Interinactivity: 10.07.2011 – The Return

Well kids, the “Interinactivity Returns” tour so far has been a non-stop action-packed adventure, but it turned out I had WAY more than enough comments just from RAW and my “Open Letter To The IWC” to do an “Interinactivity” on it’s own. So 3 weeks early, “Interinactivity” is back, you lucky little clowns.

Before we start, just a heads up – I’m not posting comments anymore. It’s like trying to box a glacier with some of you guys. I’m handle the comments in “Interinactivity” where they belong from now on.

IT’S CLOBBERIN’ TIME!!!

RAW Comments (10.3.2011)

Jack Ryder: Wow that was painful to read through. Seriously bro I couldn’t make it through your Hell in a Cell thoughts because Christian/Sheamus was lame? Henry being put over as a monster heel clean is bad booking? Are you serious bro? Learn the difference between ‘jobbing’ and ‘putting someone over’ you sad little smark. Abandoning this article was the right decision. I don’t know where you were but you need to go right back because you clearly don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. WWYKI.

Blair: Sorry to hear that Christian / Shaemus was so lame you couldn’t make it through my recap. Unless you’re saying that you refused to read my recap BECAUSE I thought Christian / Shaemus was lame. Which is actually stupider. That match actually made it onto the newest Botchamania, so yes bro, I am serious. But you’re right, maybe I should learn the difference between jobbing and putting someone over. Perhaps I should study that guy who’s been in WWE for 15 years jobbing to everyone because he sucks. Oh right, that’s Mark Henry! Woo.

Mastero: ..*votes no confidence in this article* LETS GO WHEELER *clap clap clapclapclap*

Blair: I don’t know why people think I don’t like Wheeler. I like Wheeler.

Cristo: So now we have the HHH show? I’m done, wake me up when it’s good again.

Blair: Only a coma will let you sleep for that long. But the long-term effects of that will still be less damaging.

Owangotang: So nothing was really that good except for Awesome Truth, which consisted of a recap of last night’s end and a Youtube video? I don’t get it. And yea, Henry does resemble Vader. I don’t know how Henry can be blamed for WWE shoving SuperOrton and SuperCena down the fans’ throats so completely that any loss the two suffer is met with “eh, he’ll get him back next PPV”. There is just no self doubt with Cena and Orton. The fans should be thinking, just as Orton should, that he may never beat Henry. We all know better though, as evidenced by the brawl at RAW’s start. They fought evenly, that should not happen.

Blair: Don’t be silly, the Truth / Miz stuff wasn’t THAT good. There is other stuff that I mentioned I thought came off well, but people skimming over that to assuming I hate everything is nothing new. Anyway, by your logic, then Umaga, Shaemus, Bobby Lashley and Great Khali must also have reminded you of Vader. Either that, or it’s just because he does the Vader bomb and happens to be fat, I’ll let you guys make the call on that one. No one is blaming Henry for Orton and Cena, so what don’t you get, exactly? I got no issues with them finally having Cena or Orton lose, what I don’t get is that after years of making it like they couldn’t lose, they finally decide to make one of them lose a couple matches legitimately, and it’s to MARK HENRY. The guy who was losing matches cleanly to Nexus guys last year. What’s to stop Wade Barrett from coming out and just kicking his ass again?

ASGurl: so wait then, NO ONE ELSE HERE thinks it’s odd that the first guy that got one up on Orton and Cena cleanly was MARK HENRY?!!?! mark henry who has spent over 10 years losing to EVERYONE? EVERYONE who has lost to Cena and Orton and MARK HENRY is the one that gets thru. amazing. welcome back BAD, i guess you ARE a more evolved life form, more evolved than most of this site apparently anyway.

Blair: It’s a curse.

Jader: Am I the only one that thinks Vader would be insulted by that comparison? And yeah, this CRAZY WWE will bring back all the viewers wrestling has lost! When they tune in they’ll see Mark Henry with a World Title and the crowd chanting for Triple H as the entire roster abandons him. Come on people.

Blair: We all know that more Mark Henry has been the thing that’s missing from WWE for years. They didn’t want more CM Punk or Daniel Bryan, less John Cena, better wrestling or more intelligent storylines. They just wanted more Mark Henry. Who doesn’t want that, really? We are entering the new golden age. The fans have spoken, and they demand… axehandles.

Pulse Glazer: Henry isn’t in the same league as Vader and should never be mentioned in the same breath as workers, though they are comprable as big guys who killed folks to get over.

Blair: Okay, at least I can agree with you there. But there are a ton of big guys out there who CAN ACTUALLY WORK. So why are they going with Henry? He bores viewers and injures wrestlers. That point can’t be debated. He’s been doing it for over a decade. And, just like above, there are tons of guys from the past few years that ALSO must have reminded you of Vader by that logic.

Pulse Glazer: Henry is now over. Vader in WWE wasn’t particualrly over when he wasn’t doing much.

Blair: … aaaaand you lost me. I remember a comment that someone put on here that stated it well – people don’t want to see Henry lose, they don’t want to see him at all. Vader, at his lowest point in WWE, was still eons ahead of Mark Henry’s highest point.

Jader: Ha. Henry is a footnote at best. 3 guys matter in WWE right now – Cena, Orton, and Punk. Are you (Glazer) actually saying between articles that you’re not into the angle involving the roster but you ARE into MARK HENRY?

Blair: This is what confuses me as well. The argument has been made here that it doesn’t matter that Mark Henry can’t work. That’s one thing that hasn’t really been debated – that he can’t work. I don’t really get how it can be any good if Mark Henry can’t work, but let’s go with that just for a second – so what makes it good then? The entertainment value? So you’re saying that the entertainment value of a Mark Henry main event run is higher than an angle that involves the entire roster?

James Alsop: Only Punk, Orton and Cena matter? I’m fairly certain at least one large-nosed Cerebral Ass will disagree with you there, Jader…

Blair: Yeah, I bet there are a ton of guys on that roster that would argue the same thing for themselves, too. That is because wrestlers are notoriously self-deluded. Really, it makes sense too – how are you going to convince other people to buy your own hype if you don’t buy it yourself?

Joseph Hargrove: Honestly, the only good thing about RAW was seeing the original IC Title back in use. I liked it because of the history and the ones who held it(except Chyna.) Also, don’t get me started on the vote of confidence BS because that was a waste of an ending segment. In short, not pleased with this week’s RAW.

Blair: That original IC Title is money. Was the Vote Of Confidence worse than Santino / Jinder or the Mark Henry stuff? Legit question.

Owangotang: All I’m saying is that Henry is playing the Vader part spot on. He’s not booked as strong as Vader was (how many times did Sting not only lose but get DESTROYED by Vader?) but that is not Henry’s fault. Both men have very similar physiques. Both men took on all challengers and were not the typical mincing heel champion. Both men are absolutely priming the audience to want to see them get annihilated by the face (Sting in the strap match, Orton by tenderizing Henry with a chair). I’m not saying that Henry is as influential, skilled, or revered as Vader. I am saying that Henry is walking a mile in Vader’s shoes.

Blair: Couldn’t ANYONE play that part spot on? It’s not like it’s difficult. Look at all the guys who have done it throughout the past few years even. Again, somewhere at some point, someone said it how it was – people don’t want to see Mark Henry get beat. They don’t want to see him at all.

ASGurl: People don’t want to see Henry lose. They don’t want to see him period.

Blair: THERE it is. Church.

An Open Letter To The Internet Wrestling Community Comments 

Mike Gojira: As for del Rio being portrayed as an evil Mexican, I don’t see the racism that Martin claims to have picked up on. He’s a generic rich guy who happens to be Mexican. The line about booking him by stereotype makes no sense.

Blair: Sure it does. Do you honestly think his gimmick is more slanted toward being rich than towards being Mexican? Have you not heard the exaggerated accent they have this dude talking with? Have you not heard his ring music? Have you seen his ring announcer? So yes, it makes perfect sense, what it says about you is that you’re not as highly sensitive to this stuff as most people are these days. That’s a good thing, trust me. People get way too worked up about this stuff nowadays. You’ll live longer than all of them. But that doesn’t mean it’s not racist.

Mike Gojira: I agree with many of Martin’s points, but it almost seems like he’s attacking many in the IWC because they’re trying to look at things from a positive perspective. True, the WWE and TNA are both guilty of stupidity in this day and age (and I’m not defending either) but Martin seems to be grasping at straws to make his arguments (in the case of the racism especially).

Blair:

 

Now that I made my point there, I submit to you that there’s a gigantic difference between “trying to look at things from a positive perspective” and just swallowing the swill and trying to smile. It’s like when people try that low-fat, no-salt popcorn that you make at home and tell you through clenched teeth that it’s just as good as the popcorn you can get in the theatre. No one actually thinks that. They’re trying to put a good face on it. This is no different.

Mike Gojira: I tend to agree with you on a consistent basis, Blair, but you seem to knock people’s opinions as though they aren’t entitled to them if they disagree with you. If that’s not your intention, I’m letting you know that this is how you come across to some people.

Blair: Come on, Gooch. You know better than this. This was my response that I posted for anyone who didn’t catch it:

Guys, seriously, PLEASE. I realize I didn’t get this response when I covered TNA, not to this degree anyway, and that’s because what TNA does is more universally looked at as terrible. And I don’t see the WWE as being anywhere near as bad as TNA, but the bottom line is with anything, everyone is entitled to their opinions. I’m just speaking the truth as I see it here. Whether you realize it or not, everyone’s “logic” is subjective regarding anything other than a sport with a clear ACTUAL winner and an ACTUAL loser (so, not wrestling). Including mine.

You guys are the ones trying to beat that these guys are doing so awesome down my throat, but sorry, I just can’t swallow it. I guess I got a bigger gag reflex. Does that mean I think you’re idiots? No, it’s wrestling. But it doesn’t mean that I’m wrong. Nor does it mean you’re wrong. I’m saying that I think Henry is a fat waste of space and his title reign will not increase a rating or a butyrate, or bring back any of the gajillion viewers that wrestling has lost. I’m not looking to change anyone’s opinions on Mark Henry or Shaemus or anything else, so why are you trying to change mine?

Regarding my style and what here and in other articles has been called my “gimmick”, which is hilarious by the way, does anyone REALLY want to see me or Martin or Swayze or anyone else take the time to gussy up wording so we can all make nice for a bunch of people we’ll never meet? Why would I feel the need to do that, is it because I would assume that anyone would take anything that I or any other stranger on the internet said personally? Because I don’t agree with them on something related to a fake sport?

Because I would never assume that. I would assume that we’re adults, that people would realize that IT’S THE INTERNET, that it’s wrestling, that it’s supposed to be fun and that people can say what they want with no filter. Unless you’re telling me that I’m writing for and amongst children. Which I didn’t think was the case.

I like you guys, truly I do, and would certainly not come here if I’m not wanted, I can find somewhere else. If I am though, then get used to me differing with your opinion on how awesome Mark Henry is, and a bunch of other stuff too, because I thought that’s what this site was for. And get used to me not rainbow-ing up my wording, because I can’t be bothered. I’ve been back for 5 days. Everyone just relax.

Dave Dubya: I find the comments of “Martin” to be deeply racist, insulting and typical of that of most fans of sports entertainment shows nowadays. He won’t like it up him when Arn & Tully come and sort him out.

Blair: Especially if Arn is in a stabbin’ mood.

CJ: The thing with Mark Henry is…I don’t think it’s bad. In fact, I think Mark’s doing an awesome job. That doesn’t mean I have low standards. It doesn’t mean I just accept shit for what it is. It just means that I (the viewer) am entertained by Mark Henry! In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that, Mark Henry imo is one of the few entertaining aspects of the WWE. Alot of things in WWE are horrible, but imo Mark henry is not one of them. I don’t see the big deal. He’s not the best wrestler, but then again is a guy like that supposed to be putting on technical classics? He just goes in, kicks ass and does what he says. It’s believable and it’s different. Not only is somebody different holding a World Title, but he’s not the typical cowardly heel. He’s a badass monster champion..something we’ve been missing for quite a while. It’s not a sin to like Mark Henry.

Blair: No one’s saying Mark Henry is doing a bad job. The guy is probably busting his ass to do what he’s doing right now, and this is probably the height of where his best effort can take him. Nothing wrong with that. But, if Pete Rose gave us the height of his wrestling ability, should he also be made World Champion? And that also doesn’t mean that ANYONE should just be able to come in, give their best effort, and be made champion for no reason at all. And no, it doesn’t mean you have low standards, but every single reason you just gave why you like Mark Henry, you could give for ANYONE doing what he is doing right now. And make no mistake, ANYONE over 6 feet or with a fat ass could do what Mark Henry is doing right now. So, you don’t like Mark Henry. You like how they’re booking Mark Henry. And what he’s doing is NOT new or fresh. I stated it above. Umaga, Khali, Shaemus and a schwackload of other guys did the same thing just in recent years. And very soon, you’ll think it about Brodus Clay. I personally think they could do a lot better. That’s just me.

CB: I’m still in Vegas one more day and even I had to chime in on this one. Good find Blair, and I do agree that there probably isn’t one person over the age of 18 that actually thinks TODAY is the high point of pro wrestling.

Blair: Even in Vegas you can’t get drunk enough to enjoy a Mark Henry match. But you probably could get drunk enough to mistake his moveset for Great Khali or Zeus.

Mike Gojira: In terms of your booking comment, I can definitely cite Jinder Mahal as a prime example of that. The audience has been conditioned to boo a foreign language from the days of French-Canadian wrestlers, so it’s no wonder that stigma remains.

Blair: This goes back way further than the days of French-Canadian wrestlers, but shouldn’t wrestling have evolved beyond that, or is this just another case of wrestling being one of the slowest forms of entertainment in existence to evolve? Should I, every time I see Jinder Mahal, feel like what I’m seeing sent racial stereotypes back 20 years? You don’t see any present-day sitcoms doing the modern equivalent of “TO THE MOON ALICE!” anymore, do you? But if you do see it, which I guess today would sound something like “you stupid bitch, if you continue to annoy me, I will punch you in the face, and I will punch you repeatedly until you hit another planet”, let me know.

Cynical Bastard: Racist or not, “The Great White” is a horrible nickname and shouldn’t be used by anyone. Anywhere. Regardless of skin tone. Except Shark Boy.

Blair: Horrible is the way he wrestles, so it fits. But hey, he works out with Triple H, and we all are aware that WWE pipes cheers now, so yeah. He’s the newest CORNERSTONE OF THE WWE!!! MOVE OVER CENA!!! NICE TRY PUNK!!!

Mike Gojira: Bottom line is that both companies need to put some work in to earn MY money, but we need to stop knocking people when their opinions differ from our own.

Blair: And don’t forget to label your gym shoes so that they don’t get misplaced at recess.

CheersMatePunk: HERE HERE!

Blair: FIST PUMP!!!

Victor: Wait, I thought his nickname was “The Great White Seamus”. Like Great White Shark. I haven’t heard them call him “The Great White”.

Cynical Bastard: They usually say “The Great White, Sheamus!” This is one of those cases where puncutation applies, kiddies!

Blair: There’s way too much going this week to be splitting these kinds of hairs.

James Alsop: Martin’s completely correct. Companies never, ever used to try for cheap heat with racist stereotypes and angles before now. Like, never. And for goodness’ sake… I thought it was pretty well understood that “The Great White” was a comparison to the famous species of shark. Nothing more, nothing less. Martin’s astute observations probably say more about him than Sheamus / Henry.

Blair: Oh, for… this is the point. Exactly this. It’s a totally outdated concept, and it’s embarrassing to watch in this day and age. It’s past the point of even BEING insulting, it’s just silly.

Owangotang: As much as you do not understand the defense of Mark Henry I equally do not understand the hate. Yes, Henry has been a bottom dweller, comedy sideshow, and a general afterthought throughout his career. Now, however, he is finally being booked as a killer monster heel. Don’t like it? I say the blame falls on Orton and Sheamus. Orton got the rub from so many “legends” during his Legendkiller run that eventually it was inevitable that he’d be a top face of the WWE, however since then who has Orton “made”? Legacy? Ted is barely on Superstars and Cody is only now finding his own way. Christian? Uh…NO. Kofi? STUPID STUPID STUPID! Sheamus has not “made” anyone either but that is understandable considering his limited time near the top. That is still not Henry’s fault. Face it, if Henry had an opponent who knew how to sell getting the hell beaten out of him, say Sting, Hitman, Ricky Steamboat, then Mark’s run at the top would look much more legit. I just don’t get why it’s all Henry’s fault when the guys at the top fail to do their best to pull him up to their level after Henry’s 15 years of sub-mediocrity. Also I noticed the Great White nickname and thought 3 things: 1) Wow, does that make the Rock a Great Brown? 2) They probably were not being racist, and 3) does this make Sheamus a pyromaniac?

Blair: Yes, Henry’s inability to get over is the fault of everyone who’s worked with him. From Batista to D’Lo Brown, from Randy Orton to Shaemus, from Rey Mysterio to Big Show all the way up to The Undertaker. If they were better at what THEY do, Henry would already have been the legend we all know he is for years now. It’s not HIS fault, it’s the fault of every person he’s ever been in a program with. It has nothing to do with the fact that he’s a bloated, immobile tub who sweats every time he BREATHES, which even the defenders of his title run have said is true.

flamingwombat: I find it interesting that this letter is posted in a Blair column, as Blair is by far the worst of the “if you disagree with me you are an idiot” columnists/ commenters. He’s not able to think out of the box (“Mark Henry has sucked for years, so he must suck now” fallacy) and can’t allow those of us who are actually able and willing to see the success of the current booking of Henry as the success it is. Henry sucked when he was used poorly, and now that he’s being booked perfectly, he’s (more than) watchable and a valuable member of the roster. Blair’s constant (seriously, every column – worse than Incognito on every TNA related topic) harping on the Mark Henry/Sheamus topic has become rather petulantly childish. As for the letter itself, alonｇ with its condescending tone and obtuse statements of racism, seems to miss the obvious point that if we were kids growing up watching the current product, it ABSOLUTELY would be the high point of our fandom.

Blair: You can have a complex storyline and still have kids buy into it. The resistance to that concept is hilarious. Speaking of kids and my “childishness”, I know you are, but what am I? Seriously though, you’re saying that he doesn’t suck anymore? What’s gotten better, exactly? Promo skills? Match quality? Moveset? No? Because those are the only things there are. So he doesn’t suck anymore because he’s being booked differently? So they could book Heath Slater to go over him in a 3-minute squash and then Heath can be the new monster and you’d be equally into it? Because you’re basically saying you’d like ANYONE who was booked the way Henry is booked. One week, Heath could go all “URGH, ROAR” on Randy Orton! Then he can do the same to Shaemus! That’s some intriguing character development there!

Futureal: Yeah, today isn’t the high point. It’s not the lowest point, either. Mark Henry may be damaged by 15 years of mediocrity and it might me too late for what they’re doing with him but it’s different, it’s believable and it actually is classic wrestling. A big, fierce, dominant guy who everybody believes can beat the shit out of any opponent. He may not be agile or simply good enough to ever have a 5 star match but the matches he had with Orton weren’t terrible. Come on, Blair. I could see you making a point about the matches being “rather bland and nothing beyond the usual formula” or something, while I would be on the side of “well, they worked the formula well enough and what it lacked in athleticism it had in drama”. But this thing where you call everything the worst of all time is just ridiculous. I often enough enjoy your writing and have fun with your articles but you’ve really gone over the edge somewhere with hating everything.

Blair: Yeah, the thing is, not everyone believes it. Speaking for myself, I find it’s not believable because I have a memory that lasts beyond 6 months. In past years, Mark Henry has been beaten multiple times by Finlay, Evan Bourne, Cody Rhodes, and Drew McIntyre, just to name a few of the more humorous people who have beaten him. Go back even further and you’ll see him being beaten by names that are even more hilarious. So, why would I not just believe that Drew McIntyre wouldn’t come out, DDT his fat ass, pin him and we could be done with this? Nothing, that’s what. It’s not like Henry had some amazing run leading UP to his title run, outside of that Shaemus nonsense. Henry has also been injured and sent back to OVW to “work on his ring skills and conditioning” so many times that it boggles the mind. And again, you guys are always on me for ALWAYS exaggerating, but you’re the ones saying I hate everything. I don’t. READ the articles and you’ll see stuff that I mentioned I didn’t hate.

Futureal: One other example: You called Orton vs. Drew from monday a terrible match. Come on. It was 4 minutes long, everybody hit their moves, the crowd was cheering and it was just there to remind us that Randy Orton, after his title loss, can still dominate a lesser but somewhat credible opponent. A segment like that may seem too pedestrian for you but there wasn’t anything that deserves to be called “terrible”. Nothing. If you disagree, please point to something specific they did that held it back from being at least average or that did damage what they tried to achieve overall. The segment wasn’t designed to be epic and for the ages. It served a purpose and it did so just fine. Do you quit watching a movie and leave the cinema bitching and pissed off because in the first 5 minutes they don’t discover the meaning of life and/or blow up entire cities, they simply set up a character and some surroundings? If so, I won’t think you to be this great harsh critic, I suspect you actually really don’t like movies at all. There is something between the Oscar and Golden Raspberry, you know. And something in between is what we’re getting almost every week in wrestling right now.

Blair: For f… movies you sit through because they are supposed to have a climax of some measure. The payoff to any wrestling feud is a match. It has to be. By definition. And Mark Henry matches are terrible. You said so yourself. So yeah, if this was a movie, I would never be in that theatre and neither would you. You’re attributing opinions to me that I don’t have. No one was expecting a 4-star classic as the opening match of RAW, dude. You said yourself the match was 4 minutes long. I’m not a fan of short matches, especially ones that have someone scoring a 2-count on a guy like Randy Orton after he takes ONE move. If the match was designed to show Orton dominating someone, then he shouldn’t almost lose to one really awful DDT or clothesline.

Although, those two same two really awful moves DID beat the unstoppable Mark Henry. Maybe Drew should be the next monster after all instead of Heath Slater.

Futureal: As for “WOW”, I really haven’t said that in quite some time. You’ve got a point there, it’s been a while since the last “can’t miss” match or “can’t miss” show. I have however said “damn, that was pretty good” and enjoyed myself in the case of…
*Roode vs. Styles, last Impact
*Kurt Angle vs. James Storm, Impact from two weeks ago
*Roode vs. Kazarian, Impact from three weeks ago
*Roode vs. Bully Ray, No Surrender
*Austin Aries vs. Brian Kendrick, No Surrender
*Matt Morgan vs. Samoa Joe, No Surrender

Blair: Which one of these things does not belong…

Futureal: Among others just in the last month. And although I don’t regularly watch WWE, I checked out Henry vs. Orton from Night Of Champions out of curiosity. Slightly above average with a cool moment at the end and good booking in putting the challenger over like a big badass. Enjoyable. There is that word again. It’s okay to call something decent when it is.

Blair: Axe-handles and bodyslam is above average?

Pulse Glazer: Look, I know you’re hopelessly biased against Henry, but Henry Orton and Henry Sheamus were both better than all of: Goldberg / Lesnar. Triple H / Kozlov. Triple H / Steiner. Great Khali / Kane. And for fairness, I’ll toss in AJ Styles vs. Davey Richards from ROH. I know this is your gimmick, but you’re becoming a hopelessly biased caricature.

Blair: You bet your sweet Mark Henry t-shirt they weren’t better. They were just as terrible. Remember how I told you that Shaemus and Christian made the newest Botchamania? Guess what other match made it on there. I don’t know what you mean by AJ and Davey in Ring Of… ohhhh, I get it. My gimmick! Right.

Are you a wrestler?

Legit question.

Are. You. A. Wrestler?

No?

Am I?

No?

Okay then.

Neither of us are wrestlers.

So, we don’t have gimmicks.

Are you going to ask if I’m “working” or “ribbing” you next?

Do I have “heat” with you or “the office” now? You’re not going to “book” me to suck now, are you?

Pulse Glazer: I’m not complaining about 95% of what you do, just that every post AND every comment are about Henry. We get it. Hate, love, or be ambivalent about something else until something changes in the Henry sitation because, seriously, we get it.

Blair: So, you’re saying I just have to wait until he gets injured or sent to OVW again? Also, I think you’re a pretty smart guy regarding most things Aaron, truly I do, but regarding this? No, you don’t get it. You don’t get it at all. You think I’m working a “gimmick”.

sideshowbob: Here’s the thing with all this… They’re lifting the curtain just enough to make EVERYONE feel like they’re in on the insider comments… So the original IWC becomes dated and jaded, but the online presence, due to the increase of the use of technology is simply the new norm for the old ‘mark’. All the texts/emails/polls… That’s no longer the “IWC”. The IWC has become a flawed concept and will be eaten alive by this new way of communicating with the audience… Have you ever been in a building and everyone was going in one direction, and you realized you had to go the other way? It becomes go with the flow or get trampled. Not saying follow the herd, just explaining that cutting across the grain is becoming increasingly difficult.

Blair: Absolutely agree with this. That said though, WWE is well aware that the internet has gotten somewhat popular over the last decade, and that all kinds of people use it. So it’s funny to hear Triple H talk about “warped internet philosophies” and whatnot.

Owangotang: Blair I like what you do. I rarely agree with your opinion and I’m fine with that. I find that your stuff challenges me to really understand what it is I like and why I like it. I know such defense of what ultimately is different tastes is unnecessary but it can be damn fun. I’ll also say this: at least you are consistent. Now, THAT BEING SAID (gimmick infringement baby!) it does seem like you are trending dangerously close to going full Satereau-Fife. I don’t give a damn who has a better “gag reflex”, just own your opinions the same way we own ours.

Blair: I’ve never done anything on here but own my opinion, and I don’t know what “Satereau-Fife” means. And thanks for the kind words.

flamingwombat: Yeah, you can’t be serious making it sound like we’re beating it down your throat when you are the one commenting on nearly every column day after day (even comments as juvenile as “HAHAHAHAHA” on a positive article about Sheamus). You also constantly misrepresent the arguments against your point. “…your opinion on how awesome Mark Henry is…” No one is saying that! We’re saying that he’s being booked perfectly, he’s really over, and he’s running with his push. All the truth. I’ve seen no one say he’s an awesome worker, so you need to lay off the straw man arguments if you want to be taken seriously.

Blair: What? The Shaemus thing is funny to me. I’m wrong for laughing at it? And I’M the one misrepresenting arguments? Wow, let’s analyze that for a second. You yourself, right there, in that comment, JUST said that I’M saying that you guys think Mark Henry is a good worker. So there’s that. Also, you haven’t done this yourself that I’m aware of, but MANY other people have said that I hate EVERYTHING when that SO CLEARLY is not the case. And, right there you said, “he’s really over”. What are you basing that on? JUST the fact that they’re BOOKING him to be over? Take a look at when Mark Henry walks down the aisle after his match last week. People are just blankly staring at him, and he’s yelling at the people blankly staring at him. Is he running with the ball? Yeah, sure he is, and good for him. That doesn’t mean it’s working.

Legion: Honestly, I agree with Blair on the Henry thing. If it were something new, then yeah I might buy it. But Henry, aside from the brief periods here and there, has ALWAYS been booked as the monster unstoppable heel. How many times has Henry come down and ripped the door off a steel cage? It’s the same thing every time. The only difference is that he always failed to get over, and his push would end before it would ever get to the Main Event level. The closest I ever remember monster heel Henry getting there ended when he was fed to the Taker’s streak a few years back. This is just the first time they actually pulled the trigger on him. Just because it isn’t Orton or Cena with the World title doesn’t make it “new”.

Blair: YES!!! SOMEONE ELSE AGREES!!! THE OCCUPATION IS OVER!!! LONG LIVE THE RESISTANCE!!!

Dave Dubya: Mark Henry is far from being a perfect character. But WWE seem to be conflicted on how to write his angles. They’re making the same mistakes they did when Vader was in WWF….when Henry could plausibly be set up as a monster bad guy (like Vader in WCW) who squashes everyone in the ring…but doesn’t need to say too much in the build up (or has a manager to speak for him). Against Randy Auton…who gives a fark? Randy Auton isn’t likable enough a character to want him to win, nor has he been given anything from which to triumph over.

Blair: Except that when they abandon Mark Henry… again… it will just be funny.

Mark Patrol: Did anyone else ever notice that Assgurl’s IP address is the same as Blair’s?

Mike Gojira: Considering “she” ALWAYS jumps in with, “Blair is the greatest EVAH” with little to no commentary on his actual column, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Pulse Glazer: Yeah noticed the other day, but didn’t realize you could see other’s IP…?

Blair: Fucking amazing comments here. Now I’m commenting on my own articles as ASGurl! Like that Elvy dude! There’s no way to track IP’s on comments that I’m aware of, unless only the people with admin privileges could see them. That was something I said to see if the trolls would go away, which they did, at least until Keith brought Elvy or whoever down on us.

flamingwombat: Lastly, you also seem to really want to portray yourself as the rebel free-thinker of the Pulse staff. However, you realize that it’s YOU who follows the standard IWC script and aren’t willing to be open minded, right? “Henry always sucked so he sucks now”. “Sheamus is only getting a push because he’s HHH’s workout buddy”. That’s the general mindset and you follow it goosestep. Many of us here are willing to adapt our thoughts and opinions on these two wrestlers based on what is actually currently happening. Not what used to happen, nor what we think should happen, nor what we want to happen. No one is offended by anything you have to say; it’s just that what you have to say is getting rather tiresome.

Blair: Oh, brother. My gimmick again? This is a good question to end on.

Can’t it just be that I have higher standards? Can’t it just be that maybe, JUST maybe, I’m more attuned into the mindset of the over 50% of the wrestling audience that abandoned wrestling in the past decade? RAW used to get 5, 6, and 7 ratings consistently. Now, they’re at a 3 if they’re lucky. SmackDown and Impact do way worse. So, maybe, as a favor to yourselves, you could entertain the argument that maybe, JUST maybe, there are a lot more people that think things suck a lot more, even more than I do, who don’t watch, don’t bother to go on wrestling sites or just don’t leave comments? Is that not possible at all?

Because the thing is, I don’t really watch wrestling anymore either. And when I turn it on, I absolutely see why so many people tuned OUT. I did those 3 shows this month because it was “suggested” I do so, which was fair. I will YouTube something if I hear that it’s good or it sounds like it might be good. I keep up with what’s going on. But yet, to a LOT of people on here, that means that if I don’t WATCH the entire show (and apparently YouTube doesn’t count) then I’m not qualified to offer an opinion on a Mark Henry title run.

How do I know it’s bad?

Because I have 15 years of experience to draw on that tells me that Mark Henry is terrible.

How do I know he’s not any better now than he was before?

Because no one can name a single way that Mark Henry is better now than he was before. Except that he’s being “booked better”, which, again IS NOT A THING. ANYONE, literally ANYONE, can be “booked well”, and that doesn’t make the individual themselves any better or worse.

Let me ask you guys a question. How do you think someone who had tuned out to wrestling in the past decade would react to you telling them that Mark Henry was World Champion and was beating dudes left and right? You would be met with one or more of these responses:

1. “Ha!”
2. “Who?”
3. “The guy that boned that old lady?”
4. “You still watch wrestling?!?!”

I’m reaction 1. Do you really think I’m the only one who would react that way? Do you really think that makes my opinion any less valid, because I’m with the majority who knows better than to spend 2-10 hours a week watching this slew that wrestling has become? Because if so, then you also think you know better than alllll those people who tuned out, who would tell you, as I would, that they wouldn’t watch a Mark Henry title run even if doing so would give them an added 2 inches.

But no, I bet millions of the billions who stopped watching wrestling would TOTALLY tune back in if they ONLY had some way of knowing that our man Mark Henry was finally on top. Some kind of “internet”, if you will.

So go ahead, guys, spread the Mark Henry word. Tell everyone how well he’s being “booked”. Let’s see how much ratings go up. I’m sure we’ll find out that me not being into it must just be my “gimmick”.

Whew! I just ran a marathon here. That’s it for my return edition! As always, thanks everyone for the comments. I’ll leave you with this – it’s supposed to be fun, don’t take it personally, and stand up for some standards. We’re wrestling fans, we deserve it.

I’ll be in my trailer.

Blair