Hi guys and girls of the wrestling world. I’ve been reading the site for 2 years or so and thought I would try giving this writing lark a go. This will be the first piece I have ever wrote on any subject, let alone wrestling, so I’m diving in to this. If it sucks .. my bad but we’ve all got to start somewhere. With that said I’d like to take a look in to where I stand with this crazy world of wrestling. It has brought me great joy over the years, even meeting my fiancé because of it. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank her for supporting me in this venture.
The Early Days
My love affair with wrestling started back in ’99. I’m a late 90’s baby so I missed the majority of the Monday Night Wars and as such my WCW knowledge is not the best (however that’s something I’m working on!). I was sat with my older brother watching TV and saw Stone Cold Steve Austin plowing through RAW with a beer truck, and we all know the story there. Even as a toddler, the sheer defiance shown by one man to his boss had me absolutely hooked, How could anyone have that size gonads?! Vince flopped around the ring with slapstick quality whilst Shane and The Rock where absolutely sodden by the Coors Light spraying they’d just received at the hands of the Texas Rattle Snake.
The whole segment starting with Vince’s interview of the Great One, and Stone Colds initial entrance with the truck and promo before turning the hose on The Corporation has always stuck with me from a young age. It’s probably the main reason I knew I’d be forever obsessed with wrestling. ’99 was a great year to look back on now I’m older because it was the birth of Smackdown and we got to see the WWE debut of the G.O.A.T Chris Jericho. Who can forget waiting in anticipation for the millennium countdown clock? Regardless whether you watched it live or are re-watching it now, the suspense in the audience is near enough palpable.
Fast forward to 2002 and Smackdown became my brand of choice largely due to the draft acquiring them The Rock, Kurt Angle, Edge, HHH and in August a returning Eddie Guerrero. I’d never seen him before, but as soon as he appeared on my TV I knew he was THE guy. Every match, promo, or backstage segment he was involved in just felt so crisp and natural, no matter who is opponent was. His chemistry with real-life nephew Chavo only made me admire the guy more, and it’s a relationship I thoroughly enjoyed seeing every week, especially the vignettes they aired in which they would literally Lie, Cheat and Steal to get what they wanted.
His in-ring work was just as brilliant too. If you look back at his singles matches with Kurt Angle and his tag bouts with Chavo against Edge & Rey Mysterio it’s clear he was the whole package wrestling wise. One of the matches I saw involving them was a tag match against Mark Henry and Rikishi. Clearly out-sized and out-muscled, Los Guerreros managed to walk away with a submission win after Lying, Cheating, and Stealing the victory. That was Eddie. On an episode where a fresh faced Brock Lesnar brutally attacked The Undertaker, the match always stuck out for me. To answer the hardest question to be asked as a wrestling fan; Eddie Guerrero is my all-time favourite wrestler.
Losing Focus
I’ve always found myself drawn to the Anti-Heroes of the wrestling world. Guys like Stone Cold, Brian Pillman, Eddie, they always had the lovable b*****d aura surrounding them, and they had the skill to back it up. I’ll be honest, my interest in WWE dwindled slightly during the end of the 2000’s until I heard CM Punk was tearing up the main roster. I’d been a fan since seeing a few videos of his early matches in ROH with Samoa Joe, and was ecstatic to find out from my friend he was in the main event scene. To me, Punk was everything WWE needed at that time. Going through the transition phase after the passing of Eddie and Christ Benoit, losing stars like Kurt Angle and Lesnar earlier on, and the retirement of both Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels. There were massive gaps in the roster which were being uselessly filled with Hornswoggle, Ezekiel Jackson, and The Great Khali just to name a few.
John Cena was the companies Golden Child and could do no wrong. He was squeaky clean, superhero like, and “Big Match John” didn’t wash with me. I don’t like superheroes. They’re too predictable & safe. CM Punk was the opposite. He was edgy, he was raw, and he was a damn good wrestler! Punk was so over and the suits at WWE must have known that, yet he rarely closed RAW and generally only headlined PPV’s if he was against Cena or The Rock. They let one of the most captivating wrestling personalities of my generation go .. but they were happy! They still had big match John and the card fillers!
That last part may seem more of a bash on John Cena and less about CM Punk, but in a way that’s what we get from WWE, and they continue to put him the last decade or so. No matter how good your favourite wrestler is, or how over they are .. if they’re name isn’t Hunter, Cena, Lesnar or Rock their push will be minimal. The emphasis placed on the returning legends and part-time performers over the last few years has been shocking, to the point where I’ve found the recent DX reunion laughable. The talent they have today is undeniable, yet they keep resorting to nostalgic pops! If we were to examine the skill of most of the superstars on the main rosters today, the wrestling ability is through the roof! Guys like Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Seth Rollins who are capable of putting on absolute clinics week after week are stifled because creative would rather have a bland 3-5 minute match to create more promo time for Reigns, or more opening segments with Stephanie or whoever is GM of the brand at the time.
The matches have become second priority and its come at a time when the roster, as I mentioned before, is stacked with some of the best workers of this century. I’m not exactly a Roman Reigns hater, but I feel as much as anyone that he doesn’t deserve to be where he’s at. I’m not Vince though. I don’t know how vital he actually is to the company. Speaking as a fan, a guy with 5 moves that looks semi-decent during a comeback sequence with a Samoan heritage doesn’t automatically qualify you as the top dog.
For all of them reasons, I believe it has caused a lot of disconnect between WWE and the fans. We don’t want to be told who to cheer for or who’s the best. We’ve been fans long enough to make up our own minds and other than children, how many of us actually believe Roman should be where he is? It’s not his fault he’s had the Cena treatment, but we’ve seen it all before, and we need something new and exciting. One of my main gripes is that the in-ring quality has gone down dramatically and they don’t seem bothered about fixing it. Story-lines have gotten more predictable and lazy as well, so what is it they are actually offering these days? I have a friend who finds it amazing how I can guess what’s going to happen with certain story-lines or matches, but it’s not .. there are hundreds of fans in comment sections who know the same! The anticipation for next week’s episode is no longer there and I’ve found myself watching highlights on Facebook most weeks. It’s a shame. Yet, I’ll still pay that £9.99 a month for the Network because there’s always the hope something drastic is going to happen, and it’ll ignite a spark and bring WWE back to where it should be.
Restoring My Passion
Despite all of WWE’s shortcomings, there has been a bright light shining at the end of the tunnel. 2018 has showcased through the independent scene that you don’t need WWE to be a star in wrestling anymore. It doesn’t necessarily need to be the end goal. In recent years we’ve seen Kota Ibushi, Zack Sabre Jr, Brian Cage, and a handful more turning down the opportunity to work with WWE due to scheduling/touring concerns, work style, and well-being. WWE is not the place you HAVE to be anymore. I attended my first indie event in 2015 called Rev Pro Uprising, and I had the privilege of seeing Shinsuke Nakamura vs Big Damo (Killian Dain) before they made the jump to WWE. Kyle O’Reilly vs. KUSHIDA had a match that kept me enamoured throughout. I was introduced to Jimmy F*****G Havoc, Kazuchika Okada, and Tetsuya Naito for the first time. I was lucky to witness one of the best matches I’ve ever seen; AJ Styles vs Marty Scurll vs Will Ospreay for the RevPro British Heavyweight Title.
I went in to the show only knowing of Styles and came out a huge fan of all of them. The matches were everything I’d been missing whilst watching WWE, and not knowing the wrestlers didn’t hinder me one bit. I was able to make a judgement on their skill and storytelling, just how I did when I began watching. I’ve never been to another WWE house show since that day. How can I? How can you go from seeing a near 5-star match to watching glorified kids entertainment? I go with my mate to watch DEFIANT when they roll in to Yorkshire and Manchester and they put everything they have into every show. The wrestlers put 100% in to the matches and every fan in the crowd appreciates it. Sure .. not every match is solid, but for a company that didn’t exist a few years ago they’re doing so many things right; as are many other indy promotions. They’re capitalizing on WWE’s shortcomings. While WWE has the money, everyone else has the freedom, less restrictions, and no PG banner to fall under.
I think the emergence of social media has been one of the biggest advantages for the indie wrestlers to no end, because it’s given them a platform to stand out and get noticed. Whether they’re putting on a solid 30-minute match in Japan, or a 5-minute spot fest sprint in a bingo hall, this can all be appreciated by millions of fans worldwide. I’d never heard of the likes of Joey Ryan or Joey Janela until I saw them on YouTube, but I’m bloody glad I know of them now! “Being The Elite” is the best example of how self-promotion through social media, added with already incredible in-ring talent, can help elevate you to where you want to be without the help of HHH or Vince. They used their freedom and wrestling brains to come up with something that gave them extra buzz. They could have just sat on being members of Bullet Club, but they didn’t .. they made themselves stars in their own right! Now wrestlers all over the world are wanting to be a part of the show; look at what it’s done for Flip Gordon.
To put on a show like ALL IN without being a promotion, without having any experience in organising an event on such a large-scale .. I think they absolutely killed it! Minus a few minor technical issues and some matches (supposedly) over running, it was brilliant. Better than any WWE PPV I’ve seen in a couple of years. These guys have the personalities and the in-ring skill that made me fall in love with wrestling in the first place. A wrestlers work rate and ability should be held in as high regard as showmanship and promo ability, which it seems WWE tends to ignore .. while other promotions promote the hell out of it. And it makes us care so much more! It’s one thing to have the look, but being able to make the fans believe in you is a whole different ball game. Omega does it effortlessly, no matter whether he’s against a stiff mo’fo like Tomohiro Ishii, or he’s putting on another masterpiece with Okada, you get the same killer vibe each time. It means everything to him. Every match is a chance to prove he’s the best in the world and he delivers every time! WWE don’t have anyone who can do that, and that’s solely because they won’t let them.
Does anyone remember Shinsuke Nakamura winning the US title? I wouldn’t blame you if you’ve forgotten because he’s barely an afterthought now. Champions in other promotions are treated as such, champions! Main men! All his hard work in NXT feels overshadowed by the way he’s been booked since being called up. It’s such a shame, because we’re seeing it time after time and it’s getting to the point where I find myself not wanting to see Velveteen Dream, Ciampa, or any of The Undisputed Era get called up anytime soon; I don’t want them to go the way of the majority.
My Unconditional Love
I know I’ve done a lot of WWE bashing throughout this article, but deep down in my heart it will always be my first love. Like that psycho girlfriend you keep going back to because things might just get better! We’re starting to see more positive stories coming out from within WWE; the meetings with Impact officials, the fact there’s been no bitterness or repercussions towards Jericho during his current NJPW stint (I’m aware he’s a free agent but he will always be a WWE guy). The working relationships they have with Progress, ICW, EVOLVE, and most recently WXW, have all given me encouraging signs that WWE are waking up to life outside of their own bubble. With HHH looking almost certain to take over the company when Vince hands him the keys (or they’re pried from his cold dead hands, either/or), I’m hoping they will take some inspiration from other companies booking and in-ring quality.
He’s done a damn good job building NXT from developmental into its own global brand. NXT UK shows they are willing to try something new and put the spotlight on guys and girls who have busted their arses for years to get there. I have no idea where WWE is going to be in the next 5 years .. so much has changed, yet key mistakes are still being made. Will we see Bullet Club enter the Royal Rumble? Are we ever going to see CM Punk return? Can NXT ever become more than the C show? These types of questions keep me interested in WWE and keep sucking me back in! As much as I complain and think it’s predictable, I don’t think I’ll ever cancel my subscription for the simple fact that .. with the quality of wrestling outside of WWE being at an all-time high, I want to believe the product can get better. Because it has to! Right?
There you have it, that’s where I’m at with WWE and the wrestling scene at the moment. If you managed to get all the way through this, I would like to thank you. If not, or you didn’t like it, I’m sure I’ll see you in the comments section! Peace and love guys!
