Over the past few months I’ve had a few e-mails about my column, asking me why it was that I only reviewed DVDs and pay-per-views now. “What’s happened to the old style columns you used to write?” they would ask. “Why don’t you give your opinions on what’s happening in the wrestling business anymore?”
Well, today I’m going to open up to you all, to tell you why it is I don’t give my views on the backstage happenings in the wrestling world.
You see, I really love wrestling. It’s been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. To me, there’s nothing more entertaining than seeing Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels at their peak, nothing better than seeing a Dynamite Kid v Tiger Mask match, nothing better than seeing Jonny Storm or Jody Fleisch in an acrobatic tour de force, nothing better than seeing Ric Flair, who, despite being near his 60th birthday, is still giving so much to a business that has taken so much from him.
But on the other hand, I really hate the wrestling business. I saw so much crap during my time working in the British wrestling business that it’s turned me off reading about what’s going on in the locker rooms.
When you see promoters sabotaging other shows, when you see wrestlers smoking pot and snorting coke backstage, when you hear wrestler/promoters saying they’re not going to put a title belt on themselves, then see them do just that six months later, when you see a wrestler slagging off a fellow worker then acting like he’s a long-lost brother the next time they’re on the same show together, and when wrestlers shake your hand and tell you what a great mate you are, then ignore you for months on end, only breaking their silence to send you a threatening e-mail when you disagree with something they’ve done, it turns you off certain aspects of the wrestling business.
And this is only the tip of the iceberg.
I once wrote that the professional wrestling business is like no other business in the world. It really isn’t. No other business is scrutinised or criticised like the wrestling business.
It was just a couple of months after I quit working in the wrestling business that I came upon the startling revelation I’ve just made to you all. When the phone calls stopped coming, when my e-mail inbox stopped being clogged up, when I realised the truth about the majority of those working in the wrestling business - that certain people only want to know you because of what you can do for them, because they only want to know you so you can give them some free publicity.
Well, today I’m going to open up to you all, to tell you why it is I don’t give my views on the backstage happenings in the wrestling world.
You see, I really love wrestling. It’s been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. To me, there’s nothing more entertaining than seeing Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels at their peak, nothing better than seeing a Dynamite Kid v Tiger Mask match, nothing better than seeing Jonny Storm or Jody Fleisch in an acrobatic tour de force, nothing better than seeing Ric Flair, who, despite being near his 60th birthday, is still giving so much to a business that has taken so much from him.
But on the other hand, I really hate the wrestling business. I saw so much crap during my time working in the British wrestling business that it’s turned me off reading about what’s going on in the locker rooms.
When you see promoters sabotaging other shows, when you see wrestlers smoking pot and snorting coke backstage, when you hear wrestler/promoters saying they’re not going to put a title belt on themselves, then see them do just that six months later, when you see a wrestler slagging off a fellow worker then acting like he’s a long-lost brother the next time they’re on the same show together, and when wrestlers shake your hand and tell you what a great mate you are, then ignore you for months on end, only breaking their silence to send you a threatening e-mail when you disagree with something they’ve done, it turns you off certain aspects of the wrestling business.
And this is only the tip of the iceberg.
I once wrote that the professional wrestling business is like no other business in the world. It really isn’t. No other business is scrutinised or criticised like the wrestling business.
It was just a couple of months after I quit working in the wrestling business that I came upon the startling revelation I’ve just made to you all. When the phone calls stopped coming, when my e-mail inbox stopped being clogged up, when I realised the truth about the majority of those working in the wrestling business - that certain people only want to know you because of what you can do for them, because they only want to know you so you can give them some free publicity.
Out of all the people in the wrestling business I’ve met, out of all the people who kept telling me how much they respect me for what I do, out of all the people who came up to me, shook my hand, put their arm around me and told me what a good friend I was, I can probably count only three or four people as proper, true friends. And out of these people, only one of them earns money working as a professional wrestler.
When you see what’s going on in the world around you, when loved ones suddenly lose their lives, when people around the world are suffering because of war and natural disasters, when young kids are killing their peers in classrooms and housing estates with guns and knives, it makes you realise that it really doesn’t matter that Steve Austin won’t do the job anymore. It really doesn’t matter that Hulk Hogan refuses to put anyone over. It really doesn’t matter that one promoter doesn’t book another promoter’s star attraction. None of that shit really matters.
Because when it comes down to it, it really doesn’t matter what a professional wrestler does. Their egos don’t allow them to see that as far as the entertainment and sporting worlds go, professional wrestlers are at the bottom of the food chain, and that’s what stops them from gaining the constant mainstream media attention they crave so badly.
No comments:
Post a Comment