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WRESTLING COLUMNS

Please - Get Over It
December 21, 2006 by Matthew Geddes


Okay so we're all marks. We think we aren't but we are. Whether you're 8 years old and cheering for John Cena, or 36 and boring people with tales of Andre, Bulldog Brower and Ox Baker; we all have our favourites and we all think we can fix the "problems" with professional wrestling.

Well, guess what" We can't. Unless your name is Vince McMahon, you cannot change what you watch week in week out (and admit it, you do keep on watching). That is meant with no disrespect to the fans. Spoilers, inside dirt sheets and the internet have made us all think we know what's going on. To some extent we do. But unless you're in the office with Vince and any WWE Superstar at the time, planning the storylines ahead, we're all just speculators. Marks.

Hands up who wouldn't give their right arm to see Owen Hart back in the ring. Or Bret for that matter. Or Andre The Giant. Or Eddie Guerrero. Or Chris Jericho. Of course everything would be great if we saw Mick Foley V The Rock V Stone Cold with the winner becoming the Commissioner. But it's not going to happen.

Every single week we tune in to a) watch quality wrestling b) follow the storylines of our favourites and c) above all, to be entertained. If you watch RAW SmackDown! TNA etc, you watch it coz u like it. Why expend energy worrying about how to make it better" I know, I know, it's frustrating at times. We'd all like to see Chris Benoit and RVD in the main event instead of Cena or Big Show. Or would we"

Vince has been doing this a long time. Give the man some credit. He has a pretty good history of knowing what we want. Sure there's been the odd Ultimate Warrior or Yokozuna moment. But I bet any one of you could say you love at least five of the following: Undertaker, Bret Hart, Hogan, The Rock, Austin, Randy Savage, Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, Roddy Piper, Triple H. Sure, all of these and many more have contributed to their own character and their own legacy. Foley and Austin in particular were just waiting for a chance. Who gave it to them" Vinnie Mac.

If you've been watching WWE/WWF for any length of time, you'll know that some things will never change: -

1) Vince likes big guys. From Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy through to Kane and Batista, Vince is gonna give these guys a push. This included Yokozuna, Boogieman, Giant Gonzales and The Undertaker. Sometimes it works. It's worked often enough for Vince to keep trying it.

2) Vince listens to the fans. As good as Benoit, Guerrero, Saturn, Jericho etc are, they were all held back before coming to WWE. (Of course there may be other political reasons for this, but that's another column). Three of those four won a major belt after jumping to WWE.

3) Some gimmicks will never get over. Remember Meat" Or Chaz" Dreadful yes" Now remember Crash Holly coming to the ring with the scales" Saturn and Moppy" King Kong Bundy's five count" It's sport entertainment people.

So next time you're thinking Cena only has three moves, think back to when you were a mark. There are millions of kids who love Cena. Vince knows this.

Next time you think that Triple H is only in his position because of who he is married to, remember the years he put in as Hunter Heart Helmsley in pig pen matches; remember he turns up every night to entertain you. Remember he has put over everyone from The Rock (if you remember the old IC belt matches) to Eugene to Shelton Benjamin. Remember he's been trained by Killer Kowalski - if he can't teach you mat skills no-one can. In 10 years time Triple H will be revered the way that Ric Flair is now revered.

Next time you think The Boogieman or Umaga is a tired old gimmick that'll never work, just grab a beer or a coffee. Go to the can maybe. In ten minutes time there'll be something else on that you will mark out on. It may be the Hardyz. It may be Lashley. Hell it may even be Batista.

But you will mark out. We all do. If we didn't we'd have nothing to complain about.

And one more thing...every one of these guys (and girls) works over 200 shows a year to keep us entertained. I respect that. Like most people I work 250 days a year without travelling across the country. I see my girlfriend after work. I eat at home most nights. These guys work.

So please...mark out...admit you do. You can't run WWE. Your personal favourite may not become champion (I've been waiting nine years for Kane to get another run!). But you love it. You love watching RAW and SmackDown!

If you only watch it to criticize, why watch at all"

by Matthew Geddes ..


Brent Matthew Denny wrote:
Matthew i don't know how to thank you and i have so many reasons to be thanking you. For one this is the first column in the history of me reading columns on this site that actually gives Vince McMahon around of applause for what he has done for the wrestling business. I don't know if your a fan of his or just respect him for what he has done but i am a fan of his and i just want you to know i appreciate you standing up for him.

Also your right in practically everything you say however and this is not me having a go at you it is simply a statement despite what you have said in this column i don't really think it's going to stop people bashing Vince McMahon the WWE or anybody or any other wrestling promotion despite how right you are in what you say.

That's basically all i wanted to say. Once again thank you for giving Vince McMahon his props.
Malte Becker wrote:
I just wantaed to say that I strongly agree with what you had to say, Matthew. I personally would like to put this column into the Ten Commandments for columnists, because every other column is about what sucks in the WWE, whats great in the WWE or what could be done different. Don`t get me wrong, I enjoy a lot of those columns, and sometimes they are even thought-provoking. But sometimes I think that maybe the author should just stop watching WWE or switch to playing the video-games. Because I honestly don`t see the point in these endless "What if..." and "What should..."-scenarios. The people regarded in these columns will most likely never hear about it, and not in a thousand years will there be an anti- or pro-WWE-column that erveryone agrees with. So I join Matthew in his plead to the marks of the world: Please, start making sense and stop making noise. And merry Christmas.
Marilyn M. wrote:
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! This was well written and brought out great evidence about how "smarks" are really not all that smart. I'm so glad someone like you had the intelligence to speak up for the WWE and write this column. I agree with most of what you said. Us fans cannot just disrespect the wrestlers and Vince because we do not like his ideas. We can't just sit in a chair complaining over the internet over who is the better wreslter because it is all a matter of our opinion. What we say isn't factual because we do not work their. None of us have to go through what they go through with traveling, training, and wrestling itself. Alot of people think they know EVERYTHING about how the WWE works, but we will never know everything unless we work there. I'm a big John Cena fan and I can't stand it when people would critique him so much. He is working hard, just like any other wrestler, so who are they to tell everybody that he doesn't deserve what he has got. As if any of us would know.(Vince knows though.) It is all up to Vince and whoever else helps him out. Most of these"smarks" forget to just have fun watching wrestling. That is the point anyway: to be entertained by our favorties. What is the point of bashing wrestlers and making yourself think your all smart, when in reality your being dumb and naive" People should learn to just like who they want to like, and not judge the ones they don't. Being an open minded mark is better than being an immature smark in my opinion. Keep up the great work!
Luke Tobin wrote:
So does that mean that we shouldn't write about how we think it COULD get better" That's what this site is for, isn't it" Personally, while we all have to give McMahon credit for how he built a global monster of a business out of a bunch of independent Mickey mouse promotions, I think he's losing his touch. Everyone gets old, it's nothing against the guy, but I think the majority of the fan base has changed their tastes. It's not just a small group of people like me that want to see a more athletic, technically based show. Everyone I eevr talk to about wrestling always says the same thing: "Yeah, I use to watch it...but it's so lame now. They barely even wrestle." Sure even the Cenas and Batistas of the world, who can't wrestle to save their lives, work a hectic schedule and do not live easy lives. But what's that say about someone like Benoit, Misterio, Helms, or Shelton Benjamin" These guys work the same schedule AND actually know how to perform their craft. Vince has lost touch with his audience and I think he could be making even more money than he is now if he wouldn't be so stubborn and pass control over to a younger entity. I don't care who, but preferably someone that is not in their 60s and is still trying to recreate Hulkamania.
Micael Holm (Karis, Fin) wrote:
Great Column, I haven't tought about it very much myself but now that you mentioned it , the Tag Team Division really have grown quickly. But The HardyZ are the best (been waitin for them to reunite for 4,5 years ,, FINALLY!!)
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