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Welcome back to the Excellence in Column Writing which was covering the McMahons fighting during 1998-2000 and here I am still covering that same storyline here in 2016. The more things change, the more things stay the same... I'll say it once and I'll say it again... Whether it's the "WWF" or "WWE", the middle initial is WRESTLING... WWE needs to remember what they are... Some have called it a "Soap Opera for Men", but at the end of the day, until the WWE stops hyping "Pay Per View" events full of WRESTLING matches, the WWE needs to check itself before it wrecks itself. They employ a large roster of professional wrestlers and yet we need a McMahon to enter a cage and "headline" Wrestlemania 32. Anyway - Let's get into another topic for the Opening Rant here at LordsofPain.net / WrestlingHeadlines.com... Let's talk Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)! No, I'm not going to give you my thoughts on the UFC #196 event. I write WRESTLING columns, so unlike the WWE, I'll remember my identity... But I want to repeat an analogy to pro wrestling that I made when Ronda Rousey from my November 17th, 2015 Column but go deeper into the rabbit hole. The point I made from that 11/17/15 column is that the advantage that WWE has over UFC is that because WWE is scripted, they can protect their Top Stars from a downfall. In that column, I argued that WWE spent lots of time and resources hyping Ronda Rousey and then Holly Holm knocked her out and took Rousey's title. In the WWE or pro wrestling in general, the top star is protected from such a shocking loss or the top babyface is cheated out of a result. Plus, because WWE airs shows on Mondays, Thursdays, and at least 1 Sunday per month, the top star can quickly get its heat back. Not so much with UFC fighters as the damages of the fight requires some recovery time and there's a lot more money involved with a UFC event to fight that often. Better yet with WWE, I also argued that because WWE is scripted, they can always give you a great show... Some of those Rousey fights were less than 30 seconds... Is that worth your hard-earned $50-$60 for an UFC event? This weekend at UFC 196, some damage could have been done to its top stars... However, I believe context will be everything for Conor McGregor. There's a reason why WEIGHT CLASSES exist... McGregor is the UFC Featherweight Champion and with 11 days notice, he fought in the Welterweight division against Nate Diaz (20 pound difference in weight classes). Bigger guys hit harder and absorb much more punishment, and with short notice, McGregor wasn't conditioned enough to carry the extra weight. He probably blew himself up in the 1st round of that fight and being tired in the 2nd round (his own admission) left him open and exposed to lose. I think he'll be fine... But I would argue that Holly Holm losing to Miesha Tate will prove to be a "James 'Buster' Douglas" Moment for UFC... Most of you are like, who in the hell is James "Buster" Douglas??? He was the very first guy to ever beat "Iron" Mike Tyson in a Heavyweight boxing match. Mike Tyson was a wreckingball in professional boxing during the latter half of the 1980's and racked up an incredible 37-0 record before his fateful boxing match against James "Buster" Douglas on February 11th, 1990... I'll never forget that day. The fight was on HBO instead of Pay Per View and the boxing match was in Japan. Douglas was just a warm-up match before Tyson was potentially going to fight Heavyweight newcomer, Evander Holyfield. Douglas had 42-1 odds in Vegas to win that fight but Douglas arrived in Japan in the shape of his life and Tyson was unprepared and didn't take the fight seriously... I remember Buster jabbing the crap out Tyson and Iron Mike had no answer to Douglas's long arm. Then, Tyson was knocked down and the referee counted faster than he did on Buster's knock down... Tyson could have used wrestling referee Nick Patrick that night... Things could have been fine and dandy if Buster Douglas could have just been a decent champion... But what happened? First Heavyweight Title fight, Douglas loses to Evander Holyfield... Now do you see the Holly Holm and Buster Douglas analogy? Both stopped the unstoppable forces in Ronda Rousey and Mike Tyson and both underdogs soon choked away their Title Belts... The losses quickly diminished all that Rousey and Tyson accomplished to that point. Tyson was 37-0 and Rousey was 12-0... They were household names throughout the United States and probably the World. Both became faces of their sports and sold tickets out of admiration for being considered the toughest human beings on the planet as champions. However, both took unexpected losses to pretenders and one trick pony fighters who did nothing after their title wins. The ONLY difference is that Ronda Rousey has a chance to redeem herself with convincing wins over Tate (for the 3rd freakin' time) and Holm... If you'll recall, Mike Tyson was arrested for sexual assault and didn't box for 4 years of his prime because of that prison sentence. Tyson was never the same as a boxer although those Holyfield fights did some nice money... Pro wrestling, however, can avoid having a Buster Douglas or a Holly Holm situation because it's scripted. In their primes, you NEVER saw Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, or the Rock lose embarrassing matches as WWE Champion. No, it took either massive cheating or bigtime superstars to defeat them. Hulk Hogan, for example, retained the WWE Title for years and only lost the belt to Andre "the Giant" due to a phony twin referee. The rising star, the Ultimate Warrior would beat Hogan for the Title next and that was a worthy loss... Hogan later regains the title in 1991 and it takes a Tombstone on a Chair for him to lose to the Undertaker. See where I'm going? Then, in 1993, screwy issues with flashbulbs against Yokozuna. Hogan was kept strong in the WWE for almost a decade. See why John Cena is kept so strong in the WWE? The guy sells merchandise, puts butts in seats for houseshows, and gives the WWE some goodwill with his charitable work... Even when John Cena loses, he bounces right back up on the following Monday or next month's Pay Per View. Cena has 15 World Title reigns which means that he lost 15 times... But, he remains strong. If you beat Cena, it often takes an act of God or a lot of cheating... However, Cena can quickly get those wins back. MMA fighters and boxers don't have that luxury of quickly erasing bad losses. Which makes Roman Reigns and his MEGA PUSHES all the more frustrating... The best part about watching Mike Tyson during the late 1980's was his climb up the ladder to become World Champion. Tyson was 27-0 when he headed into his first Heavyweight Title bout. The guy grinded his way to the top and beat anybody in his path to the title. Roman Reigns? Wrestled in Tag Matches for much of 2012-2014 and suddenly gets rushed to WWE Title matches after the Shield breaks up. See the difference? In Pro Wrestling, you can portray anybody to be World Champion. If a smaller guy like Daniel Bryan is crazy over, the WWE controls the scripts... They can make Daniel Bryan an unstoppable World Champion after SummerSlam 2013. Instead, he gets owned by Randy Orton repeatedly and is then forced to join the Wyatt Family soon thereafter. Just to put an explanation point on Bryan's depushing since SummerSlam 2013, Daniel Bryan would go on to lose CLEANLY to Bray "Buster" Wyatt at Royal Rumble 2014 and not appear in the Rumble Match later in the night. But again, none of that could have happened if WWE Creative wasn't in burial mode because they disliked Bryan's size or wanted to push other wrestlers (Randy Orton and Batista). Which makes the WWE look SO STUPID when they push the WRONG guys to become Top Stars of the WWE... Instead of using the WWE Creative Team to make the top stars look strong, they put extra efforts in to force feed a wrestler down our throats. Look at how many booking crutches that Roman Reigns has had since early 2014. We've already covered that in another column, but the WWE will have massive EGG all over its face when Dallas, TX wrestling fans exit the arena early for Triple H vs. Roman Reigns and boo heavily if Roman Reigns actually wins. Roman Reigns needs extensive experience as a SINGLES wrestler to draw well as a midcarder and then get promoted to the Main Event. The fact that he hasn't earned that Main Event spot is killing his heat. WWE can avoid a Buster Douglas or Holly Holm situation, but they certainly can limited themselves in creating top stars like Rousey or Tyson. =========================================== RAW is HULU Missed the Cut (Hulu RAW is only 1.5 hours long) - Brie Bella vs. Summer Rae - Elimination Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. King Barrett/Ruvev/Sheamus - Kalisto vs. Tyler Breeze - Ryback vs. Curtis Axel - Mark Henry/R-Truth/Goldust segment And the McMahon love starts the show with Shane McMahon coming out to a reduced pop (already) and delivering a monotone voice for his promo. I seriously feel like we're in 2000 when the McMahon battles were already going stale. By the way, if the WWE tries to brand split or divide up RAW/Smackdown shows between the McMahons, we're just repeating 2001. Vince McMahon comes out after teasing the Undertaker gong and we get the usual McMahon family stuff. Again, as you'll see in my LAST WORD rant, I've been writing on this stuff since 1998. McMahon soap opera crap never ends. Vince sends down security which Shane McMahon poorly fends off. Show starts off poorly... Neville vs. Kevin Owens was up first and it was decent... I've always wondered what the WWE is truly doing with Neville as they have him win a decent match and then hide him on the Superstars show. It's almost as if WWE should consider keeping several wrestlers permanent with NXT. Owens wins the match and afterward, he attacks Neville and that prompts Sami Zayn to come out and fight him off. Interesting... Honestly, I didn't watch Zayn during his best NXT years, so I struggle to predict how we'll he'd do other than worrying about injuries. I just hope that WWE introduces Zayn better to WWE fans instead of how they poorly introduced other NXT call-ups. And let him climb the WWE ladder instead of instantly pushing him hard. I still wonder if having Kevin Owens beat John Cena in his first match was a good idea or not... But hey, Owens gave us 3 great matches with Cena. Another odd Dean Ambrose and Triple H segment.. Triple H is his usual condescending self, which never shows weakness, and Dean was going off script and trying funny one liners to respond to serious comments by HHH. Chemistry is just not there... Ambrose just has to prove himself in the ring instead, for now... Think about it, folks... Dean Ambrose gets to wrestle Triple H AND Brock Lesnar. That is an amazing opportunity that most wrestlers would die for! All Dean has to do is let his in-ring ability show up against two entirely different types of Main Event wrestlers and it could lead to great things. I remember seeing the entrances of Sasha Banks/Becky Lynch vs. Naomi/Tamina Snuka, but I must have been too into writing part of this column to not notice their short match. Seriously, I don't know what happened... Too short of a match. But a match that I legitimately paid attention to was Y2AJ vs. New Day. Holy cow, that was an AMAZING match and might be my 2016 Match of the Year so far...... It's between that and the Royal Rumble 2016 match of Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens. I'll actually declare, on this very day, that New Day vs. Y2AJ is the 2016 "Match of the Year" so far. Calling it now! It was a back and forth battle that allowed for all 4 participants to showcase their talents. But what I LOVED was the finish. 100% clean for the New Day and I enjoyed that Big E got the pin. If I were WWE, I'd start sort of pushing Big E... The rest of the team can be goofy, but at some point in the match, Big E should get real serious and take over. Seemed like it in this match... AJ Styles was just sick in this match... The flipping splash off of the ropes was absurd. Jericho was solid with the in-ring stuff throughout the match. THIS is why I LOVE wrestling... It's almost sad that Chris Jericho turned on AJ Styles after the match. Sure, I'll take another AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho match... But I'd rather see another Y2AJ vs. New Day match on the grand stage of Wrestlemania 32! Especially if the alternative is New Day vs. League of Nations, yuck! Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt was up next... You know, heading into a WWE Title match, would it kill the WWE to let Dean Ambrose win a big match to hype him up properly? Instead, it's the usual Wyatts beatdown to properly shove the glass ceiling down on Ambrose. Would have been nice, though, to see Brock Lesnar come out for the save to hype Roadblock, but those appearances are probably running out already... Triple H comes down, briefly stares down Bray Wyatt (hmmm), and then tries to attack Dean Ambrose. However, Dean fought back this time around... Dirty Deeds and Dean ends the show holding up the title. Yep, you won't be winning at Roadblock. Hard sell, as I would have had Dean beat Bray Wyatt 100% cleanly and then have the Wyatt Family beatdown. SHOW THOUGHTS: OK show... Show is worth enduring for the Y2AJ vs. New Day match which was exceptional. The rest of the show, eh... I'm already sick of the McMahon stuff. If it's not too late, give John Cena whatever it takes to heal up quickly and put him in that cage at Wrestlemania 32 instead. [ B- ] =========================================== THE LAST WORD "But but but but Tito, you're so negative!" is the bullcrap that I repeatedly hear from individuals who are either yes-man wrestling fans for the McMahons, hate that I have a nice spot writing columns for LordsofPain.net, or just can't read or understand sarcasm. Yet, if you look at my last year's worth of Pay Per View reviews, I've been extremely positive. I give WWE Fastlane a very positive review, as I liked the matches and booking for most matches (not everything) and suddenly I'm accused of being too positive. Let me educate many haters on something they might already know... I love pro wrestling. Always have, always will... I wouldn't still be watching or sitting behind this LoP Megaphone if I wasn't a fan. But I have facts behind me to validate any issues that I have with the current WWE product. Monday Night RAW's audience has been cut in half over the last 15 years. WWE Smackdown has lost more viewers than that... The once lucrative Pay Per View audience is gone. Sure, the WWE Corporation has nicer financials these days because they can innovate new ways of swiping revenues from their loyal fans. I must admit, and I eat some of my words, I really like the WWE Network. For as bad as the current product can be, WWE Network has so much content to enjoy. For those who don't know, I write columns for LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com for FREE. That's right, for FREE. Always has been free, too... I have never been cut a check by website and I've never asked for payment. So why on earth would I do this? Why would I keep doing this? From 1998-2002, I wrote DAILY and I almost went 2 full years without taking a day off during that time. I usually write this columns late at night with a 10pm starting time, so therefore, I'm cutting into my nightly sleep to deliver my usual Tuesday night column on time. Most people would be considered INSANE to do what I do... But I do it for my many loyal readers, many of which were with me during those "Phat Daily Columns" from 1998-2002 and they delighted when I made my 2010 comeback after over 2 years off to get married and start having kids... But I also write columns for FREE as Mr. Tito because I'm a wrestling fan... One of the biggest and loyal wrestling fans that you'll ever see. Period. See, I don't just bitch or complain in my columns. Sure, I can get upset and crap all over certain shows, especially RAW... However, when I complain, I also give advice... I know the business quite well. I have been a wrestling fan since late 1988, had a family member who worked in the Pittsburgh area indy scene during the early 1990's, helped out a few indy promotions, read many wrestling biographies, spoke to many wrestlers about the business, etc. Technically speaking as well, I'm a member of the pro wrestling press if there was ever such a thing. I also work in the financial industry with a lot of experience in the corporate world. All of that is wrapped up into 1 unique wrestling fan who can not just complain about the product, but give legitimate analysis on how to make things better. I WANT things to get better... But when you do stupid things like shove Roman Reigns down my throat, I'm going to throw up... Yet, all I hear "Tito is so negative..." blah, blah, blah, blah... Well, OK, then go write something better. Better yet, do it for FREE... Do better volunteer work than me. Spend 2-3 hours of your precious free time to write a better column than yours truly. Best of all, I actually created a venue for you to write... It's called the Columns Forum and I created that during 1999 (called "Phat Pharm") until I moved it to LoP Forums during early 2000. Instead of LoP going out and acquiring columnists from other websites, we build ours from within like a baseball farm system. When you've earned your stripes and worked your way up, you too can write for LordsofPain.net if there's a spot available. That simple... If what I do is so easy, go there and prove yourself... If not for LoP, there are many wrestling websites and other avenues to write about wrestling. But I'm not negative... I'm frustrated about how the WWE operates just like most wrestling fans... Just go anywhere... Message boards, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Everybody has a complaint. WWE has lost over 500,000 viewers on Monday Night RAW in the past year. I just have a loud megaphone at LoP and that's probably the issue... But I'm just one columnist who mostly posts just 1 column per week. You have many columnists and with LoPRadio, many other voices. If you don't like my column, you don't have to read it... Nobody is forcing you to click that link no matter how enticing I market that hyperlink. I know, part of the art of Mr. Tito is how well I sell myself or my columns. Plus, you know when you click that hyperlink, there could be an opinionated trainwreck waiting for you that you'll struggle to turn away from... Seems like most of the same haters always seem to keep coming back. I care... You may not think it at times, but I've been here consistently since mid-2012 after I dissolved my daily blogs. For the last 4 years, I've been posting columns at least weekly and also giving you instant Pay Per View reviews for the past year. And then, I answer all of the fallout from my columns by responding to your Comments, Emails, and Tweets. So not only do I provide FREE entertainment to read each week, but good customer service by actually answering and not avoiding feedback. I do this because I enjoy pro wrestling and discussing pro wrestling with all of my readers. I give a damn about pro wrestling and its long-term health. Better yet, I have the courage to speak my mind even when it goes against popular opinion. And I don't just complain... I give ideas on how to make things better... Sure, my advice could be wrong or maybe too radical for the business... But that's part of the fun. What, would you rather read a column that 100% agrees with your opinions and kisses your butt? No... You want something engaging and fun to read... If anything, you always wonder "what will Tito say next?". And I'm always here to entertain and I haven't missed a beat. I started writing columns during October 1998 for LordsofPain.net and I remain at the same place here in March 2016. FOR FREE... For your entertainment. So be cool... I don't edit your comments, I respond to your feedback, I put hours of my personal time to entertain you weekly. Whether you like me or not, there could come a day when I've had enough... I didn't like the Creative direction of the WWE during early 2015 with Brock Lesnar about to leave and WWE wanting to crown Roman Reigns as WWE Champion during Wrestlemania 31. Then, Brock Lesnar re-signs with WWE for 3 years and all is well again... It's hard to turn away from Pro Wrestling, particularly the WWE brand of it. Just when you think that WWE Creative and the McMahons don't have it anymore, they deliver a moment like Brock Lesnar destroying everything in his path following Wrestlemania 31. Then, WWE delivers AMAZING matches like Y2AJ vs. New Day from this past RAW... Why on earth would I want to miss out on that? I can't get that quality entertainment anywhere else... It's funny with pro wrestling... You can endure hours upon hours of bad content but when WWE delivers that one moment that puts chills down your spine, you can't turn away... So I'm here to stay whether you like or you don't like it, you have to learn to live with it. Wrestling fans write columns for FREE for many wrestling fans to enjoy. And I've done that for years with no end in sight. Whoooooooooo! SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE! Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments. Like Super Mario Maker for the Nintendo Wii U? Then check out my pro-wrestling based courses within Course World --> Search: - WrestleWar - ID: AEAC-0000-01C3-4578 - nWo Run-in - ID: 2274-0000-01B3-5AC0 - WCW Wargames - ID: 7BAA-0000-01B0-8F99 - WWE Royal Rumble - ID: 7B38-0000-01A3-2F4C - Pro Wrestling Mario - ID: E290-0000-0199-7AC7 © Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2016
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