Wrestling's Grim Reaper strikes again...

The last five to six years in wrestling unfortunately have been filled with death, severe injury, controversy and more death. Six days ago “Macho Man” Randy Savage joined the club of wrestlers to die prematurely, joining the likes of Chris Canyon, Eddie Guerrero and WWE’s forgotten man, Chris Beniot in a continuing list of deaths in a period which will certainly be overshadowed by these deaths, and rock the wrestling world forever. I could go on and on with the list, “Mr Perfect” Curt Hennig died in 2003 with a cocaine overdose, Chris Dandido in 2005 died of a blood-clot after braking both his tibia and fibula bones. After a long battle with painkillers, in 2005 Eddie Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room by his nephew, who immediately called Chris Beniot, who himself committed suicide after killing his wife and son with gym equipment.

It goes without saying, wrestling’s Grim Reaper has struck again, and once again wrestling has been thrown into the limelight not because of an amazing show or anything good in fact, once again, the wrestling plague of death has cursed the industry with further negativity, even more bad press, a feeling that superstars from the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s weren’t protected enough by the influence of drugs and steroids, and an increasing feeling that if you’re a pro wrestler, you either die early, or die young.

I think it’s appropriate that this week my In Ring Issue is death, mainly due to The developments this past week involving “The Macho Man” Randy Savage. On May 20^th 2011 driving with his long term girlfriend and wife Barbara Lynn Payne, Savage reportedly suffered a heart attack whilst driving, and as a result the single automobile crashed straight into a tree, resulting in the death of Macho Man. Luckily, his wife Lynn escaped with minor injuries. Savage’s brother, Lanny Poffo confirmed the story following the autopsy of ‘Macho Man.’

Macho Man is a ten time world champion, including two WWF Championship reigns and four WCW World Heavyweight Championship reigns. Due to his impressive runs, WWE named Savage as the greatest champion of all time, for conveying "a higher level of credibility to the title through his amazing in-ring performances." Upon his death, almost every wrestling superstar has commented on his death, this is how much Savage meant to the world. Among his credentials, he wrestled for WCW, WWF/E and TNA, where he had his final match at TNA Turning Point 2004, where Savage teamed up with AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy to defeat the ‘Kings of Wrestling’, Jeff Jarrett, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. Savage was going to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Jarrett, but Savage left TNA due to their creative direction with his program with Jarrett.

WWE paid tribute to “Macho Man” Randy Savage on May 23^rd during Monday Night RAW (And not at the WWE Over the Limit Pay-Per-View the previous night) with an emotional filled promo package featuring his wrestling career, a move which has got the internet talking. George “The Animal” Steele reported that Vince McMahon and Randy Savage had extreme heat because of Savage’s decision to jump ship to from WWF to WCW in 1994. Steele states that McMahon and Savage were close, with Savage almost like a son to the McMahon family, until one day at a TV meeting, when Vince McMahon stated he would no longer do business with Savage, and felt hurt and crushed because of his departure and move to WCW. The McMahon/Savage mystery continued when Roddy Piper claimed on Twitter that Savage slapped McMahon in a bar. However, the mystery is not over there, Dave Meltzer, the editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter states that both Piper and Steele are wrong with their claims. According to Meltzer, Vince McMahon told Savage he could return to the WWF/E “with open arms”, and states that McMahon’s heat with Savage was either from an incident after 1996, or something previously McMahon found out after 1996.

Nonetheless, I have my own issues with McMahon’s and Savage’s heat. It is a well-known fact that WWE hate promotion of wrestlers of superstars not in the WWE (Unless it’s The Rock or “Stone Cold” Steve Austin). Since Savage’s departure from WWE, it appeared Vince and Savage never quite reconciled on their previous issues, but in death WWE parade Savage on RAW like nothing was wrong, as if people have suddenly forgotten everything in the past. I have the feeling that if there is heat between the two, then Vince is either just milking the entire death, seeing as it has worldwide news coverage with the tribute to Savage on RAW, or that Vince is just trying to promote WWE through his death in a “Yeah, look at us, we’re the WWE, we made Savage, we created him, we made him what he is, and what he was, we’re the reason he’s famous, now give us some goddamn attention, we could really use some right about now” message. However, here’s hoping that the video package really is just a tribute to a one of a kind, world famous wrestler who helped put WWE on the map, and that in death, McMahon and his executives forgave and forgot. Here’s hoping the tribute was out of respect to “Macho Man” Randy Savage and his millions of fans worldwide.

The death of Randy Savage has shocked the entire world. Wrestling fans and promoters alike were hoping that they were done with the death, that wrestling in general was done with the negativity and bad press, especially as the Chris Beniot issue has quietened, but yet again, Wrestling’s Grim Reaper has returned stronger than ever to remind all wrestling fans and promoters a like that we have to change the industry to protect the athletes who literally risk their bodies for us all, and the performers who entertain us all each and every week face a daunting, short lived future. WWE believe they have the right precautions in line to deal with death and long term injury. With drugs and steroids outlawed in the top wrestling promotion, hopefully lower federations such as TNA follow suit with their message of safety, but you try telling that to a federation who seemingly have no regard for their wrestling talent.

We have lost another wrestler prematurely, another heart attack, another death. Is it not time to wake up and smell (what the rock) is cooking? My main concern is that there is more to follow, I believe the wrestling Grim Reaper is still around, haunting Scott Hall and stalking retired 80’s and 90’s wrestlers, whom some are still likely suffering from the effects of drugs and steroids they took whilst wrestling in WWE and other place. Maybe it’s time to keep closer attention and care of those who paved the way for wrestling to hopefully one day be drug free, and for WWE in particular to stand up and help those haunted by wrestling’s Grim Reaper.

Like everyone else, Rest in Peace “Macho Man” Randy Savage.

OOOOHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHH!

Robert Austin

“In Ring Issues”

Identity Crisis: The rebranding of TNA

I have been away for a while focusing on other areas of wrestling writing, but In Ring Issues is back, and on my return to the blog, one thing which has really intrigued me over the past few weeks is the possible rebranding of Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling, you know that spin off of Hogan Knows Best, or that rip off of that ‘Sports Entertainment’ company based in Connecticut. If you don’t know them yet, there that second company, you know the one on that Spike TV Network, you must know, the one all the way at the bottom of the US TV listing.  No? You still don’t know what I’m on about? Well they’re the company with all the WWE cast-offs, the guys who just want a pay check, with loads of wrestlers we don’t actually want to watch every week. No? You still don’t get me? It’s run by a Woman who most wrestling fans have no respect for, and has that Bischoff guy, you know the one, that guy who likes to kill federations? NO!!! What do you mean you still don’t know what I’m on about? Ok, I’ll say it as simply as possible… Tits N’ Arse. Ohhhhhhh, now I get ya’, that wrestling company with Hulk Hogan.. There we go, you’re learning.

Well it turns out company killing Bischoff, and Mr thinks he knows best, along with the mediocre men’s TV network Spike TV are rebranding TNA, and have recently filed a trademarks of “Impact Wrestling”. With many questioning the very future of TNA, it appears the three letters of TNA are set to be extinct by the end of 2011, with many wrestling commentators, nerds, fan webpages and dirt sheet websites and regular educated viewers are under the impression that TNA’s rebranding is down to the WWE ‘rebranding their own company’. Many who are educated will know that TNA recently has been trying to emulate the WWE right down to the bone, first off by taking in all their fired, released or former talent, to the way their shows are produced, and now they are trying to play Vince’s company move by move, even to the extent that the Spike TV executives wanted to have their own new masked Mexican luche libre star to combat the arrival of Mistico (Now known as Sin Cara in WWE). And no, TNA’s equivalent Sangriento isn’t like Sin Cara, in fact it’s just the extremely talented Amazing Red with an awful attire and Mexican style mask.

It was confirmed, on the 12^th May 2011 TNA iMPACT, Mick Foley returned and announced he was the ‘Network Representative’ who was making Hogan, Bischoff and Immortal’s life hell in TNA. He announced TNA was now going to be all about wrestling, and TNA now have the catchphrase ‘Wrestling Matters Here’. First off the bat, did wrestling not matter before? What did wrestling mean before this? And of all the times, when the in ring talent TNA have simply aren’t ‘through and through wrestlers’, and better at talking, rather than wrestling, then what the hell are TNA thinking in making such a bold move? Yeah, in 2005, 2006 or even 2007 they could have gotten away with focusing the product on wrestling, the series between debuting Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe in the late 2006/07 period was all about wrestling, and is a key example of how it would work, but not now. Not when your show barely exceeds thirty minutes of in ring time for a single show… Not when house show performances have slipped, and the talent at your disposal is older than ever before.

One of my biggest concerns is simple: What will TNA actually change? I can’t see them moving out of the iMPACT Zone because of the financial costs that it burden TNA with, also because the fans that attend the tapings for free in short, are crap. Even if they redecorated the iMPACT Zone, painted it pink from head to toe, brought back the six sided ring or whatever, TNA will still carry the nametag of the “2# professional wrestling company” and due to the wrestling talent the company have at their disposal, nothing seems concrete to change. TNA fans watching “Impact Wrestling” will simply look at TNA still in the Impact Zone and think same old, same old.

Furthermore, Hogan is still there, Bischoff is still there, head of creative Vince Russo is still there, and most importantly, Dixie Carter is still there, still not listening to fan criticism, still turning a blind eye to what we the fans really want. When companies talk change, they mean it, but it seems TNA is trying to repackage an old Christmas present from last year, trying to pass it off as brand new. It’s frustrating because like any company it starts from the top down, and the people in power call the shots, with Hogan and Dixie in charge, and more importantly Vince Russo booking TNA, nothing good will come good from a TNA brand change. Change means getting rid of Vince Russo, who has been holding TNA back from being something much bigger, getting rid of Hogan and ALL the golden oldies, and if TNA are serious about ‘Wrestling Matters’, do what they originally did and let hard hitting Women and the high flying, death defying X-Division steal the show with fantastic matches, not the questioned Mr Anderson, and an ageing World Heavyweight Champion Sting. It’s simple, wasn’t this the same company who wanted to ditch the X-Division and its championship less than a year ago? The same company which fired Jay Lethal, an actual wrestler, the same company who employed an overweight, half as talented ‘no one cares about him’ Chris Harris.

It might seem like TNA are going toe opposite direction from WWE, but let’s look at this more obviously. WWE creates masked Mexican wrestler, TNA does the same. WWE releases a star; TNA more than likely signs him. WWE rebrands so does TNA. WWE jumps off a cliff, Dixie Carter jumps head first into a pile of washed up rocks just like WWE. I see this rather as a case for emulation, rather than innovation, the last bit of innovation TNA ever had was about a year prior to letting Hulk Hogan and his army of mediocre wrestlers take over. For me, a loyal TNA fan, I see this as a change to the “WWE style”. Wrestling in TNA’s terms will become something more of a sceptical. TNA stars will compete in WWE style matches and then boast about being better than the “WWE Style”. For me it’s a change to a new form of wrestling, one which in many people’s eyes doesn’t really benefit TNA.

There is also the issue of TNA’s fan-base. It is unknown yet whether this move to “Impact Wrestling” will be worthwhile; the question is obviously about ratings. Will TNA do better as a result, or will TNA lose even more of their fan-base? For me, it’s simple: No. As long as TNA are stuck on Spike, they will not get high ratings on a full time basis, ever. It’s always been about the network. TNA think Spike TV are amazing, the reality is as long as there on Spike TV, it doesn’t matter what they’re promoting, they might as well be pole dancing, they will only pull in a niche demographic, and no more. This change to “Impact Wrestling ”has more chance of being a-part of the failed TNA experiments such as "Monday Night Impact" and “Total Nonstop Hogan” than it has of completely reinventing the company. It simply won’t have a ripple effect, and people will lose interest soon enough.

TNA also simply haven’t been clear about anything, so this whole transition has possibly been the most frustrating thing in pro wrestling for a long time. Only TNA could make a simple brand change so hard to understand, maybe Vince Russo gave them the idea, no one knows, but who are TNA? Is it TNA? It is “Impact Wrestling”? Is the show just being rebranded? How are TNA going to actually change anything? This is another sign of the bad marketing and PR that TNA possesses, another sign that they are completely non-committal on a set idea as of yet, another reason for a fan to turn the channel over.

I will conclude with saying, do TNA need to change their name? It’s obvious, this isn’t really TNA this is a mere extension of MTV’s hit TV show “Hogan Knows Best” ft. Immortal. Maybe change will be good, because TNA die-hard fans won’t have to associate those three letters anymore with Hogan, Flair and Bischoff and a lot of the current roster, and I don’t think a lot of TNA recently has been “Total Nonstop Action”. However TNA are an established company, people can associate with those three letters; it rolls off the tongue and is easy to say. I’d rather have someone laugh at me when I say I’m a wrestling fan and laugh the words Tits N Arse, but the wrestling talent be good, rather than that same person watching and laughing at how poor and lacklustre the current TNA is, it’s that damn simple.