Observations of a Wrestling Fan #1

It is just over three hours until the beginning of the Survivor Series, and the so-called "Deadly Game" tournament for the WWF championship.

And I begin to think of the reasons why such a tournament is taking place, and the reason is quite a simple one - the ego of Vincent K. McMahon.

The WWF has been without a World champion for nearly a month now, and it is entirely the fault of the main stock-holder of Titan Sports, Vince McMahon. If it wasn't for his now constant interfering in the athletes affairs, none of this would have happened.

Don't get me wrong. I have a lot of respect for McMahon. If it wasn't for him, the wrestling business wouldn't be where it is today. He turned what was a regional promotion into a world-wide success, and others, most notably, Eric Bischoff, and to a lesser extent, Paul E. Dangerously, or Paul Heyman, or whatever he calls himself, have followed. Bischoff, particularly, condemns everything McMahon does, but refuses to acknowledge that without McMahon, he himself would be out of a job.

But recently McMahon has been getting out of hand. Where a few years ago he was merely content to sign the paycheques, sign the best talent available, and commentate on the matches, McMahon now takes a more active role, a role that was once taken by the likes of puppet-Presidents Jack Tunney and Gorilla Monsoon.

McMahon is now getting in the faces of his employees. His recent, well publicised altercations with Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Kane and the Undertaker are perfect examples. He has tried to mould them, to control their careers, and when they didn't bow to their every whim, he pubished them, by putting them in the ring with his so-called yes men, men who could push them hard, take them physically to the limits, and even threatened to end their careers in the WWF, all because they didn't share his point of view.

And all because of his own huge, inflated ego. You see, I believe that McMahon is a highly intelligent man, and if he was to fire the likes of Stone Cold and the Rock, it wouldn't be long before a certain Mr. Bischoff would be knocking on their doors, offering them multi-million dollar contracts, weekends off, and paid holidays at Ted & Jane's wonderhome.

So my thinking is this - McMahon should return to what he does best - return to his behind the scenes negotiations. By continually getting in the faces of his athletes, and getting the proverbial shit kicked out of him, he is not only risking serious physical injury, but he is also perhaps risking his life.

And one other thing, McMahon - get rid of the stooges - Gerald Briscoe, Pat Patterson and Sergeant Slaughter are now nothing more than yes men. Whereas I didn't like Briscoe and Patterson in the first place, probably because I never saw them wrestle, Slaughter made a great commissioner, a great rule-maker, who never took crap from anyone. Now McMahon has reduced him to the role of third stooge, a role totally demeaning considering the way he fought and kicked the crap out of the likes of Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior - and don't get me started on those steroid monkeys!

Until next time - it's been fun!