*Saw that Eric Stein wanted credit for being the most popular writer at wrestlezone.com. Let yours truly be the first to give him some props. Congratulations, Eric! You’re the most popular writer at an internet wrestling site! Whoo-hoo! I guess the best comparison to that honor that i can make is that it would be the equivalent of getting voted Man of the Year at a Dungeons and Dragons convention.
*Kevin Kelly’s article should read “Disco is ALWAYS right.” Good to see someone else with half a brain agree with my assessment that wrestlers should learn to work a gimmick, instead of learning how to beat the piss out of each other.
*Gotta disagree with Mark Madden on his assumption that comedy doesn’t draw. That fallacy has been around for so long that it’s still used as a guideline of how to book an angle. It would have merit if there hasn’t been SO MUCH evidence to the contrary. First of all, what does the term “draw money” mean? I would contend that it means draw fans, which has shown over the years to draw money. The Rock and Mick Foley are two of the funniest wrestlers in the history of the business, so it would be foolish and ignorant to say they didn’t draw. Stone Cold is funny. Vince Mcmahon is funny. I would actually like someone to point out to me, since I can’t actually recall, anything that those guys did that was funny that led to a decline in viewership, ratings, or earnings. Then maybe I would agree that comedy doesn’t draw. As for his Kurt Angle assumption, Angle has shown time and time again that when it’s time to be vicious, he can be vicious. What the TNA haters fail to see is that when he wants to be funny, Kurt is really good at it. You should never restrict a wrestler’s ability to entertain just because you think that comedy doesn’t draw.
*What happened to Tommy Fierro? I know I’m not the only one that misses his ridiculous angles. Rumor has it that he’s been hired by The National Enquirer, and that he’s the one that’s been booking this A-Rod Madonna angle.
*I love how this “Greatest Wrestler in the World” thing got so blown up. I read one thing on the web where a guy posted an article stating “Disco Inferno says Danielson can’t wrestle.” That’s interesting, because I actually said that the guy was pretty good, but that he wasn’t “The best wrestler in the world.” Now maybe I’m confused, but why am I the heel in this case? Does everyone actually think this guy is the best in the world? Better than Shawn Michaels, HHH, Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, Disco Inferno, and all the other living legends? I’m sorry people. But the ROH internet pundits remind me too much of the ECW pundits of yesteryear in their praises of their favorites. And how good did those ECW guys turn out when the history books are finally written? And Eddie and Benoit don’t count as ECW guys, btw. When the history books are written, the best wrestlers in the world are going to be remembered for rocking the house in front of 20,000 people on ppvs, not in front of 800 internet nerds at The Madison Square Guard Armory in Peabody, Massachusettes. That was a funny line.
*When I started writing on this site, i wrote about how the internet is hurting the business. In this day and age you can’t do angles based on realism. So when you go the other route and go over the top, it’s shot down as being too hokey. Nothing shows that evidence better than the recent Kaz angle. Now I personally don’t know if it’s a shoot or not, since i haven’t spoken to anyone involved, but I couldn’t believe how the bloodthirsty internet news people couldn’t wait to get the story up on the various sites that it was a work before the angle ever got a chance to get shown on tv. Think about that. They wouldn’t even give the fans a chance to try and suspend disbelief. “KAZ FIRING IS A WORK! WHEN YOU WATCH IMPACT THIS THURSDAY, REMEMBER THAT IT’S JUST AN ANGLE!” I think that I would be hard pressed to find a counter argument that the professional wrestling business could live without the wrestling “news” sites. I honestly don’t think any of them like wrestling, that instead they just live for no other purpose than to show the 5 percent of the fanbase that thinks it’s real that they’re smarter than they are.
*I said in the forums recently that i respect alot of the opinions of some of the fans on the message boards. Of course, no one believed me, so let me feel free to give some props to some of the posts in the forums which i feel shows that the internet is not 100% filled with imbeciles.
Slyfox 696: “If I’m a MMA fan and don’t watch wrestling, why would I be entertained by two guys pretending to do MMA, when I can watch the real thing? Gilbertti’s point was that you’re not going to entertain MMA fans with fake MMA, especially since one of the biggest appeals to MMA is the fact that it IS real.”
RatedR69: “Hey Glenn/Disco, just want to say thanks for all the work you do here, despite putting up with all the “fans” who hate TNA just because it’s Tuesday, and nothing else. I’m in a hurry, but I’ll leave with this (and I don’t want to start a politics flame war, just tellin it like it is):
Sean Hannity has a saying that goes something like, “Barack Obama has over 15 billion press secretaries–they’re called the MAIN STREAMED MEDIA!!”
Well, the same goes for wrestling: WWE(or every wrestling organization other than TNA) has has over 15 billion press secretaries–they’re called the INTERNET WRESTLING COMMUNITY!!! Oh it’s true. The only exception is that, this site, the Observer, etc. are the MTV’s, CNN’s, and MSNBC’s in the wrestling world, where a “Fox News” does NOT exist.”
paulsoprano: “To be fair, I think what GG means is that it would be rare for your average TV viewer to analyze a TV show’s ratings like a lot of “experts” on the net do.
Can you imagine, for instance, if they did a quarter-by-quarter dissection for a show like Lost?
If Meltzer of Keller critiqued Lost, it’d probably go something like:
“The show started with 15 million viewers, but they lost 156,000 when Sawyer and Jack built a raft. This “friendship” storyline is not over with the viewers, and they haven’t properly established who the face is. People tuned out because of this!
The flashback with Ben gained 226,000 viewers, because everyone loves flashbacks! This emphasizes that the viewers like watching a monster heel. Ben has been well booked in this feud, which makes you think what creative is doing with the rest of the show. Strong build, people!!!
The next quarter, featuring Kate in a thong, gained 100,000 viewers initially, but lost 300,000 by the end of the segment when she had some dialog with Hurley. Hurley is over as a face, but he wasn’t booked strongly here, as Kate got most of the lines. Traditionally, fans will tune out when there’s too much talking and not enough action.
The show felt very rushed and they are trying to be too cute. The last quarter, where Sawyer turned on Jack, was so obvious. It also failed to gain any new viewers. The show had some alarming trends and finished lower than it started.”
The overanalyses and convenient/self-serving conclusions are pretty scary when you look at in this sort of context, are they not?””
*I’m going to start a campaign on this site. From now on, anyone with a brain can be a part of THE DISCO NATION, where we will attack the sheep and blind followers of the wrestling “news” pundits. We will think logically, and attack rumors with cold hard facts to defend our arguments. We will be considered cool, because we’re not going to be nerds. If you want to be a member, let me know in the official Glenn Gilbertti thread in the TNA forums. I might have you submit to an online i.q. test if I feel your competency is in question.
Please don’t try this at home.
