I want to start out today by talking about TNA. I do applaud the fighting spirit and attempts to make things work and let more wrestlers make some kind of a living, while others make a great deal of money. I can not understand the thinking of a company that for the first time should be glad that it was flying under the radar. Instead of being happy about it, and talk about bad timing they go out and sign an albatross to a contract. They put themselves in negotiations with an NFL team that basically sent them home with nothing. Of course for their troubles they got one big fat spotlight on them just big enough to wake up Congress to the fact that these guys are in the wrestling business. I wonder how these decisions are being made. I understand about getting main stream publicity but they have tried this before and it has meant very little or nothing to their company. Is the insanity ever going to stop at TNA? I am not sure how to get TNA to surpass WWE; common sense tells you it’s not even possible. I do know they can be a lot better than they are. I believe that a few simple things would go a long way. The first thing that they should do is give the book to Jim Cornette and leave him alone. How hard is it to figure out that this guy GETS IT. The next thing to do is to determine that Jeff Jarrett is never going to draw you any money, he should be used strategically to get people over and help the company. I believe someone like Jim Cornette can get this kind of value out of Jeff Jarrett. If Jeff wanted what was best for the company he would focus on his corporate duties and the next stage of his life which should focus on owning a wrestling company. I do not know Dixie Carter personally, I have not heard any negative stories about her as a human being but just as easy as you can tell Jim Cornette gets it, it’s just as easy to figure out that Dixie doesn’t. It is exactly opposite of WWE at TNA, in WWE you can’t talk Vince into anything (that isn’t his idea) that makes sense and in TNA you can talk Dixie into anything if she likes you or your Jeff Jarrett.
I understand that SNME had an improved rating which I am glad about. If I was Vince I would really want to know if my company was responsible or was Evander responsible. He certainly seemed to be well received by the wrestling starved people of NYC. It is rare when one of these outsiders actually seems to help in more ways than just some mainstream media. I thought Matt Hardy did his job well and all in all it was a good segment. I am a fan of MVP as well, I don’t think he will ever be a huge draw, but is he a good solid company man who can contribute in a significant way. Yes, I believe that he is, they are missing the boat with several talents, Val Venis being high on the top of the list of good workers, he has charisma, personality and you never hear a negative word about this guy. Of course if your not scandal filled it usually means a spot on the under card. If I was Vince I would very much be looking forward to the return of HHH, I don’t know him and have never met him but he sure seems to give 100% each and every time out and I think he did that long before he was son in law of the year
I am writing this while watching Monday Night Raw and I see that Jerry Lawler is not in the broadcast booth due to his altercation with King Booker last Monday night. Why does WWE continue to insult people’s intelligence week after week? Any hardcore wrestling fan knows that Jerry Lawler just wrestled in Tunica Ms on Friday night. Is it that creative doesn’t realize on most weekends Jerry Lawler is working on some Indy show that is publicized all over the internet. Is it that Jerry hopes that these things just fly under the radar or does WWE just want everyone to continually suspend reality for the purpose of watching their product? If someone in WWE would just understand details MATTER.
I was really hoping that I didn’t like the combination of Tazz and Jim Ross, I know that saying anything positive about it would come off as sour grapes so I checked with some people first and the vote was unanimous. I thought that the team of Tazz and Ross was much better than Lawler and Ross. I think Ross is a brilliant announcer and the best in the business today. It could be time for Lawler to have a different role in WWE. How about making Lawler commissioner and putting someone believable like William Regal back in the ring where he belongs. It would have been nice for Tazz to defend Ross from King Booker, does WWE really think that people buy into the fact that Tazz would stand still while his partner is being assaulted. It was not that long ago that Tazz was almost invincible.
Well, Raw is over now and I sit here wondering if Vince McMahon goes to bed each night laughing at all of us. I mean he could actually say something like this. I have done almost everything that I can to ruin my company. I have wasted millions on films something I know absolutely nothing about, like the XFL the football league I lost a small fortune on. I present a product each week that is an oxymoron a wrestling program that presents wrestling as merely an after thought. Yet people won’t let me go out of business. There are still enough people out there that will watch whatever I put on TV.
I don’t plan on sitting here and running through Raw segment by segment enough people do that. I am giving my input and suggestions in regards to fixing the foundations of the two major companies as it relates to the final product that the fans are presented. I do find it interesting that two companies can make numerous mistakes more than anyone can keep up with and one can make bundles of money and the other is swimming in red ink. I wonder if it’s the breast stroke they are doing?
It was 1992 I was the booker for IWA Championship Wrestling and we were on tour in Sydney, Australia we were the first ones to open up Australia again since Jim Barnett. We were going to be there for three weeks plus one week of pre tour publicity for Paul “Mr. Wonderful” Orndorff, Kamala "The Ugandan Giant" and my self one of my jobs on the tour was to be Friday for Kamala. It was so easy in those days, we had our first event and I told promoter Rob Russen that I was going to send the guys out to do a very very simple old school finish. It was my intention to see if a finish that people would piss on in the states could generate any heat in Oz. Well, the people went crazy and I looked at him and said what an easy three weeks this is going to be. It was a very easy three weeks nothing but fun and good matches. It was three weeks of Orndorff switching off between Thunderfoot #1 (David Isley) and Kamala. There is a lot more to the story than that, I will cover it all in time including why we never went back although we had nothing but success while we were there
That’s a Piece of my Mind
“The Big Cheese” Sal Corrente
