Welcome to the first edition of Kay’s Korner.
My name is Kay Farmer and I’m new to The Wrestling Voice. I hope to entertain you while discussing one of my favorite subjects, wrestling.
Something is sorely missing in the wrestling industry and it is something so simple: wrestling.
I’m all for the entertainment and at times are entertained, but being a fan for many years, I miss the days of telling the story in the ring. I miss the days of sitting on the edge of your seat and getting lost in the program; telling your favorite wrestler what to do and “Look out! Look out!” when something bad was getting ready to happen.
Sadly those days have been gone for a while. I miss them. I miss the good old days of ‘rassling.’
For those of you who don’t know what ‘rassling’ is, then let me explain it to you the best way I know how. In order to understand it completely, you have to know history, that is something that I do know about.
I am a third generation fan who has watched wrestling her entire life. The NWA, in my mind, was one of the greatest territories of all time. The NWA was a huge part of my childhood and to this day, can still bring a smile to my face.
With great wrestlers such as Ricky Steamboat, Ric Flair, Blackjack Mulligan, Paul Jones, Wahoo McDaniel and countless others that I could name, that should explain the greatness. I would like to point out that if you are a die-hard ‘rassling’ fan, you should know these names. If you don’t, then you are missing out on some of the greatest wrestlers of all time.
What was it about wrestling in the 70’s and 80’s that was so different? It was before Vince let the cat out of the bag about the outcome of the matches being ‘pre-determined’. It was a time of believing everything you saw and heard. It was a time when ‘bad guys’ and ‘good guys’ were easy to tell apart.
What made ‘rassling’ so unique at that time were the secrets behind it. The wrestlers refused to break the traditions that had been handed down over the years. The 'good guys' and 'bad guys' weren’t seen together outside of the arena. The secret language was just that, secret. No wrestling fan on the outside would know what ‘kayfabe’ was. Now, sadly, it’s a term that most wrestling fans know.
Why was it so believable? The wrestlers would go above and beyond the call of duty just to make the fans believe it was real. For example, when Ricky Steamboat got his face literally rubbed raw on national television by Ric Flair, you believed it really happened. Ricky came out for weeks with a discolored face. Why? To make you believe that it was real.
I miss the magic of wrestling. Yes, there was magic in wrestling all those years ago. The magic was making you believe and the wrestlers worked very hard to make you believe that everything that was happening was real. They would do whatever it took for the sake of making you believe. And you know what? It worked. It worked for a very long time.
It is sad to say but I can, to this day, pop in an old tape of some NWA matches that I have at home, and get totally lost in it. I find myself talking to the television, coaching my wrestler on, and wishing he could hear me. Isn’t it strange that after all of these years, it can still do that to me? No, it really isn’t. They did their job well enough to stand the test of time or tape, as the case maybe.
Today’s wrestling doesn’t do that as much. There are times when I catch a glimpse of it but it fades before I can grab a hold of it. I sit back and I think to myself, “What are they thinking?” The answer is, “I don’t know.”
I have a theory on how to fix wrestling. It is so simple that it is almost scary. It could be fixed in three easy steps.
#1 – Bring back the rating system: For those of you not familiar with this concept, let me explain. For years and years, there was a rating system for the wrestlers in each territory. (There was also a rating system that combined the territories.) It showed the champion and then all of those who ranked from 1 to 10. By having a rating system, the lower ranked wrestlers would have to face the ones higher in rank and beat them in order to move up in the ranking system. (Instead of this, we have the GM’s telling us who is ranked #1. There is neither an explanation as to why a certain wrestler is given the #1 rank nor how they determine who will wrestle who for the #1 rank.)
#2 – Cut back on the pay per views: Cut out all of the pay per views except for Summerslam – Survivor Series – Royal Rumble – Wrestlemania. Let’s be honest, the buy rates are not what they used to be. Why? Because the pay per views are lacking in direction. The pay per views that I have listed have very strong buy rates and for good reasons: they build up the story lines months before giving you anticipation, something that is sorely lacking in the wrestling industry today. Another simple fact is that the biggest majority of wrestling fans are blue collared workers, who can’t afford to buy every pay per view.
#3 – Give creative control back to the wrestlers. Years ago, there were no scripts, only bookers. The wrestlers were given a subject and told to run with it. They might have a few things that they needed to speak on such as their next match but they were never told word for word what to say. It is called improvisation and it is sorely lacking in wrestling today. Another thing that needs to be changed is to let the guys call the matches out in the ring instead of having the agents give them move by move what they should do. Spontaneity was a huge part of wrestling years before and it’s sorely lacking now and unfortunately, it shows.
Wrestling can return to its glory days with the right direction. Here’s hoping they figure it out sooner rather than later.
I hope you have enjoyed this edition of Kay’s Korner. All feedback can be sent to lilwrestlegrl@yahoo.com.
Copyright © 2005; TheWrestlingVoice.com & Douglas Nunnally.
All Rights Reserved.
Disclaimer & Privacy Statement
| What Did You Think About WWE Backlash 2008? |
|
|