The Gorilla Press: Thanksgiving Edition of RAW, TCS, Mickie James Speculation, and Special Guest Gabe Sapolsky

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Wrestling News | 1 Comment

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

THE SHEET

GORILLA CLIP OF THE WEEK

I will always compare Bret Hart’s sleepwalk run with The WCW to Joe Namath’s tenure with The St. Louis Rams:  Forgettable, and those who remember it would rather forget.  However, one of Bret’s sole bright spots in WCW was this promo he cut on Bill Goldberg that in my eyes was one of the greatest Bret Hart promo’s I’ve ever seen.

Bret Hart will never be known for his promos, as his impeccable technical wrestling spoke for itself, but on this night Hart hit on all cylinders on the mic.  It helped that Hart was in Canada, as the crowd was white hot for their Canadian hero, but Bret Hart calling out Goldberg after claiming he could beat him in less than 5 minutes only to have Goldberg spear Bret (who was wearing a large plate of metal underneath) was an awesome Bret Hart segment in WCW.  It’s just too bad that awesome Bret Hart moments in WCW were the exception as opposed to the rule.

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SHOWSTOPPER

HIGH SPOTS

FROM RAW

The ‘Breakthrough’ Theme. The gorilla in the WWE creative meetings finally got too big to ignore as The WWE’s initiative to push young talent seems to be in full swing.  Fresh off of a Survivor Series Pay-Per-View where The WWE made it a point to highlight young talent every time they were given the opportunity, The WWE’s breakthrough Battle Royal (that saw Sheamus winning a battle royal filled with superstars who have never held a meaningful world championship) was a breath of fresh air.  Jesse Ventura, a former staple in The WWE, getting behind this concept made it seem more legitimate.  Jesse Ventura’s announcement of The Breakthrough Battle Royal added to this concept as an important voice from The WWE’s past was clamoring to see new stars, even if he didn’t know who the hell some of them were.

Santino Marella Segment. Santino Marella continues to be one of the few ‘acts’ on RAW who is legitimately funny and knows how to entertain the public.  Although the old pie-in-the-face routine seems stale and overdone on paper, Santino’s pie-in-the-face segment with The RAW Divas was gold.

Jesse Ventura. It is so obvious how much different of a show RAW is when the Guest Host is a former or current employee of The WWE.  Jesse Ventura did a fantastic job hosting RAW, and even though he had a show of his own to promote, he was able to work a plug for his show into the wrestling storyline smoothly as only a pro could (with his heel turn on Cena at the end of RAW).

FROM SMACKDOWN!

Batista vs. Kane. No, seriously! Say what you want about both guys’ work, but I liked the match they had in the ring.  Perhaps my low expectations for this match may have ultimately skewed my opinion, but from the psychology of the match to the finish I felt that this was as clean and polished of a match as you could expect from these two.  I’ll always maintain that Batista is one of the most underrated workers of this generation.

FROM iMPACT!

The TCS. I’ve always been a fan of tournaments in pro wrestling.  Although I believe that tournaments should be saved for pay-per-views, as they showcase so many unique matchups, I’m slowly beginning to accept the fact that pro wrestling is just going to keep spoiling us (and their PPV buyrate) by giving away so many unique matchups on free TV.  A ranking system is one of many unique concepts that will establish TNA as an alternative to The WWE and, if this is done right, TNA could have a viable system to help build storylines and push talent.  Although Bobby Lashley won the tournament with his victory over Rick Roode in the finals, and is the new #1 contender, I still don’t quite know what that means.  Does Bobby get the next shot?  Does Roode get the shot after that?  And what’s this I keep hearing about TNA betting lines?

Hulk Hogan Build. Many of those in the internet community have treated the ensuing arrival of Hulk Hogan the same way that Auburn Football fans treated the arrival of Gene Chizik.  But TNA’s continual build to ‘D-Day’ has kept this story, now entering it’s first month, interesting and has been a great tool to keep the audience interested in the product.

I’m not saying ALL of the tactics used have been great (you’ll find out which ones I think are lame soon enough), but at least TNA has settled down to some degree, and shown that they do have direction, goals, and a purpose.  Most of the Hogan segments have hinted towards building up young talent and a new beginning.  Sure, to many people, Hulk Hogan is the devil and he cannot be trusted.  But let’s just do what TNA wants us to do and wait and see until he arrives before we just assume that everything is going to fall apart.

LOW SPOTS

FROM RAW

Jesse and Vince on the call. Forget all the reports of Jesse having to use cue cards to remember the wrestlers’ names, but this pairing in 2009 with the egos that both men have developed was a certified mess.  I didn’t hate everything about the two in the booth, as hearing McMahon doing play-by-play brought me back to the good ole days.  However now that Vince McMahon is a billionaire, an egomaniac, and we know he owns the WWE, Jesse Ventura’s belittling comments that The Chairman once shrugged off multiple times during a single broadcast were all contested by a defensive and more uptight Vince McMahon.

It was also pretty funny when Ventura created even more uncomfortable tension with his ‘Dick Cheny is a coward!’ comment towards the uber-conservative McMahon.  The real question in all this is was anyone screaming in McMahon’s headset for this one?

Cena vs. Punk…WHY? Because The WWE no longer feels that its pay-per-view buy rates are the bread and butter of this company.  The WWE has begun to create a formula of its own in recent years and that’s ratings first, pay-per-views later.  Seeing another ‘Mania caliber matchp wasted on free TV, with a clean job by C.M. Punk nonetheless, was yet another eye-rolling moment that told me what I already knew:  If there is a matchup we haven’t seen yet, it’s not because The WWE is saving it for a pay-per-view (like they so brilliantly used to do once upon a time) it’s because the pairing was off of everybody’s radar until one day in a creative meeting somebody said “Hey, you know Punk and Cena have never worked a match before?  Well, what are we waiting for?  A big pay-per-view?  Let’s book it for the next RAW!”

Verne Troyer. I’m not waiting until next week to bury this little guy.  Hearing DX allude to ‘Little People’s Court’ on this weeks’ RAW told me something else that I already knew:  Next week’s RAW is going to blow.  Move over, Katie Vick.  Yeah, THAT bad.

DX going burying The Hart Dynasty. This is a feud that could have been unique if done right.  With DX likely the next tag team champions, there could have been a lot of interest in a DX vs. The Hart Foundation feud for the tag belts given DX’s history with The Hart family.

But the announcer’s de-emphasized any irony, importance, or significance of the fact that Shawn Michaels and HHH were in the ring with members of the Hart family.  And with DX getting a quick and uninspired win over the talented duo, no favors were done to these two young, up-and-comping superstars.  If DX wins those tag titles from the red hot Jerishow, good luck getting me interested in any ensuing tag team feud after that burial.

FROM SMACKDOWN!

Eric Escobar. Who is this guy and why should I care?  In addition to The WWE doing everything you shouldn’t do with young talent that you are invested in, Eric Escobar’s losing streak and abrupt parting with Vickie Guerrero was confusing to say the least.  Are we supposed to like this guy all of a sudden?  Should we think he’s cool because he told off Vickie Guerrero after she called him a loser and severed all ties with him?  Is he supposed to be on the right path now that he’s a babyface by circumstance who isn’t over with the fans?  Who is Eric Escobar?  Why should I care? What the hell?

FROM iMPACT!

Floundering Foley. TNA has been doing their best impression of lame-duck Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis lately with their ‘Executive Shareholder’ Mick Foley’s undying curiosity of Hulk Hogan’s arrival.  This silliness from Mick Foley, where he’s been asking everyone who’s had any type of relationship with Hulk Hogan when he’s coming and who he’s bringing with him, makes The Tweet and Tweak Connection look like a money program for a Wrestlemania Main Event.

Schmoz finishes. I understood the methodology.  You’ve got all these matchups with all these stars that you’re trying to push and have to protect, so they can’t all lose clean.  But with The Lashley DQ that got him into the finals, and Robert Roode’s countout win over Kurt Angle that got him into the finals, how are we supposed to believe that Bobby Lashley OR Robert Roode deserves a title shot?  With two participants in the TCS finals who earned their spot in controversial fashion, dare I say that The TCS might have been trying a little TOO hard to be like The BCS.

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THE SHOOT

This week in The Shoot we caught up with Gabe Sapolsky, former Booker of the Year with ROH, and current promoter of independent pro wrestling promotions Dragongate USA and EVOLVE.  We’d like to thank Gabe for taking time out of his extremely busy schedule to speak with us.

TGP: You recently engaged in a war of words if you will with one Chris Jericho that ended in you inviting him to two of your Dragongate USA tapings.  It came to our attention that Jericho is not advertised for an upcoming WWE show on November 28, the same date as your Philadelphia show, so what would you do if he showed up?  Would you call him out?  Ignore him?  Give him camera time?

GS: I was actually really surprised that Jericho tweeted something. It’s funny, cause I’ve done several interviews putting Smackdown over during the summer. I also put Jericho over as the best heel in WWE in my March blog at Myspace.com/rohgabe. I didn’t hear one word from anybody on that. The second I saw something negative, and I meant it cause the pacing of the show sucked and after two hours of it I wanted to go home, then everyone jumps all over it. If Jericho showed up he would be very welcome and be treated with great respect. I’m sure he would enjoy the show too, seeing as his roots go back to Japan and smaller promotions like the original ECW and SMW. He would find that same spirit with our show.

TGP:  What do you think of ‘Desmond Wolfe’s’ progress thus far in TNA?  Do you think Hogan’s influence on the company will help or hurt him?

GS:  Well, he started out on fire and then a week later they announced Hogan and that killed his buzz. I heard he had a great match with Kurt Angle on the first PPV. He is a major league, main event talent and he proved that against Angle. I don’t think anyone knows what to expect when Hogan goes to TNA so hopefully they’ll let him keep his momentum going and develop him into a new star on the national scene.

TGP:  How much do you keep in touch with the guys at ROH with your busy schedule?

GS:  It depends on the guy. I keep in touch with a lot of them.

TGP:  What do you think is missing in wrestling right now?

GS:  Something fresh, exciting, new, hip, cool, original and youthful. This is what we are trying to do with Dragon Gate USA and EVOLVE.

TGP:  When’s the last time you talked to (former ECW promoter) Paul Heyman?

GS:  Very recently.

TGP:  What did you talk about?

GS:  I can’t really say.

TGP:  You recently announced the launch of a new promotion, EVOLVE.  How is this promotion different from Dragongate, ROH, WWE, TNA, etc?

GS:  The entire launch has been different. We are slowly leaking information at www.EVOLVEwrestling.com to try to build intrigue and curiosity. As people see the promotion develop before their eyes they will see how it is different. I suggest just following things at EVOLVEwrestling.com and watching it all unfold.

TGP:  Where do you see your promotions (Dragongate, EVOLVE) five years from now?

GS:  Wherever the fans take us!

…So When’s Mickie James leaving? Mickie James has been doing a lot of jobs in recent weeks, and her continual ‘I’m not going anywhere’ proclamations leads me to believe one thing.  She’s going somewhere.  It also doesn’t help her cause that recent reports have claimed James has hired an image consultant and wants to be a Country Music Star.

But the thing that has gotten me REALLY suspicious is that The WWE has decided to poke fun at her weight problem, that only they can see, by calling her a pig on national television.  This is the exact same treatment Vickie Guerrero received when she announced she was leaving The WWE to spend more time with her family.

We talked to multiple sources about James’ future with the WWE when reports of her hiring an image consultant first broke out, but the general consensus seemed to be that she was just branching out and had no immediate plans to leave The WWE.  After seeing how she’s been booked recently, it appears that not only does she have one hoof foot out the door, but maybe she should leave before things get any more embarrassing.

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Tags: Gabe Sapolsky and Chris Jericho, Gabe Sapolsky Interview, Mickie James leaving, Mickie James weight, Pro wrestling blog, RAW Thanksgiving Special, Shane McMahon UFC, The Gorilla Press, TNA, TNA News, TNA TCS, Wrestling News, WWE, WWE News