DaveyBoy’s Wrestling Menu #199 - 3 Things I Want To See Again
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 at 12:06 AM EST






THE WRESTLING MENU #199

Welcome one and all to the 199th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

Before I begin with today’s column, it would be remiss of me not to say a word about fellow LOP Columnist Mr.Tito. For those few (probably nobody) who may read my column & not his (The Wrath Of Tito), this LOP mainstay is hanging up his boots (or should that be pen) this weekend following 8 years of fantastic writing for this very website. Not only that, but he used to write a daily column a few years back which would clearly have been a chore for any writer not making a penny from his work.

Had it not been for Tito, I doubt this website would have as many readers as it currently does. Furthermore, it probably wouldn’t have some of the column-writers that currently (& in the past) provide you with hours of reading pleasure. In some way, shape or form, I think most of us have taken something from Tito’s columns. I readily admit to using/stealing his ‘PPV Predictions’ topics once he stopped doing them, among other little bits & pieces. LOP will be a lesser place for his absence, but he can retire to his recently purchased home, promoted/new job position & impending wedding, satisfied that he genuinely contributed to the quality of this website & done everything possible to ensure it’s future success. Best wishes Tito & you know where I am if you ever feel the need to vent, chat or leave feedback.

Anyway, back to me….. Mr Wednesday Morning... The Writing Machine... Whatever you want to call me… Is only one week away from writing my 200th column ever. When I wrote my first column (on the LOP Forums), I never thought I'd still be going strong some 4 & a bit years later that's for sure (although it seems to pale into comparison next to Tito’s contribution). But here I am still churning them out & somehow not yet suffering from burnout. Hell, I've even got a weekly posting streak to be proud of.

One of the factors that keeps me ticking over is the feedback from you readers. I am always appreciative of this & genuinely believe that in one way or another, we column-writers cannot improve without your feedback & ideas. To prove that, today actually sees a column idea that was submitted by a loyal reader of mine. I did think a fair bit of extending the things I want to see to more than 3, but have decided to just go with the bare minimum, as they pretty much stood out to me anyway.

It should be noted that the 3 things are more relevant to the WWE than the professional wrestling industry as a whole, but one of the things is arguably dependant on the entire industry & not just Vince's juggernaut.

Thanks goes to Trenners for the following column idea. And with that said, it's on with the show......


APPETIZERS - Overseas PPV

Those that have been reading my column for quite a while now will know about this "thing I want to see again". I have always been in favor of holding another pay-per-view event outside of North America. By that I mean not America, not Canada, not Puerto Rico, or not even Mexico. And overseas also does not mean Hawaii, although I don't see why that island state of the USA has yet to host a ppv event from memory. I obviously mean genuinely overseas in another country that is far far away.

Now being an Australian myself, I would obviously love the location to be in Australia somewhere. But I'm not naive enough to think that down under is the most favored option here. But while I am on the case, I think the fact that we sold out a 56,000 seat stadium in 2002 down here in Melbourne proves that the audience is here for the WWE. While tickets have not moved so fast since that memorable event that I personally attended, there have been reasons for that such as state by state touring & smaller arena locations holding the shows.

But clearly the favorite to host such an event that I speak of is Great Britain. And I have specifically put down Great Britain & not just England for a reason. While many a football (soccer as most of the world knows the sport) can satisfactorily cater for a WWE event, there's also a wee little stadium out in Wales called the Millennium Stadium which would be a sight to behold if filled with a bunch of crazy professional wrestling fans. Plus, it's close enough for the English to drive to from what I know.

But while the location would eventually be an important decision to make, it's the initial choice of taking a WWE pay-per-view overseas in the first place which appears to be the sticking point. And for all the hassles & problems that I understand would be encountered, I just wish the WWE would bite the bullet & make this brave decision. Judging by the tremendous event that was SummerSlam '92 from Wembley Stadium in England, it would hopefully be a risk worth taking.

I suppose the 2 major hurdles in putting together such an event are equipment & time difference. With regards to the equipment used at a WWE pay-per-view, I am almost certain that this is not a major problem. With the house shows on overseas tours that I have attended, the standard of equipment has been more than adequate & could easily be taken up a notch if wanted. This has been well & truly proven over the past couple of years with Raw & SmackDown episodes emanating from cities in Britain.

The time difference is indeed a hassle that needs to be thought through. I know if such an event was to emanate from the east coast of Australia, there would indeed be a major problem, as ppv events are aired live here at 10am on Monday morning (12 noon during the Northern Hemisphere winter due to daylight savings transitions).

I wasn't actually viewing ppv events back in 1992 when the infamous SummerSlam took place, so I don't actually know how the WWE handled it. My guess is that it was simply not shown live in the USA & held back for prime time. Then again, it could also have been compromised well enough that the late afternoon UK time fit well enough into American programming. If it was the former, I don't think the WWE would have minded back in 1992 when the internet was not around. But nowadays is a little different & spoilers would be an issue.

But who cares about spoilers in this case!?!?!? Seriously, if you look at the most recent WWE ppv event of 'No Mercy', most WWE fans (even a lot of loyal ones) didn't purchase the show & simply chose to read a recap/review instead. Then, on those reports, the said fan would choose to either book a replay or rent/buy the DVD when it was eventually released. Plus, we read spoilers of SmackDown each & every week, and spoilers of ECW's weekly show every other week. So I think the WWE can afford not to have a totally live pay-per-view once every blue moon... Especially if the card appears to be a great one.

To conclude; Unless there is some extraordinary reason such as insurance problems or work permit problems, then I really urge the WWE to take one of their pay-per-view events overseas. It may not make them a whole bag of money when all is said & done, but it has a great chance of being one of those memorable events that live in the minds of the fans forever, just like SummerSlam '92 did. Hell, just send one brand over there if need be. Yes, I would rather a major event such as SummerSlam to be the chosen event, but if that's too difficult, then send Raw or SmackDown over & watch as the overseas fans make everyone watching at home feel like it is a big 4 ppv.


MAIN

Tag-Team & Cruiserweight Divisions

Well, this "thing I want to see again" is a pretty obvious one when it comes to the WWE, but I personally feel that it is worth repeating... Both the Tag-Team & Cruiserweight divisions of the WWE need to be given more time & resources in order to use the wrestlers contained within them to their potential, and to also allow us fans to see the best variety of professional wrestling there is at any one point in time.

While I do understand that matches from these divisions should not be main-eventing pay-per-views & only occasionally be the centre-piece for a television show, they still very much have their place on the card & are an important to any one card, no matter how small or large it is. Neither division has deserved the lack of respect that they have received from the WWE at times & I genuinely believe this has hurt the promotion as a whole.

Even someone like myself who is stubborn & will beat a horse until its dead has practically given up on one of the tag-team divisions that the WWE possesses. The Raw division has been horrible since The Spirit Squad defeated Kane & The Big Show for the titles back in early April. And it wasn't much better before that anyway. Hell, if it wasn't for the interest that I take for my rookie rankings (in evaluating all 5 members of The Spirit Squad, the Highlanders team & now the Cryme Tyme team), then I'm actually unsure that I wouldn't change the channel if a tag-team title match took place on Raw these days!

Over on SmackDown, their tag-team division is undoubtedly better, but you can still tell that the WWE doesn't have much regard for it. An entertaining & exciting team such as Paul London & Brian Kendrick are simply not given adequate time. This goes for in the ring, but more importantly out of the ring in order to set up feuds & matches to make the fans care. And there lies the major problem; The fans aren't being made to care. And it's amazing how little would accomplish that objective when you have such a talented team doing what they do best in the ring.

Pretty much the same goes for the Cruiserweight division on SmackDown. These guys can genuinely entertain in the ring & they don't even require the same amount of time in the ring as any other division in the WWE. Due to the fast-paced & aerial nature of their matches, these guys can get the job done in approximately 8 minutes. But they are barely given 5 minutes usually!

Again, more importantly, the cruiserweights aren't given the necessary time outside of the ring to make the fans care about them. I thought things would change with the Gregory Helms longest WWE title reign angle, but he (along with London & Kendrick) have more been used outside of the division anyway. While undoubtedly meaning a promotion of sorts for the talent involved, it doesn't help the division as a whole & more often than not doesn't help the match quality of a particular card either.

I'm guessing that the major reason why the WWE doesn't give the time & resources to either division is because of the belief that neither division makes it money, when compared to the singles wrestlers in either HeavyWeight divisions or even the midcard divisions of any roster. While on the face of it, that is a hard point to argue, I would put forward that a majority of wrestling fans do not base their ppv purchasing decisions on one or two matches, but on a card of matches in general. It is then when the heavyweights make some serious money.

The best example of the above point is the way the cruiserweight division was being used in WCW between 1996 & 1998. While more effort could have been put into storylines (although there were some good ones surrounding Dean Malenko, of all people), the promotion gave the members of the division multiple times per week to entertain the fans with their exciting matches. Come pay-per-view time, they were also recognized as important opening matches for a card. And the high-quality of some of these bouts played a part in allowing people to later get wowed by the phenomenon’s that were the nWo & Bill Goldberg amongst others.

Please note that I am not asking for the world here. I don't even necessarily want 2 matches each from either division on every show. I just want a genuine presence to be felt on each broadcast from both divisions, as well as some more effort from the WWE on booking the storylines, feuds, angles & matches from both the tag-team & cruiserweight divisions. Do that & I'm certain the quality of the WWE product would rise. And if the quality of the product rises, then surely that would mean that the WWE (even if it is indirectly) would make some cash out of it.


DESSERT

The Talk Of The Public

The final "thing I want to see again" is professional wrestling being talked about in public once more. And I am using the word "public" very generally as I mean it from both a mainstream communication means such as television, radio, billboards, etc..., as well as your average Joe out on the street talking about the happenings of the professional wrestling world without feeling the need to whisper to their friends who they already know watch wrestling.

This is going back a while, but one day very clearly sticks out in my mind for one reason or another. It was about 1997 or 1998 from memory & I got to an Aussie Rules Football game early because it was being held at a ground with limited capacity & I wanted to make sure I actually got to see the match. Yes folks, you can actually just turn up on the day to most games down in Australia! But I digress.....

Having got to the ground about 20-30 minutes before the gates opened, there wasn't much to do but just stand there & chat to the guys that I went to the game with. But I couldn't help but over-hear the conversation that was taking place about 10 metres/yeards back from us. It was a group of 4-5 men aged between 25 & 30 discussing wrestling. But they weren't discussing it quietly like I usually would. They were rambling on about the New World Order, Diamond Dallas Page, Sting & Bill Goldberg out loud. Then when they were finished discussing that, they turned their attention to the WWE & spoke about that wrestling promotion for a little while.

But it was about half an hour later inside of the ground that the clincher came. While watching the curtain-raiser game that happened to be being played on that day (no, that doesn't usually happen in Australia, but sometimes does), there were a group of 3 totally different men discussing wrestling as well. These guys weren't in the same line, so nothing necessarily put them on this wavelength from what I could tell, especially since they seemed to be WWE fans (where-as the previous quartet seemed to be into WCW more). And again, these 3 guys were talking rather normally & all the world could hear if they were close enough.

The above story may not seem very special, but it was to me at the time & I can't say that I have come across it too many more times since. I think it is indicative of how popular professional wrestling is at any one time. Without touching on the related topic of the stigma of talking about professional wrestling in public, I just believe that if professional wrestling is being watched by many (especially the casual fan), then it will be talked about in the streets from week to week. Just like Americans discuss how the Dolphins suck & just how the English will complain that Chelsea have bought another title, people in many countries will discuss what Triple H did to so & so, or Rey Mysterio's amazing move.

Furthermore, you can bet your bottom dollar that if wrestling's popularity rises once more, other forms of communication will jump on board. Why? That same bottom dollar that you just bet... Because it will make them money. This goes for advertising, television & radio interviews, promotions, touring & the like.

I have always been one to suggest that the WWE doesn't do enough to sell itself to the mainstream. Whether it be not taking full advantage of an entertaining Olympic Gold Medalist on their books, a 7 foot plus giant, or event a 5 foot nothing entertaining & high-flying World HeavyWeight Champion, I believe the WWE have missed some opportunities to increase their popularity, ratings & revenue over the past couple of years.

You may think that this isn't important, but I tell you that we human beings are predominantly followers. If we are casual fans of wrestling & we see a few wrestlers get exposure on a popular television show, then we may just watch the next episode of Raw, SmackDown, ECW or Impact to see what's going on. And then we may tell one of our friends who may watch as well. Then those people have a discussion at a football game & 3 or 4 people over-hearing the conversation decide to see what the fuss is about as well. And so on & so forth, you get the point...

But I don't want to get away from my main point of what I want to see again. It's not necessarily wrestlers on television, although that will help get to the objective. What I want to see again is wrestling being talked about in public again. If that happens, everybody wins. The WWE rake in more money & hopefully get to use it on something that makes their product better (say, overseas ppvs), the wrestlers get better paid & hopefully perform better, you have more people to argue with on message boards such as the LOP Forums & my column gets more hits!


Ok, so that is it for column #199. And you know what that means? The next time you see my column on this website, you will hopefully be reading my milestone 200th column. But before then, there has been #199 & due to its personal nature, I really hope you enjoyed reading it. If you have any feedback on any of today's 3 topics, please do not hesitate to pass it on to me. I will warn you however that over the next 2 weeks at work, I'm going to be rather busy so my replies may not come back as promptly as usual. I will still reply to everyone though!!! My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com. But if you are an LOP Forums member, it would be much appreciated if you could leave feedback on my thread at http://www.lopforums.com/showthread.php?t=217&page=2

After much deliberation & thought, I have decided to go with my annual Rookie Rankings column next week for edition #200 of 'The Wrestling Menu'. I hope this doesn't disappoint anyone, as it's held in high regard by not only myself, but also many of my readers. I can also assure you that it's my most difficult column to write each & every year due to the uncertainty of attempting to predict the futures of young & inexperienced professional wrestlers at any one time. As it is a milestone edition though, I will elaborate a little more on all wrestlers that have been contained within all 5 of my rookie rankings from 2002 through to 2006 inclusive. I will give you an update on how they are going & whether or not they have surprised me one way or another. It's always a controversial & discussion-raising column, so I hope it goes over well next week.

As has been customary, my column will be posted at the same Wednesday time on the same LOP channel. Until then, this is DaveyBoy signing off & asking you to remember that dinner is best served in 3 courses.


DaveyBoy’s Wrestling Menu. 2002-2006

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