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FOUR SHOTS
Welcome to a new feature I'll be doing semi-regularly here on PWInsider, Four Shots. As the title might imply, these will be shorter, abbreviated thoughts on different topics floating about in my head pertaining to professional wrestling.
TAKER SHOULD HEADLINE THE HOF
With so much talk and speculation surrounding exactly why The Undertaker will be appearing on Raw Monday, I posit this theory: The WWE Hall of Fame is going on sale next week and as tradition shows, they will announce a major name going in. While we have heard several names that are floating about in current plans (two of which we've named in my Elite audio updates this week), that elusive top name will still be needed to sell tickets and draw viewers to the WWE Network broadcast.
Why not have Shawn Michaels, already scheduled to appear on Raw, partially to promote his new WWE Studios film (and anything with Anjelah Johnson is something that I want to watch) announce that Undertaker is the latest name to be inducted, then play a promotional video and have Undertaker come out for his traditional pose?
After all, if there's one man who is a living, breathing embodiment of what WWE sees as a Hall of Famer, its the Godfather Don of their locker room. If there's one talent who's career wouldn't be considered ended with a HOF induction, it would be Undertaker? So, why not?
There are plenty of years ahead for Bill Goldberg, DX, Kurt Angle, etc.? Why not go bold and induct Undertaker now, as opposed to waiting?
OMEGA VS. OKADA = PERFECTION
Speaking of Michaels and Undertaker, in my mind, Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada was as good as the classic Michaels vs. Taker match I witnessed live at Wrestlemania 25 in Houston, Texas, but different. It was a rougher style that WWE would never allow today (those dropkicks, that backdrop through the table, etc. - imagine Vince McMahon being asked to approve those in today's climate?) but for 45 minutes, it was two phenomenal talents giving their all. it was the type of matches where legends are made in the ring and fans will always talk about where they were when they wanted it unfold. It was, as Curt Hennig used to say, Perfect.
Matches like that are exactly why I love pro wrestling and why I've spent the last 13 years writing about it full time. Pro Wrestling is not always perfect. It doesn't always give us what we want - and what we want as a viewer is subjective to begin with. But, when it's done right, there is nothing better than that feeling as you ride through the drama of the near falls. I don't think there will anything better than Omega vs. Okada anytime soon, but if there is, 2017 is going to be a lot of fun.
Matches and moments like that match are why I choose to I sit through the muck of the stuff that doesn't work, falls short of expectations or just is ill conceived. As a viewer, you sit through it all waiting for that perfect moment when pro wrestling is as perfect in real life as you wish it to be in your head. That was Okada vs. Omega. Find it and watch it ASAP on the New Japan World streaming service - www.NJPWWorld.com.
WORLD OF SPORT, COME BACK SOON
Thanks to the proliferation of Youtube channels that upload material, a number of readers in the UK sent me video of the World of Sports special that aired on ITV in London on New Year's Eve. It was the type of special that fans that live and die by pro wrestling and watch everything might look at nonplussed, but when you look at it from the perspective that the special was a free independent broadcast on a major network that is aiming for a family viewership, it's an impressive, fun two hour broadcast.
I especially enjoyed all the throwback and retrospective features with Johnny Saint, Klondike Kate and the original Black Tiger, Mark "Rollerball" Rocco. Being an American, I've only seen bits and pieces of World of Sport on video but it introduced me to the likes of Steven (William Regal), Fit Finlay, Giant Haystacks, Danny Boy Collins, etc. but I love the idea of an entire new generation of fans knowing the newer names of today like Kenny Williams and Grado as the local wrestling stars they grew up with.
So, here's to hoping that ITV Commissions more - quarterly specials, a weekly series, something. World of Sport has been dormant for far too long and with WWE going into that UK market, a local TV product to compare with and against WWE programming is the best thing for the fans and the wrestlers alike - plus, the more Grado we get, the happier I will be. What a character.
THAT'S J-E-DOUBLE F!
Seriously, does Jeff Jarrett have blackmail video of someone? This guy has move lives than Paul Orndorff has had heel turns over the course of his career.
It is amazing to see that he is back in the good graces of TNA, with the new TNA management following Anthem's acquisition of TNA inviting him back to assist, although exactly what his role will be and what his tenure will consist of remains to be seen.
Despite a lot of positive emails from readers about the development, I have to admit that I don't believe that the return of Jeff Jarrett is the final answer to solving the TNA riddle. It's going to be a longer, grander process to turn that promotion around.
Still, one has to be happy for Jarrett, because at one point, this was his baby, a baby that he founded when there were no other competitors to WWE on any level nationally. It's a company that he built and fought to keep alive, dating back to the days of a near-immediate death when original backer Healthsouth pulled out without notice. TNA, as much as he's distanced himself, is in Jarrett's blood. He started it with his father and his fight to make it work was his backdrop when his first wife, Jill, battled cancer. Walking away from it, even if you want to assume everyone in pro wrestling is some carny, had to have been a hard moment for Jarrett. It wasn't just a job for him, but a chapter of his family history. So, hopefully today is a moral victory for him.
All that said, TNA has a long way to go, but today showed that nothing is out of the realm of possibility under new management. That in itself is a positive to remember....and when's the last time anyone was willing feel positive about TNA beyond the Broken Hardy storyline? There's a hard working crew there that deserves to be judged by what they are doing today, not the screw-ups of the last decade.
Perhaps, today, TNA takes a small step forward...as long as the TV show doesn't have Jeff Jarrett smashing 100 guitars over the next three months!
And...even if it does, Jarrett was asked back on the same week that Dixie Carter departed. Again, for him, moral victory.
Mike Johnson can be reached at MikeJohnsonPWInsider@gmail.com.
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