Get It? A Look Back at the Era of Attitude.
Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of comment on the Internet about the so-called “Attitude Era” and two suggestions seem to keep cropping up. Firstly, that the Attitude Era was not actually as good as many fans like to think and, secondly, that we are better off without it. Now, being one of the many who was pulled back into pro wrestling fandom largely by the antics of the Attitude Era stars, I thought that this would make a good topic for discussion. How has it happened that perhaps the most successful period in the history of American pro wrestling has begun to be so poorly regarded? In today’s column, I’ll attempt to answer that question, along with many others. What, precisely, was the Attitude Era? Why did it matter? Might we ever see a return to the Attitude Era? What would have to be done for that to happen and should we want to see it?
The Era of Attitude in WWE is a phrase used both within the company and by fans outside it to refer to the period at the end of the nineties and the beginning of this century when WWE achieved its greatest success. It is regarded as an era in which the boundaries were pushed; in order to compete with Ted Turner’s WCW, Vince McMahon made his product edgier, more aggressive and more adult-oriented. Content became more explicit, more extreme violence became common in matches and profanity and foul language became expected parts of WWE programming. The company’s key demographic shifted from children and families to males aged 18-34. Traditional baby face wrestlers gave way to antiheroes and audiences seemed just as willing to cheer for heels as they were the expected good guys.
Defining when exactly the Attitude Era began and ended is a task in itself. These days, WWE themselves have nailed it down to a specific set of dates. As far as they’re concerned, the Attitude Era began at Wrestle Mania 14, in 1998, when Stone Cold Steve Austin beat Shawn Michaels to win his first WWF (as was) Championship. It ended almost exactly three years later, at Wrestle Mania 17 when Austin allied himself with long-time enemy Vince McMahon in order to win his fifth championship from The Rock. Given that the Austin-McMahon feud was the defining storyline of the Attitude Era, these dates are not entirely without merit. However, to define the Attitude Era so narrowly and specifically is, in my opinion, to put too much emphasis on two men and one story. The Attitude Era was more than just Austin versus McMahon, as great as that was. Elements of “Attitude” had been present since well before Wrestle Mania 14 and would remain present long after Wrestle Mania 17.
In truth, like most historical eras, WWE’s Attitude Era cannot be said to have simply started on one specific day. The signs began appearing in 1996; Shawn Michaels’ and Kevin Nash’s No Disqualification match at In Your House 7 was a notable precursor to the extreme violence that would characterise the Attitude Era. The debut of Mick Foley, in the guise of Mankind, also took place that year, which meant that the “King of Hardcore” was now in the company. The first Buried Alive match took place later that year, one of the staples of over-the-top gimmick matches that would also characterise the era. Most of all, 1996 was the year that Steve Austin switched from his pointless gimmick of The Ringmaster to “Stone Cold” and, by winning King of the Ring began to become a star. His victory over Jake Roberts saw his famous victory speech, ending with perhaps the single most successful line in the history of wrestling “Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!” 1996 was also, significantly, the year that Vince Russo joined the WWE creative team.
Throughout 1997 the company began to get more and more in line with the new direction. The Bret Hart-Steve Austin feud, which transformed Bret, the classic hero, into one of the company’s top heels despite the fact that his demeanour had barely changed, was one of the key factors in this change. As the year wore on we saw Mick Foley and The Undertaker renew their increasingly violent rivalry. Kane was introduced to the world and Shawn Michaels and Triple H united to form De-Generation X. The transformation of Triple H was a perfect example of the new direction of the company. As Hunter Hearst Helmsley, he had been a wrestler with an old-school gimmick: that of a silver spoon snob who looked down on his audience and his rival wrestlers. It wasn’t a bad gimmick by any means, and Helmsley had made it work pretty well but it was out of step with the times. The transformation from Greenwich snob to self-styled Degenerate allowed Triple H to be himself more on camera. He was able to wear clothes that actually looked like they belonged to a young man in the late nineties, rather than simply to a caricature in the cartoon world of wrestling.
The reality base was one of the key ingredients of the new era of the WWE. Russo, now head writer, was keen that wrestling should look modern and cool, something that had clearly not been the case for a few years. Entrance music and clothing were modernised so that they actually seemed in step with the nineties and these changes were reflected in the storylines as well. Characters might still have gimmicks and be larger than life but the gimmicks would, for the most part, be more real. There would be no more psychotic dentists, mounted policemen or pirates! The feud between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart was known to be rooted in a real-life animosity, and such things were often picked up on to serve as storyline seeds. The ultimate example came at the 1997 Survivor Series when the infamous Montreal screw-job saw Hart leave the company and Vince McMahon metamorphose from genial commentator and behind-the-scenes company owner into the tyrannical and evil on-screen authority figure, Mr McMahon. This is not to say that unbelievable gimmicks were gone – Kane and Undertaker were proof of that. The difference was that, where such things were done, they would now be done properly. We would no longer see a hokey graphic of The Undertaker’s “soul ascending” to assure us of his supernatural status; these characters would now summon darkness, fire and lightning at their whim and when they did, the excellent pyro and lighting team would make sure it looked good.
At that stage, all of the ingredients for the Attitude Era were in place: DX, Mr McMahon, Stone Cold, Kane, The Undertaker and Mankind, The Nation of Domination and so on. Through 1998 and 1999 the company wholeheartedly embraced the new philosophy and, having lagged behind WCW for months they quickly overtook their rivals and never looked back. The success that Vince McMahon’s company achieved during this period was unprecedented in the history of professional wrestling. His top stars were now mainstream entertainment stars and, while there were many who were ready to heavily criticise the company’s direction, it seemed that excess brought success and success justified excess. The departure of Russo in late 1999 was hardly noticed as the juggernaut continued to smash its way onwards. This period, 1998 through to 2000, was certainly the Attitude Era and, in fact, early in 1999 “WWF Attitude: Get it?” had become the company’s main advertising slogan. The company were trying to counteract the criticism they were receiving from groups like the Parents Television Council by saying that such critics simply did not “get it”.
The first cracks in the Attitude Era, looking back, actually showed themselves before Wrestle Mania 17. The formation of the group Right to Censor may have been presented as a jab at the afore-mentioned critics but it nevertheless saw WWE, for the first time since the Attitude Era had begun, tone down its product in response to such criticism. The Godfather and Val Venis, whose controversial gimmicks had been that of a pimp and a porn star respectively, were repackaged. Billy Gunn stopped being Mr Ass. The company still had to attract sponsors and, with the heat being raised by busybody “watchdogs”, that was becoming harder. Further, the obvious problems within rivals WCW and ECW, plus the incredible strength of the dominance that WWE had achieved in “The Monday Night Wars” meant that the competitive threat was receding. When WCW and ECW went out of business, there was no longer the same pressure on WWE to keep pushing the envelope.
In a way, it was just as well. The physical style of the Attitude Era had led to more injuries than ever before and long-term absences were becoming increasingly common. Shawn Michaels had gone, seemingly forever, in 1998. Stone Cold and The Undertaker both had to be written out long-term in 1999. Mick Foley retired in 2000, having already toned down his work in mid 1999, while both Triple H and Chris Benoit suffered career-threatening injuries in 2001. It took a while but WWE began to scale back on some of the extreme violence. The Hardcore Championship, instituted in early 1999, was permanently retired in 2002. Ladder matches and similar types began to be less frequently used.
There were other changes, as well. The “Invasion” storyline of 2001, despite in many ways being a missed opportunity, had nevertheless changed the landscape of WWE. Many new players had been introduced, as others began to bow out. 2002 saw WWE “get the F out”, adopting the World Wrestling Entertainment name after violating the terms of their agreement with The World Wildlife Fund. Raw and Smackdown became separate entities. The Rock began his journey into Hollywood stardom, while Steve Austin’s in-ring career began to reach its end. By 2002, Austin, Rock and Foley were all more or less gone from WWE television. The return of men like Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan, men that had been mainstays of WCW while the Attitude Era WWE mocked their rivals for their reliance on “old” stars, meant that it was now WWE who were banking on nostalgia.
Some things remained, legacies of the Attitude Era. Hell in a Cell matches became a recurring staple of the promotion, while men like Triple H and The Undertaker remained active links with the past. Racy, controversial storylines, such as the infamous Katie Vick angle, still popped up from time to time. Nevertheless, by the summer of 2002 Vince McMahon was acknowledging that “Attitude” was over, even within the framework of WWE programming. New taglines such as “Ruthless Aggression” failed to take off in the way that “Attitude” had but their very use showed that WWE had given up on the old “Attitude” and were looking for an alternative.
Creatively, opinion remains divided on the success of the Attitude Era. No one could deny its success in financial terms. Measurable indicators, such as TV ratings, pay per view buy rates and merchandise sales had smashed all records and were undeniable. Nevertheless, many wrestling fans believed that much had been sacrificed to drive this machine and that the Attitude business model was an unsustainable one. Its reliance on shock tactics, both in storylines and in matches, meant that it was impossible for the Attitude Era to stand still. The boundaries had to continually be pushed further and further in order to satisfy a demanding audience that was always in danger of becoming jaded. The Attitude Era had been an era of short matches and constant booking shocks, sudden changes of character from face to heel and back again as wrestlers betrayed one another in order to shock the audience. It is a view that is partly true but one that, lately, has come to be exaggerated in my opinion.
Recently, I have watched a lot of Attitude Era programming again, not just pay per views from the era but weekly television as well. Despite what people may expect, the actual wrestling content was much greater than many maintain. TV matches were short but there were often many of them on a broadcast of Raw or Smackdown. They were frequently interspersed with very memorable backstage vignettes and non-wrestling segments but, again, these were often short. Commercial breaks never interrupted matches on television. Pay per views generally featured more matches than today, eight to ten rather than the usual average of seven nowadays but this was achieved by having fewer and shorter video recap packages in the shows. Most importantly, Attitude Era TV fulfilled its primary function in selling pay per views. The most notable feature of the Attitude Era broadcasts of Raw and Smackdown were that they left the viewer hungering to see what happened next. This meant that it was much harder for the average viewer to say no to the pay per view each month.
Championships changed hands frequently, something which annoyed many fans who felt that the titles were being diluted in their significance. Personally, I find that this was counteracted by the fact that titles were almost always treated as being a big deal by the wrestlers competing for them. Across 1998 and 1999 eight different men held the World Wrestling Federation Championship while several more competed for it unsuccessfully. While this may have diluted the championship in the eyes of some, it also meant that the viewer had the sense that anything could happen. One felt that one could never take for granted the result of any match in advance, or risk missing even an episode of TV because something significant might happen at any time.
Moreover, compelling storylines were the province, not just of main event performers, but also throughout the roster. Many thought that there were too many championships in WWE at the time – Women’s, Light Heavyweight, Hardcore, European, Inter-Continental, Tag-Team and WWF – but these belts were at least sensibly organised and booked. They represented a tiered structure, which meant that every wrestler on TV had something that he or she could believably be aiming for. This meant that every match on every card seemed meaningful and it was rare to see an undercard wrestler floundering in the way that is so common today. The Attitude Era roster was relatively small and was tightly focussed.
Every fan has a right to their opinion, of course, and we all like different things, so I have no issue with those who profess not to have enjoyed the Attitude Era. However, for the rest of us I do not think that the issue is one of rose-tinted glasses. Looking back, it is clear to me that the Attitude Era really was that much better than the current product. There is no doubt in my mind that the high-risk style of the times went too far, so I have no problem with the decision to put the brakes on such things. Nor do I miss the overtly sexual content, personally. These things, however, are not all of what made the Attitude Era what it was. The most important factors were those I have already mentioned, its unpredictability and its compelling storylines. The humour was also far superior to most of what we get nowadays.
Having said that, I do not believe that the Attitude Era can ever be resurrected. In many ways it was a product of its times, the times that brought us Jerry Springer for example, with which WWE was frequently compared back in the day. Much of its success was built on wrestlers who are no longer available, Stone Cold, The Rock and Mick Foley. Certain things cannot be replicated: Austin versus McMahon is a classic example. Post Montreal, the time was right for McMahon to be the bad guy. Austin was already the rising star. The two had an undeniable chemistry and the storyline hit just the right note with the viewers. Since then, McMahon has tried to duplicate that success but always failed. The heel boss is a difficult character to book logically anyway – one is always left wondering why the McMahon figure doesn’t just fire the employee who’s giving him so much grief. The main achievement of Austin versus McMahon was that their feud was such that the viewer bought into the idea that firing Austin was not enough for McMahon, that in fact it would almost be an admission of defeat if he did. He had to beat Austin, if not within the rules then at least within something vaguely resembling them. Even if that can be established, just trying to re-run the feud, replacing Austin with The Rock, John Cena or anyone else doesn’t work the same.
Time moves on as well and while Ric Flair may like to ignore it, not everyone is the same. D-Generation X, another essential part of the Attitude equation, are no longer available, thanks to Shawn’s retirement. Even when he was, many people complained that DX were no longer “edgy” as they were. What did they expect? DX in 1997 were cutting edge, something that hadn’t been seen before (for all the inevitable comparisons to the NWO) and very exciting. DX in 2005 or 2009 was a nostalgia act. Cutting edge nostalgia is a tricky concept at best. Many of the Attitude Era performers have moved on now and, even if they could be persuaded to return to WWE, it would likely have that same feel as the DX reunions, which is to say it would not be the same.
The PG era of WWE is obviously not conducive to much of what went on in the Attitude Era, which is another reason why the days of Attitude are gone. Bringing back the departed stars of the Attitude Era is largely impossible or good only for a brief nostalgia pop. Recreating Attitude Era stories and angles with current stars would probably fall flat and, in any case, may well be impossible in the PG environment. That said, I see no reason why WWE cannot take some of what worked in the Attitude Era and use it now to create a new era. There are still many charismatic stars in the company. The key values of the Attitude Era – producing television that is unpredictable, pays due attention to everybody on the roster and leaves the audience keen to see what happens next – are surely just as applicable to today’s roster.
This, to me, is what we really need to return from the Attitude Era. Sexual content and foul language were not overly necessary in my eyes and, while I enjoy hardcore matches as much as anybody, the priority must be the safety of the wrestlers. There is no excuse, however, for the decline in creativity over the years. Don’t get me wrong; I’m well aware that working in WWE creative is an extremely difficult job – I may write on that very subject soon – but watching a few episodes of Raw from early 2000 and comparing them to today makes it clear that there has been a drop in standards. The content as a whole is more predictable and too many guys on the roster are merely treading water when they should be pursuing championships or working through a personal issue. Oftentimes, it’s all too obvious when somebody is about to be “future endeavoured” these days. In the Attitude Era everybody was given a genuine chance, no matter how harebrained an angle it might involve, to get themselves over. That’s what’s needed today.
Currently, the championship scene is a mess, as well. With three titles potentially available for every man on Raw or Smackdown to chase at one time there shouldn’t be a problem in making everyone a contender for something. Nevertheless, many wrestlers on the current roster look like they are nowhere near any kind of championship. In some cases (The Great Khali) that’s probably a good thing! However, in the vast majority of cases, fans should be able to identify what the likely goal is for each wrestler on the roster and see at least a possibility that he might achieve that goal. Right now, the main event guys chase the world titles, a couple of tag teams chase the tag titles and, theoretically, everyone else is after the US or Inter Continental Championship. In real terms, however, it seems that there are only ever two or three guys in the hunt for these belts at any time as well. No one else has a chance of winning them. Look at R-Truth’s win over The Miz this week on Raw for the US Championship. Are we really to believe that, having vacated the title, they were the only contenders that Bret Hart could find? Why not a tournament? Yoshi Tatsu, Evan Bourne, Ted DiBiase, Goldust, Santino, Koslov, Regal and even Mark Henry should all have been involved.
The Attitude Era wasn’t perfect. It had flaws and some of those flaws had serious consequences for the business and its performers. But the reason people remember it so fondly is that it had compelling characters engaged in the pursuit of championships, within the framework of unpredictable, dramatic stories. There is no reason why we can’t have those things again. Hopefully, some day soon, we will.
Welcome to Wrassle-Mania! A Look Back at Wrestlemania 26
After such an impressive build-up, it seems hard to believe that Wrestlemania 26 has come and gone. WWE are, of course, fond of exaggeration and hyperbole but, in this case, many of their assertions going in to the event were on the money. This was undoubtedly one of the most hotly anticipated ‘Manias that I can remember, and the rematch between Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker was certainly the most hotly anticipated Wrestlemania match that I can remember. The question was, would it all live up to the hype and expectation? Spoilers follow throughout as I attempt to give my own answer to that question so, if you haven’t yet watched the show and are planning to, I advise you to stop reading now.
The show kicked off with the usual patriotic montage as guest Fantasia sang the national anthem. The stadium looked absolutely amazing, with an enormous stage set-up, huge ramp to the ring and a great deal of pyro. WWE are expected, by virtue of being the biggest and richest wrestling promotion, to have the best production values in wrestling but, in fairness I still don’t think that they always get the credit they deserve. Critics should not underestimate the role this plays in WWE’s dominance of the industry; if TNA could match these production values it would vastly improve their ratings in my opinion, simply because many fans would immediately take the promotion more seriously.
So, after the usual impressive victory package it was on to the first match, the Unified Tag Team Championship match pitting R-Truth and John Morrison against ShowMiz. While this may not have really been one of the feature attractions, I was nevertheless somewhat disappointed by the brevity of this match. The challengers showed a few of their nice moves and then, before you knew it, Morrison was lying flat on his back. Having said that, the result does not displease me in the least, as I had no particular desire to see Morrison and Truth remain a team, while ShowMiz are great value and should stay together for a long time yet. The tag match was followed by the triple threat match between Randy Orton and his two former Legacy stooges, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. Frankly, it made sense to get this one out of the way early as well, since the majority of fans had seemed under whelmed by the build to this. The match itself was executed well enough but suffered due to the fact that is was so painfully predictable: Orton fought bravely until the numbers caught up with him, then the two beat him down for a while, until miscommunications caused them to start fighting each other, allowing Orton to get the win. Tired, all too often repeated formula that just goes to show that sometimes, doing what makes sense isn’t always the smart thing to do. On the plus side, Orton was massively over with audience, who just loved everything he did. A good crowd can lift a mediocre match sometimes and that’s what happened here.
So, it wouldn’t be WWE without some shameless shilling and tedious attempts at humour so, following the triple threat we got a bit of both. After the usual unnecessary singing from Jillian Hall (and how on earth is that gimmick still going?) Santino Marella informed us that anything could happen when you bite into a Slim Jim. Upon biting into his, Jillian transformed into Mae Young who proceeded to snog the unfortunate cobra, before another bite replaced her with Gene Okerlund. Finally, Melina replaced Gene and the pair walked off screen, ending this pointless segment. Now, as much as I pop for anything that gets Mean Gene on the screen, I am sick and tired of Mae Young snogging guys a third of her age. For goodness’ sake Vince, get it through your head, it’s NOT FUNNY ANYMORE! IT NEVER WAS!
Thankfully we had wrestling again after that, in the form of the Ten Man Money in the Bank Ladder Match. These matches don’t really need any kind of review, do they? We saw lots of crazy spots, some of which clearly didn’t come off quite the way they were supposed to, and some exciting moments as people almost got the brief case. Michael Cole managed to call a Twist of Fate when Christian actually hit an inverted DDT off of the ladder on Matt Hardy, which, once again, seemingly had every smark on the net calling for his head. Yeah, because Jim Ross never called a move wrong, did he? It’s the heat of the moment guys, nobody’s perfect. To be fair to Cole, Hardy was trying to hit the Twist of Fate at the time. In any case, I was extremely pleased when Jack Swagger won the match. I am happy to say that I was nowhere near calling this and never would have but then, I never thought CM Punk had a chance of winning MITB the first time he did, either. Hopefully, Swagger will seize this chance to step up to the next level.
After a quick look back at the Hall of Fame from the previous night, it was on to Triple H and Sheamus. I had originally called Sheamus to win this one but, looking back at Hunter’s Wrestlemania record, I began to have my doubts, rightly so as it transpired. Win or lose didn’t really matter in the end, as this was by far Sheamus’ best match thus far in WWE. A lot of credit must go to Hunter for selling Sheamus as a real threat. There were a couple of near falls that were actually hard to call, the crowd were seriously into Triple H and, when all was said and done, this was the best match to this point on the card. Absolutely awesome video package to recap the feud before the match, as well.
Another impressive video package followed, refreshing our memories of the excellent CM Punk-Rey Mysterio feud. I must say, I never thought that there was any possibility that Mysterio would lose this and be forced to join the Straight Edge Society, as it seemed to me that that would absolutely kill his character but, even so, this was a fun match, if a little short. There were some excellent sequences in this match, including a truly outstanding DDT counter by Mysterio, and the finish was a work of art. The last year has been outstanding for Mysterio, particularly the feuds with Jericho and Punk, while CM Punk himself can seemingly do no wrong. Everything the man does is awesome.
Twelve years in the making! Bret Hart finally gets his hands on Vince McMahon. We all knew what this was – a feel good moment in which Bret would get revenge. Two things were guaranteed to happen in this match: Vince would get screwed in some way, and then he would tap out in the sharpshooter. In that sense, the audience were not disappointed. However, this was another example of that strange situation where doing what makes sense doesn’t actually work. This was just a beat-down, pure and simple and, as such, it went on for way too long and got boring. Then again, why would Bret finish this quickly? Why wouldn’t he torture Vince? It made sense within the confines of the story but it didn’t make for good entertainment.
We had reached the business end of the show now, a fact further illustrated by the fact that the next match up was the World Heavyweight Championship match between Edge and Chris Jericho. Maybe it was just the TV but Edge did not seem particularly over here, while the Chris Jericho fan club were definitely front and centre! It seems as if Edge’s face run is already losing steam. The match itself was very good, and the longest to that point but fell short of being a classic. However, I was glad to be on the money in predicting a Jericho victory, since his championship reign deserves to continue. After the match, Edge hit Jericho with an awesome spear off the announce tables but the majority of the crowd actually seemed to boo this. This is the third time, as far as I recollect, that Edge has been pushed as a main-event babyface and it has never worked. Perhaps it’s time for WWE to simply accept that the guy is a natural heel.
By this point of the show I was feeling pretty happy as a viewer. Although nothing had jumped out at me as a must-see classic, I had spent the entire show anticipating something big coming up so, since nothing had really annoyed me (Mae Young and Jillian Hall aside) I was by no means disappointed. Unfortunately, I was just about to be. Next up was the ten Diva tag team match, which gave us the enticing prospect of Vickie Guerrero in action. Yes, I just typed that with a straight face. Never play poker against me! The match was actually okay, clearly intended to be short and allowing each of the women to hit her finisher in a sequence that was actually quite amusing, despite how ludicrously contrived it was. Unfortunately, at the end of all that we were treated to the sight of Vickie giving her “bullfrog splash”, messing it up completely and managing to make a mess of the cover as well. Moreover, what the heck is she doing getting a victory at WRESTLE-EFFING-MANIA?! Vickie is an absolute heat magnet and I think that she does a great job for WWE but at Mania she should be embarrassed and run out of the arena.
Ah well, thankfully there was a proper wrestling match to follow that in the form of Batista versus John Cena. Plenty of boo boys in attendance for Mr Cena, as usual but the main thing is that the crowd were totally engaged by this match, which as a result, was excellent. I wasn’t too enamoured by the decision to have Batista tap out but since he has made Cena his personal you know what for the last couple of months I suppose Cena needed as decisive a victory as possible. Incidentally, this victory made John Cena the most successful submission wrestler in Wrestlemania history, as he became the first man ever to win three Mania matches by submission. This was undoubtedly the best match of the card. At least, until….
The Main Event! The rematch between the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels was the most anticipated match in Wrestlemania history, so they said, and I won’t argue. Did it live up to last year? Absolutely. Was it a better match? Hard to say. The point is that this match was emotionally stronger than last year’s because almost no one wanted either man to lose. Debate had raged over this one but I never wavered in my conviction that The Streak would endure. I tell a lie, that was my call but I was really uncertain for much of the match because the near falls were just too hard to call! However, when the final moments came, with their deliberate evocation of the end of Michaels-Flair two years ago, it became suddenly clear. Like Michaels, Taker didn’t want to retire his noble adversary. Like Flair, Michaels wanted no sympathy and demanded Taker’s best shot. And, with a tombstone and a three-count, it was over. Simply spine-tingling.
And so, is this really the end for Shawn? I can’t say for sure. I’m not naive enough to take a wrestling retirement as gospel but on the other hand, it does seem to me that WWE wanted this to mean something. Would it still matter if Shawn ends up back in the ring in August? That’s for each of us to answer for ourselves. I will say this much, however: those people who keep suggesting Shawn will follow Flair to TNA are, I think, sorely mistaken! I would be very surprised indeed if Shawn ever wrestles again outside of a WWE ring.
So, looking at the show overall, Wrestlemania 26 came in with massive momentum from what was widely agreed to be one of the strongest pay per view builds in recent WWE history. The show itself, however, rarely hit the heights. That said, it was also, with the exception of a bad comedy skit and a terrible finish to the Divas match, never less than solidly entertaining. The show was also wisely structured and built up to a superb finale. Last year, I gave Wrestlemania 25 a grudging 8 out of 10 almost entirely on the strength of the HBK-Taker match. This year, it’s an easy and well-deserved 8.5 out of 10, which I might well kick up to a 9…. purely on the strength of the HBK-Taker match.
Thanks for the memories, Shawn!
Push Me Pull You – Are the Right Guys on Top?
A quick search of the internet forum discussion topics is generally enough to illustrate that, these days, the favoured topic of debate among wrestling fans is that of “the push”. Generally, this is framed in one of two ways: firstly, that wrestler x is deserving of, but not receiving a push or that wrestler y is receiving, but not deserving of, the same. Lately, that second topic has generally concerned the sudden elevation of Sheamus to WWE Champion (“he’s being pushed too quickly” etc) while “under-pushed” wrestlers (in WWE) might include The Miz, Evan Bourne, Dolph Ziggler or a whole host of others. Even relatively high-profile wrestlers like Chris Jericho and CM Punk, darlings of the IWC as they are, are often regarded as not being pushed enough. Pushing the wrong guys seems to most WWE fans to be the biggest and most serious mistake the company makes and it is often hard to tell which is regarded as worse, under-pushing or over-pushing.
As far as Vince McMahon is concerned, he has always maintained that it is the fans who determine who gets pushed. If wrestler x is over with the fans then Vince will promote him. Many fans would disagree, saying that the reason that wrestler x is not over with the fans is simply that he has not been presented to them correctly. In short, while Vince argues that he pushes those who the fans wish to see, his critics argue that you cannot truly know whether or not the fans wish to see a wrestler until you have pushed him. So, all that said, who is right?
To be honest, both sides are over-simplifying somewhat here. Vince may say that the fans determine who gets a push but one cannot disregard the importance of a wrestlers’ initial presentation. If a wrestler spends three minutes a week being beaten like a red-headed stepchild by midcard talent and never being given the opportunity to speak, how likely are they to convince the fans that they deserve a push? Under these circumstances, could even talents like HBK have gotten over? In any case, it often seems like a rather lazy justification from Vince and his company that can be wheeled out at any time to deflect criticism. Don’t like what you’re getting? Well then, blame your fellow fans, that’s the message.
Then again, it’s all very well for fans to say “push this guy” but how should that be accomplished? On the rare occasions where Vince simply hotshots someone into a main event program, most recently with Sheamus, those same fans almost invariably tear him a new one! Sometimes, a wrestler may be very difficult to push, as in the case of Eric Young in TNA. Booked as a comedy wrestler for a long time, many fans (including Lance Storm, according to his most recent Q&A) now find it difficult or even impossible to accept him in a more serious role. Elevating talent cannot simply be accomplished through booking them to win high-profile matches. It is essential not only that the audience care about a character but also that they find him credible. Another factor that fans have to bear in mind when discussing pushes is the relative difficulty of assessing just how “over” a wrestler is in today’s market.
WWE often maintain that they have the best market research available, in the form of arenas full of outspoken fans, a statement that implies a certain degree of selective deafness on the part of WWE creative, who have frequently shown a willingness to ignore the reaction of the live crowd. However, the live crowd is by no means the only barometer of public opinion available to the WWE. First, one must consider the extent to which the crowd represent the opinions of the wider television audience. Secondly, there are other means of gauging wrestler popularity, such as merchandise sales, magazine sales and so on. Thirdly, it is difficult to gauge the extent to which any individual wrestler is responsible for such things as TV ratings and PPV buy-rates. Does the audience watch a WWE show for their favourite wrestlers, or for the overall package of talent on that show, for example? Deciding just who does and does not “draw money” in today’s marketplace is an extremely complex task.
We must also consider the extent to which the internet wrestling community are in step with the wider audience. The fact that many columnists such as myself might laud a particular wrestler and want to see him or her featured more prominently is not necessarily indicative of the mass audience’s feelings on the matter. We on the internet can often persuade ourselves that we are a bigger part of the audience than, in fact, we are. Constantly reading each other’s columns and opinions, we may think that there is near consensus on the talent and direction of a wrestler when, in fact, we represent only a small minority opinion. WWE Raw typically broadcasts to an audience of over five million people in the USA alone every week. How can we really be sure that the majority of those viewers share our grievances and frustrations?
The other difficulty is that elevating new talent often carries with it the risk of devaluing the existing talent. The most important factor in elevating someone is to give them credible, meaningful victories over credible talent. The worry for wrestling promoters is that, in doing so, they will dilute the appeal of a “proven draw”, with no guarantee that they will, in doing so, create a star whose appeal is as great, or greater, than that of the old guard. This was the trap that the old WCW fell into. By clinging on to the proven draws that they had, they allowed much of their best young talent to become frustrated and leave. When the Hogans, Pipers, Nashes et al began to lose their appeal, there was no one left to take their place.
In general, I believe that wrestling promotions exaggerate the danger to established talent of putting over new talent. Wrestling fans are extremely loyal and, once a wrestler has gained their respect and admiration, they do not easily let go of such a wrestler. A good example can be found by looking at the career of The Rock. Here was a wrestler of stupendous celebrity who was, nevertheless, frequently used to “give the rub” to rising talent, whether that meant Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit or The Hurricane. At no point did this ever affect his ability to draw money. The lessons, then, are these. The fact that a promotion like the WWE is not pushing our favourite wrestlers does not necessarily mean that they have got things wrong. However, once they do decide to push a guy, it is better that they do it too early, rather than too late. Once the audience are convinced that a wrestler is not “main-event material”, it might be impossible to ever get that momentum back. Giving a young guy a win over an established name will not, by and large, hurt the established wrestler but it may well be just what is required to move the youngster to the next level in the eyes of the fans.
The Monday Night Skirmish – Raw is Bret vs Hogan’s Impact
Now that the dust has settled and the results are in, it’s time to examine the events of Monday, January the 3rd, the most hotly anticipated day of pro wrestling that I can remember in quite some time. Ladies and gentlemen, in the corner to my right, weighing in at almost fifty years of impressive and frequently revised history, the undisputed champion of pro wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment! And, in the corner to my left, the challenger, the little federation that could, Total Non-stop Action! Who would win this Monday night showdown, the first that wrestling had seen since WCW was bought out in 2001? Both sides had, of course, wheeled out their big guns, with Hulk Hogan finally making the TNA debut he originally promised back in 2003, and Bret Hart making his first live appearance on WWE programming since 1997 when something or other happened, I forget the details.
To be honest, the aftermath of these shows is proving almost as fascinating as the build-up was. The two wrestling promotions demonstrated very different approaches on Monday and, perhaps unsurprisingly, fans are thoroughly divided on who was more successful. In terms of TV ratings, initially it seems that both companies have reasons to be cheerful. TNA are already reporting record ratings of over 2 million viewers, while it seems that Raw also enjoyed its most successful rating for some time. TNA achieved their success with a broadcast short on wrestling but long on star power, shocks and unpredictability. WWE went for a show that emphasized internal consistency and ongoing storylines but was arguably more predictable and “tame” than TNA’s offering. Both shows put considerable emphasis on the “historic” nature of the events unfolding. TNA made constant references to the competition, while WWE made no reference whatever to TNA, unless one counts Jericho’s mockery of Hulk Hogan’s poses during his match with DX.
Some time ago, I predicted that, as fans grow more used to the WWE’s PG content, the rift between TNA and WWE fans would begin to widen. I think that we are beginning to see the results of that now. Everywhere I look I see a clear division between fans over which of Monday night’s shows was better. It is not simply that people have their favourites; many people seem convinced that, not only was their favourite show better than the other, it was, in fact, no contest at all. Many of those who enjoyed Impact felt that Raw was just awful and vice versa. Personally, it is hard for me to give any definitive judgement, since Impact has yet to be shown in the UK and, even when it is, will not be aired in its entirety. Therefore, I have had to make do with written reports and a few clips that I have managed to see thanks to the miracle of the internet.
As far as Raw is concerned, I found it the most enjoyable Raw I have watched in some time; that, in itself, is hardly saying a great deal, however, as Raw has consistently been the weakest element of WWE programming at least since Backlash last year. My usual pattern of watching is to watch Smackdown every week without fail, catch ECW and Superstars if I can and ignore Raw. Then, I watch the WWE’s pay per view and usually watch the Raw the next night to see what fall-out there is from the matches I watched on ppv. However, generally this merely reminds me of why I don’t watch Raw and I immediately revert to ignoring it…until the next ppv. This Raw did not have that effect on me. I will watch again next week, which is, surely, the most important goal of episodic programming. We had some good wrestling, some genuine drama and, most shockingly, almost everything on this show made some kind of sense! I don’t expect that to last but here’s hoping.
Obviously, Bret’s interaction with Shawn Michaels at the top of the show was, by far, the most compelling aspect of the show for any long-time wrestling fan. WWE have done a good job of getting Bret, and his past issues, over with the younger elements of their audience, which was illustrated by the strength of the pop that Bret received. Granted, their hug may not have looked terribly sincere but I don’t really care. If this finally lays Montreal to rest, then I think it’s great. Elsewhere, we saw the, possibly unprecedented, sight of Vince McMahon remembering his past storylines and acting based on them. Kofi Kingston had a good match with Randy Orton, DX had a good match with JeriShow and Sheamus had a moderately entertaining match with Evan Bourne. Just on a side note, has ANYONE in history ever hit a more beautiful shooting star press than Bourne?
On the downside, we only saw Bret in three segments, although I did find all three entertaining. The Divas match between Maryse and Bella No1 was appalling. To be honest, though, that was all that I really found poor on the show. The four way for a shot at the US title was perfectly acceptable and set up a match going forward. I always, ALWAYS prefer that wrestlers earn shots at titles rather than just get them awarded. The tribute to Doctor Death was very nice, although it does raise the question as to why WWE could not give a similar tribute to Umaga. All in all, we got an entertaining show with one historic moment, a couple of nice matches and a couple of angles set up for future shows. Characters showed consistency and acted sensibly. That’s good enough for me.
So, as to Impact. Perhaps the biggest shock on this show was the appearance of Jeff Hardy. TNA are taking a hell of a chance on this one, given that Jeff’s drug charges remain unresolved and he will, indeed, face prosecution. Obviously, I hope that he is innocent and beats the rap but we will have to wait and see. What is perhaps more surprising, given that Jeff is now a three-time world champion, is that TNA, having taken the risk of signing him, have opted to use him in a relatively low-profile feud with Homicide. The appearance of The Nasty Boys will have pleased no one but The Nasty Boys while Scott Hall looks terrible these days. Does an NWO reunion really have anything to offer at this stage? As far as I can gather, TNA put together a show that challenged the viewer to keep up, delivered at least one really solid wrestling match (Styles/Angle) and attempted to offer many reasons for the viewer to keep watching. Who is the mystery assailant? What did Ric Flair want with AJ Styles? Will the NWO reform (even though they can’t use that name anymore)? And so on and so forth.
On the downside, the worries of many that Hogan’s arrival would simply lead to renewed pushes for older former WWE and WCW talents at the further expense of TNA’s existing talent roster have in no way been dispelled. The Nasty Boys vs Team 3D? Seriously? Hall gets more screen time than Daniels? Hell, Val Venis, gets more screen time than Daniels! Orlando Jones? The guy is competent, sure, but he was a never-was in WWE – making him a somebody in TNA merely underlines their clear inferiority complex. Ultimately, it’s as you were at TNA. Shows are messy and illogical but also unpredictable. The level of violence and “adult content” is much higher than that on WWE, so which show one prefers will largely depend on what one’s priorities are. TNA have to hope that a good chunk of Monday’s 2 million-odd viewers prize unpredictability and “adult content”. If they do, then they will be tuning in again which, hopefully, will allow talents like Styles, Joe, Daniels, Matt Morgan and Eric Young to take advantage of previously unprecedented levels of publicity.
So, finally, this Monday Night Skirmish is probably not going to re-ignite the Monday Night Wars. I’m not even sure it should. TNA should focus on being a successful show in their own right, not on going head to head with the WWE. What we have seen is proof that there is a potentially much bigger audience for wrestling out there than the two shows are currently attracting. The arrival of Bret and Hulk gives both companies an opportunity to revitalize wrestling in the US. Let’s hope that one or, preferably, both take advantage of it.
Marshall Law 