The Gorilla Press: Survivor Series Preview, Hulkamania Tour of Australia, and Special Guests Kevin Eck and Brian Fritz
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Sunday, November 22, 2009
THE SHEET
The Great Khali Relieved of duties as an Indian Cop [Prowrestling.com]
Heat on Michael Cole’s Performance [PWR Show]
WWE RAW Ratings see slight increase [Prowrestling.com]
Cena/Taker Planned For Wrestlemania 26? [Wrestling Inc.]
GORILLA CLIP OF THE WEEK
In honor of the upcoming Survivor Series pay-per-view, we present to you an epic fail by The WWE at a Survivor Series Pay-Per-View. In 1990, The WWE had been doing a great job of creating interest and curiosity as to what was inside of large, mysterious egg.
The creative team had done its job by getting everyone talking and the speculation had been rampant. This was before the days of ‘The Dirt Sheet’, and even if the sheets were around, all that would have meant is more speculation as to who or what could have been in that egg.
Rumors of what would hatch included Playboy playmates (as teased by Mean Gene) and even the return of Ric Flair! What ensued was one of the greatest disappointments in WWE history as the wrestling world was introduced to…The Gobbledy Gooker, a glorified mascot played by Hector Guerrero.
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SHOWSTOPPER
HIGH SPOTS
FROM RAW
Madison Square Garden Crowd: I swear they could have trotted out a gimmick-free Charlie Haas and he would have gotten over. The MSG crowd always provides tremendous energy and great chants (RAN-DY OR-TON!!!). MSG is and always will be one of the few places in the world that makes every moment of any show seem relevant. It’s just too bad The WWE couldn’t incorporate a stronger build for their upcoming Pay-Per-View into that hot crowd atmosphere so that we, the consumers, could feel its relevance.
Kofi Kingston: The ‘MSG Moment’ from this RAW had to have been Kofi Kington’s Boomdrop on Randy Orton in the crowd and through a table. The close second had to be HHH’s pedigree on a midget (sarcasm). Every week The WWE has done a great job making Kingston look like a main stage player in his ongoing feud with Randy Orton. It looks as if Orton will go over at Survivor Series after all the momentum Kofi has built upon himself leading into this PPV (that’s just how The WWE likes booking), but if that’s the case the WWE needs to make sure to keep Kofi looking strong and further convince me, the consumer, that Kofi Kingston can hang with Randy Orton.
FROM SMACKDOWN!
CM Punk Promo: Even though CM Punk fans are crying foul at the fact that he suddenly finds himself in a midcard feud with R-Truth, the heel CM Punk is making the most of it. CM Punk’s sanctimoniously creative promo, as he used prescription meds and alcohol as visual aids, was effective and they made a message that Punk has been preaching for months seem fresh and unique.
Rey Mysterio vs. Tyson Kidd Tease Match: It’s too bad Rey is expected to go on the shelf soon after a knee injury because these two would tear the house down if the WWE gave them more than the most exciting 2 minutes in wrestling that they got on Friday. These two seem to have a natural chemistry with one another, and that could be said about Rey and anyone except Kane, and I hope we are able to see these two go at least one more time.
FROM IMPACT
Jessie Neal: I couldn’t have cared less about the angle with Rhyno coaching this floundering, face-in-the-crowd. Although the current 3D/Rhyno burying the young guns angle has me scratching my head, it was amusing to see the new look Jessie Neal (dare I say) make an Impact! Jessie’s celebratory promo backstage with 3D and Rhyno was also well done and it reminded me of an old school heel promo after an unexpected swerve.
Daniels/A.J. Feud: Although many are clamoring for an Angle/Styles program coming off of TNA Turning Point, I think TNA did a good job of escalating the feud between A.J. Styles and Chris Daniels by putting Daniels over Styles in a clean victory on Impact. Angle is already embroiled in a hot feud with Desmond Wolfe, and as they give Wolfe more time with Angle it will only help Wolfe and, in turn, help TNA in its initiative to establish newer, younger stars (until January). The Daniels/Styles feud makes more sense at this point, especially if you were paying attention to how Turning Point ended with Daniels complaining that he was robbed by Styles and taking a page out of The Batista playbook with the old “I thought we were friends!!” line. Besides, TNA is slowly building to an upcoming feud between Styles and Angle so it seems that in the long run everybody wins (until January).
LOW SPOTS
FROM RAW
Madison Square Garden Lovefest: It’s funny, here I was thinking that the WWE would do a better job of building towards a PPV because they had a guest host, in Roddy Piper, that they didn’t have to cater to at the expense of advertising a build up to a big event. Well I was right, kind of, because while The WWE didn’t cater towards Piper at the expense of a Survivor Series build up, they went all out in providing Madison Square Garden with their five star catering service.
Sure MSG is legendary and what not, and nobody’s saying that you can’t make mention of the fact that you’re in the biggest city in the world. But if you have to continue to remind the consumer that you’re in MSG and you have one of your biggest Pay-Per-Views of the year that same week, why not use synergy and remind us of some of the great Survivor Series moments in MSG (i.e. HBK winning a world heavyweight championship for the first time in 4 years in the first ever elimination chamber which got probably a half a second of camera time in a montage that featured Hulk Hogan for whatever reason)? Brian Fritz told us that he thinks the Survivor Series card will do around 300,000 buys (which is a dismal number for this card) and that sounds about right. After seeing The WWE use comedy to build up their RAW Main Event and after a RAW show which made Survivor Series seem like Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC, I’m going lower. 275K.
Roddy Piper with a live mic: Don’t get me wrong some parts of the Piper/McMahon segment were pretty good as I felt that Piper’s unpredictability during a live promo is the antithesis of the forced promo that DX shoves down our throats every week in the opening segment. But Piper’s ‘death’ Joke, catering too much to the audience, and habitual mentions of Hulk Hogan (which Vince McMahon had to be loving back stage) in a promo that was all over the place made me cringe in the end. There seemed to be legit tension between Piper and McMahon during the whole Promo as Vince continuously went after Roddy’s hair (which is like a mean-spirited mama joke coming from Vince McMahon). Piper and McMahon barely kept one from completely falling apart, but for all intents and purposes this segment was kind of a mess.
What’s the midget doing in the ring?! DX continued its ‘comical’ build up on what seems to be a butchered road to Survivor Series as they escalated their ‘gimmick infringement’ angle by finally getting the better of Hornswoggle. It also didn’t help that DX seemed to undervalue the importance of a Singles Heavyweight Championship with the ‘it doesn’t matter who wins as long as it comes to DX’ line. A lot of people think HHH could (finally) turn heel at this event, but if that happens so what? There was no tension between the two leading into this event, as they were so busy beating up a midget to worry about a silly thing like The WWE Championship title, so not only would a HHH heel turn come out of nowhere, its irrelevance would not produce the desired effect until an ensuing feud between Hunter and Shawn gained some steam (and looking at The WWE’s above mentioned problems in the build-up category I doubt that feud would gain any steam at this point).
FROM SMACKDOWN!
Lethargic Drew McIntyre ‘push’: For as much time as The WWE has spent making McIntyre look like an up-and-coming star I still don’t care about him. As much as I do like the Finlay character, Finlay is not the guy you want McIntyre feuding with if you want people to really get behind this guy as a heel.
Dolph Ziggler getting cut off at the legs: Dolph Ziggler lost a half-assed match to John Morrison that should have been way better than advertised. It seems like they’ve been playing up this ‘he’s one step away from winning a championship’ card for months now, and while this is an effective way to bring somebody up, if the Superstar in question goes too long being one win away he just looks like a loser.
FROM IMPACT
Trash Talk with ODB: THIS segment was a mess. ODB gets over as a babyface the same way Awesome Kong gets over as a heel. She is a different and unique character that does not necessarily have to talk to get people to react to her. The fact that TNA gives her a segment, that would benefit someone who actually can talk, is beyond me.
Amazing Red Burial: The first Impact after a PPV that showcased the X-Division in a very positive light saw a bewildering squash match between Scott Steiner and The X-Division Champion Amazing red (take a guess at who was getting squashed here). There was no need for this match. This match was nothing more than a catalyst for the Lashley/Steiner feud to continue as Lashley came and made the save for Amazing Red, who won by disqualification (was this their way of protecting Amazing Red?). Amazing Red is already undersized even for a TNA Wrestler. If he is your champion and you want people to believe that he is one of TNA’s best, which he is, the last thing he needs is to be put in the ring with bigger guys and get destroyed. Terrible decision.
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THE SHOOT
This week in The Shoot we interviewed Kevin Eck of The Baltimore Sun and The Ring Posts Blog. We got Kevin’s thoughts on the Raw show from Madison Square Garden as well as The Survivor Series pay-per-view.
TGP: This week’s episode of RAW, despite being one of the bigger RAW shows of the year, did not seem to do a good job of building to The upcoming Survivor Series Pay-Per-View. Do you think this will impact the buyrate at all as this is one of The WWE’s biggest PPV’s of the year?
KE: The weak build could very well impact the buy rate, but it’s hard to say how much. One thing that might help the buy rate is name recognition. Survivor Series has been around for more than 20 years and it’s established as one of WWE’s Big Four pay-per-views. So the name alone could be a draw, but again, it’s hard to say to what degree. The main problem Raw has as far as selling the pay-per-views is that the guest host format is a hindrance. While I do like the guest host concept, it does take some of the focus away from building the pay-per-views.
TGP: There has been talk of Michael Cole not taking his announcing job as seriously as of late. Have you noticed Michael Cole ‘mailing it in’ with any ‘silly’ comments, or do you think people are reading into this story too much?
KE: I haven’t noticed that with Cole, and there’s no way that Vince McMahon would allow him to “mail it in.” It’s no secret that McMahon is very heavy-handed and demanding as far as producing the announcers. I think Cole would be too intimidated to not take his job seriously.
TGP: If I was tuning in to RAW for the first time in weeks, I would have thought that this episode was building up Cena v. Taker. This match has been discussed as a possible Wrestlemania 26 Main event, your thoughts?
KE: I wrote after WrestleMania XXV that there are only two top-tier guys who would be fresh opponents for The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI – John Cena and Chris Jericho. I was leaning towards Cena because he’s a bigger star than Jericho. Plus, I don’t think anyone would believe for a second that Jericho had any chance of winning. I’m convinced that Undertaker giving Cena a Tombstone piledriver at the end of Raw was the first indication that WWE is going with Undertaker-Cena at WrestleMania. It’s one of the few “dream matches” that WWE can offer at this point. Who else is there that Undertaker hasn’t already faced at WrestleMania? Randy Orton, Edge, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Batista, Kane and Big Show have all wrestled Undertaker at the WrestleMania.
TGP: You hinted on your blog that Hornswoggle could be involved in The Main event this Sunday, which is a valid concern to have going into The Survivor Series PPV. If this isn’t the plan, why even have him out there with DX a week before Survivor Series?
KE: I have no idea why WWE would involve Hornswoggle in a main event program. It seems like a page right out of Vince Russo’s playbook when he was booking WCW – and that’s not a good thing. Perhaps it’s wishful thinking on my part, but I don’t think we’ll see Hornswoggle involved in the match, but I wouldn’t be completely surprised if he did.
TGP: Every WWE seems to feature a Heavyweight title change. Which main title do you see changing hands this Sunday?
KE: I have to think about that one. I always make my predictions for the WWE pay-per-views the morning or afternoon of the show, so you’ll have to check out baltimoresun.com/ringposts on Sunday. Cheap plug!
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In a coup for The Gorilla Press, we were also able to speak with Brian Fritz of The Orlando Sentinel and Between The Ropes Radio show. Here’s our interview with Brian.
TGP: What are your thoughts of this week’s RAW as we head into Survivor Series?
BF: You know, Raw was a bit of a strange show. The crowd at Madison Square Garden was fantastic. But the show itself was catered more towards the home crowd rather than pushing Survivor Series. I know WWE loves being at the Garden but it’s weird that they did not promote the pay-per-view more especially on the last Raw before the pay-per-view. That’s the week of the hard sell; to drive home that show and give people a reason to buy the show. WWE just didn’t do that on Raw. And it’s not the first time WWE has done that this year either which is really mind-boggling.
TGP: TNA Turning Point was a very strong show. How possible is it that it could outperform Survivor Series (as a show) this Sunday?
BF: Obviously you can’t look at it from a buyrate standpoint. As just a show, it could. Turning Point was very good, especially the last two matches which are what most people remember. Even though the buzz for Survivor Series hasn’t been that great, it could be a very good show. I think both main events could be very interesting. Any time you have Triple H and Shawn Michaels involved in a match and then Chris Jericho and The Undertaker in another, you should have high expectations. I really want to see some of the younger guys step up in the traditional team matches. I’m big on The Miz right now and think a good showing for him will really help him. Same with guys like John Morrison and Evan Bourne. I guess we’ll have to see the show before we can truly compare it to Turning Point.
TGP: Shane McMahon spoke with UFC officials earlier this week. Your thoughts?
BF: I think Shane would like to work with the UFC if the right opportunity is available and I think they can definitely use him. The guy has great contracts internationally which will be very helpful for UFC as they expand globally.
How do you think Vince McMahon feels about this situation?
BF: I’m sure Vince will be upset – maybe more because his son is not working with him rather than him working with UFC if that’s what happens. Vince has said over and over that UFC is not a direct competitor. If that’s the case, then don’t be ticked off if your son goes to work there.
TGP: Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair got in a fight earlier this week! This has been said to have been a work (obviously) but the stunt did its job in garnering interest for The Hulkamania Tour of Australia. Do you think that will translate into a higher volume of ticket sales or was this just a good story for the wire on a relatively slow Tuesday?
BF: No, I think anyone that was going to the show already had tickets and plans to go. It was a very well done angle but I don’t think it’s going to get any more people to buy tickets. Really – this is a nostalgia act. So I can’t imagine many people being on the fence on seeing it. It is incredible how the media down under thought it was real. It’s just amazing how some people get sucked in so easy.
TGP: What are your thoughts on a possible Taker/Cena feud come Wrestlemania 26?
BF: I have no problem with that. It’s a huge match. It might not – I stress might not – be a classic in the sense of Shawn Michaels against Taker like we saw last year at Mania but there should be very good. I think both are up to it. The interesting part should be in the buildup. The fans are going to boo someone and that’s going to be Cena. How much does WWE embrace him being booed? I don’t think they’ll turn him heel but you never know. If the fans hate Cena, then it could happen. But I think they’ll just play it up as a match between two huge superstars.
TGP: The list of RAW guest hosts for the next 4 weeks was released recently. What jumps out at you?
BF: Nothing really. I think the show with Mini-Me is going to be a mess because they’ll load it up with bad jokes. That guy is like a D-list star and brings nothing to me. Plus, we’ll probably see a lot of Hornswoggle which I don’t like. Dennis Miller could be good as long as he reels in his schtick a bit. His jokes can really go over people’s heads and that’s the smart crowds. So you can imagine what it could happen in front of wrestling fans. I’m not saying wrestling fans are stupid but not many of them belong to MENSA either.
TGP: RAW’s ratings were up this week, but there’s nowhere to go but up for the lowest rating of the year. How much of a concern is it that RAW’s ratings have been below average recently?
BF: The ratings are always a cause of concern for WWE. I think mid-3′s to 4 is a solid number for them these days. But the problem is keeping the rating up while still having something special to put on per-per-views to get people to buy them. I think they give away so much on Raw that a lot of people don’t buy the pay-per-views. But if they don’t load up Raw, the rating could go down. It’s a really tough situation for them but they have to find a happy medium.
TGP: Do you think this could lead to WWE doing away with the guest host gimmick? There’s talk that it will go through Wrestlemania but if the ratings continue to decline, could we see a change in plans?
BF: I’m sure WWE does not look at the guest host as the reason for the Raw rating being down. They love the idea. They want to dip more into the mainstream entertainment world and think that the guest host gimmick helps them with that. So as long as they can get what they perceive as solid hosts, they’ll keep doing it. I’m sure it will continue until Mania but if the Raw rating doesn’t fall off a cliff and they can still get hosts they like, they’ll keep doing it.
TGP: As we move forward into Survivor Series, how many buys do you see the show doing?
BF: I think Survivor Series will probably do about 300,000 buys worldwide which would be down from last year. It wouldn’t be great but when you look at the build for the show and the economy, that’s all you can really expect. It’s amazing to think that this show is supposed to be one of the WWE’s “big four” pay-per-views and it doesn’t feel like that at all.
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Hulkamania Tour of Australia: The Wrestling Daily currently has an eye-witness report of the first show from The Hulkamania Tour of Australia. Before we give you some news and notes from the show, let me just say this: I heard a snippet from an interview that Hulk Hogan conducted in order to ‘hype up’ his upcoming tour of Australia. The snippet can be heard on the November 15th edition of Live Audio Wrestling, and in it Hulk Hogan tells the interviewer that he is going out on a tour of Australia and during the tour he’ll be trying to get the fake knee and the fake hip ‘cranked up’ and see if he’s still got it. So after building up this huge tour and charging ridiculous amounts for ticket prices, Hogan is basically tabbing this upcoming tour as a trial run to see if he can still go.
Sure this is something that one has to be weary of going in, but after paying $380 for a floor seat, I’d be feeling a lot more discouraged about going to see this show. Blymey. Here are some news and notes from the show:
Quick Results
Nick Dinsmore (Formerly Eugene) and The Pimpfatha (Formerly The Godfather) defeated The Rock of Love
Spartan 3000 defeated Shannon Moore in a $25,000 challenge
The Nasty Boys w/Jimmy Hart defeated Gangrel & The Black Pearl
Brutus The Barber Beefcake w/Jimmy Hart (formerly Dizzy Hogan) defeated Heidenreich
Lacy Von Erich won a bikini contest
Mr. Anderson (Formerly Mr. Kennedy) defeated Sean Morley (Formerly Val Venis)
Rikishi & Grandmaster Sexay defeated Umaga & Orlando Jordan
Ric Flair jobbed to Hulk Hogan again after Hogan used brass knuckles, that belonged to Flair, for the win
Notes From The Show
According to the eye-witness report, the show drew about 7,000 people and the arena was 1/3 full.
Lacey Von Erich was in Ric Flair’s corner. I think she may have a future in wrestling after all.
Mr. Anderson announced his name as MISTEEEERRR ANDERSOOOON! (As he would if he could still use the ‘Kennedy’ gimmick).
Hogan and Flair both did color. Hogan did not hit a leg drop in this match.
The venue was well-produced with pyro and a big screen TV that resembled WWE’s Titantron.
FINISHERS
We leave you with our Survivor Series predictions as the card is currently underway.
Team Morrison over Team Miz (Morrison gets the pin over Miz)
Team Orton over Team Kingston (Orton gets the pin over Kofi after an RKO out of nowhere)
Team Michelle over Team Mickie (Micke does the job to Michelle McCool)
Batista over Rey Mysterio by pinfall
Chris Jericho over Undertaker and Big Show (Show scores with a knockout punch on Taker, Jericho stuns Show with a codebreaker and Jericho steals the pinfall)
John Cena over HBK and HHH (Cena pins HBK)
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Tags: Brian Fritz, Brian Fritz Interview, Hulkamania Tour of Australia, Kevin Eck, Kevin Eck Interview, Pro wrestling blog, Survivor Series 2009, The Gorilla Press, TNA News, Wrestling News, WWE News
