What's wrong with pro wrestling

ttp://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish/shoresblog/article10015176.shtml

Chris Shore talks about a major issue in pro wrestling:

"By Chris Shore

Today I will start a multi-week look at the current state of “Sports Entertainment” from the long lens of my roots in Southern/territorial wrestling, often referred to as “rasslin.” We will examine various aspects of the current wrestling industry, both good and bad. And where I believe the industry is lacking, I will offer my humble suggestions on improvement. We start this series with a look at one of the little things that make professional wrestling entertaining. One that has been cast aside by the two major promotions.

The debut of TNA’s new belt is what finally pushed me over the edge. I have been thinking about this since John Cena was injured in late 2007. Even after he left, WWE stayed with (and continues to use) one of the worst belts in wrestling history: the spinner belt.

With Cena not only not the champion, but out for several months (granted it was far shorter than originally thought) why would WWE continue to use that belt? I didn’t have a solid answer then. It took me three more years, and the new TNA title belt, to clarify the answer.

For those who haven’t seen, the new title belt is actually built for TNA champion Jeff Hardy. So much so that a caricature of his face is on it. That would be bad enough, but the belt as a whole looks like the first draft of the WWE Divas title belt. There were other great shots taken at the design in the forum (which you should join if you haven’t already). My personal favorite: .Net member TheOne says the belt reminds him of Hordak from He-man.

All joking aside, as the “Southern Avenger” of professional wrestling this really upsets me. I grew up with the Big Gold Belt as the most cherished of prizes. I actually held the original one time as a teen, and let me tell you, big and gold are the best way to describe that belt. Ric Flair himself dropped it in my arms and it almost drove me to the ground. “Heavy?” Flair asked. I nodded as I stood awestruck at the sight of that belt in my arms. Never breaking character, Flair bellowed, “That’s why it takes a real man to wear it.” And it did.

But the Big Gold Belt wasn’t the only belt that was fantastic from that era. The original NWA United States Championship Belt, the NWA World Tag Team Championship Belts, and the original Intercontinental Championship Belt are all fine examples of great belts (to be fair, the current IC belt is not bad).

These belts were worn by giants in the industry. They signified that you were the best in the business, and that you deserved to wear 15 pounds of real gold around your waist. But more importantly, these belts were bigger than the men who carried them. When another man came along who was worthy of bearing the weight of that belt, he did so with the understanding that he did not make the belt. The belt made him.

Now, the top titles in both WWE and TNA have been replaced with belts that represent a wrestler. The belt no longer represents the pinnacle of success in that company, and that is exactly what those belts are supposed to represent. If I was a wrestler, I wouldn’t want to be the John Cena Heavyweight Champion or even the Jeff Hardy Heavyweight Champion. I would want to be the World Champion or the TNA/WWE Champion. But that’s not what the belts tell us.

Sure, there have been personal belts in the past that were fun to watch, most notably the Million Dollar Belt. But that was never considered a real title, it was winning and owning a “million dollar” belt that was the prize. And sure, Hogan defaced the WCW title belt to make it his own. But it was the fact that it was defaced that made it work so well. He didn’t have a nWo belt made, he whipped his ass with the WCW belt which fit the motif of the nWo.

Of course all of this belt trashing by the companies underscores the real problem, namely that champions don’t mean anything. Titles in both TNA and WWE have been reduced to scraps of metal, and the prestige of these once great championships are not faring much better. Sure, the wrestlers themselves try to make a big deal out of the belts, but does the casual fan even care who the champion is anymore? Does John Cena need the belt to get over? Is Kane more awesome because he wears gold around his waist? The answer to each question is the same, a resounding no.

There was a time when the NWA champion strode into town for a month and made a star out of whomever he wrestled. And if the local guy managed to unseat the champion, the locals knew that they had seen something special that they would talk about for ages. Now a title change only feels special until the next PPV, if it lasts that long. I truly believe this is one of the problems with sports entertainment.

We have gone so far towards the entertainment part that the sports part has faded to almost nothing. Honor must be restored to championships if sagging ratings and poor PPV buys are to be rectified. Of course I’m just a hillbilly from the same state that gave us the Charismatic Enigma and his Big Purple Belt (not to mention his brother the Grape Ape). But as they say down here, that’s just how I sees it.

As always, I welcome comments and suggestions atcss3238@gmail.com. Thanks for reading, and join me next week when I take a look at the current way stars are made compared to the territory days."

Sadly, they resorted to shit designs because it draws in money from kids and shit. The short-term championshop reigns are because people have short attention spans nowadays and don't want to see a champion hold a belt more than three months, which for me can be either a blessing or a curse.

what's wrong with pro wrestling is that i'm not in charge

Or me....

LOL U2

Fair point, Jordan.

We don't need cena-esque championship reigns, but the business certainly does need more respectable storylines. As you have been going on about for months about WWE's product is that they're reverting back to the goofy comedy spoofs of the 80s and 90s. The ratings are in the dumps and slowly they're on the downslide because of it. After Raw like two weeks ago when PeeWee Herman was on there, I pretty much have stopped watching.

Vince is going all out to force people to accept his view of how wrestling should be but he will have to reeducate himself to what happened back in 95-97 when a rival company arose and got his ass kicked, forcing him to get it together. McMahons are stubborn creatures.

The monopoly of the industry has made him more arrogant. Nothing stays the same forever, you'd figure that eventually some organization will come from the uprisings and do the same. Sadly, that day can't come soon enough.

I have faith that that will happen within the decade, all the stars are aligning and everything is pointing in that direction, just a matter of time of when.

We'll see!

Jordan H. wrote:

I have faith that that will happen within the decade, all the stars are aligning and everything is pointing in that direction, just a matter of time of when.

so, in this decade...you honestly think TNA is going to slap WWE in the face? considering TNA is the #2 promotion in the country, that is hard to believe

I didn't say TNA and if anyone pays attention, I can't STAND TNA. They will be gone within two years. Someone else will pick up WCW's fight, it's only a matter of time.

yeah, but you said in this current decade....currently theres TNA, ROH....some shitty version of the NWA, and a ton of indy feds that stay to a certain area. no one will be able to fight WCW's battle, at least in this decade

I should write that down somewhere. lol

Now I can't wait to see if two years is the magic number when they crash and burn.

Dead wrote:

yeah, but you said in this current decade....currently theres TNA, ROH....some shitty version of the NWA, and a ton of indy feds that stay to a certain area. no one will be able to fight WCW's battle, at least in this decade

You never know. I have a strong belief someone will arise, and they might not even be around at the moment. I'll be proven wrong when the decade is over and things are still the way they are. Someone HAS TO or the whole business will collapse.

I will say me......I will be the savior and the greatest promoter in the world.

I been kinda enjoying it lately besides Immortal. There's hope.

I hope TNA gets their shit together (storyline wise) and kicks WWE in the nuts. They already have the more talented roster. Hopefully 2011 will be their time to shine. Can't say enough about their wrestlers, the best of the best.