DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
TNA Fan World
HTML https://tnafans.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Sheriff Lonestar's PPV of the Week
*****************************************************
#Post#: 13991--------------------------------------------------
Sheriff Lonestar's PPV of the week; What happens when you've don
e everything
By: SheriffLonestar Date: June 29, 2013, 2:58 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Last week's PPV of the week;
HTML http://www.tnafanforum.com/videos/sherifflonestar's-ppv-of-the-week-22-06-13-the-most-ludicrous-card-ever-ever/
Started a discussion about what happens when you've played out
everything. This week is exactly what happened. We are back in
FMW, but this time we are in post Ohnita FMW and a very
different landscape it was to. FMW, like ECW, worked on a shock
and awe principal that was even more shock and awe than ECW. By
the time Ohnita had finally (and it took a while by Japanese
standards) shuffled off into the sunset, FMW needed something
new to compete in a crowded market. The late nineties where a
time of rebirth for wrestling world wide. WCW was in its last
legs, ECW as at the peak of its popularity before going into its
horribly painful for all involved death throes and the WWE was
as hot as it had ever been. Ohnita was one of the most bankable
stars of the prior era and when he finally called it a day FMW
where left with the problem of how to fill that huge void. In
reality they couldn't so they tweaked the product to try and
find a new audience.
Their idea was interesting to say the least, they copied someone
else. They took one look at Vince MacMahon's evil company boss
figure and said we can do that. So in came Kodo Fuyuki and his
evil commissioner persona, he had his own crew to back up his
actions and you had a factional company, both groups vying for
new titles the World Entertainment Wrestling belts, having
retired the Independent World Brass Knuckles titles (the long
time cherished holy grail in FMW). The shift went from stories
of honor and toughness to political control. A much harder
concept to understand in a Japanese format because Japan really
doesn't do story lines. Out went the violence. Well actually
that is not true, clearly and electrified cage match is no walk
in the park but the main event is a pure wrestling match H vs
Mr. Gannuske (or fake Hayabusa) in a regular NO DQ bout.
Actually this was a throwback to the earlier era, Gannuske and
Hayabusa grew up together, trained together and where old
friends, in much the same way as Ohnita and Genichiro Tenryu had
been 6 years earlier. What really made this match special and
interesting though was the special guest referee Shawn Michaels.
Yes THAT Shawn Michaels, show stealer, Icon that could still go
(actually he couldn't then he was in the midst of his
Undertaker-press-slam-into-the-coffin-bad-backness). This was
somewhat of an oddity for him to attend but he is not the only
Gaijin by any means. The WEW tag match with Kuroda & Hisakatsu
Oya vs. Raven & Tommy Dreamer is a nice slow burner of a brawl.
Compared with the returning Funk Brothers vs Yoshinori Sasaki &
Naohiko Yamazaki something of a spectacular. The Funk's brought
back their classic 70's approach for a nostalgia match of high
quality. Kintaro Kanemura vs. Balls Mahoney is another dream
match for brawl fans, we even get a classic Kanemura giving a
promo with no clothes on moment which is always hard not laugh
at.
The tone is set by the two opening matches. Ricky Fuji, Flying
Kid Ichihara, & Chocoball Mukai vs. Koji Nakagawa, Jado, & Gedo
a lot more comedy and brawling, but a lot of fun to watch. If
you have never heard of Jado and Gedo by the way you should go
look them up, as they are now the chief bookers for the NJPW
division they have been a key component in the success of Fergal
Devitt. No less fun is Kaori Nakayama & Emi Motokawa vs. Miss
Mongol, Malia Hosaka, & Jazz, the handicap match that has some
of the best female workers at the time in heads up battle. In
usual FMW style its pretty stiff but relied a lot more on action
than in days of Combat Toyoda and Megumi Kudo. Emi Motokawa went
on to be the top face of Ice Ribbon and most recently had an
epic feud with Meiko Satomura losing her hair not once but
twice. Bad Boy Hido vs. Willie Williams is good for what it is,
a worked shoot match, but nothing to write home about.
So what was the story that came out of this card? Well the
violence was still there but placed in the background of an
attempt to sell a story. The end of Ohnita as a main event
wrestler allowed opportunities for Hayabusa, Tanaka and
Gannuske to take the lead with the company. The toning down
ensured a more stable roster and the higher production values
developed a sense of style. The upshot was a much more watchable
product form the general publics point of view, but gone was the
spectacle. Soon it was to be all gone in very tragic
circumstances. The move towards entertainment over violence lost
FMW its core audience and its biggest supporter Ohnita. Though
having a healthy roster was vital for long term survival, the
company couldn't ride out the loss of revenue to move back up to
bigger things and it slowly faded away. In 2001 Hayabusa slipped
while performing a springboard thus breaking his neck and ending
his career. Shoichi Arai then owner of FMW was 3 million dollars
in debt to the banks and another million in debt to the Yakuza
(sadly the main money source for a lot of Japanese wrestling
promotions) he declared bankruptcy, went into hiding and
attempted to write a book before finally committing suicide so
his family could pay back the Yakuza with the insurance money.
They are still paying it back.
A truly sad end to promotion that burned brightly for years but
fizzled out unceremoniously. Enjoy the show.
HTML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_owlYJnnIQ
#Post#: 14022--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sheriff Lonestar's PPV of the week; What happens when you've
done everything
By: tnafanforum Date: June 29, 2013, 1:06 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Very true and a good read mate
#Post#: 14025--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sheriff Lonestar's PPV of the week; What happens when you've
done everything
By: SheriffLonestar Date: June 29, 2013, 2:24 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Thank you :). FMW is cautionary tale for those who want to play
with a winning formula.
#Post#: 14036--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sheriff Lonestar's PPV of the week; What happens when you've
done everything
By: tnafanforum Date: June 30, 2013, 5:44 am
---------------------------------------------------------
some times I watch the smaller shows and think they are a lot
better than the top 3 brands some times tbh .
#Post#: 14056--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sheriff Lonestar's PPV of the week; What happens when you've
done everything
By: SheriffLonestar Date: June 30, 2013, 3:37 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Well they don't have to worry about appealing to everyone, just
their audience.
#Post#: 14058--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sheriff Lonestar's PPV of the week; What happens when you've
done everything
By: tnafanforum Date: June 30, 2013, 3:40 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=SheriffLonestar link=topic=2705.msg14056#msg14056
date=1372624650]
Well they don't have to worry about appealing to everyone, just
their audience.
[/quote] think that is why they are sometimes better because
they no what there fans want ...
#Post#: 14060--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sheriff Lonestar's PPV of the week; What happens when you've
done everything
By: SheriffLonestar Date: June 30, 2013, 3:45 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
It does mean they have a finite audience base though. ECW proved
how far you can go doing one thing, but how quickly it can fall
apart when you go to far.
#Post#: 14073--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sheriff Lonestar's PPV of the week; What happens when you've
done everything
By: tnafanforum Date: June 30, 2013, 4:32 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=SheriffLonestar link=topic=2705.msg14060#msg14060
date=1372625123]
It does mean they have a finite audience base though. ECW proved
how far you can go doing one thing, but how quickly it can fall
apart when you go to far.
[/quote] yer true I guess you need to get it in so it works out
right what is not as easy as you think ..
#Post#: 14074--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sheriff Lonestar's PPV of the week; What happens when you've
done everything
By: SheriffLonestar Date: June 30, 2013, 4:33 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
No thats why it takes so long to build a company. TNA and ROH
are just two different ways of trying to do that. Ones much
more cost effective.
#Post#: 14081--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sheriff Lonestar's PPV of the week; What happens when you've
done everything
By: tnafanforum Date: June 30, 2013, 4:49 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=SheriffLonestar link=topic=2705.msg14074#msg14074
date=1372628017]
No thats why it takes so long to build a company. TNA and ROH
are just two different ways of trying to do that. Ones much
more cost effective.
[/quote] look how long it took WWE to make the WWE brand as big
as they are now .
*****************************************************
DIR Next Page