“As The ‘Sun’ Rises…” Entertainment vs. Wrestling Interview for UK Sun

Seems the big buzz now is the fact that WWE wants to be called an Action Soap Opera instead of wrestling.  As I’ve said in many places, WWE stopped calling themselves wrestling in 1989 when they started pushing the term “sports entertainment”. You can become upset over this or realize that as long as the product inside the ropes is good, we’ll all still watch WWE.  If you aren’t happy with the product inside the ropes, then you have the choice to stop watching.  Simple right?

I had a chance to talk with Rob McNichol of the UK Sun on his podcast about a variety of subjects including Ring of Honor, WWE, this site and the changing landscape of wrestling.  You can subscribe to The One Sided Ring podcast on iTunes here.

Click to read UK Sun.

The One Sided Ring w/Rob McNichol

David Lagana (@Lagana)

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Thank You Edge!

Courtesy of WWE.com

On Monday Night, almost out of nowhere, Edge (Adam Copeland) announced his retirement from pro wrestling.  The first instinct of everyone was to think it was a not real.  WWE, in the past two years, has done seemingly twenty five firings and fake retirements; only Shawn Michaels being real.  What transpired on Monday Night Raw was as real a moment could be.

Courtesy of WWE.com

From my very first day (Feb 2002) in WWE in Milwaukee, Wi to the last day I worked with him (Jan 2008) when he came to do a guest shot on ECW to work with CM Punk, Edge was a nice, warm and passionate guy.  He is a fan of wrestling, it’s all he ever wanted to do and you always saw that passion.  He’s the kind of talent you dream to work with, create with and be a fan of.  His speech tonight affirmed all of the reason I was  a fan of the wrestler Edge and the person Adam.

The injury that sidelined Edge in 2003 is the same one now ending his career in 2011.  Edge’s last show in 2003 was also my first show of taking over Smackdown as lead writer.  Edge had really come into his own in 2002 as one of the “Smackdown 6” as booked by Paul Heyman.  He was having great single matches with Jericho, Angle, Benoit, Guerrero and teaming with Rey Mysterio.  The injury stopped that momentum but didn’t stop his hunger.

Not many people know that Edge went to the boss and asked “what he could do” in the time off.  And for a short period, Edge was part of the WWE creative process.  I remember the first time I sent him the script he called me and asked, “Okay, now what do we do.”  Edge would offer input, give ideas and really wanted to keep himself fresh.  But his passion was focused on returning to the ring.  As he got closer, we’d talk from time to time and he was chomping at the bit.  He knew that when he came back, he would make it his time.

Edge returned and was moved to Raw. It was the right move for him and he had this new passion in his eyes.  Nobody was going to deny him and nobody knew how big he was going to get.  It was a night in his home town of Toronto where the crowd turned on him that started him on the road to being the “bad guy”.  An off screen love triangle launched him into the hottest storyline of 2005 with Lita and Matt Hardy.  While Matt Hardy was the hot story at first, it was Edge’s eye catching promo ability that showed he was really ready to break through to that main event level.  And then he cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase.

And in one night, Edge became the biggest thing in WWE.  He cashed in the briefcase, beat John Cena and was “the Rated R Superstar”.   This was before Twitter and things trending.  This shocked EVERYONE.  Ratings shot up immediately with WWE crossing over that 4.0 level.  For the next few weeks, he was the star of Monday Night Raw and the numbers proved it.  His TLC match with Ric Flair became an instant classic and cemented that he could really hang as not only a main event talent but draw ratings.  But the plan was always for Edge to drop the title back to Cena a few weeks later.  I remember the disappointment that Edge felt; feeling he had genuine momentum.  He had shocked the world and his segments were now fueling the brand.  But he didn’t give up.

He worked Wrestlemania with Mick Foley and proved he deserved to be at that level.  He might not have had the title but he was right back in the mix after that.  And like the nickname he adopted of the “Ultimate Opportunist”, he was always ready to step in and show he was the guy for the company.  When WWE needed to get the title off RVD in the summer of 2006, Edge was the guy.  Edge was the perfect antagonist for John Cena.  Most of Cena’s opponents would bring in the cheers.  Edge was smart enough to turn the crowd against him.

When Mr. Kennedy was hurt in the early summer of 2007, Edge took the opportunity and became the top guy on Smackdown defeating the Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Title.  The kid who watched Hulk Hogan main event Wrestlemania 6 got to live out his dream at Wrestlemania 24.  Edge wrestled in THE main event against The Undertaker to close the show.  Edge was the reason to tune into Smackdown most weeks.  His chemistry with Vickie Guerrero proved how versatile a performer he was and signaled a possible future in acting.

I saw Edge again for the first time since my departure from WWE as he was finishing up a few scenes for a WWE movie in Los Angeles.  He had unknowingly booked himself in the same hotel as the WrestleReunion convention.  He didn’t hide, he interacted with fans and came to watch our ROH show that night featuring Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin vs. Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli.   Edge, along with Sinn Bohdi, started watched the match from behind the curtain.  I remember telling Edge there was a better spot to watch from but he was so concerned from taking away from the match.  We found him a spot he felt comfortable and he watched the match intently.  He still was that same little kid, he was still a fan.

Edge’s future in the ring seems to be over but I don’t think his contributing is.  I can see him being an agent/producer, an on air talent, or maybe he takes the dive full time into acting.  The outpouring of emotion on Monday shows that no matter what Edge does, the fans will be with him.

UPDATE – 3pm Pacific – Read more and hear more Wrestler and fan reaction to Edge’s retirement here.

Courtesy of WWE.com

David Lagana (@Lagana)

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PREVIEW – Formerly Creative – Court Bauer

Joining the Formerly Creative podcast tomorrow is Court Bauer.  Court was on the WWE creative team from 2005-2007 and also ran Major League Wrestling.  He’s currently working on a pilot with Frank Shamrock called Ungloved.

If you subscribe to iTunes, the podcast will download automatically once you refresh in the morning.  Subscribe here.  You can catch up on every I Want Wrestling podcast here.  If not, they podcast will be available here on IWantWrestling.com tomorrow.

Here are a few sound bites of this episode of Formerly Creative.

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David Lagana / IWantWrestling.com

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The Royal Rumble Changes Everything!

The NFL has a playoff system that leads to the SuperBowl.  The WWE has the Royal Rumble that leads to Wrestlemania.  It’s a chance for everything in WWE to change in one night.  Fans can really “expect the unexpected.  It’s the match that allows a new course, a new direction to be set.  Everything that makes wrestling amazing in one match.

My love affair with the Royal Rumble started when I saw it live for the first time.  In the winter of 1994 during my freshman year at Emerson College, I boarded a Greyhound bus with another passionate wrestling fan Chris Garcia and went from Boston to Providence, Rhode Island to see the Royal Rumble.  On that night, Owen Hart turned his back on his brother Bret, The Undertaker rose to the heavens after being destroyed by every bad guy on the roster, and a controversial decision in the Royal Rumble match left Bret Hart and Lex Luger “co-winners”.  Here we are nearly seventeen years later, I still remember three important things from that event.   It changed everything that year and set the tone for the WWE in 1994.

Eleven years later, I was lucky enough to be on the other side of the curtain.   And witnessed the power of the event and how everything in the WWE changed again.  I recently spoke about this event in detail with John Pollock of the LAW.  Hear it here.  The event featured one of the more unique commercials in WWE history.  Production note – the only superstar who didn’t wear a wig in the shoot was JBL.

This was a time back when certain things remained special in the company.  The Royal Rumble was one of the events that Smackdown and Raw talent could interact.  This is an example of that interaction when John Cena crossed paths with Christian.

The fate of the WWE for the remainder of the decade was shaped in one match.  You might call it hyperbole, but look at some of these things that happened during that match.

1. Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit.

Just a year after they both ascended to the top in WWE to stand in the middle of the ring as champions at Wrestlemania 20, they started this Rumble match.  It was an interesting idea that was exciting to the fan in me because the year before Benoit had lasted the whole Rumble to win.  Both had so much to prove to get back to the mountain top.  It was a great story and started the match beautifully.  Sadly we know the reality that happened in the future and how tragic it became.

2. Edge’s ascension

Edge broke through in 2005/2006.  Winning Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania 21 and then cashing it to kick off 2006.  He caused an immediate spike in ratings and became a top guy.  But it was here in this Royal Rumble match that he eliminated the most superstars and started his career year with a bang.

3. Cena and Batista

When WWE decides to go with a guy and stick with them, it usually pays off huge.  In 2005, WWE decided to captain both of its brands with two heros. RAW was going to be led by Batista who the fans were clamoring to break away from Triple H.  Smackdown was going to be led by the brash anti-hero John Cena.  This Royal Rumble match was to crown one of them and stamp his ticket to Wrestlemania.   Later that year, when UPN decided to switch Smackdown to Fridays a decision was made to switch John Cena and Batista on their respective brands.  They would both be “the man” but just in new homes.

But on this night, a late decision was made to have these two face off as the last two men in the match.  Could it split the audience?  Was it the best thing?  It was a moment though.

4. Mr. McMahon

The moment between Bastista and Cena lead to an appearance from Mr. McMahon.  This was supposed to be Batista’s night.  Speculation has it that Batista had his bell rung by a punch by Cena and when he went to throw out Cena, they both tumbled to the floor causing chaos. The PPV time window was expiring quickly.  There was a call for either Eric Bischoff or Teddy Long, the respective GMs, to go out and restart the match but due to the size of the arena in Fresno they were not close enough.  Vince McMahon got up from the production table where he had sat for nearly three hours.

We all had stopped and looked at the screen not knowing what had happened; I don’t think we were alone with anyone watching that day.  He hadn’t stretched, he hadn’t warmed up.  And here he sat in the middle of the ring; the main event of Wrestlemania hanging in the balance and time ticking down on the broadcast.  From that position, Vince McMahon was able to render his decision for the live house and restart the match.  Batista quickly threw Cena out of the ring to make sure the audience at home saw the conclusion.  But what the audience didn’t see was Vince McMahon, full of pride, walk to backstage area.

Vince had torn both of his quads and in an instant was gone from the on-site WWE creative process.    Stephanie McMahon,  with no warning and her mind on her father, had to jump right in.  The next day, we produced the first WWE Supershow without him and then boarded a plane to Japan where WWE taped television for the first time ever. It was the fast-forward button on a time when WWE would exist without Vince McMahon.  Six years later, people still speculate when that will be and what will happen.

The Royal Rumble can truly change the course for the WWE.  I’m excited to watch the event on Sunday.  I’d love to hear more examples of Rumbles in the past that changed the course of WWE.

Please send any feedback via Twitter or Facebook.  If you’d like to contact me please Email Me .  And don’t forget to voice your opinion on Twitter whenever you’re discussing what you want out of wrestling.  #IWantWrestling