For Panda Energy and the Jarretts to be successful with their Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion, they need to present an entirely different product than that of Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Entertainment, which is the Godfather of pro wrestling today. Ever since going to the monthly pay-per-view format TNA has failed to deliver in terms of an alternative product. Yes, the X Division is exciting and unique, but for this discussion I’m referring to the NWA World Heavyweight Title.
TNA has trotted out wrestlers well past their prime, one after another, for champion Jeff Jarrett to face at their Sunday spectaculars. Kevin Nash. Jeff Hardy. Diamond Dallas Page. Did I see Macho Man Randy Savage there for a few seconds? These rehashed has-beens are the past, while The Phenomenal AJ Styles is the future.
With Jarrett defending his championship against “Mr. TNA” AJ Styles at the Hard Justice ppv on May 15th, TNA has finally started moving in the right direction. Styles is one of the most exciting, innovative performers in any wrestling ring, with a great look and a strong fanbase as well. After years of devotion to the company and with fans chanting outside of kayfabe for Jarrett to “drop the strap”, the time seems right for Styles to step into the spotlight. However, instead of focusing on the right man being in the right match at the right time, TNA’s brain trust has chosen to mire the main event with a celebrity guest referee: “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz, from the mixed-martial arts world of Ultimate Fighting Championship.
TODAY’S ISSUE: Celebrity Guest Officials in Professional Wrestling.
The two sides of bringing in celebrity guest officials are:
1. (PRO) The celebrity catches the eye of casual fans, and convinces them to buy the event on pay-per-view.
2. (CON) The celebrity’s presence distracts from the main participants and causes the match to be about the referee, not the competitors in the ring.
From a non-kayfabe or practical standpoint, I understand the promoter attempting to create a buzz over an event by including a famous person from outside the established pro wrestling arena. However, Styles is over enough with fans that his opportunity to wrest the NWA gold from Jarrett ought to be able to stand on it’s own merit as a promotional vehicle to sell the Hard Justice show.
Within kayfabe, it’s hard to swallow that a man from a submission fighting background has ANY business officiating a world championship professional wrestling match. Is he studying the NWA rule book to prepare for his responsibilities in the match? Doubtful…
At least when Iron Mike Tyson was brought in as an official for the Michaels-Austin WWF title match at WrestleMania XIV, he was scheduled to be an outside “enforcer” with instructions to prevent DX from interfering on behalf of champion Shawn Michaels. He was a tough, feared, and respected world-class competitor at the time, so that task seemed within reason. The same applies to Chuck Norris at Survivor Series 1994.
Even The Greatest, Muhammad Ali, was given an outside-the-ropes position of authority at the very first WrestleMania in the main event tag team match featuring Hogan and Mr. T with Snuka versus Piper and Orndorff with Orton, while Pat Patterson was the appointed referee.
None of these guest enforcers were actually expected to officiate these important contests. Keeping outsiders from reaching the ring is different from refereeing a contest. Imagine trying to explain the 10-count rule for a double knockdown to Muhammad Ali (as he was at the time, I mean). Even better, imagine Mike Tyson trying to learn about the subtle judgment calls officials make regarding holding a choke until the 4.5 count, or allowing a certain amount of the action to occur on the floor before threatening to disqualify one or both wrestlers.
If a match is expected to be slow or unexciting, then adding a new element to the mix makes sense. This was true of the Kane-Big Show match at WWF’s Fully Loaded 1999 ppv. The two could not put on an entertaining match, so the Big Shot, Hardcore Holly was appointed special guest referee. Holly had beef with both men, so it was a matter of the referee as the wildcard. Who would he screw over? This question was the only reason for fans to not heed the call of nature or go buy some nachos during this match. It still sucked, by the way, but at least I understand what they were going for there. Granted, Hardcore Holly isn’t a celebrity guest, but he was a special guest referee nonetheless.
The same can be said for Mick Foley. Good Old Cactus Jack has donned the zebra stripes on many occasions, and his involvement always added another point of intrigue to the matches he officiated. With his long and successful pro wrestling career, it’s reasonable to assume that Foley is intimately familiar with the rulebook, especially considering his multiple terms in the “Commissionary Position” of the WWF. Therefore, I can accept Foley as a guest referee easier than some others.
AJ Styles has the goods to deliver a fantastic match against Jarrett, and with the very real possibility that the title will change hands, the match is not lacking in anticipation. I know the storyline reasons to bring in Ortiz are that (a) Jarrett is a master student of Eddie Guerrero’s Cheat to Win philosophy, and (b) Jarrett’s posse of Monty Brown, The Outlaw, and his lawyer like to get involved in his title defenses. But the real reason to spice up a match with a special guest is because creative has limited faith in the competitors’ ability to draw a crowd on their own. That’s not the case with this Jarrett-Styles showdown.
This match should be a defining moment in TNA’s existence. It should represent a changing of the guard and a passing of the torch. It should be a monumental event in the landscape of TNA, but I suspect it will wind up as just another overbooked fiasco. If AJ emerges victorious, I fear Tito Ortiz may overshadow AJ’s rise to the top of the mountain.
It wouldn’t have been too difficult to build up to Jarrett-Styles without Ortiz if the creative team had booked it as one of the most important matches in TNA history. But then, they should have done more to build up Styles for this opportunity, as well. Beating Abyss in a cage is a significant accomplishment, but how exactly did that become a number 1 contender showdown? There was no real logic to that booking. I don’t believe you can just say, “OK, the winner of this match is the number one contender.” Had Abyss even been anywhere near the title recently? No. I don’t want to go too deep into that issue in this column; either way, AJ was dubbed the number one contender.
HARD JUSTICE results: I’ll admit I did not see the ppv, but after reading the reports I must say my fears were somewhat confirmed. Yes, the correct man won the match, and I’m very happy creative has decided to give AJ Styles a run with the gold. But from what I read, it seems Ortiz was a major factor, and his presence was integral to the storyline of the match. I feel it casts a shadow on Styles, and that AJ would have looked far stronger if he could have fought of Jarrett’s allies and won the title single-handedly, without the aid of a guest referee. Sometimes the right results can play out the wrong way, and the new champion doesn’t appear as strong as he could/should have.
During his feud with Mr. McMahon, Stone Cold Steve Austin was often placed in situations where the odds favored his opponent by a landslide, and yet he always found a way to come out on top, all by himself. That’s what I hoped was in store for AJ Styles at Hard Justice, but that’s not what happened. I guess we’ll just have to wait to see how he’s booked now, as the champion. His first opponent for the NWA World Heavyweight Title is the monster Abyss, whom AJ defeated a month ago to earn the match with Jarrett. They’ll have to do something on the next four iMPACT! shows to reestablish Abyss as a huge threat to AJ and his title. Let’s wait and see…
We now return you to your regularly scheduled reality.
p.s. – May the Schwartz be with you.
