18th February

While going through some old wrestling videos this week, I chanced upon a copy of the 1996 Survivor Series, and given the news that came out of the WWE concerning a now former WWE superstar, it got me thinking.

On that November night back in '96, a new young superstar made his debut, and was branded the future of the company. The young Rocky Maivia seemed to have it all, and was pushed to the moon, defeating a certain Hunter Hearst Helmsley to win the Intercontinental title soon after his debut. The only problem was that the fans weren't buying what Rocky was selling. At a time when an anti-hero such as Steve Austin was flipping the bird to everyone in sight, and a certain faction was tearing the house down in WCW, Rocky Maivia's character made the fans reach for the proverbial sick bags. The instructions he was getting from the booking team - "you just can't smile enough", would have gotten him over ten years previously, but not in the mid-nineties.

Maivia dropped the I-C title to Owen Hart, and was taken off the road and television screens. He emerged a few weeks later as a member of the black militant group, the Nation of Domination. Except that this wasn't Rocky Maivia. Rocky Maivia was dead, and the Rock emerged in his place. And the rest, as they say, is history.

The Rock has done everything there is to do in the WWE. He's won just about every title he can. He helped the company overcome WCW in the infamous Monday night wars, and he used his star status in the WWE to catapult himself onto other stages as well. He was one of the few stars from the Attitude era to get over on the mainstream celebrity circuit.

And I think it's safe to say that he's the most successful wrestler-turned-actor in the history of professional wrestling. He has certainly become far more successful in the acting business than those who have gone before him. Hulk Hogan's movie career saw flop after flop after flop. Roddy Piper's only acting success of note came in John Carpenter's 1987 classic They Live, and although Jesse Ventura earned great praise for his roles in films such as Predator and The Running Man, they weren't starring roles.

I have to admit that it came as something of a surprise when the news broke that the Rock and the WWE failed to come to any sort of agreement as far as his new contract are concerned. A lot of people have been asking the question - who needs who the most in this relationship?

When his acting career began, the Rock certainly needed the WWE, but not today. He is now being considered for acting roles because of his previous acting roles, and not because he is a WWE star. But at the moment, the WWE certainly needs someone like the Rock at the moment. His mainstream success would certainly bring fans back to the arenas, and increase pay-per-view buy rates as well. The only problem is that the WWE would want the Rock on more-or-less a full-time schedule, and that's something the Rock can't commit to anymore.

The Rock announced in several recent interviews that he is done with wrestling, that he'd like to concentrate on his acting career. Good luck to the guy I say, but the millions.....and millions of the Rock's fans will still cry out for his return, and I have no doubt that he will return for one final swan song, someday.

Which leads me nicely to another former WWE Champion who is trying to make his return.

It's almost a year since Brock Lesnar stunned Vince McMahon by giving his notice one week before Wrestlemania 20. We all know the story by now, that Lesnar was fed up with life on the road, and that he was a man with a dream, a dream to compete in the NFL.

I have to give kudos to Lesnar. The guy gave up a million dollar contract to pursue his dream. However, I'll take back those kudos because of the way he went about things. To say that he burned a few bridges after he left would be an understatement. I couldn't understand why, in the days after his departure, he seemed to spend so much time criticizing the WWE.

Lesnar certainly wasn't planning for the long-term here. It seems that almost everyone except Lesnar himself knew that despite his best efforts, he didn't have a cat in hell's chance of getting a full-time spot in the NFL. The kudos return to the guy, a little, for giving it his best shot though.

But again I'll take those kudos back with what he did afterwards. Lesnar must know just how many people he annoyed when he walked out on the WWE, so how could he expect to be welcomed back with open arms by Vince McMahon? When McMahon was a regular character on television, he had a saying which seems perfect in these circumstances - don't cross the boss.

Lesnar certainly crossed the boss, and everyone else in the locker room, and just about every fan who supported him when he quit last year, and now he wants back on his terms. In a telephone conversation with McMahon, Lesnar stated that he wanted to work a program similar to the one Ric Flair currently works, working just ten dates a month, but on the $1.7 million a year he was on before. The conversation didn't last that long. Let's take a look at this here. The reason that Flair works so few dates a months is because the guy is 55 years old. Lesnar is nearly thirty years younger than Flair, wants to work the same number of dates, and wants the same money he was on before.

It's not surprising that the conversation between McMahon and Lesnar didn't last that long. I have to wonder just who Lesnar thinks he is? The WWE invested a great deal of time and money on him. They pushed him to the moon and back. He won the WWE title within six months of his debut, and then he walked out on them.

And now Lesnar is suing the WWE because of the no-compete clause in his contract that doesn't run out until 2010. While I do have a little sympathy for Lesnar as far as this is concerned, the guy did sign the contract, and probably had quite a few advisors look at the contract as well. However, he probably wasn't thinking about this when he handed in his notice a week before Wrestlemania.

But looking at the big picture, the WWE needs someone like Lesnar at the moment. A feud between Lesnar and Bradshaw over the WWE title would certainly be something to watch. But Lesnar probably would be welcomed back with open arms by his fellow wrestlers. The Big Show made this quite evident in an interview this week.


I'll be watching this situation with a great deal of interest in the coming weeks, although given the way legal systems work sometimes, Lesnar probably won't be able to get out of his no-compete clause until 2010 anyway!