Wrestling News and Forum- eWrestlingNews.com - Blogs - Slickman69 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/blog.php?5392-Slickman69 Wrestling News and Discussion - eWrestlingNews.com Community en Thu, 23 May 2013 11:21:51 GMT vBulletin 10 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/images/misc/rss.jpg Wrestling News and Forum- eWrestlingNews.com - Blogs - Slickman69 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/blog.php?5392-Slickman69 What ROH gets Wrong http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?39777-What-ROH-gets-Wrong Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:06:08 GMT Recently I have read some comments on the internet saying that ROH is the best wrestling promotion in the world, or at least in the United States. I... Recently I have read some comments on the internet saying that ROH is the best wrestling promotion in the world, or at least in the United States. I was curious and began to search videos of the program on YouTube. What I saw definitely didn't impress me. However I thought "Well this must be the older footage. It's probably much better now." Regrettably I was wrong. I tried to watch their weekly show on their website about three times now, and each time I cannot take it seriously. Let me explain.

The Setting/Presentation
The first distraction with ROH is the actual setting, not to be confused with production values. I realize that ROH does not have the financial backing that WWE or TNA has and therefore I do not expect them to have the lighting or the fireworks or the set-up that those companies have. But for Pete's sake would it hurt to choose a few more brightful colors for the arena set-up ? Everything is so dark and depressing looking. The ropes are dark red, the ring apron is black, the canvas is also black, the ring side is mostly black, I mean holy crap. Couple all this blackness with the insufficient lighting (due to financial limitations) and you get a very unappealing picture. I'm not saying that they should repaint everything in rainbow colors, but they should make the show more appealing to the eye.

Another issue is their backstage interviews and promos. They try to make them realistic and UFC-like, however they just come off looking cheap. It damages the credibility of the product when it looks as though the interview was shot with a smartphone. Would it hurt to have a wrestling themed background behind the wrestlers as they do their promos ? This was always done in the territories and even early on in the WWF.

Inside the Ring
Now ironically this is one of ROH's biggest problems. You'd think that a show which puts all of its emphasis on the wrestling itself would certainly lack issues in this department. ROH without a doubt puts on more actual wrestling than WWE and TNA, however this is not great wrestling. It is what is known as spot wrestling. Everytime I watch a ROH match I just can't get into it. It looks too choreographed, you can tell that the wrestlers talked over the entire match backstage, and that simply takes me out of the match. They do too many moves. That is to say, that many of the moves that we have come to expect as FINISHERS, such as a sit-down powerbomb for instance, is just another move in ROH. It's TOO much. Instead of looking realistic, which is what ROH is going for, they end up looking more questionable than WWE. Another thing is that the matches last WAY too damn long. Sure every now and then you need a long match, HBK vs Bret Hart at WM12 is one of my favorites, however that match was not spot heavy. It was wonderfully paced and never got boring. On the other hand, ROH has spot heavy matches that also last a decade, making it unwatchable at times.

The Wrestlers Themselves
I'll try to keep this one short because i'm not about to go over each wrestler. But just in general these guys have the personality of a baked potato. Some are better, some worse, but the majority cannot pull off a convincing promo. I watched them stutter, constantly blink and look around. Nobody captured my attention. Again, I don't expect them to pull off a Jake Roberts, Randy Savage, or a Dusty Rhodes like promo, but Jesus.

Unfortunately like the look of the ringside area and arena, the wrestlers themselves look so generic and ununique. Everyone has either short hair or an almost shaved head. Please can they add some color to their ring gear. We want exciting personalities that look and act differently from eachother.

Philosophy of the Promotion
This is the last thing and arguable the most important. ROH tries so damn hard to be like the UFC and I just can't understand why they would want to. In this day and age, practically everyone knows that wrestling is not a real contest. So why try to convince us it is ? I have known that wrestling wasn't a real sport since the first match I saw when I was about 9 years old, my dad just flat out told me. But that didn't make even the slightest difference to me, in fact it made it even more fascinating to me. By trying to be like the UFC so much, ROH is straying away from what makes wrestling great. You won't be able to simulate the excitement of MMA because it is a completely different thing so stop trying.

Anyway thanks for reading this 3 volume novel of a blog that I just purged out. I don't dislike ROH, I just wish it was a bit different :). ]]> Slickman69 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?39777-What-ROH-gets-Wrong WWE is too complicated http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?39661-WWE-is-too-complicated Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:48:58 GMT Wrestling has become too complicated. Gone are the days where the build up to PPV's and big events was about the wrestlers and their feuds. Now it's all about "writers" coming up with ridiculous ideas for "storylines" that lead to nowhere. This is why WWE isn't selling many PPV's anymore. Because we aren't invested in the matches. There is no build up behind the matches anymore. Or rather it's not the correct build up.

An example of a good build up to a match would be HBK vs Bret Hart at WM12. Now the entire feud felt pretty intense. Why ? Because WWF made it intense. They made us emotionally involved and invested in the match. The entire feud was very simply and answered questions that we needed to know the answers to. Here's HBK, never before been world champion, won the Rumble for the second time, and now he will finally get his chance going up against the greatest of them all. On the other hand is Bret Hart. The older more experienced wrestler, the reigning champion, the biggest challenge HBK will ever face. They are going at it for 60 minutes at the biggest event of all time: Wrestlemania.

That was pretty simply wasn't it ? Throw in a few heated interviews and voiced over highlight footage to build up the match and your golden. This is a tried and true method, proven to be successful. This is how boxing has always been promoted, this is how wrestling USED to be promoted, and this is how MMA is currently promoted.

And what do they show on TV now instead of good wrestling or good build up to future matches ? They show us what the so called "writers" pull out of their ass. For example the Walkout angle. I agree that it was better than regular WWE programming as of late and did end prematurely, but it is a great example for me to use. Where was this angle leading to ? What match or which wrestlers was this angle building up. Who was going to wrestle who and why ? See how this angle answers none of those questions ? This is an example of an angle that is ,in reality, a waste of time because it does NOT promote anything. It does not build up any match for future PPV's which is the most important part. It was an angle that was going nowhere. This is why PPV numbers are down, because the weekly programming does not build up to the matches at these PPV's.

Now, I understand that Vince never considered his company to be a wrestling company, he always called it "sports entertainment". Apparently he came up with this term around the first WM. According to Jim Cornette he coined this term in order to fool all the advertising and PPV carrier companies that they weren't buying some cheap, redneck "rassling" but rather they were getting something new and different. Now Vince fooling others into believing that his product is "sports entertainment" is all fine and good, do whatever you have to do to succeed, but it seems as though the man himself now believes that wrestling is sports entertainment.

It's not. It's wrestling. Take out that ring in the middle of the arena and I want to see how many tickets you'll sell. Or how many PPV's. And the PPV numbers are the best indicator of WWE's drop in business. The people just won't pay to see matches that they aren't invested in. TV rating aren't the most important thing for wrestling. Attendance and PPV sales are.

Nobody is saying you can't have some gimmicky "sports entertainment" to your show. This is way I love the WWF from the late 80's early 90's even though I was born the same year RAW debuted. This is when you had great entertainment, with Booby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon making fun of each other aswell as other more gimmicky aspects of the show. But at the same time, you had matches that were actually built up and angles that didn't insult our intelligence and were given time to mature, this is why we felt invested and immersed in the product.

Please, Vince fire all these so called writers and let them go back to writing for whatever reality TV show the came from, and hire some people who actually know how to produce wrestling. Because like it or not, that's what you are. You are a wrestling company, it's even in your damn name.
Attached Thumbnails
]]> Slickman69 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?39661-WWE-is-too-complicated <![CDATA[Why Rock vs Cena isn't such a great idea.]]> http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?29786-Why-Rock-vs-Cena-isn-t-such-a-great-idea Sun, 18 Sep 2011 08:11:30 GMT The Rock vs John Cena. These two have been compared by fans for years. Some say that Cena has reached Rock's level while others dispute this with all their might. Regardless of who's your favorite, everyone must agree that this is a big attraction. It will undoubtedly improve ratings as we get closer to the big day, aswell as increase the actual PPV ratings. My question is however, is it a good idea for the long term ?

What i'm trying to say is that all this is temporary. Yes, more people will watch when Rock starts making more appearances as we approach WM and even Survivor Series, PPVs that he attends will also have better numbers, but where does it all lead to ? One match and then The Rock is back in Hollywood land ?

I was just as excited as everyone when he returned on RAW and had his now famous promo, telling people how he is back and all. But then after a few days, I realized that he is not back like we want him to be, more like staying for a quick lunch, before he leaves in his expensive limo. But whatever. It's The Rock, better to have him in some form or another than not at all right ? But is it ?

See once he has his match with Cena and regardless of who wins, he will sooner or later leave again. Like I already said, yes it will draw money and improve WWE's business but only for that short temporary time-span. It doesn't do much for WWE in the long term, bringing back The Rock for one match/angle isn't giving them a foundation to build from. It's more like taking a pain killer. The pain goes away temporarily, but before you know it the gaping wound is hurting again.

Someone argued that he is bringing new fans to the WWE because of his movies, but I disagree. Or rather I don't think that Rock has a considerable enough fan-base outside of wrestling for it to make a difference. The Rock is still -and probably always will be- bigger than Dwayne Johnson.

And what about the winner ? If Rock wins he is not putting over the WWE and doing them much good. I would prefer for him to lose and put over the person he is working with. But than I remember that it's Cena, who by this point has been pushed so hard he is like a giant among sitting midgets. So if he wins, how will that reflect on people he will work with later if he's already beating everyone within the company, now he's also beating legends. Cena is not a guy who needs to be put over, he should be putting others over by now instead, but why put over the Rock if he is a one and done deal ?

In the end what I am saying is that it will be interesting and I am looking forward to it like everyone else, but what WWE is doing is basically focusing everything they have on an angle that will lead to one match instead of focusing on talent that will actually be there for years to come who are the future of the company. I'm sure many guys are pissed off that they are there busting their ass year-round but get pushed aside as The Rock makes his one match comeback. ]]> Slickman69 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?29786-Why-Rock-vs-Cena-isn-t-such-a-great-idea Ideas to improve the WWE http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?11690-Ideas-to-improve-the-WWE Thu, 01 Sep 2011 07:12:38 GMT Hello everyone :D. This is my first entry and I wanted to devote it to ideas that I think will actually improve the WWE. As we all know... Hello everyone :D. This is my first entry and I wanted to devote it to ideas that I think will actually improve the WWE. As we all know unfortunately the WWE hasn't been producing the most splendid shows as of late, but I think that with a few key, realistic changes the WWE can begin to regain the trust of fans.

Reduce the number of Championships-

This is something that must be done in order for the titles to regain the prestige that they once had. Remember how important the IC title was back in the day ? How it was actually considered the work horse title, and that if you were the champ than you were on your way up ? Look at it now. The only two titles that seem to mean anything today are the two world titles. I believe that there should only be FOUR titles in all. WWE title, IC title, Tag title, and a Cruiserweight or U.S title. This way all the titles are more prestigious because there is less of them. And naturally the storylines should go hand in hand with the titles since the wrestlers need a "motivation" in order to wrestle, that is why the championships exist in wrestling in the first place, they are the centerpiece, the thing that all wrestlers want and fight over. If you have too many titles they simple lose value because you don't have the best competition wrestling over the belt. Now obviously in order to have four titles you would need to combine the two shows which brings me to my next point.

Combine SD and RAW

Rated_R(ob)KO made a good point in his blog about how the brand split only happened because they had too much talent after acquiring both WCW and ECW. There are only so many hours of TV that WWE gets and you must utilize everyone, so it was a smart move to split the brand, since both shows still had enough talent to make both shows credible and to keep the titles prestigious. Now however there is simply not enough good talent to go around. WWE is limiting itself. When two guys are on different shows we can't see them in and angle that leads to a match which is a missed opportunity. Having no brand split would make ratings and PPV buyrates better since we see the best competition going at it, instead of having one guy who is great and the other who seems as though he doesn't really belong on the same stage. Now thankfully they seem to be combining the shows more now which is great, but they must also decrease the title count as stated above.

Don't have women as wrestlers

Now don't get the wrong idea. I love women as much as the next guy, however at the same time I am not 12 years old and do not get a big boner when women are wrestling. Not wanting for this to sound like a knock on women, but women's wrestling is simply not as good as men's. When I watch wrestling it is for the good matches and storylines. I don't look forward to women in the ring because they are simple not as interesting to watch. This is the same reason why I wouldn't watch the WNBA even if the female players were attractive still, it's just an inferior product compared to the NBA. I don't appose to women as managers etc, I actually feel like that is a great role for them. But the time that their matches take on TV could have been spend on male talent who actually draw people to the big events. Regardless, you would not have to fire all the women in the company since they can contribute in other areas on TV, but please don't make them wrestle, it's just not very good.

Give RAW and SD different appearances

Now this is sort of a little thing but I think that it does definitely matter. Granted it would not change things as much as the other ideas but it is still important to have a different look to each show. You want both shows to have a separate personality and atmosphere. The SmackDown fist used to be it's trademark, while the big Titantron instantly meant Raw. WWE certainly began to use the same stage because of the new HD screen, all they have to do is change the color of the structure from red to blue. But i'm sure there is a way to keep the screen but just have a different design for the structure itself. And besides, I don't remember fans complaining about the old SD stage not having a big enough screen. At any cost, this isn't an absolute MUST, but does certainly add a nice touch which doesn't get in the way of anything else.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this blog. Of course we all want it to go back to the Attitude days but first we must make some realist changes, and I think the ideas that I gave can be quite easily executed.

Hope you guys enjoyed :D ]]> Slickman69 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?11690-Ideas-to-improve-the-WWE