The WEI is a weekly look at the events that have made an impact, both positive and negative, on the world of oiled up, hairless men that pretend to hit each other that we all so love to watch. The range goes from 0-100 with 0 being a world in which every PPV is like Heroes of Wrestling while a perfect score of 100 would be wrestling nirvana.
Well, it's been a while since the last WEI. I've had my vacation in Florida and had a blast. In fact, I think I'll be making the move to the Sunshine State by the end of this year. I had a new marketing class start after I returned, which unfortunately made me miss last week's deadline, which is of course the week ECW made its return.
***In case you missed it, here's the full Joey Styles promo of the year from Raw. Ten stars.
Batista and Booker T engage in work or shoot?: What a goofy story this is turning out to be. The NEW AND IMPROVED website of WWE, along with their mobile alert crap (God help you if you are such a fan you need to instantly know any time WWE announces something. Dear Lord, I love movies but I don't need updates from the Spider-Man 3 set text'ed to my phone) gave reports that Booker T and Batista got into a brawl at a recent commercial shoot. WWE said that this "five minute fight" had to be broken up by several wrestlers, both of which seems absurd when you read the story. What everyone assumed was an angle at first is now being reported in a lot of places as a shoot. I'm sure we'll find out the real answer soon enough. When Batista was on the Raw brand he did make some particularly brutal comments to the SmackDown guys in interviews like this one, so who knows if some of "the boys" still have heat with Big Dave. WEI Rating: - 4
Kane wears wrestling gear to movie premiere of See No Evil:
And yet a lot of you still wonder why non-fans look at us like we're all retards. WEI Rating: - 5
Jay Hassman in the news again : Meltzer reported the following this week in the Observer newswire - Jay Hassman, who has worked with WWE, WCW and TNA in handling PPV, was arrested a few weeks back on counts related to embezzlement, grand larceny and forgery related to his job at Team Services, a PPV marketing agency that works with both UFC and WWE. He has a 6/2 court appearance. Hassman was VP of PPV and marketing for WCW at the end of that company. I thought I had my fill of Hassman stories after reading Jerry Jarrett's book on TNA. Jarrett blamed Hassman for basically deliberately sabotaging TNA's start up by making the company believe they were cleared on many more cable systems than they actually were along with passing along bogus buyrate info. I never believed that Hassman was as bad as Jarrett said he was because of the fact I couldn't buy into the fact people in TNA could have possibly thought they were doing so great when all other evidence pointed otherwise. Maybe Hassman is just one of those charismatic guys who could sell snow to an Alaskan. Jarrett also tried to sell the idea that Hassman was working against TNA at the wishes of WWE, something else I didn't believe. It looks more like Hassman is just a crook and TNA was one of his seemingly many victims. WEI Rating: - 6
Who in their right mind thought this was a good idea? WWE stock hit $18 a share this week and the above shot from SmackDown shows how utterly clueless the company brain trust is right now. You might want to reconsider holding onto those for much longer. WEI Rating: - 4
***Have you seen this bit from Robot Chicken where Vader makes a collect call to the Emperor? Check it out, it's hilarious. Then go and buy the Season One DVD and just wait till you get to the Cannonball Run spoof.
Note to all indy promoters, this is how NOT to advertise a show: Being away from writing for a while, you can imagine I came back to a lot of stuff.
I have so much backed up for review it would make your head spin. Seriously. I've read several books I need to find time to write about, such as the new edition of Gary Michael Capetta's Bodyslams, Bill Watts' the Cowboy and the Cross, and John Lister's Turning the Tables book on ECE, all of which were great reading for a wrestling fan. Eventually I'll find the time. DVDs? Forget about. I'm about 100 discs behind where I want to be, and that includes the New Jack: Hardcore, Best of Japan volume 2 with English commentary - which you just know will be a thousand stars – and the start of ROH's Milestone Series of DVDs among many others. So what is the first DVD I watched when I came back from my trip? That's right, a ROH's Straight Shootin' with the Blue Meanie. Seriously. I have no answer for the "why" other than I'm completely insane.
I've got a bunch of notes on the Meanie shoot, so that will be done shortly, but along with the other DVDs in the box came an ad for ROH's upcoming shows in Europe. It was a sharp looking little dealie, about the size of the ads of hookers escorts I would get pushed in my face about a million times a day whenever I go to Las Vegas. After looking at the ad for a while, I noticed something unusual. The date for the shows isn't listed. Welcome to wrestling. WEI Rating: -4
Time to check out the latest and greatest from Sean Carless over at The Wrestling Fan. Here's the teaser: Just when you thought WWE couldn't sink any lower with the recent HBK/God storyline, Sean Carless chimes in with the MONEY match we REALLY want to see: "THE DREAM MATCH: Shawn Michaels Vs. Jesus!" Just how would the resilient HBK fare against the even more resilient King of Kings (not Triple H) in a thrilling catch as catch can (and not fish) tête - à - tête? And what kind of offense could we expect out of the Savior? Sean breaks it all down and probably guarantees eternal damnation, all for you reading pleasure here!: (http://www.thewrestlingfan.com/dreammatch.html)
Eric Bischoff has a book coming out: Although being produced by WWE, this book could be quite the read when it is released. Here is the shill for Bisch's Controversy Equals Cash - Eric Bishoff is one of the most controversial figures in the world of wrestling. Under his watch as president of WCW, the company went head to head with Vince McMahon and the WWE and beat them at their own game before ultimately imploding.
First hired as part of WCW in the role of on-air announcer, Bishoff was asked by then WCW owner, Ted Turner what he thought was need to beat the World Wrestling Federation - Turner liked his answer, and Bischoff was appointed president of the company . With Turner and his money behind him, Bishoff declared war. He hired top, recognized talent away from WWE; he produced a show that looked more dangerous, was more sexy, and with more of an edge that anything being done by the McMahon and his team. Going head to head with the WWE, but broadcasting live, Nitro became the number one wrestling show for 80 consecutive weeks.
However, the formula for the WCW's success, also became the blueprint for its failure. Top heavy with highly paid talent with control over their storylines, the WCW stumbled, and the WWE stepped in and took the lead in the ratings and never gave it up. When Time-Warner bought out Turner, they found that the WCW was losing millions a year, and all WCW programming was cancelled. Vince McMahon swept in and was able to buy the entire company for pennies on the dollar.
In this no-holds-barred look at his career and life, Eric Bishoff will discuss the things that he did right and all that he did wrong as he helped shape the sports entertainment industry into the billion dollar business it is today. WEI Rating: Time will tell on this one
Wrestling Society X may or may not be picked up by MTV: I was doing a dance after hearing the rumors of MTV picking up the new Wrestling Society X by Big Vision Entertainment. I still haven't had any concrete news (although to be fair, I haven't been glued to the 'net this past week) but things are certainly looking great. In fact I have this WSX picture with several top guys like Jack Evans, TEDDY HART, and Sean Waltman thanks to Mike Lano. WHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. WEI
Rating: + 3
Comcast to offer WWE 24/7~!~!: Comcast, my local cable company, is about to carry WWE 24/7. Of course I don't even have digital cable, so what should be a plus one million is only a three because I'm an idiot. WEI Rating: + 3
Michael Kingston to put out new wrestling based comic book: Got an interesting email this week from a WEI reader who talked about an upcoming comic book based on wrestling. First thing I thought was "here we go again" as not only have I reviewed horrible comics from such wrestlers as Kevin Nash, and Warrior, but I have seen a bunch of non-released stuff by wrestling fans and it would blow your mind to see how bad writing and art can get. Anyway, this guy Mike Kingston tells me he's writing his book called Headlocked and is going to head to the Wizard World's in Philly and Chicago along with the grand daddy of them all, the San Diego Comic Con, to try and pitch his book to some publishers. Kingston said he would send some art samples, and I immediately prepared for the worst. Lo and behold, the art Kingston sent looked pretty damn impressive for a small time book looking to get a chance.
Remember this is the early art and the finished art will also be colored.
Head on over to the comic's online forums for more info, and check out Kingston's MySpace account. WEI Rating + 3
SPEAKING OF COMICS… I've had a chance over the last couple of months to read a bunch of incredible trades that I have to shill here in the hopes of getting someone else as hooked as I am. The first is the DC book Fables, which has somehow gone under my radar for years until recently recommended
to me by a friend. I bought the first trade, Legends in Exile, based on his word. I f---ing LOVED IT. The gist of Fables is that all the folklore, fables, and myths we've heard and read about for years (such as Cinderella, the Three Little Pigs, Snow White, Little Boy Blue) actually existed but were forced to this world thanks to the actions of a main heel called The Adversary. The comics then follow the lives of these fables as they exist on our Earth. It is so much cooler than I just described and you owe it to yourself to at least check out one. I've bought all six trades in the last month as I became addicted to it like crack. This was the same type of feeling I had when I finally broke down and bought a Sin City trade and after reading it realize I had to have them all, now. Anyhoo, the five other trades of Fables include; Animal Farm, Storybook Love, March of the Wooden Soldiers, The Mean Seasons, and Homelands. Check 'em out.
Just this week I was able to pick up Joss Whedon (the guy responsible for Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and the great TV show Firefly) and John Cassady's Astonishing X-Men hardcover. I used to love the X-Men years ago (so much I bought the recent Essential X-Factor) but it just became too much to handle and I gave up over time. Peter David coming back on X-Factor has my interest up and I heard a ton of buzz on Astonishing X-Men and decided to break down and check it out. Well, the buzz was right. Solid writing from Whedon and fantastic art from Cassaday with the first storyline dealing with the X-Men dealing with a mutant "cure."
During my week in Florida I was able to read a friend's copy of Y: The Last Man and two of Marvel's biggest storylines in the past year, Avengers Dissembled and House of M. I've only heard good things about Y: The Last Man, but it takes a great sell job for me to try something at DC that doesn't involve Alex Ross. Y: The Last Man takes place after an event causes all males on the Earth, save one, to instantly die. Intriguing concept and the trade follows up as the women realize what happened and have to rebuild. I'm certainly open to reading more trades as the art was good enough and I enjoyed the story. Avengers Dissembled and House of M I avoided like the plague as I felt it was just a bunch of stupid bullshit to continue this who-can-top-the-other macho battle between Marvel and DC. I was pleasantly surprised to like both trades and really started getting into House of M. I'm not saying I would buy the 10 other trades that apparently go with it, but both of these books can be read as stand alone books and hold up great.
Your Internet Audio update for this week:
The Dr. Keith Show - Christy Hemme and TNA talk
James Guttman's Audio Insanity - Buff Bagwell is this week's special guest...
Between the Ropes - Join Brian Fritz, Dickerman for one of my favorite weekly listens
Last week's Wrestling Enjoyment Index: 75
This week's net change: - 8
Current enjoyment level: 67
Special thanks to Mike Roe, Keith Lipinski, Mike Roe, the Wrestling Fan's Sean Carless, and the one and only This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for their help in making this week's WEI a reality. Billionaire philanthropist Derek Burgan, who fights crime when not writing DVD reviews, has been watching wrestling since he was ten years old. If you have any questions, corrections, feedback, or goofy ideas, Derek Burgan can be reached at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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