April 17, 2013 by klogman1

Never Going in the WWE Hall of Fame: Jeff Jarrett

Jeff Jarrett

Double J, Co-Founder of TNA

Vince McMahon hates Jeff Jarrett. As his first act as owner of WCW, McMahon fired Jeff on live television “in character”. Jarrett hadn’t even appeared on the show. This was no angle. McMahon hates Jeff Jarrett.

Across history, Vince McMahon has hated many superstars or been hated by many. Hulk Hogan and Vince don’t get along. Bret Hart stayed away for over ten years.Ultimate Warrior and Jake Roberts both returned after demanding up front payments to perform at large events and still came back. Jeff Jarrett is different.

Yes, he did do exactly what Warrior did. He required massive amounts of money to go on. Jarrett’s contract expired before No Mercy 99, and he refused to go on with a one time payment of 300,000. Which is 1999 is close to one million dollars. A hefty sum.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xyq68h_no-mercy-1999-chyna-vs-jarrett-elgeel3_sport#.UW4MgLWceSo

Yet all this aside, Jarrett exists on his own plane of existence in WWE land. He both has done the greatest offense and is unable to do something very important.

Dance!

Actually, Jarrett is not a draw. Not in WWE land. Jeff Jarrett can talk, can wrestle well enough and has the ego of Hulk Hogan or Triple H to boot. His ego makes Shane Douglas look adjusted and kind.

Jarrett is a man who is comparable to Vince McMahon in how good he thinks he is. Jarrett’s “worked shoot” in 1998 was brutal and spoke volumes to Jarrett’s dislike of the “system” that pro wrestling came to. He was the voice for the old school. His father Jerry Jarrett never went out of business. Memphis reigned on only in Memphis. And that’s where Jeff Jarrett began.

But he couldn’t stay there and he knew it. In stand-up comedy, we have an expression, “Doesn’t matter if your the best comic in Cleveland, your in Cleveland.” Jarrett moved in 1994 from regional USWA because he knew the WWF was more opportunity.

And his first run was a nightmare. He sadly came in during cartoon character profession days in the 1990s and got saddled with country music singer. Because everyone from Memphis is a country music star.

Jarrett did as well as could be expected and succeeded with IC titles due to his in ring ability and probably some agreement from the get go. Jerry Lawler had Jarrett’s back and he was marginally successful.

And he did this song.

And had a Roadie.

Jarrett quit. He quit because he realized WWF in 1996 was a sinking ship. And he didn’t like his push. Yet, we can all admit, Jeff Jarrett doesn’t fit the mold. He is not a WWE main eventer. Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Brock Lesnar and John Cena all fit a mold. A big, larger than life mastadon. They were all the hand picked. All from the moment of their entry into the organization were groomed for success. Yes, sometimes when necessary, the WWE will push someone else or even throw the company behind a small guy. (Austin, Hart, Michaels). But historically, Jeff Jarrett had a lot going against him to be where he wanted.

Leaving for WCW the first time did nothing for Jeff’s career. He was promised the world by Eric Bischoff and received almost nothing. He was part of the Four Horsemen in 1996, back when everyone was.

Yup. Mongo.

The infamous shoot above came after that delightful run for Jarrett. He returned and floundered again. He was the forefront of the extremely unsuccessful NWA invasion of WWF in 1998. (Which also gave us fellow Never Going To be A Famer, Dan Severn) and was highlights by Jarrett losing to women and mid card titles.

Jarrett was never going to get pushed and he finally realized that through his friend and ally Vince Russo. Russo began to use Jarrett, gave him the titles he could and when Russo left, so did Jarrett.

Its funny to think that Jeff Jarrett is a multi-time WCW World Champion. He beat many top WCW stars. All because of Vince Russo. That’s because Russo and Jarrett’s friendship is also mostly a business agreement. Jarrett made friends with the right guy. He was a good politician. (The Kliq liked him, which tells you something.)

Despite WWE owning the WCW library and legacy, Jarrett isn’t somebody they are going to push in any way shape or form. Vince doesn’t need Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett thought he was hot stuff. Vince McMahon didn’t agree. So Jarrett convinced his dad to help him buy and run TNA, which still exists today under different management.

HI I’m Dixie, I own a wrestling thing. My dad bought it for me.

That is Jeff Jarrett’s legacy. He should be in the TNA Hall of Fame for sure and probably will be if they ever do that ceremony again. Yet, when it comes to WWE, Jarrett is persona non grata.

Only Way it Happens

Vince McMahon dies and the company in inherited by Vince Russo due to a loophole.

Del Rio vs. Swagger-Chipotle on a pole match- Book it!

Is WWE Stupid enough to actually do it?

No. Vince McMahon hates Jeff Jarrett and Jeff Jarrett isn’t Bruno Sammartino. Any headliner who would make WWE money will eventually come back. Warrior, Savage, Sammartino, Owen Hart, Roberts, Bundy, Rude. All these men will eventually be in the Hall.

Chances of induction

1 out of 10

April 16, 2013 by klogman1

WWE Hall of Fame 2014: Possible Headliners and Breakdown

Wrestlemania 29 is over. and Thank God. The event itself was super disappointing and redundant. Luckily this blog is only about the Hall of Fame.

And Dancing

Despite Wrestlemania’s ineptitude and predictability, the 2013 Class was one of the most surprising and deserving classes in history. Only 2004 and 2005 are strong in comparison (and 2004 DID include Pete Rose and Don Muraco). 2013 is rare in its sheer lack of suck. Every year has one inductee that gets either a shrug (2011′s Bob Armstrong) or the ire of fans everywhere (2009′s KoKo B Ware).

2013 has none of this. In fact its format works. WWE has jumped around from somewhere between 6 and 12 inductees and seems to have settled on six (2012 and 2013). Its the perfect number (would be even better without celebrity “honoree”). But how does the WWE top the class of Sammartino, Backlund, Foley, Stratus, Booker and Trump? And should they even try?

So with a look at history, an eye on the location and a little magic, lets look at some of the headliners for the 2014 Class of the WWE Hall of Fame.

Its a great button

Headliners

Every Class since 2005 has been defined by its headliner. The night feels more special when Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart or Steve Austin highlight the night. Other classes have either suffered from weaker headliners (2007′s Dusty Rhodes or 2012′s Edge) or in one case (2010′s Ted Dibiase) no headliner at all. But can they find another Bruno Sammartino and who’s left/available?

Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Roaddog, Billy Gunn, Xpac and Chyna (?)

There is no denying the fact that Dengeration X is one of the best factions in WWE’s history. Before 1996, factions were not a common occurance in the WWE. Wrestling families or groups based on a manage dominated the old WWWF and WWF. DX came along as the answer to the NWO and when they premired in 1997, Michaels, HHH and Chyna began to change the makeup of the WWF and helped usher in the Attitude Era.

No one can deny their importance, yet the idea of having a faction as headliner seems lazy. It was rumored that if Bruno had said no, that DX would have headlined the 2013 class. I have one big problem with that, which is simply Triple H is not retired. Ric Flair aside (he “retired” the next night), no active superstar should be inducted into the Hall. Plus, Triple H deserves an individual induction before he goes in with Degeneration X (similar again to Ric Flair)

Yet, the rumor of today is that DX may headline the Hall of Fame Class of 2014. Both Chyna (?!) and general rumors have suggested that DX will go in very soon. If this does occur, Chyna must be included. Strangely, the group will most likely be inducted as a version of the group which never existed (Michaels never was teammates with New Age Outlaws) and it will be another WWE rewrite for the Hall (Horsemen without Ole Anderson)

This would be an easy way to have a headliner without going with any of the “harder” to get potential inductees that were skipped for one reason or another such as

Macho Man Randy Savage

Randy Savage is dead. And that’s a awful shame.Savage has always been one of my favorite wrestlers and entertainers in history. And everyone agrees that his speech would have been astoundingly good. Sadly, with his death we will never get to say “Thank You Macho” while he basks in the adulation from stage.

Still, he obviously deserves the induction. There are two issues for this induction. First is Lanny Poffo. The Genius, as no one remembers him fondly, claims that Savage “said he wanted to be inducted as the Poffo family”. Now, I do beleive that Savage could have said that (he did successfully petition for Angelo Poffo’s induction to the WCW Hall of Fame), yet it is doubtful that if offered, Savage would have turned it down because of that. Similar to Bruno, Savage would have answered for the right price.

But now there is a second problem, Randy Savage is dead. WWE is never going to have Randy Savage headline a class. He can’t. He won’t actually be there. In the past deceased wrestlers (Eddie Guerrero and Curt Hennig) have been secondary or co-headliners. This would be a possibility.

Hopefully with the success of 2013′s class and Triple H’s involvement, he approaches and convinces the Poffo family with money, DVDs ,appearances and the like to allow for the Randy Savage induction. I hope this gets done for all of us.

Other possible headliners?

Ultimate Warrior

Never say never. Bruno Sammartino, Randy Savage, Owen Hart and The Ultimate Warrior. These are the men who “will never get into the Hall” Bruno is in. The Warrior is possible.

Things against his induction include his dubious relationship with Triple H, for this

Warrior has also been recorded saying that he “would love” to go into the Hall, as long as Vince McMahon asks him personally. Warrior, also has no connection to New Orleans or Mid-South, yet most of the time that doesn’t matter.

Plus, who wouldn’t want to see what Warrior has to say. In 2013, Bob Backlund was bat-shit insane during his speech. Perhaps WWE doesn’t mind and will continue the pattern.

Recent retiree

No one expected Edge to headline 2012 or Eddie Guerrero to die and be inducted in 2006. Anything can happen in the WWE. If the Rock decides he is done, 2014 could be his year. Same goes for Triple H, Undertaker, Randy Orton, John Cena or any other main eventer who could get hurt or retire.

This aside, someone like Batista may be possibility, especially if he doesn’t plan on coming back.

If you have any ideas on headliners, leave a message and vote on the poll below!

April 6, 2013 by klogman1

WWE Hall of Fame 2013 Recap: Inductions, Event, Photos and More

THE WWE HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2013 REVIEW

Saturday April 6th 2013 has come and gone and the latest group on inductees joined the hallowed (and invisible) Halls of WWE’s Hall of Fame. New York City’s Madison Square Garden was mostly packed with fans young and old for an event which actually was almost four whole hours long.

I attended the event with my brother (NYC born, raised and lived). Unfortunately, due to lack of WiFI and my own semi-ineptitude, I was unable to do some live blogging. I was able to take this mighty fine photo of the stage.

And due to lighting, its the only one that came out.

But enough about me, to the event. The Class of 2013 has been called “the best class in history” due to its lack of a weakest link. Donald Trump could be considered the obvious weakest link, but again in comparison to other choices for celebrity honoree, Trump is one of the best they had to choose from.

Let’s take a look at the inductions

Mick Foley

The night opened with the co-headliner of the night Mick Foley. While his position was surprising he gave the best speech of the night right out of the gate. In the previous Hall of Fame Ceremonies I’ve been to in the past, the inductees have been given a strict limit on how long they get (mostly 10 min max).

It was pleasent and welcomed that Foley went on for 45 minutes. Apart from his stature as hardcore legend, he is a well written author and stand up comedian (although his style of comedy is more Drew Carey than Louie CK)

Drew Carey = Sad

Foley went through his five important people. Triple H, Dominic Denucci (trained him), Undertaker, Jim Ross and Paul Heyman in great detail and showed a real humbleness that Foley hasn’t been known for in the last few years.

In what was probably one of the top three highlights of the night, Foley made a joke about never beating Chris Jericho, Jericho hoped on stage, took a stiff elbow on the stage and was counted down by CM Punk. This complete breaking of kayfabe was received super well by the crowd and was the an amazing tribute. Foley goes out still fighting.

At a few minutes before 9, (started at 8:05), Foley finished and we moved on to

Trish Stratus

Both my brother and I used Stephanie McMahon’s entrance as a bathroom break. Stephanie is not and never has she ever been a dynamic personality. Its bad when the head of creative cannot give an interesting speech. She will never have anyone hanging on her words and frankly, she was the wrong choice for this induction.

All that aside, Stratus is brought out as the youngest WWE Hall of Famer in history (narrowly beating Edge by one year). I will get into this alot more in my full review of the Class of 2013, (Coming Next Week!)

Once Stratus came out, I was mostly bored. I forget just how terrible almost all female wrestlers have been at talking. Stratus included. (Did love heel Trish tho) Stratus is sweet and nice and that’s about it. She is a rest for the fans after the magnitude of Mick Foley and it is a welcome respite.

She thanks all the divas she works with by name (nice touch) and then mentions her husband, who gets some of the loudest boos of the night. Now, I am a born and raised NYer and yet it still surprises me what some of the NY/NJ crowds do at live events. Tons of people there were drunk and this was a sign of things to come later.

Stratus announced she be preggers and insinuated she may come back (at a Wrestlemania or something) to end her speech.

Booker T

Stevie Ray came out to induct the Bookman and is was great to see him. Stevie hasn’t been on television since 2001. I always thought it strange that WWE didn’t bring him in during 2003 or 2004 when Booker was mostly purposeless.

Booker’s speech was actually very good. He spoke clearly, with some history, some storytelling and a whole lot of humbleness. Booker thanked everyone he could and interesting focused mostly on his WCW career. WCW saw something in Booker which WWE chose to ignore more often than not. It is a crime that Booker never held the WWE Championship.

One real moment of poignancy came when Booker mentioned that he hoped he had lived up to the importance and legacy of Ron Simmons. One might forget that in the history of all of professional wrestling, there have only been a handful of world champions.

And they ARE:

WCW: Ron Simmons, Booker T, The Rock

World Heavyweight: Booker T, Mark Henry

WWE: The Rock

And that’s it. The Rock although technically half black, looks more Samoan than anything else and isn’t thought of by the population at large as black.

I bring this up because this is an inherent problem in wrestling. Booker T in 2000 was the 2nd African American World Champion. The third was Mark Henry in 2011. Why wrestlers like Shelton Benjamin, MVP, D’Lo Brown, R-Truth, Bobby Lashley and Kofi Kingston aren’t on the list is beyond me.

Rant aside, Booker T ended with a spinaroonie and left the stage.

By this point, there was a sense of fatigue in the audience. Listening to speeches all night can get taxing. There was also some drunky drunks around and it got a little rough during our next inductee.

Bob Backlund

Cranky is a word which encapsulates what the crowd felt during Bob Backlund’s intro. Extra host Maria Menounos did the honors. WWE tends to forget that if any fan actually cares about the B or C level celebrities they get for Wrestlemania, well that fan is not at the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony. Most people had no idea who she even was.

And she got the brunt of the cranky from the audience. As Maria tirelessly and tonelessly drudged through a speech which if delivered better, would have been amazing. Menounos was out of her element (no improv skills) and couldn’t handle the NY/NJ hate.

As she ended the crowd was so loud it was booing itself for the noise. Maria later posted the speech and after reading it, I wish I had been able to see that speech given by someone else.

Backlund came onto the stage. Thing to keep in mind about Bob Backlund is he is crazy. Not dangerous crazy, but he does things which generally would be considered to be unacceptable and he is all over the place. Unlike Booker, Backlund jumped “extemporaneously” as he put it. He jumped in an out of character, gave background on being weak, insulted Vince McMahon, invited Triple H on stage, gave his nephew a headlock, screamed a bunch and eventually had to be “signaled to end” by a creeping Vince coming onto stage.

Oh and he referred to Triple H as Mr. H. Ridiculous.

His speech was one of my favorites and one I will love to watch again once the DVD comes out.

By the end of Bob, the crowd wanted Bruno, but unfortunately we got the inductee no one ever wants, the celebrity.

Donald Trump

Vince McMahon is always good on screen. He’s got them improv skills. But even Vince aside, the crowd did not want to see Donald Trump. WWE Fans do not care about Donald Trump.

This is the inherent problem with WWE programming in the last 5 years of so. WWE doesn’t listen to the fans. They joke about strange responses and move on because “its a loud minority”. When John Cena is booed and “same old shit” or “boring” is chanted that is not the WWE Universe playing along with the WWE. It is them voicing their discontent. Donald received John Cena level hate.

Donald was booed before the video, after the video, every time Vince mentioned his name, when he came out, when he finished a sentence, his son was booed. Only his hot daughter with the big tits, Ivanka, was cheered. Because wrestling fans at the Hall of Fame like breasts.

Luckily, Trump knows when he’s not wanted and was quick. And a complete waste of time, like all of the other celebrity inductees have been.

But up next was the grandfather of professional wrestling,

Bruno Sammartino

Bruno Sammartino was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. This fact alone is one of the highlights of the night. Bruno was never going to be inducted. He hates Vince. We’ve all heard the reports.

Yet Triple H was able to convince Bruno. This fact undoes alot of the Triple H burial zone time of 2003-2006 in my mind. Triple H showed Bruno respect, progress and dollar signs. During some of Bruno’s shoots, he’s talked about the respect of money.

And watching his speech, it was mostly fluff. He didn’t have an epic speech or a passionate epitaph of his greatness. He talked a little about MSG, his back story during World War 2 and training. This speech could have been given at any Hall of Fame or award ceremony which Bruno might have intended. He could have cut the MSG stuff and done the same speech at the International Sports Hall of Fame.

Because Bruno did this because he was paid to do this. At this point, he is never going to be part of the WWE Family again. He knows it, they know it. But, they can have a working business agreement. Similar to Bret Hart or even Hulk Hogan when he’s not with TNA.

His speech was also only about 20 minutes or so and the night ended somberly and soberly.

Check back later this week for My FULL WWE Hall of Fame Review, including its ranking plus coming up

2014 Projections

Mr. Fuji

Sons of Hall of Famers

Rick Rude

and much more!

WWE Hall of Fame Blog

Current, Future and Never Will Be Hall of Famers