By Chad Smart
@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter
Since I didn’t have a topic
in my mind worth writing about, I decided to open up the my123cents Facebook
page for questions from our loyal followers and offer my opinions on what was
asked.
First up is Baltimore Sun
Ring Post columnist and From the Rafter’s co-host Adam Testa. Three
part question: 1) Should holding a non-title victory over a champion grant you
a title shot? 2) Is this retroactive? 3) When will Kevin face Mike Masters for
the AAPW title?
I’ve discussed before how I
feel there should be more non-title matches in wrestling. I don’t think every
match involving a title-holder should be for the title because in my opinion it
devalues championship matches when guys who have no business getting a title
shot are in a title match. Plus, I
think having a guy who may not be perceived as a threat to a champion win a
non-title match help elevate his standing and makes for a instant made
feud. I point to the recent wins
Antonio Cessaro has over United States Champion, Santino Marella. Antonio
hasn’t really done much since debuting on Smackdown to warrant a title shot.
But having beat Santino on (I believe) two occasions the seeds have been
planted for Antonio to logically demand a title shot.
I’m guessing by the third
question, the second question is asking if a guy holds a victory over someone
before they win the title, should the victor then be considered for a title
shot. There is precedence set for this as the Patriot defeated Bret Hart on a
RAW before SummerSlam 1997. After Bret won the WWF Title from Undertaker at
SummerSlam, the Patriot was then given a title shot at the Ground Zero pay per
view the next month. Personally, I think a potential contender should have to
beat a reigning champion to get a title shot, or at least maybe beat the
champion at least two weeks prior to the champion winning the belt to get a
title shot.
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| Kevin H. stands tall Photo: Jason Wilkey |
As for the third question,
I think I speak for everyone who has ever seen Kevin Hunsperger wrestle when I
say, Kevin should never step into a wrestling ring again. So, no title shot for
Kevin “Cheeseburger” Hunsperger.
Moving on. J.M. Knight
asks, The Davey Richards/Tony Kozina
incident...It looks like they are now making it into an actual gimmick. Do you
think this will further hurt their reputation with them making light of it or
will it work to their advantage?
For those that don’t know,
the quick recap is last week in Iowa, Tony took liberties with a 16-year-old
wrestler he was fighting and legitimately choked the kid out. This was due to
Kozina feeling the kid crossed a line with some of the comments he made on
Twitter. The next day, Davey, Tony and 2 other guys who were riding with them
showed up late to a show after trying to get their singles matches turned into
an 8-man tag. After agreeing to a tag-team match against 2 local wrestlers and
being paid $350 upfront, Davey and I think he was teaming with Kyle O’Reilly
went to the back, started getting dressed for the match, claimed they forgot
their wrist tape, went to the car where Kozina was waiting, got in the car and
left. After one of the wrestlers
they were supposed to wrestle went public with the story, Kyle O’Reilly tried
to explain the situation but basically admitted to all the parts people were
complaining about. Davey later wrote his own side of the story and claimed he
sent the money back to the promoter and only took the money to teach the
promoter a lesson about principle or some lame excuse. This past weekend, Davey, Tony and the
fourth member of their group Darren somebody posted a video where they
announced they are now calling themselves Wrestling’s Most Wanted and Team
Bandit. They’re turning the situation into a new gimmick for themselves and
I’ve heard some rumors some other local promoters may try to capitalize on the
situation by booking the group.
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| Wrestling's Most Wanted |
My thoughts: In recapping
the situation I have devoted too much time to these guys. If you read my blog
on why we don’t cover ROH that often on my123cents, you’ll know I’m not a fan
of Davey Richards. In fact, if I would rather watch an eternal loop of the Katie
Vick angle than watch another Davey Richards match. So as far as I’m concerned, I hope the situation leads to
Team Bandit being blackballed from all wrestling promotions. Unfortunately,
since we’re talking wrestling, I have a feeling this will lead to more bookings
as promoters will try to cash in on the growing reputation of Wrestling’s Most
Wanted. As Eric Bischoff says, controversy creates cash. In this case, it
probably means an extra 20-30 dollars for some promotion few people have heard
of prior to today.
Trying to erase Davey
Richards from my memory, Greg Mehochko asks, What is AJ Lee's shelf life for GM before the "wwe universe"
grows tired of her?
This is a bit of a tricky
question to answer. I think it all depends on how she’s used and how much TV
time she gets each week. Personally, I don’t understand why WWE keeps putting
new General Managers into place. I think we need to go back to the way it was
when Jack Tunney was President and you only saw the authority figure when there
was a major announcement to make. From a storyline perspective, I have often
asked, what would happen if the GM didn’t make that spur of the moment Main
Event match fifteen minutes into the show? What would have taken place in the
last fifteen minutes of the show?
Back to the question asked,
I would have to say I don’t know if AJ can sustain her usefulness as GM once
WWE moves her beyond interactions with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. Once those two
are out of the equation, what is left for her? Even while she’s interacting
with Punk and Bryan, if she keeps coming out in outfits stolen from Stephanie
McMahon’s closet, I think the male WWE will grow tired of her quite quickly. Or
maybe that’s my chauvinistic views coming into play.
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| The Impact Zone |
Moving from one AJ to
another, my123cents alumni Travis Yates wants to know, Could TNA moving out of the Impact Zone backfire on them? Is it better
to have a full television taping with uninformed fans, or small draws with
loyal followers?
Good question. For
television purposes, you want the venue you’re operating in to look as close to
sold-out as possible to make the viewers at home think people want to see the
product you’re delivering. If TNA moved out of the Impact Zone, it would be a
mistake for them to start booking big arenas to do TV. The arena where Bound
for Glory is being held only seats 5000. Are there smaller venues where they
could run Impact tapings?
I think one potential
problem TNA has created themselves is not running a consistent loop of towns.
If you look at ROH, Chikara, or any other Indy promotion that travels, they
usually go to the same cities, the same venues or the same areas so they can
build on a fan base. This is something TNA should have been doing from day one.
I think if they’d had created a 4-5-city loop where they could draw, it would
help make moving out of the Impact Zone easier. Look at ECW. They usually did
TV from the same arenas. Being in a different venue on a weekly basis helped
the show avoid staleness while at the same time they created a loyal fan base in
each city that helped make the shows more meaningful.
Right now, I’d say TNA is
better to have a smaller, yet vocal, audience than a full soundstage of
tourists looking to escape the heat and not knowing who any of the wrestlers
are with the exception of Hulk Hogan.
Speaking of Hogan, we’ll
transition to the phenom he helped create. From the Rafter’s Producer Chris
Hagstrom has a good question for this troubled fiscal times. Is the cost of WrestleMania getting out of
hand?
WWE announced the
Wrestlemania travel packages today, which go on sale August 13. The packages
include a ticket to Wrestlemania, ticket to the Hall of Fame, hotel
reservations, Ticket to Axxess as well as transportation to select events. In
addition, they offer an extra night at the hotel and a ticket to RAW if once
wants to stay 4 days instead of 3. This year they’ve added to the VIP package a
tour of WWE headquarters and a Pre-Hall of Fame gathering with a WWE roster member. The prices for the VIP packages are,
VIP Package
– 3-Night Hotel Accommodations
1 Person -
$7,275
2 People -
$6,700 per person
3 People -
$6,500 per person
4 People -
$6,450 per person
VIP Package
– 4-Night Hotel Accommodations Includes Raw Ticket – 100 Level (lower bowl
raised seating)
1-Person -
$7,875
2-People -
$7,125 per person
3-People -
$6,900 per person
4-People -
$6,800 per person
VIP Package
– 4-Night Hotel Accommodations - Includes Raw Ticket – Ringside Rows seating
1-Person -
$7,900
2-People -
$7,150 per person
3-People -
$6,925 per person
4-People - $6,825 per person
If you don’t want to sit ringside there are Gold and
Silver packages available as well. The pricing for the cheapest packages is
Silver
Package – 3-Night Hotel Accommodations
1 Person -
$1,700
2 People -
$1,115 per person
3 People -
$950 per person
4 People -
$875 per person
Silver
Package – 4-Night Hotel Accommodations Includes Raw Ticket – 100 Level (lower
bowl raised seating)
1-Person -
$2,185
2-People -
$1,415 per person
3-People -
$1,185 per person
4-People - $1,085 per person
WWE hasn’t announced the actual individual ticket prices
yet. If memory serves me right, for Wrestlemania 28 tickets were $1000 first 2
rows, $800 ringside then all the way down to $30 to sit in the upper level
nosebleed seats.
Is this too much? One could argue that even with the
expensive prices, it’s still cheaper than attending the Super Bowl, and easier
to get tickets. However, since wrestling is more of a family outing, I can’t
imagine most average wrestling fan families of four to be able to afford a $5000
travel package. That doesn’t include airfare and expenses during the weekend
such as food and tourist events or other wrestling shows happening over the
weekend. Though, I bet WWE would prefer you not to spend money on other
wrestling companies.
The prices are steep but there is something about being at
Wrestlemania that I think every fan should experience at least once. I don’t
know how much the price increase this year has to do with how much the stadium
costs to rent. Since it’s a newer stadium I’m guessing the usage fee is higher
than an older stadium. With the expectation of Brock Lesnar and The Rock being
on the show, how much are they getting paid and is a higher ticket price
reflected to help offset their costs.
I do think prices are too high, but realistically
speaking, looking at prices for this year compared to the prices for
Wrestlemania 22 (the first year Kevin and I attended) not counting the VIP
package, which is ridiculously priced, the prices have only gone up about
$250-300. I don’t think that’s really too outrageous of a jump for a nine year
span. And with Wrestlemania being in the New York/New Jersey area it’s not like
it’s being held in a cheap cost of living area of the country.
To summarize, yes I think Wrestlemania is overpriced from
a personal standpoint but from a business standpoint I think it’s on average
for any big event. And I doubt WWE will lose money on the venture.
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