WWFX: The First Indie Wrestling Show in Manila

The Driver's Seat

by Hub Pacheco

After attending five WWE live events in Manila since 2006, my standards for a wrestling show are understandably high. Late last December, when I heard that they were bringing former WWE stars for a show here last Saturday at the same arena where WWE had its live event, Araneta Coliseum, I certainly had my doubts. The card lacked star power and I contemplated on skipping the event completely.

Better photos of the entire event are at my photography website HERE.

Before the show, I repeatedly told my friend that there had to be a host/announcer much like Justin Roberts and Tony Chimmel for the WWE shows here before. Spotting a few Colt Cabana signs minutes before the show, I said to myself, "Wow, this crowd has its smarks."

Two and two were put together in my head when Colt Cabana walked down the ramp as the show's host! It totally caught me off guard! Colt Cabana, the guy made famous by CM Punk in his infamous RAW shoot promo, was in town, complete with his usual intonations and all! He humbly referred to himself as Mr. Colt. I would learn later that Colt did mention he was headed to Manila in his latest Art of Wrestling Podcast.

Jimmy Yang defeats Billy Gunn via a monsault. It was nice seeing Gunn, DX crotch chop and all. I wonder why he didn't follow Road Dogg back to the WWE this year? That would've been something.

Daivari and Hurricane Helms put on a very entertaining match, switching up to an impromptu match with referee Rudy Charles. Conditioning-wise, Helms certainly looked like he was on his way back after his motorcycle accident last year.

A good setup after Melina's (second time here) match with Jillian Hall via a round of beer with a fan lead to Luke Gallows vs. Rhino. Gallows stills plays up the CM Punk Straight Edge gimmick well, I must say. Rhino picked up the win via a gore after a distraction from Melina outside the ring.

Colt Cabana killing it on the mic that night.

If memory serves me right, this is Carlito and Snitsky's second time in Manila. They took advantage of the small crowd and went around the arena during their match. They even passed by my section! I finally did a fan-tap-on-the-arm to a wrestler! Oh yes! Carlito won with the apple-chunks-to-the-face of Snitsky.

Are those MVP's music CDs he's giving away to the crowd?

MVP defeats Chris Masters (second time here) not with a playmaker but with a kick to the head!

The main event with John Hennigan (second time here) and Shelton Benjamin (THIRD time here) for the WWFX Championship saw two, not one, ref bumps, a belt shot to the head, and both wrestler's signature moves. All in all, it was a solidly booked main event.
Melina and JoMo celebrates in-ring. In-character? Hardly. These two are a cute couple!

Overall, it was a solidly booked show, though the intermission was too long. (Wonder what they did back there?) Performing in front of 15,000 or 1,500 people, it was still a good show. Stories were told well and all the babyfaces won and everyone went home happily entertained. And isn't that what pro-wrestling is all about?

Is Helms filming for his web show? We'll find out soon enough!

It's interesting to note that most of the wrestlers on the card have been in Colt's Art of Wrestling Podcast, Carlito being one of them.

Luke Gallows poses for me, well, kinda.

"Hey, Colt! I love the podcast" and "Please sign my iPod" were the only normal things I could think of to say at that time. This fanboy went home happy. Thanks, Colt!

OUTSPOKEN PUNK

THAT SLY SMILE. CM Punk in Manila during the SmackDown/ECW Tour back in 2007. Photo by Hub Pacheco.

The Driver Seat

By Hub Pacheco

We've all seen and heard CM Punk loud and clear on RAW last night. I've watched it for like twenty times already and it's still sounds so unreal! And because I and the rest of the IWC can't get enough of it, HERE is the transcript form that historic promo.

RAW aires two days late in Manila so I normally didn't want to be spoiled, but after reading tweets left and right from David Lagana and Joey Styles, I was curious what has happening right there and then. Lagana later tweeted a link to a Youtube video of a TV grab showing Punk's promo. I literally stopped work and sat down in a corner to watch it. Hey, it was only five minutes!

Needless to say, Punk has done the unthinkable: rip on the product just enough to be understood by both smarks and marks alike. The "Oops, I'm breaking the fourth wall" line is my fave. Hell, the entire promo was ill! The Cageside Seats blog nicely puts his promo into perspective HERE.

I actually kinda guessed he was going to do this after seeing his backstage segment at Capitol Punishment where he said he was going to do something historic. It's pretty known in the IWC that his contract was coming up in July. And when he said that "historic" comment, I kinda felt he was going to do something connected to his contract being up. I just didn't expect it to be THAT unbelievable.

Yes, we've all heard that bit where there's nothing fresh in pro wrestling any more. Not since The Montreal Screwjob, the Matt-Edge/Lita storyline, ECW One Night Stand 2005, Bret Hart's WWE return, the Nexus' invasion of RAW has there been something THIS compelling to watch on the WWE, save for Zack Ryder's Z! True Long Island Story webisodes (But that's a whole other topic for discussion on another day.).

Just a spoke on the WWE wheel? Sad but true.

Although haphazardly put together, this feud between Cena and Punk will be good. I actually R-Truth to get more main event time, but I guess that's off for now. Much like Montreal where Vince feared Bret would leave with the WWE Title, Punk built up on that idea and ran with it like crazy! This is a feud requiring no long drawn out drama, no run-ins, no inclusions of loved ones, and most importantly, no weekly back-and-forth banters. Hell, they could have the match right now and it will be great. That's how compelling it was. Punk turned the WWE product on its head before getting cut off. God knows what else he could've said and for how long had he been allowed to continue. I tired to lip read after the cut off but all I could make out was, "You wanna silence me? I'm the best!"

Punk certainly did his job, blurring the lines of work/shoot, suspending everyone's disbelief. He made it as real as he could, even if it was planned. WWE.com, the ultimate mark's website, even announced Punk's indefinite suspension and even took down his merchandise. It got everyone talking, right, Duy? That's my Colt Cabana for you! Haha!

As of writing, Punk's last tweet is,"I'm in full, "What are they going to do, fire me?" mode."

The beauty of all this, as pro-wrestling should be all the time, is that everyone is left scratching their heads. How real or "real" is this? Did Punk break character on live TV by saying he likes John Cena as a person, but the idea of Cena being the best is wrong? How far were the lines he actually crossed once he went backstage afterwards? I bet it was documentary-worthy.

Casual fans are giving more thought to what they were seeing (and maybe becoming smarter) and hardcore fans like myself are curious if the WWE will really let Punk go after the Money in The Bank pay-per-view or reel him back for the long term? Obviously I want him to stay, but stories are circulating right now that points to Punk actually leaving.

Punk's honesty is very refreshing. I know I'm going overboard by saying this but imagine if you could be that honest in other aspects of your life and get away with it? Well, kinda. Imagine telling people off, telling it like it is. A big "F-ck You!" to authority. It could and will get you in trouble. Hmm, now I'm beginning to think Punk will really be let go after this. Ugh.

Whatever happens to Punk, know this: I am now a CM Punk fan for life.

And I can't wait to hear what Punk has to say next.

(Guest Post) Devil's Advocate: Looking at DC by way of WWE

John Cena: the WWE poster boy of this generation. Photo by Hub Pacheco

[Note: This post crossposted in Duy Tano’s Comics Cube blog. Thanks Duy, Hub!]

It seems the fallout from DC's Flashpoint announcements has been fully felt by now. Among other things, their decision to reset all titles from zero has probably upset fans the most. All of a sudden, DC's rich superhero lore has been set aside to start over anew. Hardcore fans are complaining left and right, with many threatening and going through with cancelling their subscriptions. Stupid move all around, right? Not necessarily.

Let me play devil's advocate for a minute and say that hardcore fans, for any hobby, are just plain hard to please. You do the same thing they liked before over and over again, they hate it too. You try anything new, they hate it. You take away the new thing they liked after they'd gotten used to it, and they will hate that too. Customer retention is important, but it does reach a point where it's no longer worth the effort, at least to try to keep everyone happy.

To make an analogy out of left field, let's switch hobbies and take a look at the state of pro wrestling, particularly the WWE. It's easy to scoff at pro wrestling as a fake sport, but it has a rich history in the world of entertainment, affecting the fields of live events, cable television, and just the way sports has been portrayed in the mainstream.

And the WWE are pioneers in entertainment, from helping launch closed-circuit television with Wrestling Classic/Wrestlemania I, Monday Night Raw, outdoor events in Caesar's Palace, etc. And WWE seemingly reached its peak creatively and financially during the Attitude/Monday Night Wars era, between 1996-1999. Post Monday Night Wars, WWE slowly lost their biggest draws (Steve Austin, The Rock, Mankind) to injuries, retirements, and career shifts.

I would argue that at this point WWE was in a similar situation to where DC had been for a few years now. Like DC, WWE would ocassionally come up with a few pearls, but the comparisons to the more succesful era would linger and hurt them. Are they trying hard enough with the storylines? Are the wrestlers they're using likable enough? Why is this really talented technical workhorse not making them money if fans like him/her so much? And so on.

Essentially, they are stuck in a situation where they're damned if they do and damned if they don't. How can they please this or that fan if they aren't being given a fair shake? In the WWE, this question would be: Is it fair to condemn every little John Cena promo as inferior to the Rock? In DC, this would translate to: Is it fair to damn every Grant Morrison/Warren Ellis work as derivative of Alan Moore's?

But, see, DC and WWE may have found themselves an out: newer fans. Not only do newer fans not have these preestablished biases older, more hardcore fans may have, they may have more purchasing power, and are more important to the future of the company. They may lose a huger, more established fanbase in the short term, and lose money in that target shift, but it would pay off in the long term. They also see this as starting with a clean slate, literally starting storylines from scratch wihtout worrying about preestablished histories.

Of course, this analogy is imperfect, especially as DC's actions seem reactionary to the success of their great competitor Marvel. Another fault with this comparison is that unlike DC, WWE's shift from hardcore to casual young fan was more gradual and subtle. Some argue Vince McMahon Jr. splitting from the NWA and pro wrestling's terriories model, to usher in the Rock N' Wrestling Connection was the impetus of his break from hardcore fans.

Still, some parts of this analogy should ring true to anyone who was a wrestling and comic book fan throughout the '90s. The Death and Return of Superman was immensely popular, but left a bitter aftertaste that some fans still haven't forgiven DC for. Likewise, the push of HHH into a solid, if uncharismatic, 13 time World Champion, was both lauded and condemned by fans through the years. Some say he deserves credit for all the hard work he puts in, others point at his inability to draw like his predecessors and how he has undue influence over his career in his capacity as an executive senior advisor.

Where is the WWE now? In recent years, they had slowly but surely conquered the world of social media, topping searches in Yahoo Video and succesfully launching their own social network, the WWE Universe. Furthermore, Wrestlemania 27 topped the 1 million buyrate they had predicted, thanks to the involvement of crossover draws like The Rock, Steve Austin and Snooki. Although some people may still criticize how they did this or got that, they met their goals and they're definitely making money.

Where will DC Comics be next year, or in ten years time? Hard to tell, but if they play their cards right, even without the hardcore fanbase backing them up, they may do pretty good for themselves.