All-Stars, commentary, Hash, & 7/9 review
Man, I hate it when I'm so busy that all my boys are gettin up new blogs and I got nothing for the masses. Hey! Let's fix that!Another All-Star Game has come and gone. I actually have some pretty personal feelings on that game, which I wrote about last year in this very space. Yes, I said last year which means this blog is officially one year old as of yesterday. As mentioned before, Stutts had the first blog goin out of our little NC Indys group and I found it to be a very cool and therapeutic way of speaking out on both the sport I love and my own personal thoughts about my life in general. Being able to have an outlet in that facet certainly keeps me sane some weeks.
Speaking of the All-Star Game, I find myself listening more and more to legitimate sports commentators here lately to try and pick up little nuances that I can possibly use in my wrestling commentary. Joe Buck is such a fantastic play-by-play man. Quite possibly the best of the modern era. I love Al Michaels' stuff too. As time goes on, I find myself realizing that "knowing my role" in pro wrestling may not just include the cinematography, but also as a voice. I've never had a "TV voice" per se but since the inception of the CWF broadcast, I've certainly tried to add enough elements to my game to make up for the lack of traditional broadcasting gifts. Of course the problem with the transition to a legitimate sports call to pro wrestling is that unlike "real" sports, the more credible you treat wrestling on the mic, the less credibility you have as an announcer. Talk about a Catch-22. All the smart marks want you to talk on their level and use certain terminology so you DON'T talk down to them but in doing so, you end up taking alot of the believability of the action in the ring away. I'll give it to Joey Styles who did one hell of a job, being a "smart mark" announcer but still doing his best to get over all the angles as real as humanely possible. The WWE wants their announcers to be entertaining, and boy you wanna talk about losing complete credibility. I love Gordon Solie (obviously), but his completely understated play-by-play would almost be lost on today's fans. If anything, I'd love to become a combo of Gordon and David Crockett, who got a lot of heat for his play by play back in the day, but his excitement was truly contagious. After all, if I don't believe in the product we're selling, then how is the audience supposed to? David went over the top sometimes, but he always seemed genuine. You can't fake love and if you genuinely care, that will come out in your call. With each passing day, I become more and more serious about my handling of my commentary duties. Personally, I think I still suck. Seriously. Way too much stuttering as I get ahead of myself and lost in the call. Stutts can work circles around me in the booth. My work is passable, sure, but I've heard the best and I still have a LOOOOONG ways to go. Behind the camera, I've pretty much hit the plateau. After doing it for 15 years, I'm not gonna get much better than where I am now. But behind the mic, the sky really is still the limit. And prior to these past few months, I never put much thought into it. I always wanted to do good, but I never really thought of it as something I would be doing for years and years to come. As the growth of CWF increases and now with my voice being heard internationally on these DVD releases, I've begun to realize that improvement isn't a luxury anymore, it's a necessity. And I'm cool with that. I want to reach a respectful relationship with those viewers that I will never cross paths with. I want to find that small little niche with the wrestling fan that makes them respect your call the same way I used to respect the greats of the past. I think reality is still the key. Which is exactly why the WWE announcers fail so miserably. Rather than supporting the most absurd of angles in your call, you should seek to find that thread of reality in them and in doing so, make both your call and the product seem more realistic to the viewer.
Boy, that was a total stream of consciousness rant that I never saw coming myself...
I'm excited to have "Chris Benoit's Personal Limo Driver" make one of her semiannual treks to NC here in a week or so. Isn't it nice when just having a friend visit that you haven't seen in a long time makes your own life feel like a vacation when in fact none of your surroundings have changed at all?
It seems like a month doesn't go by without us saying goodbye to one of our own. One of the premier Japanese wrestlers of the modern-era, Shinya Hashimoto, died suddenly Monday of a brain hemorrhage. Not from drugs, not from a match...it was just one of those things. Hash will never be remembered for his great workrate. He will be remembered (by me at least) as a Japanese looking older Elvis that simply kicked the living fuck out of people. Him pummeling Ogawa with kicks at the Dome Show that one year is one of those unforgettable images. Hash was just COOL. Seriously gonna miss that guy.
As we head into a double-show weekend, let me finally get the review from last weekend knocked out as CWF was back at the CSA in Burlington on 7/9 with the following TV taping:
1. CWF/AWA Mid-Atlantic TV champion Jesse Ortega pinned John Korman in 7:47 of a Johnny Weaver Cup tournament first round match - First time I'd EVER seen Korman and unlike a lot of "first time viewings", Korman was actually pretty solid. Looked like a jakked up Jeremy Ryan with that serious, almost-shooter like look to him. Very enjoyable opener that was for both the tourney and the title and STAT! This marked Ortega's 17th successful title defense as he continues a record that is gonna be pretty darn hard to ever match. **3/4
2. Sean Powers pinned Jay Sinn (with Gregory Vercetti in his corner) in 4:29 of a Johnny Weaver Cup tournament first round match - One of those heel-heel matchups that are fascinating but also causes you to skate on thin ice with when it comes to the fans' perception and the chance of them dying. Thankfully, this went the correct amount of time and they stayed with it. Exactly what it should have been. *1/2
-Manager Cornelius J. Lumpkin makes HIS debut, introducing Tank Lawson as the first member in his camp. Tank's strength is put over, bending a steel nail (is there any other kind?), which then leads to the arm-wrestling challenge, which is answered by Rob McBride, with the actual matchup going down this Friday at Friday Night Fights #2. The segment got everything over, but went longer than necessary and was about 30 seconds away from a serious downward spiral kicking off.
3. Brass Munkey (with GeeStar in his corner) pinned Alex Adonis in 8:51 of a Johnny Weaver Cup tournament first round match - Speaking of downward spirals, here comes an Alex Adonis match. The first half of the match just kills the crowd as it's ALL Adonis with ZERO offense (or more importantly, intensity) from Munkey. Finally, we hit the comeback and despite some really out-there sequences, Munkey takes Adonis' head off with a lariat and makes the crowd happy. *
4. "Krazy K" Kirby Mack and Rising Generation League champion Kid Justice defeated Xsiris and Ultra Dragon in 13:17 when Justice pinned Dragon -
This would be one of those high-flying matches that throw psychology out the window that I always dread. Surprisingly enough, as spotty as this sucker was (and at times early, sloppy), it wasn't all that dreadful in my eyes and was actually kinda fun. Some innovative tag spots with all kinds of wonderful miscommunication chaos. Actually a perfect preview for the Light Heavyweight tournament. ***
5. "A Very Handsome Man" Mitch Conner pinned Joey Silvia in 9:25 -
A "Oh, now THIS will be fun" dream match on paper that almost didn't happen. Thankfully it did and was just fantastic fun. Props to Joey (who like Xsiris, thinks I always hate his stuff) who put some entertainment in his wrestling rather than putting some wrestling in his entertainment (which is exactly why I pan his stuff sometimes). Perfect fast-paced, logical TV match if we can just edit around Conner's never-ending wedgie. ***
6. "Madd Trucker" Garry Stevens pinned American Steel Ninja in 7:14 of a Johnny Weaver Cup tournament first round match - Pretty 101 stuff with is more than fine from these two. **
7. CWF/AWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight champion Ric Converse pinned Gregory Vercetti (with Jay Sinn, Donnie Dollars, and Alex Adonis in his corner) in 9:27 of a non-title match - Perfect preview for FNF2 and the "King of the Road" as Converse overcomes the cornermen to win. I love preview matches. Of course half the time the preview turns out to be better than the payoff. **1/2
8. Donnie Dollars, Mikael Yamaha, and "Dangerous E" Corey Edsel defeated "Boggie Woogie Man" Rob McBride and CWF/AWA Mid-Atlantic tag team champions $outh$ide Playas (J-Money and Will B. Smooth) in 15:49 when Edsel pinned Smooth - Psychologically preview perfect 6-man. This is SO what I wish the first FNF tag match would have been. Plenty of heat on the heels and big babyface comeback where they had it won but heels steal it away thanks to Corey killing a poor soul outta nowhere. I'm still shocked about how much I'm digging Smooth here lately. ***1/2
Overall thoughts - Very, very good TV taping with hardly a wasted minute. I'm real big on picking out segments and matches that went 5 minutes too long here and there that contributed to either a dead crowd or a painfully long show but I'd have to be REAL nitpicky to point out any on this show. Very concise, great TV, great FNF2 previews. Thanks to all.
Well, it's off to FNF2 and Riders this weekend...both look to be very solid shows so we shall see...still a ton of gibberish playing racquetball in my head but at least some of it is outta there now...Love to all!
GRANT "STATMARK" SAWYER
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