The Heat and the Shine

Dave Meltzer appeared on " The Jim Cornette Experience " podcast recently for a discussion on modern wrestling promotion.  Meltzer's position was that indy wrestling is hot, and thus the current, wink-and-nod style works.  Cornette's position is that there are more lapsed wrestling fans than active wrestling fans, and that's evidence that the business should go back to the way it used to be. In this blog's view, they're both right.  If indy promoters booked the way Cornette wants them to book, the indy scene would be nowhere near as hot.  But if a disciplined, ambitious indy promotion took cues from Cornette, they'd offer stronger competition for WWE than Impact, ROH, New Japan or anyone else. One area where Meltzer's argument trumps Cornette's -- again, in this blog's opinion -- is that the kayfabe cat is out of the bag.  Wrestling fans wouldn't just going to roll their eyes at Smokey Mountain Wrestling style booking, they'd ...

Five days ago, New Japan and Kenny Omega collaborated on an adventurous, cutting edge project.  It was a twenty minute, sit down interview in which Omega used a mind-bending mix of shoot and work to respond to questions about his then-forthcoming match with New Japan’s world champion, Kazuchika Okada. Dave Meltzer called it, “[a promo that] looks at wrestling in multiple dimensions, with a Jake Roberts delivery.”  It was certainly that.  Omega would tout his seven new kilos of muscled physique, then mention his six ‘Match of the Year contenders’, all in the same soliloquy.  It was a work/shoot medley, almost as if Omega watched the movie ‘Split’ and decided “Yes, I can do what James McAvoy did.  I can change personalities on the fly, leaving a puzzle for the audience to re-watch and solve.” Two days later, a very different New Japan personality emerged.  For, as risky as Omega’s promo was, the promotion's next big move was decidedly staid.  The d...

The most underrated match in wrestling history; to my eyes, at least, is Randy "Macho King" Savage vs. The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VII.  Everything about it -- the build, the match and the resolution -- worked. The Build: Warrior was WWF Champion and Sensational "Queen" Sherry, at the time Macho's valet,  demanded a title shot .  Warrior declined.  Savage then got Sgt. Slaughter -- Warrior's title challenger at the 1991 Royal Rumble -- to agree to make Savage the number one contender if Slaughter won.  Savage interfered multiple times on Slaughter's behalf, eventually causing Warrior to lose the title after a scepter shot to the noggin. The Match: Art Barr & Eddy Guererro vs. El Hijo del Santo & Octagon  often gets cited as the greatest match in the illustrious history of the Los Angeles Sports Arena, but I'll take Warrior vs. Savage at WM VII.  Both had huge stakes.  Barr & Eddy lost their hair in a match where Santo ...

A favorite movie quote of mine comes from Jules Winfield, played by Samuel L. Jackson in PULP FICTION (1994): "I can't usually get [burgers] 'cause my girlfriend's a vegetarian, which pretty much makes me a vegetarian." In my case, it's not about burgers.  My lady is a carnivore.  For me, it's wrestling and other televised sports.  "I can't usually watch WWE 'cause my girlfriend's an HGTV fan, which pretty much makes me an HGTV fan," is my version.   What I can do attend is attend live events.  My lady loves the heat of the crowd.  (Get your mind out of the gutter, pervs.)  I go to as many WWE and UFC events as I can, even though I skip the vast majority of their televised shows. The WWE live event that came to mind today is the Monday Night Raw/WWE Superstars taping of October 3, 2016, held at Staples Center in Los Angeles.  Dave Meltzer recapped it in the October 10, 2016 issue of the Wrestling Observer as "the best R...

It's no secret that UFC is short on star power.  Ronda may be gone.  Conor is definitely on hiatus.  Jon Jones is suspended, and calling him a major star was a stretch to begin with. UFC, which operates more like a pro wrestling promotion than a sports organization, is taking a tried and true tact: they are trying to create new stars. Creating new stars isn't easy, or even simple.  One reason is obvious: nobody knows who the public will embrace.  Another reason is less obvious: people who aren't Chosen can get jealous. Tyron Woodley appears to be a chosen one for UFC.  He accompanied Dana White to the Super Bowl and he has gotten panel time on UFC studio shows.  In many ways, it makes sense.  He wants to be a star.  He doesn't mind hyping his fights.  He is explosive.  His public persona is not reckless. Woodley also has the good fortune of being in the right weight class with the right set of competing Champions.  The...

WWE Monday Night Raw ratings took a header this week, in every respect.  Compared to last week, total viewership was down 15%, ratings in the 18-49 year-old demographic were down about 20% and 18-34 ratings were down even more than that. There are reasons, of course.  The previous week opened in the glow of a well-received Royal Rumble show, opened with Paul Heyman on the stick and closed with Triple H.  This week opened and closed with Samoa Joe. Samoa Joe has his fans, but he's not a star.  That's important right now because WWE is facing new competition on Monday nights from another star-driven business: professional basketball. Sports fans in the United States may have heard about the National Basketball Association (NBA) receiving a lucrative new television contract.  They may not have heard that the NBA only received an incremental increase in rights fees for existing broadcasts.  The big money increase was due to allowing television networks t...

On Saturday, UFC drew their best viewership for a Fox Sports 1 (FS1) special since last year.  Even more impressive, the show featured a main event of The Korean Zombie vs. Dennis Bermudez, two fighters not known for their star power. Unfortunately for UFC (and FS1, for that matter),  the underlying numbers weren't so good.  Compared to the previous FS1 show (BJ Penn vs. Yair Rodriguez on a Sunday night), ratings in the 18-34 year-old demographic fell by nearly one-third.  Compared to last year's pre- Super Bowl special on FS1 (a show originally scheduled for pay-per-view, headlined by Johnny Hendricks vs. Wonderboy) fewer than half as many 18-34 year-olds watched. This is not good for UFC or FS1.  Both organizations want viewers, but they want those viewers to be relatively young.  Last Saturday's telecast pulled a strong audience among people over 50 years-old (roughly even with a year ago; up over one-third compared to last month).  Soon-to-be-...

The fifteen year anniversary of Vince McMahon's ill-fated foray into professional football has spurred renewed interest in the XFL.  ESPN ran a "30 for 30" documentary on the subject last week.  Dave Meltzer recapped the XFL's history on Wrestling Observer Radio this morning. Conventional wisdom is that the XFL was doomed before it began.  The league's 50% owners, NBC, showed signs of abandoning the project after the second of its twelve weeks.  (Key quote: "We are absolutely committed to [the XFL] for the full season," with no mention of the second contracted season.)  Television viewership collapsed almost minute-by-minute following a blockbuster opening week debut.  Vince McMahon's penchant for publicity stunts (bikini'd cheerleaders in swimming pools, Jim Ross as lead television announcer, promises of punt returners getting Jacked Up , et al. ) turned off mainstream sports media types and, likely, many football fans. The greatest sin ...