The Shotgun Effect…
My old photography teacher used to say that you need to shoot an entire roll of film to get one good photo. He must have retired and gone onto work for the WWE as that seems to be their approach to finding the next breakout star. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
With WWE’s NXT season four just ending, season five coming down the mountain right behind it, Tough Enough returning with much fanfare, and The Miz still going into WrestleMania as the champ, it is clear that new faces will still be showing up on WWE television. The hope has to be that out of this group, one or two will not only stick, but excel all the way to the top… the top being a continued main event push and a few top selling T-shirts. It’s the shotgun effect. Most of you men use it for dating.
To date NXT has to be considered a success just based on season one alone; which gave us Nexus and Daniel Bryan. Though the original Nexus is fading away you still have Wade Barrett as a potential major player and Daniel Bryan as the United States champion. Season two gave us A-Ri, McGillicutty and Harris, all who still might one day make an impact. Season three gave us Kaitlyn and her legs.
I did not watch much more than five minutes of season four thanks to it being an Internet-only show and, to be honest, if not for Joey Styles’ Tuesday night tweets I probably would not have much of a clue about what happened. I think the winner gets a tag team title shot on a pay-per-view… or at a Superstars taping… or in Michael Hayes’ office… I can’t remember. However, thanks to the aforementioned Styles tweets and other Net-based hype, I’m eagerly awaiting to see what winner Johnny Curtis, curly coiffed Derrick Bateman, and monster Brodus Clay can do on the big stage.
Tough Enough is the wild card. With 14 “contestants” ready for a prime Monday slot under the watchful eyes of Stone Cold, Trish Stratus, Booker T, and General Hugh G. Rection, we are going to get another blast of the talent shotgun. The style is different and a tad more raw, so it’s harder to get a gauge on who will one day make an impact. Tough Enough has done its job in the past. Yeah, it gave us Maven and Jackie Gayda, but that’s been balanced by The Miz and John Morrison. (And TNA thanks you for Matt Morgan.) Yet, again, The Miz and Morrison are a loooonnnngggg way away from their Tough Enough days. Still… 14 more faces is 14 more chances to find another new champion.
This continues to be a key time for the WWE as they not only have to build for the future; they have to find someone else to hang their hat on. They need a franchise player. (Unless this Drew McIntyre is not the Drew McIntyre everyone was once talking about.) So, I applaud the WWE’s shotgun effect… it’s actually fun to watch and should produce enough talent for Triple H to destroy with one promo about there not being anyone else in the WWE locker room worth fighting.
Rankings (That don’t really matter)
1.) Sheamus, Lobster Head- Wow. This is one of the quickest and most public humblings in the history of broadcast television. It’s up there with Connie Chung. They didn’t even let him wear his cape and Elf crown this week. I don’t know what he did or didn’t do backstage, but I’m ranking him number one out of pity.
2.) Cody Rhodes, Dusty’s boy- The continued growth and evolution of the “Dashing” character is starting to reap rewards with a layering that produces funny lines and intense moments. And the Rhodes/ Mysterio feud is at least a different paring that is interesting to watch. Loved seeing Dusty come out, too. I wonder if Sapphire has a daughter?
3.) The Bellas, Evil Twins- They’ve gone from Raw host arm candy to trying to deflower the U.S. Champ to getting Gail Kim back on TV to Diva title’s contenders. This would all mean something if the Diva’s division did.
4.) Jeff and Karen’s priest, TNA day player- His confused and appalled reaction in the chapel while talking to Jeff and Karen pretty much spoke for all of us.
5.) Jimmy Hart, recognized mouthpiece of the Southern region- He took a look around the TNA landscape and said, “Gotta go!” That has to be worth something.
The "Why you should really love Indy wrestling" award of the week on page 2>>>
