wrestling / Columns

2014: A Game Changing Year in Wrestling (Part 2)

December 29, 2014 | Posted by Len Archibald

It is customary at this time of year to be bombarded with “Best Of” lists celebrating virtually every facet of life in some way. It is no different at 411Mania, with “Best Of” lists for movies, games, wrestling events and the like. While looking back at the year that was 2014, something struck me as clear as day when it comes to professional wrestling; I do believe that we will look back at 2014 in hindsight as a year where several major shifts took place that will eventually rock the wrestling world. All in all, while 2013 had its moments, but was essentially a “down” year for the industry, this year we witnessed several massive moments, changing of the guards, climaxes and seeds planted that may bring events to a head in 2015.

2014 began much like how it ended; in a holding pattern. WWE’s top stars were still John Cena and Randy Orton, as the two were engaged in a “heated” rivalry for the newly minted WWE World Heavyweight Title that caught the imagination of very, very few fans. In the background, Daniel Bryan had emerged as the true hot act of mainstream professional wrestling, gaining a following and becoming the face of a movement where the fans ultimately made it clear that they were going to back their man, no matter what Vince McMahon threw at them to try and convince them otherwise. Brock Lesnar had been placed in a feud with The Big Show. Little did we know that one of the two would end up with one of the single best kayfabe years in history. CM Punk had been feuding with The Shield, and was making very little noise. Sting’s signing to WWE sat atop the usual rumor mill, along with stories of the start/stop progress of the WWE Network.

The wrestling world outside of WWE seemed to be in desperate need of a shot in the arm. Ring of Honor had come off a strange 2013. TNA continued to be the punchline in a slew of jokes that predicted their demise – and events did not warrant much hope. CHIKARA was still gone. New Japan was pumping out considerably entertaining fare, but outside of hardcore supporters the Japanese promotion struggled to gain substantial footing in the West. There seemed to be no relief for fans who longed for a viable alternative to WWE’s death-grip on mainstream professional wrestling. The year opened with a whimper and no end in sight of any radical change in direction for the industry.

Then the 2014 Royal Rumble happened. Cans of worms were opened. Fans began to revolt. A Network was born. A Warrior passed away. Some promotions rose from the dead and others ascended to take the next step to absolute greatness. A Beast broke a streak then broke the Champ, before taking the #1 title in the world hostage. New stars were given opportunities to grab “the brass ring”, while old ones broke their silence and obliterated (or reiterated) severe managerial flaws in the #1 promotion in the world. Take a trip down memory lane with me as we look at some of the defining moments of 2014 (part TWO.)

THE STREAK ENDS

Not in a million years. The Undertaker wins at WrestleMania. That is the constant. That is gospel – any other notion would upset the balance of professional wrestling to an unmeasurable degree. The build up to the Undertaker/Brock Lesnar confrontation at WrestleMania XXX was admittedly a ho-hum affair, leading many (myself included) to believing this was going to be another simple victory for the Deadman.

It took about five whole minutes for me to fully digest the events that had unfolded before my eyes after the final three count as The Undertaker’s shoulders were pinned to the mat. The attendees in the SuperDome stood in shock and awe as Brock Lesnar’s music played (delayed, in a nice touch to the shock.) Fans were bug-eyed and silent. My wife, whose favorite performer is The Undertaker, stormed out of our living room. Friends who had NEVER watched WWE or had not watched in a long time, suddenly began blowing my phone up with texts asking if what they heard was true. The entire wrestling world and a good chunk of the entertainment world as well stopped dead in its tracks.

Upon the sight of The Undertaker slowly rising to his feet as the 21-1 graphic displayed in the background amongst the silence of the stunned crowd, the mortality of The Undertaker hit me for the first time in my fandom. Taker was a mythological figure in WWE who represented cosmic justice and the inescapable grasp of the inevitability of death. I never suspected that the same inevitability applied to The Undertaker as well. He made his way up the ramp through the sea of fans 30 years older suddenly, a piece of my childhood aging year by year with every step.

I did not want to see it end this way, but that is the reality of life: no one is immortal. Everyone meets their superior. Brock was The Undertaker’s. I did not want to admit to the truth that was in front of me, as I am sure thousands found themselves caught up in the same mixed emotions. If this truly was it for The Undertaker, it was a hell of a ride for over 20 years.

Thank you, Deadman. Rest in Peace.

THE DOGS OF WAR

At the start of the year, The Shield was considered one of the best booked, and most dominant forces to ever grace the squared circle. A nearly perfect win-loss record in 6-man tags, the trio of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose all could make compelling cases as to why any of them could be deemed as the future of WWE. Dean Ambrose had enjoyed the longest reign with the WWE version of the United States Title. Seth Rollins showed himself capable of adapting to virtually any in-ring style and was growing a confidence as a promo man that the former Tyler Black never did enjoy. Roman Reigns – clearly pegged to be the “Next Big Thing” in WWE was being fast-tracked to singles superstar status with his performance as the sole survivor of the 2013 Survivor Series Elimination bout and the runner up of the 2014 Royal Rumble, where he eliminated a record 12 competitors.

After a MOTYC bout that pitted The Shield against the Wyatt Family, the trio found themselves on the positive end of a WrestleMania squash match versus Kane and The New Age Outlaws to position them as the main adversaries of The Authority. Once Evolution reformed, fans were treated to a series of matches between the two warring factions that stole both Pay Per View offerings in which they were featured. The Shield defeated Evolution on both occasions and solidified them as the most dominant group of the 2000’s. Then Plan B came into play and Seth Rollins turned on his stablemates to join The Authority.

While a case could be made that the breakup of The Shield was premature, the fact was that the current incarnation had pretty much done everything they could and defeated all comers. Breaking up was really the next logical step. From there, Roman Reigns rose up the card as a Main Event talent for WWE and challenged for the WWE World Heavyweight Title in multi-man matches while Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins got embroiled in a heated rivalry. As the legend of The Roman Empire grew, though – it was Rollins and Ambrose who caught fire over the summer of 2014 and became engaged in arguably WWE’s #1 storyline. Rollins won the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, but was never afforded a chance to cash in as The Lunatic Fringe made it his business to interfere at any moment he could. In the meantime, Roman Reigns was placed in a rivalry with Randy Orton to “pass the torch” to the rising Samoan superstar.

Shortly after, Reigns was out of action due to a hernia injury. This gave Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose ample opportunity to take the preverbal ball and run with it – and they did gloriously. Through the late summer and early fall, Ambrose’s reactions and side feud with John Cena made him the #2 face (in some fans eyes, the #1 face) in WWE while Rollins – even with Brock Lesnar taking the WWE Title hostage – easily slipped into the position of the #1 heel in the company. The two warred on for months, culminating in a main event confrontation at Hell in a Cell. At this time, fans were beginning to take sides as to who could truly represent WWE as their new face. Ambrose’s anti-hero leanings reminded many of Steve Austin as someone crowds could rally around as a populist choice. Rollins’ versatility as a heel gave his supporters ammunition to dub him the closest to the second coming of Shawn Michaels fans had seen in a long time. All the while, Roman Reigns sat on the sidelines, awaiting the moment where he would return and make his case with his laid back demeanor and explosive offense that captured the imagination of fans who declared Reigns as the closest to a larger-than-life character WWE could depend on for the next decade.

Things have admittedly cooled down for each: Ambrose has been stuck in a feud with Bray Wyatt – while entertaining on the surface, lacks a clear direction. Seth Rollins has hit the main event brick wall that is John Cena and is struggling to re-gain the traction he once had a mere few months ago. Roman Reigns, while still being positioned as the most likely candidate to dethrone Brock Lesnar and main event WrestleMania, has felt the backlash of fans who declare he is not ready to main event WWE’s biggest show of the year due to his lack of storytelling prowess in the ring. 2014 has been a mixed bag for the trio, each enjoying the highest points of their young careers, and suffering through some of their lowest. None of them is going away anytime soon, though – you can bet that 2015 will be the true year that each of the Hounds of Justice cement their place in WWE’s main event fixture permanently.

TNA DOES NOT DIE

Pretty much from the get go in 2002, there has been a strange call for the death of Total Non-Stop Action, and 2014 almost brought that to fruition. I will freely admit that TNA’s management has been abysmal for the most part, but perhaps that opened eyes to that same management that for TNA to survive, they needed to scale back dramatically. Upon the announcement of TNA finding a new home for their television programming on Destination America, the Discovery Network’s sister station, the Tennessee-based promotion has found new life, albeit on a much smaller scale. It is still a victory for TNA, as shrinking the promotion is better than shutting the doors outright. TNA has honestly had – both creatively and financially, one of the worst years in their existence, with a strange Bound for Glory show from Tokyo and a Genesis event that was head-scratching and maddening to fans. Despite that, along with the continuous calls from fans that TNA would be better off dead, the promotion continues to breathe.

Now, realistically new TNA programming on Destination America is not going to bring in one million viewers immediately. The lesson that all parties will need to learn – from the network to the higher ups at TNA to their fans – will be one of patience. There is no logical means of TNA to be able to pull in the audience they enjoyed on Spike TV for a while. Even then, TNA will need to embrace the fact that they are basically starting from scratch, and as such, needs to have a strategy in place to be nurtured for the next ten years. There cannot be any unnecessary spending on big name talent that will not create a proven return on TNA’s investment. For TNA to succeed, they need to realize there is no room to compete with WWE and they need to cultivate their own identity with the audience they will be able to work with and use their enthusiasm to grow. TNA needs to continue on the creative direction they have focused on over the past few months that have received rave reviews from fans and critics and not make any WWE-like knee-jerk reactions to ideas that may not catch on as quickly as they would like.

The company needs to frame their business narrative as a promotion that has weathered the storm of unprofessional talent, boneheaded business decisions and a rabid opposition that will never be satisfied until they are completely out of business and survived. 12 years not a long time compared to WWE’s over half-century of existence, but it is still a sight longer than most North American promotions that have developed in light of WWE’s post-monopoly climate. TNA still has some of the best world-class talent under their belt like Ethan Carter III, Bobby Roode, Austin Aries and James Storm. TNA, Destination America and their fans need to celebrate this and not engage in an unnecessary and unwarranted pissing match with WWE and their fans.

AJ STYLES IS NOW THE BEST WRESTLER NOT SIGNED WITH WWE

Let me start by saying in regards to individual performances, 2014 has been one of the best years I can remember. There are more than those in the upper echelon that have turned in consistent, head-turning and memorable turns in the ring. Seth Rollins, Ricochet (aka Prince Puma), Sami Zayn and Dolph Ziggler all deserve mentions and cases as to why each could be considered for Wrestler of the year. For me, though – AJ Styles has tapped into something this year that cannot be taught. Perhaps he has found a new lease being freed from the shackles of his up and down run with TNA. Perhaps he has seen the performances from those under the WWE banner and has vowed to outdo them all.

Whatever the reason, Styles has come into his own in 2014 and put out banner matches with Kazuchika Okada, Minoru Suzuki and Hiroshi Tanahashi in New Japan. He was IWGP Champion for an impressive 165 days and in that time, wrestled like a man possessed. With the Styles Clash being considered as a dangerous move, Styles’ notoriety has only risen. I will not get into any arguments who decide to troll or flame with the “vanilla midget filp-floppy spot monkey” moniker – just politely agree to disagree…But AJ Styles has been IT in 2014, appearing almost anywhere and everywhere and dazzling fans whenever he stepped in the ring; defeating Chris Hero at a SMASH event in January, then besting CZW World Heavyweight Champion Drew Gulak via disqualification before being handed his first loss in a great match with Amazing Red at House of Glory’s Revenge is Phenomenal. Styles defeated Chris Hero once again in his debut at Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore. In August, Styles took part in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s 2014 Battle of Los Angeles, where he made it to the quarterfinals before losing to Roderick Strong via disqualification.

On March 27, 2014, Styles signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling, debuting April 6 at Invasion Attack 2014, where he attacked IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada after his match and laid him out with the Styles Clash and revealed himself as the newest member of Bullet Club. In Styles first NJPW match in 2014 – Wrestling Dontaku – he became the sixth Gaijin champion as he defeated Okada with help from Yujiro Takahashi. From there, Styles really came into his own, defending his title successfully in a three-way match with Okada and Michael Elgin at the NJPW/ROH co-produced War of the Worlds event in New York City and besting Okada once again in May.

Styles would suffer his first loss in NJPW on July 21, when he was defeated by Okada in his first match in the amazingly awesome 2014 G1 Climax tournament. Out of his nine remaining matches in the tournament, Styles lost only once, but due to the loss to Okada would fail to advance to the finals. On October 13 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Styles lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Hiroshi Tanahashi, leading to a match on November 8 at Power Struggle, where Styles defeated Yoshitatsu.

Throughout 2014, one thing was perfectly clear – if AJ Styles was involved in the match fans were virtually guaranteed to witness a performer who had full intentions to wow crowds to the best of his abilities. Styles has always been a gifted athlete, but something awoke in him this year that has placed him at the top of several Wrestler of the Year lists, including mine. Styles has effectively proven that one does not need WWE to either provide fans with top-notch in ring entertainment and be well compensated for it. As Sting has now entered a WWE ring, Styles has not settled into the slot of “best wrestler to never work for Vince McMahon” – at least in a high-profile capacity. If AJ Styles continues his high-level work, and shows that he can be well paid for it, the development may open the doors for other performers who do not want to be constrained by WWE’s “style” to stay outside of WWE’s universe, effectively expanding the reach of entertaining professional wrestling on a global scale.

I’M AS MAD AS HELL AND I’M NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE!

Since the purchase of WCW and the death of the initial wave of ECW, wrestling fans salivated at the prospect of WWE sharing the massive archive of footage from past events to the general public. The acquisition of libraries from WCCW, Georgia Championship Wrestling, the AWA and more gave birth to the idea that – maybe – WWE should take full advantage of this and start their own network. With original content combined with the tape library they own, WWE could truly be a force to be reckoned with as a channel. News broke that the WWE Network was going to be a reality – but skepticism abound. How was the channel going to be presented? Was this going to be a paid subscription service like HBO? Perhaps a seasonal package similar to one the NFL offers? How would cable and satellite companies react if WWE decided they were going to air their own pay per views? Was there actually enough of a worldwide demand to take on such a costly endeavor?

2014 began with several fits and starts. No one knew at all how WWE was going to roll out the network, and details were kept vague and secret enough that several detractors hailed the network dead before it could even launch. Then word finally came: the WWE Network would finally go live as a monthly streaming service akin to Netflix and Hulu Plus with on demand content and original programming highlighting WWE’s, WCW’s and ECW’s past, starting with a live stream of WrestleMania XXX. The price tag caught everyone off guard: $9.99 a month gave fans access to every past pay per view AND current PPV offerings. The deal sounded too good to be true. More questions were asked: could WWE sustain the proper bandwith to house what could potentially be a million subscribers, as was their intended goal? Cable and Satellite companies, fully aware of the loss in revenue they would receive because of the Network launch admonished WWE, threatening to pull all WWE PPV programming. Shareholders eagerly anticipated what was going to amount to a billion dollar deal, as the launch of the Network positioned Vince McMahon in an enviable spot to re-negotiate television rights fees to the tune of hundreds of millions and solidify WWE as a global market juggernaut.

The initial launch of the WWE Network could be considered a resounding success: the live stream of WrestleMania XXX went nary without any major glitches and the rollout of past content – even though not as numerous as fans once felt they would receive – was still enough to satisfy even the most die-hard critics. Shows like Countdown, Legends House and WrestleMania Rewind provided a good start for original content, with other programming like a weekly special focusing on the Monday Night Wars promising an in-depth look at the most lucrative and combustible time period in history…Then the bottom fell out.

It began with the damning numbers that the WWE Network reached nowhere even close to their goal of a million subscribers, putting stockholders in a panic. The lack of subscriber purchases lead to McMahon having less bargaining power at the table for those television rights fees and sent WWE’s market value in a tailspin. The Network would then receive common complaints of not only playback glitches, but the lack of consistently added content started to become worrisome. WWE had an entire library at their disposal and was not taking advantage of it. WWE would attempt to curb these issues with the rollout of the network worldwide. Their two other most lucrative markets: the UK and Canada, though – received raw deals from the start, with delays, rights issues and general confusion on what kind of content will be released.

It has been a year of highs and lows for the WWE Network, but do not expect it to go anywhere anytime soon as the promotion has hedged all their bets and placed all their chips and their reputation on the success of it. If the WWE Network fails, 2015 will be a game-changing year as the publicly-traded company will be attacked from all sides – internally and externally – for someone in the McMahon family to step down.

TAKING SMALL STEPS BACK TO HONOR

After a strange, almost non-existent 2013, Ring of Honor made waves at the beginning of 2014 by announcing the return of AJ Styles after a seven year absence. The returning Styles brought ROH a buzz they had not enjoyed in a while that was followed by another announcement on February 22 to partner with New Japan Pro Wrestling. ROH and NJPW held their first co-promoted show on May 10 from the Ted Reeve Arena in Toronto, Canada. One week later from the sold-out Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, New York, they held their second, War of the Worlds.

Ring of Honor continued to make small steps on June 22 as the promotion hosted their first live pay-per-view event, Best in the World from the Nashville State Fairgrounds in Nashville, Tennessee. For the first time in ROH’s history, a live ROH broadcast was accessible to over 60% of American homes, a small success for a show that was critically well received by fans.

In September, Sinclair Broadcasting began syndicating ROH to other stations; the first deal was reached with WATL, a Gannett-owned Atlanta station, which began airing ROH on September 13, 2014. A month later, a toy licensing deal with Figures Co. toy company was struck which would see the distribution of action figures based off ROH talent, replica title belts and more. Ring of Honor ended the year as they returned to live pay-per-view with their biggest show of the year, Final Battle with their debut in music venue Terminal 5 in New York City, where ROH World Champion Jay Briscoe retained his title in the main event by defeating Adam Cole in a Fight Without Honor. On December 12, it was announced that ROH had signed Alberto El Patron and is scheduled to debut at ROH’s first TV taping of 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. It took a while, but ROH may have found some footing and a solid foundation to continue to grow in 2015.

WRESTLEMANIA GETS A+ GRADE FROM THE G.O.A.T.

Perhaps those in power should have seen the writing on the wall the night after WrestleMania 28; despite any conspiracy-theorist notions that WWE was doing all they could to sabotage Bryan’s career and force the WWE Universe to forget about him, it was becoming a nigh-impossible task. As WWE rode into SummerSlam 2013, no performer in the world was hotter than Daniel Bryan. Winning the WWE Title cleanly from John Cena should have been his coronation, but a Pedigree and Randy Orton cash-in moments later obliterated those hopes. Even though the former American Dragon was still slotted in main events for main WWE programming, the 6 month holding pattern leading up to the 2014 Royal Rumble was obvious and maddening. The trigger was not going to be pulled to crown Daniel Bryan as “The Face of WWE” – not as long as John Cena and Randy Orton were around.

Daniel Bryan was embroiled in a feud with Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt Family, even joining the family for a brief moment before unleashing his rage against Bray in an awesome steel cage match on RAW that further pushed the notion that there was still no one in WWE that had anywhere near the support of fans the way he did. Bryan lost a MOTYC against Bray Wyatt – the cult leader’s coming out party as a single’s competitor at the 2014 Royal Rumble. After Randy Orton defeated John Cena in a match for the WWE World Heavyweight Title and essentially wrote his ticket for the WrestleMania main event, the Rumble was next. Roman Reigns dominated en route to breaking Kane’s 2001 elimination record with 12 eliminations. Batista returned and quickly made it known that he would not be pushed aside for anyone. After CM Punk was unceremoniously eliminated and decimated by Kane, the fans held out hope that Daniel Bryan would make a triumphant return as the 30th entrant and avenge his earlier loss to Wyatt.

I had not witnessed fan backlash the level that poor Rey Mysterio received when he was revealed as entrant #30 not since before the end of the Monday Night Wars and WCW’s dying days. Fans were convinced WWE had lost their collective minds and had enough. On the surface, the sheer audacity of WWE not even allowing Bryan to compete for an opportunity to main event WrestleMania XXX was enough for some fans to all but abandon the promotion altogether. WWE had made it known: despite the pleas from fans, Bryan was not the horse they were backing. It was fascinating to see the venom on television from fans who basically rejected anything not D-Bry on the road to WrestleMania. Boring chants, Daniel Bryan chants, YES! Chants, even the odd “change the channel” chants all permeated throughout RAW and SmackDown during moments where WWE could not hold the attention of their own fanbase that felt their voices were promptly ignored – and ignored out of spite.

By the time Occupy RAW happened and Bryan orchestrated the takeover of the ring with fans that lead to a match with Triple H at WrestleMania, the seeds were planted for a righteous revolt. Fans had surmised that their vocal displeasure was enough to force WWE’s hand. The meta-ness of the entire scenario was unlike anything I had ever experienced as a fan: was Daniel Bryan’s organic rise to the top just that? Or had WWE brilliantly played with the fans’ heartstrings for six months? WWE had not shown themselves to be fully capable of sustaining a long term, slow-build storyline for years, so it was natural to be skeptical. WWE had not shown laser-like dedication to the rise of a sole superstar apart from John Cena in years, so it was natural for fans to think that their displeasure had boxed the promotion in a corner. It was a fact that for the second half of 2013 and the beginning of 2014, no other talent was more protected than Daniel Bryan. Maybe it was both.

Bryan and Triple H performed a MOTYC to open WrestleMania XXX – seeing Triple H bust out a Dragon Suplex was something I never thought I’d see, but was more than appreciated. Once Bryan took Triple H out of the picture on his way to face Batista and Randy Orton in the main event, the picture was crystal clear that AmDrag was not going to be denied. The final images; Batista tapping out and the ensuing reaction with 70,000 fans chanting “YES!” as Bryan hoisted his newly won title belts as fireworks exploded behind him was a moment of catharsis fans only experience a few times in their fandom. For those who did not believe, and for those who did but doubted – Daniel Bryan proved all wrong for one night as his unpredictable journey from King of the Independent scene to made man in the WWE culminated with the former American Dragon reaching the top of the mountain. No matter what happens in the future, those images and emotions will never be taken away from fans who shared in Bryan’s elation.

IMPOSSIBLE VIGILANCE

Not in a million years. Sting does not appear in a WWE ring. That is the constant. That is gospel – any other notion would upset the balance of professional wrestling to an unmeasurable degree. Until Survivor Series 2014, Sting was the default response to the question “Who is the biggest name in the history of North American wrestling to never work for WWE?” The Steiners, Lex Luger and the Road Warriors – all friends of The Stinger had eventually left to work for Vince McMahon in the early 90’s. Ric Flair left WCW and took the World Heavyweight Title with him up North. Each eventually returned to WCW and would stay until the company folded in 2001 to end the Monday Night War. Sting would wind up in TNA and stay there for the bulk of the company’s current incarnation before he left for good in 2013.

Most believed that it was inevitable that Sting would sign with WWE at some point in the near future, and in the middle of this year, Sting finally inked a contract with WWE. Sting’s first appearance in anything WWE related while in full costume was the WWE 2K15 commercial, which aired for the first time this past summer on RAW, and received the pop of the night just for his face appearing in the ad. Continuous appearances for WWE 2K15 related affairs continued, adding fuel to the fire to rumors of when Sting would finally be on WWE television. At the outset of the Team Authority vs. Team Cena bout, just as it seemed all hope was lost and Seth Rollins would take out Dolph Ziggler, music filled the arena at Survivor Series. Once fans realized Sting had made his appearance, the arena erupted. Seeing him in a WWE ring for the first time was one of the most surreal things I had ever seen. A Scorpion Death Drop on Triple H and Seth Rollins later, and The Authority was out of power.

WWE’s plans for Sting aren’t exactly set in stone, as it’s been reported that he’ll wrestle The Undertaker at WrestleMania, and Triple H at Royal Rumble. But there have been conflicting reports that Sting will just wrestle Triple H at WrestleMania, and he and The Deadman will never meet. Whatever the outcome, one thing is certain: Sting is WrestleMania bound – something most of us would never have imagined. Never say never in professional wrestling.

REDEMPTION FOR A SNAKE AND THE BAD GUY

Lost in the adulation of Daniel Bryan’s WrestleMania XXX Title win, the shock of The Undertaker’s streak being broken and the sadness of The Ultimate Warrior passing away after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame was perhaps the feel good story of 2014. It has been no secret that Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Scott Hall have been battling addiction and their personal demons for years. It was not uncommon to find the two superstars as the punchlines of tasteless jokes and the subject of multiple stories of their downfall. It was only a matter of time before one or both would end up on the “wrestlers who died before their time” list.

Then Diamond Dallas Page stepped in and assisted the two in a near miraculous change: Roberts and Hall checked themselves into DDP’s place of residence to take part in the DDP Yoga program. Roberts entered first and within a little more than a month, fans of the Snake witnessed uncanny and noticeable improvement. Hall would join later. DDP had one goal in mind – have the two of them ready for a potential return to WWE and take their place into the Hall of Fame. The proceedings were filmed for a documentary DDP championed.

Under a rigorous training regimen and conducting introspective personal sessions, Roberts and Hall put themselves under the microscope for the world to see. Fans and peers brought understandable skepticism to the table as those who followed the careers of both superstars had seen numerous occasions where they had declared themselves sober only to fall off the wagon. Kevin Nash even shared his opinions stating he was not certain that DDP would be the one to bring his Kliq friend out of Hall’s self-destructive behavior (perhaps in a moment of “tough love”.)

The results were imminent, though. As 2014 started, fans bore witness to the return of Jake Roberts at the conclusion of Monday Night RAW’s Old School RAW episode (as well as Dean Ambrose’s noticeable ever so slight drop of character.) The seeds were planted, as Roberts’ face had a glow and joy fans had not witnessed in quite some time. Soon after, he and Hall (as Razor Ramon) were announced as inductees for the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2014.

Brandishing a white suit and his trademark toothpick, Hall took to the stage at the Hall of Fame after Kevin Nash’s induction speech. Hall, who looked happier than he had in ages, did not wait to bring the crowd to their feet with his trademark, “Hey yo.” In talking about the road he had taken, Hall concluded that “Hard work pays off…Bad times don’t last, but bad guys do.” In a final heartwarming moment, The Bad Guy was joined on stage by the rest of the Kliq: Nash, X-Pac, Shawn Michaels and Triple H for a group embrace that called back the infamous “Curtain Call.”

Jake Roberts as the second inductee of the night arguably gave the best speech – and perhaps one of the best induction speeches in WWE history. “The ring is the only woman I never cheated on, because I was a son of a b—-,” Roberts said. “But you get tired of lying to your children. I was jealous of my dead friends. Why not me? God please (take me).” He spoke of the “high” of being a professional wrestler and hailed DDP as the man who saved his life.

We wrestling fans are an overly cynical, fickle group of people. We can never agree on anything. Everyone has a different idea of the best representation of the artform. But one thing cannot be denied; most of these superstars at one point we hailed as heroes in our lives. And the hardest thing to experience is to see a hero fall. As someone who has battled his own rounds of addiction, Jake’s speech resonated with me like a shot in between the eyes. I trembled at his stories about failing his family and the pain of wanting out of human existence. I nearly wept at Robert’s gratefulness for second chances. I had been where he and Hall had been. It is not easy to admit to one’s demons. It is doubly as difficult to admit to those flaws to a global audience. But Jake and Hall had defeated them and found redemption. There was a message of hope that no cynicism, no conspiracy and no fickleness can overcome. The joy on these stars faces filled my heart up to overflow. THIS is what professional wrestling is about.

Have a wonderful, safe and prosperous 2015 from me and all at 411Mania!

Len Archibald is the former Executive Director of the Northwest Ohio Independent Film Festival, and is a current movie reviewer for WLIO in Lima, Ohio.

Agree or disagree with me? Let me know on Twitter!
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