Interinactivity: July 21st, 2011 – What WWE & TNA Do Right, John Cena, Sting, Zack Ryder, And More

Welcome to this week’s edition of “Interinactivity”. Yeah, this one went up a day or so early, since I submitted my last one a day or so late. I’m your host Blair Douglas, and this week we will be covering a possible heel turn for John Cena, what WWE and TNA are doing right at the moment, Sting as World Champion, and more!

wweVIPERlife: Shit, this was pathetic. Are all the writers on the site WWE marks who wash out their mouths with Shaemus cum? TNA is wrestling. WWE doesn’t even say wrestling. So there you go. TNA is better, end of story. And if Matt Morgan, a real wrestler, saw what you wrote, he would fuck you till your ass bled, you WWEpussy.
Blair: Well thank God, ’cause I don’t think that’s gonna take very long.

Yohan: wooooooooow.
Blair: I know, right?

CB: Great job as always Blair. Here’s my question for next week: Do you think WWE will ever pull the trigger on a full-fledged John Cena heel turn? Also, do you think they ever should? From a business standpoint, I know this would be almost impossible for WWE to sell such a turn, mainly because Cena is the only guy keeping families interested in going to house shows. Plus, with the way his character has been portrayed during these lean PG years, Cena could also be painted into a corner where even if he does turn heel, he would get boos from people who are “tired” as Punk said last week, but not necessarily actual heat that generates increased interest and buzz.
Blair: Yeah, for the first time in a long time, I’m legitimately stumped on what they’re going to do with Cena. All this Punk stuff does take it up another level, but this has been a problem for over a year now that I imagine WWE is trying hard to fix. They really tried extra hard to get him over as a hero with all that Nexus stuff last year. I equate what’s happening to Cena to what happened to Hulk Hogan around 1991 or 1992 or so. The kids still dig it, but those kids are growing up, and even they’re getting sick of it. This stopped being a problem for WWE when Hogan just up and left. He got off of TV, and WWE got a few fresh new faces on the top scene. That’s going to be a lot harder to do with Cena. Other than Orton, who is going to have the same problem in short order, they have no one who they can replace him with. Not anyone who they can expect to sell as much merchandise. Realistically, they have no one to blame for that but themselves – they spent years building up no one but Cena, Orton and Batista. Batista is gone, and people just don’t want to see Cena and Orton anymore.

I imagine that Cena is one of the hardest working guys in WWE, with the schedule he’s got to keep. It’s not like the guy all of a sudden has gotten lazy or has stopped doing something or started doing something else. His ring work is better than it was 6 years ago, just due to some experience, but for the most part, he’s the same as he ever was. I’ve seen Cena have 3 good matches, ever. One was against Shawn Michaels (WM23), one was against Umaga (can’t remember when that was), and the other one was against Batista (WM26) in a match that was better than it had any right to be. But other than little kids, people are just sick of it. Kids don’t care about ringwork or 5-star matches. And the kids will NEVER turn on Cena. I’m sure kids saw Cena the same way a lot of kids saw Hogan and Savage and Warrior growing up. (I was a Warrior kid – for shame, Douglas.) So it’s possible they’re content to just live with that and keep the show the way it is. It’s not like WWE isn’t making money on their current platform.

If they don’t already, WWE needs to realize is that they can’t get the shelf life out of a character or a product or whatever like they used to. Hulk Hogan was biggest in his heyday from like 1980 until 1993. That won’t ever happen again. Hell, even Austin or Rock would not have lasted that long. Austin was big from, let’s say, 1997 to 2003? Rock was big for around the same period. That’s 6 years – Austin got hurt and Rock left, but how much longer before THEIR characters had started to grow stale with audiences? Cena is facing the same problem. And you know what, that’s NOT because Austin or Rock or Cena aren’t as good as Hogan, it’s because audiences today don’t have the same amount of patience for the same guys over and over again like they used to. At least not those same guys on the top of the card all the time. The difference is, Austin got hurt and Rock and Hogan left. Cena doesn’t get injured a whole lot and it doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere.

What it really comes down to is how much money they’re making with Cena and Orton on top – and they’re making a lot. The question is whether or not they feel like they need to make more. They’ll have a tough time INCREASING their audience with their current product. But if they’re satisfied, they’re not going to feel a sense of urgency to change anything.

Joseph Hargrove: Got a question: will this supposed AAA invasion finally come to TNA now that Jarrett has control of the MegaCampeonato in Immortal?
Blair: Will the WHAT finally come to TNA now that Jarrett has control of the WHAT? No idea what that one word is, but I assume you’re talking about Jarrett being the AAA Champion and the fact that he was on Impact last week. But, I don’t see a AAA invasion coming to TNA. Truthfully, it could be interesting. I might tune in to check something like that out. But I think I’m in the minority there – and as well, let’s remember that even if it is a good idea, the execution will be the key. And with TNA holding that key, I wouldn’t expect all that much.

ASGurl: Question I want both you AND Swayze to answer: Do you think that there is a consistent outrage from TNA fans who ENJOY the product towards those who don’t, and do you find the same thing with WWE fans? Which is worse? Thanks!
Blair: The outrage from WWE fans is bad because they can always fall back on the fact that the WWE is the most successful wrestling company there ever has been or ever will be. And that they have the biggest audience. And they’re right. What makes TNA fans WORSE is that they KNOW the WWE fans are right, and it drives many of them BATSHIT insane that they have NO solid reasons to fall back on as to why TNA is better.

What I find amusing, and I’ve touched on this before, is why so many people feel like they NEED to take a side. Like it’s an ACTUAL war. Some of them will even acknowledge that their product is crap… BUT IT’S BETTER THAN WWE!!! WWE IS KIDS CRAP!!! THEY WOULD NEVER HAVE THE BALLS TO DO A DRUG-RAPE STORYLINE!!! HAVE FUN LICKING THE MIZ, YOU BABIES!!! WWE DOESN’T EVEN HAVE TAG-TEAMS!!! I’ve never understood why people feel like they need to do that. It makes no sense to me. If neither show is good, why watch either? There are independents. If the indies aren’t your style, then buy some DVD’s or just go to YouTube for fuck’s sake. There’s no reason why you need to watch one because it’s a BIT better than something that’s total garbage. If you dislike a product that much, the only correct move is to stop watching. If enough people do it, they’ll feel the need to change. You think WWE would have done the Attitude Era if they had maintained a stable audience leading up to it? No fucking way. Those 5 years probably took 20 off of poor Vince’s life.

Anyway, if you want to have a good laugh, search a WWE or TNA hashtag on Twitter and check out some of the people you come across.

EWF_X29: I agree with a lot of your column. Christian’s TNA run was going well, then they imported a lot of ex WWE stars and Christian got lost in the shuffle. Kendrick was doing ok in WWE, he had the tag team with Paul London which was going all right. Then London melted down and left and after that Kendrick was used sparingly. They had him at the end with Ezekiel Jackson but it was more about Zeke then Kendrick and Kendrick eventually left. I like the new format.
Blair: Kendrick would not have fared well in WWE for the long-term. They don’t like lightweight guys very much there anymore. Except Kofi Kingston. That guy rules. He’s another guy that I don’t understand why they don’t do more with. Is he a dick or something? Yeah, I know he didn’t sell an RKO all that good once, but people fucking LOVE Kofi. Is Ezekiel Jackson that one Ahmed Johnson clone?

Daniel Gianni: Blair, What is your opinion on Zack Ryder (assuming you’ve heard of him)? In a nutshell after being burdened with a ridiculous Jersey shore gimmick (even before the show became a hit) coupled with cheesy entrance theme and catchphrases, instead of waiting for his “creative has nothing for you” letter, Mr. Ryder goes out and quietly builds up a substantial internet fanbase with his YouTube show- Z! True Long Island Stories. His entertaining 5 minute webisodes have hilarious self depreciating potshots at himself, his status in the WWE and the company itself. His vocal fanbase has even made Zack Ryder merchandise sold out on WWEShop.com (something the higherups must have spotted). He displays great charisma, has come up with and/or turned lame catchphrases into ..well catchy ones and possesses sufficient in-ring skills (more than enough for a WWE ring) His effort has not gone unnoticed as the commentary have plugged his show on RAW (on the rare occasion hes on it) Past stars like Stone Cold, Val Venis and more have commended his videos and see great things in store for him. Zack Ryder signs litter the audience at RAW and PPVs. An enduring image from this weeks RAW was Mr. Mcmahon stopped on his way to the ring to look at a ZR sign held by a very enthusiastic guy near the ramp.And hes just 26. The guy has gone from an Edge lookalike Major brother to the WWE Internet Champion (yes he did crown himself that). My question is that do you see other low card/jobbers with flair and personality take to Social media to garner attention, build a fanbase and earn themselves a push?
Blair: Social networking has given all types of entertainers all types of free mediums that they would not have had 20 years ago to get their name out there. I have heard about this Ryder character, yes, and I’m sure I’ve seen him on RAW some of the odd times I’ve watched over the last few years. I watched my first True Long Island stories video on YouTube and they’re pretty good. They’re probably a bit over-rated, but that’s also probably because WWE has almost NOTHING else going on right now. So good for him for finding a platform to get his name out there. The thing to remember is that if WWE do not want to use a guy, they will NOT fucking use him. Period. I don’t totally understand WWE’s logic on this, as it’s not like they had to spend any money for Zack to become this internet sensation, so they should be imagining what they could do if they actually DID put some money into him. I guess it’s possible he’s pissed the wrong people off or something. Maybe he’s a dick too? I don’t know. The other thing to remember is that if you get your name out there WITHOUT WWE’s help, that’s not usually a good thing. Not to WWE, anyway. Mickie James tried to launch a country music career independently, without WWE’s help, and they pretty much released her immediately.

Patrick Spohr: I think it’s important to remember that Kendrick was with TNA for over a year before they gave him this push. He lost multiple X-Division title attempts, then worked house shows and didn’t appear on Impact for a while. This push is new for him; of course, since it’s X-Division we’re talking about, it won’t last long.
Blair: … and AJ Styles and others have been tearing it up in all divisions for years, didn’t need to only work house shows, and have been appearing on Impact the whole time. What are they doing right now? But yes, you’re right, when Kendrick fails to deliver… again… it will be short-lived. But unlike so much else, that won’t be one of TNA’s most negligent moves.

Patrick Spohr: Moving on, I have a general question for you: do you think wrestling fans are just too difficult to please now? With easy access to wrestling around the world, as well as a wealth of older matches, fans are now too divided to truly get behind one company in big numbers? Is the idea that some fans cling to of a return to the Monday Night Wars no longer realistic?
Blair: Adult wrestling fans are more difficult to please – I think that’s why WWE has begun to care more about the kids than the adults. Kids are easy to please. They want superheroes – so they have SuperWigger and BatViper as Superman and Batman. TNA could SO easily exist solely on the audience that doesn’t want to watch the kid-oriented WWE programming, but TNA has very little ability to draw that audience in, and even the people that they do draw in, they have no idea how to keep. TNA has no idea how to give people what they want, and WWE isn’t willing to do it because they’re running on a wavelength that they believe is working for them. I kind of covered this above, but WWE has reason to be doing what they’re doing right now no matter how much we all hate it. They’re profitable. Who are we to tell Vince McMahon how to make money when he’s  still highly profitable?

So, between those being the only two mainstream companies (and with TNA, I use that term very loosely), I can certainly see why it’s a frustrating time to be a wrestling fan right now. So again, I urge you –  STOP WATCHING. Check out the indies, buy DVD’s, or go on YouTube. It’s not like you have to completely disconnect from the products themselves. Just read recaps. Honestly. You know how long it’s been since I’ve watched RAW? It’s been even longer since I watched SmackDown. It takes 10 minutes, tops, to read a recap. That’s why wrestling recaps are so popular. People don’t want to sit through an entire 2-hour show when an hour and 45 minutes of it are going to be total shit, and it’s not like they cover wrestling news on sports channels, so they just read about it. That’s how I came across Inside Pulse in the first place – I read Wheeler’s RAW Review every week to get my WWE news.

SDMCC: “I’m pretty sure you could donkey punch Linda McMahon during forced anal and Vince would still bring you back if he thought you could make him a dime.” Single.most.epic.sentence…ever! i agree.. but.. everytime i see comments like that, i still have to wonder.. what the hell did Randy Savage do to have been overlooked for years until his death?
Blair: Believe it or not and I don’t, there is an underground rumour that ALLEGEDLY ALLEGEDLY ALLEGEDLY, Randy Savage ALLEGEDLY deflowered a VERY ALLEGEDLY and VERY underage Stephanie McMahon.

Whatever it actually is, it’s bad enough that neither side EVER talked about it, and the highly doubtful rumour above is the only theory I’ve ever heard. Vince brought back Hogan, who ditched him and testified against him to the feds. Vince brought back Bret, who ditched him and knocked him the fuck out. Vince brought back Warrior, who held a gun to his head for money to perform on a PPV. Apparently, a few years back, someone in creative brought up the idea of bringing Savage back, and Vince made it clear that he didn’t ever want to do business with Savage again, and said he didn’t want anyone to bring it up again. They did produce the Savage DVD around that time, but I suspect that was more about money than it was about Savage himself.

Jimmy: Great article Blair. Just a random question, don’t know if you know this yet but TNA/IMPACT announced they will be holding bound for glory in philly/ROH’s backyard/ECWland/the most vocal fans in the world. do you think it is a bad idea considering they plan on having horrible matches such as hogan vs sting and most likely gunner or crimson in the title match?
Blair: You really do have to admire TNA’s balls going to Philly. It’s a great wrestling town and all, but they have some of the most vicious fans alive today. So that could make for some pretty funny crowd reactions, and it’s always possible they’ll get eaten alive – but honestly, it depends on what kind of fans attend the show. A LOT of people like your average old-school ECW or ROH fans may just avoid the show, especially depending on ticket price. I don’t know how many TNA fans exist in Philly, or in the world really. I imagine the bulk of their audience will be people who see an advertisement for something other than WWE (or ROH, or whatever, if they’re sick of that too) and haven’t had a lot of exposure to TNA. So it’s way too hard to tell. Whatever kind of crowd it is, if it’s in Philly, Gunner and Crimson are going to get shit on like crazy. That will be funny. But other than that, remember that TNA PPV’s are usually better than Impact. Not a LOT better, but if they’re running matches like… wait… what?

… Hogan vs Sting?

HULK Hogan .vs. Sting?

Terry Bollea .vs. Steve Borden?

Hulk Hogan, who was crippled when he wrestled Shawn Michaels and Randy Orton 5 years ago, BEFORE he had RoboCop’s back installed? This is FUCKING HILARIOUS if that’s actually true. Are they going to bring Bret in to referee the match and try to re-create that awesome Starcade 1997 classic? Can Lex Luger be on the outside and we can wonder who he’ll support? Can Shaq be the special guest timekeeper? Can Mr. T be the special guest outside enforcer? Can they suspend Cindy Lauper in a cage over the ring above some sharks with laser beams attached to their foreheads and dogs with bees in their mouths and when they bark they shoot bees at her? And please, PLEASE, PLEASE, for the love of God, let Brutus Beefcake be involved somehow. Anyhow.

Are you fucking serious? Are THEY fucking serious?

They’re serious.

In 2011.

I fucking LOVE TNA. Holy shit. That physically hurt to read. Fuck. I honestly don’t even know what to say to that. Sometimes, you read something and start thinking about it, and you just can’t stop thinking about it because it’s so fucking warped, until eventually you just need to let it go and move on because you’re about to have a fucking stroke. I’m choosing life over death here. I’m moving on.

Jader: blair, great article. here’s my question for next week. do you think SID will ever get another run with a wrestling company?
Blair: Well, he’s old, crippled, slow, and not a draw anymore.

So expect to see him main-eventing in TNA in the near future.

Rhett Davis: Alright my question for this week is what do you think about Sting being the World Champion? Good or bad for business?
Blair: As opposed to what? If you’re talking about instead of Ken Anderson, then yeah. Sting makes more sense as World Champion than Ken Anderson. The other thing to ask is where they’re going with it. Will they build up someone who fans actually care about, to dethrone Sting, because it means a lot more to beat him than it does to beat Ken Anderson? Or is this so they can run Sting .vs. Hogan? I think that reasoning speaks for itself.

James Alsop: I don’t normally repeat comments that I posted the previous week, but I’m in a controversial mood… I’m going to bust another cultural taboo here and say that I think Sting as TNA champion will be the best move for Impact Wrestling moving forward. There isn’t a single other wrestler in the company who can convincingly hold the belt right now. Jeff is out for who knows how long, Flair is washed up (although you’re right – better Flair than Kennedy!), and as Blair has so rightly pointed out, internet darlings AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe have been made to look so much like jobbers lately that it’ll take a significant period of reparation before any of them look like potential champions again (and for more on Samoa Joe, check out this week’s Keynotes and Keyholds…!). TNA want Sting to be the crazy Joker? Fine. Let him be the crazy Joker. What makes Joker so dangerous in the Batman comics is that he’s dangerous beyond belief. So make Sting look dangerous. If Sting is portrayed as an unbeatable fighting champion, one who never loses, and holds that belt for a few months – maybe a year – it will only increase the prestige of TNA’s watered-down top belt. And let’s face it, the TNA product won’t take too much of a hit in the long run, will it? If Sting is built up to be invincible, and then some plucky up-and-comer like Joe or AJ (or even, God forbid, Gunner) has a classic slow-burn rivalry with him that builds and builds to the up-and-comer defeating Sting in an epic crescendo, it would be magnificent. I’m dream-booking now, but imagine if Sting, after being unbeaten for eight months came out and said how “I’m unbeatable; it’s my curse! Won’t somebody – anybody – beat me?!” And then imagine if that person were a renewed, rebuilt AJ. And then imagine how much better things would be if somehow TNA kept AJ and Sting apart for an entire year prior to the championship match? Essentially, the value of Sting is not in who he beats while he is champ, but in who beats HIM to become champ. The value of Anderson is currently ZIP.
Blair: A blind, masked, retarded paraplegic wrestler in a coma has more value than Ken Anderson. But are you talking about the same Sting that lost in one move to Gunner on free TV a couple months back? Other than that, yeah, I like your plan, but if this Hogan / Sting thing is real, then what you’re looking for is not their plan. And if Hogan / Sting is not their plan, then likely they’re just going to feed Sting to Crimson or Gunner. Which is not quite as bad. But it’s not like it’s going to do them any good, either.

What’s that, TNA fans? How can I know that it won’t do them any good when it hasn’t even happened yet? How can I know that no one is going to care if Gunner or Crimson beat Sting cleanly? Because THAT SHIT ALREADY HAPPENED AND NO ONE CARED!!! And the only people who will watch Hogan and Sting are the people who will see that advertised and be like “Fucking hell. Seriously? It’s 2011.”

Fuck, we’re back on Hogan / Sting again!!! I’m trying to get off this topic here. Stroke, remember? I’m going on to the next question. I don’t even care what it is, as long as it’s not about TNA and Sting.

Limodriver: What bugs me about Sting winning the world title is that I don’t understand the rules he’s operating under. See, most wrestlers go after the World Title for the prestige of it. They want to be recognized as the best wrestler in their company (or brand, or whatever) and holding the biggest belt is the universal symbol of that. But Sting doesn’t seem to care about that. He wants to oust Hogan and Bischoff from power and give the company back to Dixie. But it’s unclear to me why he would think that his holding the TNA world title would give him any extra political power to accomplish that. It’s similar to the problem I have with the Bischoff vs. X division feud. Bischoff’s goal seems to be to remove the X division from TNA, because he doesn’t like it and doesn’t think it draws money. I guess I can understand that, but what I don’t understand is why that goal would be hindered in any by Kendrick beating Abyss for the X division title.

Blair: … FUCK!!! No, I’m kidding. I’m the one choosing the order of the questions. I just thought these last few all flowed nicely together. Yeah, I think what they’re trying to get across is that whoever holds the World Title has “stroke” and TNA can’t get rid of them. They could never fire someone who has a belt, right? It’s not like they just recently fired one of the holders of the TNA Knockout Tag Team Titles or anything, right?

… right?

Rich: I know you hate Jeff Jarrett but to say taht Karen Angle is ugly? You must be on something to say that Karen is unattractive. Unless, you play for the “other” team, hey, nothing worng wit that I guess. But any REAL man finds Karen Angle to be incredibly attractive and sexy as hell! Just sayin’.
Blair: All REAL men find the SAME WOMEN attractive? That’s fucking hilarious if you actually think that. I’m pretty sure you’re messing with me. But, in case you or anyone else actually do think that, then let me give you some logical reasons why I find Karen Angle to be the least attractive woman in wrestling right now, aside from Awesome Kong, who doesn’t strive for attractiveness. I’ll try to be very clear here, because you and I face an evolutionary gap.

• Karen Angle has a pronounced nose.
• Karen Angle has a pronounced adams apple.
• Karen Angle has a very rectangular shaped face. She looks like a fuse box with lipstick.
• Karen Angle has a voice that sounds like the noise you would get if you skinned a cat with bad skin alive in a wind tunnel.
• Karen Angle has had sex with Jeff Jarrett.
• Karen Angle has had sex with Kurt Angle.
• Karen Angle has had sex with Jeff Jarrett.
• Karen Angle was a stripper. So Karen Angle has likely had sex with a LOT of other undesirable people.
• Karen Angle looks like she has a smell that could knock a buzzard off a shit truck at 100 yards.
• Karen Angle has had sex with Jeff Jarrett.

More than anything else, it’s her voice and her history that kills it for me. Any guy with a brain will tell you that a girl’s voice and history can bring their attractiveness level to a SCREECHING halt. Anyone who disagrees clearly has trouble getting laid by girls with regular voices and reputable pasts.

On a happier note, if anyone is interested in who I DO find attractive in TNA wrestling, the answer is Velvet Sky.

Steven Gepp: Great column as always. Here’s a question: We writing online have been accused of being too negative a lot of the time. So at the moment what are WWE and TNA doing right?
Blair: Best question yet.

I don’t watch a lot of WWE, but here’s my best shot. This CM Punk stuff that’s been going on has been great, the only compelling thing on WWE within the last year, even though there’s been some unplanned hiccups along the way. I’m also a big fan of the Kofi Kingston/ Dolph Ziggler matches. I had kind of written Dolph off as a Billy Gunn lookalike waste until then, but I may have been too hard on him, and Kofi is always tremendous and crazy over with the crowd. Honestly though, that’s about it. There’s nothing else going on during RAW or SmackDown at all that interests me in the slightest. I guess with Bryan winning Money In The Bank, which I couldn’t believe, that could be good, depending what they do with it.

As far as what TNA is doing right, I honestly can’t think of a single thing. Bully Ray’s character evolution has surprisingly been kind of cool, but they don’t have him putting anyone over with it. They’re doing stuff with Shelley and Aries that might be okay, but it involves Shannon Moore, and it’s in TNA’s Cruiserweight Division, and therefore doesn’t matter, sooo… yeah. Nothing.

Except this awesome buildup for Hogan / Sting, of course.

Before I end this column, one more thing. I watched the whole of the WWE MITB PPV. The PPV itself was largely forgettable. A few cool spots during the ladder matches, although most of the guys in the matches were people that no one cared about.

The main event, though?

That was the only entertaining thing I’ve seen WWE do in a year. I never thought they’d be willing to do what they did.

I am not a WWE fan, as evidenced by the fact that I hardly ever watch. Punk is one of my favourite wrestlers though, so I just HAD to watch this one. And although what they’ve followed it up with would not be something that would tempt me to watch even i the slightest, for the Punk stuff on it’s own, I have to say, whatever you think about the outcome, TNA has NEVER, EVER, in their HISTORY, provided a main event or a moment like that.

Period.

I want to thank everyone again for the great questions, this new article format is a lot of fun. Comment some more questions or Twit me at www.Twitter.com/BlairADouglas. As always, Godspeed to anyone watching TNA tonight. This has been “Interinactivity”. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!