I just upgraded to the newest version of WordPress, so mostly this post is about checking to see if it’ll work. But also, I’ll talk about… I dunno, wrestling, I guess. Seems like the kind of thing you guys would want to read about, hey?
I started watching wrestling again regularly earlier this year, when Bret Hart was the guest host on RAW. At that point, I honestly couldn’t have cared less about what was going on in the WWE, I just bit hard on their obvious ploy to recapture the attention of their older fans. Since then I’ve been watching RAW and Smackdown pretty regularly, and also attempted to get back into watching TNA. Attempted being the key word.
Honetly, I haven’t been able to sit through an episode of Impact since they had the big “head-to-head” with RAW one with Hulk Hogan. Maybe it’s because they’re building their brand around washed-up stars from the early ’90s that should have retired by now. I was never a big Hulk Hogan fan, I’ll just say it flat out. I got into wrestling after he had passed his prime, and even when he was part of the big NWO phenomenon I always wished the focus was on the other guys instead of him. Since Hogan and Bischoff (blech) showed up it seems like the whole show is just trying too hard. TNA can’t compete with WWE on the WWE’s level, and I don’t see how it does anybody any good for it to try. They seem to be trying to emulate the Monday Night Wars (they moved Impact to Monday night in the same time slot as RAW, for crap’s sake), which does explain the WCW circa 1997 feel that they’ve got going. I mean, seriously, does anybody really want to see Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair yell non-sensical promos while AJ Styles stands in the background holding the belt that is overshadowed by “wrasslin’ with the oldies?”
One thing I think is important for a wrestling promotion is to know what it is. ECW in the ’90s knew it couldn’t match the glitz and glamour of the WWF and WCW, so they focused on having the best in-ring wrestling, with something to cater to everyone’s tastes. The blood and guts hardcore wrestling, the lucha libre, the superb technical grappling, and sometimes all of those in one match. Ring of Honor strikes me as a similar case, although the in-ring styles they focus on are different.It’s also great seeing young wrestlers grow and develop, which TNA certainly doesn’t seem very interested in doing anymore.
It’s almost like what parents tell their kids: don’t try to be anyone else, just be yourself. Think about it, wrestling world.
Note: Can you believe my original intent of this post was to talk about the main event scene on RAW these days? Holy off-topic, Batman.
