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| Hero vs. Quack |
By
Chad Smart
@ChadSmart on Twitter
I’m going off memory for this introduction. Some of the details may be a bit off, but I think the overall message is correct.
The first season I started watching Chikara (2005) the main story was Chris Hero had turned on his tag team partner Mike Quackenbush in the Tag World Grand Prix to side with Claudio Castagnoli and Arik Cannon to form the Kings of Wrestling. The story of the KoW dominating the Chikara roster while Quack sought revenge ran the rest of the year.
At one of the final shows of the season Arik Cannon, who had been showing signs of regret during previous shows at how violent Claudio and Hero were becoming, turned on the Kings and tried to side with Quackenbush. When Cannon tried to high-five Quack, Quack asked what Arik was doing. Arik said he was had helped Quack and they were now on the same side. Quack backed away and told Cannon his memory goes back more than two minutes.
At the start of the next season, Arik Cannon couldn’t find a partner for the Tag Team Grand Prix as the Chikara roster didn’t trust him based on his association with the Kings of Wrestling the previous year. It took several months for Cannon to earn the trust and respect of the rest of the wrestlers. This relatively small detail is one of the many reasons why I consider Chikara to be the best promotion in the wrestling business.
Granted, Chikara only runs on average about 25 shows a year compared to WWE and TNA doing roughly 110 and 60 shows respectfully so it may be easier for Chikara to plan out long-term storylines. But really, is that an excuse for the nonsensical almost weekly happenings in WWE and TNA?
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| Hogan & Sting reunite (Impactwrestling) |
There are two perfect examples that happened in the last two weeks to illustrate my point. At TNA’s Bound For Glory after Sting had beat Hulk Hogan, Immortal came to the ring and started assaulting Sting. As he was getting beat down, Sting begged Hogan to help him. Hogan tore off his shirt, the crowd went crazy and Hogan made the members of Immortal flee in fear. On the next episode of Impact, Hogan came out in the famous red and yellow Hulkster gear. Sting and Dixie Carter welcomed Hogan back with open arms. The last 18 months of Hogan wrangling control of TNA away from Dixie and being a jerk to the TNA roster was forgiven and brushed under the rug like it had never happened.
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| Punk & Triple H team up (WWE) |
Over in the WWE Universe, CM Punk threatened to leave the company and take the world title with him. Punk publicly trashed the company and insulted Triple H. After Triple H was named COO of WWE (though only having power to control Raw and not Smackdown) Trips and Punk had several verbal sparring matches before having an actual match at Night of Champions. Due to constant attacks from The Miz and R-Truth, at Vengeance, Punk and Triple H are teaming up for a tag team match. Granted, they are battling a common enemy, but unless I’ve missed something Triple H and CM aren’t showing signs of hating each other which is what you’d expect from guys who less than a month ago were mortal enemies.
I blame part of the lack of memory problem on the fans. Wrestling fans have a tendency to be sheep and accept whatever the companies present to them. They want to cheer the popular names and don’t care about the small details. Even though fans generally accept whatever is given to them, that doesn’t excuse the companies booking with such short sightedness.
With the seemingly face to heel to face turns that happen on a weekly basis these days, there shouldn’t be any wrestler who trusts another wrestler. It’s not just turns that cause problems with memories. Ever since Triple H took charge of Raw, the Anonymous GM’s Internet connection must have been disabled because he hasn’t sent any emails. Despite the lack of emails, the GM’s podium is still at ringside. Yet there hasn’t been any mention by the announcers, by Triple H, by anyone about the GM. It’s like he never existed.
I wonder if the writers aren’t concerning themselves with small details or if there are other reasons for certain aspects to be simply forgotten. Are Edge and Christian brothers or best friends? Does John Cena have a scar from being stabbed by Jesus? Anyway, what are your thoughts on short attention span theater?
