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10-06-2006, 01:50 AM
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I am the cheese
Posts: 51,428
  
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In defense of the Vince Russo hiring
“The Half-Guarded Truth”
By: Mike Coughlin MichaelCoughlin@f4wonline.com Myspace.com/halfguardedtruth For the week of 10/01/06 “In defense of the Vince Russo hiring” The other day I bought a lottery ticket. It’s my weekly foray into the world of pure irrationality: I know I’m going to lose yet I do it anyway. Of the millions of people who play the lottery each year, the overwhelming majority are fools to do so. Yet, like them all, I continue to play. I’m fond of telling friends and family that the lottery is a great bargain. For one dollar you can buy a world of hopes and dreams for a few days. I’ll hold onto that ticket and imagine what I’d do if I won. Would I buy a car or a house first? Who would I give money to? More importantly, to whom wouldn’t I give money? It’s a shot in the dark and I never expect it to pay dividends, but if it does, hurray for me! Vince Russo in TNA is a lottery ticket. The Caveat: I fully expect this experiment to fail. Russo’s entire legacy has been built upon one stint when he worked at WWF. He was a part of the “Attitude” era, but only A (as in “one”) part. In fact, after he left WWF/E, the promotion’s business got better. It stands to reason that if Russo was an irreplaceably important part of the creative process in WWF that the company would have seen it’s fortunes fall after he left. That WWF/E prospered further after his departure is evidence that he wasn’t all that important. When he joined WCW, he did nothing. The company got worse as he booked and ultimately went out of business. It’s inaccurate to say that Russo was solely responsible to the demise of the Atlanta company, but he did play a substantial role. If you want more details, read, “Death of WCW” by Bryan Alvarez and RD Reynolds. I know that sounds like a cheap plug, but it really is a fantastic read. His first dance with TNA was also one to forget (and most seem to have done just that). “Absolutely” is how I answer all those who scream, “Didn’t he come up with some of the most insane ideas in the history of wrestling?” From men dressed up like giant penises to the actor who became champion, it’s hard to find a single booker who did so many stupid, stupid things. The Russo Philosophy of Booking seems to be, “Throw it against the wall to see what sticks. And when you find something that sticks throw more stuff at that thing until everything falls to the floor. Then, when it’s all on the floor, convince a mark that it would’ve stuck if management hadn’t greased the wall first.” Throwing Caution Away: According to the October 4th Wrestling Observer, the September 21st edition of TNA Impact! did a 0.80 rating which translates to 964,000 eyeballs watching. Keep in mind that The Ultimate Fighter did a 1.29 rating. Basically, half a ratings point worth of people said, “Oh, that wrestling crap is on” and immediately changed the channel. “It had the usual post-UFC declining pattern, starting at a 0.88 for the Jarrett/Joe angle, falling only to 0.85 for Lethal vs. Williams and Young vs. Smiley, then do a 0.70 for Rhino vs. Brown,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “The LAX closing of the show angle with Daniels & Styles went up to a 0.79.” In other words, hardly anyone is watching this show (heck, 9/21 was an improvement over 9/14’s 0.71 rating). And those who are watching don’t like what they’re seeing and are generally turning the program off as the hour wears on. From my own experience, every Thursday I TIVO The Ultimate Fighter and Impact. I’ll immediately watch TUF (even though this has been an uneventful season) and a few days later, when I’m bored I might fast forward through Impact. Most of the time I record Impact and end up deleting it without watching a minute. The show is sitting there doing nothing. It stirs no emotions one way or the other. I never hear people say, “That Impact show sure sucks a big one,” nor do I hear, “Impact is always a great show. I can’t figure out why more people aren’t watching it.” If it lives, no one cares. If it dies, no one cares. Or maybe no one notices. Are there other people that TNA should have considered before Russo? Heavens yes. Freaking Jim Cornette, one of the greatest booking minds alive, is employed by TNA! (for now) I don’t know if they begged him and he refused (I doubt it), but even if he did balk, there had to have been someone better qualified to write than Russo. Heck, just go to your average internet wrestling board and randomly grab someone, they’d probably be better than the brains behind the “Oklahoma” character. But, since no one is watching TNA, what does it matter? Trees falling in the woods making sounds and all that. He can’t destroy the company any further. What’s he going to do, alienate the 0.80 people watching right now? Big deal. TNA is going to eventually go out of business if they keep drawing that number. Even then, those 960,000 fans have put up with an awful lot of crap from TNA and I doubt that they’ll leave if masturbating midgets show up. Someone wants to tell me that Jeff Jarrett on TV every 15 seconds doesn’t turn people off, but something Russo writes will? Hogwash. And on the chance that Russo does drive away the remaining viewers, so what? The current TNA fanbase is composed of only the most hardcore of fans; the kind of people most likely to learn that he’s left the booking committee. Oh no! The next writer might have to start from a 0.50 instead of a 0.80, everything will chance because they don’t have those extra two hundred thousand viewers! They’d have made the difference between success and failure. Vince Russo won’t drive away viewers because there aren’t any viewers to drive away. Maybe, and rarely has that word carried such an enormity of chance, Vince Russo will make magic in TNA. He’s claimed to be a changed man, but who cares if he isn’t. Maybe the old Russo will show up and book the same stupid angles he did before. I’ll watch and laugh at the absurdity but perhaps I’m out of touch. Maybe Russo, the old one or some weird “new” version that claims to have emerged, will connect with the viewers of today. TNA isn’t doing that at the moment and maybe Russo DOES have his finger on the pop culture pulse. Vince Russo is a huge long shot. Just going on his past record, and having seen how he books and what his idea of wrestling is, I cannot fathom a way that he makes a real improvement in TNA. But like the lottery, Russo’s hiring is a relatively small risk. He can’t do damage anymore than a tornado can dirty a desert. A dollar for the chance to win $25 million? Sounds good to me. And the beauty of playing the lottery is that you know - eventually - someone is going to win. ============================ Some pretty good points are made. Here.  |
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10-06-2006, 10:33 AM
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#2 |
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Ron Paul 4 EVA
Posts: 152,467
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26 views and no comment.
I feel compelled to reply. The problem with Russo as a lottery ticket is that TNA is really using the lottery instead of investing. There's nothing wrong with the lottery, and there's nothing wrong with gambling, but if you try and build up a company at the craps table or on lottery tickets, you're a fucking idiot. |
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10-06-2006, 10:43 AM
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R.I.P Tanner
Posts: 8,219
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a.k.a Vince Russo
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10-06-2006, 10:50 AM
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Ron Paul 4 EVA
Posts: 152,467
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AKA the owners of TNA.
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10-06-2006, 10:53 AM
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10-06-2006, 11:02 AM
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the heartbreak king
Posts: 48,457
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I'd say that the amount of comments compared to the amount of views really says something about how much anyone cares about this "gamble" that TNA is taking. Russo doesn't matter, and I'll be beyond surprised if he does anything noteworthy during his tenure with TNA.
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10-06-2006, 11:08 AM
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10-06-2006, 11:51 PM
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Shadow Conspircy leader
Posts: 18,582
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Linear Mode
