SomethingSavage

In 2018 WWE? Where guys get set up in title programs after winning just one match ALL the time? Jinder after the Mania loss to Mojo. Styles after the Mania loss to Jericho. And on & on. Come on, man. It's not like this is a foreign concept for them. Less is more. If they're underdogs, establish them as challengers with a big win & then spend a month reminding people that they're underdogs. Build anticipation for a possible title win. Whether you think it's okay or not, it *does* diminish the celebration and the elation you evoke from the actual, eventual title win if you're giving the same scenario to people over & over again every week in matches and situations that mean much less. You're right. They're playing their parts well. The big celebrations and stuff are great. But that doesn't mean it isn't taking something away from what could/should be a bigger moment for them later. Why settle for something good immediately - ad nauseum - if you could show a little patience and create something great with the payoff a little later?

Ehh. Bo is nothing special in the ring. Never has been. I watched him botch a bulldog headlock & fuck up running the ropes (against Jinder, iirc) as late as 2012 after he'd already received his first big baby face push in FCW. But he's a fun bit player and passable when it comes to wrestling comedy. I dug Axel as a serious mid-carder more than I had any justifiable reason to, and his NXT 2012 run should get a lot more love than it does. But nobody's lining up to spend dollars & cents to see the guy do anything. Ever. I'm okay with them in this spot, but it is a shame that they've basically sacrificed the short-term health of an entire division to get here. It's comedy team versus comedy team, and so there's really no reason to care. What's even worse is the way they've built this thing up. The B-Team would be a fun enough act as underdogs, but they've been booked to suddenly win so many matches that they're not really underdogs anymore in this story. I mean, not *really*. And so what little incentive anyone may have had to invest a single fuck in them winning is already gone out the window, because you've likely already seen it once a week, every week in the six weeks leading up to this show.

Unrelated to their ring work, but it cracked me up when a smartass fan came at Gotch by asking him, "If you're supposed to be from the 1920's, why do you have a Twitter account huh?!?" Gotch's reply (and I'm paraphrasing): "If I'm supposed to be from the 1920's and I mastered fucking time travel, do you really think I couldn't figure out social media?" Oh. And I always dug Razor's lemon lime Sprite gear. Can't speak to how it looked on Flair, but as a kid? I thought it was a cool look on Razor. Maybe the gold razors or the oozy machismo helped the colors pop or some shit.

I'd gladly take 30 minutes of Hulk Hogan promo'ing the shit out of this event - ON the event - over that iron man any day of the week. And holy shit. They've done that shark cage gimmick to death these last few years, haven't they? Feels like they trot that thing out at least two PPVs per year now. The top 3 matches have my attention and will get scoped out at some point - probably sporadically throughout the week. And I'm curious about Jeff/Swagske, because it could be a terrible fucking train wreck or something very unique, as well as Bryan's match. If Ronda shows up in Nia/Bliss, that could be worthwhile. Damn. When you start breaking it down, this lackluster event *could* turn into a surprisingly solid show.

I don't know, man. Regarding the "reading results week to week" deal, I feel like we listened to two entirely different episodes or something. I mean, sure. Conrad read what Hassan was doing. But for the first hour, there were like 4 match results - versus Maven, Slaughter, and his OVW stuff. Pretty much everything else was about the character's creation & those early vignettes. I thought it flew by and sounded like a natural conversation. Things eventually slowed down after they got into 2005, and it admittedly became more about what Hassan was doing week to week on television. But when your subject matter has SUCH a short shelf life, that's to be expected. Plus this was nowhere near as bad as the Edge or Punk episodes, which both felt like a list of results being read, with Prichard occasionally chiming in with an opinion here or there. This was much more of a back & forth. As far as Bruce's reactions go? You're absolutely right, man. And his response to Conrad asking why they didn't just edit the ski mask attack out of the show was even worse. I literally shook my head for a second after hearing Bruce behave like a child and cry out some bullshit about how hindsight could have given us better security at the airports & prevented 9/11 or whateverthefuck. It was a far reach to say the least, and it was clearly the kind of thing someone says when they feel cornered or outfoxed. I *will* play devil's advocate for a second though and say I can absolutely see why Vince would initially see value in this character. I wasn't surprised at all to hear that it was Vince's pet project at the time. And the comment about it being detrimental to position your audience as the heels rings true, but I don't believe that was ever actually the intent. I think you're underestimating Vince in this case, because - say what you will about the old man being out of touch at specific points and times - the man has a pretty fucking good track record when it comes to tweaking things and fine tuning the finishing touches on characters to get a desired reaction. I realize it may be more popular to just claim the old man is past his expiration date these days, but I think he clearly saw the kind of heat he wanted to draw with this thing. Yes. It was designed to point out xenophobia and play on the post-9/11 fears and prejudices. And it used a nugget of truth to set things up. But it felt as if it was done by design. Of course, any great antagonist believes they're actually the protagonist - their actions are justified in their minds. BUT part of the equation also involves them using extreme measures to get what they want. That's part of what separates the heroes from the villains as well. They are willing to take the shortcuts or use any means necessary to get what they desire. Vince made sure to utilize that aspect when he had Hassan go from simply pointing out Americans' prejudice... to making radical statements about beating respect out of them and rubbing their faces in it. On top of that, Hassan was an Arab American, denouncing his citizenship to this country (by gawd, OUR country!) that welcomed him in the first place. Yet *another* source of heat was introduced when he even turned on his fellow Arab Americans and verbally ran them down as well. So the whole deal of Vince making Hassan this deep "shades of grey" character seems a little... off... to me. I just don't get that vibe. Was it more thought-provoking or inspired than the usual pro wrestling tough guy? Sure. No doubt. But there never looked to be any actual desire to make him a baby face to any audience of any kind on any level. That just doesn't appear to be the case with anything they produced with the character. In the end, I think all the message boards and e-fed writers at the time simply outsmarted themselves. Everyone was buzzing about what a brilliant concept this was, but pro wrestling just doesn't function beyond a certain level. Vince knows that. And it's why he kept Hassan in spots to garner heat - never cheers. The whole story of Kurt winding Hassan up and sending him to tell Eddie not to use his finisher was more of the backstage bullshit from that time. It makes for a fun story for people to hear down the line, but it's an unfortunate snapshot of the way new guys were hazed in that time. Hassan at least has a great attitude about it and even tells the story himself in a positive, upbeat way. SummerSlam. Batista's hometown. The nation's capital. OF COURSE Vince would have considered putting the belt on Hassan there. Doubt the run would have amounted to much, but the idea seems precisely like something Vince would do in that situation.

Today's meal prep was accompanied by the Simon Gotch episode. He's a guy I'd never bothered listening to before last week, and now I've heard a whole slew of his shoots and interviews. I'd read and heard his attitude & demeanor compared to a certain Chicago native, but now I totally see it. He's got the same outspoken, abrasive personality as Punk - and he kind of carries himself with a certain sense of entitlement, similar to Punk (even before he ever broke big). Anyway, it all makes for an engaging listen, for sure. Gotch pulls no punches & pretty much gives zero fucks. There's the usual fun stuff about Enzo being a clown and a joke thief. But he also has an interesting take on Baron Corbin that's worth hearing. Also dug his description of Daniel Bryan as the Gordon Ramsay of professional wrestling.

Definitely. That's why I was sure to say I never really expected him to do much anyway, and the interview feels like it offers a lot of half-answers in that sense. They never *really* approach the issue of his weight gain - only initially stating that he looked like a star in TNA as part of AMW (which is true). I mean, I guess it's sort of implied that he lost motivation (and possibly gained the weight) due to depression and basically being retrained on fundamentals, etc before being moved up. But, like I said, it's left really vague & things rarely ever slow down for further explanation due to the short format of the show. As it stands, the interview is more fascinating as a glimpse into that backstage culture & atmosphere of the time. Truth be told, it's sort of what I expected to hear from Muhammad Hassan - but he was almost entirely upbeat and positive about his experiences. The bullying and ribbing didn't seem to shake him much at all, which was surprising but cool.

The episode with "Wildcat" Chris Harris is a total downer. I mean, I had an idea of what to expect going in, but Christ. Hearing his story makes me hate that mid-to-late 2000s bully culture in backstage WWE so much more. And it's not even so much that he's bitter or resentful. The guy just sounds... Broken. Between the locker room lawmen, the unspoken etiquette, and the tests they put new guys through - it sounds like such a toxic workplace for anyone that wasn't well connected or already established going in. It sounds like absolute hell for a guy just trying to get a shot. Don't get me wrong. I feel like Harris was in over his head from the start, and maybe he was ill prepared for the opportunity. Ultimately, I don't think he would have lasted long before cracking under the pressure. And so the argument could be made for that as the purpose of the practice back then. On the other hand, the class of newcomers back then didn't have the welcome mat rolled out for them in the same manner as the newcomers at the PC today. The difference is night & day. Whereas there's this great sense of care taken in signing & introducing performers today, those of Harris' particular time were deliberately tested to see how they'd react or if they'd last. And, to be fair, Harris doesn't even deny that notion himself. In fact, he is sort of vague and unclear about just what was being done to him at times. You really get a sense of how cloudy and muddy the whole ordeal was for him. The story of having his entire arsenal stripped away from him was about what you'd expect. And I honestly felt bad for the guy when he had to approach Umaga about the spinning side slam (and getting the sense that he couldn't use it anymore either). By the time it reached the point where the only moves the guy felt like he had been granted "approval" to use was a clothesline and a crossbody block? You can't help but feel bad for the guy. Obviously I don't think he would've lost his job if he went out there and spiced it up with some stuff, but just the fact that he genuinely felt like he couldn't do ANYTHING other than what they specifically said he could? That speaks to the environment and pretty much sums up what you need to know. But when he told the story about them fucking with the time of his match and stuff? That seems a little much. Of course it sounds like a way of seeing how he improvises, but it's also really unprofessional. They hammer home the importance of being TV performers and hitting time cues, but then they revert to relic practices like that to test a guy's merit. It's so strange. Again, I don't necessarily believe Brayden Walker was destined for big things - or anything, to be honest. But there's no denying that there was a large, noticeable difference between Chris Harris and what we got with Brayden Walker. The guy was damaged goods by that point, and this interview with him offers some insight. I don't have a list or anything, but I bet there are quite a few guys in a similar situation - guys who fell off or willingly walked away around this same point for similar reasons.

Disregarding any "T-shirt and jeans" type look, is there any ring gear in wrestling more awful than Double J's bird cage attire from the mid-nineties? It has to be among the dirt worst.

Great post & excellent points.

It's interesting to think about the blood aspect, but work-rate obsession feels like the real culprit in my mind. As early as the 80s (but especially in the 90s), there was this talk of how great wrestling would, could, and should be if they'd just focus more on work-rate above all else. And, to be sure, wrestling spotlighted some embarrassing tendencies in those times. But it's the larger than life characters, the big moments, the outlandish personalities, and the showmanship that really draws money & attention. For a long while there though, fans were constantly bitching & complaining about how much better it would all be if we could just get "better workers" in those spots. It's a case of "be careful what you wish for", because now wrestling has overcompensated and - in my view - swung too far the other way. There are practically zero characters. There are guys with traits and personalities, if you squint your eyes & tilt your head to the side just right maybe. There are angles sometimes, if you count giving guys any excuse to fill time on television every week without it requiring much thought or planning. It has become all about the matches and the action. So these guys are killing themselves to get a reaction - any reaction - in front of audiences that are essentially there to serve as a panel of judges. It's become a crowd a critics, eager to be impressed so that they may bestow their star ratings unto these wrestlers. And so the wrestlers gladly continue to work harder & harder, instead of stopping to think about working smarter. Rather than taking the time & effort to develop characters with meaningful motivations or deeper connections, they'll just line up to take dangerous drops onto the ring apron or whateverthefuck instead. So yeah. The action has improved greatly. And there's some stuff still clearly worth checking out. I'm not condemning all contemporary wrestling. But it could be so much better if we still got some of that old magic along with the aggressive in-ring style. Instead, the industry has altogether abandoned one method for the other.

Ugh. That Pillman episode really was the worst one yet. Everything enjoyable about the Jericho & Dusty episodes was absent here. It just felt like an endless tirade. I don't remember the Something To Wrestle pod about Pillman being the bee's sleeves or anything, but it was much better than this shit. Go listen to that if you've got an itch for Pillman coverage. Because this show does the book (and the topic itself, really) no justice. It's a shame, too. Eric's been better than this on several subjects. I hope it turns out to be more of an outlier than an indication of where things are heading.

Hmm. I never thought about that, but it's a good point. I completely blanked on his silly NXT name. He was so out of sight, out of mind for such a long time. I just hear "Jeremiah Crane" and think of the Scarecrow from Batman or some shit.

English singing was great. English doing this hybrid of spoken word poetry & Cena slow rap is silly. But it is over af, which is ultimately what matters. The Vaudevillains gimmick had a shelf life, for sure. But I do think it could have continued in other incarnations or directions. Sillier shit has succeeded on the main roster, but it's hard to say when something is never really given much of a chance.

I'm still running behind. I only just now got the chance to catch episode 3. But mygoddamngod. That main event was a fucking blast. Jeremiah Crane sounds like a generic name some random fanfic writer would conjure up on CreepyPasta, plus I'm so hot & cold on Callihan. I feel like he has this terrible, awful look of some backwoods pudgy thrillbilly from Justified or some shit - but he doesn't play up to that as a character. So it's this weird case of being a potentially great character, although he doesn't lean into it enough to really make it work in his favor. On the other hand, he'll occasionally bust out these incrrrredibly fun performances and participate in these frenzied, crazy-ass brawls. I think I'd still point to his body of work prior to the NXT run as his best overall, but that disparity is shortening. He's sneakily put together some good stuff since then, almost returning to his roots over the past year. But yeah. Episode 3 was great. It was an hour of television that flew by & (how's this for a wild concept?) left me wanting more at the end. As enjoyable as that main event was though, the main takeaway thus far this season has been Catrina. Gawt damn, y'all. Catrina is fiyah. The girl is dripping with sex appeal and really does steal any scene she's in. Melissa has also been surprisingly good in her role since last season. She's thrown herself into the mix and seems seriously engaged in what she's supposed to be doing at all times. She's much better than she necessarily needs to be on a taped & edited pro wrestling program. Pro wrestling is awfully forgiving of terrible acting, so kudos to her for not totally phoning it in or anything.

"You got fake gold. Fake Jordans. Fake leopard print. Fake hair. With a fake accent. And you call yourself the realest guy in the room?!" Tremendous.

Jim saying he saw a Roadkill promo on OVW TV so rotten that he sold his shares back to Danny Davis is typical over-the-top Corny, but it's a pretty funny story nonetheless.

I gave the Ryback episode a listen, since he's another guy I've never gone out of my way to hear in interviews or podcasts. It was interesting to hear his side of the Punk stuff. The details of that meeting with Stephanie, with his leg all busted up & bleeding from surgery, were pretty sick. All the "Secret" talk is goofy & a bit out there to me, but I'm glad the guy seems to be in a positive place now. It's also clear he takes care in protecting his image & his presentation, which is a key trait of guys who want to be top stars (at least as a step in getting there & getting established). I feel slightly bad for how much backlash he got back when he released the whole statement about pay structure. I remember thinking the same thing at the time, so I was glad to hear him expand on & clarify what he meant there. The guy was calling for the HUGE pay disparity to be shortened, because it's all scripted & you obviously can't have winners without the losers. I get what he meant. I don't necessarily agree, of course. You've got stars and you've got the support staff. Pay will be dispersed accordingly. That's life. That's show business. But I also feel like the amount of heat he got for it in the first place was a little silly & unwarranted. He just thought he was standing up for the jobbers or whatever. His intentions were good - even if they were slightly out of touch or misguided.

"Creative has nothing for you" has always been a copout, but it really feels like it's more irrelevant than ever in 2018. Other than scripting dialogue, do the writers really contribute anything at this point? I mean, all the major angles & stories seem to stem from guys who can handle their own direction to some extent - Hunter, Jericho, etc. - or pet projects overseen directly by Vince - Roman, Brock, Ronda, etc. Even when creative "has something" for guys, what does that really entail? Booking them in endless 50/50 rematches every week? How much effort or creativity is really involved there?

Ugh. WWE storylines are so bad and so devoid of creativity that I'm almost inclined to agree with Vince fucking Russo at this point. It's like they keep giving us these epic matches without any of the context. Watching WWE is basically watching the last 15 minutes of Rocky over & over on a loop, without ever getting to see the first hour and a half. So it might be fun or exciting for a bit, but it's almost instantly forgettable and never really means shit. At the end of the day, there's no investment. It's just guys hitting each other.

The whole "Brock doesn't care about wrestling" story is stupid and uninteresting anyway. UFC Brock would show up via satellite and point out how Seth Rollins can keep his second place title and stay butthurt, but all he's really doing is whining because he has to work 300 days a year to earn a tiny fraction of the kind of money Brock earns working 5 times a year. Brock is money. He demands a big salary, because he's a big fucking deal. When a Seth Rollins can command the same contract, then he can come sit at the grown-ups table with Brock. Instead? We get this semi-shooty, passive aggressive conspiracy nonsense from Roman or whateverthefuck. It's super weak sauce. I thought it was equally stupid back when they pulled the same shit with Rock. Dude's the hottest actor in Hollywood, but yeah. Let's shame him 'cause he won't come play fight with us 52 weeks a year anymore like he said he would that one time. So silly. I mean, I can get why they went that route with Rock/Cena. At least it played into the narrative there, and it drove the back & forth promos. Here? There are no back & forth promos. It's just this one-sided whining that Brock isn't there all the time. The actual counterpoint to that is the fact that everyone on the roster would gladly stop showing up to every live event, take more money for less work, and end up with a Brock Lesnar deal. It's the American dream realized. Guys like Jericho and Punk have openly stated as such. The part-timer deal is the new brass ring. The goal posts aren't set at being WWE Champion anymore. The chance to call your spots, work when you want to work, and chill at your own leisure is the new championship run.

Wait. Since when has the company pushed any specific weightlifting regimen on the performers? I always understood it to be a preferential deal. It's not like Vince and his yes men are following these guys to the gym up and down the road & making sure they get their silly tire flips or clean & presses in. But yes. Cross fit is inherently stupid. And yes. It is the trendy thing everyone seems to be doing lately. Of course ego is almost always a factor, but a lot of these guys are probably doing these goofy lifts with poor form. And that - at even lighter volumes - is a recipe for injury.

I have been downloading & supporting the show, but it's just been building up on the backburner for awhile. I don't expect anything to come close to the Jannetty episode anytime soon, as most of these are short shows (right at the one hour mark) and simply don't often aim for deep dives or anything. And that's fine. I just don't always make time or prioritize the shorter podcasts, although I do appreciate them for the sake of variety. Anyway, I wanted something on while I grilled up some grub & did my usual meal prep earlier this week. I went with the Matt Morgan episode, mainly because he's a guy I honestly haven't ever gone out of my way to listen to on radio shows or interviews of any kind. The whole thing would basically sound like brand new material to me - and it did. First of all, he just sounds like a genuinely good guy. I can't stress that enough. Not a single ounce of bitterness or resentment toward the business to be found here. And that's always refreshing when you can get it. Morgan seems absolutely happy with his life and especially his family. Gotta love that. His backstory is a neat one, with him recalling every detail of the first big angle he saw of Andre getting his head shaved. I think most of us have a similar experience, seeing our first big segment or angle unfold like that. The story of him networking and eventually just working out at the gym until he eventually (literally) bumped into Vince McMahon was also fun. Again, this isn't anything extraordinary, but it's all new to me. And it's not just the typical "attend wrestling school, enter developmental" route. I love me some Jim Cornette wrestling talk like nobody else, but I literally groan or sigh everytime I have to hear him talk about what a surefire superstar Matt Morgan should have been. The guy just never seemed to put all the pieces together for whatever reason. And he rarely ever seemed to stand out as a big man or a giant. Booking always catered to it, which makes it even more of an indictment that he never seemed to work up to that style or standard in any tangible way. Anyhow, Morgan speaks highly of Corny and vice versa. Both consider Morgan's push in OVW to be a major milestone in his career, so it's probably the closest he ever came to being in a protected spot. Considering what Cornette did for the likes of Leviathan, Morgan, Unabomb, etc., I wonder how Cornette stacks up overall in comparison to others when it comes to booking and promoting big guys. It certainly seems like one of his finer attributes. The story of Johnny Ace approaching Morgan - and later Vince pitching the stuttering gimmick - was also a lot of fun. It's truly stupid shit, but I can absolutely buy that Vince thought it would get over on some strange level. I totally forgot about that brief period where it looked like they wanted to push Morgan as the new Brock. Dude was even using the F5 and everything. I completely blanked on that at first. And then it just abruptly ended. Apparently, the locker room talk that made its way to Morgan was that Big Show buried him to Vince and labeled him an "unsafe" worker at the time. Matt makes sure to clarify that the rumor could have been bullshit, but he *did* get the sense that Show was burying him behind his back. His frustrations with the TNA creative process are pretty clearly presented. You can absolutely understand how that sort of work environment would drive someone - ANYone - crazy. I guess I never realized Morgan was scheduled to return to WWE at the 2014 Royal Rumble. Really had no idea he was about to sign a new contract then. Robbie E not knowing what a blueprint was cracked me up. In fact, there's a lot of basic real world stuff Robbie doesn't seem to have a clue about. Architects, whether an accountant was a real job, the meaning of the word "rotund", etc. have all left him stumped on some of the episodes I've heard. Either he's living the gimmick or really naive. Like I said, this one doesn't touch the Jannetty episode or anything. But it was a decent little listen while I got other stuff done. The format of the show still leaves a little to be desired, but I do dig the premise. If they can land another guest like Marty - worth doing a deep dive and just letting them talk - then they could have another highly recommended episode on their hands again.

Initially upon his release, I paid no attention to the slew of shoot interviews Simon Gotch did. But, now having heard a few of them, I gotta say - the guy is a surprisingly engaging speaker. Straight up. Dude can talk. Gotch comes off really well in everything I've seen. Very expressive. Convincing and captivating as a storyteller, too. Whether it's the sort of charisma that has, would, or could ever translate to actual character work or his on-screen presence, I couldn't tell you. But I was pleasantly surprised. There's been some talk of him resembling Punk with his demeanor and expressions or mannerisms, which I actually never noticed before but cannot UNsee now that it's been brought to my attention. Scope out his clips talking shit on Enzo on YouTube for recommended viewing. Good stuff.

I understand why fans have a problem with Brock still being Universal Champion after all this time, but I do feel like all the talk about how it's supposedly this huge detriment to the quality of the show is GREATLY exaggerated. In what way would the show be substantially improved by the presence of the big red belt? Because I don't see how it ultimately makes a dent in anything, to be honest. The same guys are going to be marginalized, regardless. The stakes still remain inconsequential. The very same things that feel totally insignificant right now won't automatically start to matter or mean anything, just because the red belt is suddenly on TV again. The missing belt isn't the big issue. It doesn't matter who they crown champion or whether he's there - front & center every week - or not. The real issue is much larger than that, and it feels so short-sighted to simply lay the blame at the feet of an absent champion or whatever. The Universal Title was around during that whole Fall of endless Rollins/Owens/Jericho stuff, and it was fucking awful. Just truly terrible time-killing shit, week after week after week. The belt being there didn't enhance or improve a thing. Same deal now. Don't get me wrong. Brock's reign has been on borrowed time and has felt tiresome since at least January. But I can't help but feel like people are being way over the top with some of their criticisms in how much of a difference it does or doesn't actually make at the end of the day. And, honestly, that's possibly the biggest indictment against him above all else at this point. It no longer feels like he makes a difference one way or the other - champ or not, present or absent.