Justin Barracosa

When I first heard about this I thought it was crazy. But after reading it in more than one, two, even three places I got to wondering, what is going on with Batista?

Apparently WWE Superstar Batista is upset about the big push he is getting from the WWE. And is talking retirement. Vince McMahon has tryed to keep him happy for years because he is a huge draw overseas. According to reports Dave Batista is a big spendor so retirement would be out of the question for now at least.

He is frustrated because he thinks he is not at the same level as some of the other main eventers. Personally, I’ve never heard of a wrestler thinking this way. Why would he think he is worse than Cena?

Both are good, but Batista has always been the better wrestler, while John Cena has been the better entertainer. Apparently people backstage felt that after they had him win at Summerslam it would satisfy him, but it didn’t and now he is looking to take time off.

I would have to guess that they would need to make a big push for Punk or Michaels, considering they are the only other main event faces on the roster. Now if Orton comes back from injury and turns face, we could defiantly see a good Jericho and Orton feud.

Cena will not be back for a long while, Mysterio is not at the level I believe the other performers are at, and no one other than Batista could carry the load for RAW other than Punk or Michaels at this point, considering Chris Jericho is a heel.

Batista’s decision to take time off is nuts, not just for him but for RAW entirely. If he does truly want this time off, the WWE will have him lose to JBL, have a small feud between him and Jericho, and maybe add Punk or someone to the next PPV for a triple threat of some sort.

It’s the only way out of it in my opinion, unless Batista stays until Orton comes back and could turn face possibly.

But what do you think? Should Batista take time off right now? If so, how do you think the WWE should handle the situation?

Frank Mazzola

Today, the WWE is a huge industry with a worldwide media presence. Some of their performers are able to parlay their global platforms and branch out into more lucrative, less physically demanding pursuits such as starring in their own movies or writing bestsellers based on their careers.   However, wrestlers weren’t always treated with such respect and admiration. Media celebrities like The Rock, John Cena, and Mick Foley (to name a few)  would be the first to tell you that they owe their financial opportunities to those who came before them, those who blazed the trail and made it possible for Vince McMahon to revolutionize the business.

Afa Anoai is one of those trailblazers.

He began his career in 1971 and, together with his brother, Sika, formed one of the most dominant tag teams to ever grace the sport, The Wild Samoans.  Their gimmick was comical and not terribly politically correct (though wrestling has almost always been able to cross lines for which other industries would be lambasted):  Two savage men from the wilds of a tropical island who had a love for causing pain and destruction.  In truth, Afa Anoai is a very intelligent man who sagely navigated a long career in the wrestling world.  The two brothers exhibited an athleticism that was remarkable for men weighing over 300 lbs.

Today, Afa runs The Wild Samoan Training Center (www.wildsamoan.com) and has helped to train some of the industry’s biggest stars ( Batista, Umaga and many others.)  He also runs a promotion called World Xtreme Wrestling ( www.wxwwrestling.com) and is very active in charity work.  He was inducted, along with Sika, into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007.

I spoke with Afa and got his thoughts about his career and his life after retiring from the squared circle:

Frank Mazzola:  What made you decide to pursue wrestling as your career? Who were some of your biggest inspirations?

Afa Anoai:  Back in the 1970’s, my hero was my uncle, the late High Chief Peter Maivia. He was a hero to all Samoan people and I wanted to be just like him. I was lucky enough to have traveled with him and his partner at the time (”Soulman” Rocky Johnson) who later became a member of my family. The two of them would train me on the road when they had a few minutes now and then. When Peter handed me the torch, so to speak, and told me to carry on for our people, it was that which inspired me to be the best that I could be in this great sport and I gave all I had inside of me each night to the great fans. 

FM:  Who are some of your all time favorite opponents?

AA:  I would have to say, Superfly Jimmy Snuka, Andre The Giant, The Freebirds, Junk yard Dog, and The Road Warriors. 

FM:  Describe your feelings when you learned that you would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

AA: For the past few years, some of my loyal fans and friends have complained to me that my brother Sika and I were passed up yet another year for being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. To me, it was no big deal.  I didn’t need a plaque. When I received the news from the WWE back in 2007 that it was our time, I was happy but it just did not seem that important. It was fun to go to Wrestlemania 23 and to see my long time friends and many of the wrestlers who shared so many years of our lives traveling the road together. When the Wrestlemania weekend started and I walked into Fox Theater to watch the premiere of  movieThe Condemned , I thought it was a private showing among the WWE wrestlers and our families. When I walked in and saw over 10,000 fans who were screaming, it hit me: I was being honored for the 35 plus years of blood, sweat and tears I had shed all over the world.  It was one of the proudest days of my life. 

(Part II appears next week in this space).

Frank Mazzola

Historically, wrestling has been made up of two types of characters:  Babyfaces (good guys that the crowd will cheer) and Heels (despicable characters that everyone can root against.)

However, there is a third category that is not as well defined:  The Tweener.  These characters will act in a morally ambiguous way and will wrestle everyone, Heel or Face.  Some of the greatest champions in the annals of the business have been Tweeners:  Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H and especially the legendary Ric Flair are all examples.

It seems that Randy Orton has come back to the WWE as a Tweener and I, for one, am loving it.  Orton has the physical talent, the mic skills and the ability to sell a match with anybody on the WWE’s roster.  He is their wild card and the possibilities for headlining PPV’s are endless.  His versatility is one of the biggest assets the company has.

This young superstar has the potential to carry the WWE on his back much the way Austin did in the late 90’s.  This could be ”The Age of Orton” indeed.

Other thoughts from last night’s show:

- I take back everything nice I said about Mike Adamle’s improving stage presence.  He stumbled over his important number one contender speech like a three a.m drunk.

- That was an impressive finishing maneuver by Jamie Noble (an Oklahoma roll into an armbar submission.)  It was even better that he was able to put Paul Burchill away with it.  It’s been a nice few weeks without the presence of “Stiff Boy”.

- Speaking of impressive, I am really bowled over by the talent of Evan Bourne.  I would love to see him somehow turn heel and have a program with Rey Mysterio.  These two would need parachutes for all the flying they’d be doing.

- Speaking of Rey, I was rather disappointed with the match between him and Kane.  The crowd wasn’t into it and both performers were off their games.  They are capable of better.

- Kane is one of the more underrated promo guys on the roster.  His speeches are captivating.

- Santino continues to find fresh new ways to reference WWE’s extensive history of ridiculous gimmicks to hilarious fanfare.  Cowboy Bob Orton’s cast is one of the funniest situations the business has ever seen and it’s a shame that a lot of the younger viewers probably had no clue what he was talking about.

- Charlie Haas, on the other hand, suffered a rare misstep with his Jim Ross impersonation.  Unfunny and inaccurate in both speech inflection and accent, he needs to stick closer to home in terms of who he imitates.

- The Y2J-CM Punk match was one of the better cage encounters I’ve seen in awhile and it’s mostly due to Jericho’s performance.  Any pro will tell you that wrestling inside a cage is much more difficult.  The steel structure must be incorporated seamlessly into the fight or else the match will fail spectacularly.  However, this is easier said than done.  Y2J is one of the best “ring generals” the sport has ever seen.

- Finally,  I will be posting my exclusive interview with WWE Hall of Famer and wrestling legend Afa the Wild Samoan on Thursday.   Don’t miss it.