Baiamonte’s Casa #64
May 4, 2010
By: Joe Baiamonte of Wrestleview.com
Ciao! Did you miss me this past week? My apologies, I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like to have go without a weekly visit to the Casa, so allow me to explain my absence last week.
The Casa was indeed typed and emailed to Mr. Martin and Mr. Golden as usual, only the content of edition #63 was such that it was branded ‘hilarious yet unsuitable’ for the main site. However, with every cloud there is a silver lining. In the coming weeks, the Wrestleview VIP section is adding exclusive written content that will not be available on the regular site. Baiamonte’s Casa #63 will be a part of that exclusive written content. It’s not simply lost in the infinite chasm of cyber space, but rather set to be cemented in the annals of Wrestleview.com history. Well worth the $4.95 a month investment if you ask me.
So, in keeping with controversy, I thought this week we’d take a little look at the world of shoot interviews. Often bitter, shocking, brutally honest and in the case of the Iron Sheik, hilarious and drug fuelled, shoot interviews have become as big a part of professional wrestling as spray tans and bad tattoos.
Now more than ever it seems, ex superstars are cutting deals to bad mouth ex colleagues (i.e. creative teams, Vince Mcmahon and Triple H) in order to make a quick buck. It’s an easy way to earn and allows some old farts to believe they’re still relevant. Which they’re not, by the way.
In the age of the smark and with the IWC becoming more knowledgeable about the inner workings of the wrestling industry by the hour, the shoot interview market has become more popular than a . on a quiet Sunday afternoon.
Between the insanity laden road stories and The Iron Sheik threatening to anally rape everyone in pro wrestling history, Youtube has damn near exploded with the amount of hits these videos generate. It’s such a simple process, and a ridiculously profitable one too, for both the performers and the video companies. If Highspots can throw God knows how many tens of thousands at Ric Flair to sit down and talk for a few hours then you know they’re pulling in more money than a Baltimore crack dealer. This is mainly because the wrestlers who tend to do these videos, are the ones smark fanboys have sticky dreams over.
Take Mr. Kennedy/Anderson for example. No sooner had he been released from the ‘E’ than he was Twittering to his fans, telling him to check out his shoot. The same goes for Paul London and Brian Kendrick. Charlie Haas has always been quick to vent whenever he’s been released and I’d fully expect Shelton Benjamin to be the same within the coming months. Although Shelton being on camera for several hours with an open mic could be the worst decision in the history of the World…. Ever. So maybe we’ll be spared the slumber party that would be ‘Shelton shoots’. Although that sounds more like a jizz flick than a wrestling interview.
What I’ve never understood however, is the readiness in which these ex superstars give these interviews as if they have no regard for their future potential earnings. Some guys will just let rip on Vince and every member of the WWE locker room for ‘holding them down’ or ‘mistreating them’, without thinking that maybe it’d be a wise move to keep Vince and co sweet in case an opportunity was to arise somewhere down the line to go back to Vince and make some decent money with the biggest promotion in the world. Sure, bad mouthing the WWE is always going to put you in TNA and ROH’s good books, but who’s good books is it better to be in? A couple of small companies with as much exposure as a Nun’s vag OR Vince Mcmahon’s good books which will lead to you travelling the World and being seen by millions of people every week, with your own video game character and action figure to accompany you along the way.
Sure, some guys take the risk and still end up getting second and even third chances. But those tend to be the talented guys. The guys who have something to offer. Not the guys who are about as useful as tits on a moose. The late Eddie Fatu aka Umaga refused to do a shoot interview because there was a possibility he’d be heading back to Connecticut. Smart move. Cryme Tyme did likewise and soon enough had their jobs back. Another smart move. Christian, a guy who had been treated pretty poorly from a creative standpoint before his departure from the company in 2005, never so much as batted an eyelid over his future endeavouring and sure enough three years later became the face of a brand with a Title to boot.
It’s hard to see Charlie Haas being given the same chance isn’t it? Or London and Kendrick. They’ve now got ‘X Division multi man performer for life’ written all over them. A fact that sadly, they’ll likely be delighted with.
The truth is, out of the countless shoot videos out there at the moment, the majority should be taken with less than a pinch of salt. If you watch enough of them you soon see a pattern of bitter ex employees emerging. However, the interviews with the likes of Bam Bam, Jim Duggan, Ric Flair, Bobby Heenan, Marty Jannetty, Honky Tonk Man, Kevin Nash and obviously The Iron Sheik are all WELL worth your time and energy. Old school guys telling old school stories. And wanting to rape people whilst high on cocaine. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Until next time, the address, as always, is joebaia123@hotmail.com.
Arrivederci,
Baia