I grew up on pro wrestling. I lived the '80s and the '90s, the "Rock & Wrestling" era, the "Attitude Era," the "Monday Night Wars." I've watched the death of what was once a widespread territorial system. So? Things have changed, my friends. It's now almost 2010. Gone are the Slim Jim snappin' days of the Ultimate Warrior, the height of Hulkamania, WCW from the Omni in Atlanta. They're distant memories in my mind, although some of it is available via YouTube. It's not the same nowadays.
Back then it was "wrestling." It seemed real, it wasn't cartoonized (until the "Rock & Wrestling" era), and it wasn't about the gimmick. It was about the skills, the personal problems between characters, and the fans. Who brought the most money to the promoter? Who did the fans hate? Those were questions that could be clearly answered. Today, it's not so simple.
"Sports Entertainment" is the buzzword of the business. Is it a sport? Is it even entertaining? Why does WWE operate a motion picture company too? What are those two guys doing pointing at their genital area like that? Who is the midget leprechaun guy and what's he doing in the ring? Today's wrestling is clearly not your father's NWA Mid-South territory. It's all about the revenue, the gimmick, the merchandise, and the next Pay-Per-View event where Geeky the Superhero Computer Techie faces off against Rodney "Thug" Anthony the gangster from Queens in a "First One to Get a Swirlie" match. I wonder what Ed "Strangler" Lewis would think...
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The WWE no longer used wrestlers. They no longer cultivate talent. What they do is buy talent from the competition, make it suck, and make it work. Wrestling has nothing to do with the WWE these days.
ReplyDeleteThe promotion's developmental territories serve to find guys who LOOK the part that they can market for the next REALLY bad movie they decide to produce.
John Cena is a HORRIBLE wrestler.. completely and utterly bad. Why is he popular? Cheap pops. He wears the camp, the dog tags, and salutes.. that is the EASY way to get over the fans who aren't educated enough in the world of wrestling. Dare I even mention Khali? He's killed people in the ring! He's only there because he's a brute.
The only reason guys like Punk and Bourne have a spot in the company is because Benoit went bonkers and slaughtered his family. They don't LOOK like they roid up so they are safe.
TNA isn't much better. When TNA first started they had a purpose - a vision.. now? Not so much. Who do we tank? Vince Russo. He sucked 10 years ago - he sucks more now. Main Even Mafia.. NWO.. World Elite.. NWO WolfPac..
blah blah blah..