Pro-Wrestling Coming to MTV

[EinBebop]

From InsidePulse.com


PWTorch.com and PWInsider.com have reported these additional details of the MTV and Big Vision Entertainment wrestling project:

- It would be the first original wrestling programming exclusive to MTV which MTV has a hand in producing. It is being produced hand-in-hand with Big Vision Entertainment, should have an "MTV"/"reality" feel to it, and booking is reportedly already mapped out and approved by MTV.

- Wrestlers supposedly taking part in the February 9 pilot taping include Vampiro, Justin Credible, Sean Waltman, New Jack, Jack Evans, Matt Sydal, and Teddy Hart.

- The taping is free, with limited seating. Tickets will be distributed online, in both "guaranteed" and "first-come, first-served" formats.

- MTV-style production is expected, along with the inclusion of a lot of music.

- They are looking for an announcer, and Craigslist.org has postings "looking for a hip and trendy 'MTV style' commentator that can grab hold of the action. Should be 20-30, quick on his/her feet and very attractive. Knowledgeable in Wrestling. Sports commentary or News broadcasting experience a plus, high energy a must!" This could be just another trainwreck, and I think this guy on another wrestling board summed up the worst-case scenario pretty well:
5 minutes of Jack Evans and Sydal killing themselves
5 minutes of Teddy Hart throwing up (while the newest screamo band is played in the background)
5 minutes of New Jack falling off tall structures
15 minutes of whoever is hosting the thing spouting the latest pop culture catch phrases.
30 minutes of commercials for Trojan condoms, Real World/Road Rules XXXVI, and those 2 talking PSP dirt balls

This show will only hurt the nationwide reputation of Indy wrestling.Who's running the show? Big Vision Entertainment promoted the Hardcore Homecoming alternative to WWE's ECW PPV, organized by Shane Douglas. They've also put out a line of shoot DVD's called 'Ultimate Insiders', a couple of Mexican wrestling DVD's, and a documentary called "Forever Hardcore". I'm really curious to hear who's booking this.

Matt Sydal and Jack Evans are both hot prospects on the Indy Scene, and both members of Generation Next in Ring of Honor. However, Sydal has recently agreed to team with AJ Styles and go after the ROH Tag Titles held by GenerationNext teammates Austin Aries and Roderic Strong. Jack Evans was part of "Hart Foundation 2.0" in Stampede with Teddy Hart.

I'll definitely be watching just to see those three get their first national exposure. Teddy Hart is a great wrestler with a horrible reputation, so this may be his one-and-only shot at the big time.

Don't forget that both MTV and Spike are both Viacom-owned properties. So definitely don't rule out TNA stars showing up on this, though for the sake of longetivity I'm sure they realize the need to establish their own roster.

[Frank Castle]

This will either work really well, or it will be worse than the XPW and the 1999-2001 WCW.

[MegaJ]

Heh, I guess MTV's trying to get guys to watch their channel again after they castaway Heat to TNN/Spike before the WWE completely left Viacom.

[The Penguin]

:shrug: Hmmmm, I have a bad feeling about this.

[Sigma]

This will end up being a trainwreck, I love Matt Sydal he is a great guy and a very talented wrestler, he deserves to be seen, but not on a joke MTV wrestling fed. Jack Evans is a spot machine, granted he has some very cool spots, Teddy Hart has talent, but he is a cocky peice of crap so he will never make it anywhere.

As said above, like most MTV shows it will consist of mostly commercials and stupid pop-culture jokes that, unlike Family Guy aren't clever nor are they funny.

MTV really should just air TNA's syndicated Xplosion program, which typically consists of two or three matches, and then recap stuff.

[and2]

On one hand it has Matt Sydal and Jack Evans, on the other hand its MTV and it has x-pac.


The bad outweighs the good.




Noe if Super Dragon and El Generico all of a sudden showed up then the good would outweigh the bad.

[VCXZX]

This does look bad. And if the rumored involvement of 50 Cent to confront New Jack happens, then it could be worse. Or it could be good to see New Jack own Fiddy. Too bad that won't happen.

[EinBebop]

Noe if Super Dragon and El Generico all of a sudden showed up then the good would outweigh the bad.They would be fools to run a show in Los Angeles and not pluck some stars from Pro Wrestling Guerilla and the other indies in Southern CA. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that WWE has rehired Aaron Aguillera, just to keep him from the competition.

Whoa... New Jack just made sense. Maybe they're going to have music playing during ALL the matches!

:: pukes ::

[The Penguin]

I wouldn't be surprised to hear that WWE has rehired Aaron Aguillera, just to keep him from the competition.Competition? Based on what I've read so far I can't imagine this will even come close to counting. You've gotta have a little more than wrestling on TV to compete.

After MTV passed on another season of Tough Enough and moved HEAT to Spike I find their sudden interest in wrestling funny. Just like most things on MTV, this won't last long enough to make an impact.

[Djm912]

I see Matt Sydal and Jack Evans, and it makes me slightly interested. I actually sat up and read more when I saw Vampiro, who I haven't seen in years, since I have no access to his CMLL in Mexico.

Still, it's MTV. They broke my heart with Sifl and Olly, my favorite TV show of all time. And they have a way of making everything less enjoyable, just by their presence.

I'll watch it...once.

BTW, am I the only one that thinks Jack Evans is perfect for MTV? He could easily fit anywhere on that network. Hell, Matt Sydal looks like he just came out of some pop-punk band.

And you know this.....man!

[and2]

This does look bad. And if the rumored involvement of 50 Cent to confront New Jack happens, then it could be worse. Or it could be good to see New Jack own Fiddy. Too bad that won't happen.


Ok then, nothing can save this now.

[EinBebop]

Competition? Based on what I've read so far I can't imagine this will even come close to counting. You've gotta have a little more than wrestling on TV to compete.

After MTV passed on another season of Tough Enough and moved HEAT to Spike I find their sudden interest in wrestling funny. Just like most things on MTV, this won't last long enough to make an impact.I think if anything, WWE has always shown that they FEAR competition, despite their best talk, and would prefer to squash it before it can develop. There were rumours that Aguillera might get rehired anyway... if they suspected the MTV promotion were considering him, that might be the thing to tip the scales in his favor.

That said, I think you're right. Pro-wrestling is a rollercoaster of an industry, and MTV is a network for people with short attention-spans, by people with short attention spans. Whatever product they pull off will probably not be something to appeal to the devoted wrestling fan that these shows need as their base, and, if it does get off the ground, will not live past four years before the netexecs are ready to dump it for something newer.

Off-thought: How much money is MTV willing to invest in this? Would they put out Stone Cold or Rock money?

[and2]

Quote:Would they put out Stone Cold or Rock money?



Don't bet on it, they would probably hire cheaper indy guys who:

1) can put on a spotfest/hardcore match

2) have flashy moves


3) Have a flashy look


And like you said, they would probably use a lot of the PWG roster.

[The Penguin]

I think if anything, WWE has always shown that they FEAR competition, despite their best talk, and would prefer to squash it before it can develop. There were rumours that Aguillera might get rehired anyway... if they suspected the MTV promotion were considering him, that might be the thing to tip the scales in his favor.I thought of that (we must steal Mike Goldberg from the UFC!) but preferred to go with the logical argument. Crazy me. Is there any word, would Aguilera be back as Jesus to give Carlito a boost or another character?

[EinBebop]

Yeah, but even a one-shot appearance from Austin or Rock would lend a bit of legitimacy and perhaps hook in some fans that drifted away since 2000-2002. Austin-Sandman is something of a dreammatch among wrestling fans, with characters that would appeal to the MTV crowd. They could probably go to the productin company of Rock's next movie and get Rock lined up to at least come in and cut a promo in return for some movie shilling.

[MGFanJay]

Austin-Sandman already happened in some form in ECW, and was never a dream match. Austin has a WWE films deal, and there's no way Rock would do a one shot for some two bit operation on MTV. Big Vision just did the mass production of the HH and FH DVDs, they had nothing to do with the promotion of the show. This should at least be an enjoyable trainwreck.

[SirLemming]

It does sort of sound like the inverse of XFL. But I'll still check it out, just like I checked XFL out.

[EinBebop]

The Southern California Pro-Wrestling page came up with more info.


Now SoCalUNCENSORED.com brings you exclusive news on two dark matches featuring SoCal talent, as well as a special bonus match.

Disco Machine & Joey Ryan & Topgun Talwar vs. Scorpio Sky & Zokre & Phoenix
Star Puma vs. Tommy Williams
And the bonus match of Human Tornado vs. Delirious vs. Luke

Other wrestlers taking part include Vampiro, Justin Credible, Sean Waltman, New Jack, Jack Evans, Matt Sydal, and Teddy Hart.

These matches are so that MTV execs and the show's writers and producers can see talent that may be offered contracts if the show is picked up for a full season.

As far as tickets to the taping goes, "first come, first serve" tickets will be available at PWG's event this Saturday and a number of local shows before February 9th, however as an exclusive for SCU readers, Big Vision Entertainment will be giving away a limited number of "Guaranteed Tickets".

In order to get the Guaranteed Tickets, send me an e-mail at steve@socaluncensored.com with the subject "MTV TICKETS" and include your name, address, and e-mail. All e-mails will be forwarded to Big Vision Entertainment, and they will mail tickets out to you. There are only a limited number of these tickets available, and all requests need to be in by February 2nd. More info will be posted as it's announced.The fact that they're working to some extent with PWG gives me a little hope for the product. I e-mailed a request for a couple free tickets.

[DarthGonzo]

Just what MTV needs...less music.

[VCXZX]

Human Tornado is good, believe me.

He can't save this organization by himself though.

[Andy Mancini]

There are a couple of things that bother me about this:

1) Did any of you notice that this being billed as a "series" and not a promotion? I know that this is minor, but still. What if this "series" doesn't perform as well as they were hoping? Will the promotion that is built around it disappear as well?

2) What do they mean "reality based?" Will all of the angles and promos be shot as if this was The Real World? Will there be any angles at all? After all, nothing can be more "real" than an argument after the show, right?

3) Do they really think that they can keep New Jack under control? I personally don't think so.

4) What kind of audience are they going for? The average smark won't like the "MTV style," and the average MTV fan might not be happy with the wrestling. Yes, guys like New Jack, Vampiro, Evans, and Sydal have might look "MTV," but, they don't wrestle "MTV." The TRL crowd wants John Cena, not X-Division.


Simply put, it appears that the braintrust at MTV Networks have created XWF 2006: all flash, no substance.

[Djm912]

4) What kind of audience are they going for? The average smark won't like the "MTV style," and the average MTV fan might not be happy with the wrestling. Yes, guys like New Jack, Vampiro, Evans, and Sydal have might look "MTV," but, they don't wrestle "MTV." The TRL crowd wants John Cena, not X-Division. This is why I said that Jack Evans is made for MTV. He's the total package for MTV. He's John Cena, but a lot more enjoyable to watch. How many people out there that watch MTV ONLY know wrestling as WWE? They see someone like Jack Evans doing all the crazy stuff they do, and they'll flip.

[PTurkey]

This'll be either really really really successful or really really really... crap, assuming it gets past the pilot stage. They've got a watchable talent pool but there are huge questions about who's doing the actual booking. That'd make or break this.
Something like this could help get wrestling out of its bust, but competing with your sister station's wrestling show is kinda not smart. It could damage the already small ratings it gets. And when MTVW gets cancelled, we'd be stuck with WWE as the only game in town again.

And they're getting New Jack. New Jack never fails to bring the lols, be it with profanity-laden shoot promos or stabbing people for no reason. He's the most gangsta man on the planet. All the MTV-watching wangstas will love 'em.

Aand if Pro Wrestling Gorilla's at all involved in this, they should be required to have hilarious PWG-styled show names. Like "Chanukah Chaos (The Cs are Silent)" and "Zombies Shouldn't Run" and "All Nude Revue" and all that. That'd definitely draw the Neilsen boxes.

[langden alger]

just more fodder for all the pro-wrestling bashers...be prepared for all the cheap shots and cliched wrestling insults once promos start airing...

[EinBebop]

This is supposedly from PWInsider. It came off a site I'd never heard of before called SEScoops.


The new MTV Wrestling Promotion will be called New Age Wrestling, or NAW, to fit in with their new idea of mixing music with wrestling. Chris Jericho is also in negotiations with the newly found NAW to be their top star. Jericho is interested in going there to main event, and to promote his music.Rumour killed.

[Nin-Nin69]

Wouldn't it be easier to outsource? You know like FMW or Big Japan? Those should snag some ratings.