Random Ramblings March

It has now been about three months since I stopped writing about the American wrestling scene on a regular, weekly basis. While many, okay, a few, have told me they miss my weekly comments, the same few have also asked me if I missed writing about them. If I am to be totally truthful here, then I would have to say that no, I don't.

There were two main reasons I gave for giving up something that was becoming nothing more than a tiresome chore. Last December, I wrote that I was finding it difficult to report on the US wrestling scene while living here in Britain. The demise of ECW and WCW meant that, because no British television station has the guts to take a chance on an American indy show, all we get here now is the WWF, and I didn't really find that inspiring.

And to be honest with you all, I still don't. I think the lack of competition is really starting to hurt the WWF. Back in the good old days of the Monday night ratings wars, someone from Titan Towers could watch what their rivals in Atlanta were doing, and think to themselves; "Damn, that's good! We'd better come up with something better than that next week!"

But with the demise of WCW, the WWF have no one to beat. Who do they have to compare themselves with? No one.

Don't get me wrong, I still find some parts of WWF programming highly enjoyable, but there are times when I think to myself that instead of watching Raw or Smackdown, I'd rather watch one of the comedy shows they have on BBC1 on a Friday night.

I came to the conclusion that one of the reasons I wasn't enjoying the WWF now was the difference between now and thirteen years ago, when I first began to watch them. Back in '89, there were just four pay-per-views a year, with the occasional Saturday Night's Main Event show to keep us going.

Back then, the big stars meeting each other on television was a very occasional thing. They only seemed to meet at the big, pay-per-view events, and this made their encounters all the more interesting. We had anticipation, excitement leading up to the big grudge matches.

A comparison here can be made between two feuds. About eight years ago, the Owen Hart-Bret Hart feud went on for months. It was probably one of my favourite feuds of all time. Bret and Owen had a falling out, a brief reunion at the Royal Rumble, before Owen attack Bret. About two months later, Owen beat Bret at Wrestlemania, before Bret beat the late Yokozuna to regain the WWF title. The following June, Owen won the King of the Ring, and faced Bret again for the title in a cage match two months later at Summerslam.

Last year, we had Edge feud with Christian. The whole feud lasted just six weeks. What could have been good left me feeling a little disappointed.

I'm not saying that the WWF should go back to the way they were ten years ago. The product, and the wrestling market place, has changed a great deal in those past ten years. I just feel that they could be doing a little more with the incredible talent pool they currently have.

I will continue to watch Raw and Smackdown as much as possible, but I will no longer be making an effort to sit down, every week, to watch the shows.