The Issue #8
By: Bryon Frazier
August 7, 2003
The Issue
It isn't just one issue this week; I have several problems that need addressed.
Word coming out is that John Cena was meant to win cleanly against the Undertaker at Vengeance, but that Vince McMahon himself called for the change the day of the show. It's said that Vince didn't want one of his most loyal employees losing to an unproven commodity. The first two names that popped into my head were Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar. Both men were pushed to the moon relatively early in their careers -- both had the World Title within their first years since debuting. While both were endearing in their own ways, neither was what you could call "established." Meanwhile, John Cena is another unestablished yet endearing wrestler, but rather than letting him gain some respect from the viewing audience by defeating the big dog, it is decided that he should be treated like a glorified jobber and then pinned cleanly in return. There is so much middle ground between the actual finish and the previously mentioned plan, but I'm damn near ready to shoot someone so I'll let the topic go at that.
Why can't Randy Orton win a match cleanly in this lifetime? Can't they at least give him something that doesn't involve a run-in? On top of that, they decided to job his match with Shawn Michaels (who can still perform on the PPV stage) to the Elimination Chamber match. While we're at it, this abomination that has become Summerslam is really testing my patience. I was all set to watch Goldberg vs. Triple H. A decisive Berg win would've done wonders to give people something to cheer for. Also, why did they completely re-write the card that they'd built? Now RVD is facing Kane rather than Shane McMahon. I would like to think that it's because they finally realize the wrestlers should be the ones doing the wrestling, but I really suspect it's because Kane SHOULD go over on that show, so why sacrifice a McMahon when they have a perfectly unused Rob Van Dam in the cupboard?
I'm still patiently awaiting the day of the return of "Sugar" Shane Helms, but we all know it's not gonna happen. The Hurricane gimmick has run its course. They killed it dead when they first would never let him win, relegating him to a comedy act that lost its shine after a few months. Sure, he was successful against the Rock and he was slowly shedding his goofy image for a short while, but once the Rock was gone, that push went with him. So since he's obviously not going anywhere as a SuperHero trainer, let him do something that actually worked in the past. Hell, go the whole nine, trade over Shannon Moore and let them be a tag team again. Last I checked, they were pretty good at it.
I don't know about most wrestling fans, but I like women's wrestling. The problem so far with the women's division in the WWE has been that there are so few women wrestlers on the roster. What I'm saying is that most of the participants in this division are just women who are trying to wrestle. At this point, the only two that I'd consider to be wrestlers are Jazz and Molly Holly. Although Trish and Victoria are getting there, you can still see a sense of inexperience in their performances. The difference between a wrestler and someone trying to wrestle is that a wrestler doesn't screw up the simple things. Obviously by that definition, there are some men in the company that would fall under the "trying to wrestle" category, which only shows that experience isn't all it takes to cross over. The girls are trying, there's no denying that, but until I stop seeing things like Trish botching a Thesz Press the quality just won't reach its potential.
When Shane started pummelling Kane, I was laughing. I thought it was hilarious that they'd push Kane as a monster who has destroyed every person that has attempted to stand in his way and puts fear into the hearts of all . . . except Shane McMahon who stood toe-to-toe with the beast. Sure, Kane eventually got the upper hand and laid Mr. O-Mac out on the UNFORGIVING STEEL steps, but I think it would've served a better purpose if Shane never had that offensive outburst, and boy was it ever offensive.
A Reason Why I Miss WCW
Going all the way back to Vengeance, only two matches on WWE TV have ended with submissions. Six wrestlers on all those shows actually have submission finishers -- Rodney Mack, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, and Ric Flair. Of those guys only Flair and Mack have avoided regular usage of a non-submission finisher. I'm not counting anyone that I never see win a match so that leaves out guys like Nunzio, who I suspect might still be using the Sicilian Crab but it can't be proven. Lance Storm stopped using his crab, so he's off the list too. Jamie Noble had his trailer hitch, but he never wins and Charlie Haas never wrestles singles matches any more so his Haas of Pain is out too.
In 1998 when I started watching WCW, Lex Luger, Flair, Sting, Scott Steiner, Konnan, Benoit, Saturn, Norman Smiley, Jericho, Ultimo Dragon, Dean Malenko, and Meng were all regularly tapping guys out. We're not talking "sometimes" like Angle, Jericho, and Benoit now but these guys rarely if ever used any finishers other than their submission holds. I am not a fan of multiple finishers at wrestlers' disposals. I prefer for every wrestler to have their one maneuver to end the match, and it seems that the WWE has no appreciation for the submission finisher any more, but WCW did.
I guess the WWE finds that this style is boring. People like to see the big spot that KO's the opposition as it is a single moment where they can pop in unison, but when a guy gets locked into a hold they just don't seem to know what to do. That's why half the time when someone gets locked in the Walls or the Figure Four, they crawl to the ropes just to pop the crowd. The first time the Anklelock goes on in a match, it's almost always reversed. Guys like Jericho, Benoit, and Angle often win in fashions other than making their opponent tap. These are the things that piss me off. WCW respected submission wrestling, the WWE doesn't. It's just that simple.
Submission wrestling, it's FAN-tastic! And it's Reason #38 for why I miss WCW.