Hello everybody, and welcome to the latest edition of Reading Between The Ropes. As problems mount for me in my quest to get broadband sorted in my new house, that does not compare to one of the problems I will discuss in today’s column. As a fan of wrestling, it’s a problem that needs addressing.
So, I guess that cuts the meandering at the start of this column, and goes right in to the real juicy stuff. To discuss a problem is very vague. A problem can be very subjective. What may seem like a problem to one person, may well be a blessing to another. To discuss a problem is to, in fact, dare trudge on subjective ground.
To me, what I will discuss today IS a problem. As a long time wrestling fan, I’ve seen many, what I would call, problems in the past. As a fan still today, I see many problems apart from this one that I will be discussing. So, why discuss this certain problem alone? Why not other issues? Well, aside from the fact that the main issue of ratings was discussed in Swerve, and that the issue of The Rock’s departure was also discussed in the last edition, this is a problem that I feel many fans could relate to.
I often talk about the “attitude” era, and how I feel it was highly over-rated. However, I cannot escape the fact that I am in the minority when I say that. If I’m being honest, the “attitude” era was a success in the respect that it introduced a lot of new fans to the business. A new breed of fan, if you will.
One of the key men in helping gain those fans was Stone Cold Steve Austin. A rogue… a renegade… a rebel (and a whole new slant on what we mean by the 3 ‘R’s). Austin was someone that the fans ate up in this era, and while the company has lost many fans in the past couple of years, Stone Cold has always kept his hard core following.
Even when Austin walked out on the company in 2002, he still kept a solid fan base, in spite of all his off-camera problems. People still rallied behind, and defended there hero.
Speaking as a member of the IWC, Stone Cold is a very touchy subject for us all. You ask any writer in the IWC what subject is the most risqué of all, and 90 per cent of them will say Steve Austin. I’ve written a few columns on Steve Austin, sometimes I’ve said negative things about him, but most of the time I present both sides of the argument, or even ideals of what Steve Austin’s usage should be like (reference: “If Stone Cold Returned”, 2002). One sure fire way to lose many readers as an IWC writer is to berate Stone Cold. He has too big a fan base to alienate all those supporters. Smart columnists wouldn’t do that.
To sum up, Austin is a massive superstar in wrestling, and his subject is one that many of his supporters take interest in. So, in today’s column, I hope those supporters will stand up and take notice. Fans of the man hear me now… Stone Cold has a problem.
The scene is RAW this past Monday. The glass shatters… Austin strides to the ring with purpose. His fans are on their feet, cheering on their hero. The place is going crazy. Austin gets in to the ring and walks directly over to his foes. Here is comes… but… what’s this? A staredown? Where’s the stunners? Where’s the stomping the mud-hole action? Where’s the carnage? Where’s the beer pouring on helpless foes? Where, oh where, could it have gone?
Do you get it yet? Folks, your beloved Stone Cold is no longer a rattlesnake… he’s a grass snake.
Back in the infamous “attitude” era, the glass would have shattered. Stone Cold would have strode down that aisle with purpose. His fans would be on their feet. He would have stormed in to that ring. He would march up to his foes, and……… BAM! STUNNER!… BAM! ANOTHER STUNNER!
The old Stone Cold would not have needed physical provercation. He would have bent those rules so far until he would have snapped them. Yes, Austin was a wrestler back then, but had the Stone Cold of 1999 been a GM, would he have played by the rules?… HELL NO!
I understand the boundaries that confide a GM need to be established, but it’s killing Steve Austin. The guy lives and breathes to rebel and cause carnage. Now, all he does is stare people down and talk the talk without walking the walk.
Jericho and Christian heard that glass shatter Monday night. What did they do? They didn’t run like old foes would. They didn’t stick around to take a stunner either. Nope. They carried on their attack and ignored that glass shatter. Glass shattering? That might as well be substituted for the sound of a baby crying.
It’s not like Steve could even stop the attack himself, let alone take vengeance on the perpetrators. Instead, those perpetrators just stood there and carried on putting the boots in until the glass shattered again, and out strode Van Dam 3:16 to break up the attack.
Austin is indebted to the rogue Van Dam who “stomped a mud-hole” in those SOBs. Good ol’ Van Dam, the leader of the new style “attitude” era. What does Austin do? Drink a beer to celebrate Van Dam’s achievement.
Is Stone Cold harmless now? God no… he can hit Eric Bishcoff and get suspended for a week! By god, he’s still the rule-breaking renegade superstar that graced our screens back in the late 90s. Hail the new attitude era!
What do I think of when I hear that glass shatter now? I think of someone that needs an excuse to start a fight. Someone that needs a reason to take a man down. Someone that needs someone else to clean house in order to crack open a beer.
The old Stone Cold would not have needed a reason… would not have need provercation… would not have needed help. He did what he wanted, when he wanted. And he’d drink to that!
And they wonder why people are finding Stone Cold boring! Where’s the mindless STUNNERAGE when you need it? I’ll tell you where it is, it’s quivering away, hiding in that grass. That’s what grass snakes do you know.
Until next time,
Mitchell L. Gadd
