Home Schooling no.4

Welcome to another edition of Home schooling, my weekly blog about the goings on in this funny little thing we call professional wrestling. Or maybe that should be this funny massive thing. Anyway, I am The Aussie Mouthpiece, and hopefully you like what I have to say, and that's why you're here reading this.

Topics covered this week will include RAW, TNA's bound for glory (which I haven't seen, but I did read about and have some thoughts), Secrets of the Ring with Raven (all 5 volumes), and Mick Foley. I'm also in the process of writing a more specific blog about great promos, so that should also be up in the next few days.

I'm going to start with Bound for Glory. Now as I've said in the past, I haven't watched TNA for a long time. since around Destination X i'm talking about. I've been keeping up to date on what's been happening mostly through news sites, reading the results of the iMPACT shows, and then more recently today, the Bound For Glory results.

I don't have a lot to talk about, just a few things that intrigued me. Firstly, Hogan did the job. I assume you all know what I mean. I was kind of shocked when I saw that result. Hogan lost? Really? .. Wow. Maybe the 5th back surgery removed a part of his ego as well as fixing his back.

All i really have to say about Hogan losing is.. GOOD. Sting is still wrestling full time, and especially because Hogan said he wouldn't take bumps, if he had won it would have crapped all over Sting, and TNA in general.

While i'm talking about Hogan I want to mention Robert Roode not winning the title. Now, this whole Bound for Glory series was a tournament and the payoff was getting a match against the champion at Bound for glory right? Sounds kind of similar to the Royal Rumble concept, in the sense that it's pushing a new face up to the World title picture.

So why did the guy who won this *really* long tournament (only thing longer has been NXT.. week 142 i think we're up to now right?).. why did he not win? That just completely takes all the momentum out of his push. Bad decision. I read maybe they're thinking of having him win at Impact or the next ppv?.. How is that going to mean anywhere near as much as winning at TNA's "wrestlemania"? Dropping the ball.. well i guess in TNA's case it's more like.. "still not picking up the ball and it fell down a drain into the sewer".

And Hogan was talking on Radio or something saying that Roode wasn't ready? and that he isn't a main event guy or something? Before the event? Burying the guy before the pay per view? If the guy in control is saying Roode isn't ready, and you can't tell if it's a work or not.. why would that make anyone want to buy the PPV?

And then Hogan took a shot at AJ Styles because Styles stood up for Roode and TNA in general? Hogan.. just leave. You're only there for a paycheck and to boost your own ego. TNA would do better without you.

Ok onto cheery happy things, Velvet Sky won the Knockouts title. That is awesome! She was a favourite of mine when I watched, both for the obvious reasons, and also because you could see her trying (and succeeding) to improve in the ring, and you could tell she loved wrestling and wasn't there to be a model.
So congratulations to her.

I just quickly watched RAW tonight, didn't see everything, most of it bored me. Most of it felt like stuff i'd already seen.
I have a few comments about the show though.

Why did Laurinitis get so much promo time this week, when he is absolutely terrible, and yet, CM Punk, the guy who really shot to the level he's at right now because of his promo work YET AGAIN have no mic time?

Sure, his reactions to what Miz and Truth said were really good, and really funny, but the guy is known (at the moment) for saying controversial things, for his "pipebombs" .. and he doesn't get a chance to talk?? What is that??

David Otunga on WWE is a waste of time. Stiff as a board, Laurinitis is a better talker than him (yep, i said it), and more importantly, not really talented. I get the feeling he's going to be known as "the guy who sipped out of the tartan cup" ... or whatever the hell that is.

Immigration problems? And yet again Laurinitis stops a match half way through. Abusing power? Yes. Entertaining tv? No. Makes me stop watching? Yes.

At least J.R got a positive send off this time, no colon surgery spoof, or any other embarassing final moment. A match with Cena, and also getting to make Cole tap out. Problem is now we're going to have to hear Cole's whining about it.

One positive to me was Dolph Ziggler. So good on the microphone. And he's been really entertaining doing his little Ask the Heel spots on Zack Ryder's youtube show. Maybe instead of adding heel to the list of names he used this week, the show stealer.. i don't remember the other one, he should keep the gimmick going of finishing an "Ask the heel" by saying "Hashtag Heel". That would work well in this social networking era.

That's about it for RAW, other than it's getting less interesting to me. Hopefully things pick up again before Survivor Series. I really want it to be good. At this stage i'm not ordering Vengeance because again, it's another pay per view what.. 3 weeks after the last one? Space it out more WWE...


Ok onto Secrets of the Ring. For those who don't know or haven't heard of it, the Secrets of the Ring with Raven is a shoot style interview series that Ring Of Honor did I think something like 6 years ago with Raven, and I think also a few other people have done a Secrets of the Ring. I know that Jim Cornette and Al Snow have done an edition.

Anyway, I couldn't talk about everything in Raven's series (5 dvds!) even if i had 3 hours to do so. Basically each dvd covers a different part about wrestling. How to be a Babyface, Star power and Charisma, Odds and Ends (like etiquette), how to be a heel, and how to work angles. Anyone who's seen any of them I'm sure would agree with me that listening to Raven talk about this stuff is amazing. I watched all 5 dvds in one day, so we're talking nearly 10 hours of basically watching someone sit on a chair and talk.

He covers so much stuff, talks about his experiences, even gives a few demonstrations, and it's really just opened my eyes to a new way of looking at matches and what makes them good and what makes them bad.
I will probably even go back and watch them a second, third, maybe fourth time in the near future. They're that good.

I highly, highly recommend them if you can find good copies. (or illegal copies, you dirty pirates.. har har har...)

Last but most certainly not least, Mick Foley. Again wanting to talk about him came about from watching his Straight Shootin dvd, once again also from Ring of Honor. It came out I think maybe 2005, it was before the first ECW one night stand I think. I'm not entirely sure,but I do know that the last match he talks about wrestling in the WWE on this dvd is the amazing match he had at Backlash 2004 with Orton.

I'll never forget the first time I watched that match. Seeing (at the time) "pretty boy" Randy Orton bleeding, and then dropping into those tacks.. my jaw was on the floor. Also at seeing Mick still take that beating. Of course at the time I was upset that Mick didn't win, but of course now I realise he was putting Orton over to help get him over.

So I watched his shoot, he talked about Ric Flair a lot. Which was really interesting to hear parts of that, that I hadn't heard before, not having read Flair's (or Foley's) books. Mick always speaks very well, speaks from the heart, and it's always entertaining to listen to him.

I've since started reading his first book, and really liking it so far. I would imagine once i get through it (i'm not a huge book reader) I'll want to read his other two as well. But once again I definitely recommend getting the Straight Shootin with Mick Foley, and also Mick Foley's Greatest Hits and Misses, especially for the Mick/Vader match where Vader breaks Mick's nose.

While you're at it, get the straight shootin with Jim Cornette and Percy Pringle DVD. The stories are amazing and funny. Especially a gem about Undertaker.

That's about all I have to say for this week, hopefully i'll have my extra blog up in the next couple of days, so keep checking my twitter or just keep checking this page. I'm going to start doing more of them, reviewing old pay per views, talking about specific wrestlers etc. So hopefully I get some positive feedback on this first one.

Until then, don't forget you can follow me on Twitter if you're not already at @TheOZMouthpiece .. leave me a comment if you want, and for now, that's it and that's all!

Home schooling no. 1

Welcome back to the Aussie Mouthpiece blog. Another week, another installment of RAW, and another chance to talk about the goings on in wrestling.

You may notice this post is entitled "home schooling no.1". I'm changing things up a little to see how it feels. But this week, i'm not just going to talk about RAW. Sure, none of the other shows have happened yet, but I did get a chance to see Ring of Honor's first episode over the weekend, and i've also got a couple of other things to talk about.

So this new idea I have is basically to make these "go home" posts less about RAW specifically, and talk about a wider range of topics. If RAW has an amazing week, like the builds to Summerslam or the night Vince was "fired", then i'll do a specific post about it. I just have to come up with a catchy name.

Anyway... for now, it's installment one of "Go Home time" (which will probably have a name change eventually, that's how these things go.)

Let's start with RAW, because I just finished watching it.

I didn't like this week's episode. This is your "go home" show right? The last RAW before the pay per view. Don't get me started on how ridiculous it is to have a 2 pay per views two weeks apart (i'll get to that later). Regardless though, isn't this the RAW that is supposed to make people want to buy the pay per view? I'm no closer to buying it than before I watched this week's episode.

So Triple H comes out and does his "i'm going to make a joke out of everyone" schtik... yeah great, you're just making a joke out of two guys who have massive potential as main event wrestlers. That's the problem.

Ok i'm deviating from RAW, but I watched something today that has altered my perception a little. I'm not claiming to be smart to the business or anything though.
Today I watched the "Guest booker with Al Snow" dvd from Kayfabe Commentaries. It was amazingly good. But the one thing that stuck with me is when he talked about heels. And what they're supposed to do.

My idea (now) of a heel, is a guy who you want to see the babyfaces beat up and give him what's coming to him basically. His job is to draw people in, to sell tickets, all that stuff. But to get heat first and foremost. And to get fans to come back/watch again so they can see him get beaten up.

Most of the heels today in WWE.. and I think maybe in TNA (haven't watched it for a long time now) don't do that. I just plain do not want to see them on tv, in matches, in anything. Laurinitis is a perfect example. I really want to see someone kick his ass (because of stories i've read/seen) .. but as an on screen character, it's boring, it makes me want to skip to the next scene.

Del Rio is good, but I'm not that interested in seeing him wrestle.
I don't want to see Jack Swagger at all.
Hogan.. well.. y'know. Sick of it ten years ago.
Christian. He doesn't look like he could beat anyone. And he's orange. I don't buy him as champion. I never have.

BUT, there are some great heels at the moment too. I don't understand why they don't use them more. Dolph being the first guy that comes to mind. Mark Henry (now) has taken that next step. Cody Rhodes is pretty entertaining.

It just seems that a lot of the "bad guys" .. at least to me, get booed because people don't want to see them. As opposed to they get booed because they're actually bad guys. Something needs to change there.

Remember 5, 6.. even 8 years ago? Who were the main heels? Jericho, HHH, Big Show, Kane (when he took his mask off for the first time), Vince, Flair. How could things have gotten so far off track in such a short amount of time?
My point is that people should still want to see the bad guys on tv. At the moment it doesn't feel like there's a lot of those guys around.

Anyway, i digress. Back to RAW.

So as I said, I really wasn't into Triple H making jokes of Dolph and Cody. Christian.. well .. ok that wasn't cool either. There's no point to it. It's not like it builds up your heel guys .. all it does is make the COO look like a bully. As in "Just because you pissed me off, i'm putting you in this match".

The intercontinental title match however, made Cody look somewhat good. It's just a shame that the match for his title belt was overshadowed by the Christian/Sheamus storyline. Why not have a triple threat, Cody, Christian and Sheamus? Or a tag match.. or one on one? Cody and Sheamus for the belt.. and Christian tries to interfere, fails, and Cody picks up the win slightly cleaner... Seems better? Didn't Cody not get involved in the battle royal straight away?

Ok I either really don't understand fashion, or David Otunga dressed in the dark. A bowtie? and an army green shirt? I don't get it. And of course we have to have our obligatory "I'm the executive vice president of dull monotonous sounding promos" bit from Johnny Ace. Really didn't like it. Maybe they're trying to change things up, but .. change isn't always the way to go. If it ain't broke.. dont' fix it right?

FINALLY... something good to say about the divas match. As in, the dominant looking women beat the scrawny model looking girl. Because that seems like it's what would happen if all this was real.. and isn't that the point? To get people to believe it's real? even for just a split second?

Mark Henry is a badass. Slamming Khali just re-asserts that. And that is the only reason that man should be on any kind of WWE TV. To make other guys look awesome. Khali that is, not Mark Henry. Khali needs to be gone.

The WWE title match .. who knows what's going to happen...? They make Del Rio look like he can take both guys.. so clearly he's not going to win the title. My hope is that Cena holds on to it. Not because I don't want Punk to win, but because then Cena will just win it back in a couple of weeks, and he'll be a 13 time world champion.
 Triple H is a 13 time world champion. Cena's been wrestling in the wwe for 9 years, and already has more than 1 title run for every year he's been with that company.
Triple H has been wrestling for ... 20 years? Been with the WWE for roughly.. what... 17 of those years? Something like that anyways. Something's wrong there...

Anyway, Cena's promo was a Cena promo.. "I know you all don't like me, but i'm going to do this and i'm going to win, because i'm a man of my word and i stand for hustle etc etc etc". I know he didn't say that, but it was the equivalent. Step backwards for me.

Awesome to see Zack Ryder getting a (real) title shot! The guys deserves it. I don't see the point of after Dolph won, to then have a second match.. I guess they needed something for the Tag champs to do.. surely they couldn't just wrestle against a tag team ..could they?

Raw was missing something this week. Do you know what that something was?
Realism.
CM Punk, talking, on a microphone.
It's the last RAW before a pay per view.. John Cena cut a promo. Alberto Del Rio cut a promo. Why not Punk?
Surely out of the 3, he's the guy you want talking the most right? Yes he was on commentary, but that's not the same thing.
Also they tried to re-do the "My diet soda" spot from a while back... or at least it seems that was the idea.. I don't understand that at all.
Punk and Cena are so good, especially when they work together, that you don't need to rehash things, no matter how funny they are.

So that's about it, I thought RAW was really disappointing, most of it felt like a step backwards. This whole 2 weeks between a pay per view just feels weird. I mean, surely the Titles aren't going to change hands. What a way to destroy a talent.. make them look awful. "Mark henry was a world champion from the middle of september to the end of september".. doesn't really work for me.

Here's what i liked:

• Beth and Natalya finally getting a win after a long time
• Mark Henry destroying Great Khali
• Zack Ryder getting two matches in one night

Here's what i didn't like

• Messy title picture, very confusing
• Triple H being "funny"
• Christian being on RAW (where was orton... isn't he going to be in a title match?)
• Battle Royal
• David Otunga's bow-tie (seriously, it was bad)
• CM Punk being the only guy out of the three who didn't get any promo time

So.. RAW was kinda bad this week. Maybe all the good stuff is being saved for smackdown? 

Ok.. quick little thing on Ring of Honor

I don't really know a lot about ROH, it's really hard to watch it over here in australia, but I saw the first episode. Liked the wrestling, thought it was cool to see Haas and Benjamin, But it felt like there were way too many ads. And the vignettes, interviews, whatever, were too long. It's an hour show, surely you could get three decent matches into an hour right?

But it was good, as i said I liked the matches. I'll be tuning in next time for sure. 

So what else is there to say.. Well.. i have a few points.. one is.. how much longer are Kane and Big Show going to be off of tv? They've been gone since a couple of weeks (or a few in Show's case) before Summerslam... which was the middle-ish of August.. that's about 6 weeks ago. Hopefully they come back soon. Feels like we just keep seeing the same matches all the time. We're getting Randy vs Christian yet again on Smackdown this week.. why not Christian vs the Returning Big Show!.. I'd tune in for that.

Matt Hardy went to rehab. Not got much to say about it, except that I hope it works for him. At least he had the balls to admit he has a problem, and is doing something about it.

The other thing, and again this something that stuck with me from watching the Guest Booker with Al Snow thing.. he talked about how the idea of wrestling is to get people to suspend disbelief, to buy in to it being real,  even though we know it isn't. To buy into the idea of both guys wanting to win, to be specific.
His thoughts about why wrestling isn't as popular as it once was is because people don't believe it anymore. The one example that really stuck out, was when he said something like "One guy knocks his opponent down, and then reaches down and picks him back up".

This happens a lot in wrestling, we've all seen it probably countless times. I've never really even thought about it until I watched this.. but it doesn't make sense at all. Why pick a guy up when you've knocked him to the mat and could possibly get a 3 count? Sure, probably the guy would kick out most of the time, but the point is that people should feel like you're always trying to win, as a wrestler.
And that's what's missing.

It's a really interesting dvd, i would recommend people trying to watch it if they haven't already.

Anyway, that's about it from me, as always leave me a comment (seriously, no-one ever leaves one.. please do!), follow me on twitter @TheOZMouthpiece and that's about all i have to say.
That's it, and that's all.