unpossibl1
06-19-2004, 08:16 PM
Reading Between The Ropes- June 19th, 2004
Welcome back to another edition of Reading Between The Ropes. That’s right, I said welcome back. For those of you who don’t remember, I wrote this column back in late 2003/early 2004. At that time I was brought in as WNW’s head columnist, but there was some friction as a result and I left around mid January. So what have I been doing since January? Well, I returned to writing “The Insider” for IOW for a short time, but mainly I have been working on my own site, http://www.wrestlepower.com. The forums are doing great there, and my main site will be up shortly. So, with my own site launching, why am I back writing columns at WNW? Well, Timboski contacted me a few days ago and asked that I come back and start writing columns again (I haven’t written in the past few months). I have missed writing columns, and I did enjoy my previous stint at WNW, so I decided to accept Tim’s offer.
Ok, now you know the crash course, quick and easy explanation of where I have been the past few months and how I made my way back to writing columns again. Now that that is out of the way let’s get on with the show.
A Tale Of Two Champions
Let’s start off by jumping back a few years in time. Let’s go back to when the WWE was thriving in the “Attitude Era” while WCW was steadily being crushed under the heel of Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara. Each week, the WWE provided the best that this business has to offer, while WCW showed the worst. WWE had resurrected itself by riding the backs of new superstars who were emerging in the limelight. On the other end of the spectrum, WCW was realizing that their aging main event level stars were no longer able to pull their weight, and they desperately tried to create stars at the last minute. Chaos ensued as WCW tried a number of “quick fix” angles and gimmicks to regain their ratings. Quite simply, WCW didn’t have time or patience to create the new talent they needed, and the company died.
As some of you know, I am a history major. One of the most fascinating aspects of history is seeing how often it repeats itself. And guess what? History is repeating itself again, except its not WWE and WCW this time, it’s Raw and SmackDown.
Of course, it’s not exactly the same. For one thing, Raw isn’t trying to kill SmackDown, and SmackDown isn’t trying to kill Raw. They may be in psuedo competition with each other, but the bottom line is both brands are under the WWE umbrella. Also, SmackDown isn’t plagued by the backstage politics that played a large part in WCW’s demise. Still, the similarities are there…after all, SmackDown is quickly becoming the “JV Team” compared to Raw, just as WCW did.
I could go on and on about the various reasons why SmackDown is becoming the inferior show, or “WCW” if you will, but for the best example we need to look to the centerpiece of each show: the champions.
Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit are two sides of the same coin, after all. Both have gone through their professional careers being known as brilliant in ring workers, but questions about size and charisma kept both men from being considered championship material.
For years, fans wondered if guys like Benoit and Guerrero would ever be able to “win the big one” in an era when “entertainment” was just as if not more important than “sports”. Finally, Benoit and Guerrero were given the chance to be champions. Fittingly, their title reigns have come at nearly the same time, taking the biggest steps in their similar careers side by side.
Unfortunately, the similarities between Benoit and Guerrero’s title reigns end there. Take a look at how Benoit’s title reign has gone so far. He wins the belt in the main event of WrestleMania 20; making Triple H, the reigning champ, tap out to the crossface in a classic Triple Threat match that also included Shawn Michaels. The following month, he wins the Triple Threat again to retain his title, this time making Michaels tap. After that, he not only defeated Kane, but did so in his second match of the night while competing with an injured shoulder. On top of all this, whenever Benoit makes an appearance on Raw his opponents fear him.
So what does all that add up to? Well, it essentially took a guy who was always on the cusp of being a main event star and solidified him as a champion. It’s the kind of push that guys dream about. Even after Benoit eventually drops the belt, he won’t fade out of the main event scene because now he has the respect of a main event star. Raw, who already has almost all of the superstars on its show, just created another one.
Now, let’s take a look at Eddie Guerrero’s title reign. Let’s see, he won the title by defeating Brock Lesnar after Goldberg took out Lesnar for him. Following that, he beat Kurt Angle by tricking Kurt and getting a roll up victory at WrestleMania 20. Then, Bradshaw suddenly went from obscurity to a championship contender overnight, and Eddie technically lost the match at Judgment Day to him by DQ. During the week, Eddie doesn’t have the, for lack of a better term, “championship swagger”, because he is reduced to facing guys like the Bashams week in and week out.
When Eddie’s title reign ends, he will be no more of a main event level star then he was a year ago. Eddie’s title reign disgustingly reminds me of Big Show’s first title reign around 5 years ago, when he squared off with the Big Bossman, who somehow was a contender for the title. Or better yet, Eddie’s title reign reminds me of WCW. All the stars that SmackDown was counting on have either gotten hurt or been moved to Raw, leaving the SmackDown creative team with no choice but to try to create new stars on the fly. If Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, Big Show, Edge, etc were still competing on SmackDown Bradshaw would be developing his character as a contender for the US Title, not the WWE title. More importantly, Eddie would have some real competition to go against and solidify his status as a main event superstar.
Five years ago, the WWE was thriving and WCW was dying. Today, Raw is thriving and SmackDown is dying (quality and ratings wise anyway). I could sit here all day and draw comparisons between the two, but I don’t need to do that. The champions of each show tell the story well enough.
Of course, there are a million variables to factor into SmackDown’s current state. What if Lesnar didn’t leave, or Angle wasn’t hurt, or Edge had been kept…but all those variables are irrelevant at this point. The real tragedy here is not SmackDown’s ratings, or the ever-growing gap between the overall quality of the shows. No, the real tragedy here is that Eddie’s Guerrero’s title reign, the one that his whole life has been building towards, is being tarnished because of things that he has no control over. Meanwhile, he looks to Raw and sees Chris Benoit flourishing, and he has to wonder what if…if only he was on Raw instead of SmackDown, things would be different. Still, I have to think that Eddie would probably prefer it this way, seeing his friend Chris Benoit’s title reign succeed even if it means his has to fail.
Tids and Bits
Bradshaw Manages To Put His Foot Farther In His Mouth…Somehow
So by now everyone knows about Bradshaw’s repulsive Hitler references during his match in Germany, and his subsequent firing from CNBC as a result. Bradshaw made an appears on Howard Stern the other day and basically defended himself by saying that his being fired for portraying a character as a wrestler was the equivalent of Anthony Hopkins being fired for portraying a Cannibal in the “Hannibal” movies.
Umm…Earth to Bradshaw? Come in Bradshaw? Actors don’t typically decide what they say or do in movies, they are just reading from a script. You acted on your own with the Nazi thing. He tried to cover it up by saying he was fired for being a “loud mouthed wrestler” the other night on SmackDown, but that was a pretty flimsy excuse.
Furthermore, Bradshaw took a shot at net fans by mentioning that it was probably some little guy with a wrestling site sending emails to CNBC that got him fired.
Yeah, that’s it Bradshaw, it’s someone else’s fault. No, not because of your actions, but someone else is to blame for you being fired. Bad net fans, bad! In the coming weeks, expect Bradshaw to take a few shots at the handicapped and elderly, that way he can get the grand slam by officially pissing off everyone across the country.
Chavo Classic Cast Out
So, Chavo Classic, who unbelievably was the Cruiserweight Champion (or not so unbelievably, considering SmackDown’s horrendous cruiser division), has been fired for failing to appear at two shows. How do you let that happen? Chavo Classic was proof that the SmackDown booking team has thrown common sense out the window and he goes and furthers the insanity by getting himself fired. There are some serious issues going on there…
Closing Thoughts
Ok, so today I pretty much bitched about SmackDown the whole time. Well next time I am gonna fix it. That’s right, next time I will attempt to (gulp)…fix SmackDown. I may be biting off more than I can chew here, but I will give it a shot.
By the way, be sure to check out my site at http://www.wrestlepower.com . Our forums are a great place to hang out! (Yes, that was a cheap plug)
If you want to send me some feedback, click the link under my name.
Until next time, see ya!
TREVOR LANE
trevor@wrestlepower.com
Welcome back to another edition of Reading Between The Ropes. That’s right, I said welcome back. For those of you who don’t remember, I wrote this column back in late 2003/early 2004. At that time I was brought in as WNW’s head columnist, but there was some friction as a result and I left around mid January. So what have I been doing since January? Well, I returned to writing “The Insider” for IOW for a short time, but mainly I have been working on my own site, http://www.wrestlepower.com. The forums are doing great there, and my main site will be up shortly. So, with my own site launching, why am I back writing columns at WNW? Well, Timboski contacted me a few days ago and asked that I come back and start writing columns again (I haven’t written in the past few months). I have missed writing columns, and I did enjoy my previous stint at WNW, so I decided to accept Tim’s offer.
Ok, now you know the crash course, quick and easy explanation of where I have been the past few months and how I made my way back to writing columns again. Now that that is out of the way let’s get on with the show.
A Tale Of Two Champions
Let’s start off by jumping back a few years in time. Let’s go back to when the WWE was thriving in the “Attitude Era” while WCW was steadily being crushed under the heel of Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara. Each week, the WWE provided the best that this business has to offer, while WCW showed the worst. WWE had resurrected itself by riding the backs of new superstars who were emerging in the limelight. On the other end of the spectrum, WCW was realizing that their aging main event level stars were no longer able to pull their weight, and they desperately tried to create stars at the last minute. Chaos ensued as WCW tried a number of “quick fix” angles and gimmicks to regain their ratings. Quite simply, WCW didn’t have time or patience to create the new talent they needed, and the company died.
As some of you know, I am a history major. One of the most fascinating aspects of history is seeing how often it repeats itself. And guess what? History is repeating itself again, except its not WWE and WCW this time, it’s Raw and SmackDown.
Of course, it’s not exactly the same. For one thing, Raw isn’t trying to kill SmackDown, and SmackDown isn’t trying to kill Raw. They may be in psuedo competition with each other, but the bottom line is both brands are under the WWE umbrella. Also, SmackDown isn’t plagued by the backstage politics that played a large part in WCW’s demise. Still, the similarities are there…after all, SmackDown is quickly becoming the “JV Team” compared to Raw, just as WCW did.
I could go on and on about the various reasons why SmackDown is becoming the inferior show, or “WCW” if you will, but for the best example we need to look to the centerpiece of each show: the champions.
Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit are two sides of the same coin, after all. Both have gone through their professional careers being known as brilliant in ring workers, but questions about size and charisma kept both men from being considered championship material.
For years, fans wondered if guys like Benoit and Guerrero would ever be able to “win the big one” in an era when “entertainment” was just as if not more important than “sports”. Finally, Benoit and Guerrero were given the chance to be champions. Fittingly, their title reigns have come at nearly the same time, taking the biggest steps in their similar careers side by side.
Unfortunately, the similarities between Benoit and Guerrero’s title reigns end there. Take a look at how Benoit’s title reign has gone so far. He wins the belt in the main event of WrestleMania 20; making Triple H, the reigning champ, tap out to the crossface in a classic Triple Threat match that also included Shawn Michaels. The following month, he wins the Triple Threat again to retain his title, this time making Michaels tap. After that, he not only defeated Kane, but did so in his second match of the night while competing with an injured shoulder. On top of all this, whenever Benoit makes an appearance on Raw his opponents fear him.
So what does all that add up to? Well, it essentially took a guy who was always on the cusp of being a main event star and solidified him as a champion. It’s the kind of push that guys dream about. Even after Benoit eventually drops the belt, he won’t fade out of the main event scene because now he has the respect of a main event star. Raw, who already has almost all of the superstars on its show, just created another one.
Now, let’s take a look at Eddie Guerrero’s title reign. Let’s see, he won the title by defeating Brock Lesnar after Goldberg took out Lesnar for him. Following that, he beat Kurt Angle by tricking Kurt and getting a roll up victory at WrestleMania 20. Then, Bradshaw suddenly went from obscurity to a championship contender overnight, and Eddie technically lost the match at Judgment Day to him by DQ. During the week, Eddie doesn’t have the, for lack of a better term, “championship swagger”, because he is reduced to facing guys like the Bashams week in and week out.
When Eddie’s title reign ends, he will be no more of a main event level star then he was a year ago. Eddie’s title reign disgustingly reminds me of Big Show’s first title reign around 5 years ago, when he squared off with the Big Bossman, who somehow was a contender for the title. Or better yet, Eddie’s title reign reminds me of WCW. All the stars that SmackDown was counting on have either gotten hurt or been moved to Raw, leaving the SmackDown creative team with no choice but to try to create new stars on the fly. If Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, Big Show, Edge, etc were still competing on SmackDown Bradshaw would be developing his character as a contender for the US Title, not the WWE title. More importantly, Eddie would have some real competition to go against and solidify his status as a main event superstar.
Five years ago, the WWE was thriving and WCW was dying. Today, Raw is thriving and SmackDown is dying (quality and ratings wise anyway). I could sit here all day and draw comparisons between the two, but I don’t need to do that. The champions of each show tell the story well enough.
Of course, there are a million variables to factor into SmackDown’s current state. What if Lesnar didn’t leave, or Angle wasn’t hurt, or Edge had been kept…but all those variables are irrelevant at this point. The real tragedy here is not SmackDown’s ratings, or the ever-growing gap between the overall quality of the shows. No, the real tragedy here is that Eddie’s Guerrero’s title reign, the one that his whole life has been building towards, is being tarnished because of things that he has no control over. Meanwhile, he looks to Raw and sees Chris Benoit flourishing, and he has to wonder what if…if only he was on Raw instead of SmackDown, things would be different. Still, I have to think that Eddie would probably prefer it this way, seeing his friend Chris Benoit’s title reign succeed even if it means his has to fail.
Tids and Bits
Bradshaw Manages To Put His Foot Farther In His Mouth…Somehow
So by now everyone knows about Bradshaw’s repulsive Hitler references during his match in Germany, and his subsequent firing from CNBC as a result. Bradshaw made an appears on Howard Stern the other day and basically defended himself by saying that his being fired for portraying a character as a wrestler was the equivalent of Anthony Hopkins being fired for portraying a Cannibal in the “Hannibal” movies.
Umm…Earth to Bradshaw? Come in Bradshaw? Actors don’t typically decide what they say or do in movies, they are just reading from a script. You acted on your own with the Nazi thing. He tried to cover it up by saying he was fired for being a “loud mouthed wrestler” the other night on SmackDown, but that was a pretty flimsy excuse.
Furthermore, Bradshaw took a shot at net fans by mentioning that it was probably some little guy with a wrestling site sending emails to CNBC that got him fired.
Yeah, that’s it Bradshaw, it’s someone else’s fault. No, not because of your actions, but someone else is to blame for you being fired. Bad net fans, bad! In the coming weeks, expect Bradshaw to take a few shots at the handicapped and elderly, that way he can get the grand slam by officially pissing off everyone across the country.
Chavo Classic Cast Out
So, Chavo Classic, who unbelievably was the Cruiserweight Champion (or not so unbelievably, considering SmackDown’s horrendous cruiser division), has been fired for failing to appear at two shows. How do you let that happen? Chavo Classic was proof that the SmackDown booking team has thrown common sense out the window and he goes and furthers the insanity by getting himself fired. There are some serious issues going on there…
Closing Thoughts
Ok, so today I pretty much bitched about SmackDown the whole time. Well next time I am gonna fix it. That’s right, next time I will attempt to (gulp)…fix SmackDown. I may be biting off more than I can chew here, but I will give it a shot.
By the way, be sure to check out my site at http://www.wrestlepower.com . Our forums are a great place to hang out! (Yes, that was a cheap plug)
If you want to send me some feedback, click the link under my name.
Until next time, see ya!
TREVOR LANE
trevor@wrestlepower.com