Has Stone Cold Jumped the Shark?
The Fonz, Mike Piazza, the athletic teams of Pittsburgh, and numerous others have done it. The prevailing question as it pertains to professional wrestling is this: Has Stone Cold Steve Austin joined the list of those people or groups in popular culture that have reached the summits of their potentials and are now slipping and sliding downhill?
In other words, Has Stone Cold jumped the shark?
Before I continue, allow me to digress for a few lines and provide a little background on what it means to jump the shark. The term was popularized by the creators of a pop culture/TV sitcom Web site. The phrase is normally used to describe the moment in a TV show that signals its impending downfall, but can also be used to describe the same type of moment in a celebrity’s career, pop culture event or political movement. The name jump the shark is derived from a 1977 episode of Happy Days when the beloved Arthur Fonzarelli jumps over a shark in a horribly portrayed water-skiing stunt.
There is even one actor who has (allegedly) caused the cancellation or downfall of so many television shows that he has been labeled the patron saint of jumping the shark. That would be none other than Ted McGinley, who most people know as Jefferson D’Arcy in Married With Children. Personally, I feel like Ted gets a bad rep, but at the same time there is a lot of proof offered up by the Webmasters of the site, which you can access here.
Now that the necessary transmission of background information has been completed, let me go back to the point I was trying to make in the first place. The truth is that I have a lot of appreciation for Stone Cold Steve Austin as a professional wrestler, and I respect everything he has done for the pro wrestling industry. In fact, I can say without question that there was no other WWF superstar who could have served as the pissed off, beer-drinking, working class anti-hero that Vince McMahon desperately needed to perpetuate the era of WWF Attitude in the late 1990s.
With that said, the problem I have with Austin is that it is now 2003, yet his character has not really evolved all that much. The Rattlesnake still has charisma and personality, but he also lacks a lot of other traits that made him such an indomitable and marketable force.
First and foremost, Austin can’t wrestle anymore due to serious injuries, and – outside of a few stunners – the energy he used to bring during his in-ring matches is impossible for him to replicate.
As co-GM of Raw, Austin is merely filling the same role that he occupied from 1997 to 1999. This time around, the storylines between he and the “heel antagonist in management†seem to lack overall freshness, as well as that must-see aura that tends to surround successful angles and vignettes.
The third reason why I believe Stone Cold has jumped the shark is because of problems he has had in his personal life. I know the wrestling world is filled with people and characters that have performed unfathomable transgressions, and with a superstar who was as popular as Stone Cold, any egregious actions are inevitably magnified. Not only did Austin walk out on professional wrestling at one point, but he also faced domestic abuse charges.
I do believe that many fans still remember these blemishes, and as a result they are most likely not be able to buy into his character with as much heart as they used to.
So, has Stone Cold jumped the shark? Probably but I’ll leave it up to you to decide just how much he has left in the tank.
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Remembering Two of the Best in the Entertainment Business
I cannot put into words how much I loved John Ritter and Johnny Cash. And, as my friend Adam put it, “To have them both go on the same day is just awful.”
Even if John and Johnny passed away on different days in different years, my feelings of loss and sadness would resonate just as much as they do now. As a child, I watched “Three’s Company” religiously, laughing hysterically at Ritter’s physical comedy while the sexual innuendo merely went over my head. I also remember hearing Johnny Cash songs regularly, either on the radio in the car or in my home.
Over the past three years, I rediscovered these two men as astute artists and entertainers. Johnny Cash’s last two albums, American Man III and American Man IV, are regular entrants into my CD rotation. His covers of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” and Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” are nothing short of haunting and brilliant.
I have always been a fan of John Ritter. Not only did “Three’s Company” catch my eye as a kid, it also recaptured my eye as a 20-something. One of my favorite TV events over the past two years occurred when Nick at Nite aired a “Three’s Company” marathon, and as I watched I felt entertained in a beautifully simplistic way that just does not exist anymore on television. It didn’t matter that the plot-lines were virtually the same for each episode — Jack wants to bring a girl home; the Ropers or Mr. Furley think he’s gay; the girls overhear half of a conversation and think Jack doesn’t like them anymore; Jack falls down a bunch of times; the problem is resolved — because in the end, John Ritter always managed to crack me up beyond recognizance.
It’s been a tough couple of days, first with the two-year anniversary the greatest tragedy in American history, and now with the passing of two distinct American legends.
John Ritter and Johnny Cash should be remembered for their unique artistic talents. Let me also note that this saddened and shocked fan will cherish both of their noteworthy contributions to the lexicon of American popular culture.
That’s all for now … PEACE.
-Chris Biscuiti
Chris Biscuiti also writes for moodspins. He occasionally updates his own site, too, but that is more a rarity than the norm.
