Thursday Sports Entertainment News Report 04.04.13

Greetings, folks, and welcome to another edition of Thursday Sports Entertainment! It’s 4/4/2013, and that 4/4 date sticks out in my mind for some reason. I have vague recollections of a wrestling event with the tagline 4/4 4ever, and a big part of me thinks it was Shawn Michaels vs. Daniel Bryan (then Bryan Danielson) to promote Shawn’s wrestling academy. Anyone remember this? If I recall correctly, it was kind of a big deal because Shawn hadn’t wrestled in years at that point. Maybe 2001 or 2002? Anyone? It’s really bugging me.

Before we get to the comments, I’m still amazed by the way this writing process works. There are some weeks where I’ll have time to put extra effort into this column and I go out of my way to talk about things that are thought-provoking and that will stir up intense debates. And those get 12 comments. Then, there are weeks like last week, where I had very little time to dedicate to the column and BAM! 54 comments. What the hell do I know? Message received: half-ass it more often. Just keep commenting, it makes the process more fun.

Onto your feedback:

Maybe for next week you (or an enterprising reader) could come up with a formula in which you take the top 10-15 guys in WWE and TNA and determine their “true” age based on years in the ring and time on national television. You would need to give proper weight to each number seeing as TNA, ROH, etc works nowhere near the schedule of WWE, so a guy who started the same year as Cena, but spent 5 years working a lighter non-WWE schedule, is really younger than him. And with regard to TV time, another guy might have been in WWE the same number of years as Cena, but has received a fraction of the TV time and focus.

I’ll leave it to people smarter than me to figure out the best formula, but I think it could be very interesting to see which guys are “truly” the oldest.

-Bobsky

I really like this idea, but I’m not sure I’m the right guy to do it. Any math geeks out there that want some column space to show your stuff?

Here are some variables that I think need to be considered:

Wrestling Style. I think Rey Mysterio’s high impact style will take a greater toll on the body than, say, the Great Khali’s style

Spot on the card. This counts for two reasons: 1) Guys like Cena and CM Punk that are the main draws will be on TV and at house shows more often. 2) They also do dozens of hours of appearances and PR outside the ring every week, which would make them “older” than someone like Epico.

Injury risk. I am not sure if this adds to the age or takes away from it. Take someone like Randy Orton, who’s been injured more often than, say, CM Punk. Does the injury itself add to his age? Or does the time off to recuperate and heal up take away from it? Or do they cancel each other out? And while we’re on the subject of Orton, how does suspension history come into play?

Are there any other factors to consider? Anyone out there up for the challenge of putting this together?

The President isn’t spending time on the gay marriage thing. Tard. He came out for gay marriage a year ago. He’s been fairly mum on the issue as of late, dealing with more important things, like the budget. But obviously you don’t bother to actually watch the news or read or do any research beyond Stephanie McMahon’s tweets.

-Franco

First, who calls anyone a “tard” anymore? Jeez. Second, the President HAS been spending time on the “gay marriage thing.” His communications machine has been pushing gun control, immigration and gay marriage in recent weeks. Here’s a few tweets from the President’s official account:

“Every single American deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law.” #MarriageEquality,

RT if you agree. #MarriageEquality,

#MarriageEquality for all

Every American should be able to marry the person they love. #LoveIsLove

And I’m sure you’re thinking “it’s just his Twitter feed run by a bunch of college grads, it’s not the President himself!” True, but their function is to put his message out there for the world to see. It’s still his message. He even pushed for marriage equality in his inaugural speech 3 months ago. Hardly “mum” on the issue.

And newsflash, pal. Obama hasn’t passed a budget since he was elected in 2008. Maybe you should brush up on world events before you start attacking others. Dope.

…And, if you must know, The TradeMark Experience is my artist name. I’m a rapper/singer/producer. Feel free to Google me if you like.

-The TradeMark Experience

I stand corrected. Everybody, hit up the TradeMark Experience’s site and give him a few likes if you enjoy his music. Why not support a fellow wrestling fan? It’s not easy to put yourself out there for public scrutiny, so I applaud Mr. Experience for taking the shot.

WORLD (WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT) NEWS TONIGHT

The Rock was recently asked BBC’s Newsbeat whether anyone has ever been brave enough to challenge him to a fight in public. Here is what he had to say…

“That never happened. It didn’t happen in wrestling when I was wrestling and it certainly doesn’t happen these days. The toughest, most badass guys I run into, it could be bikers it could be anybody, everybody just wants to say hello.”

I’m not sure I ever told this story before, but back in 2003 some co-workers went out to a nice Italian dinner in midtown Manhattan. The tables were kind of close together, and all throughout the meal my co-worker Matt kept getting bumped by the guy sitting behind him. Then the guy kept leaning back in his seat, so much so that he was practically on top of Matt.

Having had enough of the situation, Matt finally quipped “hey buddy, if you wanna join us so badly, why don’t you pull up a chair?” The guy behind him got up and loomed over Matt. Of course, it was the Rock. At that, Matt profusely apologized, and probably changed his pants.

The moral of the story is: You let the Rock sit where he damn well pleases.

If you saw Monday Night Raw last week, you would have noticed that Chris Jericho had a black eye. Word is that it was actually caused from his match with Jack Swagger on Smackdown the week before

Jericho was okay, but word is his eyesight was a bit Fozzy. Swagger apologized, saying he was “tho thorry” for hurting Chris’s eye.

Then they made out.

At this point, CM Punk is still expected to take time off following WrestleMania 29. Several people in WWE believe that he is more beat up than he’s been letting on and he’s believed to be burned out from his constant work for the company over the past two years.

With Punk out of action, WWE has made sure to land both Rock and Brock Lesnar for Extreme Rules. The show will have a six-week buildup and the star power means that the show may perform better than usual.

Let me be the first to say that I do not think Punk will be taking any extended, continuous time off. We all heard the same exact rumor about John Cena last year, and he was on TV more than ever after that. At most, I’d bet that over the next few months Punk works a reduced house show schedule and is given reduced wrestling time on TV. Unless there is an unknown injury that would require major time off, expect to see the same amount of CM Punk that you’re used to.

Reid Flair, the son of Ric Flair, passed away at the age of 24. The cause of death at this time is not known. Reid was found passed away the morning of 3/29 in Charlotte, North Carolina; he had just returned from working for All Japan.

Poor Ric. What a terrible loss. The cliché saying is that “no parent should ever have to bury their child.” And it’s 100% true. Just tragic all around. Speculation is that heroin or some other narcotic did him in.

But if it’s one thing I’m known for, it’s my lack of empathy, right? I know I’m opening myself up to a lot of vitriol on this one, but I ask that you bear with me and try to look at this without the emotional element associated with death. Let’s assume it was heroin or some illegal drug that ended Reid’s life. This sad situation got me thinking…

You’re a little kid. Your dad is a world famous wrestler, a larger than life character. Never home. Whenever you’re with him, people are excited to meet him. He’s clearly very important and loved by many.

As you get older, you learn more about wrestling. Perhaps it’s in your blood. Perhaps you want to impress your dad. Maybe it’s both. But at a young age, you decide “I want to do that, too.”

You hear the legends of your dad’s hard partying ways. Of “naitching,” where your lifestyle is so over the top you get to the point of near-bankruptcy. Dad made partying and living the wild life seem easy and awesome. You figure, “if he did it, so will I.” Maybe some of “the boys” have told you “you’ve got big shoes to fill, kid” as they laugh and throw back a shot.

So you start your wrestling training and living the life that your father lived before you. Only you make the mistake of taking it further than he ever did, and now you’re mixed up in a world that was foreign to dad – hard drugs…

I have to wonder how much Ric Flair’s example led Reid down the path he took. Believe me, I am NOT saying Ric Flair was responsible for Reid’s premature death. He wasn’t. Reid was a grown man who made some unfortunate choices in his life. But ol’ Ric didn’t set the best example for his kids, you know? I wonder how much of Reid’s choices were influenced by his innate desire to emulate his father? It’s an interesting question, and I’d love to hear your take on it.

I know it’s an insensitive thing to write, but it crossed my mind and I was interested to hear some differing opinions on it. The hard partying lifestyle isn’t glamorous and has a very, very dark side. Maybe some young kid out there will read this and think twice before shooting up. I dunno. Poor Ric.

Fire away.

Trish Stratus recently spoke with Forbes about her WWE Hall of Fame induction and more. Check out the highlights:

Luckily, I have my Trish Stratus-to-English translator to let you know what she’s really saying! Here we go!

On the current Divas landscape: “The nice thing to see is there are a lot of women who are just completely capable in the ring. Ha ha not really. We have these great athletes I think what’s missing maybe is there’s a little bit of element of character development that’s missing right now. aka “more barking like dogs”. That’s something that I feel from my era isn’t really what you’re seeing in the current division. Something else from my era you’re not seeing? Lots of making out with Vince McMahon

On whom she would face if she could take on a male superstar in the ring: “I think I could take on John Cena. Just for like a straight-up baby face vs. baby face match, just cause.” Who’dja think I was gonna say? Primo?

On her favorite Attitude Era memory: “I would say DX probably embodied the whole era. That’s why I think wrestling became so exciting again was that era. Listen, I know who’s in charge now. You think I’m NOT gonna say DX? There was so much being offered. The feud between Stone Cold and Rock was probably what drew me every single week and I just remember watching DX and they were just so cool, it made wrestling cool. Whoops, almost gave the real answer of Stone Cold and the Rock there. Glad I caught myself. DX was so cool, Triple H! Right? YOU WERE SO IMPORTANT BACK THEN! WWE WOULD BE BANKRUPT IF NOT FOR YOU AND YOU ALONE!! What everybody was doing made wrestling cool again and it just took it to a whole other level of mainstream popularity. We’ve never seen anything like it. It was a special time for sure and I came in just after that so I remember entering that era thinking, “Wow this is a special thing I’m doing right now.”

One thing I’ve noticed about Trish Stratus over the years is that she is very politically attuned and very smart. She knows the right answers to give and would never say what she’s really thinking. That and her boobies.

DEFENDING WRESTLEMANIA

A few weeks ago I defended the WrestleMania card and the majority of you seemed to disagree with my positive outlook. Fair enough. But here’s something else to consider.

I’m taking a good friend of mine to WrestleMania. He’s not a wrestling fan at all. He tuned in a little bit back in the Attitude Era but hasn’t watched an hour of WWE programming since. The only exception was a house show we went to in 2002 where the main event was Undertaker vs. Hulk Hogan. Other than that – ZERO wrestling exposure. He’s coming to WrestleMania less for the wrestling and more for the opportunity to hang out for a few hours.

We chatted for a few minutes the other day, and the conversation went more or less like this:

My Friend: So what are the matches?

Me: The first one is The Rock vs. John Cena

My Friend: No way! The Rock is still wrestling?

Me: Yeah, and he’s the WWE Champion.

My Friend: When did this happen?

Me: In January.

My Friend: Wow. How long has the Rock been back wrestling?

Me:…since January

My Friend: (laughs). OK then. Wow, that’s a good match. What else?

Me: Brock Lesnar is facing Triple H.

My Friend: Holy shit, Triple H is still wrestling, too?

Me: Yep.

My Friend: So far I’ve heard of all these guys. I can’t believe it.

Me: Next is Undertaker vs. CM Punk

My Friend: Undertaker is still wrestling too??

Me: Yeah, but really only at WrestleMania these days.

My Friend: I’ve heard of CM Punk but don’t know much about him. Okay, not bad. What else?

At this point, I went through the rest of the card. He didn’t really respond to most of the other matches. He recognized Kane, Big Show, Randy Orton and Chris Jericho, but that’s about it. I described each match, who the wrestlers were, their characters, and why they were fighting. The point is, THIS is the guy that WWE wants ordering WrestleMania. They want people who haven’t been watching in a while to see the posters and go “Oh wow, look. The Rock. Brock Lesnar. Triple H. I remember those guys. Maybe I’ll check it out.” The hardcore fan is ordering anyway, so the part-timers are the bait for the lapsed fans to give WWE another shot. As evidenced by my friend’s reaction, they’re kinda right.

Here’s some more insight:

He thought “The Miz” was the stupidest name for a wrestler until he heard of Fandango.

“Wait, just how many wrestlers are dancers?” His response after I described the characters of Brodus Clay, Tensai and Fandango.

Another point to consider:

My Friend: Any hot women wrestling matches?

Me: Kind of in the mixed tag. But no matches with just women.

My Friend: Why not?

Me: If hot women were wrestling every week, would you start to tune in?

My Friend: No.

Me: There you go.

Interesting that he wanted to see women’s wrestling, but it wouldn’t be enough to draw him in.

I’ll have a full report of the Hall of Fame and WrestleMania in next week’s column. We’ll even get to revisit the Casual Fan’s Guide to WrestleMania…LIVE!

YOU’RE IN FOR A REAL TWEET

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SIGNING OFF

Thank you for making Thursday Sports Entertainment your go-to destination for Wrestling News, Opinions, etc. See you next week with all the post-WrestleMania coverage!

Hasta Jueves,

This is Sean.