Just like many of you, I have been a fan of professional wrestling since I was a kid and have been following Wrestling News Sites such as this one for as long as they have been available. Before I jump into the subject I have chosen to write about for my first ever public wrestling column, I will give you a glimpse of my history in the world of Pro Wrestling.
My first glimpse into wrestling was with the WWE. Now, I had heard of the sport before, but that was really through video games such as No Mercy for the Nintendo 64. My mother refused to let us watch anything wrestling on TV as long as she was in the house. However, in 2002, she moved out, and before the tears were wiped away, the remote was in my hand. Immediately after the channel was selected, Motorhead echoed Madison Square Garden and Triple H made his return from his first Quad injury. I have been hooked ever since. I must divulge to you all, 99% of the Wrestling I have watched has been from WWE since 2002, but in the near future, I will be watching other available Promotions as well as pre-2002 WWE and giving my opinions on them, in a way to give a fresh set of eyes to those who have not seen them.
This is just one man’s opinion today. Some of you may agree. Some of you may disagree. It is that difference in opinion that unites us all collectively as fans of Professional Wrestling. Let us all leave the bickering and arguing for the politicians and let’s open up a discussion.
2016 is a unique year for the WWE. In this “Reality Era,” we have seen many things happen that us long term fans have found hard to believe. We have seen AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, and Samoa Joe, all “Indy Guys,” hold major WWE Gold. We have seen John Cena take a backseat to those guys after 12 years of dominating the roster. We have seen Women’s Wrestling re-defined in Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Becky Lynch. We have seen another Roster Split that has given new life to both Raw and Smackdown. I was at the Pepsi Center on Monday watching Goldberg return to the WWE. All of these events have put us on our feet with our hands on our heads, trying to understand the sheer concept that WWE is trying new things. Now, before you shake your head and tell me that Goldberg returning is not new, it most definitely is in comparison to the last 5-10 years of the same storylines and same matches we watched. I would much rather watch two part-timers face each other than to have Brock Lesnar face and ultimately conquer a full-time active Wrestler, only to not be at Raw the next day. All of these events have shown that WWE is attempting to revitalize their brands, draw in more and former fans, and bring prestige back the company.
Things are changing drastically. We may actually see new Wrestlemania Main Event Competitors that had not previously Main Evented before at Wrestlemania 33 for the first time since Wrestlemania 19. This has only happened 5 times before. Every other Wrestlemania Main Event had at least one competitor that had Main Evented before that match. Keep in mind I am counting these as matches that were booked going into Wrestlemania.
• The first Wrestlemania, obviously, was Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs Rowdy Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff.
• Wrestlemania IV was Randy Savage vs Ted DiBiase
• Wrestlemania IX was Bret Hart vs Yokozuna (Hulk Hogan vs Yokozuna doesn’t count since it was an impromptu match.)
• Wrestlemania XI was Lawrence Taylor vs Bam-Bam Bigelow
• Wrestlemania XIX was Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle
*Honorable Mention – Wrestlemania 2000 had 3 out of the 4 wrestlers. The Rock Main Evented the year before.
The reason I mentioned all of that was to really show you all that this year and era are really different than what we have seen. However, there really seems to be something missing, isn’t there?
I believe the biggest element we have been missing for quite some time is something that is actually really simple. Relatability in the Superstars. WWE’s ratings were at an all-time high during the Monday Night Wars and Attitude Era, and have dramatically decreased ever since because back in the Attitude Era, we had personas like Stone Cold Steve Austin who was saying what he wanted and doing what he wanted. He would slam a couple Steveweizers and beat up his boss. We had Mankind, who was a representation of our crazy side. The crazy side that we didn’t want anyone to see. We had The Hardy Boyz, who made us want to jump off of stuff and make a moment that people would never forget, which is a big reason most of us became fans in the first place. We had The Undertaker, who for a brief time was an American Bad Ass who rode a motorcycle and kicked everyone’s ass. The list goes on. In 2016, the only characters we have now are those who have attitudes. We don’t have anyone we can live vicariously through. Now, I am not saying the Superstars are not talented, but that how can we possibly relate to them? Guys like John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, Triple H, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns, Chris Jericho, and Dolph Ziggler, and Women such as Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, and Bayley don’t accomplish that. A WWE Superstar needs to be someone who is who we want to be; Someone who can beat up their boss; Someone who can beat up the Man/Woman that slept with our significant other. Someone who makes us understand ourselves in ways we didn’t realize; Someone who can make us hope that someday, we can overcome all the odds and stand tall on the turnbuckle with the gold held high with 80,000 people chanting our names; Someone who represents us on a personal level.
Some might say that the most important thing WWE needs to do is bring back blood. Others might say they need to go back to PG-13. That may be true. Some of us will agree. Some of us will disagree. That’s ok. Like I said before, it is that difference of opinion that unites us all as Professional Wrestling Fans. Thank you for letting me give you my opinion today, I hope to continue to do so in the future.
Feel free to contact me at theillustriousjps@gmail.com
