The Reality of Wrestling: Goodbye Vince
By Phil Clark
Wrestling fans have the same breaking points that normal people do. Last night, I finally passed it with the viewing of The E’s second biggest PPV of the year, SummerSlam. Most who’ve reviewed it have agreed with me that the show was total crap with the exception of one match whose wrestlers ages total 97 years old. For me, this was the final straw in a long line of screw-ups, bad endings, bad shows, and a plain lack of care to how the product comes off. It was, to put it bluntly, the final straw.
P.C. Says: Other than Wrestlemania, I’m done with The E
Most people who read my column weekly will note that most of the stories and things in the wrestling business that I have a problem with stem from The E these days. That would also indicate to some that I hate The E. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Seeing the negatives in something and looking for improvement is just being brutally honest and that is something I believe The E could use right now because it finally pushed me away. Granted I haven’t really been watching WWE TV for the last five or six months, but I still have been getting the big PPV’s and a couple of the smaller PPV’s looked interesting to me this year. However, the results were less than thrilling and for me I just can’t keep watching and being disappointed.
What this all comes down to is that watching and even following The E has becoming more of a chore than a labor of love and that’s when I have to pull the plug. I’ve been around for the good times and the bad and have stuck with The E through it all (since I started watching wrestling in 1992). I was there when Austin 3:16 was born (literally in the arena), I was there through the Monday Night Wars and affiliated myself with The E, I saw the Attitude Era and the pre-Attitude Era, and I was there for the Smackdown Six time of late 2002 and early 2003. In some ways that may have been the last time I was truly a happy fan watching The E. Since then, the mentality of the promotion has stayed basically the same and it’s left me more and more irritated, annoyed, and disappointed by the day.
What kills me is that this time period has shown me that The E just doesn’t care anymore (granted, they don’t have much reason to care). However, they don’t even care about the die-hards anymore. Even during the 1993-1996 time period when they were slowly falling off in favor of WCW, they at least tried to mesh in something for the die-hard wrestling fans along with all the sports entertainment and gimmicky bullshit that they tried. In this case, the new generation just can’t get it done in the ring. It’s amazing that with the class of OVW wrestlers that entered the promotion in 2002 that The E was able to screw up with every one of them somewhat quickly. Let’s look: Rico (fired, and now retired after a bad stint in Japan), Brock Lesnar (too much too quick, gone to the NFL, Japan, and now MMA), Shelton Benjamin (teased with a can’t miss singles push after being part of the greatest tag-team of the last five years, now in mid-card hell), Charlie Haas (nowhere to be found on the card after being part of that same team), Randy Orton (too much even quicker, now just another mid-card guy), Batista (biggest draw on SmackDown!, but still not a big money draw, still not much in the ring either), John Cena (big merchandise draw, but one of the worst wrestlers on his brand). So there you go, seven guys who could’ve very well lead the company into a new period of success instead with be an afterthought or the topic of a future “what if” version of my column. Nice.
First off, let’s look at SummerSlam for a minute, just so you know where this rage comes from. Mysterio/Guerrero as the opener was the only reasonable choice, but the match itself was nothing and even if it was a good match, I’d still be pissed just because the whole angle pisses all over Eddie’s memory; something The E hasn’t had a problem doing for the last ten months. DX’s win completely took the entire SmackDown! mid-card down a peg (not a good thing) as the McMahon’s brought out Finlay, Regal, and Kennedy to help soften them up. They couldn’t get it done. They brought out The Big Show, the ECW champion. He couldn’t get it done. So basically DX not only beat the McMahon’s, but the ECW champ and the cornerstone of SmackDown!’s mid-card. For an offshoot brand and the “B-show” looking for respect and ratings, that’s not a good thing for either. Don’t even get me started on the Hogan match. At this point however, I really could care less who Hogan comes in and buries year after year simply because I know it’s going to happen. He’s going to get paid the most, the fans are still going to cheer (I guess they really like senior citizens), and he’s going to win. In this case however, the match was so bad and the one-minute delay between the BIG BOOT and the BIG GIANT KILLING LEG DROP OF DEATH served to bury Randy Orton for good in my book. Tough break Randy, at least you’ve always got a career in the Indy scene; or TNA, they don’t mind hiring guys who are assholes backstage. Foley/Flair was good except for the finish, which did kill a lot of its momentum. The two title matches I didn’t have a problem with for the following reason: the right men won both matches. The fact that Batista/Booker sucked is an afterthought to me, as I didn’t have high hopes going in to the match. Edge/Cena was easily their best match, but even still that’s not saying as much as it should. Overall, a waste of $40.
If you can’t understand how this PPV has pushed me over the edge, let me sum it all up for you: shitty angles, bad finishes, bad matches, wrong people going over, people being protected that don’t need to be protected, McMahon’s in the semi-final of the night; this is all the shit that’s drawn me away from the company over the last couple of years. It’s like a balloon filling up with too much air. At some point, it’s going to pop.
The Reality is…one person isn’t going to make a difference. I’m well aware that my leaving The E isn’t going to start some IWC resistance against Vince and his company. I’m also aware that the product isn’t going to change until he starts losing oodles of money. That also won’t happen for a while as the almost total shit that The E’s current product is right now is still making money as the house show business is still up, merchandise is way up and people still buy Wrestlemania in droves. However, I’m a purist and I don’t mind if there’s sports-entertainment on a show; I don’t mind if there’s a lot of things I don’t like on a wrestling show because I’m also one who goes by the “something for everyone” mentality. However when the stuff in the ring is jaw-droppingly bad, that’s when I’ve got to put them on notice and wait and hope for an improvement. In The E’s case, I haven’t gotten it. Even the return of Benoit won’t bring me back because I’ve got his DVD and a bunch of tapes of matches when he was allowed to go full bore and put on the best match possible. I know leaving won’t change anything, but it’ll make me fell a whole lot better
PLUGS
Since he’s been pimping this article for a while, I’m returning the favor. Also, the guy is a hell of a writer and keeps track of Japanese wrestling like few on Inside Pulse can. Read Dave Ditch’s Puroresu Pulse. Now that I’ve told you, read it every week.
Since I’m done viewing The E, let me give you a look into what I’m going to be viewing:
I highly recommend checking out Stuart at Strong Style Spirit for all news on New Japan Pro Wrestling. Check out the links for news on Pro Wrestling NOAH, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Big Mouth Loud, DDT, and other Japanese promotions.
Easily the best and most famous Indy fed in the country Ring of Honor is my kind of fed providing a workrate fan’s show every time. Get as many DVD’s as you can.
They may be a glorified Indy Fed, but Total Nonstop Action is now my only stop for televised wrestling. Check it out, if nothing else, for an alternative to The E.
For all news on Japanese wrestling and MMA Puroresu Power is a fantastic source. And of course, check out the Dr. Keith Lipinski show each week. Dr. Keith, if you’re reading this, e-mail be about being on the show. It would be appreciated.
For great matches from a variety of different promotions and different countries Ditch Wrestling is the place
It may be the Ring of Honor of Japan, so check out the news on Zero-One MAX.
