PLAY MOLLY FOR ME
(*The theme music for Mollyopoly # 8 is 'Afro Connections at a Hi-Five (In the Eyes of The Hoodlum)' by De La Soul from 'De La Soul Is Dead')
PART ONE: OMENS and PORTENTS
"In the Kamigata area they have a sort of tiered lunch box they use for a single day when flower viewing.
Upon returning, they throw them away, trampling them underfoot.
As might be expected, this is one of my recollections of the capital (Kyoto).
The end is important in all things." (from the Hagakure, chapter 2)
(*Disclaimer: This is the negative portion of Mollyopoly # 8. Don't like negativity? Then skip to part 2-(Still) Building the Perfect Molly. Like reading something by someone who may hold a different view or opinion than you? Read on.)
I must confess, I am re-considering dropping the WWE again. The way Vince and Co. use (misuse) their talent is tiring. It used to anger me...but now, it just leaves me tired. I have already given up on SmackDown. So, from now on, until the WWE does something-ANYTHING-with Molly, you can expect every edition of Mollyopoly to disregard the very existence of Raw...and focus soley on her. Who knows what I kind of trouble I could get into under those circumstances...who knows indeed?
MEMOIRS FROM THE NORA-WORLD.ORG TAG-BOARD:
I want to thank James, a fairly regular tagger, for inspiring much of the content in Mollyopoly # 8. I had a feeling that Nora wasn't going to be on Raw, so I knew that I was going to be writing mostly about her. But James has inspired me to look at what some fans find acceptable, and what some fans find unacceptable. First off, nobody is wrong or right here. Everybody is going to see the same thing DIFFERENTLY. My stance is simple: IT'S MY STANCE. I want an upper-echelon product. Raw is a 2 hour and 5 minute show. If I am regularly spending 2 hours and 5 minutes watching something that falls into my definition of 'lame', then I am a fool...because that's 2 hours and 5 minutes of my life that I will never get back. If I can't get an upper-echelon product, I will take my game someplace else. I'll take my game to NWA-TNA. It is very simple. I will watch WWE programming until I lose interest in it, because I do not have the time, patience or inclination to wait for things to possibly improve, as I would be waiting for a LONG time if I WERE going to wait for a monopoly to change ANYTHING in the INTERESTS of its EMPLOYEES or in THE INTEREST OF THE CONSUMER. I do respect James' opinion, though...because I am not trying to change anyone's mind. I don't care if you agree or disagree with anything I have said in this issue or any of the 7 previous issues. I believe that James said he was training to become a wrestler, so I will respect his opinion as valid, as he is commenting on something he is actually trying to become. Fine. He apparently is content with WWE programming. Fine. There is nothing wrong with that. I know, however, that some WWE viewers are not content with WWE programming as it is now presented. With that said, however:
A WAKE-UP CALL TO WWE VIEWERS: WHY I WILL ONE DAY DROP RAW
(*Note: WWE viewers are more powerful-in theory-than we might otherwise believe. I want things to change in the WWE. I sat back and watched while Y2J beat everybody of note in his Undisputed Champion run, only to have that squashed DEAD upon the return of one specific worker.I sat back and watched as the Women's Division suffered-and continues to suffer-under a perpetual regime of bad booking and a general lack of interest from several higher-ups in the WWE and fans in general. I sat back and watched as people bitched and moaned about how they wanted a renewed emphasis on the Cruiserweight Division and how tired they were of JBL's # 1 contender run. I also sat back and watched as those same people now continue to watch SmackDown. I want everybody that works a match and puts their body on the line to be able to work a match to the best of their ability, without being held down by certain people in the back who do want to be outshined by some of the talented midcarders in the company. How could I possibly be entertained by these people if they are not ALLOWED to work the best match that they can work? I want to be entertained, and I want the WWE workers to be put in a position where they can DO just THAT. But none of this is happening, for the most part. For every La Resistance, there are several Shannon Moores, Matt Hardys, Rhynos, A-Trains, Basham Brothers, Dawn Maries, Tajiris, Paul Londons, Val Venises...you get the point. I do not buy WWE merchandise, I do NOT buy their PPV's, and the only WWE show I watch on any kind of regular basis is Raw...and that is just because Nora Greenwald works (occasionally) on that show. The WWE does not have to do what I outlined last in Mollyopoly # 7.They could do ANYTHING with Nora at this point-as long as it is NOT demeaning. But the WWE DOES have to address their blatant misuse of talent with the entire Raw/SmackDown roster. Push the women. Push the cruisers. Bring back real tag-team wrestling. Stop the nonsense. When Vince and Co. do THAT, then they can have my money again. Until they do, however, they cannot. What can I do individually? Less than nothing. Collectively, if enough people stopped giving the WWE their money so that the WWE can continue to disappoint them week after week, then theoretically the WWE would have to at least ADDRESS some of these issues. I would rather not watch Nora Greenwald at all than watch her be misused constantly and perpetually. I would rather not watch the WWE at all than watch the Cruisers and the Ladies continue to be misused. You know when any enjoyment of the industry I had started to get drained from me? The tail-end of the NWO drama in WCW with all of the backstage politics, and SummerSlam '99, with more politics between Austin and HHH, with HHH being the (alleged) victim. Politics. All of that just began to ruin it for me. The 'Montreal Screwjob' is another incident that comes to mind. I dropped the WWE for months after that, and didn't come back until Rocky 'The Rock' Maivia (as he was known then) started his heel run in ernest...and WCW began to suck too much to continue watching. So I will be quick to turn away from the WWE. I will NOT choose the lesser of two evils...watch and complain, or watch and wait for the television product to improve.I honestly wonder why some of you do. It really is NOT supporting Nora in any way. You are, in fact, supporting the WWE's decision to continue on their current path. Also, I am not talking about her going over in every match...believe me, that was one of the reasons I eventually got sick of HHH. I DON'T CARE if Nora NEVER wins another championship as long as she lives. I just want a forum where all the WWE talent can be utilized to whatever their potential is. I don't see WHY this is so impossible. I ran down the WWE slate of shows, their run-time, and the total number of hours per-week that WWE programming garners. They can't FIND TIME to book the women and the cruiserweights properly? They couldn't find a program for Lance Storm, Tommy Dreamer, Rey Mysterio (at one point) or Chris Kanyon? But Evolution and HHH can eat up the minutes constantly each week on Raw? Raw can let Eugene dominate the show? Shane McMahon can get his (stupid) protracted angle with Kane last year, a stupid, protracted angle that KILLED KANE'S HEAT BEFORE IT EVEN GOT STARTED? I don't buy it. I don't buy anything the WWE says or that the WWE produces. I'll just let Bret Hart be my guide on that score. So again, WWE viewers do have some power. When some of you choose to act on your discontent, as versus just sitting around waiting for things to pick up, then something might change. But only when YOU change. I am NOT going to remain loyal to a wrestling monopoly that has a lot of the world's best talent, more money, and a bigger global stage than any other company,and then goes out of its way to misuse their talent, and intermittently struggles to put out a consistently good television product and a consistently good PPV product. Notice, that when the WWE has no choice but to offer a good slate of matches and angles, when they have legit competition, they usually deliver. Why not now? What is the problem? Well, I know of no other way to say it but to say it like this: the WWE has NEVER been interested in putting out a good show for the fans. They ARE interested in your money. There IS NO IMPETUS to put out a consistently good product when there is no direct competition putting pressure on them to do so. It was true 10 years ago, it was true last week, and it will be just as true next week. WE ALL PLAY A ROLE IN WHAT HAPPENS TO THESE GUYS IN THE WWE...WE ALL PLAY A ROLE IN MOLLY'S DESCENT DOWN THE CARD. WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE. IT'S NOT JUST THE WWE. WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE. THE WWE KNOWS THAT WE DO NOT HAVE THE GUTS COLLECTIVELY TO TURN THE CHANNEL, SO THE WWE WILL GIVE US WHAT THE WWE WANTS TO GIVE US. PERIOD. IT IS UP TO YOU. IF YOU FEEL THAT THERE IS NO NEED FOR CHANGE AND THAT THE MAJORITY OF WWE TALENT IS GETTING A FAIR SHOT TO SHOW THEIR WARES, AND THAT THE WWE WILL IMPROVE ITSELF WITH NO DIRECT COMPETITION OR WITHOUT A PROFOUND SHIFT IN VIEWER INTEREST,THEN, BY ALL MEANS...KEEP ON WATCHING.)
Now, I am not trying to change anyone's mind. I have no control over you guys. I can only control what I do. There is no less truth in your opinions than there is in mine. Hopefully, however, I made you think a little bit. If you have beliefs, and you do not occassionally put them under a microscope and really, really examine them-if you never question your beliefs-then it becomes dogma at that very moment, and dogma has been the scourge of Homo sapiens since H. sapiens formed his first actual thought.
True...my morale is low right now, and from several reports I've read, the morale is also low in-surprise, surprise!-both the Raw and SD locker rooms. Of course, any and all internet reports have to be taken with a grain of salt, but I find it hard to believe that a whole lot of the 'boys' are doing backflips and somersaults in the WWE right now.
So what happened on the 6/7/2004 Monday Night Raw? Well, Molly wasn't on Raw.Want a Raw report? No. Raw can go STRAIGHT to HELL for not having Molly on T.V. in some capacity. She doesn't have to work a match. Some will make the argument that Molly is nursing injuries and needs some down time. Fine. Kurt Angle, though, has a messed-up neck. He's on T.V. The WWE can't find some kind of manager-role for her? I assume that the WWE is trying to get Gail Kim over, by having her beating Victoria repeatedly and cutting promos. I am sure that one day Ms. Kim will be an aces orator. Until that happy day occurs, Molly is still the better speaker, and should be Gail's mouthpiece...if she isn't going to be working. She didn't have to go over all the time. She didn't even have to go over OFTEN. But the WWE COULD have developed her character. What the WWE did do was give her a chinstrap and a wig. So I do not feel the need to be patient with the WWE. This angle sets a bad precedent...one we should have seen when Tazz first hit the WWE. To be fair, there are a number of things I really like about Raw. I love Y2J, Christian, Trish, Lita, Orton, Kane, Rhyno, Matt Hardy, La Resistance, Coachman, Gail, Victoria and...of course, Molly Holly. But the things that I despise about the WWE have taken precedence over the course of the last 8 months. How I feel about my favorite Raw talent:
THE RAW TALENT THAT COULD NEVER TURN MY SMILE UPSIDE-DOWN
CHRIS JERICHO: There is nothing bad I can say about this guy. He has the total package, he has everything a booker should want...but he's not 6'10" and he is not about to marry the bosses' daughter, and so, while we SHOULD be talking about this particular worker in roughly the same way that we would talk about Shawn Michaels, we are instead watching the once and former Paragon of Virtue continue to reign as the World's Greatest Midcarder. I know no wrestler is EVER going to read this, but I take my hat off to Chris Jericho...for consistently giving his all and entertaining everybody. His Undisputed Champion run was amazing, even if only The Rock was really going the extra-mile to make Y2J look GREAT. Make Mine Jericho!!!
CHRISTIAN: In any other federation, this cat would probably be working main-events consistently. It didn't take the Edge & Christian run to make me see his skills. I already knew he was The Man in that duo from his days in the Indys. He should be ready for the WWE main-event sometime around years' end...but Christian-much like Jericho-is NOT 7-feet tall, so this is just going to go down as another unfulfilled wish. Good luck getting your back healed up right. He is-in my opinion- Raw's best heel. Christian also has the most kick-ass intro theme in the WWE. Christian rules!!!
TRISH STRATUS: You won't ever hear me badmouth Everyone's Favorite Blonde. Trish is the female equivalent to The Rock: She may not be a GREAT worker, but nobody works harder (like The Rock); she puts everybody over (like The Rock); she worked hard to make herself into a legitimate commodity (like The Rock); and she cuts one hell of a promo (she's not The Rock yet in this regard, but she is one of the best in the WWE nevertheless). The woman rules. She deserves whatever credit she gets.
LITA: I used to not like her. I so used to dog her work the same way I currently dog Gail Kim's work. Why do I like her now? Well, her work has not changed at all...it is just that Lita comes across as LEGITIMATELY LIKABLE. That's all I can come up with. Well, that aaaannnnndd I think she looks better than ever. It is just hard for me to badmouth her in any way right now. If anybody out there has ever had a Lita encounter and can prove or disprove her likability, then let me know. Lita rules!!!
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