CB’s World: Taking YOUR Wrestling Pulse, Featuring Anthony Zinzi

Columns, Top Story

This one started out simply enough, and the rest was history…

Hey CB:

Let me know if you want to interview me, ’cause I’d be down if you’re interested.

AZ

Thanks for the note Anthony. I’ve read your comments over the past few months, and you always have something interesting to say.

So tell me, Why does WRESTLING MATTER to you?

Early on, it didn’t. As a kid, I gravitated more towards baseball. I had been to a local WWF house show with my little league team (which featured HHH and Savio Vega, not that I knew or cared at the time). That was until 1997, when I was in eighth grade. We were out in the schoolyard during recess and my friends were talking about what happened to Bret at Survivor Series. I obviously had missed something that was a hot button topic and, in the spirit of curiosity, I checked it out. The rest is history, as the DX storyline totally sucked me in and I never really looked back. Then I got exposed to WCW. Then ECW. It was like a crash course to keep up with everyone because they had watched it for years. Then once I got to high school, I formed new friendships with even more guys that loved wrestling. So essentially, wrestling’s that thing that connects me to my friends and childhood.

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I can understand that sentiment. So tell me, did Vince screw Bret, or did BRET screw Bret?!?!

Let’s move onto today’s pro wrestling landscape. Right now, in your eyes, what do you see? Plus, who are the winners, who are the losers, and who do YOU pay to see?

This is tough for me because I love Bret, but Bret screwed himself. You can’t expect Vince to do right by you when you’re the top dog of his company and you decide to go to the main competition. Call it hubris or niavete, but in today’s vernacular, Bret got got.

As for the current product, I wish both companies would cut loose and try something different. WWE tried with Punk and even Awesome Truth, but it was more like dipping their toe in the pool to test the temperature. All in all, I see a lot of utter crap, but there are some gems in there. In WWE, I tune in to watch CM Punk (obviously) and Vickie Guerrero’s stable, particularly Dolph Ziggler and Cody Rhodes. These guys seem to have their characters down and relish every minute of it. TNA’s onto something with Bobby Roode as champ, but the way they went about it was just so TNA, needlessly complex and ultimately unsatisfying.

There are plenty of losers out there, with the biggest being Alberto Del Rio. Punk’s promo hit a little too close to the truth on Raw.

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What do you prefer Anthony: A company like TNA that is trying but can never get out of its own way, yet they are still entertaining whether they are a train wreck or doing well … or a global empire like WWE that is consistently underwhelming of late and pretty boring / safe most of the time?

I’m always going to give a company like TNA the benefit of the doubt because they’re willing to try something, even if it blows up in their face. For every Jeff Hardy main event where he’s in no condition to work, there are programs with potential like Jeff Jarrett: Mixed Martial Artist, Matt Morgan’s stance against wrestlers working with concussions, and even the Bound for Glory Series. If they were willing to trust a little more in their storytelling ability rather than relying on shock value, TNA would be able to make progress as a viable alternative to WWE.

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I like when TNA enough to still tune in, but they also pack months of storylines into one week of tapings. Also, they’ve really mismanaged guys like Samoa Joe for years at this point, though I do like the Roode and Storm program thus far.

You have any other thoughts on TNA at the moment Anthony?

I think it’s safe to say that Joe’s firmly in the “enhancement talent” bracket at this point, which is a shame because of his in-ring and mic skills. The same can be said for Christopher Daniels and The Pope. Funny, up until last week, I forgot he was even on the roster.

It’s time to pull the plug on Crimson’s undefeated streak and Matt Morgan’s a fine enough choice to end it. Unlike a few members of the IWC, I enjoy Morgan’s work and was hoping he’d carry the strap for a while earlier in the year. Why not give The Blueprint a run at the top and see what he can do against Bobby Roode?

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You know what they are saving Morgan for? A real moneymaking blowoff feud with Garrett Bischoff, who screwed him over repeatedly when he was referee “Jackson James”! I kid, I kid…

Alright Anthony, it’s that time of the program where I give you a few pairs of WWE vs. TNA names and you tell me what you think:

–Zack Ryder vs. Robbie E.
–Sheamus vs. Bully Ray
–Jeff Hardy vs. Evan Bourne
–Booker T vs. Taz
–Karen Jarrett vs. Vickie Guerrero

By that time, Garrett Bischoff will be back aligned with Immortal, with the whole face turn being a complicated ruse to draw Morgan in…and Crimson, Joe, Scott Steiner, and Gunner will be involved along the way…all to get Mr. Anderson over. My head hurts. CB, you bastard. But anyway, onto the hit and run:

Ryder v. Robbie: I hate Jersey Shore with a passion. Never seen it, don’t want to, don’t need to. I’d be fine with Robbie if he was the little loud mouth douche manager who let Rob Terry fight his battles for him, honest I would. But if I have to live with him as a wrestler, I’d have him and Terry work the tag team division. I’d also fire Eric Young, but that’s just me.

Ryder’s a good worker and the character’s getting over, no matter how ridiculous it may be. Not bad for the former Major Brother and member of the Rated R-my with Curt Hawkins. Spin it forward though – does anyone else think the “Broski of the Week” will get as uncomfortable as Heidenreich’s “Friend”?

Sheamus v. Bully Ray: I would love to see that match because of Bully Ray, believe it or not. You can actually get a pretty long program out of it too, with Sheamus as the champion against the Bully, stemming from his childhood. There’s depth there, as Sheamus keeps going straight ahead but Ray tries to slip out the back door to win on his terms, forcing Sheamus to escalate the violence to Street Fights, Cage Matches, etc.. You can even get other workers involved to really build up the Bully Ray character – JTG, Yoshi Tatsu, Santino, John Crystal, the jobber of the week, whoever.

Jeff v. Evan: Evan’s suspension is akin to the utility infielder getting popped for 50 games in baseball. You scratch your head, say okay, and move on. I’m pretty much done with Jeff Hardy because you knew it was coming once he left WWE. Yeah, he’s talented…but think of where he could be if he didn’t like drugs and drugs didn’t like him.

Booker T v. Taz: Book, I love you but you suck at commentary. Get back in the ring, make Cody look like a million bucks, get Goldust involved and build to brother v. brother at Mania.

Taz had good chemistry with Michael Cole but hasn’t had the same success with Mike Tenay. In the same light, Mike Tenay had good chemistry with Don West, but he hasn’t had the same success with Taz. I guess you could try a three man booth by adding West and see what happens. It’s not like they had a guy like Kevin Nash who would make an awesome color guy…oh wait, they did.

Karen v. Vickie: Karen needs to go away – I don’t care where and preferably forever. Her interview style is bet described as a castrated Brian Knobs. Need I say more? Vickie wins, hands down.

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Good stuff Anthony, especially the point about Booker just getting back into the ring to feud with Cody Rhodes so he can get as far away from the announce table as possible.

But, Vince loves Booker’s commentary more than Jim Ross, so who knows?

Here comes the lightning round!

–favorite ring entrance of all time
–favorite theme song, both today and all time
–favorite storyline with the best payoff
–favorite catch phrase, both today and all time
–favorite finishing move, both today and all time
–favorite tag team of all time
–favorite Austin-Vince moment

Vince loves a lot of things…and hates them just as fast, so I guess we’ll have to see. Vince may have loved Cody Rhodes’ bare knees…but now he’s wearing kneepads. And, honestly, it’s about friggin’ time. You brought the thunder, time for the lightning:

Favorite Ring Entrance: I have a top four. Mr. Perfect – from the slow walk to the behind the back towel toss to the gum swat to the toss to Heenan, his entrance conveyed the arrogance of his character in the best possible way. Goldust’s entrance always had a creepy feel to it, right down to the letterbox format, which completely suited the character. Fast forward to The Brood, with the red light, rising up to the stage, being surrounded by fire, then the red liquid spit into the air – it was a perfect match to the vibe they were going for. Then you have Chris Jericho, complete with countdown and lights going out, just because I’m a total Jericho mark.

Favorite Theme Song: Currently, my favorite’s Cult of Personality, mostly because it’s not generic like the rest of the theme songs today. As for all time, there have been a lot of themes that I’ve loved, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll give you a top five:

1. Degeneration X
2. Mr. Perfect
3. Jake Roberts
4. Brock Lesnar
5. Goldust

Favorite Storyline: It has to be Benoit’s rise to the World title. Once they made it a triple threat match, you figured he was in there to eat Sweet Chin Music or a Pedigree. But he not only won, made HHH tap out. Now that’s giving someone the rub.

Favorite Catch Phrase: I know he doesn’t say it anymore, but Del Rio’s “You already know that” was so smarmy that it worked with his character. He needs to start using that again. As for all time, it has to be “OH YEAH!” Pretty much any of Austin’s catch phrases were awesome too…even What? You wanna piss someone off? Start what-ing…

Favorite Finisher: Jake’s DDT is one of my favorite old school finishers…the way the announcers played it up, you believed it was legitimately lethal. The F5 was another move that looked really vicious, depending on how much Brock wound up (Jeff Hardy sold it best). Then you have the Stunner…enough said. The RKO’s probably the best finisher right now because even though Orton humps the mat like a cat in heat, the move really can be hit from out of nowhere and it’s visually impressive.

Favorite Tag Team: How could you not love the Blu Brothers? I’m kidding…they sucked big time. Pretty much any team with Arn Anderson. He made the tag match an art and took his craft seriously. But if you’re going to twist my arm, no pun intended, it would have to be Anderson and Bobby Eaton – the perfect mix of skill, savvy, and power. Speaking of Eaton, how could I forget the Midnight Express – Beautiful Bobby, Sweet Stan, and James E. Cornette, who is 1A with Bobby Heenan in terms of managers.

For more modern tag teams, I loved Edge and Christian – they were the total package. I thought the New Age Outlaws were awesome too because of their chemistry, even if they were punch and kick guys.

Favorite Austin-Vince Moment: Four words: “You violated me, Austin.”

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And with that, I’d like to thank you AZ for letting me take YOUR wrestling pulse.

Any final thoughts?

If I could be serious for a minute, thanks for having me, CB, and thanks to all the readers out there. As for final thoughts, I’d talk about how I’d book the Road to Wrestlemania, but I’d rather just wait for my copy of WWE 12 to come so I can do it without the commentary ***coughCMPunkendstheStreakcough***. If I think of something else, I’ll post it in the comments.

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CB’s Take: These interviews have honestly been amazingly fun to cobble together, and Anthony Zinzi is no exception. Please feel free to leave a comment for Anthony on any of his thoughts expressed during our conversation. If you do, I’m sure he’ll be ready and willing to respond.

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If you are interested in being interviewed for this special feature series, drop a line to takeyourpulse@4sternstaging.com. (Just a programming note that the next rounds of interviews may not be conducted until January, but please let me know if you want in and I’ll make sure to put you on the list.)

And, for previous installments of Taking YOUR Wrestling Pulse, check out these links below and let us know what you think:
KevinTrude
Kelly Floyd
KON
Joseph Hargrove
Zork
Mike Gojira
FDSwayze
Blair A. Douglas
flamingwombat
sidehowbob

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That’s all from me — CB.

CB is an Editor for Pulse Wrestling and an original member of the Inside Pulse writing team covering the spectrum of pop culture including pro wrestling, sports, movies, music, radio and television.