Week of May 18th ? 24th 2009
By: David Stephens of WrestleView.com
Ousta! Welcome back to the only WrestleView column covering topics both nowhere yet everywhere at once. If you are new to the column you are probably going to hate us for the first couple weeks, but then you are going to hit a point where you say ?oh wait a minute, I think he gets it?. Don?t worry, that’s exactly how it is designed to be. This column is all about gut reactions and traveling thoughts. As the great Andy Kaufman once said: ?I just want real reactions. I want people to laugh from the gut, be sad from the gut, or get angry from the gut?.
I?m in Love
Do you know the feeling that you get in the pit of your stomach? The butterflies that never cease their fluttering and could easily start a tsunami on the other side of the world if released? Ladies and gentlemen this is the situation where I now find myself.
So I have to be honest with you guys right from the get go. I was doing some research and fully intended to go through my stages of wrestling fandom by relating it to the accepted ‘stages of love?. After reading a few too many different articles and research pieces on the stages of love I realized that I did not like the way so called experts boxed in such a fundamental human emotion. As a side note has anyone ever realized how many different experts have dedicated their lives to trying to understand and explain love?
Sorry, but if you ask me love cannot be explained in simple terms and stages. I won?t pretend that there aren?t certain categories that most relationships could qualify for: attraction, lust, affection, commitment, crystallization, etc; but the bottom line is that an abstract concept like love should not be placed into a checklist. In fact I find the entire notion of that concept to be a bit repulsive.
It is important to understand that when I talk about love, I am not referring to the common place American notion that any inanimate object of interest is loved. Look, I may really enjoy a Big Mac from McDonald’s, but I?m not IN love with the Big Mac. No, when I talk about love I mean true impassioned emotions that I simply can?t deny. Let’s start at the beginning of the journey.
When I was just six months old I attended my first wrestling event. Do I remember anything about it? Of course not, but apparently my family took me to one way back in my infancy. The memories that I do have of wrestling in my youth are of the action figures that I would play with constantly. My old WWF ring, Ricky ?The Dragon? Steamboat, Brutus ?The Barber Beefcake? and of course the ?Immortal? Hulk Hogan kept my early years pumped with plastic action. One of my favorite pieces of wrestling memorabilia had to be that of the Hulk Hogan illustrated story book which was a prize of my possessions. The story itself actually had my name written into it, which to this day I still think is a mighty awesome feature.
Now you might be assuming that since I had these figures and book that I kept active in following the professional wrestling scene, but that is far from the truth. In fact for the better part of my young days I would only rarely catch a Wrestling show if I happened to be over my grandparent’s house when it was on. It would be a struggle for me to even tell you the actual days and times that they aired. The rare PPV was a treat that I would be rewarded if the dates matched up with a night I sleeping over at my grandparent’s.
Fast forward to the beginning of my middle school years. By this point it would be safe to say that the attitude era was in its full and final throes. By chance or fate, whichever philosophy you prescribe to, I was seated next to a boy in sixth grade who to say the least, was intriguing. We hit it off quickly as we seemed to have an incredible volume of interests in common. Heck, back then we even both watched the same soap opera [don?t judge me]. He was a big wrestling fan, but at the time it still wasn?t my cup of tea.
I cannot tell you why, but when I was in eighth grade I happened to turn the TV on one night to watch wrestling. For one reason or another, the product just grabbed me. I had a lot of storylines and information to process and digest, but my friend was there like a wrestler’s digest to fill me in with all the knowledge that my little heart could desire.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the importance of wrestling websites in fueling my interest. My friend introduced me to a site called ?WrestleView? which fascinated me with spoilers, backstage news, columns, and results. From that point on I really began exploring all of the different sites that I could find that covered wrestling. Every site from the best to worst was traversed by my eager hand controlling the mouse.
Lord knows why I did it, but one day I decided that I could be a columnist just like those guys I read online. Why should they have more of a right to express their opinion than me? Sadly my dream site WrestleView wasn?t hiring me, but that didn?t stop me from applying everywhere that I possibly could. When I was a freshman in high school my columns were syndicated on over a dozen websites, but after a couple of months I noticed that the flame I was holding for the world of wrestling was beginning to diminish.
I put my columns away vowing to come back one day when I could write on a much higher level and I began to spend less time watching wrestling. Every relationship I?ve been in seems to go through this stage. The puppy love that had existed between myself and pro-wrestling was all but gone. The initial attraction was over and it was time to cross the boundary at which so many romances fail. It was time to take the leap of faith and decide whether this was a relationship based on true affection and passion, or just carnal lust.
As many of you know this is often the most painful time for a relationship. More times then I?d wish to mention I?ve found myself at a place where I realize that a girl I spent the past several weeks or months together with just wasn?t the right fit. Once all that initial attraction dissipated I was left to revel in the depression of lost love.
So here I was at a critical stage in my love life with professional wrestling, what to do? It had been a couple years since I had written columns. I still kept up to date, but it almost seemed to be becoming more of a habit then an act of joy. It was like saying ?I love you? at the end of a call not because I felt it, but because it was expected. I needed to take a bold step to figure things out. The decision I ended up making was one that surprisingly rejuvenated energy I didn?t even know I had. I made the decision to stop reading spoilers.
You did not read that incorrectly, I actually made the decision that I didn?t want to know what happened on Smackdown before it aired. Call me crazy, but it simply was not as much fun to watch when I knew what the result was going to be. I had timidly been practicing this ability when I would check weekly to see if Paul London would be on Velocity. The second that the Smackdown tapings were posted online I carefully scouted them to see if I would be staying up late to watch Paul London on Saturday night. I literally would hold my hand up to the screen to ensure that the match wasn?t spoiled.
Once I gave up spoilers it was as though the sun began to glisten on professional wrestling in an entirely different light. Much like the Cullens? in Twilight, my metaphorical embodiment of the wrestling would sparkle in the sunlight and I realized that I had successfully overcome the ?hump?. Wrestling was no longer something that I had doubts about. Sure it wouldn?t always be flawless and more often than not I would scratch my head at some of creative’s decisions. But at the root of my fandom I knew without a doubt that love was the driving force. Not a timid crush or lustful attraction, but actual love for the world of professional wrestling.
At this point you are no doubt wondering why on earth I bothered to illustrate the details of my love affair with professional wrestling. I wouldn?t be surprised if you are even starting to think I?m a bit crazy, but be that as it may I do have a reason for sharing this story. This column isn?t just about falling in love with the art, but what I discovered once I was head over heels.
There are so many amazing facets and niches in the world of professional wrestling. Personally it took me years of journeying to discover them, but I hope that you are more fortunate. I hope that my story can help expedite your own affair.
I readily invite you to not be afraid of trying out new things with wrestling. Give the ultraviolent promotion a chance, watch some Chikara or Japanese matches, listen to a Wrestling CD, heck even rent a WWE Films DVD. Not all of these will appeal to you, but maybe one will. Maybe you?ll be fascinated by one of these and have your enjoyment of the product multiply tenfold.
Don?t take my advice because I?m a columnist on some fancy shmancy website; take my advice because I?m nothing more than a fan just like you. The world of professional wrestling is vast and exciting so don?t box yourself in by enjoying just one product. Take a risk and explore as much as you can, and hopefully when the moment is right, you?ll realize you?ve found the same thing that I have; love.
What’s in the News?
all news is taken from the WrestleView archives
Mr. Kennedy (Ken Kennedy) suffered some kind of a wrist injury during his return to the ring on last night’s WWE Monday Night Raw in Los Angeles after taking an RKO from Randy Orton in the main event. Kennedy immediately rolled out of the ring after taking the move and began holding his wrist.
-luckily he won?t be missing any time in the ring, for once
A report has come out linking Mickey Rourke to the prostitution ring that Ashley Massaro was reported by Rolling Stone of being in
-oh 1999 what an interesting year you must have been
WWE has changed the name of “The Great American Bash” PPV to simply “The Bash.”
-initial reports cited the WCW reference as the reason for the name change, but more recent reports suggest that it is due to the fact that WWE wants to appeal to the entire WWE Universe and not just America
Sci-Fi is airing the 2-hour debut of Warehouse 13 on Tuesday, July 7th from 9 to 11 PM (ET), so ECW will air on Thursday, July 9th at 7 PM (ET). This means that ECW on Sci-Fi, WWE Superstars on WGN and TNA Impact on Spike TV are airing back-to-back on July 9th.
-that’s going to be a marathon evening of wrestling
There was an incident involving a 9-year-old boy at the SmackDown/ECW live event held in Las Cruces, New Mexico this past Saturday. Following CM Punk’s victory over Dolph Ziggler, the boy jumped the guardrail to hug him. Overzealous security personnel pulled him out of the ring by his leg and he fell flat on his face on the floor. His family threw a fit at security and were ejected from the building.
-here’s an idea, how about his family keep him from jumping over the guard rail in the first place. Radical suggestion, I know
WWE has changed the name from its September PPV from Unforgiven to Breaking Point
-it is believed, though not confirmed, that this will be a submission based PPV. I personally am a fan of themed events
Top 10!
Tune in next week to see the results as voted by WrestleView readers! Thanks for all the responses between e-mail, Facebook and the forum. It’s been very enlightening to see what oils your gears. I?ve decided to release it next week so if you missed out be sure to send me your picks. Remember, you don?t have to base it on any sort of formulaic reasoning. I just want your instinctual gut picks on what you prefer for each category. Instead of viewing it as a list of the ?best? think of it as a list of ?favorites?. No one else is taking this approach in studying wrestling preference so jump on board to this unique project!
Fill out as many of the lists as you choose:
Top 10 WWE/TNA Males
Top 10 Indy Males
Top 10 Females
Top 10 Finishers
Top 10 Theme Songs
Ratings
WWE RAW ? 3.6
ECW on Sci-Fi ? 1.1
TNA Impact ? 1.1
Quick Results
RAW
-John Cena & Batista def. WWE Champion Randy Orton & The Legacy
-Vickie Guerrero def. Santina Marella to become the new Miss WrestleMania
-United States Champion MVP def. Matt Hardy
-Unified WWE Tag Team Champions Carlito & Primo def. The Brian Kendrick & Goldust
-Santino Marella def. Chavo Guerrero
-Kelly Kelly def. Mickie James, Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, Beth Phoenix, Rosa Mendes and Jillian to earn a Divas Championship Match
ECW
-David Hart Smith def. Finlay
-ECW Champion Christian def. Paul Burchill
-Zack Ryder def. local athlete
WWE Superstars
-ECW Champion Christian vs. Tommy Dreamer (No Contest)
-Kofi Kingston def. William Regal
-CM Punk def. Chris Jericho
TNA Impact
-?Fallen Angel? Christopher Daniels & Suicide def. Lethal Consequences & Motor City Machine Guns
-?The Icon? Sting def. ?Showtime? Eric Young
-?Olympic Hero? Kurt Angle def. ?The Blueprint? Matt Morgan
-?King of the Mountain? Jeff Jarrett def. Samoa Joe [DQ]-Mick Foley def. Rocky Balboa the Cardboard Cut-out Version
Smackdown
-John Morrison & Cryme Tyme def. Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas & Ricky Ortiz
-Michelle McCool def. Gail Kim (Women’s Championship No. 1 Contender’s Match)
-CM Punk def. Chris Jericho (Disqualification)
-Dolph Ziggler vs. R-Truth
-Jeff Hardy def. World Heavyweight Champion Edge (Non-title) (Winner chooses Stipulation for Extreme Rules Championship Match)
ROH
-Kenny Omega defeated Jay Brisco (w/ Mark Briscoe) & Kenny King
-The Dark City Fight Club defeated Irish Airborne
-Chris Hero (w/ Sara Del Ray) defeated Eddie Kingston via DQ
-Necro Butcher & Delirious defeated Jimmy Jacobs & Brodie Lee
Must Read WrestleView Column of the Week
As I See It by: Bob Magee
http://www.wrestleview.com/news2009/1243249392.php
A fascinating look at some of the more unusual places Indy wrestling shows have taken him. This one was of particular interest to me as I too will be attending the CZW Tournament of Death show ?in the wilderness? on June 6th
Loose Ends
– I saw a girl who looked to be about 12 when I was at work a couple days ago [I work at the games section of an amusement park [true story [Six Flags in New Jersey]]] and she was wearing a shirt that said ?take it deep?. Seriously, what is wrong with parents who let their kids out of the house with shirts like that, or let them jump the guard rail at a professional wrestling show?
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So ?that’s a wrap.’ Love it? Hate it? Disagree with everything I said? Just want to chat wrestling? I?m always up for reading your thoughts so send them ?em on over.