Today’s Episode: Independent Streak
I’m aware that I haven’t been heard from in…well, a longer time than I’d care to admit. The truth is, while I’ve enjoyed Chris Jericho’s supreme villainy and CM Punk’s excellently done heel turn, I haven’t really been motivated to put anything to the page when it comes to the world of professional wrestling. It’s unacceptable to me, as I seem to renege on the commitment made to Inside Pulse, which has such wonderful writing and a staff of marvelously dedicated people that put me to shame. Still, a few things have happened recently that caused a slight resurgence in my interest, and hopefully I can put something on this page that will resonate with a reader, or spark debate, or, if all else fails, simply ramble a bit about a recent development and hope for something resembling coherence.
I certainly wouldn’t be the best person to ask about the American Independent Wrestling scene. I enjoy catching Chikara bits on DVD and their weekly video podcast (which every single one of you should subscribe to; just look up “Chikara Podcast a-Go-Go on iTunes), and I DVR Ring of Honor’s show on HDNet, but other than that, I don’t go out of my way to catch independent shows, despite being a 45-minute drive from Bayonne, NJ, where I caught a few JAPW shows back in my college days.
Still, there’s something refreshing about shows in smaller venues, in particular how different things are valued and accepted than would be at, say, a taping for an episode of Raw or ECW. It’s not really about good or bad, just different. I know that wrestling snobs, such as myself, will often shout at the top of our internet lungs how awesome our own little corners of the indy scene are, and how much better wrestling would be if everything was booked by Gabe Sopolsky, or how Vince McMahon should be shot out of a cannon into a wall of spikes for being so gosh darn evil.
But then I get to wondering about what seems to be the primary difference between the WWE and, to a much lesser extent, TNA’s products, and what one would see in Ring of Honor or Chikara, or Pro Wrestling Guerilla, or the newly emerging Dragon Gate USA. Ultimately, it seems to be a battle of wrestling vs. showmanship, and it’s rare that anyone truly seems to get it right. Obviously, with the most money and the largest fan base, WWE has the showmanship thing down pretty much cold, athough we’re often treated to “comedy” segments that go on for what seem to be whole solar cycles, and, much to the chagrin of the IWC, the crowd tends NOT to turn on these things, thus giving the creative team the affirmation it needs to put Big Dick Johnson on television once more.
Of course, you won’t find a match like Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong on WWE television, although Ring of Honor on HDNet used this as their main event just last night. These guys hit incredibly hard, kick each other in the head with what seems to be reckless abandon, and take crazy back and neck bumps from each other that WWE simply wouldn’t allow. After all, this is the company that banned the piledriver.
But then, when listening to Rockerick Strong give his pre-match promo, you know why this guy will likely never get a chance with WWE. While Jeff Hardy has never been a good interview, and Evan Bourne is still tough to listen to, Strong feels like he’s reading off of cue cards, even if he isn’t. It’s really sad, because the kid is really, really good, although I don’t know if he’d be lifting up a guy the size of HHH to hit the 20,000 backbreakers in his arsenal.
But which would you rather have, the glitter or the sweat? Sometimes, we’re lucky enough to get both, and while many on the Internet would scream that wrestling and physical performance should be the only barometer of what makes a great wrestling product, would any of you wish for a world that didn’t have the Undertaker and his 20-minute long entrance?
I remember reading an article years ago that focused on the idea of ritual in wrestling, and how it was why the WWE had been so successful. WWE had the Undertaker’s dark, slow strut, of course, and HHH’s water spit, and The Rock and DX’s catchphrases that were finished by the crowd every time. WCW had Goldberg’s entrance and a few other things, and ECW had only The Sandman’s beer-fueled entrance through the crowd. Still, it was argued that ritual is what allowed fans to connect not necessarily to the characters, but to the product. If you went to a WWE show, you knew that you had the chance of screaming when the Undertaker would bring the lights up, or feeling the heat of Kane’s fire, or shouting “Suck It!” with 40,000 other people. As much as we decry WWE and what they bring to the table, we still watch, because we still secretly love it. We need the show as much as the fight.
This brings me to Bryan Danielson.
The American Dragon is coming to World Wrestling Entertainment, and a few are excited, but I’m rather cautious. First of all, the chances of him being allowed to keep his name are next to nil these days; after all, Matt Sydal wasn’t even allowed to keep that, instead going by the now commonly accepted Evan Bourne despite appearing a week before AS MATT SYDAL. Danielson has even been on WWE television before AS Bryan Danielson, although it was several years ago and on Heat.
Sure, he’s considered the best wrestler in the world, but all of you workrate nerds had better hold onto your star ratings, because my guess is that he’s not going to just be catapulted into the upper midcard as many of you are hoping. Sure, WWE has put world titles on lesser proven talents, such as Brock Lesnar and, to a lesser extent, Jack Swagger, but Danielson is a fairly straightforward wrestler, albeit an extraordinarily good one, and one never knows what they’re going to get once they’re put through the WWE machine. If they allow him to go out every night and be a huge badass, then he’ll get over, much as such a push would get anyone over. Hell, a few people were even convinced that Vladimir Kozlov was pretty good based on how WWE treated him.
But I have this feeling that Danielson is going to have to start fresh with them, and isn’t going to be receiving much in the way of adulation from announcers, or audiences in Lincoln, Nebraska that may not be familiar with his work.
This is the big-time proving ground of whether a true independent talent can make it in on the grandest stage of them all, or rather if he’ll be allowed to make it in the way that we would prefer. Just remember how excited you were when Taz and Colt Cabana signed on with WWE, and keep your expectations in check.
