Im not saying the WWE should just go around talking about other promotions; only mention them when they are relevant bc it HELPS GET YOUR TALENT OVER! They did it back when ECW and WCW were around and it only helped get their talent over. Of Course TNA mentions the promotions they have relationships with; bc IT'S RELEVANT, that's where they get their talent. WWE should do the same thing; let us know that we might know Alberto Del Rio as Dos Caras Jr. in AAA or Daniel Bryan as American Dragon in ROH bc IT'S RELEVANT. Taz did it for Nigel (I'm not gonna just assume that Taz slipped up and didn't know Nigel was going by a different name; although I wouldn't put it past him) and when you do that before someone introduces themselves, you ARE making reference to their previous promotion (implicating is prolly the better word); when you call Scott Hall Razor Ramon you are implying that you're talking about his WWF persona (or you at least know that that is what is being referenced). CM Punk has built a legacy in the WWE now, so nobody needs to mention his past on the indy circuit; but when he first arrived it was that history on the indy circuit that made him such a huge star immediately. If WWE would have mentioned ROH specifically, you know what would have happened? More ppl would pay attention to ROH and it's performers, and when those guys were picked up by WWE (bc we all know, in most cases, everyone's goal is to get to the WWE) the WWE audience can be more familiar with them; and they can GET OVER! If WWE mentioned Scotty Goldman being the former tag partner of CM Punk, the WWE Universe would have become more interested in Cabana. Don't you think?Big Red Machine wrote:TNA is business partners with AAA and NJPW. That is why they mention them. You don't see 1PW or CMLL or All Japan or NOAH getting mentioned.badnewzxl wrote:They mention New Japan and AAA all the time; and in the past, they DID mention ROH from time to time (When Desmond Wolfe made his debut backstage talking to Kurt Angle, Taz said: "Hey, that's Nigel McGuiness" the second they showed him on screen. They had Shelley, Aries, and Strong as a faction in TNA at the same time they were a faction in ROH, and they even extended the Daniels/Joe feud from ROH into TNA. They VERY often remind you there are other wrestling promotions out there.); WWE never mentions other promotions bc they don't want competition. Vince has said himself that he enjoys competition, yet he argues that no one else does what he does. I understand that when you're on top, there's no reason to mention the other guys bc you're the best and all; but if WCW would have done that, WWE would prolly have folded first and we'd all be pretty bad off. I give the WWE and Vince McMahon the fact that they took wrestling to it's highest point and I'm glad it's still around and on top; but CONSTANTLY telling everyone outside of wrestling that what you do ISN'T wrestling (despite the fact that they will ALWAYS continue to call it wrestling) makes Vince and co. look like Silas Lapham: a guy who worked really hard and had a strong family behind him and took the family business and made it something huge, but never truly appreciated what he had bc he and his family wanted to be accepted in a way they didn't feel they could be, being who they truly were. I just find that s**t to be bourgeois, and I think it's a lot more disrespectful to your business to disown it than it is to abuse it....Big Red Machine wrote: It is the same thing. It's not WWE feeling that they are too good for wrestling. Look at TNA. They pretend that they and WWE are the only two companies in the US and Canada.Why tell someone who might not know about it about your competition? TNA figures that no one who knows about TNA doesn't know about WWE. You would NEVER see TNA plug ROH or CHIKARA or FIP. I don't fault either company for doing it.
As for Nigel: That was likely more due to Nigel not having a name yet, and Taz knowing who he was. Taz looked pretty silly when Nigel introduce himself as "Desmond Wolfe" eight seconds later. Also, mentioning Nigel by his ROH ring name is not the same as mentioning ROH. Look at CM Punk! Nobody says that WWE is mentioning ROH.
Also, "extending" a feud or a faction is not the same as mentioning the promotion. If you didn't know about ROH at the time (like me at the time, who had heard of the promotion, but didn't know anything about it), then you don't recognize that they brought Gen Next back together, or that Joe and Daniels were feuding in a different promotion.
As for WCW doing it... WCW NEVER mentioned WWF in any sort of complementary manner (like TNA does for NJPW or AAA, and ROH does for NOAH, FIP, SHIMMER, and its various partners). You really can't compare the two.
As for Vince: I never said I thought that what Vince was doing was "more respectful" to the business; just that I thought it was hurting it less.
But none of this is even the point I was making; the point I am making is that Hardcore Wrestling does NOTHING to hurt the business; it's just told differently than WWE's style or the Lucha Style. Feuds build differently. Sabu & Sandman's feud in ECW evolved from your basic extreme rules matches to Tables & Ladders Legal and Stairway to Hell; that all still escalated. the Raven/Dreamer angle developed as good (if not better) than any feud in wrestling history. Hardcore wrestling doesn't hurt the business any more than any other specific style does. However, when Vince McMahon, the head of the #1 Wrestling promotion IN THE WORLD disowns pro wrestling (the business that he made billions of dollars in); claiming his product is NOT pro wrestling; it hurts the business MUCH more. I can understand not wanting ppl to have a negative view of what you do based on prejudices, but to disown your heritage in attempt to avoid being stereotyped is lame. WWE asked everyone to "Stand Up for WWE" but they won't stand up against the bs myths and fables about pro wrestling (a LOT of which have been placed on the industry bc of what WWE did). So now, when ppl say wrestling is degrading towards women, Vince can say "well, we're sports entertainment; not pro wrestling" (Despite the Bra & Panty matches, Lingerie Pillow Fights, and Mud wrestling matches). It comes off (at least to me) as WWE saying "we don't wrestle; wrestling is bad. We do sports entertainment; sports entertainment is good" but THEY ARE OBVIOUSLY WRESTLING! They COULD stand up for the business and say "hey, we're the best wrestling promotion in the world and we no longer perpetuate those stereotypes; pro wrestling isn't about that stuff anymore and we are proof of that." Instead, they just abandon the business and distance themselves from it. I think that is a lot more harmful than CZW or XPW deathmatches. The leader defecting from the team is much more of a set back than a guy or two being a jackass. That's what I'm saying....
