AIN'T NO STOPPIN' BENJAMIN NOW? YOU BET!

You CANNOT deny the great athleticism and wrestling prowess that Shelton Benjamin possesses. But his character still needs some retooling.

THE PRO-WRESTLING DRIVER SEAT
By Hub Pacheco

(This column was originally published in http//:nikonboy.livejournal.com on 29 Jan. 2006 and now republished here for better referencing and for keeping the subject more up-to-date. Also, I've added a follow up entry at the last paragraph to assess how the subject developed.)

Shelton Benjamin, upon arriving at RAW via the draft lottery after Wrestlemania 20, sent shockwaves throughout RAW that included TWO wins against Triple H and an EIGHT-month reign as the Intercontinental Champion (IC).

Benjamin had been teamed up with Charlie Haas on SmackDown! prior to the draft to form Team Angle and later changed their names to The World’s Greatest Tag Team. Charlie Haas was released by the WWE months later. More on Haas later.

Yet despite all that he has achieved, Benjamin has yet to blossom into a real singles superstar. How’s that? Well, for one, as prestigious as the IC title is, he never developed any substantial feuds while he held the title. Feud with Chris Jericho? Yes, but it was short-lived and Jericho is, of course, a main event type of guy. No REAL challenges were made while he held the title. If there were, it wouldn’t have mattered because during that time, the IC title was in limbo, storywise. It wasn’t given much importance. Why? I would go back to another reason to Benjamin’s rocky career. While I am a big fan of Benjamin’s in-ring performance (remember the RAW match with HBK when a standing Benjamin unexpectedly jumped on both feet to the top rope, turned around, and whacked HBK off his feet.), his mic skills were never fully developed. He had a couple of good mic sessions with Triple H, but that was also short-lived.

Another minor reason to consider: WWE is somewhat racist when giving the top championship to an African-American. An African-American wrestler has yet to represent the company as its champion, unless you count The Rock, who is part-Samoan and is HARDLY representative of the African-American people, and Booker T, during the Invasion angle where he held the WCW title. Yeah right. Benjamin will NEVER ascend to the rank of a champion simply because the WWE is a bit racist.

Benjamin’s eight-month IC reign ended during the last draft day RAW, where he lost it to a debuting Carlito. What is it with WWE Creative with debut title wins? That’s just f---ed up, man. As if things can’t get any worse, Benjamin would go on a long losing streak, prompting many Internet Pro Wrestling analysts to think that Benjamin would soon be out the WWE door, joining many MISUSED talents like Matt Morgan, Gail Kim, Haas, and the like. There was also word that a heel turn would be in the works, as he had a minor verbal tussle with HBK. But that wasn’t about to happen as well.

In comes Momma.

During the New Year’s Revolution (NYR), Benjamin was accompanied by his Momma (comedienne Thea Vidale), apparently pissed that Benjamin was still in a losing slump. Backstage at the NYR PPV, the World’s Largest Love Machine Viscera tried to get in on with Momma, prompting Momma to taunt Big Vis into a match with her boy. Shelton won, with a little help from Momma and her handbag.

Apparently, Benjamin’s minor de-push was a foreshadowing of Momma’s arrival. Experts said that Benjamin’s current character can’t perform alone. That’s why Momma had to be brought in. While I agree with that, I don’t agree that Momma should be helping him win matches. Benjamin is very capable of winning on his own. Why not have Momma come off very well only on the mic? This angle is an exact clone of the Booker T/Sharmell angle.

There is some good news, though. Haas, after some independent bookings, is reportedly working on a WWE comeback, possibly on RAW, in an angle with Benjamin. If this is so, I can imagine a really great feud with Benjamin. With their history and all, this should be on for the books, unless WWE Creative manages to screw things up again.

Well, there you have it. Shelton Benjamin is a great in ring performer, one of the best in the whole WWE roster. WWE Creative should continue to pursue his unlimited potential, unless they want Benjamin to join other former WWE talent on TNA. That wouldn’t be good at all, now would it?

This is mainly a follow-up to my piece on Shelton Benjamin’s push back in January. Well, from the looks of it, some of what I said came true, although I’m now wishing some of it didn’t.

Shelton’s Momma underwent surgery a couple of weeks back and it seems that Momma will no longer be part of WWE TV. And she was just getting very over with the fans. Charlie Haas, one the other hand, is BACK in the WWE! Now, that is good news as he has been working a few matches with Benjamin as of late. I’m hoping that a feud between Benjamin and Haas is in the works.

Well, for Benjamin, the past couple of weeks have been good to him, character-wise. First, during Wrestlemania 22’s Money In The Bank ladder match, he put on a number of high spots (I was especially impressed by his Spider-Man-like springboard from the top rope to the middle steps of the ladder.). Now, Benjamin’s in a program with Rob Van Dam, the winner of the MITB ladder match. The two will go at it at this year’s Backlash where RVD will put the MITB briefcase on the line while Benjamin will put the IC title on the line. It’s kind of like the Hogan-Warrior stipulation back in Wrestlemania 6, where Hogan’s WWF title was up for grabs against Warrior’s IC title.

Now, I would hate to see Benjamin drop the IC title but I keep thinking that this may be RVD’s biggest year in the WWE. Of course, the IWC reported and it has been somewhat confirmed that RVD will cash in the MITB at this year’s ECW One Night Stand PPV. An IC title and (HOPEFULLY) a WWE title would definitely set the year for RVD. And for WWE Creative, Cena retaining is LOGICAL. Why? Well, you can IMAGINE the THUNEROUS BOOS drowning Cena at One Night Stand. In there, the BOOS wouldn’t be questioned. It would be logical since Cena is in front of a very hot pro-ECW crowd. A heel turn for Cena there is also very LOGICAL.

As for Benjamin, he is beginning to show some depth to his heel/face character. When Momma was around, you can’t tell if he was face or heel. In his exceptional mic work here during the February 24-25 RAW LIVE TOUR, you could tell he was trying to get some heel heat, and he did get it. He did a great job, too. Now, with Momma taking a permanent back seat, Benjamin comes out on RAW dressed up flamboyantly, a more obvious evolution of his in-ring persona. And I predict his first major feud as a flamboyant character will be with Haas. That should motivate Haas to also build up his character. That is good news and in time, with the proper pacing, Benjamin can be developed into a good top heel for RAW. With this kind of momentum, his entrance theme will prove to be true, there ain’t no stoppin’ him now.

CHRISTIAN, TNA-NWA Champ = GREAT!, for the rest of TNA = NOT YET SURE FOR NOW

Christian as the TNA-NWA champ? A bit rushed for my taste.

THE PRO-WRESTLING DRIVER SEAT
Hub Pacheco

February 12, 2006 at TNA’s Against All Odds PPV. Christian Cage achieved what he never achieved in the WWE – He became the main event guy.

Christian defeated Jeff Jarrett and took home his first-ever main event championship – the TNA-NWA Heavyweight title, something that he never did during his ten-plus years in the WWE. Now, for me, I can say that I, as a fan of Christian’s career, am very happy for Christian as he finally achieved main event greatness. But after giving it some thought, I feel that it was a bit rushed.

You see, before Christian’s arrival to TNA, he was, career-wise, on a roll in the WWE. It was evident that he was being given a big-ass push. Leading up to Wrestlemania 21, Christian was starting a good feud with then (and still WWE champion, for now. Anything can happen now especially after the OVERLY NEGATIVE reception from the Chicago crowd) John Cena. Christian was all over RAW, badmouthing Cena, even rapping about him. Now, fans aren’t Neanderthals. It’s predictable that, one way or another, Cena and Christian would duke it out someway, somehow. Draft lottery came. Cena on RAW. DUH, Christian comes out and starts a feud. They would eventually clash at Vengeance. Cena retained the WWE title. Christian is then shipped to SmackDown!, where he would continue his big-ass push. Or so I thought. He was involved in the main event, FOR A WHILE. Then came a short program with Booker T. On October 30, he CHOSE not to resign with the WWE and eventually signed a deal with TNA. Maybe he got so impatient with WWE. Maybe he knew that a main event push was unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Now, Christian, upon arriving in TNA, announced his desire to capture the TNA-NWA Heavyweight title. To make a long story short, Christian turned face and immediately captured the company’s top championship. Honestly, I can’t comment on this as I would do if this was in the WWE because, truth be told, I haven’t watched A DAY’S WORTH of TNA programming. The WWE has a history for me growing up. Tuning in to the WWE is like reading the newspaper everyday. It’s a habit. TNA, for me, is just an afterthought. So for me to judge TNA prematurely would be unfair. The good thing is: I am going to set aside time for TNA Impact! after watching the Against All Odds main event. Oh yeah, I watched it, by accident while channel-surfing. See?

All right, I can’t judge TNA but I can judge the Jarrett-Christian match that I (accidentally) saw on Star World. First, the video package that leads up to the match. Um, it’s pretty shallow, really. Christian, based on the video, basically said that he wanted the TNA-NWA title so bad because that is something he never achieved in the WWE. Jarrett, on the other hand, went on with his usual “you can’t beat me I’m the friggin’ King of the Mountain” tirade. That’s it. That’s the whole feud. On to the match.

The match was pretty awesome! I have to hand it to TNA for their booking of this match. There were the usual ref bumps (although the leg bump was a bit badly done) and the Gail Kim (Damn, I wish she’d never left the WWE. She’s a great wrestler with great looks to boot.) interferences. Oh yeah, recently fired senior referee Earl Hebner (!) officiated the match! With all those elements in place, I can say this: just replace the TNA set (the mats, logos, the six-sided ring, Mike Tenay, etc.) with a WWE set and you wouldn’t see the difference! It was like watching WWE programming! Only this time, it featured WWE midcard mainstays. Sorry, that was harsh. I meant no offense to both wrestlers, but that was the roles that were given to them while they were with the #1 wrestling promotion.

Going back to Christian, I feel that, while his main-event championship was very well deserved and long overdue, it may have been a bit rushed. It’s as if TNA banked on Christian’s upward momentum with the WWE (moths before Christian quit) to package him as their #1 guy. Also, I think that Christian’s main-event title push is a big insult to the current TNA roster, guys who have yet to break out of the midcard. They have been with the company longer than Christian, and here he is, he comes in and gets the title after only barely four months with the promotion. That kinda hurts, doesn’t it?

Here’s to hoping that Christian, a regular WWE midcarder, can turn things around for TNA as its champion, as the face of that (so far) harmless WWE competition.

Ah well, what do I know about TNA? I don’t even know who the members of Team Canada are. I just watch TNA because that’s where my favorite released WWE stars go to.

(Sorry for the late post. Summertime can lead to laziness at times. I'll bounce back next week.)

THE BOOGEYMAN CHARACTER IS JUST HORRIBLE, REALLY

The Boogeyman: a really crappy and stupid character for now.

THE PRO-WRESTLING DRIVER SEAT
By Hub Pacheco

(This column was originally published in http//:nikonboy.livejournal.com on 13 Feb. 2006 and was reedited and now republished here for better referencing and for keeping the subject more up-to-date.)

When The Boogeyman first debuted last year on SmackDown, giving GM Teddy Long a shock when network exec Palmer Cannon introduced him, I thought to myself: WTF is this?!!?? What crap is WWE shoving to our faces now?

But as weeks went by, I was impressed with his mic skills. Of course, he’s just rhyming out some weird statements and/or nursery rhymes to intimidate the SmackDown! superstars. But he was entertaining to watch, even if he hasn’t had a single match inside a WWE ring. As a good friend of mine commented: “He’ll be a face soon because of his antics.” Yes, it seemed the Boogeyman was headed in that direction. Or was he?

Fast forward to Royal Rumble 2006. JBL vs. The Boogeyman. What can I say about the match? I felt sorry for JBL. I’m not really a fan of JBL, but I will say this: I feel sorry that JBL had to job to the Boogeyman. JBL wrestles great but to see him job to the Boogeyman, that’s just sad. I feel sad. To recap that match, it went like this: JBL pounds on Boogeyman. He twitches as if unaffected. A couple more shots from JBL and he fights back with a kick. Then as JBL recovers from that single kick, Boogeyman pump-handle-slams JBL for the win. A VERY short match. Now, I’m not judging The Boogeyman based on that match alone. Observe his other matches. They are VERY quick and VERY unimpressive.

Sure, Boogeyman needs credible wins to build his character’s credibility, but you see, that’s where the problem lies. His character, although entertaining and very over with most WWE fans, is very shallow for me. How will he rise up the ranks with his all-too-slow entrances, overly-disgusting worm-eating, and so-called wrestling “skills?” It will be difficult for him to establish great feuds if his matches are too fast and stupid and his only edge against potential opponents is his creepiness. I think it was the columnist Phantom Lord who made available a link to what the Boogeyman looked like before his WWE stint. I have seen the image and, as usual, he is a bodybuilder sculpted to near perfection.

Marty Wright is the Boogeyman’s real name. He was cut from WWE Tough Enough IV for lying about his age when he entered the reality show. He said he was 30 years old when he was actually over 40. His passion for getting into the business eventually landed him a WWE developmental contract with OVW. His Boogeyman gimmick debuted in June 2005 and was quickly jumped to WWE TV four months later. That was how over the Boogeyman character was in OVW. Now before I go on any further with my thoughts on the Boogeyman, let me just remind you that I am criticizing/booing Boogeyman the WWE character, not Marty Wright the man. I feel I have to say that since I am currently overwhelmed by the anti-Cena chants that was heard during this year’s WrestleMania Hall Of Fame induction ceremony and during the WrestleMania 22 main event. I think the “F—k you, Cena” chants was a bit overboard as I feel that they are vilifying Cena the man, not Cena the mismanaged WWE champion. I will publish my complete thoughts on the event as soon as it is broadcast here in Manila. I wouldn’t want to spoil anybody. Going back to Marty Wright, the man, I have no beef with him. It’s his WWE gimmick that I hate.

WWE has had great success with weird/supernatural characters in the past – from the Undertaker to Kane to George “The Animal” Steele. But unlike them, the Boogeyman will have a hard time to “evolve” his character. Yes. Taker and Kane also struck fear to opponents, much like what the Boogeyman is doing right now, but at least Taker and Kane backed those scare tactics up with great wrestling! Also, remember that Kane successfully went from masked monster to a face character to an unmasked monster and now, to an unmasked face killing machine. All right, The Boogeyman is currently a face, isn’t he? Well, how the hell will he contend for future singles titles if all he ever does is scare the sh-t out of his opponents by whacking big clocks over his head and eating mouthfuls of worms?

All right, let’s look at the current program The Boogeyman is in right now. He is currently involved in an angle with Booker T. Again, like JBL, I feel really sorry for Booker for he is stuck in a stupid I’m-really-afraid-of-the-Boogeyman-angle. I mean, the man is a five-time, five-time, five-time, five-time, five-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion (and I’m not just saying that because it’s Booker’s famous catch-phrase. He is a great pro wrestler.). A man who should be in the main event or at least in the mid-card is stuck in a lame-a$$ angle with a comedy character like the Boogeyman. Much like JBL was. It was a good thing that after the Rumble, their angle was done. And wait ‘till their match at WM22, where Book and Sharmell will face the Boogeyman, that should be something. Yeah, something to change the channel for about a couple of minutes for. Now, after that “job” is over and done with, what’s next for the Boogeyman? Does every superstar have to be afraid of him just for the Boogeyman to have a decent program with? Do you really expect Chris Benoit, the WWE character, to be actually afraid of the Boogeyman when they are put in a program together? Yeah, right. Only the likes of Booker T, Sharmell, and JBL has the right selling skills to sell his fear of the Boogeyman.

If The Boogeyman, with his horrendous wrestling skills and lame scare tactics, plans to go on a lengthy run with the WWE, the creative team (yeah, I bet they really are THAT creative) should rework some aspects of his character. We fans are all to familiar of a superstar who when weak at something, will make it up with another aspect of his character (mic skills and mat skills to be more exact). Some obvious examples would be Shelton Benjamin, Batista and John Cena. No further explanations needed. It is a rarity nowadays for new superstars to have both skills like HBK, HHH, Kurt Angle, and Ric Flair.

The WWE is banking on too much entertainment and too little of wrestling nowadays. I’m not saying that entertainment is a bad thing. It’s just that when it comes right down to the essentials, for me it is all about the wrestling INSIDE the ring. If you have outstanding promos, well and good. But that should also compliment the actual wrestling, not the disgusting worm-eating.

Background info from: www.obsessedwithwrestling.com

MY TAKE ON THIS WHOLE CENA FIASCO

You gotta hand it to to Cena. He's still very professional
even after excessive and blatant jeers toward him.
photo by Hub Pacheco

ProWrestling Driver Seat
by Hub Pacheco

A lot has already been said about John Cena and the fiasco he is in right now. Many are against him because “he sucks” at wrestling. Many (the ladies) are for him because he’s “good-looking.” The IWC has repeatedly grilled Cena for his in-ring incompetence and kid-friendly mic work. I won’t repeat all that have been said. People are tired of reading the same sh*t over and over again. What I’ll do is provide my own insights into the Cena situation and hope that what I say hasn’t already been said.

If you think about it, Cena is a lucky guy. The WWE handed him everything he could’ve asked for. Aside from leading the company as its champion, Cena also had tons of merchandise to his name, reminiscent of Hogan’s early WWE title reign. Cena has a rap album, action figures, t-shirts, and, of course, the custom-made spinner belt. Let’s talk about the last two things, shall we?

The spinner belt is custom-made by WWE to suit Cena’s wrestling persona – the bad-mouthing, tough-talking sumbitch character he HAD that best exemplified today’s hiphop generation. If you recall, the U.S. title he once held was also a spinner belt. Both of Cena’s title belts were custom-made to suit HIS character? WWE must really love him so much that they would build the whole company around his character’s appeal. I can’t remember the last time when a superstar was built up to have both of their titles custom-made to suit their character. One title, yes. But two? I can’t remember. Hogan had his WCW World title sprayed with nWo on it. Not really that custom-made but still. Stone Cold had his skull belt as his custom-made WWF title. But his IC title? Normal. So for Cena to have both of his title belts custom-made for his character is a big honor. Stone Cold and Hogan only had one custom-made title. Cena had two.

Yes, WWE really wanted to package Cena into a combo of Stone Cold Steve Austin (trash-talking, ass-kicking, hates authority) and The Rock (excellent mic work, great audience appeal). Proof of that was the feud Cena had with then-GM Eric Bischoff, an obviously poor imitation of the Austin-Vince feud, and the five-knuckle-shuffle move Cena executes, an imitation of the Rock’s People’s elbow. I’ll not delve into those two points any further since a lot has already been said about those two points.

It would take a while before the WWE would realize that Cena was losing his appeal to the dominant adult male audience. (See previous post by Jeff Ty.) He was becoming too soft for comfort. His promos were too soft for the adult male audience to take in. “I never back down. I never quit” was more kid-friendly. As WWE would want Cena to appeal to. Now, here’s the best part of the whole Cena grilling.

Cena's in-ring abilities are severely put to question nowadays. I, for one, wouldn’t admit it because when he was on SmackDown!, it wasn’t that evident. It was evident when he came to RAW. (Again, see previous post for more on this.) From my point of view, the flak came from Cena’s excessive use of clotheslines. As a comeback move, he would do about three to four clotheslines to his opponent. And to casual fans or smarks, that isn’t really impressive. Solar Entertainment’s WWE forum has a thread there about the viciousness of Cena’s F-U. Some agreed that the F-U targeted the back area, which wasn’t that credible and all. With all due respect to the people there, I really don’t think that’s the point. There are a lot of wrestling finishers that target the back area and it’s still credible enough, like The Rockbottom. I mean, it’s about execution and for me, Cena executes the F-U pretty damn well. The fans can get pretty rough at times. That’s why WWE had Cena employ the STFU (STF actually, but Joey Styles renamed it to, again, suit Cena. Pretty creative on Styles’ part.) submission to gain added in-ring credibility. Yet all this talk about his in-ring abilities can also be attributed to his character’s persona. He is billed as a brawler after all, not a highflyer. So you can’t expect him to do a moonsault on his opponents. If he did, it would contradict his character’s tough guy persona.

Speaking of the fans getting pretty rough, I would like to make a not-too-subtle reference to the crowd at Araneta Coliseum during last month’s RAW LIVE TOUR. I really don’t like those people who start those “Cena Sucks!” chants. I mean, c’mon, I really don’t think that is appropriate. This is addressed to all you Cena-haters during the RAW LIVE TOUR. Yes, you may have all these comments about Cena – that his wrestling abilities sucks and his kid-friendly mic work – but you should keep them all to yourself. Think about it. It has been over a decade since the WWE had a show here. And you DISRESPECT the champion by chanting “you suck?” Again, as Jeff Ty said, if you get in the ring with Cena, who would suck? Yes, it is your right to cheer for anyone you like. It’s a “free” country, after all. But do you want the WWE to have an impression that the Filipino fans are just like the U.S. fans? But fortunately, that’s not entirely true as during the two-day RAW LIVE TOUR, ALL superstars were cheered. But getting back, sure, Cena hasn’t had the RESPECT of the fans but that doesn’t mean that you should DISRESPECT him as well. He, a champion, traveled halfway around the world to perform, to entertain you and you BOO him? Now, that’s very unbecoming of a Filipino. I see the post-colonial mentality of imitation here. And that shouldn’t be the case. We Filipinos have our own character. And for those of you who chanted “Cena sucks” that night, shame on you.

As I’ve said, Cena doesn’t have the respect of the adult male audience. But being a good professional, he didn’t mind all that, at first. But then it got to a point that he ACKNOWLEDGED the jeers. “Some have chosen to ride with me” and “I am not the company’s greatest athlete” still resound in my mind. (Again, see previous post for more on this.) I have to hand it to Cena for taking all the jeers in and being a true professional. That is something all the Cena-haters out there should admire about him.

Given all this, where does Cena go from here? WWE has made it clear that it doesn’t want to turn Cena heel since it would drastically affect the sales of Cena merchandise (kids and ladies mostly). Have Cena drop the title? Been there, done that. Poor Edge. I really hope he gets to be champ again. A solution here is that the WWE could put him up against a proven talent. And who a better proven talent than Triple H?

Cena’s feud with Triple H is a great idea on the part of WWE creative. This should help Cena gain some respect from the fans that overly boo him. (Yes, even you, Ms. Linda Robin :) ) Wrestlemania 22’s main event with The Game and Cena should be a good one, not great, just good. It all depends on how HHH will put Cena over. And I believe that should be the goal of WM22. It is for Cena to gain respect from the fans. It’s a win-win situation for all. If everything goes well, Cena leaves WM22 with the fans’ respect. Triple H leaves as the next Undertaker (someone who puts someone over). It’s not all about the WWE title. This Wrestlemania main event is for respectability.

Well, there you have it. That’s my take on the whole Cena situation. But I feel that I haven’t really made my point since it’s been weeks since I wrote a strong piece. To remedy that, here’s a really great read to solidify my point - http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/columns/jt/02.html

I’ll be back next week or days later with my republished thoughts on the Boogeyman character. My thoughts on Wrestlemania 22 will have to wait as I don’t want to be a spoiler for the fans here in Manila. We are two weeks late, after all.