Today’s Episode: Halfway There
I find it interesting when I read articles from writers on this website, as well as the others that I occasionally stumble across, that talk about how Raw is usually unwatchable, although there are occasional bits of success on the shows. They point to a great match between CM Punk and Jericho (such as the one from last week), and then bash the rest of it as puerile trash.
Much has been made of how internet wrestling journalists, we members of the “enthusiast press” who do this out of love of the game rather than any kind of payment or reimbursement, tend to focus on the negatives that we find, even going so far as to purposely dislike anything that any major company puts out, much like how indie film reviewers immediately hate anything that comes out of mainstream Hollywood. I found those people back when I was in college, and I remember being looked down upon because I happened to enjoy movies put out by major studios, as opposed to something shot for $7.50 in their mother’s basement, and focusing on the plight of Eastern Idaho suburbanites tenuous relationship with a lonely rock squirrel named “Jenkins.” Actually, that really doesn’t sound too bad.
But I’m getting away from the point. Why don’t we allow ourselves to like anything that WWE or TNA puts out? It’s highly fashionable to bash both of those companies right now, meanwhile endlessly fellating Ring of Honor or Chikara or PWG or FIP, all of which certainly do have quality matches and wrestlers, but oftentimes send out stuff that’s just as objectionable as any federation with a TV deal.
Truth be told, TNA is hard to watch for me ever since I was taken off duty recapping it, and is most likely to be skipped on my TiVO catch-up time. However, there are good things happening there, and it’s unfair of us to say that the entire company is a complete bust when they really are trying new things all the time, some of which stick, some of which don’t. Certain things hit well, such as Team 3D’s support of Frontline, and Sting’s inner conflict on hanging out with the Main Event Mafia. Other aspects, such as the existence of “Cute Kip” in the otherwise awesome “Beautiful People” stable, kind of sour me, as does the continued use of a “Sarah Palin” character who is, obviously, not Sarah Palin.
Of course, I’ve always had a soft spot for Shannon Spruill, aka Daffney, so I’ll let it slide.
Still, what motivated me to write this column wasn’t TNA’s faults, failures, and occassional successes, but instead a number of rising starts in the WWE, notably guys like John Morrison and the Miz.
But mostly the former.
Since winning the ECW championship, Morrison has surprised me every single week not only due to his incredible improvement in the ring, but, in the last few months, the absolutely incredible television that he and the Miz have put on every time they’re onscreen. Miz and Morrison are reminiscient of the best stuff done by Edge and Christian, not because they have some kind of dopey Bill and Ted act, but that they follow the same formula that might make them so entertaining, that they could be switched to incredible babyfaces with only the slightest push in the other direction:
They are vicious, vile, despicable bastards. And they’re funny. And smart as hell.
When I first started writing this column, I begged for smart wrestling television, with interesting characters that didn’t treat the audience like fools, and storylines that could resemble something on Heroes or Law and Order. I know that’s a lot to ask for (even as Heroes kind of dipped this season), but I think that wrestling fans are seen as idiots because the show caters to idiots. If it caters to a more intelligent, discerning viewer, it raises the standards that it must hit each week, but it also raises the calibur of its viewers, as those who can barely tie their shoes tune into something else, perhaps old episodes of Naruto, and they’re replaced by a new, smarter audience. Of course, this only works to such a degree, because people of a certain temperment will never be into wrestling, regardless of the intelligence level of the show. In the end, it’s still just dudes hitting other dudes, no matter how much we try to analyze it.
And we’re finally getting characters who don’t cater to the lowest common denominator. Miz and Morrison are egomaniacs, of course, but what makes them so great is that they can beat teams without resorting to cheating (although they almost always do regardless), are often cruel excuses for human beings, but are smarter than all of their adversaries. Why didn’t anyone else come up with the bell solution for the nigh indestructible Festus? WE all thought of it!
But it’s not just that: their jokes require knowlege. They’re the only guys, other than HHH, who seem allowed to speak truth instead of just act as caricatures. How come they’re allowed to point out that Mark Henry isn’t always strong, but is often just fat? I thought only HHH and friends of HHH could speak the truth.
Like the fool in King Lear, only the clown can speak the truth without having their head cut off, and that’s what makes Miz and Morrison so special. They are characters that are hateable but perfect in their need to be hated. Chris Jericho does much the same thing, believing that he is the only virtuous one in a company full of scoundrels, and allows himself to be booed for it; ultimately, they’re sort of serious versions of internet favorite Jericho.
So, stop the hate. We’re finally getting some of that intelligence that we’ve been yearning for so long! Look at things happening like Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix, Chris Jericho’s actions, Miz and Morrison, and the real-life (well, for us) drama of Shawn Michael’s servitude to JBL. There are good things happening, and while it’s not all roses, it’s getting there.
Simply promise me that you’ll take the time to pick up and smell a few of those suckers on the way there. The road is dotted with them along the way, or so it would seem.
