Quit calling wrestling fake

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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I've ranted on this before and it seems the time has come to do it again. I have been a wrestling fan for more than 30 years. And yes I know that the outcome is predetermined. What irritates me though is when non-wrestling fans call it "fake". Especially when it's said like this "You know wrestling is fake, right?" or "You know it's not real, right?" 

My chop marks & Masters' busted head
Courtesy: Jason Wilkey photography

As someone who has not only watched wrestling but worked within the business behind the scenes and in front of the crowd, it's insulting to hear this. I've even had a match, albeit for about 15 minutes, but my body can attest, there was nothing fake about what we were doing in the ring. I had red marks on my chest the next day from the chops I took and the guy I wrestled, Mike Masters had his head split open when a chair shot went wrong. The pool of blood in the ring and the six staples required to close the wound are another reminder this business is far from fake.

Injuries from Heath Hatton & "Farmer" Billy Hills

My friend and wrestler "Farmer" Billy Hills posted the pic on his social media after the Cape Championship Super Show. You can see he is clearly not feeling like the action he was involved in was fake. Stride Pro Wrestling Champion Heath Hatton was injured last year in the ring. He continues to nurse nagging injuries that you wouldn't expect from a fake job. He even needed surgery on his head as a result of an injury during a match.

The Walking Dead
Courtesy: AMC

The bottom line is this. I don't tell my friends who love the Walking Dead that the zombies aren't real and no one is getting their heads blown off. We all know there's not a giant gorilla running amok on Skull Island and spoiler alert, Dr. McDreamy wasn't really performing surgery on Grey's Anatomy.  There's no need to remind fans of these movies and TV shows that they're watching something "fake" and there's no need to do the same for wrestling fans. We get it, it's entertainment. I really don't want to see men and women actually beating the hell out of each other.  Thanks for putting up with this rant.

Hey Roman, shut up

Roman Reigns
Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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The intention of this post isn't to be mean spirited.  When I tell Roman Reigns to shut up, I actually mean it in the nicest way possible.  Wrestling fans seem to love to critique the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion to no end.  Many of these same fans were marking out for Roman when he was in the Shield.

The Shield
Courtesy: WWE

I've thought about what's different now, other than the obvious he's no longer affiliated with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.  Roman's skill set has changed.  Superman Punch and the spear are his two big go to moves still.  The difference now is he's talking.  If the WWE Creative Team isn't going to turn him heel (and I don't think they have to) then they should return to Roman's roots and make him the strong, silent type.  

Many will argue you can't have success in wrestling or sports entertainment if you can't talk.  I don't believe that. Leave the talking to those who can do it.  Make Roman Reigns a destructive ass kicker who doesn't speak or is just a man of few words.  When he cuts a promo these days there's little emotion involved.  He's repeating lines someone has written for him.  That works for some people, but not everyone.  Fans pick up on this and that's part of the reason he gets booed.

Roman & The Rock
Courtesy: WWE

While he's trying out this new style, work with him behind the scenes on promos.  You can't teach charisma, but you can teach someone how to fake it long enough to get a point across.  He's from the same bloodline as one of the greatest talkers of all time, so let the Rock work him.  And please, stop trying to make him the second coming of the Rock or John Cena.  Let Roman be Roman.

 

There's No Crying in Wrestling

Photo taken by @chrisolds2009

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

A lot of people on social media are talking about an incident that happened at Raw this week, in which Triple H apparently brought a young fan tears.  It happened during the main event when John Cena was battling Seth Rollins, Big Show and Kane.  The young fan, clearly a Cena fan, started crying after Triple H said something to the boy.  I haven't read what caused the tears, but I am going to assume Triple H was playing his heel character role and said something negative about Cena.

I think it's what happened after the comments and the tears that have so many fans talking.  As you can see in the pictures, Triple H breaks character and consoles the boy.  After the show the little guy received several gifts from the company.

Photo taken by @chrisolds2009

Like I mentioned, I don't know what Triple H said to the kid, but I'm sure it was nothing personal about the young fan.  Maybe it was, and if that's the case then I'd be more critical of Hunter. We've gotta remember, he's a heel.  Upsetting the fans is what he and all bad guys are supposed to do.  But I know there are boundaries, especially in the new anti-bully, Be a Star era.  I just can't imagine someone in Trips' position would cross that line.

None-the-less, the move to console the boy in front of the crowd is commendable.  I'm not bothered that he "broke character" to do it.  He did what he felt was right and at the end of the day it was best for business.  It puts him in a good light as the heir apparent to the WWE Kingdom and gets the WWE a ton of PR in a week that the company has been slammed over a concussion controversy on Good Morning America.

My bottom line with this is I don't have a problem either way with what Triple H said/did.  The comments were likely character driven, so he was doing his job.  His actions later were corporate and went a long way to make this young boy and his family feel better about their WWE experience.  I'm sure they'll be repeat customers as a result.

Throwback Thursday: Piledriver the Wrestling Album

Piledriver on vinyl and cassette
Photo courtesy: My 1-2-3 Cents

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

I've been inspired to start a new weekly featured called Throwback Thursday.  And since the WWE is talking about the 25 year anniversary of Piledriver: The Wrestling Album, I thought it only made sense to start the series off with that.

First, I can't believe it's been 25 years already.  I was a freshman in high school when the album was released.  Here's something else that's hard to believe, I still have the LP.  I'm a pack rat though, so people who know me may not be shocked by this.  When I was in college my roommate gave me a cassette version of it too.  I have LP and CD versions of the original Wrestling Album as well.  Man, I'm a dork.

No doubt the success of the Wrestling Album lead to the birth of Piledriver.  Cheesy as it may be, there are a lot of catchy tunes on it.  I think overall my favorite one is "If You Only Knew."  It's a compilation of all the WWF stars throwing a verse or two down.  Granted many (okay most) couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, I still find this song enjoyable.  It's faces and heels in the video in separate studios doing a "We Are the World" type chorus throughout.  I had forgotten the British Bulldogs are a part of this song too.

Vince McMahon makes his singing debut on Piledriver with "Stand Back."  It's another catchy tune that has been used to mock McMahon in recent years in his feud with son-in-law Triple H and his DX sidekick Shawn Michaels.

Jive Soul Bro by Slick

Slick's "Jive Soul Bro", although possibly borderline racist, is a fun song that many of his wrestlers used as theme music back in the day.  I also enjoyed Honky Tonk Man's self-titled hit as well as Jimmy Hart's "Crank it Up."  The interesting note on that song was that it was used by the Young Stallions and not Hart's team of the Hart Foundation.  The storyline was that the Stallions' stole the song and made it their own.  Yes, there was a feud (mini one) over the song.

Koko B. Ware sang the title track on the Piledriver album.  Honestly, that's probably his biggest claim to fame in the WWE.  I'm not knocking his ability in the ring, but Koko never won a title or a big match in my recollection.  The song was pretty good as well, but I thought the video was quite entertaining.  I remember staying up to watch its premiere on an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event.

I definitely wore out the vinyl on that album, playing it constantly and for those too young to remember, back then you had to put a needle on the record and sometimes you'd get some scratching.  But there was plenty of white noise and popping as it played on my record player night after night.  The challenging part was when I would have matches with my LJN figures and try to play theme music for them as they entered the ring.  Kids today have it so easy with their iPods.

Look for more walks down memory lane each Thursday.  Don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter, @my123cents.  Here's a throwback memory from the YouTube channel too.  Enjoy.

Wrestling Format: Best if Used Before 1998

Photo from WWE

By Chad Smart

Loyal readers of my123cents know for the most part I’ve stopped watching all weekly television programs. Though I do intend to get caught up on NWA: Hollywood soon. Until my recent trip back to Illinois, I hadn’t watched Raw, Impact or Smackdown for about four weeks. While I was back home, I sat down with friends and watched the last two week’s Raw broadcasts. The first week, I watched the entire show even though I kept getting sleepier and sleepier with each passing segment. This past week’s "All-Star" Raw, I watched the first of the three hours before giving up and leaving to go make sure I have everything gathered for my trip back to California on Tuesday.

After not watching All-Star Raw, I really started analyzing the show to see why I can no longer sit through and episode. The reasoning is much more involved than simply, I don’t like John Cena. The biggest reason is the formula or template for the show is beyond stale. The writers are using the same show format that was big during the Attitude era that has been dead for ten years. It’s time for a major overhaul. Just like how the Crash TV format changed the way wrestling landscape in 1997, it’s time for a new direction for televised wrestling.

I’m typing this on Thursday, June 16, 2011. I’m going to predict next Monday’s Raw with begin one of two ways. Either John Cena will start the show talking about his match with R-Truth and how Cena overcame a challenge to remain WWE champion. After a few minutes of Cena rambling on, Truth will come out and demand a rematch. Or, R-Truth will start the show talking about how his lost at the pay per view was further proof of a C-O-N-spiracy. Cena will then enter the ring toss out some juvenile insults and Truth will demand a rematch.

From WWE

The extended promos to start the show have run their course. Why can’t the shows start with a match occasionally? I understand the idea is to grab the viewer’s attention at the start of the show, but what is more likely to capture the attention of somebody flipping through the channels, two guys talking or an energetic fast paced match? It’s time to flip the script.

One of the other issues with wrestling shows is how the same guys are featured week after week. I blame this factor on the overabundance of pay per views. Since pay per views have to be promoted on a weekly basis, guys who are feuding need to be on the shows to hype up their matches. Because feuds last for two or three pay per views at a time, it’s not uncommon for shows to have the "been there seen that" feel for weeks at a time. Meanwhile new talent, or guys who aren’t in pay per view programs are either regulated to Superstars/Explosion or not on a weekly program at all. So instead of building new stars, stars are ridden until they become overexposed and played out and then there is no one ready to step up and take their spot.

From WWE

My biggest annoyance with the current televised programs is the booking on the fly style of filling out the show. I know wrestling is more sports-ENTERTAINMENT rather than SPORTS-entertainment, but can we at least pretend there’s someone putting the shows together before they go on air? A couple weeks ago on Raw, Jack Swagger challenged Booker T. to a match. What would have happened if Booker had said, no? Why was there a segment of the show that wasn’t booked 45 minutes into the show? Then you have the GM or the Network booking main events during the opening promos. Shows should be booked a week in advanced. I understand the appeal of unpredictability, but does UFC or boxing ever have a show where matches aren’t set before the show starts?

These are just a few of the elements in wrestling I feel are stale and need to be revamped. I’m sure there are others. Let us know what you think. Does televised wrestling need to be revamped or do you think the shows are fine the way they currently air?

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The Second W is Silent

By Chad Smart

Every so often you’ll come across a story that you think can’t possibly be true. Over the weekend I read one such story. The story has been out for four days and so far there has been no retraction or correction so I’m going to go ahead and believe the story as truth. So believing the story is true, it gives an insight into why the current WWE product isn’t exactly setting the world on fire.  The story I’m talking about can be read in detail at TV Week’s website. 

 

The quick recap of the story is TV Week published a story with the headline stating Drew Carey was being inducted into a wrestling Hall of Fame. A publicist for WWE then wrote an email to the writer of the article demanding TV Week change the headline because WWE is not a wrestling company, but rather a “global entertainment company.”  Huh?

Unless something has changed since 2002, WWE stands for World Wrestling Entertainment. When the word, wrestling, is in the name of the company wouldn’t you figure that company is in the wrestling business? I understand the company as a whole does more than just wrestling, but claiming you’re not a wrestling company is ludicrous. Yes, there’s WWE Films and the magazine department and well, I’m not really sure what other departments they have. But the majority of their fans are into the company because they put on wrestling shows. 

I don’t know why Vince McMahon (and by extension his employees) feel wrestling is a four-letter word. Actually I can. I understand most people look at wrestling as something only ignorant, redneck, low-income, people who think it’s “real” watch, but instead of running from the term, wrestling, shouldn’t Vince and Co. do more to try and re-brand the word as something more sociably acceptable?  Granted, most people have a pre-conceived opinion and won’t give wrestling a chance. Those are the same people who refer to any wrestling as WWF even though that name has been extinct for 9 years. Most of the time, however, when WWE does try to promote itself as something other than Hee Haw’s bastard cousin, they do so with such heavy handedness it becomes more self-parody instead of promotion.

What frustrates me most about this is not so much WWE’s disdain to be associated with wrestling, but the fact TNA could use this as a jumping off point to try and reach out to WRESTLING fans. If TNA could focus, come up with a game plan and stop looking at their Word A Day Calendar from 1997 they could conceivably capture a segment of the audience that isn’t ashamed to be a wrestling fan. The ironic part is TNA doesn’t even have the word wrestling in its name.

Oh well. No matter what type of company they are, we’re a little over a week away from the trip to Atlanta and the spectacle of Wrestlemania. Or was Kevin right and it shall henceforth be known as Entertainia?