----As you could see in the ratings report this week, Memphis Wrestling should be real happy. There were bumps in the road, but it seems that putting on quality TV shows and following storylines may be helping. Are is it?? As I stated it will really be up to the fans if they return this week to watch the show again. Most of the time the viewers do not return in big numbers. All that being said, there were over 65,000 people watching the show on an average and they drew less than 100 people at the live show the next night. Is wrestling completely dead in Memphis?? Was it the fact that they just promote a few of the bouts and no one wanted to pay to see them when they can go to the TV tapings and watch them for free?? I wished I knew the answer as I have did pieces in the past trying to collate rating/crowd size and Memphis is not the norm. But, less than 100 people?? It makes me wonder if when the history of 2007 in Memphis Wrestling is being told five years from now, will people point at the FedEx show as being the downfall of the drawing power of wrestling and Jerry Lawler in Memphis?? I think that event will be considered the most significant event this year in years to come.
----Nick Bollea gets arrested and it was all deserving. As much as I want to “pull for him”, since his dad is Hulk Hogan, he reminds me of all the other celebrity kids that seem to think the law does not apply to them. My ex-wife’s father was an Arkansas State Trooper and anytime we got stopped on the road to wrestling events we got off with either no ticket or a lighter ticket. This was because, as most people know, police take care of police. Is that as bad as a celebrity getting off with a speeding ticket, because they are a celebrity?? I am not against giving people an extra chance, but Nick was warned and ticketed for the same thing he was doing. As the saying goes, it is all fun and games until someone gets hurt. Too bad the guy that got hurt is probably going to be paralyzed for the rest of his life.
----Some of the comments I made about Anton Leveigh being a “Spot Monkey” seem to have went over the heads of many people. Do I think Anton has talent? Yes. Do I think he could have future in this business? Yes. Ditto goes for Brandon Barbwire. Do I think either one of them could work TNA or WWE?? Nope – not at this stage in their careers. They need a lot of improving and work on their psychology and that is what I wanted to make clear in the last edition. You may get bookings all over the world because you do crazy moves, but you have to learn the psychology of working a match and know when to put those moves into the match to make it mean something. Believe me you are going to get booking everywhere from promoters that like that sort of thing and make you put your body on the line, so they can get the cheap pops. Chris Styles got a booking in Philly, because of some of the crazy work that he did. His match in Chikira was not anything great, but that was not his fault. I actually though he looked better than any of the other guys. But, guess what?? Even though Styles has been accused of being a spot monkey also, I have seen the guy WORK a match. Does he always WORK?? No, but he knows HOW TO and that is a big difference than just getting in the ring to do moves.
----Vince McMahon’s CNN interview struck me no different than most all other times that I have seen him talk. This man believes his own hype and he has a bunch of “yes” men that stand around him telling him that. Even though he did offer drug support for all ex –employees from the past, I am convinced it was only something to make him look good. He will state he is the biggest and best wrestling organization of our time and maybe of all time, but he sees himself in no one to blame for the deaths and the steroid use. As I have said before, it is your own personal decision to do what you do to your body. If you either smoke, overeat, masturbate too much or what ever, it is your choice. The difference here is the fact that everyone in this industry knows that to make it in the WWE you had to have the look and the only way to get the look is/was steroids.
----I had to chime in on what Gene Jackson posted earlier about some guy doing the Ultimate Warrior gimmick. The guy actually calls himself The Warrior and from statements from people in the crowd, fans either thought it was the real Warrior or they thought they were coming to see the REAL one. Everyone borrows from people in the past. My gimmick of Coach BT was borrowed from “Coach” John Tolos, who managed Curt Hennig for a short time. The clipboard to use as a finish was my way of using the “tennis racket.” The other stuff – jersey, shorts and dew rag – was all my original ideas. They actually made no sense, if you think about a “Coach”, but I did have an explanation. Follow me here – if Cartman’s [“South Partk” character] dad had a fat brother that was a Coach, then he would have looked like me. It was a bigger than life type of thing. I later adopted a tie, pants and shirt for my last stint. So, to what extent can you copy a gimmick and it not be considered an infringement?? Guys like Fire/Flame/Assassins, “Too Kool 2”, “Kings of Wrestling” [Northeast group] and even guys like JD Michaels [who many think is a total Shawn Michaels rip off] don’t bother me. Mainly because all the mentioned people are good and they do not pretend to be something they are not. The ones really piss me off are the Moondog ripoffs and then a stupid ass guy like this Warrior dude and the “DeadMan” to a certain degree. Shame on the promoters that use guys like this also – it just seems like desperation.
