Smart Marks 11.16.13: Standards of Excellence

Hello again, and welcome back to another edition of Smart Marks hosted by yours truly, Dino. This is the place where each week we will take a look at a variety of topics (or, “marks”) and do our best to intelligently discuss and debate them. Some weeks, that means we’ll quickly break down three different topics. Other times, I might take one or two ideas and flesh them out a bit more.

No, I don’t think Will is wrong in saying that people approach WWE and TNA with different sets of standards in mind. Like I just said, I think that’s how it should be. At the same time, that answer was what I needed to really get into the psyche of the TNA Defender. Because, as I say all along, we’re ALL in the same boat together. Constantly attacking those who didn’t like the programming you do just doesn’t make sense to me. Will’s answer came when I asked him why those who defend TNA will always bring up WWE doing the same thing. In my mind, if I’m griping about TNA, I’m not taking all of wrestling’s events into consideration- instead, I’m simply saying “Man, what I saw on Impact last night sure was stupid.” When someone instantly responds with “Well it’s better than what happened on Smackdown!” it feels like they’re not only ignoring the complaint (no matter how valid), but they’re doing it on purpose, and doing it in a way of “You can’t hate that, WWE does dumb things, too!” To me, the most insulting part of this response is the pretending that I don’t hate things that WWE does. That just because we don’t say “Man, that shit with Dixie was so stupid, just like the time Vickie did something similar” every time, doesn’t mean are we not aware of it. It’s wrestling. There’s stupid things everywhere you go!

So Will’s answer helped shed some light on that. I’m an older brother. I remember getting angry when I was younger when I felt my little brother got treated with different rules than the ones I got. I can get that.

I would even say that perhaps this is what the fan war is really all about – TNA Fans tired of being seen as the “little brother” of the group. TNA has been around for over ten years! Where’s the respect? I can absolutely understand that, as well.

However, if it’s something as simple as “There’s always different sets of standards being used, and it’s unfair!” as to why TNA always gets such staunch support, well, I’d suggest that, in lazy terms, you’re “doing it wrong.”

When I watch WWE programming, my expectations are as follows: 1-3 long interviews. 1-2 decent matches. Maybe one really good match. A lot of Sports Entertainment garbage. SKITZ! I’ll also see the absolute best produced wrestling show on television today. These standards are in place because for the 32 years that I’ve been alive (and thus a fan of wrestling), this is what Vince and his company have, on the average, provided for me. They constantly tell us that they’re sports entertainment. They tell us that they don’t care so much about 5 star matches, or movesets, or workrate. They care about stories. They want every second of camera time to be devoted to passing those stories along, whether it’s in the form of a skit, an interview, a speech, or a match. Everything is about building. Always building to the next event. And, with that, comes a lot of hokey garbage. And that’s fine, because that’s what WWE tells us they are.

TNA, on the other hand… TNA has spent all of its time since basically Day 1 yelling to the mountaintops that “We are wrestling!” “We are the alternative!” “We deliver the best wrestling action!” “We have the best wrestlers!” That’s what THEY told US. So, when I turn on TNA, the standards that I hold TNA to are as follows: Great, long matches. Very little sports entertainment garbage. Poorer interviews due to a lack of focus on them in the first place (and thus, some more leniency on bad interviews, and more praise when an interview actually turns out better than expected). Way more action. And again, I expect these things because these are the things TNA has told us to expect.

Different shows, different expectations. Much like how many expect “kiddie” stuff from WWE, but consider TNA to be the more “adult” show. Wouldn’t those be different sets of standards? Of course they would be. But since this one places WWE in the negative light, no one calls that out nearly as often.

Now, to be sure, this isn’t something new or unique to the WWE vs. TNA war. Not even close. My entire childhood was spent dissecting how WWF’s circus show with stupid characters compared to WCW’s more wrestling focused product. How guys like Sting, Vader, and Rick Rude would eat guys like TL Hopper, Doink the Clown, or Max Moon alive. Again, even as kids, we knew the differences between the two products.

Taking it further, when ECW was alive, the standards that show was held to were nothing like what WWF and WCW had to deal with. ECW was held to the standard of delivering absurd amounts of violence, tons of blood, tons of weapons, some matches with actual good wrestlers, and tons of profanity. If you turned ECW on in 1996 and saw sports entertainment garbage on your show, you were angry. You didn’t watch ECW for sports entertainment. In fact, that’s why ECW was created in the first place- to present wrestling in a different light than what the “Big Two” were offering at the time.

Again, the idea that it’s “unfair” to hold two separate companies with two separate presentations of pro wrestling to two separate standards strikes me as a bit skewed toward protecting the little brother, TNA. And again, I’m not attacking TNA in any way with this. But I will say that when TNA tries to do something that would absolutely happen in WWE, and they do it super poorly, I do get much more angry than I would if TNA just did something dumb that fell flat. And my reasoning is simple: if I want to watch ridiculous sports entertainment segments, I’ll go watch RAW and SmackDown, where I’ve been taught to expect such garbage. However, TNA has always bragged about being the alternative, so watching them do the same crap drives me crazy. I’d feel the same way if a Reverse Battle Royal was held on RAW. I literally think that’s the stupidest match ever, but if WWE did it, I’d hate it even more than when TNA does it. Why? Because that’s TNA’s garbage! I don’t need to see it here on my WWE programming!

I think to the first few months of WCW after Russo and Ferrara arrived. I wasn’t bothered so much by the stupid angles like the Powers that Be, or the constant pseudo-shoot storylines that Russo was famous for. No, that didn’t bother me nearly as much as seeing Booker T turned into the Rock Lite. Or seeing Brad Armstrong turned into The Road Dogg Ripoff. Or Dustin Rhodes being Silverdust. Or the invention of a hardcore title. My point is, watching WCW basically do everything WWF was doing or had done, and doing it in a much poorer fashion is what drove me crazy, not that WCW as doing what WWF was doing. Not that WCW was trying a new direction. The simple fact that I was getting a cut rate version of something WWF has covered is what made me angry. And that’s because WCW spent years yelling about how they were where the big boys play, they are real wrestling, and they’re better than WWF. And then, just like that, they were doing everything they could to portray themselves as a cheap copy.

Again- different shows, different standards.

And that standard is “excellence”. That’s the only standard we should really be concerned with here. Did you consider the latest of Impact to be an excellent show? Great! Did you consider it to be less than excellent? Then you have every right to say why, and to do so without being bombarded with “Well WWE did it too!” as a response. I happen to see striking similarities between the AJ Styles storyline right now, and the Summer of Punk. I’ve also seen it argued that since AJ Styles is defending his title in other promotions, and didn’t return to TNA after one week, that these two storylines are TOTALLY DIFFERENT. The two storylines where a guy wins the championship as his contract runs out and gives his promoter fits in the meantime is seen as “a ripoff” by WWE Diehards, and as “Totally different” by TNA Defenders. It drives me crazy, because outside of a few nit picky sidepoints, it’s the same freaking storyline. I don’t demean TNA for running it, just like I didn’t demean WWE for stealing directly from Ring of Honor for the idea in the first place.

Still, if you dare mention that you find them similar to a TNA Defender, you’ll probably get a few insults mixed in with how wrong you are because they’re so totally different, I can’t even see how you’d think they’d be related.

And really, I like what TNA is doing with this, because it’s what I’d EXPECT them to do. They’re the wrestling company. So, their guy goes off and wrestles the best the world has to offer. I wouldn’t expect Vince to allow his guys to go wrestle in Mexico or other American independent leagues in the meantime. That’s not a standard that Vince has shown he’s willing to strive to achieve. So when CM Punk showed up the next week, was I disappointed? Sure, a bit, but only because I knew that it could have been such a better angle. However, I wasn’t surprised, because in WWE, the focus is the storytelling, and the story was that CM Punk left the WWE as champion, and everything was in chaos. Having him return immediately somewhat helped push that, as even with a new champion crowned in Rey Misterio and then John Cena, CM Punk’s mere presence continued to bring more chaos to the show. AJ Styles doesn’t have that type of chaotic personality, so it wouldn’t have worked. The direction TNA has taken makes perfect sense.

Now, if AJ had shown up a week later, I would have been MUCH more irritated than when Punk returned after a week, because a) that’s a WWE sports entertainment move and b) we just saw WWE do this two years ago.

I don’t want to be reminded of things WWE has done when I watch TNA. No, I simply want to watch one of the better wrestling rosters go out there and give me some great matches.

Is it a different set of standards? Yes, absolutely. Is it unfair to either promotion? Based on what they tell us they are striving to be, I’d say no, it’s not unfair at all. WWE is entertainment. TNA is wrestling. When one tries the other and the results are poor, the kickback from angry fans will be much worse than if they try what they excel at and then fall short. WWE giving me a poor SE skit isn’t nearly as annoying as WWE hyping up a huge match that will be great and then not delivering (like Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus at WrestleMania, or even Shawn Michaels vs Mr. Perfect at SummerSlam 93). Much like a TNA match falling short of expectations doesn’t drive me as crazy as watching TNA give me a 20 minute interview skit that goes on forever.

So, there you have it. My take on Will’s comment that it’s “unfair” to have different sets of standards for TNA and WWE, or any other league, for that matter. I really just want the TNA fans to know that not every complaint is being done in comparison to WWE. Sometimes, some of us actually judge TNA on its own merits, and simply don’t like what we were given. Does that make us “haters”? I’d say it absolutely does not; it just makes us fans.

As always, I’d love to see the debate continue down in the comments below. Thank you again for taking the time to read, and have a wonderful weekend! Until next time, enjoy your WWE, your TNA, your Lucha, your Puro, and your Indies.