Prime Time
07-04-2012, 07:03 AM
http://i1035.photobucket.com/albums/a438/primetimept2/sigs/Wrestlemania-6-hulk-hogan-ultimate-warrior_2069676-1.jpg
Welcome to the 190th edition of the column that thinks The Patriot was portrayed by Al Gore, Take Up Thy Wrestling Boots and Walk. I’m the man whose numerals are roamin’, Prime Time, back once again to dip my proverbial toe into the pool that is professional wrestling.
I’ve not really had cause to write a TUTWBAW for a number of months now. In general, this column is kept for current events and the like, while Prime Time on Wrestling takes the more general, conceptual look at the world of wrestling, and whenever I’ve not been working on the monster Monday Night Wars series, the inspiration to write has always led me in that direction. There’ve been some changes lately, though, that encourage me to just shoot the shit about what is on the screens in front of us.
It won’t be news to a lot of you that Impact Wrestling has recently gone live. In general, this has led to more positive comments on the product, I’d say. To be honest, I think it’s actually been better than the WWE for some time now. The only real difference between the WWE product now, and the one I left in 2008, is that the people performing are more interesting to me. I have more interest in seeing CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and the rest, than I did in seeing their 2008 equivalents. In terms of the execution of their stories, though, they’ve really slumped from where they were last year and it has to be said, it’s only the talent of the performers that are keeping my eyes on the product.
By contrast, TNA don’t really hit things out of the park but they do, at least, have enough going on to keep my interest up. Has going live really affected that? Well, much like everyone else, I’d say that it probably has. There are certainly a number of well-documented reasons for going live. A live show certainly feels more vital, more like anything can happen, than a pre-recorded show. It also has a uniting effect on the fans. Spoilers are virtually an irrelevance when you might as well watch it for yourself.
One thing that doesn’t ever get mentioned, though, is that live TV is a mixed bag. There are the obvious reasons for it, as well as some not-so-obvious ones. First of all, you obviously don’t have the power to edit, to correct, to present your product exactly how you want it to look. In some ways this is a good thing, because it does mean the performers present themselves (rather than their being presented by the company), but it does also mean that you are incredibly reliant on people to do their job in a way that will make your company look good. That much is a given.
What I think isn’t so obvious and is often overlooked is the way that live TV can actually seem to limit what a company does. In the old days, when everything was recorded, there seemed to be a much greater sense of variety on the shows. Now, if there isn’t a match on, there is a very limited number of ways that other information is presented. Most common of all is somebody walks out, grabs a microphone, and cuts a promo in the ring by themselves. The other really common one is those ‘invisible camera’ segments backstage, where a heel will reveal all the elements of their dastardly plan despite the fact that there is clearly a camera in their face. TNA, at least, don’t quite do this – they at least angle the camera in such a way that you can usually just about bullshit yourself that the camera has caught something, as opposed to the weird relationship that the WWE has with cameras.
These three types of segment have dominated RAW since it went live every week some years ago, and could go on to dominate TNA in much the same way. That’s a bad thing, too, because it isn’t really necessary and it means that wrestling shows end up feeling more repetitive than it needs to be. There is no reason, for example, that pre-recorded segments (if you don’t feel like you can pull it off live) can’t be worked into live broadcasts. If they were capable of doing it in the 90’s, with the massive increases in their production values then they’d certainly be able to do it now.
There’s one thing that really jumps out at me, on TNA programming, when I think of this. Most of their show is doing pretty well. Bobby Roode is a great champion, and Aries has established himself well. There is the whole situation with Sting, which is clearly a slow-burner and I’m looking forward to seeing how that plays itself out. The Bound for Glory series is a personal favourite and I’m glad it has returned this year. But there is one thing that isn’t doing so well, and I think the domination of these types of segments has plenty to do with it.
I am talking, if you haven’t guessed, about the AJ Styles, Dixie Carter, and now Claire Lynch, angle that is going on with Daniels and Kaz. It’s a bit soap opera-esque so it was never going to be a favourite of mine, but I thought it started out well enough. There was some genuine kind of mystery involved. Things looked bad, but it was obvious with TNA’s more rigid face/heel lines (and by the fact that it was AJ and Dixie involved) that things weren’t going to be what they seemed. It wasn’t a surprise that they were innocent of the accusations, it was all about the journey of how you got there.
Unfortunately, that is where it kind of fell down. I found that there was something genuinely quite awful about ‘the big reveal’ of Claire Lynch, and not in a good, sympathetic way. See, although so many people give their promos this way, it’s a really difficult way to do it. You have to be not only good, but also a bit lucky, to connect with the audience in this way, and I think the fact that people are already saying that Claire Lynch is TNA’s answer to Katie Vick suggests that I am not alone in thinking that it came really close to killing the angle stone dead.
The thing is, there are many other ways this could have been done that don’t involve putting someone in the middle of the ring with a live microphone. In the past, a great way to do a reveal like this would have been a pre-recorded ‘hidden camera’ segment, not unlike the JTV pieces we used to see on RAW back in the Attitude Era. I’m not going to stretch my mind to the myriad of interesting ways that they could have done this (not until they fucking pay me too, anyway), but the fact is this angle is ultimately dependent on sympathy for Claire Lynch. If you don’t feel for her, AJ’s cause and the wrong done to him doesn’t have anything like the same impact – and the sad truth seems to be that for me, and a lot of other fans, a couple of minutes with a microphone undid a lot of that.
I’m not really sure where the angle goes from here, to be honest. In my head, it makes more sense after the events of this past week that Kazarian become the end target, rather than Daniels. See, Daniels was always a bit of a dick, and he didn’t pull the wool over AJ’s eyes for long. Kazarian probably should have turned back, once Daniels tricks were revealed, but since he didn’t that makes his betrayal of AJ – his one-time best friend – all the more heinous. I’m sure that TNA will have him go through Frankie to get to Daniels, but it seems to me like this should really be the other way round. The second betrayal, in terms of the story as it has gone on, is much greater than the first. The latest revelations from their team will probably keep Claire very much in the spotlight, but I hope to god that they don’t have too many more emotionally charged segments like that one in the middle of the ring. We all know that wrestling uses a lot of the same elements as soap opera, but it is also equally true that most wrestling fans don’t have a taste for that level of melodrama.
With that, it’s time for the least prestigious awards in wrestling!
Take Up Thy Wrestling Boots, Magnus. A bit of a personal choice today, because it is no secret that I am a big fan of this guy. I think he has got all the tools to wrestle at the top of the card, given the right push. He doesn’t get much chance to speak, but whenever he has, he has done well. He’s currently in the Bound For Glory series and doing reasonably well for himself. I was hoping that once his team with Joe disbanded (a travesty, by the way) we wouldn’t see him slide of the radar, and I’m pleased to see him doing OK here. Now I’m just hoping that he won’t be relegated back to doing next to nothing once the series is over.
… and Walk, Brooke Hogan. I don’t know what she is doing there. I don’t know what she adds. She is annoying as hell. Fuck me, if she keeps hanging around with the babyface knockouts, she is going to get dangerously close to turning Gail Kim! While I don’t embrace the Hogan hatred like a lot of people, one on my screens is enough, and I know which one that should be, brother.
And with that, I’m out. Thanks for reading!
Prime Time
Welcome to the 190th edition of the column that thinks The Patriot was portrayed by Al Gore, Take Up Thy Wrestling Boots and Walk. I’m the man whose numerals are roamin’, Prime Time, back once again to dip my proverbial toe into the pool that is professional wrestling.
I’ve not really had cause to write a TUTWBAW for a number of months now. In general, this column is kept for current events and the like, while Prime Time on Wrestling takes the more general, conceptual look at the world of wrestling, and whenever I’ve not been working on the monster Monday Night Wars series, the inspiration to write has always led me in that direction. There’ve been some changes lately, though, that encourage me to just shoot the shit about what is on the screens in front of us.
It won’t be news to a lot of you that Impact Wrestling has recently gone live. In general, this has led to more positive comments on the product, I’d say. To be honest, I think it’s actually been better than the WWE for some time now. The only real difference between the WWE product now, and the one I left in 2008, is that the people performing are more interesting to me. I have more interest in seeing CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and the rest, than I did in seeing their 2008 equivalents. In terms of the execution of their stories, though, they’ve really slumped from where they were last year and it has to be said, it’s only the talent of the performers that are keeping my eyes on the product.
By contrast, TNA don’t really hit things out of the park but they do, at least, have enough going on to keep my interest up. Has going live really affected that? Well, much like everyone else, I’d say that it probably has. There are certainly a number of well-documented reasons for going live. A live show certainly feels more vital, more like anything can happen, than a pre-recorded show. It also has a uniting effect on the fans. Spoilers are virtually an irrelevance when you might as well watch it for yourself.
One thing that doesn’t ever get mentioned, though, is that live TV is a mixed bag. There are the obvious reasons for it, as well as some not-so-obvious ones. First of all, you obviously don’t have the power to edit, to correct, to present your product exactly how you want it to look. In some ways this is a good thing, because it does mean the performers present themselves (rather than their being presented by the company), but it does also mean that you are incredibly reliant on people to do their job in a way that will make your company look good. That much is a given.
What I think isn’t so obvious and is often overlooked is the way that live TV can actually seem to limit what a company does. In the old days, when everything was recorded, there seemed to be a much greater sense of variety on the shows. Now, if there isn’t a match on, there is a very limited number of ways that other information is presented. Most common of all is somebody walks out, grabs a microphone, and cuts a promo in the ring by themselves. The other really common one is those ‘invisible camera’ segments backstage, where a heel will reveal all the elements of their dastardly plan despite the fact that there is clearly a camera in their face. TNA, at least, don’t quite do this – they at least angle the camera in such a way that you can usually just about bullshit yourself that the camera has caught something, as opposed to the weird relationship that the WWE has with cameras.
These three types of segment have dominated RAW since it went live every week some years ago, and could go on to dominate TNA in much the same way. That’s a bad thing, too, because it isn’t really necessary and it means that wrestling shows end up feeling more repetitive than it needs to be. There is no reason, for example, that pre-recorded segments (if you don’t feel like you can pull it off live) can’t be worked into live broadcasts. If they were capable of doing it in the 90’s, with the massive increases in their production values then they’d certainly be able to do it now.
There’s one thing that really jumps out at me, on TNA programming, when I think of this. Most of their show is doing pretty well. Bobby Roode is a great champion, and Aries has established himself well. There is the whole situation with Sting, which is clearly a slow-burner and I’m looking forward to seeing how that plays itself out. The Bound for Glory series is a personal favourite and I’m glad it has returned this year. But there is one thing that isn’t doing so well, and I think the domination of these types of segments has plenty to do with it.
I am talking, if you haven’t guessed, about the AJ Styles, Dixie Carter, and now Claire Lynch, angle that is going on with Daniels and Kaz. It’s a bit soap opera-esque so it was never going to be a favourite of mine, but I thought it started out well enough. There was some genuine kind of mystery involved. Things looked bad, but it was obvious with TNA’s more rigid face/heel lines (and by the fact that it was AJ and Dixie involved) that things weren’t going to be what they seemed. It wasn’t a surprise that they were innocent of the accusations, it was all about the journey of how you got there.
Unfortunately, that is where it kind of fell down. I found that there was something genuinely quite awful about ‘the big reveal’ of Claire Lynch, and not in a good, sympathetic way. See, although so many people give their promos this way, it’s a really difficult way to do it. You have to be not only good, but also a bit lucky, to connect with the audience in this way, and I think the fact that people are already saying that Claire Lynch is TNA’s answer to Katie Vick suggests that I am not alone in thinking that it came really close to killing the angle stone dead.
The thing is, there are many other ways this could have been done that don’t involve putting someone in the middle of the ring with a live microphone. In the past, a great way to do a reveal like this would have been a pre-recorded ‘hidden camera’ segment, not unlike the JTV pieces we used to see on RAW back in the Attitude Era. I’m not going to stretch my mind to the myriad of interesting ways that they could have done this (not until they fucking pay me too, anyway), but the fact is this angle is ultimately dependent on sympathy for Claire Lynch. If you don’t feel for her, AJ’s cause and the wrong done to him doesn’t have anything like the same impact – and the sad truth seems to be that for me, and a lot of other fans, a couple of minutes with a microphone undid a lot of that.
I’m not really sure where the angle goes from here, to be honest. In my head, it makes more sense after the events of this past week that Kazarian become the end target, rather than Daniels. See, Daniels was always a bit of a dick, and he didn’t pull the wool over AJ’s eyes for long. Kazarian probably should have turned back, once Daniels tricks were revealed, but since he didn’t that makes his betrayal of AJ – his one-time best friend – all the more heinous. I’m sure that TNA will have him go through Frankie to get to Daniels, but it seems to me like this should really be the other way round. The second betrayal, in terms of the story as it has gone on, is much greater than the first. The latest revelations from their team will probably keep Claire very much in the spotlight, but I hope to god that they don’t have too many more emotionally charged segments like that one in the middle of the ring. We all know that wrestling uses a lot of the same elements as soap opera, but it is also equally true that most wrestling fans don’t have a taste for that level of melodrama.
With that, it’s time for the least prestigious awards in wrestling!
Take Up Thy Wrestling Boots, Magnus. A bit of a personal choice today, because it is no secret that I am a big fan of this guy. I think he has got all the tools to wrestle at the top of the card, given the right push. He doesn’t get much chance to speak, but whenever he has, he has done well. He’s currently in the Bound For Glory series and doing reasonably well for himself. I was hoping that once his team with Joe disbanded (a travesty, by the way) we wouldn’t see him slide of the radar, and I’m pleased to see him doing OK here. Now I’m just hoping that he won’t be relegated back to doing next to nothing once the series is over.
… and Walk, Brooke Hogan. I don’t know what she is doing there. I don’t know what she adds. She is annoying as hell. Fuck me, if she keeps hanging around with the babyface knockouts, she is going to get dangerously close to turning Gail Kim! While I don’t embrace the Hogan hatred like a lot of people, one on my screens is enough, and I know which one that should be, brother.
And with that, I’m out. Thanks for reading!
Prime Time