The Ivy League Archives : Detachment

TRIBUNE ARCHIVES

Detachment

"Cause I say what I feel, it gets me into trouble.
I feel what I say, I don’t care anyway.
I do what I like, it doesn’t make me humble.
I like what I do, it’s just my attitude.
-Artificial Joy Club

It's been awhile, my children... but your guardian Bitch is back again. And oh, what tales I have for you. What wonders I've seen... and treasures I've recovered... come closer... cloooser....

Naah, I kid.

But it's good to be home. It's good to see the CSWA starting its engines once again. When operations hold for a period of time it's always a matter of fate when they'll start back up in earnest... and there can be quite a lot of false alarms. But I think Merritt has finally figured out what to do with himself and his creation.

Good thing, too.

Because he's pretty much lost his damned mind.

Have you seen what he's got in store for Battle of the Belts? Forget about the potential for comedy, tragedy, and preemptive strikes that's standard faire with Hornet, Mark Windham, and the CSWA World Championship... forget about Eli Flair and Evan Aho, two of the hardest working champions in CSWA history, matched up to earn another shot at the belt. All you need to know about Battle of the Belts this go- round is that Merritt has, in essence, taken every conflicting faction in the CSWA at the moment and shoved 'em all into a situation where they have to beat each other up. Overkill? Maybe. Smart? Debatable. Poppin' the buyrate? Most definitely. Good for business?

That's where it gets sticky.

If there's two things Merritt is good at, it's engineering memorable moments and making enemies. Usually both at the same time. Who can forget the infamous pooping back at Super Bowl Blast 1996 that started off a vicious round of interpromotional rivalry? Or the way GUNS tried his best to run the CSWA World Championship into the ground following Fish Fund XI? A murdered midget? A Not to mention the dozens of times Ray S. Cornette and his CORPORATION looked to take over the CSWA. Or when Hornet told the world that the next few months would be 'nothing personal.'

Not enough? Two and a half years ago, three men and a Psycho Bitch 'staked a claim' on the CSWA following one of the most intense, emotional CSWA World Championship matches since Hornet and WALL took it to the one hundred minute mark fourteen years ago.

In every one of these cases, Merritt responded. Decisively and completely. Where's President Poop these days? Where's Lyle Tallman? Where's Ray S. Cornette? Where are the Claim Stakers?

Gone, gone, gone, and destroyed. Hornet has been brooding for a year now. Mike Randalls is missing in action, and Eli Flair and I have taken a step back from the workings of the CSWA. Yes, things are about back to normal in an official capacity for Merritt and myself, I'm working with the webgeeks on the Tribune again, and Eli Flair's returned to his more comfortable role as a quiet, apolitical presence in the locker room. But speaking for myself and Eli - for that's all I can do - we lost a little something in the journey, and the CSWA is just a job now.

And it's that kind of detachment that's made my job so very interesting. Intruders? Whatever. GXW invasion? Whatever. PLR take two? Whatever. Diamond Exchange? Whatever. Why not bring back the Nation of Masturbation, the Elimination Squad, and for someone new and actually entertaining, Mega Job. Beef's my boy but he drinks like a little girl.

Whatever.

And Sammy's walked.

Whatever.

Don't get me wrong, I'm loyal to Merritt and his vision. He hired me sight unseen, experience nonexistent, and allowed me to carve out my own niche in the professional wrestling world. When it comes to an idea he wants to use in the Tribune, or an idea he has for a new promotional offering or match idea or my input on anyone I might know around the loop who would fit into the CSWA.... I'm there for him.

When it comes to the in- ring product and the conflicts created therein...

Yeah. You guessed it.

Whatever.

This is Ivy too.