~~~~~THE TBL NEWSLETTER~~~~~
Issue #3, Volume 2
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Brought to you by:
The TBL Newswire –
http://www.360Revolve.com/balrog/
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Contents:
I. Note from the Editor
II. News & Rumors
III. Columns
IV. Advertisements
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Note from the Editor:
Joe Balrog
balrog275@geocities.com
Note from the Editor:
Hi everyone! Once again we bring you another edition of The TBL Newsletter. I noticed that a few internet journalists have decided to come onto the mailing list. Welcome boys and girls! Onto the stuff…this is the first time that I am sending this in HTML format…could be good, could be bad. We’ll see what happens! I prefer the traditional text format, but I have to try this out. If anyone has any problems reading this, let me know.
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News & Rumors:
^^^Vince McMahon’s Woes^^^
Prior to giving himself a $25 million birthday present the day before his birthday, Vince McMahon had been going through some tough denial symptoms. According to close friends, Vince had apparently been overwhelmed at the 21% decrease in his overall profit from the same time last year (as chronicled in various press releases) and he was getting rather frustrated at the whole situation. Reportedly, a combination of great live event revenue and a gigantic buy rate for the InVasion pay per view led to Vince feeling a lot better about his business. This coupled with his personal transaction of selling 3.5% of the WWFE to a financial group has brought Vince McMahon back to his “normal” self.
^^^Ivory Impressive^^^
The writers of the WWF are very happy with the spunky attitude that Ivory is showing in being a turncoat from the federation. Her leadership role in the Alliance is apparently gearing her and the rest of the women on the roster up for a big promotional push that is going to be coupled with a photo shoot that will include all of the WWFE Divas.
^^^WWF Online^^^
The latest reports on the WWF against the WWFE have the wrestling company apparently quite worried about losing their internet domain name. The WWFE feels that the loss of revenue that they would incur from losing wwf.com is too great and that they would need to keep the domain for at least a year or so to provide a transitional period for their servers and their viewers. All of this is going to be introduced to the courts in October when the WWFE is scheduled to pay reparations to the WWF…it’s really a sad, stupid case…
^^^Unforgiven Pay Per View^^^
Jim Ross announced in his latest Ross Report that the card for the next PPV will not be finalized until 10 – 14 days prior to the event. He asked for feedback on this proposal. So if anyone has a problem with not knowing the card for a PPV until 10 days prior…then send good old JR an e-mail!
^^^Advertisers^^^
Want FREE advertising in our newsletter? Contact me and in exchange for a link on your page, you can get a link in our newsletter!
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Columns:
Balrog Babblings
By: Joe Balrog
balrog275@geocities.com
The Low Road
I’m a big supporter of the WWF in just about everything that they do. However, this past Thursday on Smackdown, I was appalled at what I saw on their programming.
For weeks, Jim Ross has been making statements to the effect that the WWF wrestlers need to tone down their high-risk maneuvers. He has been preaching that ring psychology is what their younger, high-risk wrestlers need to learn and that instead of taking huge spots night in and night out, that big spots should once again be considered a high point of the night (remember when Andre the Giant tried to use the chair on Hulk Hogan? It was like hell was breaking loose!). After everything that Jim Ross has said about these high spots…I think it’s obvious whether or not he is right or wrong.
He’s right.
Not only is he correct, but he is damn correct. There is no need for another unfortunate situation like Shawn Michaels to occur…where a man is one of the biggest draws of his time, but has to end his career way too early due to back injuries incurred in big time spots performed night in and night out. So yes, Jim Ross is correct in his assessment of these high-risk maneuvers. They need to be toned down and they need to be saved so that they have earth-shattering impact when they are performed.
However, what the WWF pulled on Smackdown was down right disgusting in my opinion. Ok, so the fake injury angle has been used time and time again. Should that angle be put on the shelf? Absolutely not! Sometimes a wrestler has family issues that SHOULD stay quiet to the internet media and saying something to the effect that “So and so will not be competing for the next few weeks due to a sprained right elbow” is appropriate. Sometimes a wrestler has personal issues and saying that a concussion has put someone on the shelf indefinitely is also a good way to leave the personal dirty laundry out of the public spot light. But Jeff Hardy has neither a personal issue, nor does he have family issues right now (here’s hoping that he never does).
The WWF has Jeff faking an injury off of a high-impact spot that he has done before. And why? Because they don’t want their wrestlers taking high-risk spots every match. So by making Jeff Hardy (a loveable babyface wrestler) look like the victim of the mean, bad, nasty high-impact ladder you have fans hating the ladder and hoping that he doesn’t take so many high-risk chances. Throw in a little bit of concern from his opponent, Rob Van Dam, and some backstage road agents and bookers, and you have a semi-believable situation that even got the crowd to chant “Hardy, Hardy, Hardy” until Jeff stood up on his own accord.
Why is this the low road if major injuries can be incurred from these spots? Because the WWF is the only major force in wrestling right now. All they have to do is tell their wrestlers to relax with the high spots and it’s done! What, are their high impact wrestlers going to go and work for MECW? Please! MECW can’t even afford to pay it’s own crew let alone a new wrestler straight from the WWF! It’s a simple concept – the WWF has complete control over what goes on in their rings (one only needs to look at the infamous 1997 Montreal Screw Job of Bret Hart to see that is true). If they feel that their wrestlers need not be taking such extreme risks, all they need to do is tell them that.
But instead of doing that, the WWF took the low road. They made people believe that Jeff Hardy was hurt…that he has bruised ribs (which they will continue to play up for the next few weeks I imagine). Could Jeff have gotten seriously hurt from his ladder spot? Of course! Did he get seriously hurt? Thank God no. But does the 7 year old fan at the event with his older brother know that? No. Does the 10 year old fan who is at home watching know that? No. I realize that viewers under the age of 14 make up a very small fraction of the WWF audience (I believe they make up 15% or less of the total audience – and no, wrestling is not marketed towards the younger viewers, as anyone with a brain can tell you). This small 15% is good for wrestling toys and video games, but they should not have to be the group who is duped into believing that one of their heroes is hurt when he isn’t.
That’s taking the low road.
Joe Balrog
balrog275@geocities.com
Archives: Balrog Babblings Archives
Poke in the Eye
The Headliner
headliner@poke-in-the-eye.com
I’d like to begin this elongated edition of PIE with a short story. It’s a story about a man who lived long, long ago in ancient Egypt. He was incredibly rich, and longed to be Pharoah, but despite his impressive network of connections his lack of royal blood meant that it was never to be. Nonetheless, he often dreamed of what it would be like to rule the land, and tried to emulate the fantasy by spending his riches on majestic jewels, carpets made from the finest threads in all of Africa, and glistening thrones moulded from twenty-four-carot gold. His huge mansion was filled from top to bottom with the most stunning decor for miles around, and was kept looking fabulous by some of the best servants money could buy.
Everything was just how he wanted it, until he realized that, unlike the Pharoah, he didn’t have the respect of those around him. People thought that, with his grand obsessions with riches and royalty, he had lost touch with reality. He was accused of not understanding the ways of life for most people in Egypt, and many claimed that he couldn’t survive in the “real world” without his gold and silks.
To prove his detractors wrong, he accepted an invitation to “slum it” with the common people for seven days in the nearby village. Uncomfortable at the thought of having to spend a whole week without his beloved treasures, however, he decided to smuggle some of his most prized possessions with him, including a chest of precious stones, a beautiful tapestry depicting the mighty Pharoah himself, and a pair of solid gold thrones from his vast collection. With the help of two disguised servants, he managed to hide his forbidden luggage in the roofspace of his new hut before the villagers arrived to welcome him.
All went well on the first day, as he was able to take frequent breaks from mingling with the commoners to discreetly admire his hidden belongings. That night, however, as he lay in his poor-man’s bed of straw, he was awoken by the sound of the grass roof above his head beginning to break. His eyes widened as he realized what was happening, but he couldn’t roll out of the way in time. The ceiling collapsed, and the solid gold thrones he had been stashing fell straight on top of him. The violent sound was heard around the village, and people rushed from their homes to discover the cause. The two servants – who, as instructed, had been sleeping in bushes nearby – arrived on the scene immediately, and joined villagers in pulling the heavy golden chairs off of their employer, but were not surprised to find that he had been killed on impact.
The moral of the story is one that you have doubtlessly heard a thousand times: People in grass houses shouldn’t stow thrones. And so it is with that in mind (or at least the more widely used, though similar sounding, cliché) that I tread carefully into the topic of this Poke In the Eye – wrestling “marks”.
There are millions of sports-entertainment fans, all over the world. Hell, there are probably a few in Egypt. All of these fans come from different backgrounds, live different lives, and represent every age, gender, race and religion on the planet. But they all have one thing in common: A love for the gripping drama and physical wonder that is the art of professional wrestling. No matter what else they like or dislike, or what other differences exist between them, wrestling fans will always belong under that particular category, sharing as they do the common bond that partially defines their individual character. No matter who these wrestling fans are, part of them will always be the same because they are all wrestling fans.
Despite this, however, there is a growing number of fans (usually, but not limited to, those on the Internet) who consider themselves to be more of a fan than others. These people often refer to themselves as “smart” fans, or “marks”. They seem to believe, because they have more ‘behind the scenes’ information, and because they use the “smart” terminology, that they are more worthy than those they call “casual” fans, and that their opinions are more valuable and relevant to the industry as a result.
Refering back to the stone-throwing (or thone-stowing), let me point out now that I do not think of myself as a “mark”. I think of myself as a wrestling fan. As it happens I am pretty clued up on the workings of sports-entertainment, but I do not consider myself to be more or less of a fan than anyone else because of it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take a lot of Web surfing to find that not everyone shares my approach.
Go to any major wrestling site (not those owned by promotions themselves) and you are likely to find articles consisting of such phrases as “The WWF should push (wrestler X)” and “I marked out when (wrestler Y) brushed past (wrestler Z) on the ramp (because of some obscure reason that proves this writer is a smart fan)”. Maybe that’s what makes these websites so popular, but perhaps that says more about their regular visitors than the sites themselves.
Speaking of “marking out”, that has got to take the crown as Phrase Most Likely To Bug The Headliner. I’ve heard cooler lingo watching a Bill & Ted movie. But it’s just another example of “marks” trying to position themselves above other fans, this time by inventing their own language for concepts that only “smart” fans could possibly comprehend…
Sports-entertainment receives so much bad press and holds such a negative reputation among non-fans, that if wrestling didn’t have a profound effect of all of its followers, then it simply would not have survived as long as it has. It is the fans’ passion that keeps wrestling afloat amidst a sea of critics and nay-sayers, and such buoyancy could not be provided alone by the minority who consider themselves to be “smart”. And on that principle, is it really wise for wrestling fans to voluntarily evoke a “them and us” divide?
But then, perhaps I’m over-reacting about the whole thing. I’ll admit that I do get touchy about anyone trying to insinuate superiority over their own ilk. But I believe that if you get enjoyment from two dedicated athletes performing in the squared circle, then it doesn’t matter if you know the Ultimate Warrior’s real name, or whether you know the real story behind the Radicalz’ defection from the old WCW. If you’re a wrestling fan, then you’re a wrestling fan, and that means the same in English, French, Chinese and, yes, Egyptian. If there is such a language.
If you would like to defend (skid)marks, or if you have any other comments regarding the issues raised in this column, then please email: headliner@poke-in-the-eye.com
You can find more by The Headliner at: www.TheHeadliner.co.uk
The Headliner
headliner@poke-in-the-eye.com
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Advertisements:
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Copyright © 1999 – 2001 Joe Vincent
