Pro Wrestling Report Columnists

Musings From Scotland with Sean David

Last Updated on Monday, 18 January 2010 17:45 Monday, 18 January 2010 17:00

Musings From Scotland with Sean David

January 18, 2009

The Sid Vicious photographs that have circulated recently featuring his new hairstyle seem to have polarized the opinions of fans everywhere. They definitely immediately had a friend and I discussing how important one's image is. We were both in agreement that if Sid returned to TNA looking like that, we'd be totally fine with it. It's something new for him, but it's something he's going to be identifiable with and most of all just having an image of his own is imperative. There's nothing worse to me than not having one at all.

Last summer for example, Bret Hart had come to Sheffield here in the UK to appear for 1PW. The event attracted national press beforehand and the vast majority of fans present had also attended the afternoon Q&A session with the Hitman. I had worked on an event the evening prior and was invited to check out the Sheffield show which also included Abyss, Nigel McGuinness and a fantastic match by Colt Cabana and Johnny Saint. Nevertheless, there's no doubt people were there to see and hear from Bret but despite this I had been overcome with the feeling that had it not been for the free ticket, I wouldn't have made the journey.

I remember seeing Bret Hart live for the first time in 2001 as part of the WWA. Commissioner Hart sent everyone here in Glasgow home happy with Jeff Jarrett stuck in the Sharpshooter. But eight years later, I found myself wracking my brain in an effort to understand my apathy for a wrestling legend.

Eventually, it became apparent to me why Bret stood out in a negative manner from other Hall of Famers. Hulk Hogan is always clad in all black or red and yellow. Ric Flair is always in a suit. Roddy Piper is always in his t-shirt, kilt and leather jacket. Johnny Saint was as straight laced as they come and is more remembered for the in-ring ability that made him a British household name. But at 67 years of age, he proved he could still offer a candidate for match of the night. However, Bret Hart walked through the curtain with plain street clothes and grey hair. There was no nostalgia act when it came to Bret. He was who everyone in Sheffield came to see and regardless of the high esteem in which he is held, there was no pink and black or any sign of the shades to pass to a fan at ringside but rather one witnessed the former “Hitman”, Bret Hart. There was no visible attempt to be the star you would remember.

Leading up to Raw on January 4th, my apathy remained but still couldn't hamper my excitement for his return. Bret Hart appearing live on Monday Night Raw would be the nostalgia I craved but with Impact airing opposite the programme that night, I just couldn't see how a grey, dowdily dressed Hart could help WWE against an opposing product that - while also including older stars - would still deliver the gimmicks that made them famous in the first place.

And then Bret returned, his hair dyed, and in the pink and black leather jacket and shades just like it was the 1990s again. That's the Hitman I would travel to see. Regardless of his activity in the ring, if he wrestles or not - or whether he even can or not at this stage - is completely irrelevant to me. There was never any doubt in my mind about his status as a legend to be revered, but during this run in WWE “The best there was...” has to be out there making everybody believe that in his mind, he's still “The best there is and the best there ever will be”.

While Bret thankfully donned the trademark colours for his return, Hulk Hogan made what in my mind is an incredibly smart move on Impact by infact not putting on the red and yellow. January 4th saw him essentially bring you Hollywood Hogan instead. The all black attire and the New World Order style theme music in favour of the primary colours or “American Made” blasting over the PA means that while TNA deliver with his presence on television, you really haven't seen Hulkamania on the screen just yet.

Why rush when you can stretch the arrival of the real nostalgia act to a later date? More specifically, a pay per view. It makes sense and is an good example of the positive influence that the new regime can bring, slowing down the often frenzied style of writing in TNA.

My favourite match of the last week has to be Generation Me versus Motor City Machine Guns from Impact. Since the Young Bucks debuted in Dragon Gate USA, they immediately became an act I had to see given the rave reviews they received. Early last week I saw highlights of their DGUSA match against CIMA and Yokosuka but it was only while seeing their match with MCMG in full that I realized just how exciting these guys are, and with Sabin and Shelley being favourites of mine anyway, I can't wait to see what happens next time these four guys get in the ring.

My only complaints are that in their DGUSA appearance, they did look a lot like the Hardy Boys in the 90s. The new look in TNA however has the exact same problem, if not worse given their attire was so plain. More so, the name Generation Me means nothing yet, and is somewhat contradictory given they're a partnership and arguably would make far more sense as Generation Us. Nor does the moniker suit the pair unless they are going to turn heel, in which case they might have benefited from earning the name after doing so rather than us and even them having to suffer from any clumsy backwards rationalization.

That said, the two more than overcome any problems with their new identity by raising the bar for highlight reels everywhere and being a must see for the quality of the action.

Whether you're Bret, Hulk or Sid making your way back into the wrestling world or the Young Bucks hopefully set for stardom; this month so far proves that finding, maintaining and knowing how to use your image is absolutely paramount.

A lot of what you'll have read so far today will address the TNA pay per view. I also watched, and will share my thoughts very soon here on pwrshow.com!

Sean David

sdavid@pwrshow.com

TNA MARK SAVVY - A Satirical Look at Pro Wrestling

Last Updated on Sunday, 10 January 2010 23:47 Sunday, 10 January 2010 23:12

Hey Everyone, TNA-Mark here!

I thought I would blog about this past January 4th in the world of professional wrestling. You know I have been a big pro wrestling fan since 2005 when I first stumbled across TNA impact one fateful Thursday night on Spike TV.  Thursdays are the only night I have off from Boston Pizza which works out pretty well as me and the lady have made it a bit of a Thursday night tradition. Wrestling, beer (money!) and pizza.

HOWEVER, with all the hype of the January 4^th show I decided to call in sick and check out for the first time some wrestling on a Monday night… which I must say felt odd. Probably because it was live. First off let me say that I think it was a classy gesture for TNA to do a show on a Monday night to give Wrestling fans a chance to check out this other promotion called The WWE during commercial breaks.

So 8pm rolls around and I am pretty jacked. Impact has been talking about this Hulk Hogan guy for like three months so I am ready to see this dude stomp some serious ass in the ring! I had never heard of him but My Mom’s boyfriend says Hogan used to be a big deal in a company from the 80’s called the WWF so I was willing to keep an open mind.

Impact was off to a great start. Steel Asylum match. Awesome idea. Taz was so right when he said “there is so much action it’s kind of hard to follow”.  Innovating ending too as I had never seen a DQ in a cage match before.

Then I saw something that made me lose my shit as out the crowd came none other than former TNA wrestler Jeff Hardy! I used to love that guy! I was wondering what had happened to him. I had heard that he had some drug issues in the past or something but I didn’t care. I am just glad he is behind all that and back in wrestling! That was the second classy move of the night from TNA by giving him a second chance as I’m sure Hardy could use the money.

I had to watch the ODB match with the sound off. Fucking Amir from work snitched me out to management for bailing on work when he delivered a pizza to my house during TNA.  I even tipped that dick. So I had to spend 10 minutes on the phone with my boss insisting that I wasn’t drunk and that I really did have swine flu. I had to call in sick the next day and miss work just to validate that story. It was cool in the end but it I was pissed that I didn’t get to hear why A.J. Styles’s Dad showed up in a limo.

The sound came on just in time for me to be disappointed with Bobby Lashley who had his wife talking about him leaving TNA to go do MMA.  I think it’s kind of disrespectful of him to threaten to leave the company that made him a name to go work in another company. Whatever Lashley.

Next thing I know it’s just after 9. I was enjoying my TNA so much that I forgot all about the other Wrestling show… and so I flipped over to the USA network and oh my fuck... I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

A four sided ring? What is this bullshit, boxing?! But I didn’t want to be a wrestling snob so I kept watching. Then I was like “who is this Neil Young looking motherfucker in a leather jacket talking to the beat up looking dude in the neon green military fatigues?” After about a minute of listening to them bitch about some match from 12 years ago that happened in Montreal that nobody cares about, this shit really started to test my patience. I wanted to see WRESTLING not HUGGING, so I immediately switched back to TNA and not a moment too soon! Hulk Hogan had finally entered the impact zone!

Thanks to the confusing melodrama of the other “wrestling” program I missed the set up to Hogan and tuned back in to see him standing in the ring with Kevin Nash and two older Mexican (?) looking bikers. They all seemed to be as confused as I was about what was going to happen next when someone named “Easy-E” came to shed light on the situation. Mike Tenay plugged this dude’s book which I am sure who ever published that book appreciated it. Again, I had trouble following what they were all talking about because I missed the two minutes leading up to it that must have explained in full accuracy who these people were. They all seemed to be big on change.

As I waited for the wrestling to come back on TNA I got curious and checked to see if the WWE had a website. They do (www.wwe.com). As I perused their roster I came across another Shocker. Gail Kim?! How did these clowns get Gail Kim? Wow, Christian Cage too. Not cool WWE. Trying to pass over TNA Talent as your own is WEAK!  But it got worse. They even had the guy from that 12 Rounds piece of shit movie on their roster. HA! According to his bio page he was Champion! Can you imagine if someone from TNA creative let a B-movie actor be a Champion? That person would be out of a job! Thankfully TNA has plenty of their own great original characters like Kurt Angle, Sting, Big Poppa Pump, and my fav Jay Lethal (dig it!) I even like the new dude in the towel. I can totally see that gimmick getting over.

I quickly flipped back over to WWE to hopefully see Gail Kim. I didn’t, but I did get a look at their champion. A pale version of Hernandez named Sheamus. My lady says he looks like “One of the Weasley kids from the Harry Potter books on steroids” He’s certainly no A.J. but I did like how Sheamus Weasley is a champion that gives a push to the younger talent. Good JOB Evan Bourne!

Meanwhile back in the Impact Zone. ..A.J. vs. Angle for the title?! Whaaaa? I can get used to seeing PPV matches for free. I hope that’s not just a one off idea from Hogan/Easy-E. This match delivered and then some! Even A.J.’s Dad came out at one point but then quickly went back stage again. My lady thinks maybe he has loyalty issues. Advertisers must have shelled out a shit load of money during this match as there seemed to be a lot more commercial breaks. Out of curiosity I turned back for a moment to the WWE to see how they could possibly combat this quality of Wrestling. WOW, it was like the WWE were not even trying. The Neil Young looking motherfucker gets nailed in the nuts by an old man in a suit. From what I gathered the old man must be the more pretentious counterpart to Foley’s character. I couldn’t be sure though as I was still distracted by the four sided ring. That was all the WWE “Wrestling” I could take for one night so I switched for the final time to TNA for what I decided was to be for good. Thank you WWE, but no thanks. I wish the WWE all the best with their further endeavors. Good luck with your Monday Night Wrestling, you are going to need it! I look forward to Wrestling being back on Thursdays where it belongs.

PEACE!

TNA-Mark Savvy

tna_mark@pwrshow.com

This is a satirical look at Pro Wrestling submitted by one of our new columnists only know as TNA Mark Savvy.  The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the Pro Wrestling Report or it's on air talents.

PWR Columnists Coming Soon!

Sunday, 10 January 2010 22:26

We will soon be launching a new feature here on the site with regular columns form our new PWR contributers which will soon be announced.

Check back to see what we have in store, it is sure to please!

New columns will be introduced this week!