Professional Wrestling: Then & Now...

This is gonna be something of a touchy subject to some, but I feel it should be addressed. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my State of Professional Wrestling Address...sort of.

You can't talk about pro wrestling without first bringing up one company: World Wrestling Federation (fuck you, World Wildlife Fund. World Wrestling Federation has been around DECADES longer than you and you had no right whatsoever to that abbreviation). *clears throat* so anyway, as I was saying...

WWF - or World Wrestling Entertainment, as it is called now - has been on the decline these later days. It is a very slow one, however, and only a few can see this with the naked eye. Lately, seemingly great ideas have been flying out of the woodworks - all too many at a time. The WWF/E year is now well over-crowded with too many PPVs and other events. With the exception of the Road To Wrestlemania (January, February, and March/April - depending on which month they want "the grand-daddy of'em all" to happen in), there are just about two PPVs a month. This year, a plethora of new names was released into the PPV vein: Great American Bash became simply "The Bash", Vengeance became "Night of the Champions" (a PPV at which each and every championship is on the line), and then you have Bragging Rights (the new annual SD! vs. RAW PPV - totally not a new and magical concept). The final ones are what prove a very serious point that I am about to make: Extreme Rules, Hell in a Cell, TLC: Tables, Ladders, & Chairs, and Breaking Point.

Those last four are pretty much self-explanatory: an all-hardcore-matches PPV, and all-HIAC-PPV, an all-TLC-matches PPV, and one that is just a blatant rip-off. Other new ideas in the WWE include the "Celebrity Guest Host Of RAW" concept, the new Unified Tag Team Championships, the new Diva's Championship, and the idea that someone can steal a championship and never have to earn it. Why so many ideas? The answer is simple: DESPERATION. With TNA's star on the highway to the top of the pro wrestling mountain, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon had to think of something - and unfortunately, that 'something' turned into what I believe will become a big mistake in times to come: he started ripping off TNA. TNA, as we all know, is the master of concept PPVs, and let's face it, they do it extraordinarily well. My personal favorite is Lockdown, the all-Six-Sides-Of-Steel PPV. *gasps* oh no! Did that description sound a little familiar to you? Well it should. WWE has ripped off that idea and created the much-self-explanatory PPV, Hell in a Cell - a PPV at which every match takes place inside - wait for it..waaiit for it...waaaiiit fooorr iitt - *gasps* a CAGE! Why, Vince, why? I can remember a time when Survivor Series, Royal Rumble, and Wrestlemania were the only three unique PPVs. The other nine were all In Your House with some form of subtitle that laid out the theme for the PPV.

In my honest opinion, the WWF/E is in its golden years, having long surpassed its prime/peak/apex/...whatever you want to call it. WWF/E left its peak a decade ago. The peak? A little something we like to call...the Attitude Era.

WWF/E will never in a million years get better than it was in the late 90s. Never. At that time, you had such wrestling legends as The Rock, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, The Hart Foundation, and the original D-Generation X. WCW was also in its prime, all the while competing with WWF/E. At that time, WCW and WWF/E engaged in a ratings war the likes of which may never be seen or heard from again (I say that because when TNA's time comes, there won't be a struggle or any neutral ground to settle on - TNA will just straight dominate. It won't even be a competition). The rosters of both shows were abundant with well-appreciated talent and freshness. Every event for both shows was sold out in minutes. Goldberg waged a one-man war against the NWO in WCW and Steve Austin destroyed authority and all but owned the fanbase in WWF/E. It was a time of extreme chaos and great prosperity. I believe things started going south when Vince McMahon realized he would never beat WCW...and so took it upon himself to buy them out. Just as well, WCW unfortunately came under terrible management and an equally terrible creative team, and so was doomed to flounder anyway. Thus began the Invasion Era and the beginning of the slow, ponderous decline of WWF/E.

The Invasion Era actually did have some potential. The ratings were high and the fans kept coming. I believe it would have been so much better had Triple H and Shawn Michaels been there. Shawn was, at that point, completely retired from pro wrestling and was dealing with his back injuries and crisis of faith. Triple H just narrowly missed the Invasion Era when he tore his right quadricep and had to be out for the next year or so.

Nowadays, you can tune in every monday night at 9 PM to see Vince abusing the same stories and rivalries that he has been for the last five years. It's stunning. Vince is a good businessman...but he's a TERRIBLE promoter. His booking decisions have led to so many injuries it isn't even funny. The reason why is because Vince relies SOLELY on the same handful of wrestlers to get the job done...and he cares nothing for the rest of his roster. He has a great deal of talent at his disposal, but he refuses to let those lesser-known wrestlers shine and instead keeps it all on the same 5 or 6 guys. I remember there was a little while there around 2005-06 when all of those 5 or 6 guys were out with injuries or some other serious leave of absence. I remember thinking, "well that's it then...Vince is done".

When the Invasion Era ended, it gave rise to the time of the Brand Division. I believe that, in the hands of a more capable and overall BETTER promoter, this idea might have been grand and wonderous...but then again...we are still talking about Vincent Kennedy McMahon.

This will all come back to haunt VKM in the end, though. Most of his handful of golden boys are on the cusp of retirement - namely, the venerable legends who are in the twilight of their own respective careers. Shawn Michaels, one of my all-time favorite wrestlers (definitely top 3), is certainly at the top of that list. He wrestled one of the greatest matches in pro wrestling history at Wrestlemania XXV against the Undertaker this year, and it nearly put him on the shelf prematurely. After that match, he subsequently disappeared, recovering from some pretty bad bumps he had taken during the match. One of the worst bumps came from a top-turnbuckle moonsault to the outside of the ring. Undertaker moved out of the way and Shawn hit the unforgiving concrete floor like a rock - which did considerable damage to his surgically repaired back and legs. In turn, the Undertaker - a wrestler amid Vince's "golden handful" - damaged his neck in that same match, knocking a great deal of time off of what is already the last leg of his career. This occurred in a high spot where the Deadman utilized his dive over the top rope to the outside of the ring - and landed neck-first onto a television cameraman and his equipment. Because of that spot and the subsequent agony that was probably racing through his body, he nearly lost his legendary Wrestlemania streak to a count-out. When both of these men came back from their respective hiatuses, they were both still in horrible shape - and this was about six or seven months later. What did Vince to help out in the recovery process? He put them both in a Hell in a Cell match. Why Vince why...

Another wrestler close to retirement is Triple H. It is well documented and known that Triple H is already on borrowed time - himself walking and wrestling on two very surgically repaired legs. He certainly doesn't move like he used to and his matches are considerably shorter because of that. You take those three guys away and that leaves you with John Cena and Randy Orton. For the record, I hate John Cena and I am a HUGE Randy Orton fan. I think if Randy Orton can manage to not re-injure his neck, he could go onto to do great things. He's already one of the greatest heals ever. And then there's John Cena. Vince forced this guy down our throats ("our" being the massive wrestling fanbase) and never gave us a chance to actually reciprocate to him and decide for ourselves whether we love him or hate him. As a result, we hate him. He's a white rapper with one of the most limited movesets in wrestling history. I'll give him this, he has a good deal of charisma. Unfortunately, there's just nothing else to like about this guy. If you've seen one John Cena match, you've seen them all - LITERALLY. Add to that that this guy has put himself on the shelf three times already in the process of such a short career (knee, shoulder, and chest), which isn't good at all when you're looking at the long run of it. Unfortunately, John Cena is the face of WWE right now.

Vince has a few other big names on his roster, names that have seen greatness in the past and will unfortunately never get to taste it again. These include Big Show, Chris Jericho, Batista, and especially Kane. All of them have been world champions in their own time. However, none of those guys will ever be elevated to the status of the "golden handful". I think Kane is the most underrated and under-appreciated wrestler of all time. This guy is a monster: he doesn't care for anything non-violent, he sets people on fire, he's brutal in the ring, and he loves pain. Unfortunately, Kane became the biggest victim of Vince's worst mistake ever - TURNING WWE INTO CHILD-ORIENTED PROGRAMMING.

My biggest fantasy in wrestling is to see Kane go to TNA. OH MY GOD can you imagine that? Jeff Jarrett and Dixie Carter - the real geniuses of pro wrestling - would utilize him as he should be utilized. Wrestling fans would bear witness to chaos, dominance, and destruction that has never before been seen in the annals of wrestling. TNA is adult-oriented programming, and as such would use Kane to his fullest potential - the no-sell, immortal beast of old. I can imagine his perfect debut: have another one of those full-scale all-roster riots in the Impact Zone. BOOM! Cue pyro and entrance music. Then have Kane come out and DESTROY the entire TNA roster - Awesome Kong and Sharmell included. He gets in the ring to view and admire the destruction he has wrought from on high, raising his arms into the air in an all-too familiar pose. BOOM! SIX turnbuckles of fire! The big, red monster has arrived! And there, folks, is a perfect recipe for AWESOME.

Then you go from there by bringing back another familiar face and having the greatest Monster's Ball match ever: Kane, Abyss, Rhino, Mick Foley, and Raven. Have the Main Event Mafia try to recruit Kane, only to be double-crossed and destroyed themselves. Then - the coup de gras - put the TNA Championship strap around his waist. Unfortunately, Kane's career is going nowhere in the WWE. I really wish he'd go to TNA...

You've seen me mention TNA a few times here. For those of you playing the Home Game, TNA - or, Total Non-stop Action Wrestling - is a newer pro wrestling promotion started by Jeff Jarrett and Dixie Carter a few years ago. It is already far superior to the WWE in every way. They utilize all of their talent to the fullest potential and everyone gets their due spotlight. They've also given much deserved spotlight to the underrated and under-appreciated talent that they acquire from the WWE. Classic wrestlers like Scott Steiner and Dustin Runnels, and newer guys like Christian and Matt Morgan, have all received their much deserved due credit for their contributions to the pro wrestling world.

TNA has also come up with some of the most awesome matches of all time. Matches like the Monster's Ball, Lethal Lockdown, Raven's Clockwork Orange House of Fun, and the Barbed-Wire Massacre all come to mind.

I know that TNA's popularity sky rocketed after its latest and greatest acquisitions: Mick Foley and Victoria (who now goes by the name of Tara). And speaking of female wrestlers, TNA's Knockout Division is second to none. The women's matches are actually incredibly entertaining to watch. The talent level of their women's division is off the charts. It would only get better if they acquired WWE's Bella Twins (for the Knockout's Tag Team Division, of course) and re-acquired Mickie James. I reiterate, TNA is far superior to the WWE. TNA focuses on the wrestling aspect of wrestling, and not Vince's soap opera aspect of wrestling.

Part of me wishes that Shawn Michaels would opt to spend his career's golden years with TNA. Perhaps then, we might finally see what it would be like to get him in the ring with Sting - or we could all be treated to the Heartbreak Kid vs. the Phenomenal A.J. Styles - which could be the greatest match ever. I actually get goosebumps just thinking about how awesome those matches would be. The same was once said of the thought of the Samoan Submission Machine vs. the Rabid Wolverine Chris Benoit.

At any rate, WWE vs. TNA? TNA every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

This concludes my rant on wrestling for today...hope you've enjoyed it and that you found it informative. DEUCES!