It’s The Best of Times, It’s The Worst of Times?

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” That is the beginning of the opening line in the novel “A Tale of Two Cities.” This thought came across my mind recently when discussing the WWE, and whether it will be around for WWE 100: The Centennial Anniversary. I argued that the WWE is too big now, not to be around forty-eight years from now. World Wrestling Entertainment has a strong brand name. World-wise, the WWE brand and logo is known as much as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and the National Football League. I’m not arguing that they are as strong as those brands, they are just as well known.

Another reason why I think the WWE will be around for at least forty-eight more years is because, there will always be people who want to watch wrestling. Professional wrestling is a very cyclical business. It always has been. During “boom” periods, the reason attendance, rating, and other revenue streams in the industry increases, is because the casual and non-wrestling fans are drawn in. When the “boom” period ends, those fans leave. However, you know who stays? The die-hard fans. There will always be enough die-hard fans to keep the WWE in operations.

When you mention the term “professional wrestling” to a non-fan, the first thing they vision is the WWE. There is a reason for that. World Wrestling Entertainment has no competition. They are the MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, and UFC of their industry. Sure, there is Ring of Honor, Lucha Underground, TNA, Global Force Wrestling, and several federations from Japan that you can view at the click of your lap top.

It takes many, many years for an industry leader to go under. Worse case scenario, if the McMahons decided that they didn’t want to be in the wrestling, or in their case, “sports entertainment” business, there will always someone to purchase the majority shares. The WWE isn’t just a business that runs on ticket sales or t-shirt sales. Today’s WWE relies on ticket sales, merchandise rights fees, television rights fees, merchandise sales, video games, DVDs, advertisers, pay per view television, their films division, and of course, the WWE Network. The company is a global corporation with many different ways of producing revenues. Someone will always be there to invest in the company.

After stating my argument why the WWE we live to see their 100th birthday cake, I started to think whether the WWE and professional wrestling is better today or better during the Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin eras. Granted, those are the two biggest money making eras in wrestling history, so I am not going to look at this in terms of dollar signs. I’m just wondering what is better or worse in professional wrestling since “the Rock and Wrestling Connection”/”Attitude Era” and the landscape of professional wrestling in 2015.

COMPETITION

In 1984, there was the WWF, AWA, World Class Championship Wrestling, and many, many satellite territories under the NWA banner. In the “Attitude Era,” the days of the territories were over, aside from several independent federations, the “big leagues” consisted of the WWF, World Championship Wrestling, and Extreme Championship Wrestling. Today, you have the WWE, followed by (in no particular order) Ring of Honor, Lucha Underground, TNA, Global Force Wrestling, and many independent promotions like Combat Zone Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and among others.

In looking at the depth in competition between the eras, today’s wrestling can’t compete. If you look at today’s landscape, the second most popular promotion is NXT, and that’s being run by the number one promotion in the WWE. Back in the mid-eighties and late nineties, the wrestling landscape had what was termed the “BIG THREE.” In the eighties, the “Big Three” consisted of the World Wrestling Federation, the American Wrestling Association, and Jim Crockett Promotion’s NWA Mid-Atlantic territory. In the late nineties, the “Big Three” consisted of the WWF, Paul Heyman’s Extreme Championship Wrestling, and former Crockett territory World Championship Wrestling.

The “Big Three” concept was fantastic for a professional wrestling fan. In the eighties, the wrestling magazine “Wrestling Superstars” used to feature a dream match in each magazine. Many of those dream matches had wrestlers from one of the big three taking on another wrestler from one of the other two promotions. Based on the “result” the magazine came up with, you would either be happy because your guy won, or mad since the opposing federation’s wrestler “won” the fictious match.

That was the beauty of having a “big three.” Each fan could argue that his federation was better. There was no way to realistically prove this. It was all a matter of opinion. It was wrestling’s version of “Who’s a better baseball player, Babe Ruth or insert name of different era player here?”

By the time the late nineties came around, the Internet exploded. This gave everyone with a computer the opportunity to voice their opinions at a moments notice. With this new outlet, wrestling fans became even more vocal than ever. The arguments between wrestling fans grew louder and stronger. Who’s the best? WWF? WCW? ECW? What TV show was better on Monday night? RAW? Nitro? Which supergroup was the best? The Horsemen? The New World Order? Degeneration X?

Today, there are more arguments over what is better MMA or professional wrestling than there is between the WWE and their main professional wrestling competition because they have none. While today’s wrestling fans are very passionate, the fans in the late nineties were extremely passionate and loyal to their favorite promotion. Sadly, we don’t have that today.

SURPRISES

More than any other component that has been in professional wrestling since it’s infancy, the “surprise” was a huge reason why professional wrestling was fun. When do you get the biggest “wow” factor when watching wrestling? It’s usually when the promotion or wrestlers give you some thing that you didn’t expect to see. Case in point, when Brock Lesnar beat the Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX, the crowd was so shocked that you could hear a pin drop inside the Superdome. The problem is today’s wrestling doesn’t give you these suprises much anymore. It’s not the fault or the promotions. With the dirt sheets, and the Internet, surprises are leaked like spoilers to the latest summer blockbuster movie. The lack of competition has also attributed to this as well.

In the late nineties, during the Monday Night Wars, all three promotions were must-see-TV. The Internet was still at a state where you weren’t sure whether to believe the rumor or not to. Early on, a lot of rumors, posted as fact, were listed by people just making stuff up. Due to the wars, wrestlers were switching federations at an alarming rate. Seeing a wrestler on RAW one week, and Nitro the next, or vice versa, was pretty cool. Rick Rude has the distinction of showing up on BOTH shows aired the same day. I remember being in the ECW Arena as the fans were raining “You Sold Out!” chants at Rob Van Dam because the rumors were he was leaving ECW for WCW on Monday. Surprise, as watching Monday Night RAW, out comes Rob Van Dam. He was still with ECW, but was doing an angle on WWF television to further a Jerry Lawler vs. ECW storyline! Remember Chris Jericho’s WWF debut? Sure, most fans knew he was WWF bound. Many even knew that the Countdown Clock on RAW was meant to debut Jericho. However, there was still that doubt as to if he would be appearing that night. Once Chris Jericho was shown, the place exploded. His promo battle with The Rock that night gave us one of the most memorable moments in RAW history.

Post-Attitude Era WWE, the most surprising elements were the Undertaker’s WrestleMania winning streak ending, Eric Bischoff debuting on RAW, and Samoa Joe showing up on NXT (as it was rumored that he wouldn’t be there until September). I’m sure there may be a few more, but they are few and far between when comparing it to the late nineties.

THE BIG SHOWS

Back in the eighties, professional wrestling on television mainly consisted of a superstar squashing an enhancement talent. While this sucked, it made house shows feel like must see events. There was a stretch from 1985-1990 when I recorded every WWF house show on the Madison Square Garden cable network. I can still vivdly remember watching a Don Muraco vs. Hulk Hogan steel cage match from June 1985. The Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage trilogy from December 1985-February 1986 was incredible. Even though Hulk Hogan pinned Randy Savage in the February lumberjack match finale, it was the first time I can remember Hulk Hogan losing two MSG matches in a row to the same opponent (Savage won the December and January matches).

When pay per view came into existence for the professional wrestling industry, these events had an even bigger feel to it than a house show. There’s a reason why the quartet of WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and the Royal Rumble received the moniker of the “Big Four.” When the WWF had a special update on their Saturday morning show for one of the “big four,” you took notice. You had to see that pay per view. If the show was in your state, you had to beg your parents to get tickets, because you had to be there. Ask any wrestling fan, “what was the first pay per view you ever attended,” they could tell you the pay per view name, the arena that held the show, where they were seating, the main event, and the best match on the show.

The first pay per view that I attended live was SummerSlam 1989. Not only can I tell you the details of the show, but I can vivdly recall when I tried to get tickets. I even wrote a paper in college on that adventure. It’s an experience I’ll never forget.

In the late nineties, the WWF and WCW featured a pay per view show each month. The shows still felt like must see event, despite RAW and Nitro featuring more min event caliber matches. I would still get excited to watch the pay per views. However, over time, aside from the “big four” (five if you now include the King of the Ring), I can’t remember details of most shows.

In 2015, pay per views, or “special events” as they’re called on the WWE Network, now feel like just another show. Maybe it’s because I am no longer paying $54.99 for each show, but these shows no longer have that must see vibe to it. If the WWE runs a pay per view, I look at the line-up. If the card doesn’t interest me, I’ll either watch RAW to see what happened, or I’ll watch the show whenever I feel like it. There is no urgency anymore, because the pay per view is on the network for eternity. Plus, pay per view used to be the end all be all for major feuds. Now, main events end in disqualifications and even no contests. Back when the consumer was paying $54.99 for a show, those endings would kill the pay per view business for a company.

TV SHOWS

The wrestling that airs on television in 2015 blows away the TV wrestling from 1984. Just look at this past Monday Night RAW. The main event was Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton. That was a WrestleMania match this past March. In 1984, you would get “Big” John Studd against S.D “Special Delivery” Jones in a squash match. That’s not exactly a competitive competition. Today, it is more important to watch RAW than most pay per views. Any big angle now gets saved for RAW, because more eyeballs will be on the set for Monday night on cable than Sunday night on the network. When the Ultimate Warrior returned after almost a year away from the WWF, did he show up on WWF Superstars or WWF Challenge? No, he returned at WrestleMania, saving him from a double team by SID and Papa Shango. Now, it’s the opposite. When Brock Lesnar returned to the WWE after an eight year absence, he didn’t show up at WrestleMania XXVIII. They saved his first appearance for the next night on Monday Night RAW. At WrestleMania XXIX, the fans were screaming for Dolph Ziggler to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase against Alberto Del Rio. Instead, the WWE ran that angle the next night on RAW.

As exciting as the WWF television product was in the late nineties, the WWE didn’t treat it as more important than their pay per view revenue. That was Eric Bischoff’s deal in WCW. Sure the WWF had main event matches on RAW at the time, but the WWF would never think of giving away a first time Goldberg vs. Hulk Hogan match for free on television. Fast forward to 2015, and the WWE changed philosophy. They aired Seth Rollins vs. John Cena, SummerSlam’s upcoming main event, for free on RAW- AND it had a clean finish! You would never have seen the WWE do that in the WWF days of the mid-eighties and early nineties. The importance of television in 2015 gives this era a huge edge over wrestling from any other generation in terms of televised shows.

WRESTLEMANIA

I love WrestleMania. I have since day one when the WWF listed all of the closed circuit locations and theaters that would be airing in my area as the Phil Collins song “Easy Lover” played on the show. I knew I had to see this show. Unfortunately, I wasn’t at the Garden, not watched it on closed circuit or pay per view. I was at my dad’s house and he allowed me to call the WWF Hotline, so I can hear the results right after the show. When the first WrestleMania came out on video cassette, I rushed to Palmer Video and paid $40 for the video cassette- and I DID NOT EVEN HAVE A VCR YET!!!!!! However, I knew I would eventually get a VCR and I needed to have this show for my collection.

Each year, I looked forward to the upcoming WrestleMania. There was a time when I could name EVERY WrestleMania match on EVERY WrestleMania show. As the years have gone by, it’s been harder to remember as the number of WrestleManias grow.

After seeing each WrestleMania to date, being in attendance for five of them, I think WrestleMania has aged very well. WrestleMania is a better event today, than it was even fifteen years ago. If you look at the early WrestleMania shows, the mot memorable moments happened at WrestleMania III. The Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat match set the stage for which all other WrestleMania matches would be judged by. The crowd, whether you look at the WWF’s 93,173 version of attendance, or the real number, it was truly impressive to see that many people packed inside of one building for a wrestling event. The final moment was seeing Hulk Hogan against Andre the Giant. Sure the match sucked, but their names on the marquee drew the house, and Hogan’s slam of Andre will live on in WrestleMania lore.

For the most part, the match quality on most early WrestleManias was average at best. Then came WrestleMania X. That event had two five star matches in Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart and the ladder match between Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels. WrestleMania XII featured the Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart Iron Match Match. WrestleMania 13 had arguably the greatest match in WrestleMania history when Bret Hart face Steve Austin.

However, since the calendar turned to the year 2000, WrestleMania seemed to have contender after contender for the Match of the Year. At WrestleMania 2000, there was the Edge/Christian vs. Hardys vs. Dudleys ladder match. The next year had two. Steve Austin faced The Rock in their best WrestleMania encounter and Edge/Christian vs. Hardys vs. Dudleys topped last year with a TLC match that stole the show. WrestleMania XVIII featured Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock in a dream match. WrestleMania XIX gave the fans two match of the year candidates in Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar. WrestleMania XX featured the best, at the time, Triple Threat match between Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Chris Benoit. WrestleMania 21 delivered the very first Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels match that cemented Shawn Michaels status as “Mr. WrestleMania.” WrestleMania XXV and XXVI featured back to back contests between Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker. Many feel their WrestleMania XXV match is the best match in WrestleMania history. While WrestleMania XXVII didn’t have a match of the year, they did have the best Triple H vs. Undertaker match in their WrestleMania trilogy. It also featured the John Cena vs. The Rock dream match. WrestleMania XXIX featured a classic battle between CM Punk and the Undertaker. This year’s WrestleMania main event has a shot at being the match of the year. Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar were on their way to having a fantastic match before Seth Rollins involvement added even more intrigue to the match.

It’s not just the matches that have gotten bigger, but the event has gotten bigger as well. The first WrestleMania I attended live (WrestleMania X) had 18,000 in attendance. The next year, my second in attendance, drew 16,000. Today, the WWE blocks off thousands of seats to put up a huge WrestleMania entrance stage. Even with the stage, they regularly draw 65,000-75,000 fans from all over the globe to WrestleMania. The WWF used to have shows in domed stadiums sporatically. Now, they fill football stadiums on a yearly basis. For WrestleMania XXIX, when the WWE announced it would be taking place in NJ-NY, most thought they would go back to Madison Square Garden. However, they held it in the open aired MetLife Stadium when the temperatures in New Jersey can still be frigid. Plus, being to WrestleManias that are both in arenas and outside in stadiums, I love the look of the stadium shows. It gives WrestleMania a big time feel to it that no other show has. It adds yet another element to show that WrestleMania is a special event.

ATHLETES

In the mid-eighties WWF, if you wanted to be taken seriously, you needed to have a superhero look. You needed to be muscular, and over six feet tall for the most part. The WWF was known as the “big man” territory. In the late nineties, the WWF style shifted somewhat. You no longer needed to be a superhero. The WWF still liked their bodies. However, promo skills and ring work were starting to take focus. As great as the late nineties was, if you look at the WWF before the Benoit/Guerrero/Malenko/Saturn jump from WCW, the WWF was famous for having great main events, but not so great undercards. In WCW, it was reversed. Their main events sucked, but you couldn’t beat their undercard performers.

In today’s WWE, looks mean far less to the company than ever. Thanks to men like CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, the WWE no longer needs each performer to be 6’2” 250 pounds of solid granite. In a perfect world, would Vince want this? Of course, he would. However, the world isn’t perfect, and the fans today want substance over style. If a guy can work, they don’t care if he doesn’t look like something out of Marvel Comics. Fans today want to be awed by what they see in the ring, and not by what a guy looks like with his shirt off out of it. By this measure, today’s WWE has a collection of the best workers under contract today. The WWE World Champion is 215 pound Seth Rollins. Their most popular superstar, not named John Cena, is five foot ten inch 210 pound Daniel Bryan. Dean Ambrose, who looks like an average person is in the upper mid-card. Adrian Neville is five foot eight and under two hundred pounds. Dolph Ziggler is 218 lbs and an even six feet tall.

Their developmental territiory, NXT, features Finn Balor is 5’11” and 190 pounds. Hideo Itami is 5’9” 182 pounds. Sami Zayn is 205 pounds and stands at six feet one inch. Tyler Breeze is 6 feet tall and 206 pounds. If the WWE cared about size as much as they used to, they wouldn’t be investing millions of dollars in development on performers that don’t fit the old WWF criteria. It’s a step in the right direction, and proves that today’s WWE and the future WWE will be in the hands of terrific workers.

THE RESULT

I think the saying “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” works in this case. There are parts of the mid-eighties and late nineties that I would take over today’s WWE. I didn’t even bring up scripted promos vs. old school promos, which yesteryear would have killed today’s WWE. At the same time, there are things in today’s WWE that I prefer over the old WWF. This is a debate that the fans can have for a long time. Lucky for us, we don’t have to choose. If you want old school WWF, turn on the WWE Network or pop in a DVD that has old matches from different territories. If you like today better, turn on RAW, SmackDown!, or watch the monthly special event on the network. Either way, the fans win. That’s how it should be.