Tim’s Take 11.25.08: Can You Feel The Excitement?

The United States wrestling scene is in a downturn right now. For a while now, there really hasn’t been somebody who has captivated audiences like many of the greats that have stepped between the ropes. So imagine the conversation that came up when this question was posed on a message board this past week: “What would make you excited about wrestling again?”

My gut reaction was someone who was absolutely the baddest man on the planet, knew it, and wouldn’t let you beat him because he knew he was the best. Then, I thought about all the people I like for one reason or another.

Toshiaki Kawada was instantly a favorite of mine the moment I saw him sell a big move from Mitsuharu Misawa. I loved his facial expressions and how he really enhanced a match on his mannerisms alone. He was able to really make those big matches in All Japan during the 1990s truly epic.

Shinya Hashimoto had that fighting spirit that truly defined heart in a wrestling ring. He dressed and acted like he was the top warrior fighting to keep his spot. He whooped ass, he took an ass whooping, and then when it seemed he was just about ready to be put away, he would take a come back to the next level. He was possibly the best big-match wrestler in the history of professional wrestling, as every time he main evented at the Tokyo Dome, you knew you were going to get something special.

Rey Mysterio was on of the most graceful wrestlers I had ever seen. I remember seeing his first match with Dean Malenko and my mind was blown. I know that particular match was all Malenko all the time, but what you saw from Mysterio there was the idea that this guy could defy gravity. A year later, when he had the best WCW match ever with Eddy Guerrero at Halloween Havoc, it only cemented his status as one of my favorites.

Speaking of Eddy, he holds my personal greatest moment in my life in regards to professional wrestling, when he beat Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at No Way Out in 2004. I remember the crowd, I remember the heat, I remember the passion Eddy had for that moment, the pinnacle of his career. I remember how he soaked everything in every time he was in the ring. He was a man who truly loved what he did, and what a joy it was to watch him work. When he came back after his drug suspension and was pushed to the moon, making him a top draw in world, I loved how he realized just how great a position he was in, and he seized that moment.

Chris Benoit was one of my favorites for obvious reasons at the time. His intensity, his tough-as-nails attitude, his graceful way of being truly violent. What’s sad about that is that as soon as I typed those sentences, I could only think of how he chose to end his life and those of his wife and son. Truly the most heartbreaking story in wrestling for me. It pains me to think about him.

Bret Hart was someone who I got behind because he did EVERYTHING right. I mean, everything. Of course, as I grew up and saw his heel turn, I fell out of favor with him, but looking back, he truly did everything to the best of his abilities. He made everything around him better. Those “Bret by the Numbers” matches might have been done only because he realized the limitations of his opponents. He was the best ring general not named Ric Flair.

The more I think about it, the more Flair becomes my favorite wrestler of all time. He worked all over the world, did it on both sides of the heel/face spectrum, worked top matches every time he went out to the ring, and he did it with a style that has never been seen like him since then, and probably won’t ever be seen again save for a complete copycat. Then again, Flair’s gimmick was a copycat of someone else, so who knows?

So when you think about a question like that, a lot of answers come up. There’s many different reasons why wrestling at one time was great. During the 80’s, each territory had compelling original storylines. They were able to push guys to the top of the card and the heel/face dynamics were so different that it allowed faces to really give the heels their comeuppance.

Then, Hulk Hogan’s superstardom pushed the idea of a top dog fending off all challengers, giving heels a compelling fight against the ace of a company, only to see the ace overcome the odds and win out. Nevermind the fact that Hogan did it in a manner that put him above all others because of him being in the main event, but since then, it seems that Vince McMahon has seen that as the way to make the big bucks.

Once again, the question is what would make you get excited about wrestling again. Does wrestling truly need another Hulk Hogan?

The thing to think about is that the majority of great wrestling ideas do not come from promoters. They come from the wrestlers. The Rock? “Stone Cold” Steve Austin? Mankind? Those were all the ideas of the wrestlers themselves. The great Jericho/Michaels feud this year? That was all them.

One of the main things that bugs me about today’s wrestling world is that the majority of decisions being made are being made by guys who haven’t been in the business that long at all. I understand the booking team of TNA is made up of guys who have been a part of the wrestling business for a pretty long time, but there’s this idea that wrestlers have no real input into their characters and their storylines. That’s certainly the case for those in WWE, as the booking ideas go straight to the higher ups, and then ultimately, McMahon makes the decision.

One of the best things about a locker room like Ring of Honor’s is that while one guy had the book, the wrestlers were basically in control of their own stories. That allowed the wrestlers to trust each other and be able to do things without fear of being shot down. Ultimately, the head booker would make the decision, but the majority of the time, nothing was changed.

So then, the question becomes whether a wrestler can truly break out because of booking, or in spite of it. There are cases for both sides, but it seems that the best way that superstars had been built in the past was that when something presented itself, it was pushed that way.

That’s the thing about looking for the next big thing. You have to just let it happen. HHH thinks he’s a big deal, but in reality, he’s only on top because of overexposure, and that’s because of his connections backstage. He’s been pushed down our throats, and sometimes we like him, sometimes we don’t. We’re mostly indifferent to him.

So when we’re looking for something to get people back into wrestling, there seems to be a lot of answers. People like the Flairs, the Rocks, the Stone Colds. Others loved the passion for the sport that a Guerrero or a Benoit had. Others love the larger than life presence that someone like Big Van Vader had. These were the wrestlers that truly captivated us and kept us involved in wrestling.

Wrestlers like that were able to get the fans behind them or against them. They weren’t forced down our throats. They were able to get over on their own accord, and they forced the higher-ups to put them in a better position on the card. Steve Austin was facing Savio Vega in the summer of 1996, then won the King of the Ring because he was slowly getting over. Then, he put himself over for good.

On the big scale, that might not be the case anymore. Maybe the booking ideals of both WWE and TNA just down allow for that type of growth anymore. Maybe WWE just wants to come up with gimmicks for every wrestler and hope that out of 20, one actually gets over. Is that really going to captivate us?

I understand that people have their talons into ROH and FIP and such, but while they have guys that are good, there isn’t anybody there that truly exemplifies someone that is at the top of the sport. Right now, WWE is the top of the sport. Right now, John Cena is at the the top of WWE. However, he isn’t exactly the guy who can get people into the sport. He’s too much like a Hogan. He’s manufactured. He’s unoriginal. This is coming from someone who enjoys Cena a lot.

The problem is that he’s not an earth-shaker. He’s not someone who’s going to make people care about wrestling again. He’s marketed well enough, but there’s nothing about him that screams, “I am wrestling!”

That’s what the wrestling world needs. An undisputed flag bearer. Someone just needs to step up and take it, and my belief is that it won’t come from the “sports entertainment” minds that book both WWE and TNA. It’s going to have to come from a wrestler who wants to be the best.