Monday, November 14, 2005
more on Eddie.
I'm surprised at the amount of mainstream coverage Eddie's death is receiving. Not that he doesn't deserve it, but generally a wrestler's death barely makes a ripple in the national news. The AP's piece garners a sub-headline on CNN and main-page photographs from Fox News and the AJC; the Boston Globe also carries the story on their website. Apparently JBL appeared on MSNBC earlier today to talk about Eddie. Usually when a wrestler dies you might see a one or two paragraph blurb on the obituary page, followed by Phil Mushnick's inevitable anti-wrestling column. The media hasn't covered a wrestler's death to this extent since Owen Hart's demise, and that attention was due more to sensationalism than anything else. That definitely plays a role here, too, but, still, the extent of reportage shows that Eddie's importance and signifiance is at least partially recognized by those not overly familiar with the industry.
On another note, Good Gawd, is the former WWF screwed. Common wisdom holds that Eddie was scheduled to win the Smackdown World title last night, what with champion Batista on the shelf for a few months after last week's injury. With Smackdown's top two draws out of the picture, that show will have to be overhauled. They also lost one of their most charismatic younger stars last week when Christian left for TNA. The Smackdown brand leaves for a European tour today, and, as reported by the Observer today, not only will Eddie and Batista be gone, but Chavo, Benoit, Rey Misterio, and JBL will all miss the first few nights in order to attend Eddie's funeral. Of course, whatever problems the WWF have are entirely insignificant, and 100% deserved. With TNA putting on a string of great shows since arriving on Spike TV, and the WWF suffering from bad luck and the McMahons' unceasing string of blunders, maybe Vince's eventual (and long-wished-for) comeuppance will arrive sooner rather than later.
I'm surprised at the amount of mainstream coverage Eddie's death is receiving. Not that he doesn't deserve it, but generally a wrestler's death barely makes a ripple in the national news. The AP's piece garners a sub-headline on CNN and main-page photographs from Fox News and the AJC; the Boston Globe also carries the story on their website. Apparently JBL appeared on MSNBC earlier today to talk about Eddie. Usually when a wrestler dies you might see a one or two paragraph blurb on the obituary page, followed by Phil Mushnick's inevitable anti-wrestling column. The media hasn't covered a wrestler's death to this extent since Owen Hart's demise, and that attention was due more to sensationalism than anything else. That definitely plays a role here, too, but, still, the extent of reportage shows that Eddie's importance and signifiance is at least partially recognized by those not overly familiar with the industry.
On another note, Good Gawd, is the former WWF screwed. Common wisdom holds that Eddie was scheduled to win the Smackdown World title last night, what with champion Batista on the shelf for a few months after last week's injury. With Smackdown's top two draws out of the picture, that show will have to be overhauled. They also lost one of their most charismatic younger stars last week when Christian left for TNA. The Smackdown brand leaves for a European tour today, and, as reported by the Observer today, not only will Eddie and Batista be gone, but Chavo, Benoit, Rey Misterio, and JBL will all miss the first few nights in order to attend Eddie's funeral. Of course, whatever problems the WWF have are entirely insignificant, and 100% deserved. With TNA putting on a string of great shows since arriving on Spike TV, and the WWF suffering from bad luck and the McMahons' unceasing string of blunders, maybe Vince's eventual (and long-wished-for) comeuppance will arrive sooner rather than later.
