DaveyBoy’s Wrestling Menu – Stealth Turns, Entrances + Edge's Weakness Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 2:19 AM EST
THE WRESTLING MENU #277
Welcome one and all to the 277th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.
Man I'm getting more & more indecisive as the weeks fly by. I must have changed my mind about 20 times over the past 3 days as to whether or not I was going to write a column this week. By the time I made up my mind to do so, I almost ran out of time. Oh well, it's here now, so what's the point on dwelling on the point I suppose.
Not much really happening in the world of DaveyBoy to be honest. My football team is clinging on to a playoff spot with 5 weeks to go and since they are one of those teams that cannot put opposition teams away when they have the opportunity to, I always find myself anxiously on the edge of my seat watching them. Sort of like how Monday Night Raw will be more often now that Mike Adamle will be given a live microphone!
Oh and it's damn cold down under right now, so I wish winter would hurry up and get a move on outta here.
On that shivering note, it's on with the show.....
APPETIZERS - Stealth Turns
I know I can be a little grumpy and repetitive on the face vs face subject. And I know I can be the same when it comes to tweeners who seem to ride that line between face and heel for too long of a time period. I understand that they both serve a purpose, but my main issue is overuse and the fact that once it is done month after month and time after time, then it's significance and impact is simply lacking.
One adverse effect arising from the latter issue is what I will term the 'Stealth Turn'. I will trademark it later, but to personally define the term, a stealth turn is when a wrestler seems to have officially turned from a face to a heel or vice-versa, without many people realizing it. It can also be said that there is no one moment when the wrestler actually turns. Although, that final point is not as important as often genuine turns take place over time and not a single point. That latter case is fine by me, but it's when a turn occurs and hardly anyone realizes that really annoys me.
Now I may have missed something and I am certain that some readers will point at a specific moment when the example I am going to use actually turned face. But unless the proof is damning, then I won't be buying it. My case in point: The Big Show. Just in case you didn't realize, The Big Show is now officially a face as far as I am concerned. Why? Because when he came out for the #1 Contenders Battle Royal last Friday on SmackDown, he had the biggest goofiest grin that I have ever seen. It was just so wrong! And then I wondered when he actually turned face.
Now I know there were those shenanigans with boxer Floyd Mayweather around WrestleMania 24 where Vince McMahon wanted TBS to play the heel, but many crowds kept cheering him on for obvious reasons. But on many occasions following that (for want of a better word) feud, The Big Show was clearly playing a heel... A heel that many portions of the live audiences liked, but a heel nonetheless. Then he seemed to flip-flop from heel to face as the occasion suited, basically declaring himself a tweener. Those with a keen memory will recall the same occurred with Umaga there for a while earlier on in the year. Ooh, how cutting-edge and 21st century this tweener character is! And then the big smile.
Seriously, you know what irks me most about all this...??? It is such an opportunity wasted! Yes, another one. Add it to the great anti-climax that was the Mr.Kennedy face turn folks. At least with Kennedy, there was a specific moment (as bad a decision as it was) and there were unforeseen circumstances that didn't help the process (William Regal getting suspended). I mean, couldn't The Big Show come out to save someone dramatically or turn on a heel tag-team partner leading to a feud? No, he just had to come out and flash a cheesy smile!
I have always stated that you can't have wrestlers turning willy-nilly as that also lessens the impact of the turn each subsequent time, but if WWE's method of getting around this is to attempt the stealth turn, then as far as I am concerned they may as well go crazy and have a couple of turns per month. 2008 has seriously been a rather lame year for turns as far as I am concerned. Sure, Jericho's is progressing extremely well, but apart from that, the next best off the top of my head are Chuck Palumbo, Cody Rhodes & Colin Delaney. And you know something is seriously wrong when that is the case!
MAIN - Edge's Weakness
Women... End Topic! Just kidding folks, although I am certain there are indeed a few fans out there that believe this to be the case.
But no, I have been sitting on a column topic with this subject title for quite a few months now. I have been reluctant to pull the trigger on it because I thought that it would basically fade away given the right circumstances. Yet, it has not... Edge still has a major weakness as far as I am concerned and I really do not know why it exists. The strange thing is that judging by all the feedback that I get and other comments I read around the world wide web, this weakness seems to have passed everyone else by!
Edge has actually come up a lot in feedback to my column over the past couple of months. It all started when I practically named Vicki Guerrero as the best heel in WWE. Obviously, one wrestler that many naysayers suggested to me was indeed the best heel in WWE was Edge. To be honest, I do not necessarily disagree with the opinion and he is right up there as far as I am concerned.
Then I began getting emails (which did not appear to be prompted by anything that I wrote in my column) where fans were starting to get sick of the endless soap-opera that was the Edge & Vicki storyline. Many were suggesting that Edge's role in it all was beginning to harm his main-event heel character. Even those that were fine with the angle initially just felt that it was getting out of hand and dragging on for way too long. This has been especially the case over the past month as I don't think anyone would argue that The Great American Bash main-event between Edge & Triple H was rather poorly set up.
Edge's characterization began to look forced as he somehow attempted to keep up with the wedding shenanigans which were being scripted for him in between title bouts, as well as leading a stable. If the storyline has indeed come to an end following Vicki's announcement last Friday, maybe even WWE agree with this notion and the angle is in the past now. Strangely enough, apart from the poor ppv build-up, not a great deal has bothered me about it all.
No, it is something else that has been bothering me about Edge in his hard & deservedly earned main-event role this year. What could it be? I mean, what is it that we actually watch...??? Oh, I know; His actual wrestling!!! Now, before you begin typing up that email to me, bear with me for a little longer here as it is only one specific portion of his wrestling which I speak of here.
Personally, I believe that Edge is a very solid wrestler. He is almost the perfect height and while being muscular, he has that rather slender frame which allows great versatility & athleticism. He has suffered through a broken neck, so that obviously slowed him down a little & has resulted in less risks being taken in the ring. That's fair enough as far as I am concerned. It is also generally considered that with a main-event position comes greater length in big ppv matches and the ability to tell a story is made all the more important due to that. While those connected factors could be an indirect reason of the weakness I am about to state, I am not so certain it actually is the full reason. I have seen Edge wrestle very good 20+ minute matches in the past. And I have also seen him slow a bout down without putting me to sleep in the past as well.
So what the hell is Davey getting to here...??? Well, I suppose I better cut to the chase. Observant readers of my column (and more specifically my PPV Reviews) may already know what I am getting to here, as I have actually not rated any of Edge's ppv matches this year anywhere near match of the year contention. This is despite the fact that some fans would have with his bouts against The Undertaker & Batista. But I have always found a weakness... The same weakness. And it was not a weakness which plagued matches between The Undertaker & Batista themselves, which you would have thought more likely than any match-up involving Edge.
The weakness I am referring to is the ability to involve and entertain the fans during the early to middle stages of a long bout. The first 2-3 minutes are usually fine, as is the most likely heavily scripted & rehearsed finishing sequence(s). But it is the 5-8 minutes following the first 3 which is of concern. Frankly, I have been bored during those stages of Edge's matches of late and that includes his much-liked WrestleMania 24 main-event.
A similar criticism is pointed towards other main-event wrestlers on occasions. The likes of Triple H, Randy Orton, Batista, The Undertaker & John Cena all come in for a dose of it on occasions, but it's never a constant time after time after time. It will usually just be not quite meshing with a certain opponent, a badly booked bout or just having an off night. It always seems to be rectified the next time around though. I unfortunately cannot say the same with Edge. And as I said at the top of this topic, I have been holding off on writing this piece for months, so I am sorry to say that this is very much a pattern.
Thinking back, the last time I can recall where this wasn't an issue was a couple of years ago when Edge was in the middle of a huge feud with (of all people) John Cena. Hmmm, maybe Cena is SuperMan! Cena was great against Triple H last month, he's been great against Edge and even pulled out a few above-average bouts against Orton's! Or maybe it was because that feud between Edge & Cena included some gimmick matches. Hey, that rings a bell; Is there a gimmick match coming up soon? Oh yeah, Hell In A Cell. Let's hope it does help Edge out, because if it doesn't & then he subsequently struggles when his feud proper continues with Triple H, I will start to wonder if Edge truly is a main-eventer!
DESSERT - Entrance Orders
Last week in my column, I used an email I had received months earlier from a reader to write on a topic concerning the growing lengths of wrestler entrances of late. If you have yet to read that column, you may still do so by clicking on the following link: http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/2008_/1216789076.php
Today, I am going to follow on from this in 2 ways. Firstly, I am going to respond to yet another question posed to me by a reader. And secondly, the question posed leads on from last weeks topic as it also pertains to the entrances of wrestlers. This week, I must thank loyal 'Wrestling Menu' reader Richard Glenn for giving me such a good discussion topic as he is the person who asked me the following question:
In compliance with tradition, should challengers make their entrances before the champions in a title bout...??? Richard went on to state... At the Great American Bash, I noticed that the WWE Title match was the only bout to stick with tradition, with the champions entering first in all the other title matches. I know that it could be said that having the face enter last is more likely to generate a better crowd reaction, but Matt Hardy also entered first in the United States Title match, leading me to question this assertion.
In Agent 86 Maxwell Smart speak, this is what is called the old “who comes out to the ring first” debate. And it is indeed an age-old debate that has been around for quite some time. Like the length of wrestler's entrances, it seems that WWE has been adjusting this subtly over the last few years. I recall it happening every now and then on big ppv bouts 2-4 years ago, but never to the extent that Richard mentions occurred at the most recent event which we have just had.
Those whe regularly read my column know that I lean towards the old-school traditionalist, so my response to this question is probably going to be already known. Yet, it surprises me a little that I am not stronger on the point of having the champion (whether they be heel or face) come out last in a title bout. But don't get me wrong, I ultimately prefer that and it definitely does irk me a little when it does not occur.
But let's look deeper. Let's look at why it is tradition in the first place. It all gets back to a topic which I remember writing about way back in my first few months of creating 'The Wrestling Menu'; The Importance of Titles. By having the champion always (or at least predominantly) come out last, the title is held in higher esteem. Younger fans may doubt that and think "tradition schmadition", but I can assure them that if it is consistently done that way, it is the case. The exact reason why is either unknown or too difficult to explain, but it just is.
Richard kindly followed up with his own answer to his question which was basically similar to mine. But he also mentioned that Ric Flair made a point of reference on this topic in his book (the same book I have owned for 3 years and still not had a chance to read) where he disagreed with having the then champ Triple H enter a title match first. This was as it shifted the focus away from the honor and prestige of the title belt. I couldn't have said it better myself Naitch, so thanks to you and also Richard Glenn once more for suggesting this topic.
Ok, hopefully that came out fine for what was basically a last minute thought or three. Then again, with the Edge topic, I guess it's been more a 6 month process rather than a last minute thought. I get the feeling that at least one of the three topics I wrote on today may have sparked some interest out there in wrestling-fansville (population: millions). If so, feel free to email me with your thoughts when you have the time. My email 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=159
My guess is that I will not have a column written for next Wednesday. But you know how I changed my mind a few times about this particular column, so who knows. At worst, I will be back the week after as I think it will be time to start kicking some more a$$ concerning a certain PPV Prediction contest that I am having with fellow LOP Columnist Skittlez. So just keep an eye out for my next column as while it will still be on the same LOP channel, it may not be at the same time. Until then, this is DaveyBoy signing off & asking you to remember that dinner is best served in 3 courses.
