Well, first things first, I would be remiss to not mention the recent passing of Eddie “Umaga†Fatu. While I was not a fan of the Three Minute Warning era of the man’s career, I must confess to a certain nostalgic enjoyment of Umaga. It may not be politically correct, but the wild island savage has always been a child hood favorite of mine. Be it Afa and Sika, Haku, or even the Samoan Swat Team, I have always had a soft spot for the hard headed island savage character in wrestling. It’s a tried and true staple of the genre. In our current politically correct atmosphere, it’s arguably too offensive to use, yet the WWE pulled it out of mothballs for Umaga. And it worked. In no small part to the work of Eddie Fatu.
Sure, initially it was Armando Alejandro Estrada getting over via the audiences sing along with his introduction, but this was quickly cut out, and it was Umaga himself that became the focus of the crowd. He was a big man to be sure, but he was fast, his power moves were crisp and looked devastating, and maybe it was just me, but there always seemed to be a nod and a wink in his portrayal; one that said “sure, you’re probably thinking this gimmick is 2 steps away from being considered racist, but come on, I’m chewing on the strap of a title belt that I’m holding my mouth!â€. His Last Man Standing match with John Cena at Royal Rumble 2007 may be the best match he ever had, but his most notable and high profile match was his Wrestlemania 23 match against Bobby Lashley, where he fought to defend the honor (and the hair) of Vincent Kennedy McMahon. For a brief time, it even appeared he was turning into a crowd favorite.
I’m not going to get into him being released and refusing to go to rehab. I don’t consider that my place to speak on. Nor is it not my place to speculate on cause of death, or the role drugs played in it, or whatever other personal problems he had. After all, I didn’t know Eddie Fatu the man, I only knew Umaga, the Samoan Bulldozer. So I’m going to simply say thank you, and rest in peace.
The other thing I wanted to talk about this week is the announcement of a Monday night face off between TNA and WWE on January 4th. An interesting idea, to be sure, and one I‘ll absolutely be watching.
You have Dixie Carter tweeting about opening shots. Hogan is out and about delivering his usual over exaggerated hyperbole in the press (when he’s remembering to mention TNA, anyways). If you believe their hype, this is the first night of a new Monday Night War. But in reality, TNA has a loooonnng way to go to be at any sort of competitive level with the WWE. The talent is there, for sure, there’s no question of that. But the fan base isn’t there, the booking isn’t there, and the weekly time slot on Monday’s is not actually there. This is a one time only deal, and then it’s back to Thursday nights. This is more of a test of the waters. Which is fine, and absolutely a great idea. So long as that’s the intent.
By all accounts, Vince McMahon is a competitive guy. These cracks about opening shots seem like the type of thing that are meant to get under his apparently thin skin, and make him say… reach out to The Rock or Steve Austin to fill the guest host gig that night and go all out for the night‘s show. Which if you’re trying to use the head to head as a barometer of how far you have to go to compete in the ratings, is actually exactly what you want. You have to figure TNA wants to put the very best product they can out there that night, so what better way to see where you stand then to try and get the WWE to go all out as well? After all, if Vince’s best effort crushes them in the ratings, nothings actually been lost. TNA can just go back to Thursday nights to lick their wounds and figure out what to correct, and the built in fan base that’s been supporting them will continue to do so. Maybe they’ll even gain some fans and a ratings point or two, which is a victory (a small one to be sure, but baby steps should be the order of the day). And best of all, as I said, it will show them how far they have to go, maybe give them an idea of who to actually focus on, and how loyal their viewers are. So if this is a litmus test, then it’s a great idea.
But what if Dixie and Hogan actually believe what they’re saying? Quite frankly, that’s terrifying. It would mean that lunatics are not only running the asylum, and not in a WCW way, in an actual “these people are actually living in a fantasy land“ way. TNA is in no position to actively compete with the WWE. They need to chip away at the juggernaut until they‘re fully prepared, not engage in a premature full frontal assault.
Fingers crossed for the former.
