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CALDWELL'S TAKE
CALDWELL'S Daily Word 1/1: Happy New Year, HBK employee program, McMahon and Torch reader response to "The Wrestler" Jan 1, 2009 - 3:44:19 PM
-- It's a new year, which means a fresh start on keeping track of every major pro wrestling event, show, and top news story in a handy Excel spreadsheet. Sure does come in handy when looking at the WWE Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton feud from January '08 that seems like it happened years ago.
-- Some housekeeping notes on the year-end voting and Torch Trivia. From now until Sunday, be sure to add your nominations for each of the major year-end award categories. You can find the list of categories on the Spotlight article and also on the article sitting on top of the Main Listing with the year-end voting announcement.
On Monday, we'll be posting all of the year-end award polls for you, the discerning Torch reader, to vote on. If you want a wrestler, feud, event, etc. to make sure it makes the year-end polls to be voted on, get in those nominations by Sunday either by posting in the Comment section or emailing pwtorch@gmail.com.
We had a successful re-debut of Torch Trivia in the month of December and we'll pick it back up on Monday for the January installment. Dusty Robinson ran away and hid from the competition by correctly selecting the right answer 20 straight days to close the month.
In the interest of making Torch Trivia more competitive by perhaps including a scoring system of some value not anyway associated with the bogus BCS college football system, send in your thoughts or suggestions on Torch Trivia for implementation next month.
-- Checking the "MVP of Raw" poll that we posted on Monday night after the show, it's amazing the kind of impact Shawn Michaels had with five minutes of storytelling without a single wrestling move.
Michaels picked up 37 percent of the MVP voting for the Dec. 29 Raw, topping Randy Orton's 14 percent, and a three-way tie between JBL, Chris Jericho, and Super Haas Charlie Snuka. (Seriously?)
Michaels's program with JBL could be frustrating for viewers who want WWE to hurry up and get to the destination of this JBL "employee" program, with Michaels returning to the super-exciting Mr. WrestleMania persona.
Perhaps it's a matter of WWE fans already waiting through a serious-HBK program with Chris Jericho throughout 2008 and not wanting to experience another similar program where Michaels is wrestling tentatively and sporting the puppy-dog-eyed look of disdain.
But, the program worked to the tune of an MVP vote for Michaels and a major increase in TV ratings for the second hour of Raw on Monday night. We don't have the quarter-hour ratings yet, but I imagine that epic storytelling from Michaels helped boost the over-run extending the second hour.
The positive from the program, even though it's tough to see it right now, is that Michaels is extending the length of time his body will hold up in the ring. By not having to wrestle epic 10-20-minute TV matches every week, he can save his body for the big PPV matches when he needs to flip the switch.
Michaels will able to be around much longer if he can conserve his body, which I believe most wrestling fans would prefer, even if waiting through a sometimes-frustrating program is necessary. Just be thankful he's not the Boy Toy.
-- In a few weeks, we'll know whether "The Wrestler" will have a seat at the table for the prestigious Academy Awards ceremony that recognizes the best in movies for the year. Mickey Rourke is a virtual lock to be nominated for Best Actor, as is Bruce Springsteen's "The Wrestler" track for Best Original Song in a movie.
If WWE's Vince McMahon had a vote, he certainly wouldn't pick "The Wrestler," as we reported yesterday that McMahon believes the movie is below WWE. The thematic material related to wrestling is set in the long-forgotten territory era and under-the-radar independent wrestling scene of today, which gives the movie its gritty feel perfect for Mickey Rourke's character.
WWE wants to distance itself from pro wrestling, as evidenced by corporate-friendly statements from CEO Linda McMahon about the company not being in the wrestling business, but the entertainment genre, competing against the NFL, NBA, and entertainers putting on rock concerts.
McMahon most-likely feels the movie being any way associated with WWE would bring the company down to a level they long-since tried to escape from. WWE's attitude of superiority has been displayed in recent JBL promos and the Shawn Michaels "employee" storyline where HBK is willing to sell his soul to JBL to prevent becoming Randy "the Ram" Robinson.
The real story continues to be wrestlers being gobbled up and spit out if they aren't protective of themselves and the investment they're making with their bodies. Other than the two irreplaceables - John Cena and Triple H - McMahon can always find someone else to slide onto the card.
"The Wrestler" hits too close to home with McMahon, who obviously doesn't want his company associated with low-rent indy wrestling, but also because he's the corporate face of a wrestling business that couldn't generate mainstream interest unless someone died or was blown up in a limo.
Now, the positive accolades are going to a movie that focuses on something outside the WWE machine and not kids dancing in the ring with Finlay or WWE touring Iraq. McMahon simply won't stand for that.
Torch reader stonecoldmark commented on the article we posted yesterday about WWE's official anti-"The Wrestler" position after McMahon picked up his movie screening in December. Here's what scmark had to say:
Ask Jake Roberts or Roddy Piper if any of what is in "The Wrester" pertains to them. The Wrestler is about what happens when the WWE dumps these guys. Guys like Duggan are lucky Vince still keeps them employed. Even HUGE stars like Hogan and Flair can be included. Flair never knew when to call it quits because it's all he's known. Hogan would still give it a try if Vince gave him a chance.
The Wrestler should be a calling card for anyone that wants to get into the biz, not everyone can get a job in the big-time and if you do save that money. This film speaks to not just wrestlers, but can apply to any job where the excitement, fame, and money can fade seemingly overnight. Just ask Mickey Rourke. The movie is his life.
Vince is right it's not the WWE, but does that mean his guys are treated any better? Not on your life with that schedule. I think wrestling five or six days a week is just as bad as taking a stapler to your head for one night on a Saturday in Secaucus.
I just want to say thanks James for bring back Torch Trivia.I got to relive
some great & bad wrestling moments like yesterday's question about the Raw
Bowl,yes the Raw Bowl was Wrestlecrap worthy with the ridiculous football
theme but during that time there were some great things going on like Owen
Hart being a bad ass heel because he put Shawn Michaels on the shelf with a
enziguri during their November Raw match & the start of the feud between IC
champion Razor Ramon & Goldust with Goldust hitting on Razor by having his
usher give Razor romantic stuff like flowers to get him riled up before
their match at the Royal Rumble.(Goldust was doing attitude era stuff
before there was an attitude era.)But there was bad stuff such as the
Billionare Ted skits(All it did was remind people that Hulk Hogan & Randy
Savage were in WCW.)Again thanks & I can't for the next installment of
Torch Trivia.
Greg Tingle
01 Jan 2009, 13:46
The Wrestler is not the WWE, however parts of do tell part of the story of
workers with the WWWE in years gone by. Thank god that The Wrestler is not
the WWE, and Vince McMahon and the top brass at the WWE have every right to
distance themselves from the film. At least some lessons got learned along
the way, and the WWE body count is not as high as it once was. If pro
wrestling schools showed The Wrestler to potential students before they
signed on I think its likely that the sign up rates for wrestling academy's
world decline. One needs to be mindful of what they wish for - they might
just get it. The Wrestler is a perfect example of show business not being
all it's often cranked up to me, and in my position as a media agent I'm in
the position to know this. All respect to Roddy Piper, Greg Valentine and
many other legends for supporting The Wrestler and Mickey Rourke's effort.
Piper's line about it being "not his story, but it is my story" is classic,
but in reality Piper came out of the business in better shape than most,
and he still picks up a WWE cheque from time to time. Are we one step
closer to a wrestling union? I doubt it, but you never know. The US is
cracking down on gambling and other moral and ethics type matters, but will
they care enough to ensure professional entertainers, wrestlers and the
like don't end up on the scrap heap when promoters are finished getting
their slice of meat from them? McMahon has cleaned up his act a hell of a
lot over the past 5 years or so, and let's hope other wrestling promoters
do the same. The Wrestlers gets 5 stars for impact, story telling and
acting, and talk about a movie for the times.
I don't really care about what McMahon thinks about the movie The Wrestler.
i'm still going to see it when it opens here in New Orleans at the end of
the month. the trailer looks amazing. i really want to see the inside look
at the indies as told from this perspective. plus Mickey Rourke and Marisa
Tomia look great.
Steve Andrews
01 Jan 2009, 15:33
I was fortunate enough to have seen the wrestler while in NYC attending
ROH's Final Battle 2008 and what an amazing film. No words could do it
justice, you simply have to experience it yourself.
But of course Mr. Caldwell, you couldn't leave well enough alone could you?
If it's not Keller, it's you ragging on WWE's Tribute to The Troops. They
clearly never do it for praise, they do it because the men and women that
are putting their lives on the line as I write this deserve it. At the very
least they bring more joy to their lives than you or Keller do as you both
only mention them when on a soap box. Sad.
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AND NEW FOR 2009! Monthly "Vintage Audio Torch Talks." We are releasing for the first time ever audio versions of our text Torch Talk updates, the historical first series of insider interviews ever. Wade Keller's newsmaking in-depth interviews with wrestling's biggest names are now being made available exclusively to VIP members. But you must be a member each month, as these are not archived, so they are replaced with a new one each month! This debuted in January 2009 with a 68 minute interview with the late "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith. Who's next? Hulk Hogan? Eric Bischoff? The Rock? Goldberg? Jeff Hardy?
-- It's a new year, which means a fresh start on keeping track of every major pro wrestling event, show, and top news story in a handy Excel spreadsheet. Sure does come in handy when looking at the WWE Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton feud from January '08 that seems like it happened years ago.
