Once or twice a year I invest in the WWE by purchasing a PPV event. I did that this year with the Royal Rumble. I want to thank the makers of TIVO for salvaging my money for me. I ended up falling asleep during the Chris Jericho and JBL match. I did make an effort to watch it on TIVO. I can say that for me personally just the fact that it was held at Madison Square Garden and Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka and Mick Foley participated in the event it was worth my money. The NY crowd is a very interesting crowd to begin with it is not the same crowd as when I attended shows at Madison Square Garden. In those days the babyfaces where cheered and the heels had real heat. I will tell anyone that asks I am not sure that anyone could ever have more heat than Capt. Lou Albano had. I am sure there are people that would bring up The Iron Sheik and for a short time period they might be right. If you really examine the whole Iron Sheik situation with Sgt. Slaughter it was really the Iran crisis that helped caused their angle to be as hot as it was. I can say that it went to an insane level I was heavily involved at that time and it could be dangerous being around The Iron Sheik. It was a matter of timing and the right players. In the case of Capt. Lou it was constant and consistent just Lou being Lou and people hating his guts. In current times people are cheering for Edge in Madison Square Garden. I have had the pleasure of meeting Adam “Edge” Copeland I found him to be a very respectful guy. He brings certain arrogance with him to the squared circle and he has become a kick ass heel. I for one don’t understand why people cheer him but perhaps you can’t go by me. I used to cheer for Bob Backlund that alone means I am not qualified to understand why people cheer for Edge. I certainly don’t see a reason to boo Rey Mysterio but people did it. It certainly does seem at times in our business that up is down.
Do you ever wonder if WWE creative hears the crowd reaction to certain things and purposely goes in the other direction? I sometimes think that there is a certain level of arrogance that drives them to go against what the public actually wants. It reminds me of Verne Gagne insisting that The Road Warriors were going to be heels no matter how the fans were reacting to them. I hope they heard the people cheering for Tommy Dreamer and give my buddy from Yonkers, NY the well deserved push that he should get. Did they hear the reaction of the people when MVP submitted to the figure four leg lock and Ric Flair had his hand raised in victory? It was certainly the time for them to put the belt on Jeff Hardy and they didn’t do it. It could be felt in the air the people were demanding it and they were let down. It reminded me of a situation that Gorgeous Gary Royal had told me about. It was in St. Louis I believe where Bruiser Brody was a huge star. They had worked a few returns with Ric Flair and the people were basically promised a winner after a time limit draw the previous month. As I am told the story went the people didn’t get what they wanted and it practically caused a riot and hurt business at the club. It’s sometimes this kind of stupidity and arrogance that in any other normal business wouldn’t get unpunished. It would and should cost the business on the bottom line. I guess the problem with being an almost billionaire is you can support your whims and limited ideas with your pocket book. I am sure that Vince is somehow trying to make a point in all this; I am just not sure that any of us are smart enough to get it.
I can applaud the WWE for surprising everyone with the John Cena appearance at the Royal Rumble. It was obviously a well kept secret but if Cena is as important as he is supposed to be why not just announce that he will be there and perhaps sell some more PPV’S. They didn’t even announce a surprise competitor which could have easily been sold as an appearance by The Big Show. Well maybe if I keep watching I will eventually figure it out but I won’t take any deep breaths first.
The picture from this article was taken by Mike D’Avanzo in the New Haven Coliseum. That building no longer stands today but it was a regular stop for WWE and is the site of my first real show and also Rikishi’s first real show. I believe that night we had a 50,000 dollar house. It was several years prior to my first real show and even more years before Wrestlemania at the Pontiac Silverdome when Hogan slammed Andre The Giant. So here is a picture of Ken Patera slamming Andre The Giant in the New Haven Memorial Coliseum
