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Welcome, one and all, to Mr. Tito Strikes Back exclusively here at LordsofPain.net / WrestlingHeadlines.com. Thank you very much, as always for reading... I do this column for you, my loyal readers... Takes will power to spend so much free time on something that is voluntary but thanks the encouragement of my readers, I want to write columns each week. Now, I had something else to say with my opening rant but I'm getting bombarded with messages to comment on Ryback. Given how public that Ryback has taken it, reportedly blogging about his WWE situation on his Tumblr Blog... Whether it's a work or a shoot, doesn't matter... What he brings up in his blog is something to easily discuss particularly on the business side of pro wrestling. As the story goes, Ryback's contract is up sometime during the Summer and negotiations appear to have broken down. However, Ryback's point of view suggests that he won't be employed by the WWE in the near future. He argues that all wrestlers should be paid equally... Now, he uses his losses as a shield and basically suggest that winning wrestlers would not be successful without losing to someone. Because certain wrestlers win more, they are paid more and have more merchandise opportunities. Huh? He cites his 12-26 Pay Per View record and suggests that he's sacrificing something in order to help other wrestlers take his spots. No, no, no, no... Ryback is missing the point. What he needs to realize is WHY he is losing so much and is not on the other side (winning). Why is Ryback 12-26 on Pay Per Views? Why isn't the WWE confident enough in his abilities to merit him more wins and elevate him to a higher spot on the card? Something must be off... See, nobody is entitled to anything in the WWE. If you want to win more than losing, well, start drawing as a wrestler. If you want to move more merchandise, start drawing as a wrestler. WWE gave Ryback his chance. After about a year of pushing him as a babyface Bill Goldberg lookalike, he was given a few big Pay Per View spots and a high profile feud with WWE Champion CM Punk at the end of 2012... And what happened? Worked a little stiff with CM Punk and actually caused an injury that kept the WWE Champion off of the TLC Pay Per View that year. Now, I'll agree that Ryback has been screwed with creatively... I disagreed with the heel turn after Wrestlemania 29. It messed with his character, as he was pushed as being unstoppable for much of the year and was now very vulnerable to babyfaces. I understand that he's playing the role of a heel, but it was such a 180 for his character. The Paul Heyman alliance didn't work out... But, while creative can be blamed, the wrestlers themselves still have to make the most of any situation. The Rock was thrown into the Nation of Domination and look what happened... Wade Barrett was given a "Bad News" gimmick that he made the absolute most of and had he not been injured, he could have been something. While Creative can be blamed, the wrestlers themselves are STILL the ones performing in the ring and cutting promos on the mic. Often, wrestlers have to make lemonade out of lemons. The wrestlers, themselves, have to take charge of their careers... NOT when their contract is about to expire... How about do a little more with your "Feed Me More" babyface character? How about being a little more sinister as a heel in 2013? Take charge of your character and impress the Creative team with your creative input. Put a little more energy and thought into your matches. Learn some psychology so that wrestling fans become emotionally invested in your matches. Sell pain, sell anguish, sell fear, show personality, and be less robotic. You've got the look as I'd probably run from you if I saw you in a dark alley... But looking tough is just part of it in pro wrestling. You have to perform well in the ring, speak well on the mic, and show personality that connects with the fans. And when you have all 3 of those, combined with a look, you draw... And then you win, repeatedly. Instead of asking to be sent home to write a Tumblr Blog, how about making the most of your final days on your WWE contract. Did you not see CM Punk during 2011? He ramped up his character just as he was about to legitimately leave the WWE. This caused the WWE to throw a big money contract his way and change the booking of WWE Money in the Bank 2011 to give CM Punk the WWE Title. Sure... Punk was miserable for the next 3 years, BUT HE GOT PAID. He created leverage at the end of his contract during 2011... Ryback has no such leverage. But hey, as I've encouraged wrestlers for years... GO SOMEWHERE ELSE and PROVE THE WWE WRONG. There's nothing wrong with being a bigger fish in a smaller pond... Those smaller places, like TNA or Ring of Honor, are in dire need of a main event style draw that the WWE lacks. Let your contract expire and prove the WWE wrong. Then, the WWE will beg you to come back. Ask Alberto Del Rio about his new WWE contract after leaving. Luke Gallows left and made a nice name for himself in New Japan. Christian felt underappreciated in the WWE and left for TNA. I keep encouraging wrestlers who "lose" like Dolph Ziggler to go elsewhere and prove the WWE wrong. ========================================== QUICK RAW is HULU THOUGHTS I came home late and am short on time as I want to post this column... Quick and dirty. Already sick of Shane McMahon vs. Stephanie McMahon. Opened the show with a long interview but at least it led to a match between Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro. Funny how the match was mostly there to feature the Miz. Be careful of the fool's gold that is Owens, Cesaro, and Zayn... That WWE Production Truck LOVES the Miz and now that Maryse is on Total Divas, the WWE will want to keep pushing the duo... What, Kalisto isn't available to be beaten for the United States title? Oh wait - Later in the show, they had a Battle Royal for the #1 contendership of the United States Title. That's right, a randomly booked #1 contender's match for the Intercontinental Title and a Battle Royal for the #1 contender to the United States title. GREAT BOOKING GUYS! How about announcing this at least ONE WEEK in advance? By the way, no contest in the Owens/Cesaro match (which screams of Fatal 4 Way) and Rusev became #1 contender for the US Title. Wow... Are we out of the doghouse OR will Rusev win the US Title so that he can quickly hand it back to the returning John Cena? I thought Big Cass looked great in his pre-match mic work and then involvement in the 8 man tag match with New Day, Dudleys, and Vaudevillains. Huge night for him... NXT is going a great job with pairing up wrestlers to help each other get over or improve on weaknesses. Enzo has helped Big Cass improve on the mic and give him some swagger. Cass looked like a big star in the making tonight to me and I'm sure HOSS LOVING Vince McMahon probably agrees. Looks like Chris Jericho vs. Dean Ambrose will continue... I'm OK with that, as I'd wonder what they'd do with a second chance at Pay Per View. Damn it, man... Hulu cut Emma winning an actual WWE match. They also cut Tyler Breeze winning a freakin' match. Main Event was fun between Usos/Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles/Anderson/Gallows. I sort of like the mystery about Gallows/Anderson and whether AJ Styles agree with their actions or not. I enjoyed RAW very much this week... And the ratings are... Hey, up over 300,000 compared to the previous week. That's good considering lots of NBA/NHL action lurking. If you push new stars into the spotlight, it may take time for things to stick... ========================================== THE LAST WORD Let's talk about Prince, the music performer who passed away recently. No, we're NOT going to discuss the merits of his music... We could debate if he's an all-time great artist or now... However, this is a PRO WRESTLING column. You have clicked the link on LordsofPain.net to read about pro wrestling commentary and not music. If I did discuss music, I'd probably get the "stick to pro wrestling" comments. No - I want to talk about Prince... THE CHARACTER. How much do each of you know about the artist that calls himself "Prince"? I barely know the guy outside of his marquee songs. Otherwise, he's highly mysterious. His full name is Prince Rogers Nelson but he just goes by a 1 word name "Prince". Though you knew his relationships, the details were always missing... His methods to songwriting and playing all of his instruments were intriguing. And some of his actions, such as challenging Charlie Murphy to a late night basketball game and serving him pancakes later or his desire to play Jimmy Fallon so bad in ping pong, were puzzling. Then, thanks to the video era on Mtv, he created an image of himself that elevated him as a bigger celebrity than a musician... Better yet, as a musician, he seemed to put out pop songs (very radio friendly) and yet as a LIVE musician, he was tremendous. The guy can shred a guitar... Just watch him make many great musicians look silly at the 2004 Rock N Roll Hall of Fame ceremony (about 3:28). Again - This is a pro wrestling column... I promise you that I have a point. Point is that Prince is every bit a character in the music business than he is a musician. When Prince walks into a room, everybody takes notice including other celebrities. He just has that mystery about him... Now - What if Prince allowed a bunch of cameras to follow him around to show you everything behind-the-scenes with his life and music? In other words, something that would expose the secrets of his music and celebrity? Maybe if there were multiple newsletters that leaked information regularly on Prince's upcoming shows, appearances, or parties? I would make the "Tough Enough" or "Breaking Ground" allusion, but the music industry already has that known as American Idol or the Voice. By the way, besides Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, and maybe a few others who have flirted with success, how many permanent music stars have those shows produced? Funny, how many permanent wrestling stars has Tough Enough produced? Funny how shows that EXPOSE the business are unable to consistently create stars. Prince is successful because he's doesn't show you his tricks... He only lets a close inner circle of friends/family get to actually know him while only appearing for his own live performances. Prince has kept his appearances to a minimum so that when you see him perform live, it's special... He has never had problems selling tickets... Prince has been able to keep his DEMAND to see him live high because he's so mysterious. There is something about his character that makes him compelling as a big music draw. In my opinion, the mystery surrounding how musical talents and personal life help cause that draw. Pro Wrestling and its current crop of stars are overexposed. You have 3 hours of RAW, 2 hours of Smackdown, and then a 3 hour Pay Per View once a month. That is a ton of television exposure... Then, WWE has shows like Total Divas, Tough Enough, Breaking Ground, and many WWE Network/Blu-Ray/DVD shows that repeatedly tell you that pro wrestling matches have scripted finishes AND that the characters are only acting. Completely exposes the mystery of the pro wrestling business... Wrestling, as a form of entertainment, should cause fans to question whether what they are seeing is "real" or "fake". Better yet, the wrestlers themselves need to protect their characters better when in public. Lana and Rusev leaking their engagement to TMZ was foolish because their wrestling characters were actually feuding in the WWE. WWE wrestlers are posting pictures of themselves on their Twitter or Instagram accounts hanging out with other wrestlers, even ones they are currently feuding with. Many wrestlers are doing interviews with media outlets that openly talk about how scripted wrestling shows are and how different they are from their wrestling characters. But you know what wrestler still works even at his older age? WWE's own version of Prince only much taller... The Undertaker. Besides a few media appearances here & there and the 1 UFC appearance with the Brock Lesnar stare down, you rarely see the Undertaker outside of a WWE event. He proudly stays in character outside of the ring and rarely gives you a glimpse of his real life. He briefly went against this notion with his ex-wife "Sara" who was actually a WWE character during 2001 when the Undertaker was the "BikerTaker". After that era, the Undertaker closed the door when he returned to the "Deadman" gimmick during 2004. In fact, he was reportedly pissed when pictures of his wedding to former WWE wrestler Michelle McCool leaked to the media. Funny how successful the Undertaker remains at his older age... Gee, the less you know, the more you're curious about the Undertaker. Hey, maybe you'll pay money to see what he'll do next. Stop exposing the wrestling business, WWE... You are advertising your trade secrets to your fans and removing any mystery or curiosity to tune in repeatedly. Same thing for the wrestlers... We know TOO MUCH about their personal lives through what leaks to TMZ, Social Media, and many WWE shows where wrestlers speak completely out of character. WWE needs to re-create the environment that appears to be a legitimate sporting event and the wrestlers are the toughest fighters in the world. WWE needs to put a lid on the wrestling product and create that suspension of disbelief that the business has lost years ago. Prince didn't overexpose himself as a musician and yet created a mystery about himself that made him into a huge celebrity. He was unique and that's what made him a major draw in the music industry. And that's why when Prince dies, he received wall-to-wall news coverage for a full week after he passed away. WWE needs to party like it's 1999, the absolute peak of their wrestling business. Though wrestling was known to be scripted, you had no idea what the Rock, Steve Austin, and the Undertaker were like OUTSIDE of the ring. Therefore, you sort of believed what they were doing in the WWE was somewhat real... Did Steve Austin really have heat with his boss, Vince McMahon? Was the Rock really and egomaniac? Was the Undertaker demonic? You didn't know because pro wrestling still had some protection in place of its trade secrets. Getting back to Steve Austin, for 2002-2003,he wasn't as popular as previous years when more of his personal life was known. See? I told you that I could connect the late great Prince to pro wrestling WITHOUT debating his music. SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE! Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments. © Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2016
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