MAILBAG: Trying To Sort Through The Memphis Tapes Fiasco

SEScoops Mailbag for March 31st

(submit YOUR questions to sescoops@gmail.com)

Q: Watching Raw over the last month, I can’t help but feel what a missed opportunity WrestleMania 27 is going to be. You have John Cena and The Rock in a series of verbal spars with absolutely no payoff (aside from some great one-liners). Why tease it? Also, it’s completely overshadowing Cena’s match against The Miz for the WWE championship. Why not have Cena face Rock in a dream match and have Miz defend the title against someone else? The only practical answer I can come up with is that maybe Rock can’t wrestle due to some stipulation in a contract with a movie studio. Is this possible? – Matt

A: If Rock were filming a movie as we speak, it’s very possible, even practical, to think that the movie studio would either limit or totally prohibit any physicial activity. But he’s not, so that doesn’t make any sense. I believe Rock had an idea for what he wanted to do at WrestleMania and was dead serious about staying retired, as we had stated in dozens of interviews over the years. When he came back on Raw, he was overwhelmed by the response and started having a lot of fun jabbing back and forth with John Cena, to the point that he started to have a change of heart. The last few weeks, his tune seems to have changed and he doesn’t say he’ll never wrestle again. Unfortunately, this all came too little, too late for this year’s WrestleMania. Had things been different, I would have booked Rock vs. Cena with Miz defending the WWE Title in a Ladder Match against John Morrison.

Q: Why is WWE pushing down main event guys like Wade Barrett and Sheamus? – Boabel

A: They’ve always built guys up only to break them back down. I’m convinced it’s some sort of psychological exercise that Vince puts them through. To be fair though, Wade Barrett totally overachieved and got a bigger push than anyone ever would have imagined right out of the gate. He’s a very good performer, but he’s about at the level he should be right now. With Sheamus, I would not have turned him into a jabroni the way that they did. Another egregious example of this would be the late Andrew Martin (Test), who was one of the biggest babyfaces in the entire company coming out of his 1999 Summerslam match against Shane McMahon before they cut his legs off and killed all of his heat.

Q: Given the current landscape in TNA, how would you close the Immortal storyline in the least screwy and strongest possible way? I feel TNA will need to have strong close to this angle for them to ever have a good chance of rebuilding their credibility going into some sort of new age or era. I maintain that a lot of the hate geared towards TNA at present is because they failed a lot of their fan base when they stopped being a viable alternative to WWE and decided to give Hogan & Bischoff the ropes. The last time they worked this angle (which seems to be the only one they know) they were ‘in power’ the finish was their company being bought out by WWE. What would you do to [ensure] TNA doesn’t suffer a repeat of history? – Dan, London, UK

A: It’s 2011 and I can’t believe I’m still watching Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff as heel leaders of a faction on TV. Back in its early days, TNA went out of its way to market itself as an alternative to WWE, as you said, whereas in the last several years, they’ve decided to be WWE Lite. They will always fail at this because nobody does what WWE does better than WWE (good, bad or otherwise). They have their brand of sports entertainment that, if duplicated, will always be looked at as a copy. If I had the book in TNA, I’d decide which 5 young stars I want to build my company around and begin plotting an exit strategy for this Immortal storyline whereby the babyfaces are not made to look like fools (as they so often are), but rather, they begin conspiring to turn Hulk and Eric against each other. All roads lead to some sort of elimination match for control of the company, which the babyfaces win. At that point, it’s sayonara Hulkster and time to rally around guys like A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe, Kazarian and Robert Roode to help get that company back on track.

Q: I read somewhere that the reason WWE is burying Kofi Kingston is because of Kingston’s attitude in the locker room. Several superstars have complained about Kingston being pushy and bossy backstage. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Kingston on the chopping block. What do you think? – Rachel

A: I’ve never heard a bad word said or read anything about Kofi’s demeanor or backstage attitude. I suppose one can never be certain, but I’m calling bullshit on these rumors until I hear otherwise. That doesn’t mean Kingston isn’t at risk of being released after WrestleMania considering the way he’s been treated of late. If I had to bet, I’d say his job is safe.

Q: I was wondering did everybody not realize when they made the Nexus they were copying the nWo. – Dallas

A: Holy shit, I never realized. Thank you for the insight.

Q: So I just remembered on May 25, 2009 when Mr. Kennedy made a surprise return on Raw and worked a five on five match. What happened with him? He was there for one night and then disappeared without an explanation. I read somewhere he was released after four days, but why would they do that? – Julian

A: Ahh yes, the Denver Debacle. This was when WWE was booted from the Pepsi Center when the Denver Nuggets NBA team made it to the playoffs and their game was given priority over a Raw taping the same night. WWE was forced to move their show to the Staples Center in L.A. where they hosted a five-on-five tag team main event that included a returning Mister Kennedy. Unfortunately for him, he made the mistake of dropping Randy Orton the wrong way on a back suplex. Orton, who’s known for having a short fuse and has broken his clavicle twice, was none too happy about it backstage after the match and chewed out Kennedy in front of everyone for being an unsafe worker. Shortly thereafter, he was gone from the company. The reality is that several top stars (allegedly including John Cena and Shawn Michaels) had complained to Vince McMahon about Kennedy and this was the straw that broke the camel’s toe.

Q: Why doesn’t WWE release a documentary on Memphis wrestling? Thinking about it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen USWA or CWA footage on WWE programming. Being from Memphis, I watched an excellent documentary on Memphis wrestling called “Memphis Heat: The True Story of Memphis Wrestling.” So many great moments in the industry happened in the Memphis territory: Lawler-Kaufman, Rocky Johnson, Jimmy Hart’s faction, Jackie Fargo’s strut, Tojo Yamamoto’s wooden shoes, the list goes on and on. Even Rock and Undertaker got their starts in Memphis. So, who owns the rights to the Memphis wrestling video library? – Dirk

A: Plain and simple, the reason WWE has not produced a Memphis wrestling DVD or used Memphis footage of any kind on TV is because they don’t own the rights to the library. As far as who actually owns the tapes, that’s an entirely different mess unto itself. Jerry Lawler and Jerry Jarrett were co-owners of the promotion until business began to sag in the mid-90’s thanks to the booming Monday Night Wars between WWE and WCW. In 1997, Lawler got together with a man by the name of Larry Burton to purchase Jerry Jarrett’s half, only to turn around and sell his half to a businessman out of Cleveland named Mark Selker after conning Selker into believing that the USWA was actually a successful national promotion worth millions. Of course, it was neither of those things and the promotion went belly up later that same year. As I understand it, Selker still owns the rights to that footage, which dates back to 1989. Any Memphis master tapes from before then would likely be in Lawler’s possession, though there’s still the question of whether or not he actually owns the rights to use them. If this isn’t confusing enough, Lawler filed a lawsuit last year against Corey Maclin, claiming Maclin went behind his back and sold the rights to all of Lawler’s footage for $20,000 to some phantom buyer who has since produced a 20-volume DVD set, which is now being sold on the internet. No wonder Vince McMahon doesn’t bother with any of the Memphis stuff. He’d have an easier time trying to crack the DaVinci code.

Q: Speaking of FCW, do you ever see the show going on mainstream TV? Smackdown really needs to come off the air already, or get new faces on it. It is the same crap week after week and I would love to see Smackdown get replaced by FCW. – Jeremy County

A: Why would FCW ever be on mainstream, network TV? It’s a regional promotion that serves as a feeder system for WWE, filled with young guys who can’t work and have no name recognition. Moreover, WWE does not want those guys on TV before they make it to Raw, Smackdown or NXT. Now, if their mentality were different, I’d be in favor of offering up either current FCW programming or classic OVW shows on WWE’s Classics on Demand channel, or their eventual cable network. They’re going to need more content anyway and it would be entertaining to watch. But as far as replacing Smackdown on SyFy (which is actually a fine show most weeks), only hold your breath on that one if you promise to move all of your furniture with pointy edges away. I don’t want you hitting your head on it when you pass out.

Q: What happen to that one WCW announcer, Tony Schiavone? Last time I saw him was on TNA in 2003 and I never saw him again. – Eddie Cheese

A: Schiavone also worked for the WWF for a time around 1988-89. As for what he’s been up to, he is currently the play-by-play announcer for the Gwinnett Braves baseball team, Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. He’s also been a morning sports anchor for two different radio stations in the Georgia area and owns his own radio production company. Schiavone has always been a die-hard baseball fan and once remarked in an interview that he would have taken a job in MLB over wrestling, were it offered to him. I always thought he was very good at his job, but he never struck me as someone with a real passion for the business. That said, this may be the greatest question in the history of our sport!

Keep those questions coming to sescoops@gmail.com and remember to include your name!