Here's this weeks' SlamJamz column from PWInsider for you to peruse....enjoy!
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SlamJamz Central: Vince McMahon needs a swift kick in the BALLS
By TC Kirkham
Welcome to the land of the goonie that is SlamJamz Central..back and replete with more comments about the world of pro wrestling than you would probably care to read(boy was THAT obvious after the Matt Hardy fiasco)…but read it anyway, ok?
Let’s get started, shall we?
Everything Old Is New Again
There is an old proverb, from whence it came I do not know....
Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.Has Vince McMahon learned from history? Apparently not...
Jump into my time machine with me and let me take you back a scant ten years...to September 1995...a time of great interest because of the debut of WCW Monday Nitro....
Vince McMahon and the WWF were no longer the only serious game in town. Eric Bischoff was launching an all out war against them. A war he won for almost two years straight beginning in the spring of 1996 with the debut of the N.W.O.
People who wanted to take wrestling seriously had already been watching WCW for years. The action on WCW Saturday night was positively Shakespearian compared to the kind of comic book caricatures that were appearing on WWF television.
Times haven't changed much in ten years. WWE is STILL pumping out cartoon characters ten years later, albeit a bit more roughly defined.
Ten years ago, WCW was giving us mostly real people (apart from the god-awful character name Terra Rysing....didn't he grow up to be somebody?), while the WWE came up with the likes of Waylon Mercy, The Goon, TL Hopper, and ...well, I needn't go on, I'm sure.
Ten years ago, the wrestling world, and the world of the preciously protected kayfabe was forever altered and in fact shattered by the growing power of the internet. Two services, America OnLine and Prodigy, had thriving wrestling groups. The leader of the Prodigy group, one Bob Ryder, would also later make the move to wrestling news sites outside of those groups on the still new World Wide Web, with a site called 1Wrestling.Com, a site that, despite several conflicts of interest from time to time, he still has a stake in and still provides news for. And a site for which most of the staff of PWInsider worked for at one time or another until Insider's launch 18 months ago (including yours truly, as an unpaid columnist....damn, why don't I get paid for what I do? Hey DAVE! How about ponying up a few bucks to feed my PPV habit? No? Grumble grumble....OK I'll keep doing it anyway...)
The fact of the matter is the internet ripped the veil off of kayfabe forever. And although some people will still stubbornly cling to it, kayfabe is much easier to handle if there's a sly wink of an eye to the camera because the viewers are smart and know what's going on. That's why ECW and TNA have each worked to the extent they have.
Vince McMahon also did something else back in the fall of 1995. Not realizing just how much trouble he was unleashing on himself, Vince decided to attack the fans who were his bread and butter. He sent the WWE legal teams after myriads of websites cropping up, because they used the name, pictures, and such of either the federation itself or it's performers.
How do I know this? Because I was one of the intended victims.
In July 1995, I was the one who launched the very first (and I have this on good authority) wrestler-specific website. For those of you who haven't been around for the 10+ years I've been at this, it was called "The Kid Connection" and was devoted to Sean "1-2-3 Kid" Waltman. It was a simple little website, with a bio, some photos, some information and a weekly commentary which was also sent out as a weekly newsletter every Wednesday. At it's height, during late 1995 through September 1996, "The Kid Connection" had over 1000 subscribers. The newsletter was free, and so was the site. But at the time, I had a photo of Waltman in his 1-2-3 Kid getup on the front page of my site. And I had a few other photos scattered throughout the site.
In October 1995, I received an e-mail from the WWF legal department, and I forget the name of the legal eagle that was handing the stuff for Vince at the time. It was a "cease-and- desist" order, demanding that I remove all photos from the website, that I stop using the Phrase "1-2-3 Kid" anywhere on my site, and that I immediately turn over my masthead to WWE, because the word "Kid" was involved , and by god, that was a violation of the "intellectual copyright" they owned on that word.
From the " SlamJamz Central Unabashed Dictionary of Wrestling Terms":
"Intellectual Copyright" - that word or phrase which one is deluded into thinking one owns - see "You're Fired!" (Donald Trump attempted Trademark, Spring 2005)
Well my reaction was long and drawn out. First, I sat and laughed myself sick that a huge corporation such as Titan Sports would feel threatened by the fact that I was putting in my own time, effort, and money to devote a site to one of their performers. Then the hilarity turned to shock, and finally to disgusted anger, as the WWE started hitting more and more of online fan sites like mine with these letters. A lot of fans just caved, took down their sites, and most of them never went back to the internet, or to WWF after that...the WWF was driving their own fans away.
Me...I wasn't about to cave. Because I knew I was legally protected. And just to make sure, I turned to a few of my online friends, and found that there were a couple of law-savvy people among them. And I did just what they told me to.
I stuck a "Photo Copyright (year), World Wrestling Federation" under every photo, and sent back a friendly but still somewhat terse letter, explaining that I had done so, and in doing so had complied for what would later become known as "fair use" for such things. I also told Vince's legal hotshot that I was not about to give up my site, and asked them why they were bothering with me since I was obviously providing free (albeit sometimes unwanted) publicity.
I never heard another single word from WWF or their legal department. Why? Because they knew, just as the big Hollywood studios have found out, that they didn't have a case, especially when the sites weren't for profit, just for fun. WWF was probably disappointed they didn't pursue things further after the all out attack I launched in February 1996 over the crybaby match that ultimately did bring Waltman's career in the WWF to an abrupt end, just as I feared and predicted it would. It was that protest that made McMahon realize just how powerful the internet fan base was becoming. And it was probably what made Vince McMahon think of the internet with the passionate venom and hate that has been characteristic of him over the past ten years.
OK, now, let's flash forward to WWF, circa 1997. After bringing in countless characters that were just total turn offs to most wrestling fans, after attacking the fans on the internet for their fan sites as well as for their opinions, and after seeing 2/3 of his top talent defect to WCW, McMahon's empire was on the verge of total collapse. USA Networks, the VERY SAME network WWE will be returning to in three weeks, were giving Vince ultimatums about getting his ratings up or facing cancellation. Only Steve Austin's arrival from WCW and the debut of the "Stone Cold" attitude era, where Vince finally started copying Eric Bischoff's strategies, did Vince save his company from ruin. He was literally on the verge of total collapse for the better part of a year.
Of course, ultimately, Eric Bischoff ran out of fresh ideas, and got desperate enough to reveal Mick Foley's pre-taped title win on an episode of Monday Nitro, and the fans starting defecting back to the WWF in droves.
But who's to say lightning can strike twice?
Just because Eric Bischoff ran out of ideas does not mean that TNA will.
So what's my point? Well, I have several, but they all revolved around the subject of Vince McMahon thinking his invincible. He is NOT, and it's high time someone gave him a swift kick in the balls to remind him of that fact.
First off, despite what he thinks, TNA can be, and indeed, already IS A formidable competitor. Yes, they have teetered on the brink of total collapse for years, but so did ECW, and it was a success too. Yes, TNA has also raised the ire of fans from time to time, most notably the notorious "bait-and-switch" weekly PPV in April 2004. Yes, TNA will need a better, longer primetime slot to truly take a shot at WWE and the glory of being number one. But Vince, who's always said he didn't consider TNA competition, has now reached the bottom of the barrel again. He's once again sent his legal team out to use extremely questionable tactics to try and disrupt other wrestling organizations from using what he sees as "WWE trademarks" even when they are not.
The world was truly ripped to shreds the day someone decided that there was a legal precedent for "intellectual property". How can you own something if all you can really do is THINK you own something? That doesn't even make sense to me.
And it sure as HELL doesn't make a whole lot of sense right now to Bubba, D-Von, and Spike Dudley, to Justin Credible, or to Billy Kidman. Or to the owner of BigVanVader.Com, a tribute website to the big guy. Vince is claiming to own all of these names now, and most on some really questionable grounds. He's even got Hardcore Homecoming organizers a bit spooked (and Vince, a short word from you to me - giving Shane Douglas MORE AMMO on which to attack WWE is NOT a good thing for you to be doing....).
Yes, there are those out there, including Joey Styles, who says WWE is right to do this kind of thing, that it's "Just business". Two words for that - they are "bull" and something that rhymes with "kit".
Vince is using unethical, and in some cases, patently ILLEGAL means to try to protect what he believes are his trademarks and copyrights, never mind that several of them EXPIRED years ago. Vince is attempting to use so-called "trademark infringement" laws to commit willful acts of restraint of free trade. It could be legally argued that these performers cannot make as much money on the independent wresting circuit without the name they have become synonymous with, and therefore, Vince's attempt to block these people from using their names could cut into their livelihood.
In fact, WWE could also be guilty of several violations of the Anti-Trust laws of the U.S. After all, he's trying to do this willfully to make sure competition doesn't get off the ground, isn't he? They've admitted as much in the news that has come to light on the internet. Why is it ok for Vince McMahon to try and snuff the life out of any competitors who may get TV time, but it's NOT ok for Bill Gates to screw Netscape and several other companies? Why does Microsoft get held to the fire, and not the WWE for the EXACT SAME THING?
In all honesty, I'm surprised that the Justice Department hasn't investigated the WWE yet...I'm pretty sure there is a LOT to be found there, especially since WWE is now a publicly traded company on the stock market. Shouldn't stockholders be wanting to find out what kinds of possibly questionable means might be being used as standard WWE "business practices"? I would want to know...and if they were doing something that was ethically questionable, as they most certainly are, I would want to see a complete examination of EVERYONE involved from the top down to find out what was going on. I mean, what other business gets away with this "independent contractor" bullsh*t anyway? No one, that's who. So why should the WWE be allowed to get away with it? Why shouldn't the wrestling world be allowed to unionize like every other sport out there? That's also blatantly unfair. And that can be directed at TNA, ROH, and every other major fed out there as well....
My major point - perhaps it's time that those right-minded people who are forces against WWE and these types of questionable practices start stepping up and complaining loud enough to make sure that Vince and his company doesn't get away with the type of questionable legal tactics they're trying to pull right now. Vince DOES have some legit arguments, yes. I admit that. BUT - there are far less legit ones at the moment. And it will be really interesting to see if someone - be it a competitor, a former employee, or some official legal body - has the kahones to kick Vince McMahon square in the BALLS and give back what he's trying to dish out, or shrink back and let Vince win again, even though in more than one of these cases he has no right to and is making the business worse for everyone every second he's allowed to get away with this kind of crap.
But that's my OPINION...and I know I'm going to get a few letters in support of what I have to say. I also know I'm going to get a ton of hate mail - you know, the kind of marks who are going to be out there screaming at Scherer a (or at me) "You HAVE to get rid of him! He's trying to take work away from the boys!" Yadda Yadda Flambe. GROW UP. As Vince and company, it' s JUST BUSINESS...the business of keeping the fire under the corporate Borgs....
From the " SlamJamz Central Unabashed Dictionary of Wrestling Terms":
"Corporate Borg" - a company or individual who thinks they must own their little corner of the world...and everything else that is similar in nature must be assimilated. See WWE, ViaCom, TimeWarner, et al.
A FEW ODDS AND ENDSJust a few quick words on other subjects, if I may...
My last commentary really riled a lot of people. I got a few supportive letters about my view of the way Matt Hardy deliberately deceived his fans. But mostly I got a LOT of hate mail. Mostly from ignorant, hateful people calling me a "mark", that I was getting angry because I got "worked". Even Scherer and I got into heated but still friendly e-mail row on this subject (well, that was how I perceived it, anyway; I know for a fact he did not...). One or two even suggested I get out of this business. Several letters were personal attacks, and a couple were particularly hateful. And for a while, the things that were said hurt a lot, and I actually considered getting out. Well, a number of weeks have passed since then, the hurt and pain of some truly vicious words eased, and Dave even mentioned my article on one of his Elite Hotline reports recently. And as I sit back and watch as Matt Hardy's entire career crashes around him in flames, I can say with some smugness, "Who's the mark now, little man?" My only regret is that I wish, oh how I desperately wish, that I didn't have that chance. I so wish I had been wrong...there's still hope...but not much...
Caught Shannon Moore's "shoot" interview DVD a few weeks ago, and it's highly worth the money. He doesn't really get into anything that's startling, but it was an interesting and entertaining watch for the money....
I have also been catching a lot of OVW lately. Picked up the tapes since last May. Oh, my GOD, if only Vince and company were writing TV that was as well thought out and well executed. And what a shock...once again, it's the mind of Paul Heyman that's responsible for the biggest angle in the entire wrestling industry this year, far overshadowing the "shoot-work" of the Matt/Edge/Lita fiasco by a LONG SHOT. Stardom is on the immediate horizon for Matt Capotelli and Johnny Jeter...I just wish it was for TNA instead of WWE....PICK UP THE TAPES! YOU WON'T REGRET IT!
On Mick Foley's recent decision to return to WWE instead of joining TNA in time for their Spike TV Debut, I have this to say: Whether he admits it or not, he most certainly DID play TNA's offer against WWE to get a better deal. He's now made it abundantly clear that like so many people, he's only in this business for the money. But I don't think his going to WWE is necessarily a loss for TNA. It might be better that he didn't go there, actually.
As far as TNA's Spike TV debut goes, I disagree with everyone, both fans AND apparently TNA corporate, who seem to think they need a name to pop things. It would have helped, yes, but it's not NECESSARY. I've rethought some of my statements from my "Blueprint for TNA" article from May. The LAST thing TNA needs to be seen as right now is as a home for WWE's castoffs (which is not to say I wouldn't welcome seeing Shannon Moore or others come in). It's OK for ex-WWE people to be there, but it's important that TNA sell it's new IMPACT slot on it's OWN MERIT. You DON'T need Matt Hardy or Mick Foley. You've already got Raven, Sean Waltman, and Jeff Hardy...PLUS Samoa Joe, A J Styles, Christopher Daniels, Monty "Get off my TV you SUCK!" Brown, and others...USE THEM. Sell yourself as the ALTERNATIVE, not the COPY. Get Waltman signed to a full contract NOW before he heads back to Stamford. Also, GET AMAZING RED BACK ON THE AIR, NOW! You resigned him several months back, include him on your roster, but have used him all of ONCE since his return. And the Red fans are about to turn on you...again. What, did Dusty come back as Booker? No, whoops, I forgot, he's off to further destroy promising careers (Paul London, Spanky, etc) on Smackdown...
TNA turned in a killer PPV on Sunday night. "Unbreakable" was just that...and is getting unanimous praise across the board. The Aries/Strong, Williams/Sabin, and the main event were all Match of the Year candidates, and speaking of that main event...WOW! What a show. TNA gets a 10+ for this one, although I was disappointed to see them throw away the potential of a team like Alex Shelley and Sean Waltman, but it looks like it was done to give Chris Candido's brother a bit of airtime, and there couldn't have been a more fitting tribute to him. Waltman WAS there, he was seen at the hotel after the show. So only D'Amore and crew know the reason, but I hope they explore this tag team a bit further. As usual, Orlando furnished some of it's truly bizarre for the crowd, who were into every match. Signs of the night go to "WWE owns My Name" "Baccardi owns Coke" and my personal favorite, one that made me laugh so hard I almost got sick, "Homicidal, Genocidal, Suicidal...but loves to cuddle". KUDOS TO TNA.
One last word, to Mike Johnson, Wade Keller, and anyone else out there who has been making a big stink the past couple of months about TNA referring to WWE as "up north". There is NOTHING wrong with geographical connections. It has NEVER hurt a major (or almost major) federation to root itself in a specific area. It didn't hurt the AWA, rooted in Minnesota, It never hurt ECW, synonymous with Philly, ditto Ring of Honor, and WCW was firmly rooted in Atlanta. Even WWE is firmly rooted in the Northeast. So there is nothing wrong with playing up the fact that TNA is "down here" or "down south" as opposed to "Up North". Geography simply isn't the issue you guys think it is, and has NO bearing whatsoever on the quality of the company or the loyality of it's fans. So Mike, Wade, and the rest of you, do us all a favor - stop your bellyaching, build a bridge and GET OVER IT....
The new PWI 500 has hit the newsstands....and this week on the SlamJamz Central blog (http://slamjamz.blogspot.com), you'll be able to see some of my opinions on some of the placements, and just how far off the mark I think they really are.
Also exclusively at SlamJamz Central this week,our weekly "Separated At Birth"...a ready-made idea for a sequel to the recent summer sleeper smash, "Sky High".
Congrats to one of my favorite up and coming action sports superstars, Rob Lorifice, for making the top ten finalists at this weekend's stop on the Dew Action Sports Tour. Rob also made the finals of the Big Air competition at the X Games in August. Even the legendary Bucky Lasek has praised this fast rising 17 year old skateboard superstar, and he's on the way to the big leagues. He may have placed 9th out of 10 competitors, but Bucky, who won last month's Dew Vert competition, was just above him in 8th place after an off day. Anyway, keep it up Rob, you've got Gold in your future...I can smell it....
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I’ll be back soon with more of my thoughts on the world of Pro Wrestling. Don’t forget to check out my Blog, SlamJamz Central (address below), where I post (more or less) regular thoughts on the world of wrestling. Be sure to check out our weekly features....and watch for the full SlamJamz website, debuting in October!
And now it's time to reveal my new catchphrase, as it has been decided on since the Matt Hardy fiasco...
Until next time, as always…it's Me Against The World. REPRISE THE THEME SONG AND ROLL THE CREDITS!
(Waitaminnit! Whadda mean Simple Plan already trademarked that? It's a friggin' song title! Geez Louise, this "Intellectual Property sh*t is getting really ridiculous.....)
