A little more in depth than usual

seasons greetings.


This here entry is going to be about various things pertaining to wrestling. I'd like to start off with the following video starring the legendary pro wrestling manager/writer/booker/on-air-personality James E. Cornette, who shouldn't be a stranger to you if you've been watching wrestling for a few years. That, or if you watched Botchamania more than once.



Now, if you didn't care to watch the video at the sight of Dixie Carter, here's the short version. Dixie took part in a YouShoot interview and Jim Cornette, speaking for all the fans, asked why she's keeping Vince Russo employed as a writer. No surprising question coming from Cornette. Big Jim is known to hold a hatred against Russo unmatched by anything else.

Dixie's replies that in wrestling, you have faces and heels (HELLUW! You're talking to a crowd of smarks, they know what faces and heels are) and she pays Vince Russo to draw heat. HOLD THE FUCKING (BANANA)PHONE!

Isn't that supposed to be a wrestler's job? A booker, to me at least, is a guy who creates storylines between two wrestlers based on their overall chemistry, not a guy who brings heat to a company by walking into the office.

Dixie, here's a thought, if you pay Vince Russo to draw heat, all he has to do is show his face on tv every so often. The guy's an asshole who doesn't get along with half the people in your company.

Vince is a two-way man, either you hate his guts because he's fucked up pro wrestling after being instrumental for the attitude era, or you hate him for his poor quality writing. That, or you love him because he's thrown you a bone, which counts for a lot of guys who were on top during WCW's dying breath.

You want him to draw heat? Put him on the roster, simple. Have a few guys who hate his guts stiff the fuck out of him every waking moment to get those over as faces.

Cornette was right on the money when he decided to bugger off out of TNA after Dixie hired Russo. The working environment would've been bad for the man. Now he's in the right place, in a company booked by Delirious, who at least has a wrestling mind.

Even Eric Bischoff doesn't like Russo. Mainly because Russo fucked up Bischoff's instructions multiple times when Eric was in charge of running WCW and the fact that Russo didn't even care. Granted, Eric Bischoff doesn't exactly have a clean slate, but his dedication for the company he works for can't be held against him. Bischoff is what a company needs, a man who is supportive of his employer, but also dares to make bold quotes.

For instance, this week, Bischoff admitted that he doesn't believe TNA will overtake WWE ratings. Of course, Hulk "my wife looks like my daughter and I completely lost touch with wrestling in the late 90's" Hogan claims WWE will soon suffer. Bischoff's claims hold more ground, even though he brings up the blabber of WWE being more of a household name (WE KNOW IT ALREADY!).

Something tells me though, and it's just my gut feeling, that he's not entirely sure where the company is headed, both creatively and business-wise. They're still pushing guys who made name in WWE (Jeff Hardy and Ken Kennedy Anderson for instance) while dropping their homegrown stars off in mid-card matches. No go, bro. Sure, Hardy and Anderson can run for a while, but they won't last forever.

Ken's over 30, he's injury prone. Jeff's an unreliable bastard who suffers from the same delusions as his brother and he's got a rather strong habit of getting court cases for drug busts. Good thing TNA fired Chris Daniels, that's a load off their minds. ... oh wait. Point made.

In the video, I find it lovely that Jim mentions he's speaking for himself, wrestlers and fans alike. Dixie's stuttering and dilettant reply is just the icing on the cake. Lovin' it. These are the kind of things that keep pro wrestling interesting for me.

On to something more lighthearted. I've been actually quite consistent in watching WWE programming (I don't need to elaborate on why I skip TNA programming, do I?) and while their shows have still been of quite miserable level, they do have some nice angles going for the future. Drew McIntyre claiming he's gonna be a better person? CM Punk attacking Cena and joining Nexus? Cena's subsequent hip injury that's gonna keep him sidelined for a good few months? Very, very nice.

Especially CM Punk joining Nexus was a great move. Nexus has been billed as being created solely to kick John Cena's ass. That's the idea I get from the angle over the past few months. With the angle really having run its course, their only choice was to break up the group. The hints were even there, with the group disobeying Barrett's orders and whatnot. Considering the current affairs, this is an excellent way to end it all.

Nexus can now slowly dissolve, with individual members going solo and CM Punk is built up again as a credible heel after a long absence from the ring.

Speaking of that, in closing, CM Punk's absence from the ring has been the most enjoyable time for me. It was namely a brilliant move to put Punk on commentary. He's fantastic. I suggest going on youtube and search for "CM Punk Commentary". To finish off, a few quotes from Punk on commentary:

CM Punk: "Mitsuharu Misawa, Masahiro Chono, ... Yoshi looks up to these guys."
Scott Stanford: "Wow, look at you, these names rolling off your tongue"
CM Punk: "I'm sure you're thinking of Jumbo Tsuruta, Kim Chee, ..."

CM Punk: "Hey welcome back Michael Cole! The show is bad with or without you, but thanks for coming anyway."

The first quote is of course completely lost on today's wrestling fans. Personally, I laughed out loud.

Well, that's it, I'm sick and in no mood to continue on writing. Have a "Happy Hate Russo"-Day today, tomorrow and any day that follows.

~Deli