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CALDWELL'S BLOG: Happy Thanksgiving, Brief Hulk Hogan DVD Review, History dictates Sheamus feuding with John Cena, WWE vs. TNA Supercard analysis
Nov 26, 2009 - 6:30:20 PM
-- Happy Thanksgiving to our U.S. readers celebrating with family and friends today. My celebration consisted of gravy-covered turkey, a little football, and the annual reciting of lines from Chevy Chase's "Vacation" movie with my cousins. Good times for all.
-- On Wednesday afternoon, I watched Disc One of WWE's new Hulk Hogan DVD all the way through and I have mixed feelings on whether it's worth picking up. If you're a fan of history and how it applies to 2009, it might be worth a look for the holiday shopping season coming up.
The strong aspects are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler's dubbed-over commentary on some old-school house show matches "never before seen" on TV. The weak aspects are the lack of historical background or perspective leading into each of the matches.
Hogan's transition from Hulkamania in the AWA to WWF during the early 1980s was sadly glossed over. Even a 60-second soundbyte from Jim Ross "in studio" introducing the transition would have sufficed for this DVD format of a match compilation rather than a documentary.
Watching the Hogan matches during the Hulkamania run in the 1980s, I also kept thinking of the recent Eric Bischoff Torch Talk where Bischoff discussed his belief that WWE CEO Vince McMahon lacks creativity. Bischoff added that he sees WWE's current product returning to its current form from the 1980s Hulk Hogan run.
"Vince has one kind of creative formula that he's really been doing variations of since the '80s. The only time he kind of diverted from that formula is when he was forced to (during the Monday Night Wars)," Bischoff told Torch editor Wade Keller. "Now that he doesn't have that kind of pressure on him, what is he going back to? He's going back to the same basic formulas he used in the '80s."
I believe that's most-evidenced by John Cena's current run, even going back to 2005 and 2006 when he became very hot as the "Hulk Hogan" babyface going through every heel WWE built up.
Disc One of the Hogan DVD has Hogan running through Big John Studd, King Kong Bundy, Killer Khan, and Kimala, which might as well be like Cena running through Great Khali a few years ago. Now in 2009, WWE has built up Sheamus to be the latest for Cena to run through.
WWE experimented with this on the European Tour earlier this month when they put Cena opposite several different mid-card heels rather than going with the usual Cena vs. Orton round of house show main events. WWE is trying to find the right heels they can build up as threats to Cena and the WWE Title.
Just like King King Bundy in the 1980s, WWE is returning to that basic story principle of the top babyface in the promotion trying to conquer Goliath. That's why Sheamus is in the position he's in right now. How long it lasts remains to be seen before WWE rotates the next "threat to the title" into a main event situation to be a threat to Cena.
And, after Sheamus gets a run with Cena on top, WWE can rotate Sheamus back into the title picture down the road after the audience has been exposed to him as a potential threat to the title. Same with The Miz being rotated back into the title picture down the road after his initial exposure cutting promos on Cena several months ago.
The formula is back in place with Cena now established as the company's top babyface and current champion after playing hot potato with Jake Roberts...er...Randy Orton throughout 2009.
-- We received a really strong response to the WWE vs. TNA supercard of match-ups. In the current poll, Torch readers have selected C.M. Punk vs. Kurt Angle as the match-up they want to see the most. A close second is Miz & Morrison vs. the Motor City Machineguns.
I'm not surprised Punk was heavily favored by Torch readers, as he was voted MVP of pro wrestling four straight months from June through September. It also has the capability of being a very strong wrestling match and an easy show-stealer.
Same with Miz and Morrison against the Machineguns. For Torch readers who enjoy that style of fast-paced, highly-athletic wrestling, there probably isn't a better match-up in WWE or TNA.
The match I picked was The Undertaker vs. Samoa Joe (which finished third in the voting). WWE is trying to create their own version of Samoa Joe with the newly-heel Batista, but the difference is that Joe can work an MMA style that Undertaker likes to work when matched up with the right opponent. Something about the no-fear, no-backing-down Samoa Joe character against Undertaker is very intriguing to me.
I also like the match selected fourth by Torch readers - Christian vs. Desmond Wolfe (a/k/a Nigel McGuinness). I think the promos before the match would be amazing and could be better than the match itself, which I think would be another show-stealer.
I'm surprised DX vs. Beer Money was near the bottom of the list with only three percent of the vote. Perhaps it's the anti-Triple H vibe from Torch readers or they didn't like the match-up against Beer Money. I originally paired DX up against Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner, but I wanted something fresh or unique with nearly every match-up.
Torch readers may have also wanted to see Shawn Michaels in a singles match against the likes of A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe, or Desmond Wolfe. Triple H in a singles match vs. Samoa Joe might have been even more intriguing than DX in a tag match with Torch readers wanting to see a badass character like Samoa Joe facing off against Hunter.
These are matches we won't see unless folks jump from ship to ship like the Monday Night Wars, but it's interesting to see how the top stars in WWE match up against the top stars in TNA.
Many readers also wrote in about leaving Randy Orton off the card. I didn't see a natural match-up for him against TNA, and I liked the other match-ups I created besides the possibilities of Orton vs. Styles, Joe, or Wolfe. Orton should be on the card, but I didn't see a place for him.
So, here's an opportunity for Torch readers to write in who they would like to see Orton paired up against from TNA. Send your thoughts to pwtorch@gmail.com.
Update: Torch reader Kristin H. checked in with a great Randy Orton suggestion for him to face Sting in the supercard line-up. Based on Jesse Ventura's promo to Orton on Raw to "keep on retiring" wrestlers, Kristin says, "And if Sting really wanted to retire, Randy could punt him out." Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.
