I'm going to take a break from the Vince Russo memoirs and switch to another wrestling related topic. I'm going to do a review on the Shawn Michaels biography, "Heartbreak and Triumph". In 1986, Shawn burst on to the national scene as a new member of the American Wrestling Association (hereby called the AWA). The AWA was carried by ESPN at that time and Shawn used that chance to the utmost along with his new tag team partner, Marty Jannetty. Together they formed the Midnight Rockers and established themselves as the most influential tag team of their era. I've read his book before after borrowing it from a friend but I found it at a Border's that was going out of business. I enjoyed reading through it again as there were many things I forgot from when I read it the first time.
The Midnight Rockers are a HUGE reason I started to watch and love wrestling the way I do. As the Rockers in the World Wrestling Federation, they were the most entertaining tag team, to me, of all time. The formats of their matches were almost always the same but it always seemed like they broke out some kind of new move in every match you saw. Nobody used the team aspect better than they did. That was what made it so easy for them to come up with new moves all the time. When alot of teams were just wrestling as two singles wrestlers, the Rockers were double teaming, using their athleticism and aerial skills to re-write how tag team wrestling would be done from then on. Future stars like the Hardy Boyz and Chris Jericho have listed the Rockers as major influences and a big reason they had the desire to wrestle.
Reading throuth this book before, I just wanted to skim through certain parts and so I started with, obviously, my favorite part. The part of the book where he meets Marty Jannetty and they form the friendship that would change wrestling history.
They first met in Kansas City working for Central States Wrestling and the promoter actually had them ride together. Later on they tagged together and that's where they realized that they had something together as they worked like a well-oiled machine together. The foundation for the Midnight Rockers was laid that night. It would pick up again as Marty would get a call from the AWA in early 1986 and he instantly told Verne Gagne about this young kid named Shawn Michaels and said they should hire him. They did and as was Marty's plan, the Midnight Rockers were officially born.
Shawn also goes into what happened the first time he and Marty were hired by the WWF and how they were fired two weeks later. He also talks about how they won the WWF tag belts and how they were stripped of them because of the broken top rope that totally messed up the entire match. I loved re-living these memories through the book and hearing about how in this time he was also married. A fact I didn't know growing up and watching them on TV. He also went into detail about some of the road stories like their visits to Graceland.
I really enjoyed revisiting these memories of my youth and reading about my favorite era of wrestling. This era was also my favorite in large part because of the tag team division in the WWF back then. You had the Hart Foundation, Demolition, the Powers of Pain, The Rougeaus, the Brainbusters and the Rockers. A great blend of size, strength, and athleticism that the WWF has never seen since then.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Book Review Log - Week 5
In the next few chapters Vince goes more into details of what happened in his days with WCW. He goes into his impressions of Bill Goldberg, the rising star that almost saved WCW single handed. He also goes into as much detail as he could remember with his match with Ric Flair that ended up giving him a concussion.
Another intersesting and notw-worthy part of the book has to deal with someone coming out at the time this book was being written and calling Vince Russo a racist. This accusation came from the simple fact that Vince did not think that Ernest Miller (an up and coming African-American wrestler who actually had a role in the movie "The Wrestler" a couple years ago) did not need his Japanese manager, So, of course, the certain Japanese manager had to air his grievances to certain dirt sheets and anyone who would listen.
Now in the book, Vince Russo talks about something else that apparently got him labeled as a racist and that was his attitufe towards foreign wrestlers. I bring this up because there are a few things in this book that I agree with and this is one of those things. When asked by a magazine his thoughts on foreign wrestlers, he pointed out two issues that foreign wrestlers face and they are very true in the world of pro wrestling.
Fact #1: Most foreign wrestlers wear a mask. This eliminates a very important aspect of story telling and that is facial expressions. How can you get a wrestler over if the fans never know what emotions are going on behind the mask they wear? It's really hard to build any kind of character if the audience cannot tell what your emotions are in certain situations.
Fact #2: The Language Barrier. Just like not being able to tell facial expressions, how can we know what a wrestler's response is to a situation if we can't tell what they are saying? Many foreign wrestlers have English speaking managers but then the focus goes on the manager and not the wrestler. There have been many great athletes come through the ranks of the WWE that could never get over just because of that language barrier.
Vince next discusses probably the most famous storyline he had come across while in WCW. The angle that got a very talented but very under-appreciated wrestler named Booker T the World Title at the "Bash at the Beach" PPV in 2000. Now, at first, another guy named Jeff Jarrett who is also very well known in wrestling circles, had the World Title and was set to defend against Hulk Hogan. Now, Hogan was supposed to look really strong in his match but NOT leave with the title as Jarrett was going to lose it later that night to Booker T. Hogan didn't like this finish and so it was devised that they would do it in a "shoot" setting. They would work Jarrett and have him think that Hogan was not going to do the job of losing and have Jarrett lay down for Hogan. Jarrett did this just as planned and Hogan left the building with his belt while there would be another belt put on the line later on between Jarett and Booker T. All of this would be tied in by a scathing promo cut by Russo himself to set up the Booker T/Jarrett match. A match that would end with Booker T winning the title and off they would go. This event would also strip Russo of his spirit according to the next chapter in the book. He also goes on to chronicle the end of WCW up until it's demise in March of 2001 and how it effected him physically, mentally and emotionally.
Another intersesting and notw-worthy part of the book has to deal with someone coming out at the time this book was being written and calling Vince Russo a racist. This accusation came from the simple fact that Vince did not think that Ernest Miller (an up and coming African-American wrestler who actually had a role in the movie "The Wrestler" a couple years ago) did not need his Japanese manager, So, of course, the certain Japanese manager had to air his grievances to certain dirt sheets and anyone who would listen.
Now in the book, Vince Russo talks about something else that apparently got him labeled as a racist and that was his attitufe towards foreign wrestlers. I bring this up because there are a few things in this book that I agree with and this is one of those things. When asked by a magazine his thoughts on foreign wrestlers, he pointed out two issues that foreign wrestlers face and they are very true in the world of pro wrestling.
Fact #1: Most foreign wrestlers wear a mask. This eliminates a very important aspect of story telling and that is facial expressions. How can you get a wrestler over if the fans never know what emotions are going on behind the mask they wear? It's really hard to build any kind of character if the audience cannot tell what your emotions are in certain situations.
Fact #2: The Language Barrier. Just like not being able to tell facial expressions, how can we know what a wrestler's response is to a situation if we can't tell what they are saying? Many foreign wrestlers have English speaking managers but then the focus goes on the manager and not the wrestler. There have been many great athletes come through the ranks of the WWE that could never get over just because of that language barrier.
Vince next discusses probably the most famous storyline he had come across while in WCW. The angle that got a very talented but very under-appreciated wrestler named Booker T the World Title at the "Bash at the Beach" PPV in 2000. Now, at first, another guy named Jeff Jarrett who is also very well known in wrestling circles, had the World Title and was set to defend against Hulk Hogan. Now, Hogan was supposed to look really strong in his match but NOT leave with the title as Jarrett was going to lose it later that night to Booker T. Hogan didn't like this finish and so it was devised that they would do it in a "shoot" setting. They would work Jarrett and have him think that Hogan was not going to do the job of losing and have Jarrett lay down for Hogan. Jarrett did this just as planned and Hogan left the building with his belt while there would be another belt put on the line later on between Jarett and Booker T. All of this would be tied in by a scathing promo cut by Russo himself to set up the Booker T/Jarrett match. A match that would end with Booker T winning the title and off they would go. This event would also strip Russo of his spirit according to the next chapter in the book. He also goes on to chronicle the end of WCW up until it's demise in March of 2001 and how it effected him physically, mentally and emotionally.
Book Review Log - Week 4
Now we are off into chapter 19. Here we get more into the teeth of Vince Russo's on-air career at WCW after his initial suspension and his true thoughts on the main event talent in WCW at the time. But yet at the same time, he's not done preaching about the world around us and how we are all just wanting to gain acceptance in the world. And on we go to the wrestling aspect again...
One thing he does talk about in chapter 19 is how it was so much better for him in the WWE just due to the fact that it was only him and Ed Ferrara doing the booking there. In WCW, the big problem Russo had (and I agree with him on this point) was the fact that WCW wanted to do everything by committee. He talks about how easy it was to include everyone in the show with only 2 people booking as it was easier for ideas to become reality. This was lost on the WCW personnel that he had to report to and therefore not everyone was included in the show because ideas would get lost in the shuffle.
Vince also brings up the fact that Bischoff wouldn't judge the shows until after they aired as opposed to shooting down ideas before they aired. I don't know how to feel about this statement because alot of times ideas that look good on paper don't carry over as well on screen. I know there have been actors in shows in movies that thought the scripts they were working with were great until they saw them in action. Sometimes it's also the talent that turns a good idea on it's ear just by not being able to follow through on their ends. These are just some thoughts of mine though so take them for what they're worth.
He also dives into his relationship with Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair in this part of the book. He defends himself alot here by talking about how much of a fan he was of both of them before working with them but how he had to deal with them and their egos during his stint in WCW. He compares Flair and Hogan to the likes of Pete Rose, Willie Mays, and other legendary athletes who knew when to call it quits. I also totally agree with Russo here. Ric Flair is still out there wrestling on occasion and to me, every time he steps in the ring it does a little more damage to his legendary legacy. Add to that the fact that Hogan wrestles and refuses to lose to anyone or return favors when he is asked and you have situations that are almost impossible for a writer to deal with. How are you going to appease your two biggest stars while keeping your product fresh and new with newer talent being showcased? It was an almost impossible situation.
One thing he does talk about in chapter 19 is how it was so much better for him in the WWE just due to the fact that it was only him and Ed Ferrara doing the booking there. In WCW, the big problem Russo had (and I agree with him on this point) was the fact that WCW wanted to do everything by committee. He talks about how easy it was to include everyone in the show with only 2 people booking as it was easier for ideas to become reality. This was lost on the WCW personnel that he had to report to and therefore not everyone was included in the show because ideas would get lost in the shuffle.
Vince also brings up the fact that Bischoff wouldn't judge the shows until after they aired as opposed to shooting down ideas before they aired. I don't know how to feel about this statement because alot of times ideas that look good on paper don't carry over as well on screen. I know there have been actors in shows in movies that thought the scripts they were working with were great until they saw them in action. Sometimes it's also the talent that turns a good idea on it's ear just by not being able to follow through on their ends. These are just some thoughts of mine though so take them for what they're worth.
He also dives into his relationship with Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair in this part of the book. He defends himself alot here by talking about how much of a fan he was of both of them before working with them but how he had to deal with them and their egos during his stint in WCW. He compares Flair and Hogan to the likes of Pete Rose, Willie Mays, and other legendary athletes who knew when to call it quits. I also totally agree with Russo here. Ric Flair is still out there wrestling on occasion and to me, every time he steps in the ring it does a little more damage to his legendary legacy. Add to that the fact that Hogan wrestles and refuses to lose to anyone or return favors when he is asked and you have situations that are almost impossible for a writer to deal with. How are you going to appease your two biggest stars while keeping your product fresh and new with newer talent being showcased? It was an almost impossible situation.
Reading log week 3
Again we return to the random diaries of Vince Russo and his exploits in WCW and beyond. When we last left this book, I believe Vince was just beginning his tenure with WCW and was not flattering them with his writing style. As we move on now, we find that his meetings do not go as he wants.
Only 3 months after his hiring at WCW, Vince is told that he is being suspended and obviously, he's very disappointed with the suspension. He leaves us in chapter 14 with more thoughts about how God needs to be in control of our lives more and does not pick his book back up for another 21 months.
These 21 months were spent soul searching and looking for his place in the world. I don't really think this stuff would appeal to wrestling fans but you never know. He does talk about how he ran a promotion called Ring of Glory, which was centered around finding wrestlers in the Christian faith and running shows with religion in the forefront. He talks about how it only ran two shows because of it was impossible to find churches where he could do the shows. I wonder why that was such an issue for a guy that was in charge of the WWE crative process when Sable went topless during a show with only a painted on handprint covering up her vital areas? I know there are alot of religous people involved in pro wrestling but what kind of conflicts are you going to get when everyone in the company is religious and everyone in the audience knows they are? Just a thought....
Anyway, Vince begins chapter 17 of the book on a basic tirade getting back to what the book is really about, how WCW killed him. He goes through his rant and talks about how Time/Warner and everyone else associated with TNT looked down on WCW. He also goes through his relationship with Eric Bischoff and how they were supposed to try and work together in 2000. He goes into great detail about their previous meetings in 1996 or 1997 and how neither of them trusted the other person. How they are totally different people who enjoyed working with different levels of talent. According to Vince, he was a "blue-collar guy" who enjoyed working with all the talent while Eric just liked dealing with the main eventers and such. Now, I'll never know how much of that is true. I'm just doing a review on this book for now.
Now in concluding the chapter I'm going to talk about here, Vince brings up the storyline they came up with together and how Vince was supposed to make his on-screen debut in WCW as an ally of the younger talent in the company called the "New Blood" while they were being held down by the older talent on the roster, named the "Millionaire's Club".
Only 3 months after his hiring at WCW, Vince is told that he is being suspended and obviously, he's very disappointed with the suspension. He leaves us in chapter 14 with more thoughts about how God needs to be in control of our lives more and does not pick his book back up for another 21 months.
These 21 months were spent soul searching and looking for his place in the world. I don't really think this stuff would appeal to wrestling fans but you never know. He does talk about how he ran a promotion called Ring of Glory, which was centered around finding wrestlers in the Christian faith and running shows with religion in the forefront. He talks about how it only ran two shows because of it was impossible to find churches where he could do the shows. I wonder why that was such an issue for a guy that was in charge of the WWE crative process when Sable went topless during a show with only a painted on handprint covering up her vital areas? I know there are alot of religous people involved in pro wrestling but what kind of conflicts are you going to get when everyone in the company is religious and everyone in the audience knows they are? Just a thought....
Anyway, Vince begins chapter 17 of the book on a basic tirade getting back to what the book is really about, how WCW killed him. He goes through his rant and talks about how Time/Warner and everyone else associated with TNT looked down on WCW. He also goes through his relationship with Eric Bischoff and how they were supposed to try and work together in 2000. He goes into great detail about their previous meetings in 1996 or 1997 and how neither of them trusted the other person. How they are totally different people who enjoyed working with different levels of talent. According to Vince, he was a "blue-collar guy" who enjoyed working with all the talent while Eric just liked dealing with the main eventers and such. Now, I'll never know how much of that is true. I'm just doing a review on this book for now.
Now in concluding the chapter I'm going to talk about here, Vince brings up the storyline they came up with together and how Vince was supposed to make his on-screen debut in WCW as an ally of the younger talent in the company called the "New Blood" while they were being held down by the older talent on the roster, named the "Millionaire's Club".
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Week 2 review
During week 2 of this class assignment, I further explore Vince Russo's autobiography: "Rope Opera: How WCW Killed Vince Russo". Now, first off, I need to apologize for the error I made in the first review of this book. I accidentally forgot to include the "Rope Opera" part of the title so I apologize. On to the review!
When we last left this book, we were talking about how Disco Inferno likes martian invasion angles. As we proceed further into the book, Vince goes into his love for Barry Bonds (and attempts to make excuses for his alleged use of steroids), he talks about his first days at WCW, his encounters with WCW personnel J.J. Dillon and Bill Busch and how the meetings with them went after the first few weeks at his new job. He also goes over an incident with Dillon where Dillon was talking trash on Vince within earshot of Vince and how that confrontation turned out.
The middle of the book is alot more focused on his time at WCW than the rest of the book. He goes over how he brought up the idea of former UFC champion Tank Abbott winning the World title and how that went over. You would think upon reading that last line that having a former UFC champion as your champion would be a good thing but in Abbott's case, it wasn't. While being tough and rugged is good in the MMA field, being that way in pro wrestling does you a limited amount of good. In order to be successful in pro wrestling, the best thing to be is athletic and easy to work with. Tank Abbot was neither of these. He was also terrible on the microphone, which is considered a great equalizer. So the idea of him being anything but a lower level champion was ludicrous. Almost as ridiculous as having David Arquette as the World Champion but that's another story for another blog.
One thing that is interesting about the book, and I'm not really sure how I feel about it, is Vince's constant commentary about his Christian faith. He refers to it a great deal throughout the book and uses it to reference the decisions he makes through his life and so forth. Some people, one of my friends included, may feel he talks about it to excess. I know if I were having an intimate conversation of any kind with mr. Russo, then it would bother me to have to talk about it so much but in this book setting, it's a little different. It may be because I've been one to ridicule the storylines and angles he has been known to create throughout his career, it's nice to know that he has something such as religion in his life.
When we last left this book, we were talking about how Disco Inferno likes martian invasion angles. As we proceed further into the book, Vince goes into his love for Barry Bonds (and attempts to make excuses for his alleged use of steroids), he talks about his first days at WCW, his encounters with WCW personnel J.J. Dillon and Bill Busch and how the meetings with them went after the first few weeks at his new job. He also goes over an incident with Dillon where Dillon was talking trash on Vince within earshot of Vince and how that confrontation turned out.
The middle of the book is alot more focused on his time at WCW than the rest of the book. He goes over how he brought up the idea of former UFC champion Tank Abbott winning the World title and how that went over. You would think upon reading that last line that having a former UFC champion as your champion would be a good thing but in Abbott's case, it wasn't. While being tough and rugged is good in the MMA field, being that way in pro wrestling does you a limited amount of good. In order to be successful in pro wrestling, the best thing to be is athletic and easy to work with. Tank Abbot was neither of these. He was also terrible on the microphone, which is considered a great equalizer. So the idea of him being anything but a lower level champion was ludicrous. Almost as ridiculous as having David Arquette as the World Champion but that's another story for another blog.
One thing that is interesting about the book, and I'm not really sure how I feel about it, is Vince's constant commentary about his Christian faith. He refers to it a great deal throughout the book and uses it to reference the decisions he makes through his life and so forth. Some people, one of my friends included, may feel he talks about it to excess. I know if I were having an intimate conversation of any kind with mr. Russo, then it would bother me to have to talk about it so much but in this book setting, it's a little different. It may be because I've been one to ridicule the storylines and angles he has been known to create throughout his career, it's nice to know that he has something such as religion in his life.
Book review week 1
I'm starting my weekly blogging with a pro wrestling book called "How WCW Killed Vince Russo". Now, to start off with this title is just a play on words. There have been many tragic deaths of wrestlers and wrestling personalities over the past few years but Vince Russo has not officially died yet. Now, to clear up the play on words, I must first let you in on who exactly Vince Russo is.
Vince Russo was the head writer for the creative team in World Wrestling Entertainment or the WWE (then called the World Wrestling Federation, or WWF, but for simplicity's sake, it'll be referred to as the WWE from now on) back in the 1990's. He was credited for being a big part of the success of the WWE back in the "Attitude" era of the mid to late 1990's. The chief rival of the WWE at the time was a long-standing organization known as World Champoinship Wrestling, or WCW. A VERY creative moniker but that's another story. Anyway, Vince Russo was an integral part of the WWE overcoming WCW in the ratings war of the 1990's and in 1999, he decided to leave WWE for a larger contract in WCW. Alot of the reason he chose to leave was due to his feelings toward WWE President, Vince McMahon, but again, another story for later on.
Now, to explain the title of the book, Vince Russo took over the creative dept. of WCW in October of 1999, at a time when WCW needed a big boost that they were hoping he would help provide. After only 3 months on the job, he was suspended by the company. In March of 2001, the company was sold to Vince McMahon and was unceremoniously absolved. To alot of fans and with the help of some wrestlers over the years, the demise of WCW has been widely attributed to the fact that Russo was the man behind alot of bad storylines during the last two years of their existence. Thus the creation of the term, "Vince Russo killed WCW". Now whether this is fair or not is up for debate but in this book, Russo takes his chance and tells his side of the story, along with some other stuff I didn't know about him.
At the beginning of this blog, I'm already about 1/3 of the way through the book. I pick this review up in chapter 10 after he talks about his childhood a little bit and his reasons for initially leaving WWE the first time. Do we see a problem with that last sentence? One thing I have a problem with through the whole book is the fact that he jumps around alot. He explains it in the book as a way for him to make sure that you, the reader, reads the whole book and not just skip to the parts you want to read. To me, this is just the wrong way to write and I hate it. I've read several books that took you through their lives in cronological order without much of an issue. Only really dry books like Bret Hart's presented an issue with this and I made it through that one just fine.
Now I can do a little review in peace now that I have covered that. The 2 hours I spent reading this started with chapter 10 entitled, "Disco Doesn't Suck". This chapter covers Vince's relationship with Glenn Gilberti, AKA The Disco Inferno. For those of you who don't know, Disco Inferno was never really all that popular in WCW. He was ok but it's really hard to believe that Disco is this great TV genius with all these great ideas when his claim to fame is coming out like John Travolta and dancing the night away. But never-the-less, Vince tries to put him over as best he can while describing Disco's best idea as one involving a martian invasion storyline in which they invade and we find out one of the announcers is one and he is the mastermind behind it all. I'll end this review with that thought in your head and return next week for further commentary on this epic classic.
Vince Russo was the head writer for the creative team in World Wrestling Entertainment or the WWE (then called the World Wrestling Federation, or WWF, but for simplicity's sake, it'll be referred to as the WWE from now on) back in the 1990's. He was credited for being a big part of the success of the WWE back in the "Attitude" era of the mid to late 1990's. The chief rival of the WWE at the time was a long-standing organization known as World Champoinship Wrestling, or WCW. A VERY creative moniker but that's another story. Anyway, Vince Russo was an integral part of the WWE overcoming WCW in the ratings war of the 1990's and in 1999, he decided to leave WWE for a larger contract in WCW. Alot of the reason he chose to leave was due to his feelings toward WWE President, Vince McMahon, but again, another story for later on.
Now, to explain the title of the book, Vince Russo took over the creative dept. of WCW in October of 1999, at a time when WCW needed a big boost that they were hoping he would help provide. After only 3 months on the job, he was suspended by the company. In March of 2001, the company was sold to Vince McMahon and was unceremoniously absolved. To alot of fans and with the help of some wrestlers over the years, the demise of WCW has been widely attributed to the fact that Russo was the man behind alot of bad storylines during the last two years of their existence. Thus the creation of the term, "Vince Russo killed WCW". Now whether this is fair or not is up for debate but in this book, Russo takes his chance and tells his side of the story, along with some other stuff I didn't know about him.
At the beginning of this blog, I'm already about 1/3 of the way through the book. I pick this review up in chapter 10 after he talks about his childhood a little bit and his reasons for initially leaving WWE the first time. Do we see a problem with that last sentence? One thing I have a problem with through the whole book is the fact that he jumps around alot. He explains it in the book as a way for him to make sure that you, the reader, reads the whole book and not just skip to the parts you want to read. To me, this is just the wrong way to write and I hate it. I've read several books that took you through their lives in cronological order without much of an issue. Only really dry books like Bret Hart's presented an issue with this and I made it through that one just fine.
Now I can do a little review in peace now that I have covered that. The 2 hours I spent reading this started with chapter 10 entitled, "Disco Doesn't Suck". This chapter covers Vince's relationship with Glenn Gilberti, AKA The Disco Inferno. For those of you who don't know, Disco Inferno was never really all that popular in WCW. He was ok but it's really hard to believe that Disco is this great TV genius with all these great ideas when his claim to fame is coming out like John Travolta and dancing the night away. But never-the-less, Vince tries to put him over as best he can while describing Disco's best idea as one involving a martian invasion storyline in which they invade and we find out one of the announcers is one and he is the mastermind behind it all. I'll end this review with that thought in your head and return next week for further commentary on this epic classic.
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