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AUGUST WRESTLING DISCUSSION THREAD


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I had a moment teaching last night, where I referred to professional wrestling - the R Truth "Fa-gs are evil" incident - in a lecture point about culture norms. Most every student was like, "Wrestling?" akin to how AJ Styles recoils, "The gay community?!??!" And I just emphatically clarified, "Professional wrestling, yes, 'wrestling?'" Dunno if that was "wrestling is stupid" or "you're a professor and you watch wrestling ... pretty cool."

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I think it is the "fanboy" sensibility that irritates me the most. Heather Levi could probably show you an incredible mask collection in her apartment (or house), but you wont find any "OMG Atlantis rules" nerdom in her writing on Lucha Libre. There are other ways to show enthusiasm and passion towards a subject. I rather have someone take pop culture too seriously than to exhibit the "look how educated I am, but I keep it real through liking working-class entertainment" sentiments of Grantland.

 

 

This is all fair.

 

 

I had a moment teaching last night, where I referred to professional wrestling - the R Truth "Fa-gs are evil" incident - in a lecture point about culture norms. Most every student was like, "Wrestling?" akin to how AJ Styles recoils, "The gay community?!??!" And I just emphatically clarified, "Professional wrestling, yes, 'wrestling?'" Dunno if that was "wrestling is stupid" or "you're a professor and you watch wrestling ... pretty cool."

 

When I teach public speaking in the summers (when the classes are long), I have a special topics day where we do promos.  I have a .ppt with a solid hour of promos from Flair, Macho, Austin, Rock, Heenan, Heyman, Jericho, Hogan, etc. and we run down the basics of heels/faces, turns, managers, selling.  We'll throw in a little analysis of race/class/gender roles.  The second hour of class, I bring in my box of Halloween paraphernalia (including lucha masks, a Flair robe, and all kinds of stuff from years of dressing up as wrestlers and 80s cartoon characters) and have them cut their own promos.  Some of the students are absolutely repulsed by what we're doing, and others totally run with it.

 

Also, in a mass lecture in a media law course I teach, I showed a picture of Jim Brown, leading into his lawsuit with EA.  I asked the class if anyone recognized him, and one girl raised her hand and said, "That's that guy who says "Damn!"  It was so hard not to lose my shit.

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When Triple H got into WCW he was still really green and Terry Taylor took him under his wing and worked with him so they're tight.

 

 

A fan asked Hogan what could finally be done to make TNA successful.

Hogan said that Eric Bischoff "needed to be given the keys to the car" and that, "somebody somewhere" needed to "drop all the resources we need like we had in the WWE and the WWF, whether it be cameras or money or vehicles or advertising" in order for TNA to work "in a perfect world."

 

Yeah, that's what they need, vehicles.  A Fast And The Furious style group.  Maybe, some white Hummers too.  That's the key to success.

 

Hulk Hogan is one of the biggest names in the history of professional wrestling.  Having him on your roster should be an asset.  You drag him out or drop his name to impress sponsors or entice licensees.  You don't take business advice from him much less follow it because Hulk Hogan's a moron.  Might as well put Scott Steiner in charge.  At least Steiner can do math and probably realizes that spending millions while losing millions is bad business.  Probably make more sense on promos too.

 

TNA's "growth" in the three years since Hogan/Bischoff have come aboard:

 

- The branding is completely confused with the half-ass name change from TNA Wrestling to Impact Wrestling.

 

- TNA has been stripped of any brand identity it had by changing the six-sided ring to a regular four-sided ring, screwing with the "no limits" X-Division by adding weight limits and goofy 3-way rules, and depleting their once strong tag team and women's divisions.  All things that differentiated TNA from WWE.

 

- Lost viewers and status by entering into an aimless Monday Night War unprepared because...going head to head with Raw is the key to success just like the 90s.

 

- Spent millions to do live TV with minimal difference in the ratings because...live TV is the key to success just like the 90s.

 

- Left the Impact Zone and spent millions to take Impact on the road with minimal difference in the ratings because...going on the road is the key to success just like the 90s.

 

- Closed off potential revenue streams with the reduced PPV schedule while giving PPVs away on Impact.

 

- Closed off potential revenue streams with the reduced house show schedule with zero promotion put towards those shows that actually do occur.

 

- Closed off potential revenue stream with the closing of the VOD service.  I don't directly blame Hogan/Bischoff for this other than it was probably a cost cutting measure but it's a step backwards nonetheless.  Always thought they should've bought video libraries that WWE didn't own like Continental, Deep South, Portland, whatever Memphis they could get, etc.  Even more recent stuff like McManus' WWA, Wildside, Windy City and the various non-porn women's promotions.  Maybe even license current AAA or NJPW footage for English commentary.

 

In the past three years, the only positive thing that Hogan/Bischoff have accomplished is they made Russo quit and even that took two years.

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So I'm going to defend The Masked Man.  Curious though, are there any lib arts/humanities/social science academics or folks with that graduate academic background on the thread other than myself?  I'm assuming there are?

Well, there was the post just two above this one where i mentioned being in the BGSU pop culture program and, i think in this thread, mentioned writing a paper about cultural zeitgeist of wrestling. I'd guess that means you had me on ignore, but if that's true, you wouldn't see this either. :)
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So I'm going to defend The Masked Man. Curious though, are there any lib arts/humanities/social science academics or folks with that graduate academic background on the thread other than myself? I'm assuming there are?

Well, there was the post just two above this one where i mentioned being in the BGSU pop culture program and, i think in this thread, mentioned writing a paper about cultural zeitgeist of wrestling. I'd guess that means you had me on ignore, but if that's true, you wouldn't see this either. :)
Ha! Shit, sorry. I asked mostly because someone mentioned Henry Jenkins back there.
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He was too good at what he was doing and got too much attention from the wrong writers or Vince and got turned into a goofball character. Consiracy R-Truth was awesome but then he became a joke with an imaginary friend, they de-clawed him and replaced the transgressive part of his character with sillyness.

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When Triple H got into WCW he was still really green and Terry Taylor took him under his wing and worked with him so they're tight.

A fan asked Hogan what could finally be done to make TNA successful.Hogan said that Eric Bischoff "needed to be given the keys to the car" and that, "somebody somewhere" needed to "drop all the resources we need like we had in the WWE and the WWF, whether it be cameras or money or vehicles or advertising" in order for TNA to work "in a perfect world."

Yeah, that's what they need, vehicles. A Fast And The Furious style group. Maybe, some white Hummers too. That's the key to success.Hulk Hogan is one of the biggest names in the history of professional wrestling. Having him on your roster should be an asset. You drag him out or drop his name to impress sponsors or entice licensees. You don't take business advice from him much less follow it because Hulk Hogan's a moron. Might as well put Scott Steiner in charge. At least Steiner can do math and probably realizes that spending millions while losing millions is bad business. Probably make more sense on promos too.TNA's "growth" in the three years since Hogan/Bischoff have come aboard:- The branding is completely confused with the half-ass name change from TNA Wrestling to Impact Wrestling.- TNA has been stripped of any brand identity it had by changing the six-sided ring to a regular four-sided ring, screwing with the "no limits" X-Division by adding weight limits and goofy 3-way rules, and depleting their once strong tag team and women's divisions. All things that differentiated TNA from WWE.- Lost viewers and status by entering into an aimless Monday Night War unprepared because...going head to head with Raw is the key to success just like the 90s.- Spent millions to do live TV with minimal difference in the ratings because...live TV is the key to success just like the 90s.- Left the Impact Zone and spent millions to take Impact on the road with minimal difference in the ratings because...going on the road is the key to success just like the 90s.- Closed off potential revenue streams with the reduced PPV schedule while giving PPVs away on Impact.- Closed off potential revenue streams with the reduced house show schedule with zero promotion put towards those shows that actually do occur.- Closed off potential revenue stream with the closing of the VOD service. I don't directly blame Hogan/Bischoff for this other than it was probably a cost cutting measure but it's a step backwards nonetheless. Always thought they should've bought video libraries that WWE didn't own like Continental, Deep South, Portland, whatever Memphis they could get, etc. Even more recent stuff like McManus' WWA, Wildside, Windy City and the various non-porn women's promotions. Maybe even license current AAA or NJPW footage for English commentary.In the past three years, the only positive thing that Hogan/Bischoff have accomplished is they made Russo quit and even that took two years.
I'm pretty sure you're kidding, but by "vehicles" he's talking about movie and TV show appearances, I'm pretty sure. Like Thunder in Paradise was a vehicle for Hogan. Apologies if I didn't get your joke, man.
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- Closed off potential revenue stream with the closing of the VOD service.  I don't directly blame Hogan/Bischoff for this other than it was probably a cost cutting measure but it's a step backwards nonetheless.  Always thought they should've bought video libraries that WWE didn't own like Continental, Deep South, Portland, whatever Memphis they could get, etc.  Even more recent stuff like McManus' WWA, Wildside, Windy City and the various non-porn women's promotions.  Maybe even license current AAA or NJPW footage for English commentary.

 

i don't know how much older stuff like Portland would translate to anything for TNA. WWE could use it, but i feel like TNA wouldn't really have a valid reason or way to use it.

As far as the WWA stuff from 2002 or whatever goes, absolutely. There was some really good stuff happening there, plus a lot of it was guys that at some point have worked for TNA. Indy NWA promotions would also be helpful, whether it be using it to introduce new guys or fill out dvds, or just offering videos you haven't seen before.

 

And i still can't believe someone hasn't gotten ahold of stuff like the Super J Cup, or J-Crown, and dubbed it in English. Hell, King of the Death Match would sell a million copies.

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I always thought it was weird that the KOTDM never got a legitimate stateside release. Guess it's one of those weird Japanese things where Mr. Asano feels about it like Sakevi of GISM feels about bootlegs or re-releases of his stuff. Though I don't think he'd attack someone on the subway for bootlegging... then again he did paintbrush that ref...

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Conspiracy Truth was great because R-Truth was playing the hell out of the character even when it became to silly.  That was definitely a case where WWE dropped the ball and not the wrestler in question.  Filed in the "Can't always give WWE the benefit of doubt" folder. It's weird because I barely even remember the run now.  A blip in time.

 

Reminds me of that brief period when Randy Orton was the hottest character in WWE and the crowd was going crazy for him to turn during a tweener phase.  I forgot the details behind it(I think he was feuding with the Legacy guys) but the crowd was supporting him on Cena-levels if I remember correctly.

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Let's talk about R Truth....come on he is a vet, can talk, had a main event In Your House program with Cena and nailed it. Wtf?

I believe I agree with that. Also thought they dropped the ball on Miz&R-Truth: Lead Pipe Terrorists.

 

That Hell in a Cell ending was phenomenal. Only time Miz looked legit, with the lead pipe massacre on everyone while the cell is closed. Plus JR and Booker going nuts. "We need street justice"

 

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Even post- awesome truth rtruth was getting a good amount of mic time as a whacky face. Then Bourne went down as they were relaunching the tag division (yet again). Kofi needed a partner and I don't want to speculate as to why rtruth was chosen by creative. However, once they started teaming truths personality disappeared overnight and he eventually ended up practically off tv altogether.

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