I Got To Tell You Something 51: Know your role
Submitted by Big Brother on Friday, August 25, 2006 at 12:53 AM EST





I Got To Tell You Something 51: Know your role


Hello everyone how have you been doing lately? I hope you were great. I, for one, got a day off for the first time in ages and I now realize that it NEEDS to happen more often. Oh and I need to get laid more but that’s a different story.

As I predicted, my last column got some mixed response. Some of you hated it, some of you loved it and I’m all okay with that. A personal column like that isn’t exactly everyone’s cup of tea but we have a “real” subject to tackle on today. Oh, and I promised that I wouldn’t talk about the result of the Orton-Hogan match… so… I’ll change the subject I guess…

Two non-NFL football news: My Canadian Football Team started the season with 7 wins but just got 3 losses in a row. I demand they trade everyone. Oh and I’ve bought Madden 07… oh well… another 372 hours of my life gone!

Speaking of which, life is strange in a way. I was thinking of adding a new section called “Feedback’s corner” because quite frankly, there are a lot of reader’s reactions to my latest columns that deserve to be known and I wanted to acknowledge some of it. But then again, another section and my column could have been too crowded, mini-section wise (with the existing sections like “Questions I shouldn’t think about”, You should read more”, and “Smackdown tip of the week”). What should I do? And while thinking about all that, my local station changed their schedule and I now see Smackdown on the same day as you guys. No need for the SD! Tip of the week anymore. Yeah, that little story really doesn’t have a better climax than that. Sorry. But hey, after all, we now can enjoy this new little segment called:




Feedback corner

I’ve thrown in the air last week a question: “Which Superstar would I like to see in a DVD set?” I offered basic answers with Angle, HHH, HBK and possibly The Rock but I got some nice little ideas from fans too.

First off, I got a surprisingly big amount of Owen Hart fans it seems because that was the most often name wrestler (outside of those I mentioned). While I have to disagree a bit as Owen Hart didn’t have that great of a career, one of my loyal readers, Stu, understood that Owen would probably never get a DVD of him alone and suggested a Hart family DVD which could include the likes of Davey Boy Smith, Jim Neidhart and pretty much everybody else in the Hart family. And you know what, I think that may be one of the best DVD the WWE could make. The Hart family is a long and incredible one that started in the Hart Dungeon and saw fate turn its back on them on multiple occasions. I think that with a DVD like that, they could show the strength of the remaining Hart members. I also have other names that were thrown out like Jericho, Taker, Kane, Hogan, Stone Cold and even Booker T.

And on a different topic of my last column, I’ve talked about how the physicality of wrestling got me hooked and kept my interest. Another reader told me he that one of the reasons he loved wrestling was for the Holy shit moments. He then gave me the single best example I could think of: “the first time Lesnar F-5'd the Big Show, and wasn't even breathing heavily”. I must admit, I couldn’t believe he could do it but Brock made it look like it was such a breeze…

I miss Brock.

No “Questions” this week. Expect this section to return to its normal schedule next week. But for now, it’s time to tackle the column itself.




Wrestlers: Know Your Role

You know, being a columnist (and an avid reader of LOP) I have to listen to a lot of different opinions from a lot of people. Just like you, really. And everybody have their opinion on every wrestler. I like Kane, I hate Khali. I love Shelton but you might prefer Jeff Hardy. Everyone have their favorite and for sure, we all have an opinion one who should be the next World Heavyweight Champion. And each week these wrestlers are trying to grab their attention and impress management hoping to get higher responsibilities or at least keep their jobs.

Well, most of them do.

Some wrestlers are over enough to guarantee themselves a paycheck and call wrestling a steady job but at the same time, know that they will not move up the card. These wrestlers are the pillars of the company yet, often don’t get the reward of a title shot or a good feud. Their roles are limited but so important and I feel like outlining some of them and their important addition to the WWE landscape. I already talked about Kane so; why not start here to explain my theory.

Kane entered the WWE back in 1997 and always had a pretty high spot on the card. From his feud with his brother to a title shot against Chris Benoit with feuds against The Rock, Austin, Mankind amongst others, Kane was never too far from the top. But even with his high card exposure he never had a run with the title (no, I am not going to acknowledge his title reign that started at KOTR 1998 and ended the next NIGHT on Raw). But when you look back at Kane’s history, you can’t really forget about the awful gimmick and angles he has to work with. He is a burned (not anymore) monster (most of the time) who needed a voice box to talk (not anymore). He also was involved in a necrophilia angle, and angle against himself, heard voices in his head and so on. And still, after a treatment that would have buried the career of about anybody else, Kane is still there, still stalling. Why?

Because he is Perma-Semi-Over. What I mean by that is that Kane could pretty much lose 9 out of 10 matches and wouldn’t be less popular and a title win wouldn’t make him that much more popular either. But, with only 3 or 4 good week of booking, he will look like a threat to anyone. And that, for the WWE, is a huge asset. Kane role actually is two fold. On one hand, he has to look strong enough that a win against him, even from a Main Eventer, have some meaning. On the other hand, he have to lose to Mid-Carders who are on their way up, guys like Orton, Shelton, Edge and Umaga. And he does a good job at it. I can see two reasons to explain his Perma-Semi-Over status: He is a veteran that is always in a storyline of sorts and is one of the best Big Men in the WWE. He look strong and is agile. Plus, his entrance isn’t hurting his popularity.

Kane isn’t the only one in this type of situation. Shawn Micheals is another great example of a wrestler that keeps his place without really moving up or down the card. Again, Shawn is pulling double duty as he is always ready to elevate a star (Shelton, Masters) but also can easily be inserted in any match and will greatly improve the quality of the event. When the WWE wasn’t sure if a Benoit-HHH match would be enough to headline Wrestlemania 20, they turned to him. Because they knew that if he was in that match, he would make it better. When you think about it, was there any wrestler HBK wasn’t able to work with and give a good match? Even against Vince McMahon he was able to make me sit on the edge of my seat. And this was a squash match. But Shawn does have an advantage over Kane; with his past title run, the fans would be more inclined to accept a title win from Micheals. It probably won’t happen but, if needed HBK would do the trick just fine.

One of the reasons why the showstopper will not need to carry the company on his shoulders is because somebody else is already doing it. Actually, this man was doing it for the past couple of years. You know who I am talking about: HHH. And he is doing that by being the single best heel in the business right now. Okay, granted, he isn’t a heel right now but it shouldn’t be too long after DX run it’s course that we’ll see the return of the cerebral assassin.

I know, I’ll be hated for what I’m about to say but Hunter have been the most important wrestler of the past 5 years in the WWE and I’ll even go as far as to say that he was a team player during most of that time. Let’s put aside for a second all of your preconceived notions about H and let’s look at what he really did in the last few years instead.

When HHH came back from his quad injury a couple of years ago, he won the Undisputed title from Chris Jericho and turned heel. Since that time, he tried to elevate Booker T (WM19), tapped against Chris Benoit at WM20 to created one of the most memorable moments in history, created Evolution which helped get Orton and Batista some needed exposure, lost twice in a row to Shelton Benjamin, lost to Batista at WM21, to Cena at WM22… And to make those moments memorable, or even enjoyable, HHH needed to look like he was unbeatable. He needed to look like there was no way he was going to lose to Chris Benoit. If everybody was expecting a Benoit win, they wouldn’t have reacted as heavily. Yes, he is always in my TV, yes, he is always close to the title… Not because he is a super-egomaniac-who-married-the-boss-daughter-just-to-win-a-belt but because the WWE need him to be hated by everyone. The WWE need him to make people care about Shelton, about Chris, about Randy… well… worked two times out of three…

But enough about the Main Event for now, because there are more wrestlers to talk about than just those. Big Show, for instance, also fill an important need. He is the biggest Sport Entertainer on Earth and while it sounds like a cheap gimmick line, it is still the truth. Or at least what the fans see. He is that big and, as it was said earlier, it was something to be seen to witness Brock Lesnar picks up Big Show, lift him up and give him an F-5. Or to see Cena deliver the F-U. Show serves that purpose: anytime he loses to anyone, he makes them automatically look good and he help show the strength of his opponents. The same could be said about Mark Henry.

There is also the other group of wrestlers that are stuck in one role. Those one are usually confined to it because of their reputation. For instance, Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle are expected to deliver a great technical wrestling match. In the same way, Mick Foley and Tommy Dreamer are expected to wrestle in a hardcore match while Sabu and RVD are synonymous with a match filled with agility and speed. These wrestlers also help younger wrestlers but in a different way. They help those wrestlers develop an identity and get over with the crowd in those specific styles. Anybody outperforming RVD in a ladder match automatically becomes an “agile high-flyer”. Anyone surviving a hardcore match against Foley looks instantly more credible. Hell, after seeing him and Edge go at it at WM22 I’m surprised Edge wasn’t named ECW champion instead.

And finally, there are the “others”. Guys like Matt Hardy, Viscera, Simon Dean and Val Venis. Yes, I know… it look like they aren’t doing anything but it’s false. The truth is, while it is important to elevate mid-carders to Main Event status or from the low card to the mid-card, it’s still important to have an entry point. Those are wrestlers who are known enough to make a win against them at least half-meaningful. At the same time, they are usually handling any crowd interaction to make it easier for those newbies to look good while winning their first couple of matches.

In the end, the important thing to remember is that all these men serve their purpose. They have a job to do and they do it professionally. Their importance for the company also means that they are pretty much guaranteed to keep their job. They also all have to accept the consequences, they are confined to a specific role that may never change and may never get them anywhere else than what they are doing right now.

But because they are team players, they help others reach their rightful spot in the business. Because they understand wrestling they accept their roles and will fulfill their mission with professionalism. Because of their popularity, they can’t expect to reach a higher status.

Being Perma-Semi-Over… you could call it both a blessing and a curse…





Your brother tells you: You should read more!

Sadly, this section won’t have any recommendation this week as the forums just received a huge overhaul. By the time you read this, it should be back up and running. Hopefully you’ll enjoy the new ones as much as we did before. And if you never registered, now might be the best time to do so. Help shape the forums. Help us make it a great place.

Oh, I guess I can still recommend you one column. This Sunday will see the start of a new group column as me and Degenerate are going to work together again. It will be a weekly “news” program and will feature our usual chemistry.



As usual, feedback is more than appreciated cause… I love to hear what you guys think, if your opinion differs from mine and why. I’m always up for a good discussion anyway. You can send me an email here or you if you are a member of LOP you can simply got to my feedback thread. I’ll answer to everyone, that’s a guarantee.








*NEW GALLERY* Wow! The Amazing RED CORSET Bedroom Photos of WWE's Maryse!

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