Random Thoughts on the Road to WrestleMania
By Kevin Kelly
Brian Pillman > Charlie Sheen
The coverage that Charlie Sheen gets is staggering. If Vince wants to blow up the ‘Mania buyrate, he offers “Tiger Blood Chuck” a King’s Ransom to call the matches on April 3. Give that crazy bastard a live mike and roll with the punches. If he gets too out of control, send Big Show out to get him the hell out of there. As I’ve said before, I smell money! But seeing all the coverage Sheen has earned, I can’t say I haven’t seen this gimmick before…
Brian Pillman verbally assaulted his “boss” before a live PPV audience, worked everyone including the big boss and earned the first guaranteed contract in WWE history while still recovering from a shattered ankle. (Sheen went with standard insults and anti-Semitic remarks, Hedonistic lifestyle and a great act but he’s no tougher than the actor who does the cool “Dos Equis” ads.)
On a side note, if James Storm ever goes to Mexico, his gimmick must be “Dos Equis”.
But back to insanity… remember when Pillman threatened to urinate in the ring before a live audience in ECW then stabbed a guy with a fork? (Sheen says that his urine is clean).
Pillman brandished a firearm on live TV in defense of his family against an intruder (Sheen has yet to produce a Glock 9mm to prove a point.)
Before Charlie Sheen was a loose cannon, Brian Pillman was “the Loose Cannon”. Brian lived the tail-end of his career in the blur between real and fantasy and now Charlie Sheen has taken that gimmick and run… Did you hear that SiriusXM is going to dedicate an entire channel to Sheen! His gimmick is so over right now… Vince has to be thinking about bringing Sheen to Atlanta.
But how much better would Brian Pillman be at this than Sheen? Hell, Brian pioneered this gimmick 15 years ago.
A Personal Invite
I am going to be in Atlanta with Ring of Honor on Friday night April 1st and Saturday afternoon April 2nd, calling the two-day “Honor Takes Center Stage” event. If you can’t be there live, I encourage all of you to tune in to all the action on gofightlive.tv.
For many fans, this will be their first time attending a live Ring of Honor event and I can tell you that the experience is second to none. A celebration of pro wrestling in its purest form…
I want to also personally invite WWE Executive Producer Kevin Dunn to come down to Center Stage where Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin compete for the ROH World Tag Team Championships against the Kings of Wrestling and that will happen on Friday April 1st.
I also want Kevin Dunn to come down to Center Stage while he’s in town for ‘Mania and tell Charlie Haas what he thinks of him to his face, not tearing him down from the safety of the corporate jet when Haas is thousands of miles away. To say what he said about Shelton Benjamin behind his back for years but this time with the University of Minnesota standout right in front of him. Oh, and Colt Cabana would make time for Dunn, I’m sure, if he wanted to cut Colt face to face instead of shanking him between the shoulder blades when Cabana was in the WWE.
I also want Kevin Dunn to see the Kings of Wrestling and Roderick Strong and Christopher Daniels and Davey Richards and the Briscoes and the All Night Express and everyone who competes in a ROH ring. I would want to see the look on both of Dunn’s faces when he sees these fantastic athletes.
While I am sure that Kevin Dunn would never take me up on my offer, I would love it if Jim Ross could come down and see us, even just for a bit. I’m dreaming here but imagine if Jim Ross could call just one ROH match with us? He knows the way to Center Stage…
Vince and the NFL Lockout
I love football like most of you (Premier League, too, for my UK readers) but there is one man who is sticking pins in his “Roger Goodell” doll right now and that is Vince McMahon.
You see, if the upcoming NFL season is compromised or even cancelled, network programmers are going to be looking for replacement programming. Enter the WWE.
Vince hates lawyers (except his own) but he’s loving the crew that is trying to kill the NFL’s Golden Goose. There is NINE BILLION DOLLARS to divvy up… how can the owners and players not see that compromise is the order of the day? Americans have had a bellyful of bad news lately but football is number one. Would the NFL really risk that? If they do, again, enter the WWE.
While on the subject, imagine if there was a wrestlers’ union and Vince threatened to lockout the wrestler’s right after WrestleMania. Then, Vince would look to hire non-union, replacement wrestlers and the wrestlers would either cave or stay out and watch their spots go to others. Under that scenario, a wrestlers’ union would never, ever work.
Unlike football, wrestlers are the stars that can be made or broken. In football, it’s the jersey, the team, the game. Football players are interchangeable parts.
The Last Word
If the WWE did bring Charlie Sheen in for WrestleMania, you can guarantee that TNA would hire Emilio Estavez.
And screw that up too…
Follow me on Twitter @realkevinkelly or email me @ [email protected]
