Black and White Report for Feb 16 -- Another Manic Monday
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Feb 16 2010, 5:02 AM
While the rest of the world hates Mondays, wrestling fans love them, and have for years. It is, of course, because WWE’s Raw has been a staple on the evening for more than a decade and a half. Nitro was there, too. Well, in case you were living under a rock yesterday, you heard that TNA is making the foray into Monday nights starting in a couple of weeks—March 8 to be exact.
With Raw, Impact, Ring of Honor on HDNet, and the rumored women’s promotion all having Monday night timeslots, there’s a lot of wrestling to watch on Monday nights. Many are heralding it as the resurrection of the Monday Night War. While I think there are some comparisons to be made to the glory days of Monday Night wrestling, it’s a little premature to call it a war. This is mostly because the combatants aren’t quite on the same field of battle yet. TNA has a lot of growth to achieve before it’s to that level.
To his credit, Hulk Hogan addressed that in the press conference with Dixie Carter on Monday. He acknowledged that this is a different time and a different circumstance. Indeed it is. The Carters don’t seem to have the bottomless bank account of Ted Turner or Vince McMahon. They certainly have more money than Paul Heyman did in the old ECW. But they are not a billion dollar company by any means.
By the way, while I’m thinking of it, tonight is the final episode of ECW on SyFy. I was a big ECW fan, as many of you were, during the bingo hall’s glory days. Rob Van Dam is my all time favorite wrestler. While I considered ECW dead long ago, I will watch tonight’s show with a bit of melancholy. Farewell “Extremists.” You were hardcore. For a minute.
Anyway, we’re in a different era. Unlike the Monday Night War of the 90s, this time the audience has many, many more options for their entertainment time (and there were a lot 15 years ago!) It’s a time when the audience is more sophisticated. When UFC and “Jersey Shore” are more popular fight-program concepts than “fake wrestling.” Never mind that those “reality” shows are as scripted as wrestling. WWE and TNA and ROH, and the women’s group, all have an opportunity to latch on to public perception and evolve the product to reflect modern sensibilities. If they can do that, they will certainly recapture the massive audience from the decade gone by.
To a point, this is where the new Monday Night War is a fair comparison to the past. Competition makes everyone work harder. As TNA grows its audience, hopefully by presenting solid programming, WWE will have to up the quality of its show to garner the ratings they’re used to in Titan Tower and USA. WWE has run unopposed for too long, and gotten used to running on inertia. They are doing some very interesting things on the road to WrestleMania. And TNA is running some interesting storylines as well. But, both companies are very hit-or-miss these days. It’ll be great to have the direct competition on Monday Nights to get some games upped. And don’t discount ROH. They have a tremendous opportunity to be the “pregame” show to the big two. If they can capitalize on that, they could rise to greater heights on the nation scene than they’ve previously enjoyed.
I’ve said before and I’ll say again, it’s a great time to be a wrestling fan. There are a lot of positive things happening. As long as TNA keeps their position in perspective while growing the company, I think they will be successful. They may even catch the WWE off guard. And THEN we’ll have a solid rebirth of the Monday Night War.
And there it is in Black and White.
PS This Wednesday, February 17, an issue of Supergirl I co-wrote (issue 50) hits comic shops. My story was co-written with actress Helen Slater who played Supergirl in the 1984 movie. I hope you’ll check it out at your local comic shop.
While the rest of the world hates Mondays, wrestling fans love them, and have for years. It is, of course, because WWE’s Raw has been a staple on the evening for more than a decade and a half. Nitro was there, too. Well, in case you were living under a rock yesterday, you heard that TNA is making the foray into Monday nights starting in a couple of weeks—March 8 to be exact.
With Raw, Impact, Ring of Honor on HDNet, and the rumored women’s promotion all having Monday night timeslots, there’s a lot of wrestling to watch on Monday nights. Many are heralding it as the resurrection of the Monday Night War. While I think there are some comparisons to be made to the glory days of Monday Night wrestling, it’s a little premature to call it a war. This is mostly because the combatants aren’t quite on the same field of battle yet. TNA has a lot of growth to achieve before it’s to that level.
To his credit, Hulk Hogan addressed that in the press conference with Dixie Carter on Monday. He acknowledged that this is a different time and a different circumstance. Indeed it is. The Carters don’t seem to have the bottomless bank account of Ted Turner or Vince McMahon. They certainly have more money than Paul Heyman did in the old ECW. But they are not a billion dollar company by any means.
By the way, while I’m thinking of it, tonight is the final episode of ECW on SyFy. I was a big ECW fan, as many of you were, during the bingo hall’s glory days. Rob Van Dam is my all time favorite wrestler. While I considered ECW dead long ago, I will watch tonight’s show with a bit of melancholy. Farewell “Extremists.” You were hardcore. For a minute.
Anyway, we’re in a different era. Unlike the Monday Night War of the 90s, this time the audience has many, many more options for their entertainment time (and there were a lot 15 years ago!) It’s a time when the audience is more sophisticated. When UFC and “Jersey Shore” are more popular fight-program concepts than “fake wrestling.” Never mind that those “reality” shows are as scripted as wrestling. WWE and TNA and ROH, and the women’s group, all have an opportunity to latch on to public perception and evolve the product to reflect modern sensibilities. If they can do that, they will certainly recapture the massive audience from the decade gone by.
To a point, this is where the new Monday Night War is a fair comparison to the past. Competition makes everyone work harder. As TNA grows its audience, hopefully by presenting solid programming, WWE will have to up the quality of its show to garner the ratings they’re used to in Titan Tower and USA. WWE has run unopposed for too long, and gotten used to running on inertia. They are doing some very interesting things on the road to WrestleMania. And TNA is running some interesting storylines as well. But, both companies are very hit-or-miss these days. It’ll be great to have the direct competition on Monday Nights to get some games upped. And don’t discount ROH. They have a tremendous opportunity to be the “pregame” show to the big two. If they can capitalize on that, they could rise to greater heights on the nation scene than they’ve previously enjoyed.
I’ve said before and I’ll say again, it’s a great time to be a wrestling fan. There are a lot of positive things happening. As long as TNA keeps their position in perspective while growing the company, I think they will be successful. They may even catch the WWE off guard. And THEN we’ll have a solid rebirth of the Monday Night War.
And there it is in Black and White.
PS This Wednesday, February 17, an issue of Supergirl I co-wrote (issue 50) hits comic shops. My story was co-written with actress Helen Slater who played Supergirl in the 1984 movie. I hope you’ll check it out at your local comic shop.
With Raw, Impact, Ring of Honor on HDNet, and the rumored women’s promotion all having Monday night timeslots, there’s a lot of wrestling to watch on Monday nights. Many are heralding it as the resurrection of the Monday Night War. While I think there are some comparisons to be made to the glory days of Monday Night wrestling, it’s a little premature to call it a war. This is mostly because the combatants aren’t quite on the same field of battle yet. TNA has a lot of growth to achieve before it’s to that level.
To his credit, Hulk Hogan addressed that in the press conference with Dixie Carter on Monday. He acknowledged that this is a different time and a different circumstance. Indeed it is. The Carters don’t seem to have the bottomless bank account of Ted Turner or Vince McMahon. They certainly have more money than Paul Heyman did in the old ECW. But they are not a billion dollar company by any means.
By the way, while I’m thinking of it, tonight is the final episode of ECW on SyFy. I was a big ECW fan, as many of you were, during the bingo hall’s glory days. Rob Van Dam is my all time favorite wrestler. While I considered ECW dead long ago, I will watch tonight’s show with a bit of melancholy. Farewell “Extremists.” You were hardcore. For a minute.
Anyway, we’re in a different era. Unlike the Monday Night War of the 90s, this time the audience has many, many more options for their entertainment time (and there were a lot 15 years ago!) It’s a time when the audience is more sophisticated. When UFC and “Jersey Shore” are more popular fight-program concepts than “fake wrestling.” Never mind that those “reality” shows are as scripted as wrestling. WWE and TNA and ROH, and the women’s group, all have an opportunity to latch on to public perception and evolve the product to reflect modern sensibilities. If they can do that, they will certainly recapture the massive audience from the decade gone by.
To a point, this is where the new Monday Night War is a fair comparison to the past. Competition makes everyone work harder. As TNA grows its audience, hopefully by presenting solid programming, WWE will have to up the quality of its show to garner the ratings they’re used to in Titan Tower and USA. WWE has run unopposed for too long, and gotten used to running on inertia. They are doing some very interesting things on the road to WrestleMania. And TNA is running some interesting storylines as well. But, both companies are very hit-or-miss these days. It’ll be great to have the direct competition on Monday Nights to get some games upped. And don’t discount ROH. They have a tremendous opportunity to be the “pregame” show to the big two. If they can capitalize on that, they could rise to greater heights on the nation scene than they’ve previously enjoyed.
I’ve said before and I’ll say again, it’s a great time to be a wrestling fan. There are a lot of positive things happening. As long as TNA keeps their position in perspective while growing the company, I think they will be successful. They may even catch the WWE off guard. And THEN we’ll have a solid rebirth of the Monday Night War.
And there it is in Black and White.
PS This Wednesday, February 17, an issue of Supergirl I co-wrote (issue 50) hits comic shops. My story was co-written with actress Helen Slater who played Supergirl in the 1984 movie. I hope you’ll check it out at your local comic shop.
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