They say timing is everything. Last week, one of the highlights of Impact Wrestling were a series of filmed vignettes where Bully Ray visited the Nashville offices of TNA in an attempt to confront Dixie Carter about her recent treatment of him. Then, on the latest One Night Only broadcast, recorded in Birmingham, England last February, Bully was involved in the most entertaining comedy match I've seen in years, proof that non-serious wrestling can work if the material and performers are strong enough. And the common factor aside from Bully? In each case his comic foil was Birmingham's own 'TNA chief of staff' Rockstar Spud.
In one way the clear chemistry the pair have is unsurprising, given that they are both quality performers who put everything into their performances. Bully Ray for a long time was one of the company's top faces. The former Bubba Ray Dudley could have easily settled into a comfortable rut satisfying fans with facile Dudley Boyz nostalgia. Instead, he turned on Brother Devon and completely re-invented himself as a monster heel, an arrogant smash-mouth villain with a ruthless streak. This was astonishing, and it's a testament to how the new character became over that his revelation as the leader of Aces & Eights breathed life into a flagging and over-extended angle. It is this writer's opinion that, with the possible sole exception of Paul Heyman, Bully is the best promo guy in wrestling today.
Meanwhile, Spud has really taken the chance he's been given in TNA with open arms and has run hard with it. Having won Jeremy Borash's 'British Boot Camp' competition in early 2013, his subsequent absence from TV screens was a major disappointment for many fans. It seemed that, like the failed Gut Check experiment (that ultimately produced only one long-term success in Sam Shaw), this was another dead end. In truth, the diminutive Englishman was gaining valuable experience in developmental territories, knowing that when he was ready, a place on the roster was going to be his. When he did make his full debut as a regular character late in 2013, he was immediately placed in the middle of the main storyline, as Dixie made him her chief of staff to facilitate her villainous plans. Immediately, his worth was clear, as he was given plenty of air time to show off his new character. His eager puppy-like devotion to his new mistress was borderline disturbing, and his taste for loud suits with omnipresent bow-ties was perhaps even more disturbing.
I already knew from seeing British footage that Spud is also a talented promo guy, capable of making a crowd hate his heel persona in thirty seconds flat. And he has instantly made a mark in Florida; his promos have established him as an insecure small guy shit-scared of most of the roster, but able to make short cuts to get his way. What I like is how he can always still work a crowd even when he's not the focus of a segment; when someone else is talking, he has a repertoire of gestures that he pulls out. In short, he's always worth watching.
How then to explain how two dissimular, if motivated, performers work together so well? Watching their work together, it strikes me that there are odd parallels to Laurel & Hardy. You have the enthusiastic but accident-prone scrawny Englishman alongside a physically imposing American who cannot believe his partner's stupidity, yet somehow ends up alongside him. In both shows, Bully was openly contemptuous of his partners antics and dress sense; his glowering contempt was eloquent enough in itself even when he said nothing. For his part, Spud hilariously tried to stand up to the larger man, but usually soon backed down. And there were also slight flickers of a curious mutual respect as well.
During the British Boot Camp broadcasts, once the four hopefuls reached Orlando, various TNA stars were asked for their opinions. Very noticeably, Bully produced an emphatic endorsement of Spud; outlining the ways in which the Brummie star was compatible with the Bully lifestyle, he concluded, "He could be my frickin' son!", This was very much delivered in character, but I believe the sentiments were genuine.
Given their obvious willingness to work together and the fact they make an effective chalk and cheese partnership, maybe TNA could consider putting them together as a tag team? Some adjustment might be needed, as Bully is now a face while Spud is a heel. But Spud is less evil than just misguided in his devotion to devious Dixie, so this wouldn't be too difficult to pull off. Certainly, TNA should find more ways to get them either in league or in conflict, as at the moment the pair are knocking it out the park.
Thursday, 15 May 2014
Monday, 12 May 2014
TNA & WWE - Getting the pace right
At the moment, I find there's quite a lot to enjoy about both of the televised US promotions. There's usually exciting action in the ring during every episode of Raw and Impact, particularly if the Shield or the Wolves are onscreen. It's every IWC fan's dream, in that some of the best ex-independent wrestlers from the USA and beyond are now getting freedom to show off what they can do on broadcast television. So why do I often feel that the shows don't deliver as they should?
Here's a possible explanation: the pacing of both promotions' flagship shows is frankly not working. Let's start with the massive three-hour behemoth that is Raw. Of course, the show's extreme length has in the past drawn a lot of criticism for containing too much filler: endless recaps and plugs for the WWE app were taking up way too much time as it became clear that the company was struggling to produce three consecutive hours of compelling television. To an extent, WWE has taken these comments onboard, as in recent months the amount of actual wrestling on the show has increased noticeably. However, this still isn't working too well.
The real issue is this. Post-Wrestlemania, WWE has a handful of performers doing pretty much all the heavy lifting regarding the important storylines: Evolution/The Authority, Daniel Bryan (plus Brie Bella now), The Shield, John Cena and the Wyatt Family. Pretty much all creative attention is lavished on their characters and stories. Given that they are usually facing each other in various combinations, they cannot be spread evenly throughout the show. Meanwhile, other performers are barely getting a look-in at all in terms of importance. It looked like Cesaro was getting a boost by joining with Paul Heyman, but he's now stuck in a going-nowhere program with the one-dimensional Rob Van Dam. Even supposedly upper mid-card stars like Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio haven't had meaty storylines in ages. And if you're Damien Sandow, you're probably wondering where everything went wrong.
What tends to happen is that every edition of Raw starts strongly, with plenty of star-power, then tails off badly. To give an example, the Wyatt Family unveiling the world's creepiest children's choir was an utterly mesmerising and disturbing piece of television that was fine-tuned for maximum impact. WWE is pretty much untouchable when it pulls off a piece of theatre like this, as its production values are absurdly high. Once we had taken this in, it almost felt like a disappointment that we had something as mundane as a wrestling match to follow, even one featuring popular tag champions The Usos. Their match was at least decent, but as the show went on and more matches arrived, I felt myself asking who are all these people and why should I care? A parade of mid-carders with ill-defined gimmicks squared off against seemingly random opponents for little or no reason. If WWE wants to make the midsection matter, it needs to have stronger gimmicks and carefully plotted feuds. Usually, of course, by the third hour, the stars reappear and interest levels rise again. But interest flickers too badly when the mid-carders take over.
It strikes me that it wouldn't be too difficult to make the midcard matter again. Stronger characters are needed (pop quiz: what's Dolph Ziggler's current gimmick? You're struggling to answer, aren't you?). It's telling that the one midcarder currently on the rise (again) is Wade Barrett. I initially found his 'Bad News' character to be a tiresome attempt at cheap heat. However, I was actually wrong, as this has successfully put over a different character for the Preston grappler: he's now a fun-loving heel who delights in winding up the crowd. Interestingly, this is something that Barrett came up with himself, that WWE liked and allowed him to run with. Put together similar revamps for Big E and The Miz, for example, and we could be talking again.
Turning to TNA, they almost have the opposite problem, at least as far as the UK is concerned (we''ll come to that soon). Shows just take forever to get going. Partly it's because their opening segments often feature lengthy talking segments which, while not exactly terrible, still feel underpowered. Of course, for much of the year, the title was on Magnus, who tended to open the show. He's a much improved talker, but he has a tendency towards languid verbosity, delivered in that weird Transatlantic accent. I feel TNA needs a more succinct talker to carry these segments; Bully Ray and Rockstar Spud know how to make a stronger impact (no pun intended), for example. Now the torch has been passed to Eric Young, who actually has similar strengths and weaknesses as Magnus; he takes his time.
Alternatively, they could just start with a match, as this would overcome a problem when I watch in the show here in Britain. It's my understanding that the US broadcast of Impact on Spike contains more commercial breaks. This certainly ties in my experience of watching television while on holiday in America, as I once watched an episode of The Simpsons there and was flabbergasted that the first break came directly after the opening titles. But I digress. Here in Britain, to pad out the show to a two-hour length, they screen long recaps of the previous week's action followed by accompanying backstage interviews sourced from TNA's YouTube channel. You get two rounds of this directly after the opening segment. Firstly, the interview segments are of very poor quality, usually shot under a distracting red light (why?) and featuring an inaudible off-screen interviewer. Last week, Sanada answered a mystery question with a two-word answer; I have no idea what the answer was supposed to mean without the context. Even more importantly, if the show opens at 9pm with a talk segment, there's no new wrestling action until 9.30pm or later. This is just way too slow!
Once the first half-hour is over, the show speeds up with a jolt. Matches follow thick and fast, and are often over rather too quickly. These are usually eventful affairs, which offer a lot of bang for your buck, but the pace is suddenly too frantic. The good news is that TNA at least gets round WWE's problem with the midcard by ensuring that everyone on the roster has a strong gimmick now. Samuel Shaw, for example, has a hefty storyline despite his low rank in the company. But the contrast in pacing is too extreme. Splitting up the YouTube interviews throughout the show would be a good idea as a start, but there needs to be more energy at the start too. However, for a while I've noticed that the second hour is far more compelling than the first.
I really don't think it's too different to make the necessary changes to improve both shows. But as it stands I wonder if WWE are losing fans in the mid-section of Raw, while TNA is forcing fans to switch off duirng the first half-hour.
Here's a possible explanation: the pacing of both promotions' flagship shows is frankly not working. Let's start with the massive three-hour behemoth that is Raw. Of course, the show's extreme length has in the past drawn a lot of criticism for containing too much filler: endless recaps and plugs for the WWE app were taking up way too much time as it became clear that the company was struggling to produce three consecutive hours of compelling television. To an extent, WWE has taken these comments onboard, as in recent months the amount of actual wrestling on the show has increased noticeably. However, this still isn't working too well.
The real issue is this. Post-Wrestlemania, WWE has a handful of performers doing pretty much all the heavy lifting regarding the important storylines: Evolution/The Authority, Daniel Bryan (plus Brie Bella now), The Shield, John Cena and the Wyatt Family. Pretty much all creative attention is lavished on their characters and stories. Given that they are usually facing each other in various combinations, they cannot be spread evenly throughout the show. Meanwhile, other performers are barely getting a look-in at all in terms of importance. It looked like Cesaro was getting a boost by joining with Paul Heyman, but he's now stuck in a going-nowhere program with the one-dimensional Rob Van Dam. Even supposedly upper mid-card stars like Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio haven't had meaty storylines in ages. And if you're Damien Sandow, you're probably wondering where everything went wrong.
What tends to happen is that every edition of Raw starts strongly, with plenty of star-power, then tails off badly. To give an example, the Wyatt Family unveiling the world's creepiest children's choir was an utterly mesmerising and disturbing piece of television that was fine-tuned for maximum impact. WWE is pretty much untouchable when it pulls off a piece of theatre like this, as its production values are absurdly high. Once we had taken this in, it almost felt like a disappointment that we had something as mundane as a wrestling match to follow, even one featuring popular tag champions The Usos. Their match was at least decent, but as the show went on and more matches arrived, I felt myself asking who are all these people and why should I care? A parade of mid-carders with ill-defined gimmicks squared off against seemingly random opponents for little or no reason. If WWE wants to make the midsection matter, it needs to have stronger gimmicks and carefully plotted feuds. Usually, of course, by the third hour, the stars reappear and interest levels rise again. But interest flickers too badly when the mid-carders take over.
It strikes me that it wouldn't be too difficult to make the midcard matter again. Stronger characters are needed (pop quiz: what's Dolph Ziggler's current gimmick? You're struggling to answer, aren't you?). It's telling that the one midcarder currently on the rise (again) is Wade Barrett. I initially found his 'Bad News' character to be a tiresome attempt at cheap heat. However, I was actually wrong, as this has successfully put over a different character for the Preston grappler: he's now a fun-loving heel who delights in winding up the crowd. Interestingly, this is something that Barrett came up with himself, that WWE liked and allowed him to run with. Put together similar revamps for Big E and The Miz, for example, and we could be talking again.
Turning to TNA, they almost have the opposite problem, at least as far as the UK is concerned (we''ll come to that soon). Shows just take forever to get going. Partly it's because their opening segments often feature lengthy talking segments which, while not exactly terrible, still feel underpowered. Of course, for much of the year, the title was on Magnus, who tended to open the show. He's a much improved talker, but he has a tendency towards languid verbosity, delivered in that weird Transatlantic accent. I feel TNA needs a more succinct talker to carry these segments; Bully Ray and Rockstar Spud know how to make a stronger impact (no pun intended), for example. Now the torch has been passed to Eric Young, who actually has similar strengths and weaknesses as Magnus; he takes his time.
Alternatively, they could just start with a match, as this would overcome a problem when I watch in the show here in Britain. It's my understanding that the US broadcast of Impact on Spike contains more commercial breaks. This certainly ties in my experience of watching television while on holiday in America, as I once watched an episode of The Simpsons there and was flabbergasted that the first break came directly after the opening titles. But I digress. Here in Britain, to pad out the show to a two-hour length, they screen long recaps of the previous week's action followed by accompanying backstage interviews sourced from TNA's YouTube channel. You get two rounds of this directly after the opening segment. Firstly, the interview segments are of very poor quality, usually shot under a distracting red light (why?) and featuring an inaudible off-screen interviewer. Last week, Sanada answered a mystery question with a two-word answer; I have no idea what the answer was supposed to mean without the context. Even more importantly, if the show opens at 9pm with a talk segment, there's no new wrestling action until 9.30pm or later. This is just way too slow!
Once the first half-hour is over, the show speeds up with a jolt. Matches follow thick and fast, and are often over rather too quickly. These are usually eventful affairs, which offer a lot of bang for your buck, but the pace is suddenly too frantic. The good news is that TNA at least gets round WWE's problem with the midcard by ensuring that everyone on the roster has a strong gimmick now. Samuel Shaw, for example, has a hefty storyline despite his low rank in the company. But the contrast in pacing is too extreme. Splitting up the YouTube interviews throughout the show would be a good idea as a start, but there needs to be more energy at the start too. However, for a while I've noticed that the second hour is far more compelling than the first.
I really don't think it's too different to make the necessary changes to improve both shows. But as it stands I wonder if WWE are losing fans in the mid-section of Raw, while TNA is forcing fans to switch off duirng the first half-hour.
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