The Heat and the Shine

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

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 to air more hours of l

There is an intrinsic pleasure found in feeling important, and one former pro wrestling great surely felt it this weekend.  Vader, the Hall of Fame "monster" who at one time was among the best big men in the business, surely had that feeling after his Tweet-shaming of the Will Ospreay vs. Riccocet match at New Japan's "Best of the Super Juniors" triggered a storm of arguments about what pro wrestling is and should be. Vader's initial Tweet came after he was forwarded an out-of-context clip of a synchronized highspot that occurred early in their match: This is a memorized gymnastic/dance rountine it saddenens me to see the direction wrestling is headed https://t.co/TvU9eTkBC0 — Big Van Vader (@itsvadertime) May 27, 2016 Vader offered praise after watching the full match , but the damage was done.  Battle lines had been drawn, with fans of a more grounded style on one side and people citing wrestling's need to "evolve" on the other

Ed. note: A person with knowledge of the wrestling business pointed out that Cody Rhodes was likely referring to John Cena, not Seth Rollins, when he referred to "watching a monitor advertising a returning star" in his statement about his request for a release from WWE. On Sunday afternoon -- mere hours before the WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view, Cody Rhodes released a statement explaining his request for a release from WWE. Reading the true meaning of pro wrestlers' public statements is tricky business.  Pro wrestling is still a business full of workers and many workers have been taught to draw money in any way they can.  It is impossible to tell it Cody's words were an honest spilling of emotion, an opening promo for his Indy career, some combination of the two or something else entirely. Whatever the overall purpose of Rhodes's statement, a few lines stood out. Rhodes ostensibly referenced Seth Rollins, who probably-not-so-coincidentally happened to be

There are some things from the March 7, 1983 episode of World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) (now available on the WWE Network ) that cannot be duplicated.  A booker can hope for three local babyface brothers.  A promoter can want a mad villain like Michael Hayes.  But they are stars.  There is no way of knowing when they will appear or how bright they will shine. What bookers and promoters have control of is the storytelling.  Great storytelling will elevate present wrestlers and draw future wrestlers.  It will make dreamers want to work for you and make deciders want your show on their channel. The salient angle of the March 7, 1983 episode of WCCW begins at about the twelve minute mark.  The match is "Ice Man" King Parsons vs. Buddy Roberts of the Freebirds. The angle begins before the match with a shirtless Michael Hayes accompanying Roberts to the ring. The Lesson:  Two fundamental heel/antagonist move here.  Heels will try to bend or break rules.  Heels ar

In some circles Ryback will get blamed for the flat Hell in a Cell match last night, but not here.  He played his role.  The flaws in the match were out of his control. Ryback & Paul Heyman vs. CM Punk was an unsatisfying culmination to what, at times, had been a captivating feud.  Paul's entrance took too long, the match lacked heat and the denouement failed to generate the pop WWE hoped for. Perhaps all parties could have done something different to improve the ultimate result, but the bulk of the blame rests with two parties: CM Punk and WWE Creative. CM Punk deserves blame because every big star deserves blame when his angles go bad.  In wrestling -- as in movies and TV and radio and you get the point -- stars have ultimate control.  The promoter or the booker may get mad at the star or threaten the star, but ultimately it's the star's responsibility to make sure he is part of matches and angles that are good rather than bad. At this point wrestling people