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Submitted by Wevv Mang on Monday, May 14, 2007 at 5:19 PM EST
Ridin’ With The Bossman – Feedback Answered and A Surprise Greetings! Welcome to another edition of Ridin’ With The Bossman. The only column that said a little prayer for Mark Henry when he heard that Undertaker was out and saw his vignette on Friday. That’s right, Wevv Mang is pulling for Mark Henry, and let me tell you brother, that’s not an easy task. I hope you still have some magic left from your last TV appearances Mark. Now is the time to really break it out. Best of luck to you Big Guy. Hey, if I can't root for my man Big Show, Mark is a close third, with Kane being #2. Anyway, it’s been a pretty good week of wrestling. With plenty of twists and turns, which led to a lot of questions from readers. So, instead of the WWE – The Series section, let’s just jump right into the emails. And why keep them to myself, when I can cop out of doing personalized responses and share them with everyone? Two birds, one stone, and plenty of content for the column. But, I have a big surprise for you at the end. Reader Feedback: I apologize for not personally responding to each email. That has never been a strong suit of mine. But I thank you for reading, and sharing your thoughts. Hey, just read you column on Backlash/Flair Just to comment on your anger at the ending of Batista vs Undertaker, it wasn’t HHH vs HBK that started the trend. It was Mankind vs Rock at St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Oh and don’t pay any attention to those HBK fans that say HBK is more popular than Cena. It obvious that the fans respect HBK a lot. But Cena is clearly the more popular one at the moment. He gets the biggest reaction at any event, good or bad. I figure the whole point of Batista/Taker is to get to the big payoff match in Hell in a Cell. I don’t think it is fair to say that Cena carried Cena/HBK on Raw. Remember you're talking about HBK, one of the greatest workers of all time. I, however, find it interesting that Cena started having the best matches of his career after he starting wrestling Shawn Michaels. And HBK did carry their Wrestlemania match. Yes, Cena can work, but Michaels with his experience and skills has helped Cena a lot in their recent matches. Both men are doing a tremendous job in my opinion though and I can’t wait for their third match. Superkick Kid I’ll get to the Last Man Standing trend in a bit. The reason I think Cena carried HBK in that match is that I think HBK was having too much fun. He wrestled near his peak, but it was due to John Cena being a solid opponent that let him shine. See, it takes two people to make a good match. Both guys have to react to what the other guy is doing. How they work off each other can vary, like for example, when HBK wrestled Hogan. Hogan reacted to HBK with things that got the crowd into the match, like posing, and encouraging the crowd. Benoit got the crowd into their match by keeping up physically, and psychologically. Cena did a mixture of both. He sold for HBK’s offense, he encouraged the crowd, and basically, was the guy who let HBK be the HBK that his fans know and love. Being able to make your opponents look good is a skill, but letting them do so through their own means is a greater skill. So, simply, HBK came in expected to have a good match. Cena was just expected to be there. Cena did more than was expected of him, and let HBK do all the little things that he does to get over. Cena was the backdrop for HBK to paint his picture. Not only that, Cena also stepped up on his own, and made himself look like a credible threat to HBK. That deserves credit. Mr. Wevv, I just wanted to let you know I read your column as usual and was fairly impressed as usual. But the fact of the matter is this: 1) You can't say Fuck-you to Trips and HBK for the last man standing ending. It originally happened between Mankind and The Rock at February 1999's No Way Out. Get your facts right before you drop an unwarranted F-bomb. 2) Mickey James can wipe the floor with Melina. To say Melina already has the skills Trish has is a slap in the face to every Trish Stratus fan. She's not even in Trish's ballpark yet. Mickey worked a hell of a feud with Trish last year and it wasn't Trish who made it, it was Mickey James, "the psycho." And clearly, Mickey's in ring capability is better than Melina's. Don't let her entrance fool you. -Brandon For those keeping count, it’s 2 for Foley and Rock. Sorry about the F-Bomb. As for Mickie being better than Melina, I totally disagree. Mickie has a long history of mess-ups in the ring. From botching Trish’s finish many, many times, to botching Victoria’s moves, and just having a hard time in the ring. Just about every match she’s in, something goes wrong. I’m not putting all the blame on Mickie. But most of it is. Melina on the other hand, has come in with a variety of moves, and spiced up the women’s division in terms of wrestling. On the mic, Melina is gold. Mickie is not. She’s solid, but so far, nothing truly special. See, I think fans remember Mickie in Chicago, when her lesbo, stalker gimmick finally got the reaction WWE was hoping for. Trish would have buried her without it, and it was Chicago, not Mickie, that got Mickie over. Chicago loved that psycho angle, and if it wasn’t for them, Mickie would have been cut, methinks. Chicago saved her ass. Now, Mickie looks great, and she has talent, but it’s just that Melina has more. Mickie needs to keep working. Melina does too, but Melina is further along. Don't get me wrong. In terms of unofficial rankings, Mickie is the solid #2 star. Vicki may be a better wrestler, but her name doesn't have the impact that Mickie’s does. But Melina is the best all around Divas the WWE has. I understand why WWE keeps putting her down, fearing the Sable effect, but Melina does have talent, and is not afraid to use it. In fact, she seems to want to use it, and that’s not a bad thing. Mickie may be the perfect locker room Diva, but she’s just not in Melina’s league, right now. Again, Mickie is #2 in terms of unofficial rankings. That is, until WWE signs Gail Kim… ATTENTION BOSSMAN, A POLL SPECULATING AT THE OUTCOME OF A MATCH IS NOT ONE THAT MEASURES POPULARITY. That is all. MCR112 Actually it is. See, people voted for whom they thought would win. And it’s safe to say that HBK fans voted for HBK, and Cena fans voted for Cena. Now, I’m sure that maybe, some HBK fans voted for Cena, but the reason was, they thought Cena was going to win. Why? Because WWE is pushing him. Again, Why? Because Cena is selling more merchandise, in spite of getting booed, and possibly drives ratings, and so on and so forth. But, in a nutshell. The reasons why a person voted for whom they thought was going to win a match really boils down to one thing under these circumstance. This wasn’t Khali vs Stevie Richards. This was arguably, the two biggest names on Raw, with very vocal fanbases. And Cena won. After winning at Wrestlemania. When the smarks probably thought HBK was going to get his win, possibly not even pinning Cena, but one of the other two guys. Cena still won. And that can only mean one thing. More Cena fans voted for Cena than HBK fans did for HBK. In other words. Cena was more popular. I think though that the ship has sailed on Ric flair winning the title again. I thought he might when he fought HHH for the belt a couple years ago Question, what do you think of John Cena holding the title for approximately 32 of the past 36 months. I think it’s gettin a lil ridiculous, but that’s just me Panos I got more emails about Ric Flair, so I’ll answer that question in a bit. It’s the second question that really captured my thoughts. But the real question was the one about Cena’s title reign being so long. Basically, I think he’s asking me indirectly about H. And it’s a great question to ponder about. H got the WCW title, or Smackdown title in 2002, when Bischoff just gave it to him. Before that, H had a couple of runs with the Raw title, or the World Heavyweight Title, starting on August 23, and then after Vince had the title and dropped it, the vacated title on Sept 2th. Those were mutli-man matches. H last touched that title after he beat Rock in a Sixty Minute Iron Man match. Then he got hurt. When he came back, that was when he started his seemingly never-ending title run. It was three years, with some gaps, but it was always about H. See, the real difference to me is that Cena is a fighting champion. It’s about the belt, not the man with Cena. Cena shows up every week, and nearly every time, wrestles. Cena went to ECW and had some brutal matches with Sabu. Cena faced Umaga in a brutal match just this past Rumble. Cena fights. H just talked. He was on TV nearly every week, but he talked longer than most matches at the time. The infamous twenty-minute promos of doom. Cena talks less, but wrestles more. And I don't really have a problem with it, or the fact that Cena has held the belt this long. I do think he should have lost at Royal Rumble. And I do think Cena should drop the belt soon. Mainly to keep Cena fresh. I’m not tired of seeing Cena on my TV, the same was I was with H. True, it’s a matter of personal choice, but I think Cena has been more entertaining than H. I just get a sense from Cena that he would do the job, no problem, if WWE wanted him to. Cena is a company man, pure and simple. Cena does the media rounds. Cena does the publicity. H was a heel, and that’s not what heels do. Maybe he was too good at his job, but then again, I sat through those promos. I listened to them. I wish I hadn't, but man, they were brutal. Not in the delivery, but in the content. H just bashed people mercilessly. Again, that’s what heels do, but man, how many times have you heard of a heel shooting, and pissing on a guy for twenty minutes, and then even your face announcers agreeing with him? It was a two-hour burial, and the face opponent usually got nothing in return. The biggest difference to me between the run of H and the run of Cena is how the show is handling these lengthily runs and how they handle the guy on top. When H was on top, it was nothing but H. Event he announcers pushed H to the moon. It seemed like you couldn't go ten minutes without some one, sometimes just out of the blue, talking about how great H was. With Cena, it’s completely different. Cena’s opponents are made to look strong. They look like they would be good champions. And I’m not talking about HBK. I’m talking about when Cena was feuding with Umaga. Umaga looked like a monster. When H faced off against Scott Steiner, Steiner was made to look like a putz. Bottom line is, H held the belt for too long and did too little with it in my opinion. Cena has held the belt too long, but has done great things with it. Cena should drop the title and soon. I thought Royal Rumble was the perfect time to do that. When H held the belt, there was little competition. Cena holding the belt, there’s more than enough to go around. Cena dropping the belt soon would help keep that level of competition alive, giving the impression that the belt can indeed be won or lost in any given match. It’s the level of belief that the challenger can defeat the champion. With H, there was hardly any. With Cena, there’s that bit of doubt that Cena will overcome his opponents. And there’s plenty more to debate over, but I’ll save that for another day. But right now, I’d like to get into a subject that seemed a pipe dream a couple of weeks ago and now stands a chance, albeit a slim one, of actually happening. Ric Flair, 17 time World Heavyweight Champion. Yep, with wrestlers dropping like flies, Ric now can sneak in, and maybe, just maybe, become the World Champion again. Let’s hear from long time reader Dan. Heya Wevv! Long time, no write. Another great column, with another thought-provoking subject, thank you very much! Regarding the Ric Flair-as-World-Champ subject, I have a couple of thoughts on how such a thing might be pulled off without seeming completely ludicrous, both of which you touched on briefly in your column. 1) Mr. Kennedy's Money in the Bank. It would be a great irony if the Money in the Bank contract turned out to specify that the holder of the Briefcase was the owner of the Contract. This could easily lead to a Crash Holly 24/7-style series of madcap hijinks with everyone and their dog trying to hose Kennedy out of the contract for whichever title hunt they were involved with. I'll grant you that could turn into the Mother of all Clusters in a quick hurry if mishandled (holy crap, just keep the Great Khali out of it), but it could also make Kennedy look really strong as he narrowly escapes (or handily overcomes) attempt after attempt from every side. It would be a great way to push his cocky attitude as well... hm. The more I think about this, the more I like it. Anyhoo, this set-up connects eventually with the other component: 2) The Dirtiest Player in the Game. During whichever title Kennedy manages to jump in on (presumably after the current holder has just gone through a brutal match and has nothing left), Flair rolls out from under the ring behind him, hits him in the nuts with Rey Mysterio, takes the briefcase, clocks Kennedy and the current champ in the bean with it, and then pins the champ, wins the title, and struts as only Ric can strut. If he does a Hoganesque posedown too, so much the better. I can't see him holding the strap for more than a month, even if they REALLY pushed the Dirtiest Player gimmick and had him win by a wide variety of cheats and non-title change DQs. Your "cons" section detailed why that is; it just comes down to him not being believably competitive against guys half his age with 3 times the muscle mass. I figure HHH would turn on his Mentor and retake the title for himself. I think the real bottom line is that it probably wouldn't make the WWE any money in merchandising, ticket sales, or PPV revenue, so it most likely won't happen. Which is kind of a shame, because even if it was a bit silly, it would still be pretty cool. And don't forget that Roddy Piper never held the big belt either, and that's overdue. {Uproarious Laugh Track} Later, Kemosabe! -Dan Thanks for writing Dan. Kennedy’s Money In The Bank stip is now out of the picture. But that still leaves Dirtiest Player in the game. And one way of doing that is for Ric to challenge either HBK or Orton. HBK as the face, might say yes. Orton as the heel, might also say yes, to retake his name of Legend Killer. And with hijinks, Ric could pull off an upset. Hell, if it actually came down to Cena and Ric, HBK or Orton might help Ric, just to get the belt off of Cena. As for the money making part, well, the Horsemen DVD did do really well. Fans might be willing to buy into Ric challenging for a world title based off of that along with the nostalgia factor. Would he sell merchandise? Sure, if it was good merch. Like a “One More Time! WHOOO!” T-shirt or headband. That can apply to just about any sport, wrestling, football, soccer, baseball, hockey, all the way to curling. Would it boost ratings? Again, possibly. Could it hurt any more than having Khali in the main event? I doubt it. People actually like Ric. It’s just a different kind of freak show. An old man instead of another big goof. The burden of the making the angle work will be on the announcers and Ric himself. The announcers have to bring up his history, and really sell the Dirtiest Player in the game moniker. Ric has to find the magic he had years ago. It’s still there, but it just may not feel the same at this stage in his life. His opponents will have to work with him too. Some one will just laugh at him. That can't be helped. But it can be directed. Like I said back then, it’s a very tricky angle to pull off and make work. But it can be done. At least I think so. One more emails and that will be a wrap. Whatever happened to that brilliant feature (Kane's House)? Francis I’m glad you asked Francis. Kane’s House is on extended hiatus. I just haven't been able to get in the groove of writing on. I have one halfway done, but well, it’s only half way done, and has been for a while. But, I did come up with something new. Ladies and Gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to announce something completely different. I give to you: RIDIN’ WITH THE BOSSMAN TV!!  Click the picture to be taken to the YouTube site. I hope you like it. And there will be more, now that I got the swing of it. So, I that’s what I have been up to lately. I’ve been working the bugs out of this little project of mine, and well, let’s see how it goes. Thanks for your patience with my writing. I still plan to crank out a column every now and then, and the format is going to change for like, the fourth time. But hopefully, it will be worth it. Quick Plugs and that’s a wrap. Thanks for all your emails, I read each and every one, but replying, that’s another thing. QUICK PLUGS! LOP Forums Sports! Political Discussions! Video Games! Wrestling! Sign up now! LOP Column's Forum The next generation of wrestling writers. The Project Creative Writing, political discourse, social topcs examined, and a forum for intelligent discussion The Movie Bar Monkey has got his mojo going! Go and check it out! Leave some comments! The Rose Reports Excellent site for political information The LPW Best E-Fed on the net. Period. That's all for today. Thanks for Readin' and thanks for Ridin' Wevv Mang Please label all feedback as "FEEDBACK". Thank you. Email: MrWevv@mac.com *NEW GALLERY* Go Directly to a RANDOM COOL & RARE WWE & TNA VIDEO! Check It Out!
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