Well I got a good amount of feedback last week when I said I was done with WWE, so it’s response time! But before I get to that, I have to give some kudos to someone. See, I like to Google myself every now and then. I google myself the other day and I come across the Gamespot message board for some odd reason. I’m reading through these posts and wondering where or why my name is there. Then I come across a quote from my column last week: ” TNA will not bring WWE down. WWE is and will continue bringing itself down.”-Dan Hevia. So thanks FaithRiot, whoever you are, for passing the good word of Hevia along in your signature. On with the show…
Great article. I don’t things will change until they are pushed to change. Take care. – Michael Hale
Good point, but they’ve been pushed, shoved and shat on in the past year or so and nothing has really changed, unless you count midgets.
Hi,
I just read your column on RAW and thought I’d send a few comments. I don’t usually do this, but thought I might as well.
I have also gone for a diehard wrestling fan to a extremely casual fan within the last year, and it’s for the same reason you mentioned. In the past few years it’s just a effort in frustration.
You are right about Stef too. I am a 23 year old recent graduate of a film and television production program. You can’t just learn the art of writing by “being around the business all your life”. Writing compelling stories for film, and television especially is extremely difficult. With television the stories have to have long arcs, with payoffs that roll over and continual cliffhangers. She went to school for business, how they runs the creative department, and hires on writers is ridiculous. As least Shane got over wishing he was a wrestler when he realized it wasn’t going to work out (regardless that he killed the revival of Kane’s career). Stef is what is wrong with the company more then anything, because like you said with Christian (also one of my favorites) stories are brought up, dropped, never explained, random etc.
WWE currently reminds me of WCW in 1991 between when Flair left, and the Dangerous Alliance was formed. No direction, just there. – Paul M
Pretty much. They have no direction. It’s kind of like the Russo Era with nothing remotely successful going on. Let’s be honest, there was a tiny bit of direction with Russo but really it was just crazy. The reason all of us got into it was because we hadn’t seen crazy and dug it. Now it’s crazy but crazy with no substance. Additionally, at the very least Shane is a more credible wrestler than the midgets and some of the women (Not Trish. Not Vicky. Not Micki. Settle down) and he’s also better than some of the tag teams. Be honest, if Shane went toe to toe with The HeartThrobs, you’d expect him to win.
I could not agree with you more. I have been a rasslin’ fan since I was a
kid, I am now 36. I think last nights show was really my last. I think if
they made it more sports related (real rankings, announcers who didn’t have
to stick their face into the action, bouts for the title rather than dumb
ass “stories”) guys like me wouldn’t be “ashamed” to watch. The soap opera
part makes me sick. Lance Storm, Y2J and Christian are my guys…who now?
They have made it very easy not to care haven’t they? – Jason McCants
Well, you have Mc before your name so I’m assuming your Irish. Tip the beer to you for that one. Lace Storm actually showed up at the end of the Hardcore Homecoming show this past weekend and helped Justin Credible, so he is still around and if he isn’t there, he always has his book club. Y2J will be doing his first interview soon and Christian is apparently in negotiations with TNA and WWE…yeah…In response to your last question, yes, they have made it ridiculously easy not to care. Simply because they don’t care themselves.
I blame all of this on the absence of Hyatte – theclarke
What are you blaming on Hyatte’s absence? I don’t understand. Funny that you CCed to Widro though. Hyatte is actually doing a bang up job in his new place. He’s getting closer to boning April Hunter than I ever will, getting legal threats and he even got to give Mark Madden’s mom The Heartless Jackal the other week. So for what it’s worth, I’m not not watching WWE programming because Hyatte is gone, it’s because WWE sucks.
Dan,
I’ll be honest. I haven’t read a lot of articles from you, but I have read some, and you do a fantastic job. But I’m here to help you, to make you love wrestling again.
I have been a wrestling fan for over 20 years, but there are times when I’ve had to take a break. The most recent times was the return of Hogan and the NWO right before Wrestlemania, then after being hooked back in, within the last few months after the horrible storylines involving Edge, Lita, Kane, Snitsky, etc. I even gave up reading recaps on the net, Vinny Mac had pissed me off so badly.
Recently, I’ve been looking at the net again, and finally, I decided to watch wrestling for the first time in months. But I didn’t watch the WWE, for the first time I watched TNA. Now, I don’t know what it was. Perhaps it was the fresh faces, whatever it may be, the TNA product is MILES ahead of the WWE right now.
I had heard about the new guys like AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, etc, and it was nice to see the old faces (Konnan, Road Dogg, the Dudley Boys, Rhino to name a few). The storylines were better, the wrestling was MUCH better (just watching Styles and Daniels was awesome), and overall, it was a better show. Give it a chance. The show focuses on wrestling and good storylines, not crap.
Honestly, I know people hate Jarrett, and I know they feel he will probably put the world title back on himself again soon (probably Thursday), but overall the product is superior and should be given a chance to shine. WCW was horrible, but it needed the WWE to put the nail in the coffin. TNA can put that nail in the WWE’s coffin if given a chance.
I just ask of one thing. Thursday, primetime, 8 p.m. eastern on Spike, TNA will have a two hour special. WATCH IT. If you’re mind is unchanged, if you don’t want to watch again, that will be understandable. Jarrett and Rhino will rematch for the world Title. The Dudleys will be in action against Team Canada, and there will be an ultimate X match. Two hours, all I ask. – UTB
Well thanks for admitting that you never read me unless I say I’m quitting in the teaser. Gees! As for your request, I did sit down and watch TNA on Thursday. Jarrett vs. Rhino bored me to death, even when AMW put Rhino through a table. By the way, the setup for the leg drop is a crazy sex move. Ultimate X just doesn’t do it for me. It’s like crazy kids on monkeybars. The thing with a ladder match is that spots happen that look like they weren’t supposed to. Everything in Ultimate X looks contrived. As for the rest of the show, Monty Brown is a presence, but if he screams in my damn ear again I’ll lose my mind. Anything with AJ Styles is supposed to be good, so no shock there. Overall, TNA’s product is good, but it’s not something I can get into right now. I appreciate it though.
Fantastic column! Its too bad you’re giving up the game though. I
really wasn’t looking forward to Eric S. coming back anyway. I’ll stick
around and read whatever you got. Good luck to you in the future. – Matthew Peters
If I had clipped the brake line instead of the tranny fluid, he wouldn’t be back. OH TAG SON!
Amen.
I hope Christian does go to TNA and become its biggest star. I hope he puts on MotY candidates with Samoa Joe and Petey Williams and A.J. Styles and anyone else TNA’s got who is good. (Which is a lot; they’ve got an awesomely talented roster in O-Town.) And if there is such a thing as the “for the want of a nail,” it would make me giddy to no end to see WWE’s collapse begin with someone who WWE perceives as a mid-carder be the one to start it. If I’m Dixie Carter (who’s unbelievably hot in that Stacy’s Mom kinda way; check out the recent PWI for proof), I’m giving Christian a contract over breakfast and ask him to talking Jericho to join over lunch.
The only way that WWE can be saved, and I’m serious when I say this, is that Shane does to Vince what Vince did to his dad: hostile takeover. Since Shane is still around at the arenas and such, wouldn’t it be something to see him get all the major, important players in his corner (JR comes to mind), and pretty much all of the talent sans HHH and HBK, then announce to Vince out of the blue “OK Dad, time to stop hurting this company, we’re taking over”? He does that, and he could be the savior of pro wrestling as we know it.
Or maybe it’s better that WWE dies a slow, wretched death. Let the grass grow. Let the flowers breathe. Let the trees get big. Let TNA and ROH be our main two sources for wrestling. Let the NWA do the territorial thing again like the old days. I’m only buying one more WWE product (the Bret DVD), then that’s it. I stopped watching this company back in June, before there were signs of any trouble. Judging by the abysmal state it is now, it was clearly the right thing to do.
Well, since you began with a prayer, I’m going to call you Jebus. For whatever reason NONE of the stores around me have PWI anymore. I almost thought it was dead. However, your second statement…Shane killing Vince…yes. The only problem is with the stock. It isn’t like the old days where you could get guys on your side and send your dad to an early grave. Shane would have to find a way to get the stock out of Vince’s hands. That won’t be easy. As for TNA and ROH, I just don’t see them being big enough or smart enough to replace WWE should WWE die. The one thing that Vince and Co. has always been are shrewd marketing people. TNA and ROH don’t have those talents. Believe me, if WWE died a new company would spring up that would rape TNA and ROH.
Hey man. I’ve been reading your column on Inside Pulse for a good few months now. I just read the most recent one and I must say I can’t blame the way you feel. I myself have felt the same way concerning the WWE for some time now. But I stopped watching just about two weeks before Hardy was brought back. I had stopped watching Smackdown the moment they actually put the title on JBL. Now you listed all the problems with the WWE and solutions to fix them. I agree with every point you made. But, there’s also one more big glaring problem they have. Vince, much like Bishoff back in 98, believes that his company is invincible. You can just tell by the way they book and write the shows. So who was on top in 2000? Who’s been brought into the main event as fresh meat since then? We have Cena, Batista, Eddie, JBL, and Benoit. Edge is borderline and I don’t count HBK, since he simply took his 97 spot back. So they elevated 5 guys in 5 years. Lets take into account that Benoit and Eddie could have and probably should have been elevated much sooner. And also throw in that JBL’s push was handled completely wrong, as they SHOVED, not elevated really, but shoved him into the main event. Ok, so we’ve essentially got the same people we’ve had on top for 5 years now, with very few new faces. The WWE doesn’t want to believe it has to rebuild itself again. After all, Vince has a big ego problem. He probably feels that rebuilding once was enough, that he won’t have to do it again. He wants to believe he can go and create new stars instantly overnight. But that’s not the way it works. Any smart fan that’s watched for a few years can tell you that.
Besides, the truth is that the current top guys aren’t exactly getting
younger. On Raw’s side, you have Angle and Michaels with past back and neck
problems. Who knows exactly how many more years they can go? Benoit and
Eddie have been wrestling at a high level for the longest time. Who knows
how many years their bodies have left? Triple H is injury prone now. Think
of how bad he’ll be two or three years down the road. This all points to the need to start creating new stars. They’ll be ready to replace the old ones when the time comes, and they can freshen up the program in the process. But as I said before, Vince is a proud and egotistical man. He feels the in-ring product can be de-emphesized as long as you have SOMETHING entertaining on the screen. That’s true some of the time, but certainly not all of the time. Plus, it’s not like the writing crew knows what the hell is entertaining anyway. Well, I should wrap this up. I can feel your frustration as one fan to another. Here’s hoping that someday soon, the E manages to get their heads out of their asses before it’s too late. Thanks for reading. – Ryan L
Take your list and see who has/will sustain their main event push. Benoit certainly didn’t. The only thing holding him above all else is that he’s the man. Eddie got dropped and is just getting back into the swing of things. Cena will get dropped once he drops the belt. JBL is worthless. Batista should be damn close to retirement age-wise. So yes, they need to build up new stars. Christian should’ve been/should be one of them. Additionally, you’re correct in that they are in a complete state of denial regarding rebuilding. Nostalgia works for guys like Hogan and Austin because they were the two biggest draws in the history of the business. Nobody gives a shit about Goldust and Vader.
Hey Dan, I have a few thoughts to add to your column.
I think some of your ideas would work, and I really feel that most of the main management should be fired, but we all know that until Vince is given a vote of no confidence by the shareholders (not that it would matter sense he is the majority shareholder anyway) that nothing will change because Vince loves ass kissers, that is why Paul Heyman is in OVW right now.
I would love for him to not resign with Vince and go work for TNA where he would be better utilized. Heyman is the best booker ever and proved it with ECW and even in OVW from what I’ve read about the OVW tapings they are better then what is on Smackdown and Raw even better then what we are getting as PPV’s.
I have thought about not watching wrestling anymore but I have such a passion and love for the sport that I can’t give it up no matter how bad it is, just in case I miss something that is really good. I now TiVo both Raw and Smackdown, so I can fast forward thru the crap stuff.
I have a few things to say about TNA I would suggest you TiVo or Tape it and watch a few episodes, and watch them at your convince, because they are light years better then WWE, they are still getting there legs and will improve, but they are offering something that is so much fresher then what they have on WWE TV right now. Sure they do have the WWE/WCW rejects but they do need them to bring in the older fans who used to watch during the “attitude” era of pro wrestling. Petey Williams is amazing and so is A.J. Styles, Monty Brown should be NWA Champ and hopefully they will make that move soon now that Jarrett has the title back.
There are a lot of reasons to at least give TNA a chance, I’m sure that once you see it on a regular basis it will grow on you, I bought a few of the weekly PPV’s and I will admit that they were better, but they had more time to cut amazing promos and give matches more time to tell a story.
Touching on the whole Christian story, I hate to see him go he was one of the main reasons I watched Smackdown recently, I have been hoping that maybe Eddie would somehow beat Batista, and they would allow Christian to have a nice long feud with Eddie, and get what he deserves. Now that I see how much of a pro he really is I have sooo much more respect for him he could have pulled a no show and told the “E” to shove it, but he’s not working with a contract and is still making good on his already set TV dates. I hope he goes to ROH or TNA and just gets a chance to shine I feel that when and if he goes to TNA that will bring in a lot of disheartened fans. I hope you are right and he gets a chance to become NWA champ or at least X division champ because we all know he can fly with the best of them.
Thanks for your time in reading this and please check out TNA it is worth the time to at least tape it. – Eric
Out of principle, I shouldn’t respond to this email. When your font is blue and you SpElL YoUr NamE lIkE ThIs, it’s a bad thing. I have already touched on TNA. In regards to Christian, he was professional when the situation called for him to be unprofessional. But Johnny Ace doesn’t give a shit about that. You better take this lowball contract and f*cking love it!
You are preaching to the choir, buddy.
I used to be a die-hard WWF viewer myself. But, it just got to the point where they absolutely refused to mix anything up.
The whole fiasco that was the Invasion pretty much killed my interest. And the constant misuse of talent because they are or were either A) smaller guy or B) not Vince creations.
Then again, neither of those factors are exactly new problems. The list of talent abuse by way of burial is staggering and flat out embarrassing because of the stupidity. Christian is the just the latest example.
Anyway, good column. Always like a solid anti-WWE rant. – JHN
I think any book that covers the history of the business covers your points. I especially recommend Scott Keith’s books. If Vince didn’t make it, he will break it. If you aren’t as big or bigger than Vince, you will receive no push. Simple stuff that takes a good company and makes it die.
I have read you fairly steadily and haven’t e-mailed a wrestling columnist since Hyatte, maybe three years ago. I live in Calgary, with its rich wrestling tradition, and have been a fan in the good times and bad for almost 20 years. It was sweet to be a fan when wrestling was “In Vogue” in the glory years, and I have stuck with it in these current bad times. In the bad times I speak of, the one guy keeping me watching was Christian. Even in the early day of The Brood, I found myself watching him more then Edge, despite the fact WWF(E) was clearly hyping Edge as the Shawn Michaels of the team, and he has been my favorite performer for the last few years. I was so optimistic in these down times, when he was getting his semi-push, that my favorite wrestler was getting a chance to shine. I was again interested in the business, despite getting ridiculed for still watching it now that it is no longer “cool”. Finding out the news that he’s been released has pretty much cinched my decision to no longer watch, as Christian was the only thing keeping me watching the product. Your last column beautifully put to words my thoughts and views of the current wrestling landscape the last year or two, and your support of Jay compelled me to write this. I will forward a copy of this e-mail to wwe.com adding that with the departure of Christian and the absolute drivel they have fed me, as well as the re-hased, tired unorigianal angles, that I will no longer be watching their product. As a staunch supporter through thick and thin, this pains me, but Christian was the last straw. Sorry for the length, but like I said I’ve never felt compelled to write someone in years, and all I can hope is maybe it may make a bit of difference if enough loyal, die-hards like me who have finally given up, can maybe make their voice heard.
Now I’m making progress. When I can get someone to email me that hasn’t emailed a columnist in three years, I did something either a) malicious to their mom or b) really good in my column. In response to your statements, Christian always stood out when he was with Edge. It was very blatant to us that WWE wanted Edge to be the HBK/Bret of the team. Hell, they’re still trying to get him over at a time when his dick has more heat than his in ring work. Additionally, I hope you included a link to my column when forwarding the email to WWE. If you did…Hey Johnny Ace! Go f*ck yourself! I’d like to see a “no talent midcarder” break the truck of your skateboard off in your spine!
Thanks for all the emails guys. To put it mildly, I knew that I would push some buttons. When you write on the net you become somewhat responsible. WWE can talk all the shit it wants about netwriters being nothing but wanna-bes who will never be a part of the business, but they have stolen so much shit from us that it doesn’t take a Eugene to see that they know we know our shit. We know what will get over. We know how to get it over and we don’t have an agenda. So when Eric says that the three fans I was thinking of were him, myself and Scooter, he was right. However I doubt I am respected yet. Regardless, WWE should give us a go with it. I’ll tell you who I would want on the booking commitee with us: Harley Race and Paul Heyman. I know I said I would want Heyman to oversee everything, but whatever. Additionally, hire Jake Roberts as a special advisor for promos. The man is pure gold…or cocaine. Whatever.
– Chris Benoit’s contract is up soon and Johnny Ace has let him know that he really isn’t worth a good contract. In related news, Benoit has been walking around backstage telling people that his name is Ch-Ch-Ch-Chris Benoit, telling people to get the tables and has been seen eating a ridiculous amount of peeps. Hey Johnny Ace! Scroll up douche bag!
– JR’s contract is up soon and everyone says that WWE won’t let him go. Of course they won’t. But after the way he was treated, don’t you think they won’t have the choice? If JR signs with them again he obviously didn’t really get his head out of his ass.
– Bret Hart finally settled his lawsuit with Lloyds of London. I never knew a kick could take so long to work out in court. Kudos to Lloyd’s for trying to use Owen’s death to get out of the lawsuit. It seems everyone tries to use his death for something. In fact, the reason Hyatte left was because of Owen’s death. See, I let the cat out of the bag.
– No Mercy’s buy rate sucked. Wait, WWE had No Mercy this year? I thought Homecoming was the PPV…
– WWE says that Austin missed Taboo Tuesday due to a back injury from moving furniture. Right…”moving furniture” is code for “he pummeled his girlfriend with a table lamp and pulled his back.”
– Joey Styles will be Raw’s play-by-play man for the foreseeable future. Apparently WWE needed two weeks to figure out that Coach does indeed suck.
– Paul Heyman’s contract is up soon and he apparently has some outside projects he can do. Most people are saying WWE won’t let him go. Ummm…read what I said about JR.
– WWE is considering using Greg Valentine and a bunch of other legends in various on camera roles in the future. One more reason not to turn the program back on.
– Tajiri apparently doesn’t want to be a reporter too soon, because he signed for another 2-3 years. That little Japanese f*cker must like looking at lights.
– During an appearance in New York this past weekend, Bret Hart said he would love to have a final match against Angle, Benoit or Orton, but he would never do it in a WWE ring. Never mind the other shit, Orton? Why in the hell would Bret want to take on Orton? So Orton could shit in his bag?
– A settlement conference for the Lesnar vs. WWE case is set for 12/15. Merry Christmas WWE! Your no competes are f*cked!
On a personal note, I did not attend either of Victoria’s appearances this past weekend, despite saying I would. Quite simply, I didn’t feel good all day and couldn’t see myself going to Staten Island at 10 in the morning or New Jersey in the afternoon. If you went send me a picture.
Time for me to go to Best Buy, grab a DVD, get some dinner and sit down in front of the TV just in time for…CSI. Adios!
