WWEYKI

Sheamus The Great White Supremacist?

2012-07-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

I don't think Sheamus is racist and I don't think WWE mean to portray him in that way but The Great White's current presentation has a number of unfortunate white power connotations.

Sheamus was fine as the Celtic Warrior but rather than that highlighting his proud Irish heritage WWE switched the focus to Sheamus' skin colour with the ridiculous nickname "The Great White". I know this is meant to make us think of a great white shark but when combined with other issues that's one of the last things it brings to mind. The horrible Great White t-shirt that was released didn't help as it just makes me think of the ku klux klan.
Naming a signature move "White Noise" just adds to problem.

Another problem his his use of the Celtic Cross, this wouldn't have been an issue if they had kept him as "The Celtic Warrior" but unfortunately that symbol has been adopted by a number of white power, racist and far-right groups. This is similar to the way the swastika was used as a symbol of life, strength, and good luck for thousands of years until it was rendered unusable by the Nazis.Using the Celtic Cross and calling yourself "The Great White" changes the meaning on what should be an innocent symbol into something far more sinister.

Poor WWE probably didn't realize that a proud historic symbol had been misused in such a way but they still found a way to make it worse by giving Sheamus a shirt branding him a hooligan, just like racist East European football hooligans.

I really think that WWE need to change direction with Sheamus as soon as possible.

WWE No Way Out - Betting Guide

2012-06-15T04:44:00.001-07:00

Disclaimer - Only gamble if it's legal for you to do so and your wife doesn't mind you losing the kids college fund. These are novelty predictions for novelty bets, I take no responsibility if you lose as a result of following my sage advice. All odds subject to change.

So what would have happened if you followed last months guide? You'd have cleaned up by only backing Big Johnny, another victory for people power!

This is one of the most unpredictable shows in some time so bet with caution

John Cena 4/6 vs The Big Show 11/10
It seems built for a Cena victory but I'm not so sure.
Remember when cage matches were supposed to stop outside interference? Well that's not the case these days and the stipulations make it near certain that Big Johnny will interfere, maybe Vince too.
If Big Johnny loses he's fired which causes a dilemma, will WWE really get rid of him at this point or will they wait to a bigger occasion like the 1000th episode or Summerslam? There was a news story of questionable credibility claiming that suggesting an upcoming change of job title for Johnny so he may lose but effectively retain his position.

Sheamus 1/3 vs Dolph Ziggler 2/1
Surely Sheamus has to win as Dolph is a last minute addition to the feud?
However many top stars are injured or suspended so it may be the prefect time to give Dolph a chance. Especially if he wins with the help of Mason Ryan. Whatever happens I think it result in a change or Direction for Ziggler

Christian 4/6 vs Cody Rhodes11/10
Without having seen Smackdown I'll say Christian is more likely to emerge victorious.

Layla 8/11 vs Beth Phoenix Evens
They won't take the belt of Layla already will they?

CM Punk 9/11 vs Daniel Bryan 2/1 vs Kane 7/2
This one is perhaps the most unpredictable as it will probably all comes down to AJ's actions.
I think Daniel Bryan and AJ are secretly back together and Bryan is using AJ to get under Kane and Punk's skin, I expect AJ will make Kane show some humanity, cause the distraction and somehow enable Daniel Bryan to win.
Surely Punk is coming to the end of his impressive reign as he's running out of opponents but will he drop the title now or at Summerslam?

Conclusion: It's a tricky one, it may even be worth sitting this one out. However I'd say do a number of small doubles using Sheamus as your banker. Maybe Sheamus and Bryan, Sheamus and Big Show and Sheamus, Christian and Layla.
Just hope that Sheamus wins!

WWE betting - Over the limit

2012-05-16T07:58:00.002-07:00

Paddy Power are taking bets on Over the limit, here's my guide to the betting.
Disclaimer: For entertainment purposes only, I lost due to betting on Lesnar last month, I can take no responsibly on your inevitable loss and subsequent selling of your family home.

Betting on wrestling still seems strange, I'm not even sure it's a good idea due to the high number of swerves and unclean finishes. I can almost guarantee that this PPV will have at least one match decided by a run-in.

All odds from Wednesday morning, they will change

World Heavyweight championship
Sheamus 5/4
Alberto Del Rio 11/5
Randy Orton 10/3
Chris Jericho 7/2

Verdict - Sheamus seems favourite and for good reason, however his latest title run has been far from spectacular so I'd place a small wager on Orton.

Pre-Show
Zack Ryder 11/4
Kane 2/9

Verdict: I wouldn't bother betting on this one, however as this is on youtube there is some value to be had with Ryder as WWE may want a face to win.

Cena vs Johnny
John Cena 5/6
John Laurinaitis 5/6

Verdict - People power!
Put big money on big Johnny as it seems likely that Big Show will interfere on his behalf. There's even a chance Brock will attack Cena. Even Cena will struggle to overcome these odds.

Tag Team Championship
Kofi Kingston & R-Truth 4/9
Jack Swagger & Dolph Ziggler 13/8

Verdict - Kofi and Truth seem a safe bet at first glance but Mason Ryan has been acting as Ziggler's bodyguard at house shows.
As Abe has be trying to sign Ryan it would be an interesting swerve if Vickie signs him first.

WWE Championship

CM Punk 4/7
Daniel Bryan5/4

Verdict - Once again there's an x-factor, this time in the appealing form of AJ. She's clearly crazy and is likely to get involved but the question is who would she try and help?
I wouldn't bet on Punk but Bryan would be a good outside bet.

Divas Championship
Layla 5/6
Beth Phoenix 5/6

Verdict - No idea, Layla is just back though so I'd go for her

Conclusion - I'd forget the other matches and just back Laurinaitis.
However Orton, Ryder and Bryan are good outside bets.

Worst Wrestling Shirts Ever?

2012-05-02T08:09:00.003-07:00

There's yet another unofficial t-shirt store opened (that redbubble one is still the best) that has started selling what they think are the worst wrestling shirts ever.

Link:
Worst Wrestling Shirts Ever

Personally I think they are being a little hard on themselves, sure the Sheamus "18 seconds one" is awful and nobody wants a "Bork Lesnar" shirt but I actually like the Chris Jericho inspired "Armbar!" & Ask Him!" shirts, the green mist one is cool and even "Rice Flair" isn't too bad.

The thing is they have an excuse, I'm guessing it's one geek in their bedroom trying to earn some extra cash but WWE are wrestling empire with a huge department dedicated to making and producing merchandise but still these managed to get through Focus Groups.

You can almost imagine Vince McMahon stating that he loves Ass related t-shirts, how else would you explain these:

Poor WWE thought they'd make a fortune from HLA, they didn't

At least they had the good sense to pull the true Sin Cara penis shirt before it went on sale, that really was the worst wrestling shirt ever.

Finally...The Rock had a terrible shirt

Bowties are cool?

2011-10-03T03:41:00.000-07:00

David Otunga wears a bowtie now but are bowties cool?
Take a look at some of WWE's more notable tie wearers and decide for yourself:

Otunga

Bob Backlund

Well Dunn

Ted Sr

The Fink

Any old school Referee

Rick "The Model" Martel

Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake

The Dicks

Big Dick Johnson

Ricardo Rodriguez

Harvey Wippleman

Double Dose Divas - Beth Phoenix

2011-09-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

This series shows off the two of best photos of a WWE Diva, the idea isn't just to include the photos that show the most flesh but those that offer a glimpse of their characters.

Beth Phoenix pulls of the cavewomen look really well which makes sense as she's meant to be a glamorous Amazon (no not the website).

Again this shows of her sculpted amazonian physique but also includes a hint of vulnerability.

Wrestling With Vampires

2011-09-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

Wrestling has experimented with vampire gimmicks on a number of occasions but none of them have ever reached the main-event and they have all faded away (with the exception of Edge and Christian who dropped that part of their gimmick).

Poor Paul Heyman was laughed at when he suggested a vampire character for Kevin Thorn but it turned out that he was way ahead of the curve as vampires soon became a key part of popular culture thanks to the likes Twilight, True Blood and Being Human.

So is there room for supernatural characters outside of The Undertaker and Kane?
Probably if they’re done correctly however I don’t think that there will ever be a successful vampire character in mainstream wrestling for the following reasons:

Blood

The main problem is that WWE have banned the deliberate use of blood, it would be tough to get a vampire character over if you take away the main part of their mythology. Even if they’re allowed to use fake blood you still have the problem of an opponent accidently busting themselves open, in such a situation you either have a dedicated performer ignore the health risks and drink the blood or they look equally stupid by pretending that it never happened. Even in a normal situation they’re likely to be presented with prone prey at some point and the suspension of disbelief would be ruined if they didn’t take advantage of it. Maybe a vegan vampire portrayed by Daniel Bryan would work but otherwise a bloodless vampire is pretty pointless.

They Don’t Like The Sun

Every now and again a wrestling event is held outside in the dazzling sunlight and that would cause a huge problem for any wrestling vampire, they'd either die, sparkle or be weakened to such a severe degree that even the Brooklyn Brawler could defeat them and those options don’t appeal to anybody but Steve Lombardi.
Even if they’re not booked to appear on such shows most wrestlers will be seen outside at some point even if it's just travelling to the show, it would take one hell of a dedicated performer to never be seen in daylight.

In order to keep kayfabe the poor wrestler portraying the vampire would have to be pale which would be a huge problem for notoriously tan addicted wrestlers, can you imagine an untanned Hulk Hogan? That said Sheamus could pull off the look easily and already seems to have super strength.

Religious Symbols
Vampires are repelled and/or weakened by religious symbols. Guys like HBK and Reverend D-Von have their entire characters revolve around religion, many others wear crucifixes (possibly made from deadly silver) and Colt Cabana often sports the Star of David.
Most importantly Rey Mysterio has a cross tattooed onto his body and any vampire is going to look silly running away from little Rey.

They Have To Be Invited In
Another kayfabe problem, everywhere the wrestler goes they’d have to wait for an invite before crossing the threshold.

They’re More Immortal Than Hulk Hogan
Humans age, vampires do not, therefore a wrestler portraying a vampire would only have a window of a few years before people notice that they're getting older thus ruining the suspension of disbelief.

Super-Strength
A vampire should be near unstoppable due to their super strength, if they can't pick Mark Henry up with the greatest of ease they're in trouble.

Healing
There’s also the problem of healing, how do their opponents keep them down when they can shrug off any injury? Plus what happens when the poor guy portraying them gets injured for real, he can’t exactly be seen limping around on crutches.

Crossing Water
Wrestlers have to travel but vampires can’t cross flowing water so they wouldn't be able to go on any international tours.

Garlic
OK I’m running out of ideas but wrestling sure does like stereotypes so the introduction of a garlic eating Frenchman isn't completely out of the realms of possibility, surrendering to a French guy would be even worse for a vampire’s credibility than running from Rey Mysterio.

They Don’t Show Up On Film
Probably the biggest problem they face, although watching Santino wrestle an invisible opponent could be great entertainment it’s not going to work more than a couple of times.
The vampire wouldn’t be able to work for any company that sells DVDs or has a TV deal which would severely limit their career.

Night Of Too Many Champions?

2011-09-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

A common complaint about WWE is that their main-events are stale and that new people should be given a chance to be a world champion.

I can understand where this feeling comes from but WWE have 15 current or former world champions on their roster without counting the likes of Nash or the Rock.

It could feasibly get to the point where everybody featured on a PPV or episode of Raw has been a world champion. This causes a major problem as it devalues the two world championships and makes people that have failed to win one look comparatively weak.
WWE have already got to the point where the the world championship (the big gold belt) is at the level that the IC title was before the attitude era, the holder of that belt is either the second most important wrestler in the company or are being tested to see if they are capable of winning the WWE title.

The list of world champions in full:

1. Alberto Del Rio
2. Big Show
3. CM Punk
4. Dolph Ziggler
5. Jack Swagger
6. John Cena
7. The Miz
8. Rey Mysterio
9. HHH
10. Christian
11. The Great Khali
12. Kane
13. Randy Orton
14. Sheamus
15. Undertaker

Then there’s the following list of people that are still on TV or are occasionally involved in storylines.

1. Kevin Nash (until he actually wrestles then he'll be added to the main list)
2. The Rock
3. Vince McMahon
4. Booker T (unless he does more than commentate)
5. Jerry Lawler or any former world champion in another organisation
6. Any WWECW champion
7. Bret Hart
8. Steve Austin
9. Edge

So if you were a spin-doctor you could say that WWE have had 24 current or former world champions featured prominently on WWE TV over the past year and that doesn't include returning legends like Sgt Slaughter or the now retired HBK.

Vince McMahon - The Great Dictator?

2011-09-04T07:09:00.000-07:00

Many people accuse Vince McMahon of being out of touch and behind the times but I think he is stuck in 1984.
Not so much the year but the book, it's almost as if Vince has adopted many of the tactics that "The Party" used to create his own totalitarian dictatorship.
Don't believe me? Then read on to see the similarities in tactics:

Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.

“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”

Vince understands this better than anybody else in the industry so he wisely purchased as many tape libraries as he could get a hold of, this will likely continue when any major company goes out of business (ie Roh or TNA).

This also allows him to create any legend he wants, he can underplay Hulk Hogan and Bruno Sammartino's contribution to his company while making the Rock seem like the biggest star of all time to help sell his Wrestlemania match with John Cena. He's also pretended that that HHH and The Undertaker had never met at Wrestlemania and claimed that Snitsky was undefeated.

Unperson
Vince therefore has the power to make many former stars an "Unperson" by erasing them from history, the most obvious example of this is removing all references to Chris Benoit.

Merely mentioning such people's name is considered a thoughtcrime and won't be tolerated by WWE, that's why there was genuine shock when CM Punk mentioned Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman on air.

Create an external threat/Perpetual War

In 1984 the world is in a state of perpetual war, these external threats make people more loyal to the party and also makes them accept a lower standard of living.

Vinve realised this is another valuable tactic, by using WCW, the PTC (RTC), the brand-split, the NWO or Nexus as an external threat he is able to make customers loyal to WWE and make them forgive any issues with his programming.

Newspeak
“Beautiful thing, the destruction of words. ”

Newspeak is based on English but has a greatly reduced vocabulary. The Party aims to make any alternative thinking impossible by removing any words or possible constructs which describe such ideas ideas of freedom, rebellion and so on.
Vince realises that this is a valuable tactic and has set about creating a list of approved WWE words.

One of the first things to go was the commentators calling the names of moves, people can't say they preferred it when there were more t-bone suplexes or texas colverleafs if they don't know what they're called. As a result commentators now just tell the story and bicker amongst themselves, when they have to comment on the in-ring action they use terms like "modified slam/submission/suplex" or Vince's old favourite "What a maneuver!".

He also likes replaces industry staples with his own versions, so wrestling becomes sports entertainment, the crowd/fans become the "WWE universe and championships can't be refered to as belts.

Turning Children against their parents
The Party has a Hitler youth style movement that attempts to break the bond between parent and child, maybe WWE are trying the first stages of this with John Cena, just listen as the kids chant "Let's go Cena" and the adults respond with "Cena Sucks". OK that one is stretching it a bit.

Ministry of ~~Darkness~~ Love

This is where the party torture, brainwash and re-educate anybody that opposes their doctrine.
WWE don't have an exact replica of this but do like to send new superstars to FCW to be re-educated in the WWE style. They also tend to dislike outsiders and rarely fully get behind somebody that was made famous by another organisation (see the invasion). They also torture outsiders and dissidents with bad gimmicks, losing streaks or by making them look stupid.

Double Dose Divas - Maryse

2011-08-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

This series shows off the two of best photos of a WWE Diva.
(Well the ones with their clothes on anyway)

Today we take a closer look at Maryse.

This one is sweet:

I'm not usually fond of my my favourite divas being wished well in their future endevours but after seeing her in this white bikini I'd be glad to see the back of Maryse:

WWE: TXT

2011-08-16T11:30:00.000-07:00

So who did send THAT text message to Kevin Nash?
What motive would somebody have to ask Nash to attack the world champion?
Here are a list of the usual suspects:

Stephanie
The most obvious choice as she could easily get her hands on HHH’s phone (maybe that’s what Punk meant when he said that he didn’t know where her hand had been). She also has a couple of motives, either she wants WWE for herself, would prefer that her Dad was back in charge or maybe even wishes that Trips was back at home with her and the kids rather than morphing into his father in-law.
It was also heavily implied that she was involved in the stage collapsing on Vince a few years ago.
However as she’s suddenly started appearing on TV again she’s probably a red herring.

Shane O’Mac
It’s one of the oldest stories there is: the prodigal son returns.
Poor Shane thought that running WWE was his birthright but he was forced out the company that should have been his and has to watch his brother in-law run the business. He may even see HHH as somebody who is just using his sister or think that his sister has turned against him.

Vince
It was me Punk! It was me all along!
Sure it would be stupid but the guy loved his job and could do anything to get it back.

Alberto Del Rio (or Ricardo)
He’s the one who benefited most from Nash’s action so may have planned the whole situation so the conditions were right for a MitB cash-in.

John Laurinaitis
Both Cena and Punk have disrespected Laurinaitis and HHH has let in go unpunished. He could be trying to exact revenge against any of them or may still be loyal to Vince McMahon.
There also has to be reason for him becoming an on-screen character.

Sean Waltman or Scott Hall
Either of them could be helping HHH or feel betrayed that he has left them behind; of course they are only included here due to their part in the kliq. They also wouldn’t be very fond of a straight-edge champion.

HBK
See above.
He was also a degenerate with HHH fighting against the system so may feel disappointed that HHH has “sold-out, that’s probably reaching a bit though.

HHH
Surely that’s too obvious but this is WWE.

The Raw GM
Since HHH took over this poor person has been sidelined, they have felt disrespected by Punk in the past so may have made a statement to show that they’re still in charge. It’s also likely that the GM is one of the people on this list.
Finally they're able to keep their IP address hidden so are probably the only person on the list proficient enough at using technology to make the text appear that it came from HHH without needing direct access to his phone.

Everybody Hates Heath Slater

2011-08-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

Is Heath Slater the best heel in WWE today or do people just want him off TV?

Personally I think Slater is the ideal heel due to his obnoxious nature, ginger hair, Nexus ties and one-man rock band gimmick.
Unlike many recent bad guys (not Razor Ramon) he has no redeeming features so is unlikely to get cheered, this helps any face he’s put against as does Slaters’s amazing ability to sell convincingly.

Most importantly of all he’s somebody I want to see beaten as opposed to a heel that I want to cheer for or somebody I want to get off TV.

The hate he generates is amazing, the fans at the recent MitB PPV booed loudly whenever it looked like Slater might win.
Just listen to the fan in this infamous video shout “I hate you Heath Slater!”.

This guy hates poor Heath so much that he wrote a song about it.

So do you hate Heath Slater or are you like the maker of these t-shirts and just think “Slaters gonna slate”?

http://shop.cafepress.co.uk/slaters-gonna-slate

Wrestling: Serious Business

2011-08-05T14:37:00.000-07:00

For something that's usually so bright, colourful and often ridiculous wrestling sure does like to get serious from time to time, here are some of the best and worst examples:

Best

Serious Jericho
When you reach beloved veteran status it’s tough to get heel heat. Jericho put some serious thought into the problem and came up with serious Jericho. Gone was charismatic rock-star with long flowing locks and endless array catchphrases. He was replaced with a serious, short-haired character that wore a suit and talked in a monotone voice. It was a huge success and Jericho went on to have a memorable feud with Shawn Michaels.

If I could be serious for a moment
Lance Storm liked to be serious, he wasn’t one for joking around, he was the ultimate straight man. It was therefore natural that he would start every promo with “If I could be serious for a moment”. It created a nice contrast between him and wrestling’s more colourful personalities.

Of course they weren't always serious, once upon a time those two looked like this:

Are you serious Bro?
That's probably what you’re thinking reading this blog but this is actually one of Zack Ryder’s many catchphrases, anything he doesn’t like is met with the question “are you serious bro?”. This phrase has entered the everyday lexicon of many wrestling fans.

And the worst

The serious commentary voice
When Owen Hart died the commentators adopted a serious hushed voice so people knew that it wasn’t a part of the show. Unfortunately it is now used for any old injury angle and was even used when John Cena lost his title.

SRS Swagger
Ah Jack Swagger, the guy who always wore a goofy grin until he won the world title, at that moment every bit of joy and emotion seeped out of his body. He even decided to copy Chris Jericho and wear a suit. This contributed to a terrible title run that his career still hasn’t fully recovered from. If only he had his eagle things may have been different.

A Bluffer’s Guide To…. HHH

2011-08-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

Are you confused as to why many people online dislike HHH despite him getting huge ovations in every arena around the world? If so read on…

What does HHH stand for anyway?
Hunter Hurst Helmsley, he once played a rich blue-blooded aristocrat, then a degenerate, now he’s a rich corporate manager, it’s funny how these things work out.

The Kliq/Clique
HHH was a part of a clique with Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman (X-pac), this group had a lot of political influence backstage that they used to get to the top and to make sure they stayed there.

Marriage
For a long time the worst kept secret in wrestling was that HHH was married to Stephanie McMahon, many people see their marrigage as a politicial move by HHH. Even more sensible people would agree that it has benefited Hunter’s career.

Reign of terror
From 2002 until 2005 HHH spent a lot of time being world champion; many argue that this was at the expense of more deserving wrestlers. Others would say that RVD wasn’t ready to be champion especially as when he did win the belt he was caught with cannabis, Scott Steiner was in no shape to take the gold and he did drop the title to Goldberg. It’s also said that he needed to booked strongly in order to legitimise a new world championship.

Buries people/never puts anybody over
Some say that he buries people, this means that he makes others look bad while he’s beating them (which is different to the traditional use of the word but that’s another story). An example of this would be always beating Chris Jericho and pedigreed London and Kendrick for no good reason after they had just helped him
Others point to Orton, Goldberg, Batista, Cena, Benoit and even Ric Flair as examples of him doing his best to make opponents look good.

Other
Some even say he’s overated in the ring and that he’s praised far too much when compared to other wrestlers. He also has a very large nose.

However many more would say that he’s a great a wrestler who fully deserves all of his success.
Even some his detractors would say that he’s a good wrestler and could do a good job behind the scenes pointing to him signing Sin Cara and Kharma and his love of old-school wrestling.

Wrestling's Greatest Rivalries: Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart (Blu-Ray)

2011-08-05T07:46:00.000-07:00

Silvervision have posted the content for the new Shaw Michaels vs Bret Hart Blu-ray.

Disc 1:

San Antonio vs. Calgary

The Rockers vs. The Hart Foundation

Heartbreak Kid vs.The Hit Man

Intercontinental Champion vs. WWE Champion

Showstopper vs. Excellence of Execution

Progressive vs. Traditional

Fantasy vs. Reality

Respect vs. Trust

Redemption vs. Reconciliation

Hope vs. Peace

The Rockers vs. The Hart Foundation
Madison Square Garden – 25th November, 1989

Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
Wrestling Challenge – 10th February, 1990

The Rockers vs. The Hart Foundation
Tokyo Dome – 30th March, 1991

Ladder Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
Portland, Oregon– 21st July, 1992

Intercontinental Championship Match
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
Syracuse, New York– 29th April, 1992

WWE Championship Match
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
Survivor Series – 25th November, 1992

Steel Cage Match
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
Utica, New York – 1st December, 1993

Disc 2:

Iron Man Match for the WWE Championship
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
WrestleMania 12 – 31st March, 1996

WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Bret Hart’s Induction
Chicago, Illinois – 1st April, 2006

Bret Hart Returns to Raw
Raw – 4th January, 2010

WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Shawn Michaels’ Induction
Atlanta, Georgia – 2nd April, 2011

Blu-ray Exclusive Moments

Vince McMahon Interviews Shawn Michaels & Bret Hart
Raw – 3rd February, 1997

Bret Hart Promo In Ring
Raw – 12th May, 1997

Hart Foundation Promo In Ring
Raw – 19th May, 1997

WWE Championship Match
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
Survivor Series – 9th November , 1997

Blu-ray Exclusive Special Features

The First WWE Ladder Match
SummerSlam 1992
Winning the WWE Championship for the First Time
Bret’s WCW Regrets
Cameras Rolling Between Takes

WWF Hasbro Sound Module

2011-08-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

This sound module was a UK exclusive that came with Hasbo’s WWF wrestling rings. They offered eight different sound effects to enhance your matches. Some of these were pretty poor, the slams like noises were terrible and you could barely make out the one…two…three. As a result nobody I knew regularly replaced the battery in it especially as it got in the way; on TV the brawls outside the ring never had a big sound module to slam opponents into (at the time anyway).

However it was still an excellent extra to own, hitting “1,2,3!” ringing the bell and having a poor man’s Howard Finkel say The winner” was a nice ritual to end your match.
I was also piping in crowd cheers long before Goldberg chants and the seagull pop, it would have been better if one of the slams was replaced by booing (these days I’d like hasBRO to include a “you know it” button to go with the "Woo"s).

So overall it was fun bonus but was definitely a jobber compared with the main-event.

Can WWE use CM Punk and social media to start a new boom period?

2011-07-23T06:54:00.000-07:00

Back in the late 1990s WWE managed to stumble into a new boom period by latching onto the cultural trend of car crash TV. This coincided with the rise of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and he became the face of their new attitude era which redefined what was possible in wrestling and became a key part of popular culture.

Time has since moved on and the likes of Jerry Springer and Jackass are no longer as popular. Although WWE have since ditched their increasingly desperate attempts to be shocking (even necrophilia couldn’t get mainstream news coverage) and have moved back to a PG rated product they are still using many of the same tactics that were last truly successful in the attitude era. Many would say they been floundering while looking for the next big thing and once again they may have stumbled across it.

For many years the world has been seen the rise of social networking and every major company wants a piece of the action. WWE now seems ready to make the most of their almost unique position within the television industry that will enable them to benefit from the internet and social media.
The biggest advantage they have is that WWE is set in our world and takes place in real-time. Game of Thrones has a huge cast but it’s more minor members can’t tweet in order to flesh out their characters as King’s landing doesn’t have internet access. Even a show like Dr Who which is unbound by the trivialities of space and time doesn’t allow Amy Pond to blog about the latest revelations contained in a shocking cliff-hanger ending as the story will continue in six months time.
Just as advantageous is the fact that people are more or less playing themselves and usually only have that one role, some TV shows have experimented with characters having twitter accounts but as they’re played by an actor that appears in other roles and doesn’t have time to type the updates themselves they aren’t as effective. Most wrestlers don’t have this problem so it creates a new form of kayfabe.

WWE are finally realising their advantage and are starting to exploit it in a genuinely innovative way with CM Punk leaving WWE with their world championship.
After the initial “shoot” that featured Punk criticising WWE and the McMahon family they promoted the angle by following it up online, they did this by posting a story about Vince McMahon suspending Punk, removing all traces of him from WWE.com (the roster page, his bio, facebook etc) and even taking down his theme from itunes.
It’s amazing what a buzz this caused and it’s even more amazing that in 2011 so many fans were speculating if something they saw on a wrestling show was is in fact “real”. The mere mention of Colt Cabana in a promo was enough for him to become a trending topic on twitter.

Now Punk has officially left the company they can move away from the official avenues and explore what is possible outside WWE’s bubble, we’ve seen the first instance of this with a youtube video of CM Punk “Invading” WWE’s comic-con panel.

WWE initially trusted this to work as a viral video by deciding not to report the confrontation it on their own website, luckily for them another one of their major advantages is that wrestling fans have a strong online presence and as result this video has attracted almost 400,000 views in just over 24 hours.

While WWE can continue the angle on TV with HHH as the on-screen boss of the company Punk could become almost ubiquitous with fans being able to follow their favourite anti-hero’s exploits as he crashes WWE press conferences and signings, appears in other media (including Colt Cabana’s podcast) with his title and possibly shows up in another wrestling organisation (most likely to be RoH).

Of course using the internet like this isn’t a completely new phenomenon but is probably the first major angle where so many of the key players (and their fans) have a platform to contribute to the overall story. There have been many updates directly from CM Punk that have ranged from him foreshadowing events to posting pictures of his victory celebration. Add to this WWE.com’s updates, viral youtube videos, mainstream news coverage (it had a prominent position on ESPNs homepage) and comments from other wrestlers that even included Punk’s long-term twitter rival Steve Austin saying how much he enjoyed his work.
These little touches are great way to build interest and make the story seem legitimate.

However wrestling hasn’t always had the best of relationships with the internet, back when AOL ruled the information super highway Vince McMahon had a few issues with a live web chat that resulted in our favourite eccentric millionaire ranting to himself for 10 minutes and Steve Austin used WWE’s webshow byte this as a platform to air his grievances with the writing team (he walked out on the company shortly afterwards).

Maybe this is why not everybody within the wrestling business is so keen on scary new technology with some making negative comments about their online fans who Eric Bischoff has named the “IWC ten percenters” who he believes are the tiny part (ie 10%) of their fan base that aren’t satisfied with their product. Although this is probably just Bischofff following his “Controversy creates cash” mantra it does seem strange to turn against online wrestling fans at a time their numbers are increasing due to the rise of social networking (especially as at one point TNA only had online fans as they weren’t on TV). It’s almost sad that somebody who was once so revolutionary is now wasting time defining the x-division rather than once again attempting to redefine how people experience wrestling.

That's right I'm a Paul Heyman guy!

Luckily others haven’t been as short-sighted.
The Miz has delivered many promos about him being hated when he first joined WWE and that he feared that he would soon be wished well in his future endeavours. This resulted in him and John Morrison creating their web-show The Dirt Sheet. This gave two overlooked superstars the chance to shine and arguably saved their careers.

This tactic has since been attempted by many others; some failed like the aforementioned Colt Cabana while Matt Hardy put his own unique spin on the idea to get himself released from his contract, not to be deterred Colt has since started his own podcast which has been more successful having recently celebrated it’s one year anniversary by interviewing the one wrestler that has arguably benefited the most from the use of social media the internet champion Zack Ryder.

Poor Zack’s career had been stagnant but he may have saved his job by building himself a huge following among fans, he reached out to his fans on twitter by offering autographs to anybody who bought his t-shirt. He built on this with his youtube show “Z! True Long Island Story” where he regularly has more than 100,000 views for his videos and has reached over 3 million views in total. Even wrestlers in the upper echelons of the company enjoy his work, John Cena promotes Ryder via twitter and by making cameos in Zack’s videos and if you watched the earlier video you’ll have seen CM Punk ask HHH when he is going to put Ryder on TV.
The internet is so embedded in Zack’s character that he wears a QR code on his clothes that links to his facebook page, he has also made a catchphrase of asking people to follow him on twitter and like him on facebook (followed with buy the t-shirt and take care, spike your hair).

Of course there are potential drawbacks to this new approach. There’s always a risk that being too open and approachable ruins the mystique of pro-wrestling as you can’t imagine the Undertaker tweeting about his shopping trip with Michelle McCool.
It’s also possible that WWE will overplay their hand and force this approach on everybody rather than letting it grow naturally.
There are also many wrestlers that have misused social media to make bitter comments or gay slurs and that doesn’t help anybody.
However used correctly it can develop characters, further feuds and offer wrestlers a platform to stand out from the crowd.

Wrestling and the internet are now entwined for as long as they both shall live and although the relationship has been slow to grow and has had its rocky moments wrestling should benefit from their union in a way that other TV shows can only dream of. Just like the late 90s WWE are in a perfect place where they can take advantage of the changes of popular culture and their new superstar CM Punk.

Who knows when it comes to Wrestlemania we could see Steve Austin vs CM Punk not only represent straight edge vs beer swilling redneck or the meeting of past and present but the leader of attitude era vs the figurehead of the internet era.