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Joe Babinsack on Guest Booker: Dutch Mantell

Posted: Dec 6th 2010 By: CMBurnham

I know many will anticipate a review filled with cheap shots on TNA, mockery of its style of wrestling, disdain for the booker and his booking, and incredulity that any promotion can boast the talent and roster of that company over the past five years, and not realize that the business model is hopelessly broken.

I will continue to hope that a strong second promotion in the professional wrestling industry could emerge to provide myself, and my fellow fans, a level of entertainment that rises to the historical expectations of the sport. I?m also hoping that a promotion would provide me with a level of entertainment sufficient to provide a return on my investment of time and money in watching their product.

Those who are satisfied with the underperformance and disdain of current promotion shouldn?t bother to read further, because I?m going to provide a review of a shoot interview and presentation by one of the industry?s proven booking geniuses: a man who ran a promotion successfully (if not hugely profitably), and who knows the nature of the business, respects its history and more importantly, comprehends that professional wrestling is a unique business that must address the audience and understand it, rather than remain indifferent to it.

Nothing exposes TNA, however, as much as the reality that the company once employed (or was owned, in part) by three gentlemen who ran regional promotions on the basis of the ?Southern Style? of wrestling over the past few decades, and no longer does.

Instead, those guys ? Jerry Jarrett, Jim Cornette, and Dutch Mantell, are gone, and instead, we have in place guys who have no proven track record of success in running promotions.

Hogan? Argue all you want about the Hulkster?s drawing power, but Hogan?s never run a promotion and every time he has power, how has that worked out? Other than ensuring the roster spots for about a dozen ?Friends of Hogan?, who profited from his business insights?

Eric Bischoff? You cannot ignore the precipitous and unprecedented loss of money that happened in WCW, and if you want to argue that Bischoff gets the credit for rocketing WCW to ratings success, that doesn?t provide a track record of success, it provides a track record of erratic business sense. Beyond that, we all know that Bischoff desperately tried to restore WCW to profitability and failed, and further failed to organize the purchase the company he saw sold at a bargain basement price.

Vince Russo? You all know by now I?m a hater. Why stir that up?

We begin the DVD, called Guest Booker, with Sean Oliver explaining the purpose and the concept. The most telling point of his introduction is this:

?He knew the roster and the audience better than anyone?

What further reason have we of judging the TNA promotion other than the fact that the let go a man who understood both the talent and the paying customers, in exchange for bad wrestling and worse decision making and a complete lack of judging talent? Oh ? there I go again.

Dutch Mantell, a.k.a Dirty Dutch Mantell, is a storied wrestler and a proven booker in Puerto Rico and has the dubious honor of having worked for TNA for much of its existence. Mantell has penned a few books, including Tales from a Dirt Road (with the look from his Kansas Jayhawks/Desperadoes/1980?s era)and The World According to Dutch, and has some sort of claim to the Smithsonian Museum that begs to be discovered.

Host Sean Oliver may be jesting when he says that Mantell is one of the ?few in the world qualified to be on? a Guest Booker DVD, but there?s no joke involved after listening to two hours of Dutch Mantell regaling with tales of booking, wrestling and everything in between, plus exploring his own take on how to revive the fortunes of TNA.

With the talent they had on hand at the end of 2009.

With a mentality based on Old School and proven matchmaking.

With a reliance on the talents and skills and capability of the wrestlers themselves.

And more than anything, the focus is upon entertaining the fans -- not ignoring them. Needless to say, Mantell would do this within the realm of what professional wrestling is, not by being oblivious to what it is not. That?s because Mantell always ?accepted wrestling for what it was.?

To him, it?s a performance, and it is artistry, and to Dutch Mantell, there is a unique sense of entertainment in pro wrestling. Pro wrestlers are not actors ? anyone with understanding of the industry knows this, but as Mantell explains, actors have the opportunity to have multiple takes.

Wrestlers, in a live environment, do not.

?Wrestling done good is great? done bad, there?s nothing worse in the world than to see bad wrestling.? I think most of us know that Dutch Mantell knows better than most, having seen it up close and personal, and having learned from a variety of wrestling minds, and having seen the best and worst of it all.

But this isn?t merely a sound bite, and Mantell continues: ?When it?s good and you see the artistry of the guys then you really appreciate the art for what it is.? And this is where the disconnect lies with those in charge of TNA, and those who are no longer associate with the promotion. Professional wrestling, when done right, when done enjoyable, when done to the artform that fans have known and appreciated, is a performance that relies upon the actions taken in the ring, or spoken spontaneously. While the matchmaker or booker or creative end may set up the dynamics of the interactions, it?s up to the wrestlers themselves to perform

?Pro wrestling is an art. It?s a physical art, and it?s like no business in the world,? says Mantell.

For more about what Dutch Mantell knows about professional wrestling, and to learn about the potential he could have unleashed within the TNA roster, and what he could have done if given the opportunity, this DVD has it and much, much more.

(One really interesting comment on storytelling has Mantell talking about how the comic book legendary writer Alan Moore explained some things about giving fans what they want? and how stupid he felt that approach was?..)

Dutch Mantell isn?t just spouting words on a DVD. He has a track record in the business, and has set ratings records in Puerto Rico (an 18.1 rating, with a 55 share of the TV audience in 2000), and he?s won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter?s Booker of the Year award in 2002, and his run in one of professional wrestling?s hotbeds from the mid 1990?s to the mid 200?s ? past the point where most territories were long gone and forgotten ? further proves the point.

With TNA, and as part of the infamous booking committee, Mantell has been most associated with the women?s division, where wrestlers like ODB and Awesome Kong broke the mold of what the fans were used to seeing. In this case, different was better, and there should be no surprise that he was able to orchestrate feuds and matches that the majority of the TNA fans seemed interested in seeing.

But Mantell has done the same in various situations: notably in both the WWC and IWA promotions in Puerto Rico (and he?s reportedly heading back to the IWA), and wherever he?s had the responsibility.

Kayfabe Commentaries? Guest Booker with Dutch Mantell is labeled ?Exposing TNA? and again, it?s not all about pointing out the idiocies and the bad moves, the poorly presented storylines nor the complete abuse of wrestling talent, but presents a great booker with a platform to espouse his understanding of the business, his reasoned and logical stance on making decisions, and his inherent ability to piece together matches and feuds.

Nothing exposes TNA?s inability to judge talent than the fact that this gentleman is no longer wanted in the promotion.