CALDWELL'S TAKE CORNER CUBE WEDNESDAY: Flair vs. MVP signed for Rumble, ECW thoughts Jan 9, 2008 - 3:50:21 PM

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By James Caldwell, Torch columnist

Updated throughout the day from the corner cubicle, Torch columnist James Caldwell's weekday blog focuses on hot topic current events and other items of interest from around wrestling.

Updated Wednesday, January 9

3:50 p.m. I surely thought there would be some follow-up to Ric Flair's match against Triple H on this week's Raw show, which I brought up in my TV report and in Raw audio with Jamie Penick last night. Thanks to fellow Torch scribe Jon Mezzera, who points out that Flair has apparently been shifted back to Smackdown to feud against MVP. This comes after MVP said he would end Flair's career.

Excuse my enthusiasm to see a follow-up to Ric Flair's latest appearance on Raw, as I missed the boat on the Flair vs. MVP program since the TV that's changing Friday nights is still sitting on the DVR unloved and unwatched. Of course, it would have been nice if the Raw broadcast acknowledged the existence of Smackdown from time-to-time, and by some chance explained why Flair wasn't on Raw this week to reinforce his feud against MVP on Smackdown.

In any event, wwe.com has announced Flair vs. MVP in a singles match at the Royal Rumble with Flair's career on the line. That's a heck of an opportunity for MVP to step up his game inside the ring. If there's one knock against MVP as he's continued to improve, it's that he doesn't have a signature match on his resume other than the Inferno match against Kane. (Mainly because we're still waiting for that Matt Hardy blow-off match.) It's about time MVP has a memorable match to look back on years down the line.

***

11:55 a.m. Ah, ECW. It was a show. Not just any show, but an ECW show. What is an ECW show? Well, it's just an ECW show. The usual cast of characters having the usual matches with the usual finishes with the usual commentary without much unusual about the usual show. In other words, it's just an ECW show.

Every week, it's the same. And every week, I feel good about covering the very predictable and comforting ECW show. Part of the routine on Tuesday nights. Off work at 7:00, eat dinner with my dad while my mom's at Bible study, watch the Rockets, cover ECW, rush to complete Torch Newsletter deadlines, and go to sleep. It's the easiest night of the week.

As part of the routine for ECW on Tuesday night, there was a little bit of C.M. Punk showcasing his skills as champion. There was the usual non-finish to a Punk match, but with the now usual ending of Chavo Guerrero finding some way to lose the match without his shoulders pinned to the mat for three seconds or not crying uncle in submission. There was Miz & Morrison having another decent-to-good tag match with Jimmy Yang & Shannon Moore. There was the usual silly Kelly vs. Layla segment that each week reminds me how much Brooke is missed from Extreme Expose.

But, now, there's Colin Delaney. Soon to be the greatest talent enhancement in the history of wrestling, surpassing greats like Duane Gill and Barry Horowitz. Colin adds a unique flavor to the show. In the patheticness of the character, there is an underlying humor to him. His quiet line about things just not quite going the way he hoped last week against Big Daddy V was priceless. Not even turning around to face Mark Henry when his music hit, as he was still in a state of shock, was even better. It's simply great. Even his subtle reaction to the technical malfunction when the video didn't work was great.

So, now I add the greatness of Colin Delaney to the list of Tuesday night usualness. That is, unless WWE drops the gimmick, like they reduced Santino's mic time. SantinoGate is tough enough to handle, but losing Colin on my Tuesday nights would be too much.

Updated Tuesday, January 8

6:20 p.m. As Wade Keller reported on the main listing, the Raw rating from last night was a subpar 3.2 overall rating. Does it look bad compared to the first week of Raw in previous years? Yes. Should WWE be concerned? Yes. Is there reason to hit the panic button? No.

Looking at Raw last night, it was the first non-holiday (Christmas or NYEve) Raw in three weeks. They weren't up against Monday Night Football, so that should have provided a ratings boost. Unfortunately, there was a college football title game last night. That wasn't the case until the BCS and FOX reformatted the championship game to be scheduled on Monday nights starting with last year's game.

Up against last year's BCS Title game, the Raw rating dropped 0.2 from the previous week. That was from a New Year's Day Raw to a Jan. 8 Raw, which shows how much affect the BCS game had on the Jan. 8 show when a holiday show did better than a regular show. That's usually not the case. (Granted, Kevin Federline was booked on Jan. 1, so that should be taken into consideration.)

Bottom line is that in past years, WWE didn't have to worry about going up against any football during the first week of January unless there was a calendar quirk with a major game occurring on a Monday. The numbers from previous years are going to look better as a result.

The wrestling-related concern is that the first hour of Raw wasn't good. As I wrote about this afternoon, it was a waste of an hour. So, viewers were probably clicking over to football or something else, and didn't bother to return to Raw until the end of the second hour. The Raw Roulette gimmick - which could have been great - gave us a silly Carlito vs. Santino match and a worn-out and tired lingerie pillow fight in the first hour. It wasn't a great use of the gimmick, which was supposed to be drawing viewers to the show.

***

1:05 p.m. Last night's Raw was a good one-hour show. The first hour was pretty much useless other than the video packages, but the second-hour was stellar programming. The rumor going around before Raw was that John Cena was scheduled for some sort of video promo. Fortunately that didn't occur, as I think it would have been a mistake.

Jeff Hardy is the current John Cena. He's ridiculously popular, he pulled off a memorable TV highspot with the Whisper in the Wind off the top of the cage, and his feud against Randy Orton is hot. An appearance by Cena would have served as a distraction from Hardy, who has tremendous momentum right now. WWE has no reason to push Cena out there until he's ready for a full-time return from injury. Hardy is too hot right now as the top babyface in the company.

The big three programs on Raw right now are Hardy vs. Orton, JBL vs. Jericho, and Hunter vs. McMahon's office. JBL vs. Jericho was hot last night. I like the upgrade from Jericho in the facial hair department. Some people just look better with a little growth around the chin. As for the storyline, JBL is such a great heel. Just great. He can barely move in the ring with that Stan Hansen wobble to his walk, but he conveys so much anger from those right hands and facial scowls. I'm assuming bullrope match is coming up at the Rumble or later in the feud, which will allow Jericho to bleed a little and show some fire in a possible victory with JBL getting his comeuppance.

Triple H vs. William Regal was a fine TV match. Regal got to show that he's not just some silly authority figure pushover, but he can fight. Hunter played his role well, but I think it would have meant more in the long-term for Hunter to lose another "big match", then decide it's time to find himself again, which would make that fiery comeback all the more effective. Follow-up is key leading to the Rumble, where we don't even know what Hunter's role will be.

***

10:40 a.m. What a weekend. After taking off Monday to recover from a wild weekend trip of wrestling, more wrestling, barely any sleep, and a red-eye flight home that put me out of commission until Raw, I finally have a chance to put my thoughts down. My first thought is much respect to the wrestlers for the travel schedule they endure 52 weeks out of the year. They're tired. Some are in pain. If they're anything like me, their body clock is thrown way out of whack traveling from city to city and back home again.

I take maybe four or five trips to cover shows per year, and always get sick the second I get home. (My problem is that Houston's weather is the most out-of-whack anywhere in the world. I would put money on that. Everyone here is sick because the winter weather is freezing cold one day, then humid and 80 degrees the next day.)

I digress. Here's a day in the life of a wrestler, just to give everyone an idea of what they go through on a weekly basis. Chris Hero injured his left knee on Sunday during his match against Eddie Kingston. He went to a local hospital to get it checked out, where they fitted him with a knee brace. Only problem is Hero's leg is too big, so even the biggest knee brace they had didn't fit him. So, he's wearing an uncomfortable brace, pain is shooting through his knee, and he has to keep the knee stiff (and unbent) on a plane ride back east later that night. Not exactly a comfortable ride with barely any leg room on a plane.

Now the question becomes how severe the knee injury is. Can he still wrestle? How much time will he need off? How many dates is he going to miss? Fortunately, Hero has insurance, but as one independent wrestler told me a while ago, "If I don't play, there is no pay." It's a bit dramatic, especially if wrestlers save their money for a rainy day, but there is no worker's comp., or union, or formal pool of money for wrestlers to draw from if they're hurt and missing work. (Where's that AFLAC duck when you need it?)

I don't want to turn this into a plea for unions in wrestling because that's not the point. The point that I was reminded of this weekend is that if a wrestler skips a date due to injury, and he's dependent on the date for pay (in other words - no guaranteed money), he's really injured. And wrestlers are pretty much on their own in that situation to tap into their savings account or whatever other source of funds is available to pay bills if they're injured for a time. So, you gain a little more respect for wrestlers putting their bodies on the line in front of 40, 450, or 4,500 fans when the huge risks outweigh the benefit of putting on a great performance in the ring.

I'll have plenty more thoughts on the weekend - big picture and small picture - in this week's Newsletter when I detail more of the trip, my observations, and interaction with the wrestlers. By the way, watching American Gladiators just won't be the same after watching it with 20 hungry wrestlers after Sunday's PWG show when everyone was doing their impression of a Hogan promo and trying to figure out what Mike Adamle and Larry Csonka are up to. And that final obstacle course has more gimmicks than a TNA PPV. Goodness.

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