Black and White Report for March 30, 2010 -- Random Thoughts
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Mar 30 2010, 11:03 AM
Sometimes I have a hard time focusing on one thought at a time. This column certainly reflects that, as it will be several random thoughts on the world of wrestling I've had in the last few days.
The WWE Hall of Fame was pretty weak this year. You know it's a little sad when Bob Ueker's induction speech is the highlight of the show. And what was up with the shoddy treatment of Stu Hart's induction? He didn't get a career retrospective video until the ceremony, but you could only see it on-line since his induction wasn't shown on TV. Travesty. Hall of Fame Screwjob!
I was disappointed with the Bret Hart/Vince McMahon match, too. I think on paper it looked cool, and it sounded cool when I described it to some people who didn't see the show. But the timing and execution was awful.
I really liked the Bret Hart final farewell for the fifth time on Raw this week, though. The Hart Dynasty appearance made me cheer out loud, and it was nice to see the new generation of a New Generation era Superstar get elevated. Hopefully the Hart Dynasty will get a real chance at the tag titles soon.
The rest of WrestleMania was enjoyable. Not the strongest Mania ever, but a good show overall. When they announced that Undertaker/Michaels would be on last, I knew Michaels was finished. The image of him ending his career was a more engaging note to go out on than ending the streak. I'd heard six months ago that Michaels was finishing up his career, probably at Mania, so it wasn't really a surprise to me.
Last night's Raw was a pretty great show, too. There was something more genuine, and even classier about Michaels' farewell compared to Ric Flair's two years ago. Flair's was so over the top, which was appropriate given that Flair himself is so over the top. There was just something optimistic and, again, classy about Michaels' speech. Perhaps it's because it wasn't overdue as Flair's was. I'm not sure. But it was a really satisfying moment.
The rest of Raw was alright. Overall it was a stronger show than Impact. Impact really needs creative help. I'm glad to hear that they dumped the Nasty Boys.
I laughed at the mention of "Miss Techmacher" as Bischoff's assistant. Superman/wrestling crossover for the win!
One of the things that made WrestleMania a good show is that every match (pretty much) had a clean win. The use of the World title was the only "rule breaking" moment on the show. TNA could really take a lesson from that. Overbooked doesn't work. It hasn't for a long time. I agree that TNA can and should be an edgier product than WWE. Blood is fine, though not to the level they've been using it. But LOGIC is important.
During WrestleMania week, Fight Network in Canada aired a great documentary on Bret Hart titled "Survival of the Hitman." In the documentary, an analyst discusses the parallels between wrestling and classic Greek theater. It makes the claim that wrestlers each portray a specific emotion. I think this is key to character development. The explanation is simplistic, and I don't believe in one dimension characters, but the idea is sound. At the very least, it's a great starting point for interesting development. TNA needs to start there, and rebuild so many of its characters. Or else the Monday night experiment will bring down the company, I'm absolutely convinced.
There it is in Black and White.
Sometimes I have a hard time focusing on one thought at a time. This column certainly reflects that, as it will be several random thoughts on the world of wrestling I've had in the last few days.
The WWE Hall of Fame was pretty weak this year. You know it's a little sad when Bob Ueker's induction speech is the highlight of the show. And what was up with the shoddy treatment of Stu Hart's induction? He didn't get a career retrospective video until the ceremony, but you could only see it on-line since his induction wasn't shown on TV. Travesty. Hall of Fame Screwjob!
I was disappointed with the Bret Hart/Vince McMahon match, too. I think on paper it looked cool, and it sounded cool when I described it to some people who didn't see the show. But the timing and execution was awful.
I really liked the Bret Hart final farewell for the fifth time on Raw this week, though. The Hart Dynasty appearance made me cheer out loud, and it was nice to see the new generation of a New Generation era Superstar get elevated. Hopefully the Hart Dynasty will get a real chance at the tag titles soon.
The rest of WrestleMania was enjoyable. Not the strongest Mania ever, but a good show overall. When they announced that Undertaker/Michaels would be on last, I knew Michaels was finished. The image of him ending his career was a more engaging note to go out on than ending the streak. I'd heard six months ago that Michaels was finishing up his career, probably at Mania, so it wasn't really a surprise to me.
Last night's Raw was a pretty great show, too. There was something more genuine, and even classier about Michaels' farewell compared to Ric Flair's two years ago. Flair's was so over the top, which was appropriate given that Flair himself is so over the top. There was just something optimistic and, again, classy about Michaels' speech. Perhaps it's because it wasn't overdue as Flair's was. I'm not sure. But it was a really satisfying moment.
The rest of Raw was alright. Overall it was a stronger show than Impact. Impact really needs creative help. I'm glad to hear that they dumped the Nasty Boys.
I laughed at the mention of "Miss Techmacher" as Bischoff's assistant. Superman/wrestling crossover for the win!
One of the things that made WrestleMania a good show is that every match (pretty much) had a clean win. The use of the World title was the only "rule breaking" moment on the show. TNA could really take a lesson from that. Overbooked doesn't work. It hasn't for a long time. I agree that TNA can and should be an edgier product than WWE. Blood is fine, though not to the level they've been using it. But LOGIC is important.
During WrestleMania week, Fight Network in Canada aired a great documentary on Bret Hart titled "Survival of the Hitman." In the documentary, an analyst discusses the parallels between wrestling and classic Greek theater. It makes the claim that wrestlers each portray a specific emotion. I think this is key to character development. The explanation is simplistic, and I don't believe in one dimension characters, but the idea is sound. At the very least, it's a great starting point for interesting development. TNA needs to start there, and rebuild so many of its characters. Or else the Monday night experiment will bring down the company, I'm absolutely convinced.
There it is in Black and White.
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