The Return of the Monday Night Wars (One Night Only)

This blog has been a long time coming. I recently published an essay in The Louisville Review on wrestling as an art form, paying particular attention to the career of Shawn Michaels. Since then, the wrestling landscape has dramatically changed--some of it for the good, some of it not so much. And so I want to start this off with a state of affairs of pro-wrestling as it concerns the two major promotions.

I won't lie and say that I wasn't a mark for WWF growing up. Even when my favorite wrestlers, such as Razor Ramon, began showing up in WCW and transforming the market with a swerve, I stuck with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker with the same somewhat misguided loyalty I showed my Nintendo products. It wasn't until 2008 that I renewed my interest in wrestling, after a hiatus of at least eight years, and then, I tried both promotions out, WWE and TNA. Nostalgia overwhelmed me and I tuned into older versions of my childhood heroes on Monday and Friday nights, ignoring wholeheartedly the efforts of Dixie Carter and co. at TNA headquarters.

Well last Monday changed all that.

TNA, now creatively led by Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea and Eric "Tae Kwon Do" Bischoff, challenged Monday Night Raw in the first head-to-head promotion battle since 2000, when Vince McMahon bought WCW from Ted Turner. And while some of the spots where cheesy (the strip poker with Val Venis and the Beautiful People) and morally low (Ric Flair's potential return after his beautiful retirement match in 2008), the show was something Monday Night Raw was not, and has not been in a long time. Fun.

Part of the fun, of course, was the anticipation of who was joining the Hulkster in his takeover. But besides that, the wrestling toward the second half of the three hour deluxe was damn good. And by that I mean not another thin-move-set meets thin-move-set II for another boring main event (I'm looking at you WWE). The production value of TNA's Impact was low, but edgy, and even though most of the promos (with the exception of The Pope's) were somewhat botched, the show was solid entertainment.

Thanks to DVR, I watched in tandem what Vince stewed up for Raw, especially because it meant the return of Bret "The Hitman" Hart, an event that will lead wrestling pundits to change their eschatological theories forever. Hart looks old and more than a bit weary, but I cannot help but love the man, who's not only been one of the most engaging physical performers of all time, but has also been the epicenter of wrestling's biggest tragedies. Unfortunately, stilted scripting (I hope) butchered most of what could have been an astounding homecoming, especially in the dialogue between real-life rivals Hart and Shawn Michaels. Michaels has gone too wholesome lately, and while he is basically unrivaled in wrestling storytelling, the story of him reconciling as he did was unambitious. I am all for the reconciliation, but have Michaels seem edgier, stick Hart in DX, have them gang up on the McMahons and for Hunter to chose sides, anything but a hug and a pop.

After this segment, the show flopped. The wrestling between DX and Jerishow was the highlight, and greatly done, but it did little to save the abysmal Divas matches, the corny humor sketches, and the "who cares" midcard feuds. There is no tension anymore on Raw. Nothing to find out. As a teacher of mystery stories, I can certify that there's not much mystery on the Raw brand, despite the school-girl like banter of Jerry "The King" Lawler and Michael Cole. Speaking of which, Jerry, why couldn't you stir up some of your old Hitman animosity and really do some commentating like you used to?

OK, so that was 11 days ago, why am I writing this review now? Well, as I was installing a new shelf for the overflow of books in my apartment, I was watching a DVR of last night's Impact. And during the first match, I was stunned. It was a presumably new tag team, who for all intents and purposes look like too-young jobbers, Generation Me versus Motor City Machine Guns. These guys are all smallish, not quite to my 150 but no Trips either. And what they did could have been a highlight of a PPV. This was quick, innovative wrestling, that manipulated tensions and apparently upset expectations. The move stream was constant. Maneuvers that could have made respectable finishers for almost anyone (unlike Christian's laughable "Kill Switch") were done throughout the match at key moments. The excitement I felt at the double-team action was on the caliber of watching Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty almost 20 years ago. From both teams, and especially Generation Me. Legacy, you have a lot to learn.

In short, the wrestling was mostly captivating. Including the women's wrestling. The promos were more relevant and varied (not just the I'm so pissed I want a title shot variety). The color commentary was less repetitive and annoying. And the characters were basically more compelling. I'm not watching just to see the resurrection of the nWo, and I could care less about Hulk Hogan. I find that in WWE, I just tolerate the less interesting wrestling until my favorites appear. And I cringe during the humor segments and what has become of DX (I make the exception of Santino Marella who is smart and truly funny).

Although, I love WWE, I am glad that TNA is putting out a better product. Hopefully, it will inspire team Stamford to rise to the occasion and deliver the type of entertainment that it can and used to deliver. Even if WWE's goal is to sell T-shirts and action figures to eight-year-olds (which unfortunately seems to be the case), it's going to have to change its game, because even eight-year-olds want surprises, great wrestling, and distinct and well-round characters and narratives.