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VIP EXCLUSIVE COLUMN - Early-release from PWTorch Newsletter #1013...

"McNeill Factor"
Newsletter Headline: "Surprises, Rape Angles, and Michaels vs. Flair"
Originally published: February 30, 2008
From Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter #1013

WWE has enjoyed good critical response to its first two pay-per-views of 2008. The Royal Rumble saw the surprise return of John Cena, who came back months earlier than expected from surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle. No Way Out saw two surprises, the unexpected return of "Big Show" Paul Wight and his face-off with well-known prizefighter Floyd Mayweather, Junior. Both of these were "good surprises." Fans enjoyed Cena's return because they had missed Cena, and because it led to the promised resolution of the John Cena vs. Randy Orton feud from last year.

There was good wrestling at the Royal Rumble. There was some really good wrestling at No Way Out. But none of WWE's matches from these two shows are going to figure in the Match of the Year balloting at the end of 2008. One of the hot topics at the TORCH subscriber message boards over the past week is whether No Way Out was a good show or a great show. That's sort of debate that has to please the people who run World Wrestling Entertainment. But it also points to the importance of a good surprise.

Do we, as wrestling fans, put too much importance on finding a pleasant surprise during the course of a three-hour, forty-dollar pay-per-view? Probably not. If a promotion is putting out monthly pay-per-views, there should be a concerted effort to distinguish the shows from each other, so fans don't feel like they're caught in an endless loop of clichés, run-ins and screwy finishes. If you have something fresh and unexpected happening each month during the big show, it is more likely to feel like a big show, and less likely to feel like a bloated two-hour television episode. But it has to be difficult to come up with a crowd-pleasing storyline development twelve to fourteen times a year, and then to keep that development from the prying eyes of reporters and diehard fans.

That's where you have to respect the efforts of Stephanie McMahon and the WWE creative department. No, it's not a good thing to have Stephanie and WWE security trolling internet usage and cell phone records at Titan Tower to try and catch employees who are leaking material to the wrestling press. But, according to WWE sources, the recent security crackdown is to prevent people from leaking upcoming storylines. The TORCH and other wrestling publications are not out to spoil long term storylines, unless it becomes inevitable. For example, in 1993 WCW taped their television shows months in advance in Orlando. Wrestling promotions used to put main event matches on pay-per-view ads for cable companies, enabling smart fans to pick up on major plans months in advance. No more.

Sure, part of this is an excuse for WWE to punish anyone who dishes dirt on the McMahon family to the outside world. But there is an added dimension to any wrestling show if you don't know what's coming. WWE has long stated "anything can happen" on their programs. As long as they don't start doing surprises for the sake of surprises, this is a positive development.

The ROH Anniversary Show "Rape" Storyline: The good news for Ring of Honor is that no one was actually raped during Saturday's Sixth Anniversary show in Manhattan. But ROH should not be pleased with the groundswell of outrage caused by Larry Sweeney's talk show segment in the Grand Ballroom.

For those of you who missed it, the evil Sweet 'n Sour manager's guest was Allison Danger. Sweeney did a sexist heel routine and called Danger a slut. Danger tried to walk out on the interview. Sweeney nailed Danger from behind and knocked her out. Then, Sweeney told his lackey, Bobby Dempsey, to take advantage of Danger while she was knocked out. Dempsey refused, so Sweeney beat up Dempsey and laid him on top of Danger.

A number of fans online complained about the storyline. ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky issued an apology early Monday morning and promised never to do a storyline like the Sweeney-Danger storyline again. Jason Powell is reporting that this segment wasn't a comedy angle and was designed to lead somewhere. My guess is, it leads to Danger going after the SHIMMER title held by Sara Del Ray, one of the wrestlers Sweeney manages.

The scary part, as a wrestling fan of a certain age, I believe I know exactly the sort of vibe Sapolsky was aiming for. In the classic John Belushi movie "Animal House", Pinto takes a drunken young lady back to his room, and she passes out after taking her dress off. A devil appears on Pinto's shoulder telling him to take advantage of the girl, while an angel appears on the other shoulder telling him he'd never forgive himself. Of course, Pinto does the honorable thing and takes the girl back to her home. From the various reports on the card, it sounded like Sweeney used some of the same lines to taunt Bobby Dempsey that the "devil" uses to taunt Pinto.

The good news, it didn't work. Ring of Honor fans aren't upset with Larry Sweeney. They're upset with Gabe Sapolsky and ROH for booking a misogynistic storyline. That's a big step up from a decade ago in Extreme Championship Wrestling, when the promotion's fanbase seemed to get off on any sort of violence directed at Beulah, Francine, Kimona, and the ladies of ECW.

Still, it seems like we have a long way to go before we can talk about how enlightened Ring of Honor fans are...

Pat McNeill of Fairfax, Va. has been a PWTorch Columnist since 2001. Listen to his weekly Torch VIP Audio Show, "The Real Deal with Pat McNeill," every mid-week at PWTorch.com/members where he analyzes the Hot Five Stories of the week, answers reader questions, conducts interviews, rants, raves and occasionally sings the hits.

This concludes our free preview of this week's VIP-exclusive "McNeill Factor" column, which is part of this week's new Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter #1013. Click the link below for VIP sign-up info...

Pat McNeill of Fairfax, Va. has been a PWTorch Columnist since 2001. Listen to his weekly Torch VIP Audio Show, "The Real Deal with Pat McNeill," every mid-week at PWTorch.com/members where he analyzes the Hot Five Stories of the week, answers reader questions, conducts interviews, rants, raves and occasionally sings the hits.

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