MCNEILL'S TAKE
McNEILL: Change We Can't Believe In
Oct 29, 2008 - 8:08:38 PM |
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By Pat McNeill, Torch Columnist
The Change: For the past month, American presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain have positioned themselves as agents of change. Both senators have different ideas as to what changes need to be made in the United States government.
The American economy has wobbled over the past month. Therefore, it shouldn't be any surprise that the professional wrestling business is at a low ebb. As a result, the three top promotions in North America are all talking about change.
The first big change took place late Saturday night, when Gabe Sapolsky was fired as booker of Ring of Honor after a show in Edison, New Jersey. Sapolsky had been with the promotion since its inception in 2002, but ROH's core revenue come from DVD sales. With DVD sales down, the company is losing money. Sapolsky will repaced by former NWA champion Adam Pearce, who reportedly helped David Marquez book the short-lived NWA television series that was taped in Las Vegas earlier this year.
As you may have guessed, some people think Sapolsky's departure is part of a storyline. It is true that Gabe Sapolsky used his online news updates to swerve fans and protect certain angles. But if this is a storyline, it's a poorly conceived one. There are reports, most notably one from promoter/agent Bill Behrens, that owner Cary Silkin nearly pulled the plug on the company in late September, after the Glory By Honor show. How would Behrens know? If ROH wanted to book certain TNA or indy wrestlers, they would have to go through Behrens.
If Ring Of Honor was not in real jeopardy, it would have been in the company's best interest for Silkin and Pearce to reassure the wrestlers, partners and distribution channel that the rumors were false. Three days later, people who perform for ROH haven't received those phone calls. In fact, the current rumor is that the promotion will be out of business in less than six months unless there is a turnaround. That's not reassuring news.
Pearce's elevation raises several issues. One ROH performer who knows Pearce assured me that the Scrap Daddy was one of the best possible choices to replace Sapolsky. After all, Pearce has booked before, he knows the players, and he's got the confidence of Cary Silkin. That's the good news. The bad news is, this person hadn't heard from Pearce as of Monday night, and was obviously nervous about his spot in the promotion.
Another issue concerns the sister promotions recognized by Ring of Honor. Sal Hamaoui's World Wrestling Network, in addition to handling DVD production and distribution, owns Full Impact Pro. Sapolsky was the booker for FIP, but has told Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer that he will not be traveling down to Florida for Hamaoui in the future. This leaves the FIP-ROH relationship up in the air. This comes at a bad time for Full Impact Pro, who drew its lowest crowd of 2008 earlier this month. Granted, the show was running against a Rays home playoff game in nearby Tampa, but it also came on a weekend where Ring of Honor had to postpone its two shows in the Sunshine state due to poor attendance. Dave Prazak's SHIMMER promotion is still active, but losing Ring of Honor as a promotional platform would definitely put a crimp in the all-female group's DVD sales.
There has been a lot of speculation about a Ring of Honor television show. While it would be fun to see another wrestling company on national television, none of the cable channels ROH has negotiated with are on the same level as Spike TV or USA Network. Even assuming the company can consummate a deal with a national outlet, almost every aspect of Ring of Honor's television production would have to be upgraded. That's a costly prospect for a promotion that is already losing money.
For now, Ring of Honor is staying the course. The two big announcements made earlier this week, with Samoa Joe's return in Chicago and Kensuke Sasaki's appearance at Final Battle, were in the works before the booking change. But nothing about the champion, or the way Cary Silkin has handled the first few days of a Gabe-less Ring of Honor, bode well for its long term health.
The Lack of Change: Total Nonstop Action wants its fans to believe that TNA Wrestling is a promotion on the rise, a company that has succeeded against all odds and is capable of delivering a better product than World Wrestling Entertainment. That plan isn't working. Even with a live special from Las Vegas and a move to high-definition, the promotion's television ratings are at the same level they were in the spring of 2006.
Anyone looking for an explanation probably hasn't checked out the various wrestler interviews that have crossed the Torch website for the past couple weeks. But all the discussion of Total Nonstop Action that has taken place in the media leads to a conclusion, one that won't flatter the good folks at Panda Energy. Take a look at the highlights.
- Mick Foley, in an interview with Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald, spent more time on his strained relationship with WWE owner Vince McMahon than on his new employer. Foley said that things were never the same with McMahon after he resigned with the company in 2005, commanding a high price after fears the ex-champ would jump to TNA. "I no longer felt comfortable going into his office during TV tapings and eating free food," Foley said.
- Current TNA wrestler Kevin Nash talked about his recent flirtation with the promotion where he won his first world title. "Vince wanted me to do the Diesel thing," Nash told Tim Baines of the Winnipeg Sun. "And I was OK with that, basically to start and end my career as Diesel. When we sat down and talked, Vince got to the point where he wanted me to color my hair dark. I went to my hair lady and she said with my hair, that's all I'd be doing is dying my hair."
- Ric Flair, during a fan question and answer session on a 1PW show in Doncaster, England, was asked about the possibility of joining up with Total Nonstop Action. Flair was adamant that he would not be showing up at the Impact Zone because TNA was "nowhere near the level of WWE". Flair further claimed that Mick Foley was harming his legacy by working for TNA, and that he had told this to Foley. Keep in mind that this is "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, the man who will gladly lend his prestige to an indy show at your local community center, Masonic temple, high school or National Guard armory, so long as the check clears.
- Johnny Devine a former TNA X division champion and wrestler who has appeared on at least a dozen TNA pay-per-views, decided to leave the promotion voluntarily in the last few weeks. Devine somehow got it into his head that no matter how hard he works, TNA is going to have him slotted in the same spot for the rest of his career. Heck, let's hear it from his recent interview from the Slam Wrestling site.
"The hard part to swallow is the difference in pay," Devine said. "Yes, they're legends. But the salaries aren't even remotely close. I don't want to get into specifics, but there's a big difference. Word travels fast in the locker room. There was frustration. But I'm not the squeaky wheel type. I threw my two cents in when I could and tried to expand what was being done with me."
- Then there's Kurt Angle. Over the past couple of months, the former Olympic gold medalist has backtracked on his previous harsh criticism of WWE. In fact, he asked one interviewed to relay an apology to Vince McMahon for some of things Angle said after arriving in WWE. Portions of his recent shoot interview came off as attempts to reconcile with WWE. Given that Kurt once claimed to have a twenty-year contract with TNA, that's a serious reversal. Worst of all was his interview in the UK Sun where Angle ripping TNA's booking and criticized Dixie Carter and Jeff Jarrett by name.
Oh, there's more, including Team 3-D constant promises to return to WWE, but I think everybody gets the picture by now. Sure, TNA suffers for poor booking and incoherent television show, but the biggest trouble they face right now is the poor morale of its wrestlers. Every one of the above comments makes TNA sound bush league, like a pale imitation of WWE. It is one thing for an online writer or columnist to rip the promotion, but this is "friendly" fire. And it's the sort of talk that reminds longtime fans of the final years of World Championship Wrestling, right before the company went down the drain.
Related Story from PWTorch.com: KELLER'S TAKE: A restructuring idea for ROH to attract new customers, add revenue, sell more DVDs (plus related new Poll)
PAT MCNEILL of Richmond, Virginia has been a PWTorch columnist since 2001. His full page columns appear regularly in the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter, available by mail or online with a VIP membership. He also produces "The Real Deal with Pat McNeill" audio show exclusively for VIP members every week featuring interviews, news analysis, commentary, and listener Q&A.
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