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CALDWELL'S TAKE
CALDWELL: Controversy over Nigel McGuinness promo centers on work vs. shoot Jan 5, 2008 - 3:10:54 AM
After taking a few days to gather information on the Nigel McGuinness situation, and having just watched his promo on ROH's Video Wire, I've come to a conclusion. Work vs. Shoot has reared its ugly head again.
The background story goes that ROH champion Nigel McGuinness reportedly suffered a concussion at the PPV taping in New York City last Saturday. He was scheduled to defend the title the following night for "Final Battle," but he opted not to wrestle due to the lingering effects of concussion. Nigel was criticized by some fans. Nigel responded vehemently in his own defense.
After watching Nigel's promo with the fan reaction in the arena, the thought of work vs. shoot played over and over in my head. OK, so Nigel was a little loopy. But, how much of his staggered walk to the ring before his promo was a little "wrestling business" to dramatize the concussion? How much of it was Nigel legit incapacitated?
Granted, the thought may have come to mind since I had just watched The Rock vs. Triple H vs. Kurt Angle from Summerslam 2000 where Kurt Angle took a stretcher ride for a storyline after ironically suffering a legit concussion. (WWE 24/7 is great, by the way.)
Back to the point. After witnessing countless stretcher jobs, injury angles, and worked shoot promos, such as Samoa Joe's promo at TNA's last PPV, fans have been trained to doubt the validity of a promo just like the one Nigel delivered on Sunday. On Sunday, the majority of fans showed respect for Nigel when he protected himself and his body - as he should have - but the wrestling business has planted the seeds of doubt in the minds of every fan for so long, that even the most convinced fan will have a little bit of skepticism.
Was it a storyline to set up a new chapter in Nigel's career? Was Nigel medically cleared, but he opted to play up the potential storyline? Based on the content of Nigel's response, the answer to both questions is no. But, based on everything fans have seen from the wrestling business, those are legitimate questions to ask.
Those legitimate questions turned into doubt when Nigel cut his promo on Sunday. Fans booed, hissed, and chanted "Drop-the-title." Other fans tried to drown out the negativity aimed toward Nigel, but that negativity is a product of the very nature of the wrestling business that Nigel is a part of.
Too many lazy bookers and short-term thinkers have screwed the wrestling business trying to get cheap reactions from fans, to where anything that appears to be perfectly legitimate - such as Nigel sitting out a show to not risk further injury - seems fuzzy, or at least worthy of skepticism. Fans don't want to be worked. They don't want to be "marks" and have another wrestler or booker pull the carpet out from under them.
The society we live in laughs and points fingers as gullible people. No one wants to fall for another trick. So, some fans, such as the "negative fans" in New York City last Sunday, choose to express doubt and show skepticism. That's what created the controversy over Nigel pulling out of his match on Sunday. That's what will continue to hang over the wrestling business like a dark cloud reserved for the ultimate con business.
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