By Ben Miller
Sometimes, coincidence is grand. Not usually in movies or wrestling angles or some guy wearing your same shirt at the bar, but in happenstance meetings of old acquaintances, it really can be fulfilling.
The author had just such an occasion of coincidence at Bound For Glory in Irvine last Sunday. There I was, enjoying the pre-show match in the last row of the floor seats when the portly chap to the left of me started calling out for Vince Russo. Sure enough, there he was. Standing behind Todd Martin and me was TNA’s current visionary and (no coincidence here) the recipient of more venom from hardcore wrestling fans than any other booker over the last ten years.
After a few matches passed, I waited until a break in the action to introduce myself to Mr. Russo. I was unsure if he’d even remember the pair of interviews he did with me for WrestleLine back during his time booking WWF and WCW, but since those pieces caused a bit of controversy at the time, I figured I’d give it a shot. When I introduced myself as, “Ben Miller; I interviewed you for WrestleLine ten years ago,” he shook my hand and asked if I still write (perhaps illustrating the caste writers occupy in the WO/F4W hierarchy, but I digress). I replied that I still do and got his standard, “once you’re a fan, you’re always a fan,” reply before I turned back towards the ring.
Russo’s Bound For Glory show ended up being strong, and judging by Impact and the lineup for Turning Point, it appears that TNA has more of an upward trajectory right now than WWE. But after the show my thoughts were not on Angle’s brilliance or the charity shown towards Sting. My thoughts were back on that interview from a decade ago.
The interview with Russo from a decade ago covered myriad topics, but an overarching argument between us was the direction that pro wrestling booking had to go. He argued that Crash TV was the only way. His view was that wrestling fans are now wise to the business, so the way to keep their attention is with rapid-fire angles and matches. I argued that Crash TV led to burnout. My view was that wrestling was drawing superb ratings at the time, but that serial entertainment fundamentally runs out of good stories to tell at some point, while worked sports has the illusion of competition to fall back on.
Ten years on the Crash TV vs. traditional booking argument persists, but there was an ancillary part of the interview with Vince Russo that became more famous. At one point when discussing foreign wrestlers, he tried to explain why North American fans weren’t taking to Luchadores and Japanese imports by playing the role of the average American fan. He said, “I'm an American ... if I'm watching wrestling here in America, I don't give a sh*t about a Japanese guy. I don't give a sh*t about a Mexican guy.” That unfortunate comment led to lawsuits and a general storm of trouble for Russo and WCW, but it does bring up an important point: foreign wrestlers and fighters often have difficulty attracting an audience in North America, at least at first.
UFC is a different promotion than WCW and UFC fans have shown a general willingness to accept foreign fighters. Wanderlei Silva was an immediate draw upon his arrival in the Octagon, to cite one example. But UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun is different. These are two Brazilian fighters atop a relatively weak undercard. Eleven months ago Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture proved that North American fans would give a sh*t about two American guys fighting for a prestigious championship atop a middling undercard, but can the same be said about two Brazilians?
It seems likely that fans don’t give a sh*t about these two Brazilians, and that’s really too bad. Ratings were poor for the Countdown show, media attention has been non-existent and lower level tickets for the show have been selling at a snail’s pace. What makes it a shame is that this is a really interesting fight. Shogun may have a middling record in UFC, but he has an aggressive style of striking that is different from what Machida’s last few opponents have shown him.
Perhaps even more interesting than the fight is what effect this could have on business. UFC’s last two pay-per-view events have done reasonable business, but numbers that could be seen as disappointing after the heights of UFC 100 and UFC 101. If you believe that one is a fluke, two is a dip and three is a trend, then this show has to be seen as important. Everyone figures that fans will give a sh*t again and buy the show for major championship matches like Lesnar vs. Carwin next month. But for UFC to hit that million buy baseline that was discussed back in July, they’ll need people to give a sh*t about main events like the one on Saturday night.
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