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Welcome back to the Excellence in Column Writing as we're heading into 17 years as being Mr. Tito. That's right, kiddies, I wrote columns when World Championship Wrestling (WCW) actually existed! Better yet, I wrote columns when Sting was a WCW wrestler AND was a main event there. Which, by the way, was 17 years ago... The Internet Wrestling Community (IWC), which I often label as the "drive-by IWC" because of their inconsistencies on tastes/preferences for pro wrestling, really baffles me when it comes to Sting. For years upon years, I've heard nothing but legitimate ageism by internet fans because they want to see younger superstars in the ring compared to the same old veterans. Seeing WCW during its latter days or even the WWE's own reliance on older veterans has probably caused this phenomena but I also think that because the WWE is soooo bad creatively for the past 10 years or so, wrestling fans are clamoring to WWE's developmental systems as an alternative. This is much like what ECW, in particular, was during the late 1990's when fans were looking for an alternative to the veterans in WCW or the Vince McMahon style in the WWE. First it was Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), then it was Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), and now especially, it is NXT. I guess when there's no ECW/WCW as alternatives AND because TNA/Ring of Honor have their struggles, the next best alternative is the WWE's developmental system show. Thus, many 40+ year old veterans and/or part-time wrestlers have heard it loudly by Internet Fans. The Undertaker is one of the top WWE draws around and in my opinion, his streak has helped Wrestlemania as a legitimate draw. However, anytime he appears, I hear nothing but ridicule about his age. But the old guy still brings it and his once-a-year matches are still entertaining. The Rock comes back and he has been one of the top box office draws for the last 5 years. After he delivers his very first promo, the Internet goes into attack mode and suggest that Rock is "taking away someone's spot". Huh? The Rock puts more eyeballs on the screen AND he's one of the most willing wrestlers to put over guys in the business. Batista comes back and he's attacked... Sure, he got favorable booking, but he was damn good in those Shield/Evolution matches once he got in shape. Poo poo on the internet fans, including me to a degree, because Batista's Guardians of the Galaxy film was one of the top grossing films of 2014. Even Brock Lesnar gets heat by internet fans... "Too few of appearances", "shouldn't be a part-time WWE Champion", "WWE is paying him too much, should pay more to other wrestlers". Huh? I already tackled his drawing ability in another column, but you tell me how it's NOT a bonus to have the former UFC Heavyweight Champion AND former WWE wrestler not on board? Who else has been more compelling on television than Lesnar in the last 3 years? Triple H gets some heat as well, but I understand that one... But then we had the whole Heath Slater storyline where he was wrestling legends. Remember that? Sid Vicious, Diamond Dallas Page, and even Vader came down and beat him in matches. The Internet went berzerk and actually defended Heath Slater for losing to these "old guys". New Age Outlaws and now the Dudley Boyz took heat for their veteran returns. Huh? Both teams were purposely brought back to put over other, younger teams. With that being said, you would THINK that the SAME Internet Wrestling Community (IWC) would be FURIOUS that a 56 year old Sting, who avoided joining the WWE for years upon years, is taking a Main Event spot away from another younger WWE wrestler. You would think, right? Wrong... Go look at the Comments section of my WWE Night of Champions 2015 column. Nothing but attacks... Somehow, many on the internet saw a different match than what I witnessed. What did I see from Sting? 3 Stinger splashes, clotheslines, his usual backhand slaps, and some brawling on the outside. That constitutes an amazing match? What? I guess a guy falling through a table gets extra stars in a match rating. What were you guys watching? And Sting was winded for much of that match, not just after Seth Rollins delivered a neck breaking powerbomb to the turnbuckles. Sting couldn't keep up and Rollins was (a) wrestling his second match and (b) trying to sell the end result of that first match. Rollins tried and may have had the best in-ring night of his life by wrestling for one hour, but there's only so much you can do with a 56 year old athlete. Nothing against Sting, but even he has admitted that his best days are behind him. I didn't like the match, stated my reasons why... I fully expected "right on, Tito! Push younger wrestlers! Goooooo NXT!" from the Internet Fans... But what I received was the complete opposite. The internet is defending Sting. So you're telling me that a guy who (a) wrestles once ever in the WWE gets a WWE Title shot, (b) someone who purposely avoided the WWE for almost 15 years, and (c) someone who hasn't been historically considered a top in-ring guy is OK by the Internet? Are you kidding me? You believe that the Rock hurts the WWE but that Sting helps them? Never mind that the ratings are in the tank for the month heading into WWE Night of Champions, but his WWE performances haven't merited him getting a WWE Title shot. And seriously, can someone please explain to me how he received that WWE Title shot again? You might have better luck explaining the Matrix trilogy to me than that. On top of the newfound Sting love, I'm also seeing some love for Kane and actual cheers for a Kane vs. Seth Rollins match probably happening at WWE Hell in a Cell 2015. You guys actually want to see that? Please explain what on earth was compelling about Seth Rollins and Kane having a dong measuring contest over who was better for the Authority following Wrestlemania 31. I'm all ears... All I saw was RAW losing 500,000 and we're seriously pushing 1,000,000 RAW viewers lost now that NFL Football season has started. Who on earth wants to see Seth Rollins be so lucky to wrestle TWO wrestlers above the age of 45 in back-to-back Pay Per Views? It's almost as if WWE is purposely throwing older veterans at Seth Rollins so that fans might actually accept a younger, yet much greener, Roman Reigns as the "savior" to this madness. Hell, I might actually agree too... What is it with the WWE handcuffing non-Cena/Orton World Champions with Kane? In 2004, new World Champion Chris Benoit was thrust into an "exciting" feud with Kane following his HBK/HHH program. WWE wondered why the ratings tanked with Benoit as champion... Gee, he had to fight KANE. Then in 2014, Daniel Bryan has a HUGE win against the Authority and becomes WWE Champion at Wrestlemania 30. The obvious feud was against Randy Orton following that show but now, Bryan gets KANE. Now, Seth Rollins in 2015 has had nothing but KANE, KANE, KANE as WWE Champion. His entire existence as WWE Champion has been a conflict with Kane. What am I missing here? It's almost as if any non-Orton/Cena champion gets Kane and are stuck with struggling to defeat him because the WWE wants to protect the Cenas and Ortons of the world from any other wrestler they declare as champion. But hey, the Internet is somehow excited for Kane vs. Seth Rollins at Hell in a Cell... Unbelievable. It's this inconsistency by the current wrestling fanbase that allows for the WWE to be idiotic about their Creative. Vince, Dunn, and Triple H can push any wrestler they like and you, the fans, are struggling to tell them otherwise. Vince, Dunn, and HHH probably want to hear who YOU like but yet they hear an army of wrestlers as a response. This is unlike 1997-1998 where the clear cut winner was Stone Cold Steve Austin and fans were unified behind the guy. Ditto for Hulk Hogan in the 1980's, maybe a little bit for Bret Hart in the mid 1990's even if they were rough times. But not now... Half the audience loves John Cena and the other half loves any random WWE wrestler or the NXT wrestler they believe is getting screwed. Hey, maybe if I suggest that Sting is holding down Finn Balor, maybe the Internet will care and reject that a 56 year old veteran was handed a WWE Title shot? That shot could have been Kevin Owens instead of the Intercontinental Title bout... Think about that, NXT fans... You could compare the WWE to today's political climate... Right now, the Republican Party is trying to determine its Presidental contender for 2016. The process started off with 17 contenders but early on, the most charismatic and fearless of them all, WWE Hall of Famer Donald Trump, rose above them... His polling numbers are crushing the majority of the candidates. One by one, that 17 number has dwindling down... Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, who actually has statistically 0% in several polls, left the race but expressed that other low polling candidates should do the same. Why? Because too many candidates are splitting the votes multiple ways and are unable to present a viable challenge to Trump. 10 people on a debate stage hasn't helped unless you really stand out or if you're responding to Trump's criticisms of you. It's like John Cena putting over a wrestler, Trump is doing the same. Look what he has done for Carly Fiorina and she's someone who couldn't win a Senate race but now she might challenge to become President? Internet fans, including yours truly from the Excellence in Column Writing, need to unify our voices and tell the WWE specifically who we want. Sometimes they may ignore fans, as you can see from CM Punk and Daniel Bryan as examples, but right now the WWE is in prime position to listen to their consumers. RAW is pushing 3,000,000 viewers which could be an entire 1,000,000 viewer loss (1/4) from its regular 4,000,000 viewers before Wrestlemania 31. In my opinion, internet fans have a real opportunity to unify behind Kevin Owens's Intercontinental Title run and let him naturally become the next guy. Most fans enjoyed his feud with John Cena but many have been silenced by the depushing since. If you really like Dean Ambrose, start buying his merchandise in droves. WWE Executives get reports of merchandise sales and it is discussed in Board meetings by non-wrestling guys. But please, for the love of God, stop being inconsistent as wrestling fans and especially with ageism. If you're going to discriminate against older, part-time wrestlers, you must do it for EVERYONE. Rip the Rock, Undertaker, Batista, or even Brock but yet you are OK with Sting? Come on... And 4 guys are more capable as wrestlers at their ages (all under 50) than Sting is at 56. But Sting gets the love? What, do most of you love facepaint or something? Go watch wrestling during the late 1980's or early 1990's when facepaint was everywhere. You'll love the Road Warriors and the Ultimate Warrior! Be consistent, internet. If you're going to troll me, at least be consistent with your tastes/preferences. To me, Sting is nothing but nostalgia, if that. He's a relic from WCW and had nothing to do with WWE until 2014. Period. He didn't want to join WWE for many years and has even gone lengths of defending his decision. Sting has had many, many chances to join the WWE when he was a younger, more capable wrestler. But now, we have a 56 year old wrestler trying to keep up with a super athletic 29 year old wrestler in his prime and it turned out bad. In my opinion, but even if it was a good match, Sting is not in WWE's long term plans. And someone wrestling twice a year shouldn't get WWE Title shots, period. And no, Jerry Lawler doesn't set the precedence for receiving title shots. What are my Tastes/Preferences as a pro wrestling fan? Let me speak my mind and maybe many from the internet can understand where I'm coming from as a fan. (1) First and foremost, 45 year old cap on being WWE Champion or receiving WWE Title shots, period. After 45, you're done... Automatic retirement from competitive action. If WWE wants to have a "Senior Tour" like PGA golf has and actually run that as a WWE Network, I'm fine with that. 45 is that diminishing returns age for pro wrestlers, history shows. (2) Have a defined midcard who only go after midcard titles. I would recommend merging the US/Intercontinental Title OR converting one of them to a Television Title (must be defended on all televised programs). There should be a WALL between wrestlers going after the Intercontinental / US Titles and the WWE Title. In fact, midcard title contenders should never acknowledge OR wrestle anyone going for the WWE Title. Main Event level needs to be earned. (3) Have a defined Tag Team division with wrestlers who exclusively wrestle for the tag team division only. History shows that great boom periods have great tag team wrestling. WWE has a good crop of teams right now that they should continue to build upon. (4) Main Event is an exclusive club, period, and must include experienced former midcard champions only. Hey, if it works for Macho Man, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, Rock, Triple H, and John Cena, it should work for everyone else. GET OVER IN THE MIDCARD FIRST and then be promoted to the Main Event. No more insta-main eventers from NXT developmental call-ups, period. Earn your stripes unless you show Brock Lesnar or Kurt Angle level exceptionalism which NOBODY has since those guys quickly developed. (5) No more unstoppable wrestlers. I don't care how big or thick you are, everybody has the same body parts and everybody hurts when punched in the head. No more Braud Strowman, Rusev, or Ryback like wrestlers who are sold as being dominant and that any wrestler marginally smaller than them can't hurt them. Sorry, but if you can pack a punch or hit striking moves, you can lose. (6) Once wrestlers prove that they can draw in the Midcard, whether as a tag team wrestler or IC/US Champion, THEN they can get promoted to the main event. During 1988-1990, the WWE could actually headline secondary WWE shows with the Ultimate Warrior defending the Intercontinental Title and the place would be packed. Warrior proved that he could draw as a midcarder and thus he was promoted to the WWE Title and was a main eventer for the rest of his WWE career. Bret Hart proved himself as a tag team wrestler and then as a singles Intercontinental Title contending wrestler before his promotion. Ditto for Savage, Austin, Rock, and Cena... All had drawing runs as midcard champions and THEN were promoted to the Main Event. (7) No more non-title matches. Period, end of story. Champions should be booked to look strong and prominent. (8) Stop exposing the business. Too much behind the scenes stuff that diminishes the WWE's portrayal as a sport and exposes it as just a scripted television shows. Total Divas is not making a profit for the WWE (high production costs) and the new behind the scenes NXT show will make things worse. Tough Enough is an embarrassment and hurts any suspension of disbelief that remains. (9) No more hidden cameras backstage. The Russo playbook needs shredded. Just looks silly that wrestlers don't realize that cameras are filming their every move and worse yet, what do the wrestlers do on the other 6 days of the week? (10) Push the Divas Revolution HARD and make any female wrestlers who can't hang as valets. In my opinion, the NXT call-ups are legit and are BETTER WRESTLERS than the current WWE main roster female wrestlers. Charlotte and Sasha Banks, especially, while Becky Lynch has a lot of upside potential that I don't believe we've seen yet. Just make the other female wrestlers who can't hang as valets to male wrestlers. History shows that valets help wrestlers draw well. Hate to say it, but look at how well Lana has become noticed as the valet for Rusev and then for Dolph Ziggler. It works... The Miss Elizabeth/Sunny/Sable roadmap works and has always worked... AJ Lee got over as a valet, if you recall... (11) Give up on WWE veterans who can't draw as WWE Champion. Randy Orton and Sheamus, I'm looking directly at you. Sheamus should follow my (2) (6) (4) roadmap and get over as midcarder first and then get promoted to the Main Event. It's a JOKE that Sheamus carries that Money in the Bank briefcase around. I can't take him seriously... Then, there's Randy Orton. 12 time World Champion. Can anybody remember anything relevant from any of those 12 reigns in 11 freakin' years? Me either... He's such a broken wrestler as a draw. Too much deadweight that unless you have a Creative guy like Paul Heyman to repackage them in an innovative way, just useless other than filling a 3 hour RAW show. That goes for Kane and Big Show, the "walking glass ceiling". At your size, you should have had multiple World Title reigns and ruled the business but WWE Creative screwed you thoroughly during the 2000's. That being said, I wish Mark Henry would have some good health... He's pretty cool... (12) Quit half-assing WWE Smackdown. I have ZERO reason to watch WWE Smackdown if I'm going to see replays from that show on RAW or if nothing happens, period. It's a joke... That's why you need a STRONG and consistent midcard. A strong US/IC Champion should be able to main event Smackdown and draw a strong number. Smackdown is moving to USA Networks during 2016 and it's time to take it seriously again. I don't care if you try the brand extension again... Make Smackdown interesting!!! THAT SIMPLE... Let's see how well Kevin Owens draws as the Intercontinental Champion and then we'll go from there. If he succeeds, promote him to the Main Event permanently. Push Sasha Banks/Becky Lynch/Charlotte as the new faces of the Divas and see what happens. Let's ALL cheer on the New Day to rule the Tag Team division for a long time. Let wrestlers flow from the MIDCARD, get OVER in the midcard, and then become PROMOTED to the Main Event. WWE is too impatient these days with wrestlers and that is a result of veteran leadership like Jim Ross or Pat Patterson being long gone. As I've repeatedly said... You have the WWE Network to watch and see how the wrestling industry has made loads of money and my above roadmap for success has been constantly used in the past. That's consistency, Internet... I preach it each and every week in my columns and it's easy to see where I stand as a wrestling fan. ============================================= RAW is HULU Thoughts Opening rant consumed lots of my time tonight, including while I was watching RAW on Hulu tonight. MISSING IN ACTION FOR HULU: X - Ryback vs. Bo Dallas X - Naomi vs. Natalya X - Lucha Dragons/Neville vs. Stardust/Ascension ^^^ Being honest here, I was razor focused on the opening rant, so if one of those matches happened, apologies for slipping in my review. - I am enjoying the Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose vs. Wyatt Family feud as a midcard blood feud, but damn, Ambrose and Reigns need a unique 3rd man. Sorry Randy Orton, but you've got to go. Just like the Wyatts added a unique new 3rd member, so should Reigns and Ambrose. Great way to debut a new NXT call up or even Samoa Joe. - Interesting segment with Team PCB and Ric Flair, as the Nature Boy was celebrating Charlotte's victory last night. Charlotte was making her victory speech, thanking everyone, and then Paige started shooting. Eh, the content was good but Paige needs to work on the delivery if you want to call this the "Divas Pipebomb". Paige sounded too scripted to me because she was... - Charlotte needs to work on more psychology if a leg submission hold is truly her finisher. Then again, the WWE could just sell the Figure 8 with the arched back as being impossible to escape... Hmmm... Charlotte wins but selling this leg injury from last night is actually limiting her athleticism. She has some amazing offense that the WWE is holding back. Then again, maybe they are just saving it for a bigger show (which I'm OK with). - Good win for Sheamus defeating Mark Henry... But again, Sheamus should NOT have that Money in the Bank briefcase. He's just not ready to carry the WWE promotion as champion. Who would pay money for a card headlined by him? - Good six man between Dudleys/Dolph Ziggler vs. New Day/Rusev... Just your typical televised match that helps advance the story for all parties involved. No complaints. - I'm seeing much of the internet barfing all over Big Show defeating Cesaro cleanly. Eh, I'm OK with the win because the Big Show has a Madison Square Garden show match against Brock Lesnar in a few weeks. But I agree with the internet on how sad it is that Cesaro has become enhancement talent. - And the WWE gives away John Cena vs. Seth Rollins for FREE once again. Come on, WWE! If you're going to push Seth Rollins as a Main Event, you cannot exhaust his unique match-up opportunities. Granted, every match with Cena is good to great, but eventually all matches stop being unique. Rock vs. Austin was great because they only wrestled at special events, not random editions of RAW. And because we're not selling pain anymore, Cena muscles out of a Frog Splash and into the Attitude Adjustment for 1, 2, 3. Geesh. After the match, we get a Kane promo on the screen and then the "Demon" Kane comes through the ring. That was kind of cool but I honestly have zero excitement for Kane/Rollins. I'd rather see John Cena vs. Seth Rollins 10 more times. Honestly, what are they doing underneath the ring? That poor WWE ring crew... I just want to give a Brett Favre "washing my hands" clap to that. LAST WORD: Eh, whatever. October is coming and Brock Lesnar is about to return. That's what I live for as a wrestling fan. Brock Lesnar is what "keeps me hanging on" as both a pro wrestling fan and as Mr. Tito. C+ show tonight. =============================================== PHAT QUESTIONS Question #1 - Why do you think that Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar III was moved to WWE Hell in a Cell? Because WWE viewership is dropping on RAW and with that, the real threat of lost WWE Network subscriptions as well. Thus, Brock Lesnar to the rescue once again... That and I think that WWE officials legitimately feel that a 3rd match wouldn't draw like the first 2. They learned that with the Triple H feud. What I also believe is that Brock Lesnar wants to wrestle MORE dates and thus, the WWE can now fit in more Lesnar matches against more opponents. I figure we'll see an active Lesnar against the likes of Orton, Rusev, Bray Wyatt, and maybe even Sheamus over the next year. Having the Undertaker/Lesnar wrestle now "clears the decks" to allow for other Lesnar stories to be told with other wrestlers. That simple. ------------------------------------------------ Question #2 - Will you ever do an audio show or appear on someone's audio show? The fine folks who run LoP Radio have approached me when spots were open and they have inquired about appearing. It's more on my end of just not finding the time to try out the medium or get my Skype set-up. The guys at LoPRadio are very nice and welcoming and one of these days, I'll make an appearance there. But at the same time, I don't want to interrupt the good thing going at LoP Radio right now. They're doing a great job producing shows and are packed with content. Let's enjoy the great run they are having now. Meanwhile, there's still a need for written content at LordsofPain.net and I guess that's my role for the time being. Maybe in the future, and I'm open to appearing on any of the LoP Radio shows if they'll gladly have me... As for shows outside of LoP Radio, as I'm asked repeatedly... I'd like to appear on LoP Radio shows first and then we can talk. -------------------------------------------------- Question #3 - You've had WWE Network for a few months and are a regular paying customer now... Is it worth it? Absolutely. As much as people, including myself, hate on Kevin Dunn, the guy can produce an amazing documentary. Endless documentaries to watch and that's good for me. I'm caught up on the DVD/Blu-Ray shows that I've always wanted to watch and have devoured most of the WWE Network exclusives. Now, I can watch Pay Per Views which are becoming the best place to actually watch in-ring wrestling now. I LOVE the Network exclusive shows, too. So yeah, it's worth $9.99 and feels even better now that I've "cut the cord" with Cable. I actually watch more of the Network to help fill any viewership voids that Netflix/Hulu can't provide. -------------------------------------------------- Question #4 - The Nintendo 3DS has about 50 million units world wide. Where are the WWE games? I get these all of the time since I'm an admitted Nintendo fanboy and WWE fan. It's so simple to explain... Nintendo consoles are bought and sold to play NINTENDO 1st Party games or regular Nintendo staples like Pokemon, period. When you own a Nintendo system, it's very likely that Zelda, Mario, Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Animal Crossing, Pokemon, and other Nintendo exclusives are in your collection. It's very unlikely that EA or Ubisoft games are there and both companies have repeatedly tried to make it on Nintendo consoles. Ditto for 2K Sports. Many Nintendo games but low sales. Like right now, I'm cycling through Mario Maker, Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros, and Splatoon. There exists multiple 3rd Party games that were made famous on other consoles but that's not why I have a Nintendo system. And that view is shared worldwide. Nintendo is probably more likely to be gamer's second system and that's just to get the Nintendo fix. Only way that a WWE game would sell well on the 3DS is if and only if 2K Games gets the rights to remake any of the Nintendo 64 classics made by THQ with the AKI fighting engine. Put out Wrestlemania 2000 or WWE No Mercy with updated rosters and local/online multiplayer, that would sell 1,000,000 copies. Those WWE THQ games are a big part of the Nintendo 64's legacy and many older gamers would pony up to take that game on the road. I would dump serious bank on a N64 port of either WWE game on my 3DS. By the way, I've been playing through Phoenix Wright - Ace Attorney on my 3DS lately. Wow, that's some stuff that I didn't expect that I'd like. --------------------------------------------------- Question #5 - Should WWE hire Eric Bischoff as a WWE Creative Team member? I would say "no" just on the basis that since 1998, he hasn't been able to produce anything innovative or drawing in pro wrestling. Seems like the Bill Goldberg push was his peak and he was out of bullets after that for WCW. Then, his contributions to TNA wrestling was just meh. But then again, and I've argued this for Russo... If he's just pitching ideas, he might not be bad in lower doses. Could you imagine having a Creative Team with Bischoff, Vince Russo, and Paul Heyman as contributing ideas? All 3 are available for the WWE or any promotion to use. That is amazing to me. If I were the WWE, I'd at least listen to any idea he wanted to pitch... That New World Order idea was possibly the best angle of all time. -------------------------------------------------- SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE! Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments. © Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2015
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