Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Oh It's True... When WWE got the “F” out, I think that they were referring to more than a company name change. I think that the “F” also stood for “fun”, “fantasy”, and “fucking entertainment”. Sure, Vinny Mac wants us to believe that the “E” stands for entertainment, but pro wrestling fans aren’t quite as stupid as he thinks. We know that the “E” really stands for “entropy”. The first fault with WWE lies in the actual wrestling. My complaints don’t lie with every wrestler, WWE’s mat based format really suits some of the super stars, and guys like Chris Benoit, Christian, and HHH are having some of the best matches of their lives. However, by forcing wrestlers to compete (well compete as far as fake competition is concerned) in more of a mat based arena you are really limiting their performances. A good example is Billy Kidman. A few years ago Kidman was having better matches than anyone else in the wrestling industry. His matches with Rey Mysterio, Chavo, and Eddie Gurrerro were filled with fast paced counters and insane high flying spots. Today, however, Kidman is a shell of his former self. Kidman is still tremendously talented, he just doesn’t excel at the mat based, slow paced matches that untalented hulks like Luther Reigns and Tyson Tomko do. The other huge failing of WWE is their inability to create cohesive, coherent, or even slightly entertaining stories. As a wrestling fan I am not asking for a whole lot. However, right now the WWE is so formulated that even the most casual of fans can accurately predict who is going to face who eight months down the road. When the ratings dip WWE tends to ignore addressing their faulty story telling abilities and, instead, try to angle viewers with cheap shock value (i.e., lighting JR on fire, “what’s up with that?”). The aspect of WWE storytelling that bothers me the most, however, is how the writers expect you to conveniently forget storylines. For example, several months ago Randy Orton was in a heated feud with Shawn Michaels. It was a good feud, prompted by Orton insulting Michaels and then spitting in his face. Fast forward a couple of months. Orton is no longer a heel so obviously he and Shawn Michaels are now best friends, at least that is what one would think considering Shawn saved Orton’s ass from the big beat down not once, not twice, but three times. Look if some guy spits in my face and then picks a fight with me, I don’t care how many old women he helps cross the street, I’m not going to risk my ass bailing him out of a fight. Fuck him. I know that most of you guys could give a rat’s ass about pro wrestling, and that’s cool. However, watching wrestling has been one of the few hobbies that I have remained faithful to since I was small, and it really pisses me off that something that used to be really cool sucks so much now.

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