The Shoot #21
July 7, 2009
By: Joshua Piedra of WrestleView.com
-The First Shot-
Hello once again and welcome to your 21st edition of The Shoot. The string of PPVs are finally over and it kind of feels weird not to have a column without reviewing PPV Picks, but that’s going to change soon anyway.
This week’s column will be a little different. Normally, I only touch upon current events in my Quick Shots section and then choose a topic in professional wrestling and give my opinion on it. This week, I?m going to break the mold and actually devote a column to a current topic that happened as early as last week’s Monday Night Raw, but before we get to that, let’s get those pesky Quick Shots out of the way.
-Quick Shots-
Lance Storm recently made a comment that his last match was supposed to be at the ECW One Night Stand PPV Event, however, he made the decision to come into Ring of Honor for their next trip into Canada where he will wrestle two more times. Storm then said that this would be it and that these final two matches would finish up his career. I did a column a few weeks back that eluded to the Terry Funk Syndrome, but I don?t think something like this would qualify as such. Reason being most people who retire and come back usually do so for long periods of time and Lance Storm is only coming back for two matches because he truly believes in the ROH Product. Now, if Storm continues to wrestle after this, then, we can add him to the TFS List, but until then, I think a one-time deal for a something you believe in doesn?t classify.
Super Crazy is set to pay a visit to TNA at one of their upcoming house shows and one must wonder if this would open the door for the Extreme Luchador to make his way onto the roster permanently. I hope so because Super Crazy would fit in well with TNA’s dwindling X-Division and could breathe some new life into it. Of course, TNA would actually have to push Super Crazy and actually devote more time to spotlighting the X-Division unlike what they have been doing as of late. We all know the X-Division is nothing more than a spotfest waiting to happen, but it is what grabbed the attention of wrestling fans back on Wednesday nights and I can?t see why TNA won?t continue to fully support the division that brought them to the big dance.
?The Human Suplex Machine? Taz’s No-Compete Clause has officially expired which means he is now free to work anywhere? or is he? A video popped up which looked like a legit advertisement or at least the beginnings of an ?Orlando-tron? video for his arrival in TNA. The clues couldn?t be any more in your face. Samoa Joe is wearing a black towel like Taz used to, and Taz had mentioned certain phrases that TNA uses in their marketing. I am willing to bet dollars to donuts that Samoa Joe’s newest role in the Main Event Mafia will be similar to his role in Christopher Daniels? The Prophecy. Joe would simply just be a gun for hire and once Taz comes in, he?ll take his MEM Paycheck and walk. I can pretty much see that happening, but time will tell, I suppose.
-The Big Shot: The Current State of ECW-
As I mentioned before at the beginning of this column, I?m going to rant on something that just left me a little baffled last week on Monday Night Raw. If you haven?t seen it, basically, the storyline was that Donald Trump had made fifteen superstar trades before he sold the brand back to Vince McMahon. Five went to Raw, Five to Smackdown! and Five to ECW. Among those sent to Monday Night Raw were ECW’s Mark Henry, Evan Bourne, and Jack Swagger (as well as the Hart Dynasty that got traded to Smackdown!).
Six of ECW’s best prospects are now gone.
In return, ECW picked up Goldust, Shelton Benjamin, and the Bella Twins. Goldust? fine. There really isn?t much left for him to do and I actually think it’s quite scary how close to home The Miz’s promo on Goldust really was. If you don?t remember, The Miz basically said that Goldust is merely hanging around until he once again goes through the revolving door of the WWE. Getting demoted from Monday Night Raw to ECW is a nice clear sign of what might be next for Dustin Rhodes. I have to ask how many times is this going to make? He should win a Slammy for being the man who has been future endeavored the most times. Goldust could provide some unique entertainment on ECW, but that’s if he is going to be used. I have a feeling that he’s just going to float around until he’s released and that will be all she wrote until he becomes a surprise entrant into a future Royal Rumble.
The Bella Twins? well, I guess that they could be valets because looking at the current ECW Roster, there isn?t another single female for them to feud with aside from Katie Lee Burchill, and even if they did have some variety to feud with, they can?t wrestle worth a damn so there isn?t really any sense to even have them on that program other than to provide some eye candy. In fact, I don?t even know why The Bella Twins are even with the WWE still. I would have released them a long time ago, but that’s just me.
Then we have Shelton Benjamin. This one really shocked me because with the recent re-uniting of The World’s Greatest Tag Team, I would have thought that the WWE was going to finally do something with the two of them, but that’s not the case as the two were quickly split up and not really given the chance to shine. If the WWE pushed Haas and Benjamin properly, they could have added a fresh challenge to the Unified Tag Team Championship, but instead Benjamin is gone to ECW and Haas will once again drift off into mediocrity until he fades away for good. Pretty sad for a team that formerly held the WWE Tag Team Titles and was a part of a stable with Kurt Angle.
Looking at the rest of the roster, Tommy Dreamer is the ECW Champion, instantly catapulting him from ECW Jobber to ECW Main Eventer. The only other person on that roster that is now a viable challenge for the ECW Championship is the only member of the roster that didn?t get plucked, and that is Christian.
Everyone kind of believes that Christian is still being punished from coming back to the WWE from TNA, but I beg to differ because at the moment, without Christian, ECW is going to be completely dead. They haven?t really built anyone up which is kind of scary if you think about it. Christian will win the ECW Title back eventually, and when they do, Tommy Dreamer is more-than-likely going to retire. In this interim, Vince needs to bring some new faces onto ECW or start giving the ones there a pretty big push because once Christian gets the title back there will be no one that would be a viable challenger.
If you take the current roster, just by the name values alone, I could see either Gregory Helms making a return as The Hurricane persona, and William Regal as the only two possibly getting a push and becoming a threat to the ECW Championship. The only other way to draw fans to ECW if this were not to happen would be to bring up people from FCW and push them, or defend the Unified Tag Team Titles on ECW, which, looking from the roster, again, isn?t a viable option because I don?t see one tag team there.
Needless to say, this is the worst shape I?ve seen ECW in. I know what the argument is about ECW, that it is nothing more than a prop to help elevate new stars and bring them onto the main brands to help enhance the overall product. That is all fine and dandy, but there are only nineteen personalities on the ECW Roster. Two of which are commentators, one is a Ring Announcer, and five are managers (assuming that is what the Bella Twins will become), leaving eleven actual wrestlers. I know it’s just a one hour program, but seeing the same eleven people week in and week out is going to get pretty stale and there is only so much you can do with a roster like that, especially when people don?t really care about most of the personalities on that roster.
But I digress? this may just be the final stop for ECW before the plug is pulled on it. The only thing to really save ECW now would be an influx of FCW talent and in my humbled opinion I don?t think I would want to see ECW get saved. This was a nice idea at first, to bring it back, but the project has failed miserably in the eyes of the fans all because of their expectations. I know Vince’s idea behind it, but when you use the ECW name, there is a certain expectation to be had and when you mess with that expectation, you really destroy the audience that was expecting something more than what was given.
Again, I?m not saying I wanted the old ECW back, I am basically just pointing out how ECW ended up like it did and with this latest move, whatever transformation Vince McMahon morphed ECW into is on its last legs. Many believe that Vince wanted to kill ECW for quite some time now and I believe this just might be the final curtain call.
On the bright side, we could see Christian finally get moved to Smackdown where he belongs! (fingers crossed)
-The Final Shot-
So there’s my little rant for this week. As for some non-wrestling related stuff. If you are a Mega Man fan and have picked up Mega Man Star Force 3 for the Nintendo DS, I will happily accept a Wave Battle over the DS WiFi service. Here’s my info if you wish to hit me up:
Name: syscrash
Version: Black Ace
Current Noise Change: Libra Noise
Code: 3008-6094-3598
Looking for to battling your and/or becoming your Brother for your precious link power and battle cards!
Also, for those who know me? you know that I am a huge anime fan and one of the best series I?ve seen was Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When the Cicadas Cry). Basically it’s a murder mystery series that takes a sci-fi twist at the end. I won?t say much more, but it’s definitely worth checking out? but that’s not the main point here. The main point is that the author of the ?When They Cry? series came out with another anime called Umineko no Naku Koro ni (When the Seagulls Cry) and it, too, is a murder mystery, although this one looks like it could be like a game of Clue on crack. The first episode is out? you can youtube search it or you can browse various sites like animeblogz.com, zomganime.com, animewoot.com or any other place of your choice and watch it for free? if not for the show, at least watch the opening.. the music and the art is simply awesome.
With that being said? I bid you all farewell until next Tuesday where I shall return and rant some more. If you wish to contact me and drop me a line, you can use one of the following means:
E-Mail: syscrash2002@hotmail.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/itoshinojjp
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/joshuapiedra
Until next week?
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