The inevitable Road to Wrestlemania has reached a point already that at its heart, is the reason why wrestling is a struggling business today. We knew long before the tournament began who was going to emerge a victor. Some say it may be the worst feud of the year, surpassing the boring Jericho/Cena feud, beating Kurt Angle’s bizarre obsession and irrational actions feud, and worst of all, a shame to the only good feud he had going with Edge taking his belt for a few weeks. People are afraid Cena & Triple H may not perform to the caliber that fans would hope for. People wanted a triple threat with Edge, or The Show Stopper versus The Franchise match, or anything else that might add more interest than the inevitable John Cena versus Triple H battle for the title. The inevitable point I referred to that is killing Raw, and more broadly, wrestling, is the lack of competition.
I enjoy more sports like anyone else. I love to see athletes or teams face off for the right to be called the champion for whatever year it is. Some even want to be known as a legend that will have all others, past, present, & future, to be compared too. Certain individuals just want fame and fortune. These are norms in humanity, the obvious attitudes that embody anyone who is any field that has competition. No one walks into a job or sport with the attitude of “I want to be like… semi-successful”. Everyone walks in and has, or should have, the attitude of a winner. This is what makes competition intense. It is about beating others to be the victor. It has been the roots of rivalries as primitive as fighting for a girl, fighting for a throne, or fighting for a status or title. Could you imagine life without competition? That is why sports has always been great, we watch teams compete in a grand scale of competition, facing multiple teams, divisions, and conferences. We want to know who will beat the rest, and be crowned the champion of year XXXX. It is why wrestling is dying.
In its barest form, wrestling is the contest between two wrestlers who want to use a variety of skills to get the pin fall victory. It is symbolic to see someone lying on their back, the most vulnerable of positions, and show both physically and mentally to the crowd and their opponent that they were defeated. Wrestlers could be technical, agile, aerial, brawlers, and many other styles of fighting to get the edge. It was a classic to see two similar styles be brought together and forced to clash. Professional wrestling was individuals chasing the World Title, to be crowned the best in the business, and to have their name recorded for the rest of the industry’s history. But wrestling lost that over decades. As it became more popular, its secrets and truths made their way to the public knowledge and then once it was known it was staged, the competition side of wrestling was nearly dead.
Finally, a last ditch effort was made to save the business. People knew the outcomes were determined, so instead of watching competitors they saw actors. Wrestlers were designed to act and react like actors would, showcasing emotions not normal to athletes. No football player would kidnap their opponent’s girlfriend just to book a game between two teams. Storylines and match angles became the way to breathe new interest in the sport. It hit the boom period during the late 90’s, when larger than life stars such as the Bad Ass Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Arrogant Rock, the Lord of Darkness The Undertaker, and the Unstoppable Force Goldberg. People loved to see what would happen next, as if wrestling was a TV show on primetime where everything was shot, cut, and re-shot to add the effect they wanted no matter how many times it took to get it done. This is not wrestling. When Triple H stands before a crowd and knows he has 15 minutes to kill, he does not have the chance to go back and do it again.
Wrestling now has a different way to evaluate its stars. Not by ability or level of competition, but by how we view the story writers’ direction or the microphone abilities of a wrestler. The competition aspect of wrestling is no longer there, and thus, we judge wrestlers much like we judge actors on TV. When I see a famous actor, I expect perfection, seeing this is what they have done for years and years. It is hard to look at stars now and NOT think the same way. It’s hard to imagine there is no off-season, no time off unless you can’t physically compete any longer. It is hard to think that these guys do this almost 4 or 5 times a week, 52 weeks a year. When you see past the crap put on screen, honest and true wrestling fans know the difficulty of the business and the heart and passion put into it. I have seen wrestlers more devoted to the ring than some of the legendary sports names. Why is it we do not see this desire anymore? Has all been lost to the entertainment and storylines?
What I am getting at, the bottom line, is that the Road to Wrestlemania tournament was a failure. This was THE chance to headline Raw’s side of the Super Bowl of wrestling. This was THE last opportunity of the year to make history and face the WWE Champion in the Big Time. And what we got was the average tournament of matches with an obvious winner from before the get-go. Wrestling fans both new and old can predict way too much, and it is because we base the flow of the industry on the storylines and not the competition. I long for an old school tournament where there is no obvious pick, where a surprise effort could earn the respect and the championship all in one night. The King of the Ring was probably the last real evidence of this beautiful concept. It was not about storylines, or angles, it was the battle to be the best and move their career forward. It showed who was a real fighter and who was just jobber material.
Wrestlemania will be great though, as I am sure every effort will be made to entertain us. But uninspired “shoot backstage promos” aired on last night’s Raw showed it was too late to bring the spirit of competition back into wrestling, at least as far as 2006’s Wrestlemania is concerned. It should have been the most crucial time for every star but instead we got lack luster matches when you think about how important it really is. I fear that unless wrestling finds the competition aspect of their business again, the WWE and wrestling itself, is in grave danger.
I can only hope it finds a way.
Until the next episode, remember to continue being a fan, and not a critic. - Trayvor
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