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Archive for August 12th, 2007

If you’re looking for concert tickets online, or even tickets to a WWE PPV or Live event, these days I’d wonder why.

In a world of MP3 podcasting and so many top WWE matches on free TV, what’s the motivation to go live to such arena events anymore? Seems like a bit of money down the drain, doesn’t it?

Then again, there’s nothing much that could top seeing your favorite entertainers perform in person. Whether it’s hearing whether Brandi Carlile has learned to get her voice to crack on command at the same spot in The Story every time she sings it or not, or experiencing the spectacle that is a live WWE event, I guess I’d have to say that…

…yes, there is still reason to go to such things. Just like my wife says, “I don’t care for basketball on TV. But in person’s another story.”

As predictably as a cash advance to a minimum wage worker, WWE owner Vince McMahon is back. Vinnie Mac turned the “who blew up Vince” disaster of an angle – made particularly tacky by the real-life double-murder suicide instigated by WWE wrestler Chris Benoit – into a “faked his own death” idea and quickly this past Monday ushered Raw into a fresh era by anointing a new Raw general manager, wrestler William Regal, as a replacement for long-time assistant GM and pain-in-the-keister Johnathon Coachman.

While Regal isn’t the most scintillating personality, it does give some closure to the era that was marred by the Benoit tragedy. While that real-life crime may have turned off many a casual fan, WWE’s most loyal viewers will feel that the change was long overdue.

Let’s just hope Vince doesn’t overexpose himself again, and allows Regal to take center stage and shine in his new role in the Raw storyline.

Once upon a time, not that long ago, Joanie “Chyna” Lauer was the queenpin of WWE’s women’s division. A huge woman made somewhat pretty thanks to Vinnie-Mac’s on-staff plastic surgeon, she made her rep by being able to go toe-to-toe with cruiserweight men.

Then we went through the Trish Stratus-Lita era, in which the woman’s title was credibly held by either one or the other of them. Trish was the pretty-looking girl who eventually learned to wrestle a passable match, while Lita was able to pull off some high-flying, Hardy Boyz style moves until injuries got the better of her.

These days, however, Raw’s women’s division is a bit deeper. Between some solid newcomers and some who cut their teeth during the Trish-Lita era, there are now as man as five or six women who can wrestle believably enough to hold the women’s title.

Slowly, the WWE women’s division is becoming more than just a series of Thanksgiving Day gravy matches and Golf Apparel Ladies bra and panties matches.

Thank goodness… the women’s division finally features some decent wrestlers, not just gals with only T&A assets.

Let’s hope WWE milks this one slow.

For the past three or four years now, it’s been obvious that two of the young stars WWE has wanted to build around are Randy Orton and John Cena. Considering Cena’s the champ and has been for the better part of a couple years now, they’ve handled his rise to the top well.

Now, just as they did with Steve Austin and The Rock, it’s time for the always-planned feud to come to fruition. It’s time for Randy Orton and John Cena to start butting heads … and, probably, trading title reigns a bit.

Cena has loads of personal magnetism and is the electrifying personality that gets people tuning in, much like Steve Austin at the height of the “Stone Cold” era.

Like The Rock, Randy Orton is a third-generation superstar who makes the perfect foil with the right set of skills to be a great feuding partner with Cena for years to come.

In the early days of the Austin-Rock feud, they only clashed seldom and usually at PPVs. That was before the era of five hours of weekly programs of WWE TV to fill. Cena-Orton could be the feud that defines the careers of both men.

But, just as it marked the end of the appeal of seeing Austin and The Rock go head-to-head, overexposure is the greatest risk the Cena-Orton feud has. If they overplay the feud and don’t mix in enough other rivals in the title picture, it could get boring pretty quickly.

Don’t believe me?

Hogan-Andre headed two WrestleMania events. Cena-Khali lasted, what, maybe two months before the mismatch was overexposed?

Cena-Orton could be a great feud. Or, if overexposed, it could become as welcome as an outdoor fireplace at the height of an Arizona heatwave.