RADICAN'S TAKE RADICAN'S BLOG: Looking beyond Jeff Hardy's suspension Mar 11, 2008 - 9:16:00 AM

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By Sean Radican, PWTorch Columnist

Updated Tuesday, March 11, 2008

WWE.com’s announcement of Jeff Hardy’s 60 day suspension is another sad reminder of the demons Hardy still faces in his life on a daily basis. For all the good Hardy has done in the past year, he is now one strike away from termination according to the terms of WWE’s Wellness Policy.

Make no mistake, Hardy’s name coming up for suspension is bigger news than the latest developmental wrestler to get busted for violating WWE’s drug policy, which is news that is merely a blip on the radar screen in the grand scheme of things.

We should have seen this coming and I think many of us can certainly be found guilty of questioning WWE’s booking of Hardy in recent months. Triple H knew better, which is why he laughed off Hardy’s victory over him at Armageddon back in December. The WWE creative team new better - the red hot Hardy lost clean to Orton at the Royal Rumble. He then dropped the decision to Triple H in the Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out last month.

Hardy’s suspensions still raises the usual array of questions that crop up when it comes to WWE Wellness Policy. The top wrestlers are bigger than ever and recover quicker than most humans from injuries commonly associated with steroid use. The question needs to be asked how and why this continues to occur.

Is WWE trying to clean up the pills and illegal street drugs before going after the steroid users or is it just the former?

I give the WWE credit for enforcing their Wellness Policy and handing down a 60 day suspension to Hardy, but my eyes tell me it’s a selective enforcement, as there are flashing neon signs on Raw and Smackdown each week.

Email Sean Radican.

Updated Saturday, January 26, 2007

Thoughts on the wacky world of wrestling...

-TNA reportedly ran a successful house show last night in Troy, Ohio and drew around 1,500 fans. The thing that kills me about TNA house shows is that they always deliver a lot of good matches with clean finishes, which you never see on Impact. Also, the house shows draw a lot of families and TNA isn't exactly what I would call a "family friendly" promotions judging by the content of their television and PPV programming.

The contrast between the product TNA presents for their house shows and the product presented on television and PPV is perplexing. After the show, several wrestlers reportedly signed autographs for the fans in attendance. I attended a TNA house show in June and there were a lot of families in attendance then as well. The match quality wasn't great, but there were clean finishes and the product came off like it was a family friendly alternative to WWE.

If you just knew TNA from their house shows, you would think it was a promotion that really cared about their fans and went the company went out of its way to be a "safe" alternative for parents worried about how appropriate wrestling is for their children to be watching.

I applaud TNA for the way they present their product on the road, but the news coming out of Troy, Ohio that TNA was charging fans $20 to have their picture taken with him in the ring makes TNA come off like a glorified independent. I hope TNA stops doing this and gives the people that support their company something more in return than charging them to have a picture taken with their top star after house shows. TNA needs to be better than that.

-I had the chance to watch two new DVDs recently when I watched Face Off 2: When Worlds Collide, which featured Iron Sheik, New Jack, and The Honky Tonk Man from RF Video and YouShoot with the Honky Tonk Man from Kayfabecommentaries.

Face Off 2: When Worlds Collide is basically an 85 minute train wreck with Sheik, Honky, and New Jack just going off on everyone and everything imaginable. RF Video basically just turned a camera on and let these three men have at it in a hotel room. The results were sometimes hilarious and often disturbing. I know these things are filmed for their entertainment value and this was highly entertaining for the most part, but I could have done without seeing these three moon the camera multiple times.

I thought it was hilarious to watch New Jack bad mouth Paul Heyman for not paying the wrestlers the money he owed them from ECW, but Sheik in the background saying “amen” after everything New Jack said was priceless. The three of them also discussed the Chris Benoit tragedy in a frank manner that made me wish they had been interviewed by the major networks over the summer when the media blitz was on.

The subject of TNA also came up and New Jack and Honky Tonk Man ripped Jeff Jarrett apart while Sheik nodded approvingly in the background. New Jack and Honky Tonk Man talked about how Jarrett stole the guitar gimmick from Honky.

This shoot isn’t for anyone looking for a serious conversation about wrestling. Some of the material involving the Sheik is rather disturbing, but New Jack and Honky Tonk Man make this a release worth checking out if you’re into this sort of thing.

YouShoot with Honky Tonk Man is one of my favorite releases from 2007. Kayfabecommentaries.com came up with the concept for this shoot, which featured Honky Tonk Man answering emails and video questions from wrestling fans for 2 hours. The concept worked really well, as Honky answered a variety of questions.

This release is broken up into a bunch of different sections, including a “F---, Marry, Kill,” section and another section where fans asked Honky about women on the road. Honky hilariously answers one questions about life on the road by saying he has told his wife don’t be surprised if someone knocks on their door one day and tells Honky he is their father. Some of the people who sent in video questions were just trying to get themselves over and Honky was hilarious in tearing them apart before answering the questions they asked.

I highly recommend the YouShoot with Honky Tonk Man. Kayfabecommentaries put out a quality product with great production values that you simply don’t see on other shoots. The production values aren’t as good as the Ultimate Insiders series, but the concepts this company comes up with make the tired shoot interview concept interesting once again. Kudos to them for their innovations in 2007.

You can pick up Face Off 2: When Worlds Collide at RFVideo.com and YouShoot with Honky Tonk Man at Kayfabecommentaries.com.

Email Sean Radican.

Updated Sunday, December 2, 2007

WWE's "The Shawn Michaels Story: Heartbreak & Triumph" is a must-buy for HBK fans. I had a chance to check out the documentary portion, which was surprisingly honest given that it's a WWE produced release. The documentary takes you from HBK's childhood all the way up through WrestleMania 24. Chris Jericho, Vince McMahon, Triple H, HBK's parents, childhood friends, and others are interviewed as the viewer is taken on an extensive tour of HBK's career as a wrestler.

I really enjoyed hearing Chris Jericho talk about wrestling HBK at WrestleMania. Jericho is an unrepentant geek when it comes to his comments on wrestling one of his boyhood idols on the biggest stage wrestling has to offer. I loved how Jericho said that just 1% of him was marking out during the match.

Triple H, HBK, and Vince McMahon offer some interesting commentary on HBK's drug use, the Montreal Screw Job, and the famous incident with the kliq at MSG. Some of the commentary is surprisingly honest during these segments, although some things are left out as well.

I highly recommend picking up this release as soon as possible if you already haven't. There are a lot of fun Easter eggs on here as well, along with several matches that haven't been released on DVD before, including the Rockers beating the Hart Foundation for the WWE Tag Titles that was never aired because the top rope broke during the match.

Email Sean Radican.

Updated Wednesday, December 21, 2007

Pre-Turkey Day thoughts...

Of course, Thanksgiving is a time to be around your loved ones, but what all us wrestling fans really want is to hide ourselves in a bunker with only a television and fist full of wrestling DVDs to watch.

Yeah, yeah. I read you. You want to know what the heck you should watch. Jericho's return didn't excite you, so you're not really feeling his book. It's good though, you should read it, but what all of you wrestling fans out there should really get a hold of is Bret Hart's autobiography "Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling."It's not available in the US, but sites such as ROHWrestling.com and Highspots.com are selling it right now.

I've only read a little of Bret's tome, but it's already gripped me more than the Jericho book right from the opening page. Bret opens the book by setting the scene at the funeral for his father, Stu, in Calgary. Bret's prose is rife with anger and bitterness. He focuses more on the negative aspects of the funeral, especially somehow getting in a frame of mind where his speech honoring his late father will somehow teach Vince McMahon some sort of lesson.

Bret talks about now being free from the wrestling business, but the chains of bitterness definitely still bind him tightly to the very business he claims to have escaped from. Bret is angry at Vince and his siblings. He's angry at old friends. The most telling sign comes early in the book when he makes it clear that the death of his brother, Owen, upset him more than being screwed by Vince in Montreal.

I would sure hope that would be the case. Bret's autobiography is gripping and in the early stages of the book, it's set up to be one of the more open looks into the soul of a wrestler. This book isn't coming out anytime soon in the US, and if it does, it looks as if WWE could get their hands on it and add their own version of the McMahon "Midas touch" to it. Pick this up as soon as you can and enjoy some holiday season reading.

WSX

The WSX season 1 DVD set from Big Vision Entertainment is available in stores right now. I'll be reviewing this set soon in the newsletter, but just from watching a couple of discs from the 4 disc set, I can safely say this set provides an in-depth look at the promotion that never got a chance. There are a ton of bonus features here, which include in-depth commentary tracks that are very interesting to listen to. If you've ever wanted an inside look at how a wrestling show is booked for television, WSX holds nothing back here. The one thing WSX did was try to give wrestling fans something different, but ultimately failed for a variety of different reasons.

BOLA 2007

PWG just released their biggest set of shows from the year "Battle of Los Angeles 2007." The set includes all three shows from PWG's annual tournament and features some of the biggest independent names, along with stars from ROH and Dragon Gate. Doug Williams and Alex Shelley also were participants in this tournament. I only watched a couple of matches, but the production values of this release seem to be really good. It was difficult to hear what Excalibur was saying during the opening ceremony of the tournament, but the camera shots and lighting are excellent. I also like the widescreen shot PWG used to film this show. This tournament has been getting a lot of buzz everywhere, so it might not be a bad idea to pick this up from Highspots.com. You can purchase the shows individually or buy all three nights at a discounted rate.

Well that's all I've got for today. I hope everyone out there has a happy Thanksgiving and finds some wrestling to enjoy over the holiday.

Updated Saturday, November 17, 2007

The talk of the town lately has been John Cena's new "My Life" DVD release from WWE (well not really). I'll admit that Cena isn't my favorite wrestler in the world to watch these days. He comes across as a modern day Hulk Hogan to me at times, but not in a good way. You see, Cena is packaged for kids, which is why he gets mixed reactions from crowds at various arenas.

My main problem with Cena's character is that it's never been defined. Cena's latest WWE produced WWE sheds some light on the real John Cena, but it's been difficult for me to get through this release.

The problem?

John Cena's college friends and his father constantly talking about how great John Cena is and how hard he's worked in the gym to attain his physique. After five minutes of this stuff, I had all I could handle.

In light of the recent CNN controversy, the timing of this release struck me as funny. It's kind of like a prepared defense for people who saw Cena's initial clip on CNN, but never saw the fallout last week.

I'll post more thoughts on this release once I mustard up the courage to finish it.

Updated Tuesday, November 13, 2007

With the news of suspensions to D.H. Smith and Chris Masters, and then the release of Chris Masters, I was left wondering what the lesson was.

I only could come up with questions:

Will D.H. Smith follow in the footsteps of his father?

What will happen to Chris Masters?

What messages are Vince McMahon and Triple H sending to the rest of the roster by remaining as big as ever?

Are they subject to WWE's Wellness Policy?

Was Triple H making fun of Chris Masters's physique - after his suspension - a message from the WWE?

What was that message?

Ultimately Masters is responsible for his actions, but he had his spot in the WWE simply because of his size. Let us not forget what happened when he lost that size and the message Triple H sent to him with his comments on Raw.

Ultimately D.H. Smith is responsible for his actions, but with his call up to the main roster, what pressures are being put on him? How will he respond?

Hopefully wrestling will learn a lesson from the Benoit tragedy.

Email Sean Radican.

Updated Wednesday, October 17, 2007

I have begun to watch ROH's debut show in Japan "Live In Tokyo" from July 16, 2007. VIP members will be able to access a full review of this show, along with a roundtable review, and an audio update on the show sometime this weekend or early next week. A couple things have stood out to me so far from this show.

Bryan Danielson faced NOAH wrestler Go Shiozaki in an excellent match before intermission. I have the match rated at four stars. It's a match you will only see in ROH. Both men demonstrated they could entertain an audience by doing submission work on the mat during the early stages of the match. It was fun to watch the crowd get into the match as it went on. Shiozaki sold his injured arm until the finish, as the match transitioned from a war on the mat to an all-out physical battle in the end. It's a match you'll only see in ROH where two wrestlers tell a story that begins with submission wrestling and ends in a satisfactory manner because both men sold the damage done to their bodies throughout the match.

It's all too often that wrestlers simply don't sell moves and you end up with a match on your hands where you are only getting an exchange of maneuvers that mean nothing. Danielson and Shiozaki set themselves apart from a lot of the wrestlers on the roster here with their performance.

The other thing that stood out to me on "Live In Tokyo" was the finish of the Fight Without Honor match between Delirious and Roderick Strong. These two men put together a good match, but Delirious ended up pinning Strong with his chemical imbalance 2 finisher. After watching a series of matches leading up to match that featured a ton of nearfalls and kickouts from every type of move you can imagine, it was hard to digest Delirious winning his match against Strong, especially given the stipulations, with his finisher.

If the wrestlers on the undercard toned things down a bit and didn't kick out of everything like they were in the main event of WrestleMania, it might help prevent flat finishes like the one in the Strong-Delirious encounter.

Email Sean Radican.

Updated Saturday, October 6, 2007

This is the second and final installment of my review of "On The Road With The Iron Sheik."

The second disc begins with Rob Feinstein waking Sheik up and they get him out to the car to drive him to Howard Stern's studio for his appearance on the Howard Stern Show. Most of the second disc involves the Sheik talking about different people in wrestling. As was the case on the first disc, Eric Simms really drags this release down and is a camera hog. The Sheik isn't very animated during the car ride, but there is one fun moment when he sees the sun rising in the distance and says it reminds him of his gold medal.

If nothing else, this shoot exposes that a lot of Sheik's hate-filled tirades are egged on by Simms and Sheik's friend Tom Brandi, who is also along for the car ride to New York. Sheik is actually pretty funny when he's not in a full-blown rage, as he makes fun of Simms and asks him if he's not looking forward to seeing naked girls with Howard Stern later because he's "half and half." Simms gets mad at Sheik and goes on a rant about being straight and not gay, which prompts Sheik to tell him to calm down.

At certain times during the car ride Sheik is about to get fired up, but Simms tells him to save it for the studio. One of the most irritating things to watch on the second part of this release was Simms driving to Madison Square Garden and cutting a promo with Sheik posing with the World Title that is currently used on Smackdown (yes, that title) and promoting his own agency. Simms continually makes reference to being in a business relationship with RF Video, but that isn't the case and it's Simms being an obnoxious camera hog.

They eventually end up at the Sirius studios, but nothing exciting really happens. Everyone goes through security and sits in the waiting area, but the cameras aren't allowed to show Sheik in the studio with Howard Stern. A couple of Howard Stern's staffers cut promos for Eric Simms, which were really boring to watch. As you can tell by now, Simms act has worn thin with me.

The second disc ends with Feinstein, Simms, Sheik, and Brandi going back to the hotel and talking about Sheik's appearance on Stern. It's obvious that Sheik's act was over with Stern and everyone talks about Sheik getting more bookings because of how entertaining he was on Stern.

If nothing else, this release proves that a lot of Sheik's antics are orchestrated by his handlers. I think his act is getting old, as I saw the Fonz wearing some water ski's near the end as they were heading back to the hotel. RF Video continues to do a good job of putting out solid releases. This wasn't one of their best releases, but it did expose a lot of what goes on with the Sheik and why he acts the way he does.

You can purchase this release here.

-I had a chance to check out the Rocky Romero-Roderick Strong match from PWG's All Star Weekend V: Night 1 from April 7, 2007. This was a very good match. I would rate it at ***3/4. This match featured the version of Roderick Strong that has been missing from ROH in 2007, as he was a no-nonsense ass kicking machine. Romero has improved dramatically as a singles wrestlers, but hasn't had many opportunities to showcase his talents as a singles wrestler being involved in so many tag matches in ROH this year.

The match began with Romero charging Strong at the bell with a flying kick and things never slowed down from there. Strong targeted Romero's back and came across like someone you wouldn't ever want to mess with. Romero was just as good, but his attack focused on Strong's arm for most of the match. The finish featured Strong tapping out to Romero's flying arm bar off the top rope. I'll be watching more of this event in the coming days, but for those who are interesting in purchasing some PWG can visit www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com.

Email Sean Radican.

Updated Friday, October 5, 2007

I had the chance to watch Disc 1 of "On The Road with The Iron Sheik." This part of the release was difficult to watch at times because Sheik's agent, Eric Simms, is one of the most annoying and obnoxious people on the planet. Simms goads Sheik into saying things and makes a number of terrible racist comments. He also tries to make it seems as if his agency is affiliated with RF Video, which is not the case and Feinstein makes that clear after Simms shuts a hotel door in his face at the close of the first disc.

Aside from my issues with Simms, who is clearly exploiting Sheik, there was the usual ranting and raving from Sheik about Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, and Brian Blair. Sheik promised at one point to copulate with the entire Hogan family, which was a new line, as Sheik's material tended to get old at times during the last shoot.

They start filming at a hotel, but eventually end up at a local diner. Tom Brandi is also on hand for the filming of this release and he made several interesting comments about how phony the WWE wrestlers and lawyers were when they appeared on TV in the wake of the Benoit tragedy.

The first disc closes with the RF Video crew bringing Sheik back to his hotel to get some sleep before they accompany him for an appearance on the Howard Stern Show the next morning. This release is off to a rough start so far, but the footage from Sheik's trip to the Stern studios could be interesting. If Sheik has any close friends that can help him, they should get him far away from Simms.

Updated Friday, September 14, 2007

Here are just some random thoughts, notes, and a look at some upcoming wrestling releases.

-I really enjoyed RF Video’s Life In The Fastlane documentary that was released late in 2006. They are currently putting the finishing touches on a 4 disc set called “The Lost Treasures of Pro Wrestling: Volume 1.” A preview is available here. I'm looking forward to this release based on the quality of Life In The Fastlane.

I recently reviewed two shoot interviews feautring Kevin Nash and Kimberly Page, which are available in the Radican's Take section that is just a click away on the left hand side of the page.

-ROH just released both of their Race To The Top Tournament DVDs today. The set features a two night tournament, which is highlighted by what was said to be a great finale between Claudio Castagnoli and El Generico. I really like tournaments and I’m looking forward to seeing this one unfold over two nights. Of course, El Generico has been a highlight of ROH this year, but I haven’t seen him in many singles matches, as he’s been tagging with Kevin Steen. It will be also interesting to see what Claudio Castagnoli brings to the table in this tournament.

-For all you youngsters in Las Vegas planning to go to the upcoming ROH event, there was some bad news leaked from ROH management that you have to be 21 or older to get into the show being held on Oct. 19. I’ve been told Vegas isn’t all that great anyway unless you are of age.

-I would recommend passing on WWE’s upcoming PPV Unforgiven this weekend. WWE hasn’t put enough hype into making the card seem like it will be anything special. Another John Cena vs. Randy Orton encounter hasn’t been built up enough in the shadow of the Mr. McMahon bastard child angle. You can safely order a replay of TNA’s No Surrender PPV. The wrestling was very good, although some of the frustrating booking hampered the show once again.

-Be sure to look out for another edition of the ROH Audio Update this weekend. I’ll be on with host Jamie Penick talking about ROH’s Reborn Again from May 11. It was a thumbs up show. I’ll also be posting my full review shortly.

*** *** ***

Updated Monday, August 27, 2007

I don’t know if it was a case of Triple demanding Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross act the way they did before and after his return to the ring or if it was a case of them doing it on their own just to kiss up, but after watching the entire scene play out again, it comes off as totally unnecessary.

As Triple H made his entrance, Ross made comments to the effect that moments like Triple H’s return were why he loved his job. Triple H didn’t make any kind of miraculous recovery from a serious injury. He came back from a surgical procedure on his leg. It is big news that Triple H is back, but to overstate the meaning of the moment in the manner Ross did came off really phony.

The scene after the match with Ross and Lawler clapping as Triple H celebrated his win was really bad. They were acting like they had just seen something monumentally important, which clearly wasn’t the case.

I’ve seen Triple H’s insecurities play out in the past on television and live. Last year at SummerSlam, Hulk Hogan got a huge pop. Later on, DX came out and Triple H pandered to the crowd to continue to pop for him and he was clearly bothered that Hogan had gotten such a big response, which ended up being bigger than DX’s entrance pop.

On a night when Rey Mysterio made his return and Stone Cold made a surprise appearance, I’m not surprised Triple H received the star treatment from Ross and Lawler on commentary. Not only was it transparent, but it also tugged at their credibility, which isn’t a good thing.

Email Sean Radican.

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