they've been. Being that both are or were on-screen talents, they presented a significant conflict of interest. EVERY booker, with the exception of Ric Flair to an extent, had swollen egos when they were also an on-air talent. Just look at Triple H since 2002... he's unstoppable. He absolutely ruined the careers of Kane, Chris Jericho, Booker T, and Rob Van Dam by refusing to sell or even give them a chance to look good in the ring. Most heel main eventers act scared or rulebreak in the ring. Not HHH, as he no-sells and dominates his opponents, which was unheard of with heel main eventers. HHH's idol is Ric Flair, yet when it came to Flair, he made you believe that his opponent could beat him every time. I remember when I saw a Worldwide match with Flair vs. Dean Malenko. I actually believed that Malenko would defeat Ric Flair. With Lex Luger, you believed that Luger was going to win every time they wrestled in 1988. The only person HHH has been this generous with is Chris Benoit, because if you aren't, he'll actually hurt you in the ring...
HHH and Stephanie think that their characters can do no wrong, and with Vince McMahon always saying "yes" to his daughter and husband, it's been out of hand since late 2000. Just look at how Stephanie's character RUINED the return of ECW in 2001. How about the Chris Jericho vs. HHH feud over lucy the dog in 2002 before Wrestlemania? I just want to know who thought it was a good idea for Triple H to wrestle the likes of Kevin Nash for multiple months? I could cite examples forever...
To suggest that I DISLIKE Stephanie and Triple H as a married/loving is incorrect. I dislike Stephanie/HHH as bookers with conflicts of interests due to their on-screen characters. I completely wish them the best with their personal lives and now, parenthood.
-Saw RAW... Funny stuff to begin RAW with Shawn Michaels poking more fun at HHH's relationship with Stephanie and how he was at the same hospital as the McMahons. Oddly enough, WWE.com is very open with HHH and Stephanie's childbirth. Maybe the DX return isn't a draw because the business has been too much exposed to the fact of HHH's real life relationship to Vince and Shane? Ever think of that? The Highlanders are a horrible reminder of gimmicked WWE teams of the 1980's. They're NOT getting over. I dislike the Mick Foley promos... nobody cares about the guy who's truly washed up, and it's not Ric Flair. Foley needs to just shut up and repeat glimpses of his old career, as seen by Wrestlemania 22 and somewhat with One Night Stand. The whole Flair vs. Foley history, based on their books, is ridiculous and more than half the audience doesn't understand it. Good match between Carlito and Shelton Benjamin. It was athleticism that you just don't see everyday by pro wrestlers. The future of the WWE is in good hands... Candice Michelle and Mickie James both looked great... oh, they wrestled, too? I caution that the WWE may be pushing Umaga, as I sense he'll now put out Shawn Michaels after defeating John Cena recently. Just look at Randy Orton for a good example of a guy pushed too fast and when he wasn't prepared for the spotlight. Speaking of Randy Orton, his banter with Hulk Hogan is so lame. Actually, Orton speaks a lot better than Hogan's "you know something brother?". I have no idea who any of the ladies are in the Diva Search, but I notice that they look hotter than ever. I guess more women are lining up to get in Playboy, eh? Fun main event between Flair/Cena vs. Nitro/Edge was a fun main event... Nitro is starting to remind me of Edge each time I watch him... Could be his stunt double? I'll go B for an overall decent show.
It was AWESOME to see the Flair vs. Funk Great American Bash match from 1989 on the WWE flashback segment!
~Apple Dumplings~
-Ladies and gentlemen... your ECW main event will be the most extreme, hardcore, suicidal, genocidal match you've ever seen with ECW... Kane vs. Big Show. Oh wait, that's a WWE match that has recently happened in the WWE this year. Nothing says "ECW" like Big Show vs. Ric Flair, Big Show vs. Undertaker, and Big Show vs. Kane. ECW is a joke and is NOT a "new breed unleashed" because no brand spanking new wrestlers are debuting. It's Test and Big Show's show, like it or not. If it wasn't such a trainwreck of a show, I wouldn't tune in. But hey, it beats TNA (in more ways than one).
-Crazy stuff with several Smackdown wrestlers obtaining liver problems, such as the Great Khali, Bobby Lashley, and now Super Crazy. I'm not sure if it's something these wrestlers ate or if it's something else, say possibly Hepatitis C. Let's pray, for these wrestlers' sake, that this is not the ailment and that they can have a speedy recovery.
I do remember that there was a Hepatitis C scare when Bob Orton Jr. revealed that he had it at a later date in the Smackdown lockerroom. Many wrestlers were in a panic after their in-ring interactions with Orton.
-Does anybody even remotely believe that Shannon Moore has a chance in ECW as the "Reject"? Yeah, I just want to pay a bunch of dollars to see a guy, who used to wrestle as a boy band member, wrestling as a punk character. It just SCREAMS for me to tune in. Shannon Moore is undersized and he's in the land of the giants, also known as WWE. WWE cut him without hesitation and his signing back to the WWE was only to stick it to TNA (though I'll insist that it was a waste of money, much like the WWE signing Meng/Haku in 2000).
-Same thing with the Bashams in ECW. If fans stopped caring for the team in the WWE, why would they care for them in ECW? The logic is heavily flawed in the WWE right now with regards to who to dump into the ECW promotion.
-NWA-TNA released a Sting DVD... and let me just say, it's a good jesture by TNA (and smart, too, because it will sell). At the end of the day, however, Steve Borden will have to make a choice. He has about 13 some odd years in WCW that the WWE owns the footage of. The WWE has been releasing matches, here and there, throughout the past few years. WWE is already making money on Sting and they could potentially release a Sting DVD, ala the Ultimate Warrior DVD (though probably a tad more professional). When Sting's TNA contract is up at the end of this year, he has a BIG decision to make... Keep wrestling for a failure of a promotion that doesn't have the majority of your wrestling footage, or finally work for Vince McMahon and get access to his WCW wrestling footage. It's his choice.
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