Looking for something to write about this week was easy. Raw was so brilliantly entertaining, I actually forgot I watched it. It was only half way through listening to the ever fantastic MFX podcast’s review of the show that I actually remembered watching it. I certainly remember watching Impact, and to be fair, there was plenty to write about in that show.
But I wont. Well, maybe a little. MVP, the director of Wrestling Operations turns heel and attacks a bearded champion. A mysterious long haired bearded stranger appears talking in a strange way, and encourages someone to get their evil on. The Menagerie, a group who are led out to the ring by a fire dancer with no fire.
So we can now add Triple H, Bray Wyatt and Adam Rose to the things TNA are happy to rip off. And before TNA fans get all defensive about that, MVP went as far as to form a three man faction, Bray,Bram even got on his knees before Magnus, with his arms wide, and the Menagerie really is just a group of people having a party while a wrestler does his thing.
Add in the Bully/Dixie rubbish, and Evening gown matches,and the knowledge that Russo is probably only going to get worse, and any TNA fan must surely be worrying about the future. The wrestlers look a lot like they can see the writing on the wall, and are just going through the motions till the company expires.
Today, I will be making a stand, and writing about the best wrestling show from the last seven days, War of the Worlds, the second of two iPPV’s from ROH and New Japan.
This was my third ROH show ever, and came from the Hammerstein Ballroom, a venue steeped in wrestling tradition, with fans who, unlike the crowd in the Impact Zone, actually wanted to be there. At this point, I really should apologise to the guy in the AJ gloves I laughed at in a previous article.
For War of the Worlds, one fan actually turned up in a Jushin Thunder Liger costume, not just a mask, and not just some cheap home made number either, but full on Liger costume. Now one can only hope he turned up on a motorbike, then put the mask on, but these are ROH fans, and because of that, I have visions of him leaving the house in full gear, and riding the subway to the show in the whole outfit.
Later in the night, another fan seemed to out-Impact Impact, by reaching out to touch Maria’s hair during a match, and steal the Samuel Shaw gimmick… But all in all, this crowd did not annoy me as much as previous crowds, and that was down to two men in particular. Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino.
Remember in the good old days, when Jerry Lawler was funny? For the younger readers, he actually was! When Austin 3:16 was just beginning, it may even be the match where it began,Stone Cold against Jake the Snake, Jerry Lawler told the world live on air, that the ‘recovering’ alcoholic Jake Roberts had a favourite song. ‘I Would Rather Have a Bottle in Front of Me Than a Frontal Lobotomy’.
Now that kind of comment would never be allowed in WWE these days, Taz on Impact is the closest we get to it, and he is generally kept on a pretty tight leash. Steve Corino however, has no such problems. I am not sure that some of that is down to NOT being on TV, he can get away with a lot more, but Corino was not so much near the knuckle as way past the elbow sometimes.
Go watch War of The Worlds, and witness Corino gain momentum throughout the show. Don’t get me wrong, the wrestling is good, in fact the wrestling is a lot better than anything I have seen since Mania, the commentary however is probably the best I have heard for twenty years.
Kevin Kelly does an admirable job as the straight man of the group, never actually saying that Corino is wrong, but doing that thing that commentators in other sports do, they never say their colleague is wrong. Imagine on Raw if Cole had said Doc Gallows was 8 foot tall. The King and JBL would have extracted the urine, and made him look stupid. If that happens regularly, which it does on Raw, the perception is the commentators are stupid.
So when Corino comments on Gallow’s size,suggesting he is 8 foot 1, Kelly simply says, ‘he must be pretty close to that’. Kelly then gives Gallow’s height at 6 foot 8, but he does that 5 minutes later, and Corino simply says ‘are you sure?’ Corino keeps asking Kelly what the crowd are chanting, but only for chants including swearing. And every time he says something controversial, he follows it up by asking ‘Did I say something wrong?’
He does stray slightly into racist waters when he suggests a move is called something different in Japan, then changes the ‘L’ in the word to an ‘R’, but later in the night, topped even that with a comment about UFC fighter Tom Lawlor and Jerry the King Lawler not being related.
I could tell you what he said, but honestly, you should go watch the show, it really is a great show, and even without the commentary, I would be telling you to watch. Even without the guy dressed as Liger, and I reckon that sight alone makes it essential viewing, this iPPV ticks all the boxes for wrestling fans.
AJ Styles v Okada v Elgin in a triple threat for the IWGP title, The Young Bucks (who were better this week than last) defending against reDRagon, Adam Cole v Liger, Steen v Nakamura, whats not to like?
Add in an undercard that worked their socks off to keep this crowd going from start to finish, and story lines that actually made some kind of sense, and ROH went way up in my estimations. Can they keep the standard as high without the help of New Japan? I am not so sure, but in the meantime, I will be watching just to see what happens either way.
In a week where TNA stooped to depths that only WWE stock have gone recently, this iPPV pulled wrestling out of the doldrums with a card packed with big stars, great matches and great story telling throughout. If only TNA could take note, and stop trying to rip off WWE stories. If only TNA could give us something that made some kind of sense.
WWE will not change as long as Vinny Mac is in charge, we all know that, TNA however need to change, and if they are looking for ways to effect that change, they could do a lot worse than the example set by ROH.
As ever, I would like to remind everyone of the fantastic work done by everyone here at SLTDwrestling.com, from the writers who take time to put together some fantastic articles, to the SLTD radio team and of course the MFX podcast. Last weeks show from Duckman and Sir Ian had me crying with laughter, even when Sir Ian was ripping me a new one.
The podcast is available on this page, top right hand of the screen, you could actually listen while you read. And this is a podcast you dont just listen to. They have their own facebook and twitter, so it really is an interactive experience, and they even mention wrestling from time to time.
If you only take one thing from this article, it would be go watch the ROH show, but if you take two things, the second would be go listen to episode 89 from the boys at MFX…
Finally, the twitter war continues, I may be in the lead, but not by nearly enough, so get onto twitter, type in @GrantCookDFC and click the follow button. In return I promise to be dead funny and witty, and for the next six weeks hardly ever tweet about football.
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