http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/blog.php?10079-JSullivan Wrestling News and Discussion - eWrestlingNews.com Community en Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:27:04 GMT vBulletin 10 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/blog.php?10079-JSullivan http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40760-WWE-The-Misused-and-the-Forgotten Sun, 19 Feb 2012 22:37:47 GMT Yo, Yo, Yo... The plan of my blog is simply to discuss who in my opinion, has been misused and forgotten in the WWE, when they simply should not... Yo, Yo, Yo...

The plan of my blog is simply to discuss who in my opinion, has been misused and forgotten in the WWE, when they simply should not have been.

I won’t pick out too many names, but I’d like to analyse some of my personal favourites who didn’t quite measure up for whatever reason, and whoevers fault it may be.

Perry Saturn

Perry Saturn has wrestled for the 3 bigger Wrestling promotions since his career flourished in 1990. He wrestled for ECW, WCW and WWE. He has also made numerous appearances for TNA and NJPW. So what would a WWE fan remember of Perry Saturn had they not seen him before…Moppy?

In ECW he held the tag titles 3 times with Kronus (And believe me, if you haven’t seen his with this guy, you don’t know what you are missing). In WCW he held the Tag titles twice and the TV title. In WWE he held the Hardcore title twice and the European championship once.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that Moppy was the best we’d seen of Saturn, but fortunately I do. Saturn never had anything amazing in the way of Mic Skills, but his in ring ability was never fully exploited within the WWE. I have like Saturn for a long time, and my opinion of him was strengthened further when I saw his ECW matches – A sinister heavyweight capable of performing athletic and even high flying moves, something very rare in the business. The solution? He needed a manager, someone to talk the talk for him, and allow his in ring abilities to do the rest of the talking for him.


Dean Malenko

Where do I begin with Dean Malenko? Most people who know wrestling better than face value will understand the second-to-none technique Dean Malenko has.

Most WWE fans only had a short experience of his capabilities, and whilst he works for the WWE as a road agent, he only managed a measly 2 Light Heavyweight title captures (I remember vividly his match with Scotty 2 Hotty at Backlash 2000), however in WCW and ECW he is much more decorated, having held the Cruiserweight title 4 times, The US title, tag titles and the TV title (twice).

This fails to make up for his poor use in the WWE, his ability was undeniable, and I believe the WWE knows this. His experience is vast, unfortunately, however, it appears his chances of making his name within the WWE were over before his change in role.


William Regal

Regal is still going in the WWE, we all know him. Some of us love him, some of us hate him.

No matter your opinion on this man, you cannot deny his technique, and his ability to draw heat.

Regal has held over 60 title worldwide, an amazing feat, and an example of just how much experience this man has in ring.

In recent years Regal declined down the card and started taking up roles outside of the ring, I feel however that someone with this ability and experience deserves a decent title run and has all the ability to get the crowd involved and excited in the product again. Regal is a masterful heel and a great mentor in-ring. The WWE needs to reward this, despite his 15 title runs in the WWE, he has yet to hold the most prestigious of all the possible titles.

If this doesn’t make it bad enough, just remember, The Great Khali has held the World title.

Lance Storm

Lance storm is again someone you cannot deny the in-ring ability of. His promo skills weren’t necessarily on par with some of the top stars, and this could potentially have held him back somewhat.

The thing that boggles me most with Lance Storm is that during his partnership with Christian, there wasn’t all that much to be excited about, when in reality, It should have been epic to say the least – Christian has all the ability on the mic to make up for it, and together they could have made history as a tag-team in the WWE.


Diamond Dallas Page

One of my favourite wrestlers when watching WCW, his career was slain when he was involved in an appalling stalker storyline during his WWE career.

Most of us who know DDP know him for his ability to work the mic and to put on a decent performance in ring, I know for sure he was someone I always held in high regard, but when he was brought to the WWE he was instantly ruined by the arguably just as bad American Bad Ass undertaker gimmick.

During his WWE tenure he managed a shocking 2 title runs before allowing his contract to run out due to injuries, however during his WCW career, he was considerably more decorated, holding 10 titles in total as well as being a triple crown champion.

Another Wrestler who had it all but his career was smothered in shit by the WWE before it being cut short.


Shelton Benjamin

Benjamin is an incredible athlete. His career wasn’t all that bad in the WWE, I do however feel he was more deserved of a top-card role.

Superstars shouldn’t be measured by the titles they have held, mind, because it isn’t they who has the last decision in this, I do feel however that it goes a long way.

Since leaving the WWE Benjamin has gone on to find success on the Independent circuit and more specifically, he has found success in ROH. He has also begun to wrestle in Japan.


Chavo Guerrero

Chavo is a member of the legendary Guerrero wrestling family, however his career was massively overshadows by Eddie’s success prior to his unfortunate death.

Chavo is considered an excellent in-ring competitor by many, and certainly is capable of working a promo.

Unfortunately for Chavo, upon Eddies death, the WWE sought this as an opportunity to push Rey Mysterio, rather than keep the status of the Guerrero family going. To boot, once the Cruiserweight title was out the window, Chavos singles career was in ruins, and with Eddies death, his tag tam partnership was also in tatters.

This is something I believe Chavo can never forgive the WWE for, and in every respect, he is right…Although Eddies death shouldn’t have been a platform for him either, he is more than talented enough in his own right.

His career was tarnished in the end with an awful feud involving him against Hornswoggle, something I’d rather not remember his WWE days for.


Low Ki

Low Ki, or Kaval as he was known in the WWE had a poor run. Without covering too much detail, Low Ki is considered on of the best Indie competitors in recent years, having had Success predominantly in ROH, he has dabbled in TNA and numerous other promotions.

I first discovered Low Ki some time ago during his ROH days (I’d take a stab and say around 2004), and was amazed with what I saw. I was mesmerised by his Shaolin monk appearance, his awkward crouching walk and his lightning quick manoeuvrability.

Low Ki recently wrestled in a TNA four way bout, however he failed in his bid to win the match.

Taka Michinoku

The first ever WWE Pay Per Views I owned were Summerslam 98, King of the Ring 98 and Badd Blood: in your house (97), and my favourite of all of these was King of the Ring. Since the day I saw these PPV’s, I fell in love with WWE and the attitude era, an opinion that has never changed since.

Upon watching this King of the Ring, I witnessed Taka Michinoku and The Headbangers face off against Kai En Tai and I was impressed to say the least. Taka was lightning quick and has a great ability, not to mention he was the first ‘WWF’ Light Heavyweight champion (How many of you remember that belt?!?) – Unfortunately, this was Takas only title reign in his WWE career.

This may seem somewhat well, however his career was tarnished by a terrible run with former Kai En Tai team mate Sho Funaki forming the tag duo Kaientai (I know, right?), which can only be summaries with one word…”Indeed”.

Taka moved on to greener pastures involving the K-DOJO and work In japan, I do fear that should he ever return to the ‘E’, he will be reminded of hiss terrible decline.

John Morrison

Officially, JoMo held 9 titles in the WWE during his 9 year career. His recent departure has left many fans with a taste of sour grapes, my biggest qualm however, was the series of events from my perspective of what happened.

I say this only because it’s extremely self-evident that JoMo is incredibly talented in ring, on the mic, and is over massively with the fans. For whatever reasons, he chose to walk away from the WWE, and the reason I’m so pissed about this, was that shamefully, it took me until about a year before his departure to realise just how good he was.

On paper, he has it all, and to boot, he should have held one of the world titles, but he has had to settle for the now defunct WWE-ECW title, which in my books is worth absolutely nothing. Can you name me 5 other people who have used the WWE-ECW title as a platform for their career? Didn’t think so. I probably can’t name you five people who held the title.


Owen Hart

Let it never be said that any superstar considered Owen to be anything less than an amazing talent, it’s a shame however that his career ended when it did, and furthermore, it ended with such a poor gimmick.

The blue blazer was by any standards a terrible gimmick and a mockery of the Hart Family’s legacy, but Owen being the professional he was, was more than happy to do this (as most professionals would).

Owen never progressed for any extensive period beyond the mid-card, and looking back now, I really can’t fathom why. Maybe Owen was happy there, although I’d find that hard to believe, Maybe the WWE wanted to push him, but his time ran out before they could…Maybe, Just maybe, Owen wasn’t given the opportunity he truly deserved.

Fortunately, Owens ability outshone this shoddy gimmick, and the terrible circumstances surrounding his death solidified him in our minds as one of the greatest wrestlers to grace the ring, allowing us to see past the terrible storyline he was working, and truly appreciate him. It’s a shame that it took this much for him to be recognised…Too little, too late.



I’ve decided to call it a day on this blog, it’s incredibly long (by comparion to what I have done prior), and I thought I would just share some of my thoughts with you on some of the stars I feel the WWE misused over the years, and hopefully, there won’t be so many over the next few years, although, this is the WWE we are talking about…




For those who enjoy my blogs or wish to read more, please head on over to TheHostPlayer.Jimdo.com for a full archive of my Wrestling blogs. I also have some non-wrestling blogs on there too. Also, Follow me on Twitter @TheHostPlayer and join my Facebook group @ http://www.facebook.com/thehostplayer

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All feedback appreciated!!! ]]> JSullivan http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40760-WWE-The-Misused-and-the-Forgotten http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40458-WWE-Death-of-the-Divas Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:55:01 GMT We are gathered here today to celebrate the life of the WWE Divas and mourn our loss… …This isn’t a funeral is it? Well, not yet, at least… ... We are gathered here today to celebrate the life of the WWE Divas and mourn our loss…

…This isn’t a funeral is it?

Well, not yet, at least…

I appreciate the title for this is somewhat obscure, but beating around the bush is something I’m not a big fan of. Bluntly, the Divas competition in the WWE is dead.

I’d like to point out how the whole issues surrounding the Women of the WWE is a bit like a re-write of Scrooge, facing certain extinction never to be remembered for anything good, but the question remains, will the WWE heed their warning of this Ghost of what is to come, and see the error of their ways? Or will they simply see the Divas of today buried and forgotten? A certainty it seems if they do not take the correct steps to resolve the issues at hand, and in turn, put the wrong things right.

Every single wrestling show I watch I can drink as much coke as I like, you know why? No, not because I have too much money for my own good, far from it, but simply put, I know I can go for a toilet break at some point in the show (between the adverts of course). Sound familiar? That’s right! You feel that way too? I’m hardly surprised.

Anyway, to get to our point, let’s discuss what the WWE has going in it’s favour FOR the WWE divas…

…Nope, can’t think of anything.

It’s not enough for Divas to look good in tight clothing anymore, in fact, it never really was enough. Let’s remember the Divas of yesteryear, and as always I hold no curtains over my bias, I’m going to go on the knowledge of divas I have, as opposed to pretending I know about what I don’t.
Remember Trish? Lita? Molly Holly? Jacqueline? Luna Vachon? Ivory? Torrie Wilson? Chyna? And who can forget Mae Young? What did these women have about them that made us tune in and sit through what has now become a chore to say the least? It wasn’t just looks (I know, Chyna may be a porn star, but have you ever seen her videos? Not something for the faint of heart), Hell, not all of them were that good looking…The secret ingredient that the WWE is missing is simple, and should be fairly obviously something that shouldn’t be lacked, given it’s the core focus of the WWE’s business…The ability to wrestle.

That’s right, you heard it! The Divas can’t wrestle! Well, if they can, they certainly aren’t showing us otherwise. This doesn’t ring true for all of the current crop, but it is a general rule, and unfortunately, it seems to be an issue with whoever the hell runs things backstage.

Let’s take for example, the stereotypical role of a Diva. Not so long ago, a Diva wasn’t so much of a wrestler, and were predominantly for Management and drooling over whenever there was a Bra and Panties match, of course. Notice the difference thus far? A starting point would be pushing the role of managers again. Not only would this give more of the divas a purpose (And hell, it doesn’t matter if they can’t wrestle then!), but it would also give more support for the talent in the Male/Tag team departments that don’t have the Mic skills (and with the scouting of worldwide talent in place, bringing in Foreigners with moderate English skills wouldn’t be an issue either). To boot, it would mean Divas would be integrated into bigger storylines and feuds…Remember Divas fighting over one superstar? Or even Superstars fighting over a diva? Remember how Chyna would often be the difference between Triple H winning an important match and not? Remember ‘Mamacita’ lying, cheating and stealing alongside the late great Eddie Guerrero? Remember Lita alongside the Hardy Boyz, Edge, Essa Rios…The list goes on.

Had it not been for these divas playing such a crucial role in such storylines, the depth of these storylines would have been as bland as what we have been seeing recently! Sure, this view may be a little overdramatic, but it’s not all too farfetched.

Let’s look further at the current talent in the WWE…We’ll start with Awesome Kong (I don’t like how she spells her new name, so I’m not going to bother spelling it at all), a fantastic move by the WWE and a step in the right direction – A Powerhouse contender, who lacks the looks, but makes up for it in pure wrestling talent. Kong certainly has my respect; she seems to be one of a dying breed of Females who have the ability to make us turn our heads for all the right reasons. Unfortunately, this is one of only a few positives with the Divas – And she’s out on Maternity leave!

Beth Phoenix seems to be one of the only Divas aside from Kong who can hold her own – She’s got a good ability about her, and doesn’t look to shabby either.

There are many things the WWE needs to reconsider – I’d be lying if I didn’t feel creative played a large part in the poor show we are given by the Divas. Another issue to consider is the lack of match time, some matches lasting about a minute, and I don’t remember watching anything lasting longer than 4 or 5 minutes. I’m made to believe the WWE wants to put more air-time into the Diva division, but wholeheartedly, whilst this would in some ways be a solution, it would take more time from the desperately weak product which they’re showing us already, and give more time to an even weaker part of that, and thus, a vicious cycle is created. WWE needs to invest in better trainers, and talent from some of the Indie promotions – most of the divas at Indie level can produce the goods in the ring, but may not be model material, and largely, that’s probably why we don’t see more of them being picked up. Once the WWE has invested more time in making the Divas more engaging and considerably more time and money into training them to have a high standard of athleticism, we may just be lucky enough to want to watch a Divas match in the near future.

PG Doesn’t have to mean the end of a decent Divas run, arguably some of the Divas are just as good on the eyes as the previous bunch, so the issue of looks isn’t one to complain about – not that it seems to be an issue if you consider the impact of Awesome Kong. It also doesn’t take a genius to evaluate the prestige of the Divas in the Wrestling world – take a look at how celebrated the Knockouts are by TNA Marks!

Furthermore, a deadly mistake would have been the proposed introduction of Divas tag team titles – the Divas roster is too slim firstly (due to the talent being spread across 2 brands), and is piss weak to boot – so all you’d be doing is devaluing the already deflated titles that the Women of the industry hold, and eventually, the title would merely be an accessory to their attire.
To conclude, I’d say it is fairly obvious what the WWE needs to do, and where it should go from here – invest some of that money you have so clearly removed from the dramatic Pyrotechnics and entrance styles, take some of the money you’ve made this year from John Cena’s endorsement deals, oh and don’t forget all that PG sponsor money…and invest it in what you’re best and quite frankly what your only product should be…Our dearly, beloved wrestling. ]]> JSullivan http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40458-WWE-Death-of-the-Divas http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40418-WWE-Strength-in-Numbers Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:00:33 GMT Hello all, This is my first blog on the website. For a little bit of Background info on myself, I used to run a Wrestling news website when I was... Hello all, This is my first blog on the website.

For a little bit of Background info on myself, I used to run a Wrestling news website when I was 11 years old, a guy called Peter Staniforth used to submit his interviews to me to host in an effort to promote himself and my website too. A result of this was me getting into contact with Shark Boy, Doug Williams and many more...The beginning of a short journey, which came due to my inability to access the internet for a couple of years.

Fast foward 10 Years, and Here I am, starting a new adventure: Blogging.
I currently write books, well, I attempt to, so in my times where I cannot bring myself to type anymore, I'll fight fire with fire, and write my frustrations out to all of you guys (and girls).

Anyway, let's get started, shall we?

One of my biggest issues with the WWE as of current is the lack of power in stables and Tag-Teams. I am well aware that the WWE is attempting to push the Tag division, but let's just analyse some of the recent Tag team and Stable history, and see what comes up!


1. Tag teams have no structure and Lack credibility.

Now, it goes without saying that without making new Tag teams, they can't gain experience, and this would at first glance, seem like a vicious cycle. You would however be wrong to say that the product they are putting together at this time is the correct way to do so.

Let's use Air-Boom as an example, one of the biggest Tag partnerships in the WWE today...So far, their competition is slim pickings, there aren't many serious tag teams in there, which is again, creating a vicious cycle; Simply pairing two baby-faces won't solve this either.

To combat this, they need to work on building the foundations for it, and Nexus almost did just that: But to no suprise, because like most things WWE does well, it washes it away by making against the odds heroics prevail over common sense...Using your star athlete and making him be bound like a spitfire by the words "Always outnumbered, never outgunned" is a sure fire way to ruin something that is working well.

One more fundamental flaw with Tag teams/Stables is their lack of credibility. Remember the Road Warriors? Two Powerhouses, who had combinations to die for. Remember nWo and DX? Both caused pure havoc in their own rights. Remember the Minsitry/Corporation/Corporate minsitry? They all used their overwhelming numbers and influence through their main stars to dominate and intimidate all who opposed them.

Even shortlived partnerships such as The Rock and Sock connection had more credibility, because both members had such respect from the fans.

I'm trying to avoid going off on a tangent here, but I think you see the point i'm making.

Tag teams need to be forged through a good storyline, not simply pencilled in one day and hope that they do well, they need a good background, a good structure and a reason for being partners, which brings me onto my next point...


2. There aren't any gimmicks!!!

Some of the greatest Tag-Teams and Stables of recent years have all had gimmicks! Edge and Christian, The Hardy Boyz, The Dudleys, The Road Warriors, Haas and Benjamin (That's right, I said it), Undertaker and Kane, The Hart Foundation, DX, nWo, Ministry, Corporation, Too Much/Too cool, Kaientai, The Headbangers, The Guerreros...The list goes on.

I feel that having these gimmicks makes it easier to write engaging storlyines and definitely builds on the credibility of partnerships, not to mention it makes them much more fun to watch!


3. The Brand divide.

Everyone who knows anything about the WWE in recent years understands the reason for the Brand extensions, however, It seems to have done more harm than good, and this isn't just applicable to Tag Teams and Stables, this applies to so much more: Divas, Singles comeptitors. The reality is, by stopping superstars engaging eachother because they are on seperate brands, they limited their chances to pushing storylines. By having single brand PPV's, they limited who you could watch on any given night. By seperating the brands, they diluted the value of the Championships and furthermore, flushed potential Feuds down the toilet.

Having two sets of Tag Titles defeats the point in having tag titles - How can you be the joint best tag team in the WWE? Nonsense.

Whislt they have now unified the titles, and it is a step forward, they've left no power in the Tag division to contest those titles, and so the prestige of them has been nullified.


4. The Solution.

It's no Secret that the WWE needs an overhaul in the creative department, we've been seeing piss-poor storylines for far too long, so the first step would be to make some heads roll.

Another step would be to poach some Tag-Teams from other promotions, I realise they have been spending a lot of time looking at Mexican Promotions, however they should be looking at Japan/Britain, and start working on picking off some talent from more local promotions such as ROH and TNA - Beer money should've been obvious, the Young Bucks was a shame and the list goes on.

Then we have some more grass-roots work, Developmental needs more Tag-Teams coming in from the start, and we need to see more developmental wrestlers beating big-guns - rather than simply being fodder to try and propell the bigger stars even further.
Remember Brock lesnar's breaking onto the scene? Sure, he was a HUGE guy, which gave him intimidation from the start, but do you remember him tearing the ring apart? I do. You know why lesnar was such a success with the crowd (Apart from his size)? Because bigger stars were jobbing to him (albeit one or two who wouldn't, and certainly weren't quiet about it either), and this made him credible, this made him intimidating, and this made him a sure fire way to sell merch and to create a foundation to becoming a superstar who's image is burnt into our eyes, because I don't know a single person who doesn't get excited at the thought of his return.


The End.

I'll leave my blog at that, I know you guys will have something to say, so go ahead and say it, i'm all for constructive criticism, and all for a debate.

I'll happily hold my hands up and say I'm not always right, I'm not always happy to be corrected, but I'll know when I'm wrong deep down.

These opinions are just my own, just my tread of thought, and could quite possibly be flawed and/or biased in many ways, but I can only put onto this page what I have seen in my experience as a wrestling fan for 18 years, and a devout one for 10.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed it, and I look forward to venting to you guys again in future ;)

-Peace- ]]> JSullivan http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40418-WWE-Strength-in-Numbers