Notes from the Nosebleeds #136
October 1, 2011
By: Matt O’Brien of Wrestleview.com
I want to say it was around a year and a half ago that I wrote a column in which I laid out my declarations of guilt. They were my confessions of a wrestling fan. It was in that column that I declared my likes and dislikes for aspects of wrestling that normally had popular opinion on the other side of the fence. It’s not that I was a maverick or had gone rouge. There were just a few things I wanted to get off my chest. This week I have decided to do that once again. There are no great epiphanies here, just me laying out a few things. I give you Confessions of a Wrestling Fan.
I confess that I am worried about Rey Mysterio. He is one of the greatest wrestlers in the last couple of decades and his nagging knee issues may be his undoing. When somebody has a surgery it should be a good thing since they are getting treatment. With wrestlers it is worrisome because you never know what affect that surgery will have down the line.
Mysterio reportedly had another surgery this week. I don’t expect that he will retire in the immediate future, but the day is coming when wrestling will not have him as a showcase talent. That will be a sad day.
I confess that I will not be watching Bound for Glory at my local movie theater. I will also not be buying it, nor illegally streaming it. I just cannot do it. I know that as a wrestling fan and one that writes for a wrestling website, I should watch it…I just can’t.
I confess that I would love for the WWE tag team division to flourish. I know tag team wrestling isn’t really a big draw, but I have a soft spot for it. Some weeks back I wrote a column about possible tag teams that could be formed based on the current WWE roster. Maybe someday we will see tag team resurgence. Maybe.
I confess that I can’t stand the direction the CM Punk character. A lot of people feel the ball was dropped with him. I don’t. There was never a ball to drop with this. Instead, WWE took a promo that was meant to sell a pay per view and tried to squeeze every last bit of mileage they can out of it. The build to Money in the Bank was tremendous. It was very well done, but I just personally wasn’t into it. Shoot angles have never been my favorites. Maybe it’s because of the overkill on shoots that I suffered in my teenage years by subjecting myself to WCW television in 1999 and 2000. I ‘m not saying that there’s no place for them, but I cannot imagine an episode of Law & Order: SVU where Richard Belzer’s John Munch character breaks the fourth wall and starts complaining about not having enough screen time. But I digress. Punk’s character change worked for the Money in the Bank pay per view. Based on early numbers, it didn’t work for SummerSlam. He also feels out of place as a baby face. People compare him to Steve Austin, who was out of place as a baby face when he turned, but this is different. Punk, despite what people want to believe, is not the next Steve Austin. He is very good, perhaps one of the best of his generation, but not the icon some people want him to be. I really think he was more effective as a heel in this role. As much as the crowd is behind him I think that will die down. He will still be popular, but not to the point that he was.
I confess that I am sad about the coming doom of the wrestling pay per view. The early numbers for the SummerSlam buys are no reason to start the apocalypse. It’s not so much SummerSlam is the problem as it is pay per views in general over the last few years. Money is hard to come by these days for a lot of people, and the amount it costs to buy a pay per view is ridiculous. When I was a kid you would see a pay per view every few months or so. I watched as WWE and WCW started to air pay per views on a monthly basis. It felt like overkill, especially with the Monday Night Wars. How could these companies give away huge matches on free TV and still have a pay per view every month? The managed to do it by evolving and changing with the times. Wrestling will find its way out of this as well…I just wish I knew what the direction was.
I confess that I am disappointed with the early buyrate estimates for SummerSlam. If it turns out that the number is really as low as estimated, that is really too bad. It was a very good show. I will always remember Mark Henry putting Sheamus through the barricade, the fantastic match between Randy Orton and Christian, and Alberto Del Rio cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase after a surprise appearance by Kevin Nash of all people. My original plan for this week’s Nosebleeds was to dig into why SummerSlam would so such a low buy. I thought that by exploring some if the possibilities I could shed a little light on it. The truth is I don’t know why. I can speculate about the lack of build, the success/failure of the John Cena/CM Punk program, WWE, the economy, etc. Bottom line is I do not know why this year’s installment may end up being one of the least purchased domestic SummerSlam shows ever. All I know is that I paid money to watch a good show that I enjoyed very much.
I confess that Pretty Peter Avalon is one of my favorite wrestling characters today. I would love to see this guy in WWE as a pipsqueak heel. He always brings a smile to my face.
That will do it for my confessions this time. There was nothing too revealing about me or my wrestling taste I hope. Some things are best kept in the dark anyway. Thank you for checking out Notes from the Nosebleeds and have a great weekend!
Matt O’Brien
Columnist, Wrestleview.com
mattman543@yahoo.com