Feedback Feedbag– 01.29.2002

 

I'm having a quick bout with writer's block as I slog through the 2001 chapter of the book, so I thought I'd stop and clean out the ol' mailbox.

But first I once again wanted to point out how awesome last night's Desire video truly was. There's little sub-stories within the video (like the Love Montage, the Spin Montage, the nWo montage, Vince's comeback) and the pacing of it matched the pacing of the song almost exactly. (Even after another decade of navel-gazing and recapping themselves, this remains the best video package they ever did.  There are parts of it that literally give me CHILLS because it’s so perfectly edited and hits all the right notes to make you remember why you’re a fan of THIS BUSINESS in the first place.

Once again, I have to ask: Why do we need Excess in its present form? They have 30 years of source material to draw from now, they can run a two-hour show every week just reminiscing and never run out of footage to draw from. (Which they now do for international audiences, called Vintage Collection.) 

Anyway, let's hit the Feedback Feedbag!

Daniel Burger seemed anxious for me to get this piece, which I don't agree with and I don't think it's particularly well-written either, but here's his take on the "smarks v. marks" never-ending war...

"Okay, this has been bugging me (and I'm quite sure lots of other people too) for years.... There exists in this realm a group of wrestling fans known by names such as "smarts" or "smarks". To the best of my knowledge(and attack me with this if I'm wrong), the main defining characteristic that distinguishes this group from the other wrestling fans, is that smart/ks are allegedly aware of the inner workings of the industry, and view the product not as a work, but rather for the entertainment value, since they already know what's going to happen.

HOWEVER, and herein lies the crux of this letter, virtually every "smart" site I visit has the writers whining endlessly about there being too much talk and backstage segments, and not enough "real wrestling". Que?! According to most smark/ts the best parts of the SHOW take place between the opening and closing bells (unless of course such talentless louts like...ulp...Kane, or even that useless Hogan creature are in there....), yet the same smark/t fans then continually make fun of the "redneck hicks"(quoted from CRZ) for being so ignorant as to view the product as a genuine sport!!! Most "smart" fans would be perfectly content to see a 2-hour RAW have, say, 5 25-minute matches with no backstage segments or in-ring interviews, and the matches preferably being between guys who are:

a)Under 6 feet and 225 pounds

b)Completely without any sort of personality or character(and don't say JERICHO on this one, while you may love him most "smarts" I have read call him a talentless blowhard)

c)Primarily using moves that originated in Mexico and Japan(which is weird since stuff like topes and planchas aren't actually 'wrestling' moves as such, while the dreaded chinlocks and armbars ARE wrestling moves)

d)Related (either by blood or marriage) to either Stu Hart or Gory Guerrero, although why this is, I am completely blank

Well, you know what that sounds like to poor ignorant me? Something off one of those "Golden Wrestling from the 50s and 60s tapes). Some smark/ts have even slammed the WWF for dropping old-style commentator Heyman in favor of the more entertainment-oriented Lawler. Am I the only one who dumb it is? The smark/ts seem to have slowly come around to The Rock, but the biggest complaint from Smart Galaxy is that he spends too much time talking and not enough wrestling. Hmmm. The Rock is average at best in the ring. His whole boom is based on his mic work. Cut back on that and you may as well rename him Justin Competent or something. Benoit deserves a MAJOR push, because he is a great mat wrestler. Perhaps, except he has the personality on an empty fish bowl, and his matches are usually greeted with an indifferent silence from the crowd. And who in their right mind could even contemplate giving major time to people like Mysterio and Kidman if they aren't wanting to be on unemployment row soon afterwards. I'd say Bischoff but his mental state is pretty far out there. Now all these beliefs are fine, and I can understand how some people can like that kinda stuff. Fair enough. But then these same people then hurl barbed insults at others for being "behind the times", and even not getting it(not in parenthesis)!! Doesn't it seem strange to anyone that at one end the smark/ts have to see themselves as being so far ahead of the rest the fans, while publicly praying for a return to the glory days Gagne? I mean, the only way you could REALLY get so worked up about the actual matches as taking so much priority over everything else is if you thought it was all real......"

My only thought? Generalizations are dangerous things to make, especially with a group whose interests are as varied as online fans'. But it is, as they say, a free country.  (I’m not even sure what this guy’s point was.  Was he one of the first anti-smarks?  I think most fans just want to be entertained, and if Benoit or Jericho was entertaining to them, bulla bulla.) 

Tyler from AOL asks...

"Scott,

What with the imminent (and, for a handful of people, much dreaded) invasion of the nWo to the WWF, do you think this would be an okay route for the Fed to go: Austin beats Angle on RAW to fight Y2J at NO WAY OUT, loses to Jericho via interference of Hogan or someone, thereby setting up Austin/Hogan, HHH/Y2J for WrestleMania? The buyrate for Austin/Hogan would be fucking HUGE, I'm talking Vince being able to provide enough money to feed all the starving kids in Indonesia, even though match quality would have to be the sacrifice; and HHH/Jericho would be kick-ass, providing a great amount of drama considering that Steph decides to go wayward. Also, do you think there would be the problem of the crowd popping for their fellow Canadian Y2J over HHH at the main event, who is supposed to be the babyface? Thanks for your time. Don't listen to some of those cunts on Amazon, your book fucking ruled. Will definitely buy the next one.

Sincerely

Tyler R"

I wouldn't waste Austin/Hogan on Wrestlemania. No point -- the buyrate is huge already just with HHH/Jericho and the name Wrestlemania. Just do an Outsiders v. Rock/Austin tag match if you must mix the main eventers already.  (They did that one on RAW as it turned out.  And the way they went with Wrestlemania X8 turned out OK.) 

And I'm glad you like Buzz on Pro Wrestling, although I don't make a dime off it so at this point I'm more concerned with selling Tonight...In This Very Ring! once it gets into circulation. (Well, I made quite a few dimes off it, but it was just a one-time work-for-hire payment and I didn’t get royalties.)  I already got all the money for Buzz that I'm going to get, so those "cunts on Amazon" can say whatever they want about it at this point.  (STOP SAYING THAT WORD!) 

Doug Craig asks...

"I have read many reports about this past Royal Rumble, mainly Maven's elimination. It seems everybody is making an issue about his elimination being illegal because Undertaker was eliminated when he dumped Maven. I know people have brought up the Steve Austin situation which was "never seen by the referees", but wasn't there a Royal Rumble where George Steele was supposedly entered but never entered the ring, but he was mentioned as being "officially in the Rumble"...I thought that Gorilla Monsoon made the statement that when George Steele stood outside of the ring, he was still/officially in the Rumble."

I believe you're thinking of Wrestlemania IV, where he wandered around the outside of the ring before the referees finally escorted him back. George Steele was retired from active competition by the time the Rumble started on PPV in 1989. (The whole thing with Rumble eliminations basically changes from year to year depending on what the storyline calls for.)