Big changes coming soon, Ronda Rousey is Champ and GSP vs. Condit my thoughts.

This might end up being a pretty short column today, but there are three major pieces of news that I want you all to know. First of all is a little house cleaning that I am doing. My buddy Tactix and I have decided to join forces for good. That’s right we have created a website. Well, actually I am just now part of his website, but whatever. Basically what it means is starting Dec. 1^st all of my Pro Wrestling fans can go to the new site (http://TNAEnforcer.blogspot.com/) For all of my MMA fans, you can stay right where you are at. I am going to be posting all of the latest news, opinions and other random stuff to this site so please stick around. Well, the wait won’t be long because there are two other MMA stories that I wanted to cover and I am going to do that now.

Okay, so my first story that I wanted to cover was that Dana came right out and handed the women’s 135 pound division belt to Ronda Rousey. Now, I am getting over my frustration with the fact that there is only going to be one weight division for women in the UFC for a while, because I guess you have to start somewhere. But, what I am having a hard time with now is the fact that he just came right out and handed the belt to Ronda. Well, all the champs from the different companies have either gotten to fight for the UFC’s equivalent to their weight class or they have just been made champion of a new weight class if it is created. I think this is cutting the company short. What I would have liked to have seen with the other champs and would still like to see with Rousey is tournaments to decide who becomes champion of a new weight division. If there are not enough people to make a tournament out of it, then you go out there and find some. There are thousands of budding fighters just waiting for their shot. I think it is great for the sport if we start giving some of these guys their shot. I would love to see a one night tournament for the title, but if they want to give the fighters some rest, I would be happy with a multi-show tournament. Don’t get me wrong I think Rousey is a phenomenal fighter and would most likely win the tournament anyway, but I do think it would be cool to actually make her work for it.

My second news story is about GSP’s triumphant return to the octagon. This was a hard match for me to call because both guys are so talented. I mean on one hand you have GSP who is a legend in the sport. His abilities are matched by very few. Then on the other hand you have Carlos Condit, a guy who looks all nice outside the ring, but inside his face more than explains his nickname “Natural Born Killer”. He too is one talented dude and I think the fight on Saturday night showed how talented he is. The fact that GSP busted him wide open in the first round and basically worked him over for the next four rounds, all the while he was giving GSP  a hard time, goes to show you that Condit is no slouch. I am really surprised this fight was not more talked about immediately afterwards. I feel that while yes it is great that GSP is back and that he is continuing his winning ways, Condit should not be forgotten in the whole scheme of things. I mean if you take a look at the pictures of GSP after the fight, he may not have had any open wounds on his head, but he sure was one big bruise. All I am saying is that I think a little bit of credit needs to be given to Condit. Well done good sir and I can’t wait to see where you go from here. I also can’t wait to see who GSP’s next fight will be against. Most fans are calling for a fight between him and Anderson Silva. I think GSP should wait get another couple fights under his belt then go for the “Spider”.

 As always thanks for reading.

-TFC 

Return of Jesse Sorensen

Last year a young man appeared on the scene at TNA. A young man who showed incredible agility, ring awareness, and downright talent, and that man is none other than Jesse Sorensen. Well, unfortunately young Sorensen’s rise to the top came to what looked like a sudden end when he took a knee to the top of the head from Zema Ion while Ion was diving onto him outside the ring. From the moment he hit the ground everyone knew that something wasn’t right with Sorensen. Well, when the smoke had cleared and the doctors were able to check him out, it was announced that he had broken his neck and had spinal cord edema. This left him temporarily paralyzed. Well, I am so happy to announce that Sorensen has been cleared to fight again.

That’s right, it is only a matter of time before we see him climb back into a TNA ring again and undoubtedly they are going to put him into a feud with the man who broke his neck, Zema Ion. Anyone who watched TNA just weeks after the accident knew that a feud, if Sorensen was able to come back, was inevitable. They did a promo with Ion where he said something to the effect of I would rather be a fruit than a vegetable any day. I will leave the link at the bottom. When I first saw this promo I was almost offended. I felt like it was too soon and just in bad taste, but the more I think about it, it was absolutely amazing writing and great thinking on the part of the TNA creative team. I mean, what better way to bring someone back from a possibly life and career ending injury, than to put him in a feud with someone who has said some truly terrible things. So, this is how I could see it going.

I could see Sorensen coming back and instantly calling Ion out, he comes out, never backing down from a fight and they have words, but nothing more in their first encounter. The next week, Ion is in a match with whoever happens to be the X Division champion at the time, so instead Sorensen fights Kid Kash as his first match back in TNA. If you haven’t seen any of the matches between those two, definitely check them out. In fact, I am going to post one at the bottom. After winning his return match, he grabs a mic and calls out Ion and challenges him for the next pay per view. Ion of course takes him up on it. The next week on Impact Ion fights another one of his old enemies in Austin Aries. After the match, Ion attacks from behind and talks a bunch of smack on the mic about how he is going to break Sorensen’s neck for good at the next PPV.

The following week, the show starts out with Sorensen in the ring pissed about being jumped from behind and calls Ion to come to the ring so they can finish it that night. Well, they get to the ring and are about to fight when Hogan comes out and informs them that the match they are going to have at the next PPV is going to be a cage match and that they both have a match tonight. It is going to be a tag team match pitting Sorensen and RVD vs Ion and the return of Sonjay Dutt, just for the hell of it. Sorensen wins this match with some help from RVD of course and Ion slinks away from the ring with sour grapes.

Finally, the PPV night comes and Sorensen and Ion have their cage match. It goes off without a hitch Sorensen winning a very bloody violent match. Then he grabs the mic and ends the segment by calling out whoever happens to be X Division champ at the time.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtTStth6MDg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb2zuW_BaME&feature=relmfu

Thank you all for reading!

-TFC

Strikeforce Closing Opening Doors for Others

Okay, so I know that my next piece was supposed to be the second part of “My Complete Disappointment….” Series, but to be honest, I just don’t have the heart for it. I mean there is only so many ways I can say that it is almost painful to watch WWE. I may pick back up and finish that piece at a later date, but I feel right now for my own sanity, I need to do some fun pieces.

Today, I am going to switch gears for a little bit and talk about something I haven’t talked about in a while, MMA. I have been working and focusing on Pro Wrestling so much that I almost let a couple of really important news stories in the world of MMA slip past me. Strikeforce announced that they are closing up shop in January of 2013. This is crazy news on its own, but the news coming out that one of the first people Dana White scooped up from the almost defunct company was Ronda Rousey. That is right Ronda Rousey became the first female fighter to be under the UFC brand. So, let me give you the break down on how I feel about both of these stories.

The closing of Strikeforce both saddens me and excites me. Let me explain why; for a few years now, Strikeforce has been the place to go for up and coming fighters, or the guys who have done something to get themselves kicked out of the UFC. Most of the ex UFCers are guys who did nothing wrong except going on a bit of a losing streak. They were still popular, just not as successful in the cage. So, when I heard that Strikeforce was going away at the beginning of next year, I was saddened and a little afraid for those guys. But after those emotions subsided a little glint of excitement start to hit me. I mean, think of the possibilities. The closure of Strikeforce opens the doors for guys that UFC loyalist may have never heard of. Guys like Josh Thomson, Mike Kyle and James Terry may and should be given the opportunity to show their talents on MMA’s biggest stage.

As I mentioned earlier, Ronda Rousey became the first woman to join the UFC roster. This flies in the face of past comments by the UFC President Dana White (see video below). This just goes to show that if enough money is up for stake, Dana will go against anything he says. The moment Strikeforce decided to close, Dana was announcing that women will definitely fight in the UFC and he was hiring Rousey.  She will not be alone in the UFC. Soon after the announcement that Rousey was becoming part of the UFC roster Mischa Tate posted on her Twitter that she too is joining the UFC roster. This is explosive news for anyone who is a true fan of MMA. Women can make for just as exciting fights as men.  (See examples below)

The idea of women in the UFC has kind of sparked a little controversy in the Cripple’s household. Should women who fight be made to fight men as well? We are not talking about going out of their weight class or fighting guys who are way bigger than them, but having them fight guys who are in the same weight class and have to meet the same standards. I personally say no, but everyone else in my house says absolutely. What do you think?

http://www.mma-core.com/videos/other/Dana_White_Women_Will_Never_Fight_In_The_UFC/10015960

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLU5Kl7bP_k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUG5fOOE8Vc

As always, thanks for reading

-TFC

My Complete Disappointment in the Present State of the WWE (Part 1)

I have grown up on WWE. I am not exaggerating when I say this. I am almost 27 and I have been watching WWE since I was 2 years old. My mom grew up watching wrestling with her dad. So, needless to say, I have a lot invested in WWE. That is why it is hard for me to write this blog. But, I cannot deny my absolute disappointment in the WWE product over the last ten to fifteen years.

                I guess I have been reminded this by Sunday’s Pay Per View, “Hell in a Cell”. First of all, it is pathetic that they can call it that when only two HIAC matches are actually scheduled for the night. I remember the first HIAC between Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. That was one badass match. Most gimmick matches, I don’t approve of. From the moment I saw the cage, I knew that this had the potential to be something that could change the industry. Though there were some great moments between when Shawn and Taker first stepped into the cage and now, the most important had to be Mick Foley vs. Taker. I bring this up because this match best exemplifies what WWE has lost through the years and I think I figured out why. I was watching that match tonight for probably the thousandth time. I noticed when Taker threw Mick from the top of the cage and everyone came out to put him on the stretcher, Vince had this look of pure concern. Don’t get me wrong, he was not concerned for Mick’s safety or that one of his most beloved talents may never wrestle again. No, he was concerned because he knew that if something horrible were to happen to Mick, he would never hear the end of it. He knew that his decision making, which up to this point, was impeccable, would be flawed by allowing Mick to script something so dangerous, so incredible, and so stupid. But he had faith in Mick, as he should have. Mick knew what he was doing and was willing to risk his life to hear the crowd pop in amazement.

                This match could have effectively ended the “extreme” version of professional wrestling, but the audience took to it so completely that Vince was okay with tempting fate for a while longer. But that all ended when the split of the roster was announced and there was officially a RAW roster This is the first thing that WWE has lost that I am upset with. There are still talented performers out there like Mick who are willing to put their bodies on the line night after night and go the extra mile for the crowd, but I think Vince is so obsessed with keeping his guys safe that he has watered everything down to the point where the matches are boring as hell. If you need some other examples, go back and take a look at either CM Punk or John Cena in Ring of Honor. Both of these men had matches that were extraordinary in ROH and OVW now they are so limited by what Vince says they can and can’t do that they basically have the same 5 moves and their matches are very predictable.

                That leads me to my last point of this particular piece:  the way Vince has limited his performers by taking away moves. Now throughout professional wrestling there has always been moves that only certain people will do and that is because they know that they can do them safely and they trust that the person they are doing it on is competent enough to take the move and come out the other side unharmed. But only recently have such moves been entirely banned in such great numbers. I will give you some examples of what I am talking about but the most glaring is, of course, the Pile Driver. This move has hurt many people throughout the history of professional wrestling but was always kept around because it had become a staple and most people either knew how to do it safely, or just didn’t do it. Well, Vince ended up banning the Pile Driver after a botched Pile Driver by Owen Hart ended up breaking Stone Cold Steve Austin’s neck. I am not denying that these moves are dangerous and should only be attempted by those who have trained and practiced doing the move. All I am saying is that Vince has a tendency to over react when it comes to individual moves and it is hurting the matches. Another example of a move that is no longer allowed in the WWE is the Shooting Star Press. This impressive move is incredibly effective and incredibly dangerous, and when done correctly is one of the prettiest moves in a high flier’s arsenal. But of course, if there is any chance that real damage could be done, the WWE feels that it is not worth it and has banned it. The fact that this move is still banned blows my mind because my next example is very similar and in my eyes far more dangerous. The 420 splash is flashy but so much is involved with actually pulling it off that I feel there is much less room for error. But it is now legal after going through a short period of being banned. Justin Gabriel is the only one on the roster who currently has the 420 as part of his skill set and frankly it is the only part of Gabriel that is actually memorable, but boring characters is part of the second piece of this blog which will come tomorrow. 

                So to sum up this first piece on why I am greatly disappointed in the WWE: They have talent that is willing to put their bodies on the line in more extreme ways and the WWE is not allowing it, they are limiting guys skill sets by only allowing them to do certain moves without outright banning anything a la CM Punk and John Cena, and finally, they are OUTRIGHT BANNING certain moves. This last point spits in the face of everything that guys like Mick Foley, Terry Funk, The Hardy Boys and every other hardcore legend ever fought for and it makes me sick. Vince McMahon you should be ashamed of yourself for watering down the sport to such a level that fans younger than the age of 10 would enjoy it, effectively stabbing true long time fans in the back just because you may have gotten into a little hot water over some of the antics pulled during the Attitude Era while you were also engaged in the Monday Night Wars. The fact that you won the Monday Night Wars and then stopped doing everything that helped you win it is disgusting. But again, that is all going to be part of tomorrow’s post.

So before I rant anymore, I want to thank you all for reading and I will see you tomorrow.

-TFC   

Craziness at RAW last night.

Okay, I had no plan on blogging this morning, but there is some crazy news coming out of last night’s RAW. First of all CM Punk has lost his damn mind. Apparently, and when I say apparently, it is only because there is most likely going to be a legal battle starting, but apparently there was some sort of altercation between Punk and a fan. Having said that, there is video of the fight and you can clearly see that Punk hits a fan. You can also see that Punk hits the WRONG FAN. Here’s what happened, at some point in the night, Punk took it upon himself to run up into the crowd and stand there clutching his WWE Title like a crack addict’s last score, when a fan reached up from behind a different fan and pushed Punk in the back of the head. This sent Punk into a rage and he turned around thinking it was the fan that was directly behind him and hit him twice. According to my sources, there has been a police report filed and they are investigating the incident, hence the use of the word “apparently” earlier.

That was crazy news numero uno. Crazy news numero dos is, according to my sources, top superstars at the WWE have taken it upon themselves to voice their opinions to Vince about how bad the writing sucks. This cost RAW head writer, Brian Gewirtz, his job, he is now just a consultant. According to witnesses, there was a heated discussion between a top talent and Vince about how the company was going down the wrong path and it was because of the writing. Vince then went on a rampage telling the writers that he wanted results or resignations. This news excites me more than anyone can imagine. The writing has been one of the major downfalls of the WWE since the end of the Attitude Era. I am hoping that Vince will come to his senses and realize you can’t make a professional wrestling show that is %100 kid friendly, and expect it to do well, not only in the ratings, but most importantly, in the eyes of the fans that have made the company what it is today. Man, I hope some people get fired, or at least allowed to go back and start writing edgier material, that is what is going to pull the company that I have been a fan of for so many years, out of the crapper.

Now it’s time to go to work. Thank you all for reading and I hope you will check back often because I have some great stuff coming up with my buddy Tactix.

-TFC. 

With a little help from my friend.

As best said by the Beatles and later Joe Cocker “With a Little Help From my Friends”. This post is the first in a series of tag teams with my friend Tactix over at Tag Teams, Knockouts and Wrestling. 

Tactix: In every truly successful wrestling promotion, there is a thriving women’s division. WWF had it. WCW had one for a short time. TNA built one. This column is the building of something new…..something special. I’ve written TNA and said my peace about the rebuilding of their Knockouts Division and now I choose to build something for them; a division to end all divisions. 

TFC:  First of all, I want to thank my buddy Tactix from Tag Teams, Knockouts, and Wrestling for giving me this opportunity to tag team with him on these next couple columns. We will be laying out our dream rosters for different divisions in TNA. These can be people plucked from different companies. There will be explanations to go along with our picks. Overall, these next few columns are definitely going to be fun and I can’t wait to see what dust we can stir up.

Our first post Tactix and I decided to each pick 10 women to make up our dream Knockout Division and 5 contenders for the TV Title. So let’s start this show with my top ten picks of women to make up the Knockout Division.

 

The Rules……

Pick 10 Knockouts for the perfect division. All picks MUST be currently taking appearance dates either as a performer or valet. 

 

          •        Natalya

          •        Beth Pheonix

          •        Nikki Roxx

          •        Angelina Love

          •        Velvet Sky

          •        AJ Lee

          •        Mickie James

          •        Tara

          •        Taeler Hendrix

          •        Buggy Nova

 

Okay, give me a second to explain myself. My list as well as Tactix has a number of either current or former WWE divas. These are because I know that these women are talented, but were not, or are not, being given the right stage to show their true talent. Nikki Roxx has been out of the major spotlight for quite some time, but the rumbling is that she is again taking dates. This makes me happier than anyone can imagine. Such ability in the ring and given the right character, fun to watch out of the ring. Taeler Hendrix is on this list because the newly acquired Gut Check contestant left a lasting impression on me. She was one of those women who I knew from the first time I saw her, was going to be something special.

 

Now those of you who have watched TNA for a while will recognize number 4 and 5 on my list as the Beautiful people. I get the behind the scenes issues that broke up this great tag team, but when they split, it truly was a loss. Both went on to have pretty good singles careers, Angelina’s shorter than Velvet’s, but I still think their best work happened together.

 

Finally, the two names I will probably hear the most flack about are AJ Lee and Buggy Nova. Nobody can debate the work AJ does on the mic. She can sell her character better than most on my list, but what she is under rated in is her in ring ability. The few times I have actually seen her fight, besides spending the whole match staring at that perfect backside of hers, I was pretty impressed with the way she handled herself. Yes, she could use some work, but all in all, she is a very talented young woman. Buggy Nova or Skyler Moon, as she is now being called, may be spending some time in treatment for an eating disorder, but when she is on her game, she is as good as anyone. I haven’t seen much mic work from her so I don’t know how that would go, but I love her work in the ring. She is quite talented.

 

Tactix: You make a good point with your picks. Butt jokes aside, I have AJ on my list as well, albeit, in a different role. Yeah, I cheated a bit.

 

Melina

Beth Phoenix

Tara

Velvet Sky

Alison Danger

Gail Kim

Nikki Roxx

Mickie James

Sarita

Natalya

 

The most glaring omission is Angelina Love. Why? Attitude. She has said she has nothing left to prove in TNA and has no desire to return. I can respect that and, even though TNA could eventually return the Beautiful People to prominence, I decided to move in another direction with that information. I will grant that this list has a bulk from WWE’s roster or those former, but the fact is, they are all good performers who deserved a better spotlight than they were/are getting. Quite probably the 4 I’m most excited about are Phoenix, Natalya, Melina, and Alison Danger as I am a HUGE fan of them all and would very much love to see where they can take new matches.

 

I think we both can agree that the VP of the Knockouts Division has been misused with Karen Jarrett and Brooke Hogan most notably as their title-holders. To remedy that, I believe that AJ Lee or Lita should hold the role. AJ Lee’s current character makes me cringe, but I DO know that she can cut a decent heel promo and can work crazy like a day job. Lita, though not as skilled on a mic, can still work the face side of things well as she’s still COMPLETELY over with fans.

 

TV Title Scene: Pick 5 from TNA’s current or impending extended roster. 

 

Tactix: My picks aren’t terribly difficult. 

 

Chris Masters

Crimson

Kazarian

Bully Ray

AJ Styles

 

Bully Ray? AJ Styles? Absolutely. In my opinion, the TV Title needs to be a crucible, a trial by fire , so to speak. It must encapsulate what a TNA champion is supposed to look like OUTSIDE the confines of the X Division. Could that mean that those in that division couldn’t compete for it? Not at all. But in my humble opinion, the TV Title could be the best way to determine who shines brightest on their way to the World Heavyweight Title. The best way to go about doing that is to put them up against TNA’s best. As far as I can tell, Bully Ray is the best heel and few would deny AJ Styles is the best face. Putting the rising stars in TNA up against them is the best way to determine just how good they really are.

 

TFC:

          •        Kid Kash

          •        Crimson

          •        Kazarian

          •        D’Angelo Dinero

          •        Magnus

 

These picks were pretty simple for me so little explanation is going to be given. It is simple, most of the guys on this list are future World Champions, the TV title is just a stepping stone in that direction. I will admit guys like D’Angelo Dinero and Kid Kash, just don’t hit me as World Champions so they are going to be stuck at this level. Not to say they aren’t talented, they are. They just don’t have quite what it takes to be the main event at Bound For Glory. Crimson, Kazarian, and Magnus are all guys that I could see holding the ultimate prize and making it huge. They just need to fine tune their skills a little either in the ring or on the mic. Well, there they are. I hope you enjoyed Tactix and my first tag team post in quite some time. There is definitely more to come from us. Let us know what you think and if you have other people in mind for either one of these division, just let us know.

 

Tactix: Amen

My thoughts on the PG era of WWE.

A few years back in 2008, the WWE decided that it was going to do a complete 180 degree turn from what it had been previously in the attitude era into a PG rated show. This attitude era was a time that was defined by a more hardcore style of wrestling. It had edgier story lines. I will admit sometime those stories got a little out of hand (Katie Vick), but at least the product was not trying to change violence into something it is not. In a recent article Paul Levesque aka HHH, defended WWE’s decision to go PG. He basically did this by saying that pro wrestling is like a clean stand up routine. That it can be entertaining without being dirty. Well, I do agree that the product that WWE has been putting out for the last few years isn’t the worst I have ever seen. But, I also would look at what they are promoting. Pro wrestling, no matter how planned or trained for, is still violence. In my opinion, by making it look less brutal, it is making it seem more okay for the kids to go out there and try it on their friends and as we have all seen, that usually does not end up well. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think we need to see absolute porn on Monday Night Raw, but I think leading pro wrestling in a direction where kids believe they can do these things and not get hurt is down right dangerous. I will also say that the ratings back when Stone Cold Steve Austin was pouring beer on everyone, and DX was telling everyone to “Suck It”. Were far higher than they are today. It is because you could tell that the performers were having fun with their characters and that they didn’t feel so restricted. I think when you have less rules on what the wrestlers can do, they go out there and put on a better show. I will say that the matches they are doing now are more safe and that is all well and good, but they are also more boring. I just don’t think there is a way to successfully make WWE into a PG brand and have the kind of ratings that they did back in the “Attitude Era”. I would love to have everyone’s thoughts so leave me a comment and as always thanks for reading.

-TFC

A couple of things I should comment on.

I figured since I am partly an MMA blog, there were a couple of things that I should comment on. #1 being the major fight that is coming up this saturday. UFC 148 is headlined (if you didn’t know because you have been living under a rock for a month) by Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II. This fight has been talked about basically since Sonnen almost beat Silva at UFC 117. For those of you who didn’t see it, the short version of what happened was that Sonnen beat up Silva for four and a half rounds unlike he had ever been beaten up before. When all of the sudden, it was like something clicked in his head and he realized he was about to lose. he reached back and grabbed Sonnen’s leg and arm and made him submit with one of the wierdest arm bars that I have ever seen. Well, it became an instant classic and fans immediately started calling for a rematch. Well, fast forward to a couple weeks ago when Sonnen and Silva were doing an interview and some of Sonnen’s infamous smack talk finally broke through the icy facade of Silva. He responded by saying he was going to kick Sonnen’s ass so bad that he would leave the sport. All I know is that this has the potential to be an amazing fight, but on the other hand knowing that it has Anderson Silva in it does mean that it has the potential to be a complete waste of everyone’s time. Of course, Silva is always on thin ice after his few fights where he basically avoided fighting at all cost so maybe he will make it a good one. I guess we will see on Saturday.

Silva vs. Sonnen is not the only fight that I am looking forward to on Saturday. Tito Ortiz is saying farewell to the sport by fighting Forrest Griffin. These two men are known for making every fight interesting. These two are so evenly matched that I have no clue who might win this battle. It will be a bitter sweet deal though, because it will be great seeing these two legends go at it, but it will be kind of sad to see Ortiz fight his last match. I have also heard rumblings that this might be one of Griffin’s final matches, but I have no clue if this is true.

Finally, I wouldn’t be a great fan of the sport if I didn’t mention the injury curse that has fallen upon UFC 149. At last count 9 fighters have had to pull out of fights due to injury. I will post a link at the bottom to an article that will give you full coverage of everyone that has fallen out of the PPV. It is a great thing that UFC has become the giant company that it has because the last company to have this kind of curse fall on an event (Affliction), is no longer in existance. I just hope beyond all hope that these injuries stop soon and that the people that are being put in to replace those out are willing to put on a great show.

Well, that is all for me for now. TFC

How dumb does he think we are.

Okay, I understand that Vince McMahon has changed tactics and instead of staying true to long time fans, he is bowing down to the way children can get their parents to pay for merchandice, but I believe the introduction of Lord Tensai has gone too far. I was so excited when his promos started being aired on wwe, but was greatly disappointed when he pulled his mask off last night and I realized hey thats A-Train. Don’t get me wrong, I loved A-Train when he was around, but bringing in someone that was sooo popular as someone who in storyline isn’t even American, is just dumb. I would have been much happier with A-Train’s return if he would have just come back as A-Train. Not some crazy character. It is just one more instance where Vince and the WWE are disrespecting fans that have been around for longer than the five or six years that their target audience is.

WWE Cutting Ties with Older Fans

I have been reading books buy guys who have been around since the territory days. Okay, because I know many of the fans that might be looking for blogs about WWE may be young so I am going to give a very brief history lesson about pro wrestling. Before the 1980’s the professional wrestling world was broken up into territories that had many different companies usually controlled by one promoter. Then it was Vince McMahon Jr. That decided he was going to start a company and take over the industry. In doing this he was breaking one major rule in Pro Wrestling of the day: never intrude on someone else’s territory. This brought an end to the territory system and a rise of the wrestling companies. While I think this was good for a little bit. It gave fans around the world to see guys like Hulk Hogan, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Andre the Giant along with tons of legends of the sport. But as these legends started to come to the end of their career, something happened. They left a void. Sure, new performers were coming to the forefront. These guys knew how to wrestle, but they didn’t have what the legends had, someone to learn from. Sure, guys like Ric Flair, Sting, Hulk Hogan, and a few others stuck around to kind of show the way for the young guys, but when the game has changed from what they grew up in. The new guys no longer had to worry about the stresses that the “old timers” had to worry about. So, the professional wrestling business has changed.

Having said all of this, the WWE has been pushing a storyline that is actually talking about the end of an era. For once, I actually agree with the WWE. I really do look at the Undertaker v. HHH match at WrestleMania 28 tonight to be an end of an era match. These guys have put their bodies on the line every night for years. I just hope that the guys in the back are watching tonight as these two giants of the sport have it out for possibly the last time. In a way it breaks this wrestling fans heart to see this match happen because I know that after tonight the WWE will have crossed a line that they may not be able to come back from. They are either going to let HHH or Undertaker or both retire, or they are going to have a string of WrestleMania matches between these two men that will be like shooting a dead horse. There really will not be a way to bring these men back for a nightly or even monthly grind. It really is like watching the end of the WWE that I been a fan of for many many years.