The Steel Cage

So it was six years ago -- on the Halloween episode of SmackDown in 2002 -- that this happened. (Yes, that's me dressed as Dudley Do-Right sitting next to Cena as Stephanie's talking).

I've blogged before about my role in John Cena's first appearance as the white-boy rapper that ultimately led to his rise to superstardom. But given the day's festivities, I thought I'd retell the story -- along with some other fun backstage tidbits and thoughts inspired by recent events. Enjoy ...

Continue reading "Ah, memories -- Cena, HHH, Undertaker, and more ..." »

I corresponded with former ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky about his firing before I put up my last post, but waited until I had his OK to release the following comment he gave me.

Asked for his side of the story, Sapolsky told me, "There really isn't a side to my story. There was no fight or hard feelings. I understand Cary's decision . I love ROH and hopefully everyone will give the new direction a chance."

Short and simple. If what Sapolsky is saying is true, it's even more puzzling why the decision was made to let him go. I'd have an easier time accepting that there was some kind of personal falling out between he and Silkin. But it sounds like it's as simple as Silkin not being happy with the job Sapolsky was doing.

For me, the biggest – and most shocking – wrestling story coming out of last weekend was Gabe Sapolsky being fired as booker of Ring of Honor. Sapolski had long been heralded by many wrestling insiders as the very best wrestling booker in the country, and it’s surprising that ROH President Cary Silkin would decide to go in a different direction.

I’m not exactly sure what ROH’s financial situation has been of late, but I can imagine that the overall drop in business for pro wrestling (Monday Night Raw is now settling into the high 2’s for its ratings) has got to affect ROH. The impact may be even more significant for ROH, which – with no weekly TV– relies solely on fans reaching into their pockets to see the company’s product live in person, on DVD or on pay per view. In this economy, good luck with that.

So, not knowing much about the back story to Sapolsky’s firing, it’s conceivable Silkin may be looking for a major shake-up to reverse the company’s fortunes. I can’t help but question that logic, since it would seem to me that ROH’s booking was the least of the company’s problems. Whether Sapolsky was doing a terrific job, or a lousy one, it doesn’t really matter if nobody’s watching. It’s the proverbial tree falling in the woods.

Continue reading "My Thoughts on ROH's Creative Shake-Up" »

Sorry I haven’t been around for a few days, but I hope to get back on track this week with some stuff, including, hopefully, an interview with a current WWE main eventer.

There’s a lot of ground I wanted to cover from an eventful few days for WWE:

. I was as uninterested in Cyber Sunday as I have been for any WWE pay per view in recent memory. It would be easy to blame my disinterest on the fact that this was the second WWE PPV in the same month, but, honestly, that wasn’t a factor. WWE is just total dullsville to me these days. And after being a hardcore fan for most of my life, it’s a bit of a scary prospect. I can’t tell you when the last time was that I watched a Raw or Smackdown from beginning to end. What’s more, I don’t get the impression I’m missing much. WWE is just in a rut, and the ratings reflect that. I’m not sure what the answer is, short of just blowing everything up and coming forward with a complete outside-of-the-box concept for the product. Raw in particular is absolutely paint-by-numbers these days.

. I’ll tell you what the answer is not: Banning the use of the term “wrestlers” and replacing it with “entertainers,” as has been reported on sites including ProWrestling.Net and PWTorch.com. I’ll never get Vince McMahon’s shame in being what he is – a wrestling promoter. I’ve never had a big problem with the term “superstar,” but “entertainer” is ridiculous, especially in the course of calling a match. It breaks all sense of disbelief and would be tantamount to the cast of The Office referring to each other as “actors” during the show. More than just stupid, it shows the complete obliviousness of WWE decision-makers. Rome is burning, and they’re worried about Triple H being called a wrestler. Yeah, that’ll fix the ratings.

. I’ve got mixed feelings on the Cyber Sunday concept. I actually used to enjoy going on WWE.com and placing my votes, and then watching the show with other people who did the same and seeing who among us got our picks. But since they replaced the free online voting with phone texting, I – and imagine a majority of past voters – were left out in the cold. Without a horse in the race, the pay per view wasn’t nearly as fun to watch. That said, I don’t really blame WWE for trying to create a new revenue stream. If some fans are willing to plunk down 99 cents per vote, more power to WWE for taking their money.

. I’m also on the fence about the whole “choose the opponent” stip. Inevitably, it means weeks of television build up for a particular option will be rendered completely moot. For example, fans had a possible Triple H-Kozlov match-up shoved down their throats for weeks, only for it to culminate Sunday with a shrug of the shoulders from Kozlov when he didn’t get many votes. The same goes for Finlay and Mark Henry, who got a lot of TV time in recent weeks as possible challengers to the ECW title. This really isn’t so much a complaint as it is an observation. When I used to vote [for free] for Cyber Sunday, I enjoyed having a say in the night’s line up.

. Batista has become the king of the completely forgettable world title victories. Not since he beat Triple H at WrestleMania 21 to begin his first reign have any of his world title wins felt significant. That was again the case at Cyber Sunday, where I felt his “feud” with Chris Jericho was not at all built up well, and was something of an after thought to the bigger question of who would referee the match. I don’t think WWE is doing any favors by continuing to give Batista the world title in less-than-historic circumstances. It likely means we won’t be seeing Batista win the big one at WrestleMania, which always gives a world title reign an extra bit of momentum.

. What’s more, Batista is just not the answer. He’s got a lot going for him, and should definitely remain in the main event mix, but seeing him with the world title is just too familiar. It’s the proverbial re-arranging of the deck chairs on the Titanic.

. I’ve got a big problem with a C.M. Punk match being one of three options for fans to choose from at Cyber Sunday. Not surprisingly, fans went with a match featuring the hot Cryme Tyme act instead, meaning that Punk – who just a few weeks ago was the company’s world heavyweight champion – would be left out of competing on his third consecutive WWE pay per view. He hasn’t wrestled a match on a PPV since August. That’s nothing short of disgraceful, especially in a company that could desperately, desperately use some young, new main event stars. Even more absurdly, Punk was featured on the promotional poster and commercials for the event.

. I’d love for the rumors to be true about Steve Austin returning for a one-night-only match at WrestleMania. The seeds have been planted for a few possible match ups for Stone Cold, including JBL and Chris Jericho. That said, Austin is also not the answer to WWE’s woes. In fact, I think, for too long, WWE has not handled the presentation of Austin well. He becomes more of a parody of himself every time he appears – doing little more than spitting out his tired catch phrases, doling out Stunners, and drinking beer. WWE, and Austin himself, have lost site of the many nuances that made Austin such a blast to watch once upon a time. For “Stone Cold” at his best, pick up the 1997 WWE Home Video release, “’Cuz Stone Cold Said So.”

Click here for a nice piece on him from Slam Wrestling.

So what's up with that dark spot on Phillies pitcher Joe Blanton's hat that he touches before every pitch he throws? He has that spot in literally every game.

Sorry, just needed to vent. And how weird is it that all the Rays have Brian Knobs mohawks?

Hope you all enjoyed the PPV tonight. I'll be checking in tomorrow with some stories for ya --

We're back for another PPV Sunday here at the blog, and say what you will about my malaise towards the WWE product and my disinterest in their shows, but I still managed to go a perfect 6-for-6 with my No Mercy picks.

That alone should be the proof that while things change in wrestling, fundamental psychology and business practices remain constant.

That being said, here's my thoughts on tomorrow's Cyber Sunday show, and I'll start things off with a bang ...

Continue reading "WWE Cyber Sunday preview and predictions" »

Total Nonstop Action’s flagship program, Impact, goes live this Thursday night from the Hard Rock Café in Las Vegas in what will also be the company’s first foray into the world of high definition television. Joining the cast will be TNA’s newest – and one of its biggest – acquisitions, East Setauket’s own Mick Foley.

I had an opportunity earlier this week to chat with the most famous pro wrestler ever to come out of Long Island. In this interview, Mick talks about what it’s like to perform in front of houses a small fraction the size of those he did when he was in WWE, his feelings on jeopardizing his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame, criticisms of Vince Russo and TNA’s booking, and the nasty chair shot he took at Bound for Glory.

Also worth noting, as TNA hypes a big announcement tomorrow night, is the many times in this interview that Foley brought up the advantages of taking Impact on the road regularly.

AC: Last time we spoke, "Teitam Brown" had just been released and you were getting to work on your second novel, "Scooter." Is that it for you as far as fiction writing, or do you feel you have another novel in you?

MF: Yeah, I've got a handful of stories I really could work on, but I'm going to wait until inspiration really takes hold. The novel writing process requires hundreds of hours of solitude, followed up by an editing process, followed up by having people you don't know critiquing your work. And I found the only thing I actually enjoyed about it was the actual writing. So I don't think I'm going to subjecting myself to the rest of it unless I have a really good story. If I was alone and wasn't married with four kids and a lot of other things, I'd probably be out there hammering away. But I'm pretty content that if I never do another novel again that I had a pretty good experience. Especially the second book, "Scooter," is something I'm really proud of.

Continue reading "Interview with Mick Foley" »

Long time no speak! I've been busy drowning in a sea of Long Island presidential debate and economic stuff ... but with No Mercy in the rear-view mirror and WWE releasing a Hell in the Cell DVD retrospective, now seemed like as good a time as any to share some memories of No Mercy '02, one of my favorite shows from my time on the WWE creative team. Here's a few ...

Continue reading "Memories of WWE No Mercy 2002" »

The Pro Wrestling Torch web site reported yesterday that Ric Flair announced during an England appearance over the weekend that he is in talks to come out of retirement for some big money matches in Japan. He's apparently justifying going back on his promise never to wrestle again by saying his retirement only applied to the U.S. and Europe.

I'll have to go back and watch the tapes of A.M. Raw in the weeks leading up to Flair’s retirement match at WrestleMania, but I'm fairly sure among the crawlers at the bottom of the screen was not any fine print to the effect of, "Ric Flair's retirement is valid only in all 50 states and Europe."

Having been in attendance for each night of Flair's historic three-night farewell ceremony, I am, to say the least, disheartened at the notion that I may not have seen the final match in the career of the greatest wrestler who ever lived.

There was no equivocating from Flair at the time. He was absolutely, under no circumstances, ever, ever, never, ever, ever going to wrestle again. Ever. So while I am disappointed to hear Flair apparently go back on his word, I am not surprised. A byproduct of being the greatest wrestler who ever lived is that you are, by definition, all about the business. And fake retirements among wrestlers are as time honored a tradition as they come.

With all the pomp and circumstance surrounding Flair's retirement, I think a lot of us wanted to give Flair the benefit of the doubt that his retirement would actually stick. But what was also clear about Flair was that he was still having fun out there. Heck, at nearly 60 years old, and with the help of Shawn Michaels, Flair delivered one of the best matches of the year.

Another important factor in making the decision to retire at the time may the steady support system Flair had in place in the form of his wife and WWE, which offered him both financial security, and people who had Flair’s best interest at heart. Flair has since lost both of those anchors, perhaps making the lure of the ring lights much more attractive now than it had been when Flair had other things to live for.

It's hard to begrudge a guy for doing what he loves and making a lot of money doing it. And I certainly wouldn't mind seeing Flair take on Masa Chono or Keiji Muto one more time. But it's impossible for fans not to feel like they've been hoodwinked, just as they've been over the years by Terry Funk, Mick Foley, Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan and the countless other wrestlers who swore they'd never wrestle again, only to be back in the ring within months. Of course, wrestling isn't the only sport in which such promises are broken, just ask the starting QB of our beloved NY Jets.

So here's what I propose for wrestling. Stop announcing retirements. This isn't pro basketball, football or another "real" sport in which age and physical deterioration often leave athletes no choice other than to retire. In pro wrestling, a broken down, 52-year old Hulk Hogan can cleanly defeat Shawn Michaels with his atomic legdrop. A 59-year-old Flair can go on a six-month winning streak defeating wrestlers half his age.

If you don't want to wrestle right now, don't. If in six months you do want to wrestle, welcome back. Why is it necessary to have such finality to a decision? It may not have been quite as moving, but Flair could have had nearly the same tribute to his career over WrestleMania weekend without saying, definitively, that he would never wrestle again. And his word may have still meant something.