Ask any wrestling fan what the biggest show of the year is and there’s absolutely no doubt what their reply would be… WrestleMania. People have Nostalgia for the show of shows, no matter what year you watched it.
However, ask a slightly different question such as: Why is WrestleMania the biggest show of the year? And the answer isn’t quite as obvious as you’d think, Is it because the best matches happen at WrestleMania? Not always. Is it because the biggest names always perform at WrestleMania? On occasion. Is it because WrestleMania is the biggest spectacle of the year? Perhaps.
I believe it’s a combination of these factors based on the success of the show during its 30-year history. The history of this iconic showpiece event and all the memories which millions of WWE fans throughout the world have linked to it is the main reason for its success. But I also believe this yearning for nostalgia the WWE has ingrained within itself, to celebrate its past has proven to be quite detrimental to the product of the last decade.
History is all well and good and it should be respected. But it’s no substitute for a promising future. And for too long now, the WWE has been operating without a clear vision. It’s been too preoccupied with re-living the past.
Let me explain.
We all love nostalgia. We all love reminiscing about “the good old days” and never more so than when talking about our favourite pastimes. How often do people pass judgment on a current music trend or band by saying “Music is rubbish nowadays compared to 10/15/20….50 years ago.” Cinema too is often ridiculed. “They don’t make movies like they used to…..there’s never any new films anymore, just remakes and sequels all the time”. Even Television, as disposable as it is often gets highlighted as just an endless string of re-runs and seen-it-all-before clichés, and sports. Sports fans everywhere lament their heroes getting soft in the modern game and complain they’re getting paid too much for not enough work. We suggest our current team lacks heart & desire and they’re only in it for the money. We complain the game’s got too corporate and there’s too much sponsorship and endorsements. “It never used to be like that”, is what we say….” in the good old days”. Fashion too. Everywhere you look, trends and names from the past emblazoned T Shirts and other clothing. Nirvana, Marilyn Monroe, Super Mario…To be seen wearing such retro styles during any other point in time would seem geeky (as in the getting your head flushed in the toilet kind of geeky rather than the “cool” designer kind of way) yet these days are seen as retro-chic and are massive business. It seems that now more than ever, nostalgia is the only way forward.
There undoubtedly is interesting, innovative and entertaining NEW music/movies/TV etc out there, you just have to know what it is you’re looking for and where to look. Yet in our haste to re-live “glory days” of a bygone age, we often look past the best of what’s on offer here and now. In every form of entertainment or sport we, the fanbase always feel the need to compare the current output with that of yesteryear.
And as wrestling fans, we’re probably the most guilty culprits of all for looking at the past through rose-tinted spectacles.
Surely then, I’m not alone in thinking that this fascination of re-living past glories and “golden ages” that has gone on for quite some time has been hindering the progress of the current output of the WWE. In my opinion, this nostalgia trip has been going on now for almost 10 years. Ever since WrestleMania 20 to be exact. Here was a show which should have been a one-off, one-night trip down memory lane to take us back to where it all began, for the WWE to celebrate its history whilst laying the groundwork for its own future…..
As Madison Square Garden staged that 20th WrestleMania, the same event it held the first and later the tenth editions of, that was the tagline for the event. “Where it all begins… Again.” However looking back on it now, rather than kick-starting the next decade in the company’s history, to my mind all WrestleMania 20 began was a timewarp which WWE got itself stuck in and which it is now only just finding its way out of. Ever since that show, we’ve been caught up in a ten-year nostalgia trip which in retrospect WWE would’ve been better served to avoid. Throughout the last decade, we’ve been constantly reminded how great things used to be. Which thereby relegates the current product as sub-standard in comparison does it not?
I’m not begrudging the WWE giving itself a little Barry Horrowitz-style pat on the back from time to time, but it’s this much-lauded history that we’re constantly reminded of which can also be an unwelcome travel companion along the way. As Bruce Springsteen once sang, “Time slips away and leaves you with nothin’ Mister, but boring stories of….. Glory Days”.
The problem I’ve noticed the WWE suffer from in recent years is that rather than merely respecting its history and traditions and then getting on with delivering the storyline du-jour, It is all too often governed by its own self-indulgent legacy and desire to reminisce. Think about what many would consider either the commercial or artistic high points or memorable characters of the last 30 years.
- The Rock n’ Wrestling boom of the mid-80’s
- The Hogan/Warrior superhero era
- The Monday Night Wars with Stone Cold & The nWo spearheading their respective companies
- The Invasion storyline and the exciting prospects for match-ups which it promised (albeit never delivered)
At any point during any of these instances did anybody behind the scenes stop and shout from the rafters “We’re gonna be remembered for this – This is gonna be awesome!” Not. These occurrences were organic. The best things often are. The stars aligned, the Gods smiled, and fate danced its merry jig, however, you want to describe it….shit just happened.
Nowadays though, we’re constantly being sold a never-ending stream of anthology DVDs charting title histories, career retrospectives and golden ages, not to mention video games dedicated to superstars of the past. For the last ten years, it seems as though the superstars we’ve been paying the most attention to are the same ones we were watching in the previous decade and even before that. Whether it’s Austin & The Rock from The Attitude era, Flair and The Four Horsemen doing their thing in the NWA in the 80s or Bruno Sammartino selling out the Garden 187 consecutive times….We’re forever being reminded of these storylines and milestones and they’re as much a part of today’s product as they were all those years ago. Because they are always so heavily pushed by WWE and over-indulged upon.
The constant stream of anniversary shows we’ve been fed is also a testament to this. The 15th and 20th anniversaries of Raw in 2008 & 2013, 10 years of Smackdown in 2009, the 1000th episode of Raw, Monday Night Raw’s homecoming special on USA network, and all the “Old-School Raw” specials….it’s all become a constant conveyor belt of nostalgia and landmark events.
And what was a key component of all of these retro shows? Yep, bringing back all the old-timers to do their thing, albeit to varying degrees of competence.
You know the names…Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Harley Race, Greg Valentine, The Honky Tonk Man, Sgt Slaughter, Ron Simmons, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, The Million Dollar Man, Irwin R Schyster, Vader, Sid, Slick, Sean Mooney, Jesse Ventura… (Do I need to go on?) were all brought back in some capacity or other in a desperate bid to try and re-capture the excitement of the “glory days” or just to give us a little giggle from time to time.
Hell, even ridiculous gimmicks which should’ve been laid to rest years ago like the Gobbledygooker, Kamala, The Goon & TL Hopper kept getting dragged up. But my question is why? Their entertainment value was a mere quick fix (and in some cases only minimal in the first place anyway) and only served as a kind of camp, a kitsch reminder of actually how bad things could be in the “good old days”. At no other point in the history of this business we all love has so much emphasis been placed on the past.
Think about it for a second. Rewind to the WWF of 2000. How much emphasis was put on nostalgia back then? One could argue that with such a stacked roster in those days, there was never time to dig up the past. But that is exactly the point I’m trying to make. That’s what the show should be like all the time. I once compared with a fellow fan, the current trend of wheeling out the old timers for a nostalgia trip to the WWF back in 2000 staging the same matches they first showed in 1987. Can you imagine if Brutus Beefcake was dragged out to face Greg Valentine or The Killer Bees battled The Rougeau Brothers back in 2000? That would’ve stunk out any arena in the world being showcased next to the contemporary crop of stars at the time. Yet nowadays, the WWE are quite content to reminisce because they knew all too well that the current product was inferior in comparison. This might not be a popular shout, but there’s no other explanation for it. Also likely to be an unpopular opinion is that of my next topic of discussion. It’s the annual nostalgia-fest that is The Hall of Fame which is the most culpable for me.
Now before, I get universally derided; I’ll admit that The Hall of Fame is most definitely a welcome addition to the WWE canon. As a one-night escape back to our younger days and also as an expression of gratitude from fans to those lucky souls fortunate to be honoured with one last moment in the sun, I’m all for it. I don’t disagree with the theory behind inducting all these old-timers into a Hall of Fame. However, what I take exception to is when the WWE constantly bombard us with phrases like “future hall of famer” when referring to today’s stars. As I said, the action of (years from now) honouring the exceptional or naturally gifted performers who deserve recognition is a noble one which I’m all in favour of. But to discount everything else in the current product at the expense of heralding one performer’s possible future greatness all seems rather crazy to me.
Whenever Michael Cole blurts out his favourite line, proclaiming someone as a sure-fire first-ballot HoF’er, he may as well be saying “Tonight we’ve got just ONE guy wrestling for you who the boss thinks that maybe 15 years from now might be worth remembering. The rest of what you see tonight: Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, Wade Barrett and The Uso’s etc, they aren’t worth bothering with.” Can you imagine if, 25 years ago whilst running down the card at the start of Wrestling Challenge, Gorilla Monsoon said:
“On today’s show we’re gonna bring you future Hall of Famer The Junkyard Dog….but the rest of the card: Randy Savage, Bam Bam Bigelow, Ravishing Rick Rude, Demolition, The Honky Tonk Man and King Kong Bundy, you can take or leave.”
And therein lies another much more publicised problem with the WWE Hall of Fame. The criteria for induction. In any true fan’s eyes, every last one of the half-dozen names listed above would surely warrant a place. Yet in the WWE’s oh-so grandiose Hall of Fame, none have, at present been inducted. This begs the question one has to wonder; What is the WWE’s overall goal by maintaining a Hall of Fame? If it is truly for the fan’s benefit then surely we should have input into its members and we can vote for OUR faves. Not Drew Carey. Not James Dudley and not the Titan Towers canteen assistant from 1985-2001.
But I digress. My point isn’t to find fault with WWE’s list of inductees. But to highlight that being granted this honour of standing head and shoulders above your peers should be awarded as the result of a long and successful career. Not used as a tool to get someone over right here and now. That’s what Championship belts are for.
To proclaim a current grappler as a “future Hall of Famer” is disrespectful to everyone else on that show. Fans decide who they rate. Who they like, who they dislike and who they downright hate. And then next week we’ll watch them all again and maybe think about it differently. I was a Kurt Angle fan right from the first time I saw him wrestle. I started liking Christian when he cut his hair short. It took me 6 years to become a CM Punk fan yet I still absolutely hate John Cena. The Big Bossman was my favourite wrestler as a kid because I liked his blue and black outfit and I’ve always thought Kane was a better character than The Undertaker despite the former not technically being able to exist without the latter.
My point here is simple. Our tastes change, as fans, we form our own opinions and forge our allegiances, likes and dislikes and these determine our emotional responses to certain wrestlers. So for a commentator to proclaim one grappler as deserving of our applause more than everyone else on the show is not in keeping with the true spirit of watching wrestling. We find our favourites, thank you very much.
The purpose of wrestling has never been to cure the ills of the world or to provide us with anything more than disposable, escapist entertainment. A place where we can forget all the shit that goes on in our everyday lives and just watch an elaborate pantomime for 2 or 3 hours, get caught up in the spectacle, drink a few beers and maybe buy a bit of crappy merchandise to boot.
The purpose of pro-wrestling should never be solely to provide us with a collection of fading memories and moments of reverence which in the grand scheme of things really shouldn’t be held on such a ridiculously high plateau. Because at the end of the day. It’s only wrestling.
With this point of view in mind then, I’m happy to announce the purpose of this piece. For the first time in a decade, since I found myself in New York City for WrestleMania 20, I’m becoming increasingly excited by the belief that finally after these ten years of indulging itself in its history, it seems that WWE has turned a corner and appears to be placing more and more emphasis on it’s FUTURE. That greatly pleases me. And at the heart of this renaissance lie two things.
Firstly, the much-publicised opening of their new Performance Centre. WWE is keen for us all to know how much stock it’s placing in this endeavour. It appears as though those in power have finally realised that all the tape libraries and anthology DVDs and Title histories and career retrospectives will ultimately mean a big fat ZERO unless they begin to properly bring through the young generation. They realise that they can’t build a future on history alone. They need the right personnel here and now.
This brings me to the second key element in this exciting time to be a fan. The 2 names have done more to interest and excite this fan of 25 years in the last 12 months than all the returning old-timers have done in the last decade of WrestleMania.
The Rock’s comebacks, Bret Hart burying the hatchet to return and contest that woeful match with Vince, The Undertaker’s frankly ridiculous streak, HBK and Ric Flair’s retirements and lastly Chris Jericho’s 3-on1 handicap match against Steamboat, Piper and Snuka….
And names like Brock Lesnar’s returning and Mick Foley being welcomed back into the fray. All the aforementioned comebacks, Hall of Fame inductions, legends contracts and retro-Raw returns combined have not equalled the enjoyment I’ve got in the last year from seeing 2 performers shine in their increasing exposure.
I’m talking about Daniel Bryan and CM Punk.
Backed up by an interesting, eclectic supporting cast including The Shield, Randy Orton and oddballs like Fandango, it’s these performers which make me, for the first time in years, actually excited by the current product and what the future holds for the WWE.
It is these guys whose names should be shouted from the rafters of every arena the WWE plays to, rather than us forever being shown clips of Ric Flair’s 4th NWA Title win or yet another recap of the Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak. Because in 10 years, it’s the talent of gentlemen like the aforementioned roster which will still be selling WWE tickets. Not Hulkamania and not The Attitude era and certainly not grainy old NWA footage.
And given recent goings on within the WWE, methinks they are finally starting to do just that and let the present speak for itself and stand on its own merits. Instead of us always being reminded of the names of yesteryear.
That’s what I think anyway.
– By Dave Green