 |
| Image Courtesy of OnlineWorldOfWrestling.com |
I'm not a fan of Vince Russo, this much is known. And it's not because of how it is trendy to bury him as most within the business do, or of those that want to seem 'in the know' as they awkwardly mark out via social media to their childhood heroes. My contention with Vince is how two-sided he is in everything that he says or does. More to the point, its how he lives within this vacuous bubble of neediness for attention and public approval to ultimately find his own self worth.
Let me state right here that as any kind of artist that if you cannot personally define in real terms what and who you are with or without the limelight, you fail. You fail yourself in your expectations, you fail others in not allowing them to know you beyond your want to be universally liked, and you fail in everything you do where what shreds of your frayed psyche are present in the moment, the product of which remains tainted and/or inconsistent by either the insecurities that keep you forever isolated from having a shared experience with others, or the need to overcompensate for them which forces you to distance yourself because you cannot, will not find it within yourself of whom or what you are, and therefore incapable of embracing it.
This is what, Vince Russo, the man resembles in his incessant need to remain 'cool' or 'hip' or 'trendy' or in the moment on some level jumping up and down waving and screaming frantically at the back of a crowd moving forward in their lives just to let them know that he is there. In some ways, Russo is living the story of Mickey Rourke's character from the movie 'The Wrestler' as he struggles with being stripped from the limelight. Or if not that, definitely Sly Stallone's character in 'Rocky Balboa' for the very same reason. He has something left inside him that he has to say, to do, or otherwise to prove but just can't grasp what it is exactly, or how best to express it. But if I am wrong in this, Russo gives off such an impression when the rest of us just want him to be him, and to provide the myriad of thought processes, the back stories, and other such historical tidbits that went into what he was apart of, and/or what he contributed to in what is arguably the best time in wrestling history. For him to do what Kevin Sullivan is doing on a weekly podcast going show by show back during the Monday Night Wars detailing the methodology of what went into each booking would be brilliant.
And it would viable information to draw upon for those up-and-coming, or for such historians of the sport such as myself. But Vince doesn't do that. I'm not even sure if he could step beyond his incessant needs to get to that point, and it is tragic … not only for him in what seemingly appears to be an eternal struggle with his own demons, but for the history of the sport which will last long after he shuffles off this mortal coil. No disrespect, but an honest assessment of the guy.
But what kills me most about Russo is that there is no divide in any of this incessant need where there can be. When you talk to him, or even when you listen to him on his podcast, there is no oxygen left in the room where he sucks it up with his lengthy rationalizations for what he offered and why he is continuing to get this 'Warrior' treatment duly or unduly by the business. And it kills me that you have to either be Team Vince or Team Anti-Vince when really he was nothing more than, or, for that matter, nothing less than a cog in a much larger, and vastly more diverse system that, as a fan, I want as much pertinent information about so my love of that period of the sport may be heightened.
I offer that opening to this latest article (and sorry about that where Vince is not the crux of this piece, nor should he be), so that I could get to his protege Jake Jesus that recently wrote an article on Vince's Relm Network covering the how's and why's that Lucha Underground --
1. Can't get over because of the WWE influence but then
2. Is a better product than the WWE where it, though Jake didn't directly suggest as much, is more avant garde and therefore somehow better because of which.
Let me state directly here that taking a big steaming pile of shit is as old as time and memorial itself. And it is only within the last ten years or so that utilizing gold flakes in foods has become niche – be it the $1,000 dollar doughnut to the $500 martini. So just because you now produce a steaming pile of shit that costs more ($400,000 per episode and you give away tickets to the event for free), and though it may seem prettier in the toilet bowl glistening various hues of gold intertwined with corn and other such fecal matter, it doesn't make what you have any better by comparison. Also, it won't save the promotion from going bankrupt where El Rey network will only carry this financial burden so long before dumping it, gold flakes and all, for something far more viable.
But let's get the real meat and potatoes of this argument. At its essence, Lucha Underground is a well staged, well lit, well choreographed, and well filmed production that uses wrestling as a prop in an overall story with many novella based arcs and twists that takes fans of this product on many a winding road, and an overall drama filled journey. Fair enough. My contention, as either a writer or as a fan of wrestling, doesn't lie within this type of product. After all, it is a product in as much as such staples as Law and Order, CSI, or NCIS – shows that are similar in content but vastly different in both theme and style and yet are readily identifiable for their diversity at the mere mention of their name. So for all that Lucha Underground is, and for all that it brings to the table, it inherently doesn't adhere to the tradition of, or even the intent of what wrestling is, was, or forever will be.
What then is wrestling by its very definition? Wrestling is a sporting event matching opponents against one another testing their strength, their resolve, and their cunning. This is how it has been dating back to virtually the beginning of man as various cultures the world over have delve into such tests of strength as a natural evolutionary progression in finding it's way forward in evolving its society. From this process comes the fundamental need to find either the strongest or most cunning amongst its people to lead; this being encoded into our very DNA as a means of survival. It is an unconscious and subconscious process where, on a very real level, people gravitate to those of similar color, religion, size, and shape. Such a reaction on a genetic level remains prevalent within each of us in as much as it did during the dawn of man.
A recent example of which is one but a few hours old as we collectively watched the GOP debate for the nomination of President of the United States this evening. And less you recognized it or not, you have already predetermined the strongest amongst them by size, by presence, by body language, and a variety of other psychological factors of whom you will vote for long before you heard them speak, or even speak upon the issues that matter to you personally. This is important where professional wrestling, as opposed to legitimate wrestling, builds off of that unconscious process in 'working' audiences to sustain a psychology all its own that even though it may be readily known that it has a predetermined outcome, it remains real when these unconscious markers are hit.
Lucha Underground does not and cannot meet such a criteria. Rather, Lucha Underground uses wrestling as a plot device rather than the manner in which a particular story is being told, and therefore defies the hone trade craft that has made professional wrestling, in its very essence, what it is. So no, Lucha Underground isn't wrestling by definition. By its own definition, it remains an elaborate production that utilizes wrestlers as stuntmen performing choreographed fight scenes that, as Jim Cornette has suggested – “No one goes to the movies to see the stuntmen.” Therefore, the only way, and I cannot stress this enough, that Lucha Underground meets a semblance of what wrestling is, or rather what it used to be (and I am speaking wrestling back in 40's through 60's here), is that from match to match, minute by minute, it builds the level of expectation. It builds the anticipation, and the intrigue leaving the audience fomenting with either exhilaration or rage depending on the overall outcome of the headlining match. But even when Lucha Underground achieves this aspect of what professional wrestling is, it isn't enough. Nor, as I have presented in my argument, can Lucha Underground be impacted by, or be any better or worse than something that it isn't as suggested by Jake Jesus. It would be such a naive assertion to say football is better than sex when there are no clearly definable ways to compare them to one another.
With that being said, I do agree with Jake that the WWE product is waning. But therein Jake asserts that it is almost if not wholly due to the storytelling when the truth is so much complex than that. Specifically, the woes of professional wrestling in the 'Shit on the Sport' era stems from the fallout from hot shotting characters, feuds, and storylines by the WWE during the Attitude Era just to remain relevant with a more prosperous, and albeit vastly more entertaining Monday Night Nitro. This, then, knowingly or unknowingly forced upon generational fans main event style cards complete with fresh faces and even bigger oddities on a weekly basis that the WWE cannot financially or physically sustain in the here and now. Nor can they sustain that level of storytelling for a variety of reasons, but the two biggest being –
1. WWE is now a publicly traded company and must adhere to such scrutiny that builds from which in the direction of, and even the methodology within its storylines.
2. WWE has returned to a PG rating seeking more universal appeal, but in doing so has cut the teeth out of the monster so the ability to tell the same type of stories that once incorporated gratuitous levels of simulated violence and/or blood letting further building the realism, is all but lost .. lost in the sense of theatrics being utilized, lost in the sense of believability, lost in the sense of eliciting heightened emotions as it cultivates that psychology.
As a byproduct of this, niche based wrestling (themed wrestling that still honors the definition of what wrestling is) then and now such as – ECW, CMLL, Triple A, Chikara, Progress, the list goes on – fed into this Roman coliseum type of mentality of more, more, more in as much as the WWE which slowly degraded if not all but destroyed the overall psychology that makes wrestling a viable device in storytelling as it once was. And therefore, niche based wrestling shares the blame with the WWE as to where the sport and the art of wrestling is in its current product. I suggest this because if you buy into what Jake Jesus suggested in his article that Lucha Underground is hurt by the WWE, you have to buy into the notion that Lucha Underground is pro wrestling which it isn't for reasons already stated. The only ones hurt in this regard by the damage McMahon did nearly two decades ago would be ROH, TNA, or those that either confine themselves to, or make a niche out of what pro wrestling should be – an athletic competition. So yes, I agree indie and/or fledgling promotions like Global Force, or Booker T's Reality of Wrestling based out of Texas offering indie wrestlers a chance to further hone their skills and adapt to a nationally televised product, hurt because of which even when their attempts to tell compelling stories that deviant from the tried and true method of the WWE struggle to find universal appeal.
So the takeaway from Jake's article is not him unduly marking out for what he wrongly equates to professional wrestling, nor is it his need to blanketedly blame the WWE for all the woes of the industry (Thanks Obama!). But that in being a protege to Vince Russo leaves much to be desired, and far much more to be learned about the history, the psychology, and the trade of what and why wrestling is eternal. Additionally, former wrestler Mike Quackenbush suggested that wrestling is in its infancy as an art form, and that might very well be true on various existential levels. However, the athletic competition isn't, nor is the need to wrestle the gods, or to put asunder giants. And because of which, professional wrestling retains a mythos unrivaled by any other, and a specific level of integrity in its circus like appeal that reaches generations through its storytelling. So for anyone to make the comparison to 'The Sopranos,' or even 'Breaking Bad' of what modern wrestling should be, they clearly don't get it, and perhaps never will.
Let me state right here that as any kind of artist that if you cannot personally define in real terms what and who you are with or without the limelight, you fail. You fail yourself in your expectations, you fail others in not allowing them to know you beyond your want to be universally liked, and you fail in everything you do where what shreds of your frayed psyche are present in the moment, the product of which remains tainted and/or inconsistent by either the insecurities that keep you forever isolated from having a shared experience with others, or the need to overcompensate for them which forces you to distance yourself because you cannot, will not find it within yourself of whom or what you are, and therefore incapable of embracing it.
This is what, Vince Russo, the man resembles in his incessant need to remain 'cool' or 'hip' or 'trendy' or in the moment on some level jumping up and down waving and screaming frantically at the back of a crowd moving forward in their lives just to let them know that he is there. In some ways, Russo is living the story of Mickey Rourke's character from the movie 'The Wrestler' as he struggles with being stripped from the limelight. Or if not that, definitely Sly Stallone's character in 'Rocky Balboa' for the very same reason. He has something left inside him that he has to say, to do, or otherwise to prove but just can't grasp what it is exactly, or how best to express it. But if I am wrong in this, Russo gives off such an impression when the rest of us just want him to be him, and to provide the myriad of thought processes, the back stories, and other such historical tidbits that went into what he was apart of, and/or what he contributed to in what is arguably the best time in wrestling history. For him to do what Kevin Sullivan is doing on a weekly podcast going show by show back during the Monday Night Wars detailing the methodology of what went into each booking would be brilliant.
And it would viable information to draw upon for those up-and-coming, or for such historians of the sport such as myself. But Vince doesn't do that. I'm not even sure if he could step beyond his incessant needs to get to that point, and it is tragic … not only for him in what seemingly appears to be an eternal struggle with his own demons, but for the history of the sport which will last long after he shuffles off this mortal coil. No disrespect, but an honest assessment of the guy.
But what kills me most about Russo is that there is no divide in any of this incessant need where there can be. When you talk to him, or even when you listen to him on his podcast, there is no oxygen left in the room where he sucks it up with his lengthy rationalizations for what he offered and why he is continuing to get this 'Warrior' treatment duly or unduly by the business. And it kills me that you have to either be Team Vince or Team Anti-Vince when really he was nothing more than, or, for that matter, nothing less than a cog in a much larger, and vastly more diverse system that, as a fan, I want as much pertinent information about so my love of that period of the sport may be heightened.
I offer that opening to this latest article (and sorry about that where Vince is not the crux of this piece, nor should he be), so that I could get to his protege Jake Jesus that recently wrote an article on Vince's Relm Network covering the how's and why's that Lucha Underground --
1. Can't get over because of the WWE influence but then
2. Is a better product than the WWE where it, though Jake didn't directly suggest as much, is more avant garde and therefore somehow better because of which.
Let me state directly here that taking a big steaming pile of shit is as old as time and memorial itself. And it is only within the last ten years or so that utilizing gold flakes in foods has become niche – be it the $1,000 dollar doughnut to the $500 martini. So just because you now produce a steaming pile of shit that costs more ($400,000 per episode and you give away tickets to the event for free), and though it may seem prettier in the toilet bowl glistening various hues of gold intertwined with corn and other such fecal matter, it doesn't make what you have any better by comparison. Also, it won't save the promotion from going bankrupt where El Rey network will only carry this financial burden so long before dumping it, gold flakes and all, for something far more viable.
But let's get the real meat and potatoes of this argument. At its essence, Lucha Underground is a well staged, well lit, well choreographed, and well filmed production that uses wrestling as a prop in an overall story with many novella based arcs and twists that takes fans of this product on many a winding road, and an overall drama filled journey. Fair enough. My contention, as either a writer or as a fan of wrestling, doesn't lie within this type of product. After all, it is a product in as much as such staples as Law and Order, CSI, or NCIS – shows that are similar in content but vastly different in both theme and style and yet are readily identifiable for their diversity at the mere mention of their name. So for all that Lucha Underground is, and for all that it brings to the table, it inherently doesn't adhere to the tradition of, or even the intent of what wrestling is, was, or forever will be.
What then is wrestling by its very definition? Wrestling is a sporting event matching opponents against one another testing their strength, their resolve, and their cunning. This is how it has been dating back to virtually the beginning of man as various cultures the world over have delve into such tests of strength as a natural evolutionary progression in finding it's way forward in evolving its society. From this process comes the fundamental need to find either the strongest or most cunning amongst its people to lead; this being encoded into our very DNA as a means of survival. It is an unconscious and subconscious process where, on a very real level, people gravitate to those of similar color, religion, size, and shape. Such a reaction on a genetic level remains prevalent within each of us in as much as it did during the dawn of man.
A recent example of which is one but a few hours old as we collectively watched the GOP debate for the nomination of President of the United States this evening. And less you recognized it or not, you have already predetermined the strongest amongst them by size, by presence, by body language, and a variety of other psychological factors of whom you will vote for long before you heard them speak, or even speak upon the issues that matter to you personally. This is important where professional wrestling, as opposed to legitimate wrestling, builds off of that unconscious process in 'working' audiences to sustain a psychology all its own that even though it may be readily known that it has a predetermined outcome, it remains real when these unconscious markers are hit.
Lucha Underground does not and cannot meet such a criteria. Rather, Lucha Underground uses wrestling as a plot device rather than the manner in which a particular story is being told, and therefore defies the hone trade craft that has made professional wrestling, in its very essence, what it is. So no, Lucha Underground isn't wrestling by definition. By its own definition, it remains an elaborate production that utilizes wrestlers as stuntmen performing choreographed fight scenes that, as Jim Cornette has suggested – “No one goes to the movies to see the stuntmen.” Therefore, the only way, and I cannot stress this enough, that Lucha Underground meets a semblance of what wrestling is, or rather what it used to be (and I am speaking wrestling back in 40's through 60's here), is that from match to match, minute by minute, it builds the level of expectation. It builds the anticipation, and the intrigue leaving the audience fomenting with either exhilaration or rage depending on the overall outcome of the headlining match. But even when Lucha Underground achieves this aspect of what professional wrestling is, it isn't enough. Nor, as I have presented in my argument, can Lucha Underground be impacted by, or be any better or worse than something that it isn't as suggested by Jake Jesus. It would be such a naive assertion to say football is better than sex when there are no clearly definable ways to compare them to one another.
With that being said, I do agree with Jake that the WWE product is waning. But therein Jake asserts that it is almost if not wholly due to the storytelling when the truth is so much complex than that. Specifically, the woes of professional wrestling in the 'Shit on the Sport' era stems from the fallout from hot shotting characters, feuds, and storylines by the WWE during the Attitude Era just to remain relevant with a more prosperous, and albeit vastly more entertaining Monday Night Nitro. This, then, knowingly or unknowingly forced upon generational fans main event style cards complete with fresh faces and even bigger oddities on a weekly basis that the WWE cannot financially or physically sustain in the here and now. Nor can they sustain that level of storytelling for a variety of reasons, but the two biggest being –
1. WWE is now a publicly traded company and must adhere to such scrutiny that builds from which in the direction of, and even the methodology within its storylines.
2. WWE has returned to a PG rating seeking more universal appeal, but in doing so has cut the teeth out of the monster so the ability to tell the same type of stories that once incorporated gratuitous levels of simulated violence and/or blood letting further building the realism, is all but lost .. lost in the sense of theatrics being utilized, lost in the sense of believability, lost in the sense of eliciting heightened emotions as it cultivates that psychology.
As a byproduct of this, niche based wrestling (themed wrestling that still honors the definition of what wrestling is) then and now such as – ECW, CMLL, Triple A, Chikara, Progress, the list goes on – fed into this Roman coliseum type of mentality of more, more, more in as much as the WWE which slowly degraded if not all but destroyed the overall psychology that makes wrestling a viable device in storytelling as it once was. And therefore, niche based wrestling shares the blame with the WWE as to where the sport and the art of wrestling is in its current product. I suggest this because if you buy into what Jake Jesus suggested in his article that Lucha Underground is hurt by the WWE, you have to buy into the notion that Lucha Underground is pro wrestling which it isn't for reasons already stated. The only ones hurt in this regard by the damage McMahon did nearly two decades ago would be ROH, TNA, or those that either confine themselves to, or make a niche out of what pro wrestling should be – an athletic competition. So yes, I agree indie and/or fledgling promotions like Global Force, or Booker T's Reality of Wrestling based out of Texas offering indie wrestlers a chance to further hone their skills and adapt to a nationally televised product, hurt because of which even when their attempts to tell compelling stories that deviant from the tried and true method of the WWE struggle to find universal appeal.
So the takeaway from Jake's article is not him unduly marking out for what he wrongly equates to professional wrestling, nor is it his need to blanketedly blame the WWE for all the woes of the industry (Thanks Obama!). But that in being a protege to Vince Russo leaves much to be desired, and far much more to be learned about the history, the psychology, and the trade of what and why wrestling is eternal. Additionally, former wrestler Mike Quackenbush suggested that wrestling is in its infancy as an art form, and that might very well be true on various existential levels. However, the athletic competition isn't, nor is the need to wrestle the gods, or to put asunder giants. And because of which, professional wrestling retains a mythos unrivaled by any other, and a specific level of integrity in its circus like appeal that reaches generations through its storytelling. So for anyone to make the comparison to 'The Sopranos,' or even 'Breaking Bad' of what modern wrestling should be, they clearly don't get it, and perhaps never will.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment