Hello everyone! I’m glad to see that there was such a big response to my last column entitled “Get Over Yourselves!” which was in regards to the downright pathetic nature of some of these self-righteous “good-bye” columns on the internet wrestling scene. For those of you who are looking for more opinions on internet journalism, you can check out former TBL writer “The Headliner” and his latest column entitled, “Internet Journalism” over at WrestleXpress.net.
Now then, on to the issue at hand. The most wonderful time of the year – for me – has got to be the time inbetween November 1st and New Year’s Eve. The mix of fall weather and the hustle and bustle of the Thanksgiving season which ultimately leads into the craze of the Christmas season – I LOVE it! I can remember when I was younger and living in Manhattan when I would go and see the tree in Rockerfeller Center. Those memories are just as vivid during my visits to the city now as they were over 15 years ago when I first went to see that tree. But even with the cheer and joy of this season, there are other things that make this time of the year so great.
Of course, as many of you know, one of my great interests is politics. That being said, you KNOW that this time of the year is great for me – mud slinging going on left and right and politicians saying phony things all up and down the political spectrum. Ahhh, the wonders of a great democracy!
But politics is one thing. I’d like to speak a little bit on wrestling and this time of the year. I’ve always seen the Survivor Series as a Thanksgiving tradition (though it used to be the “Thanksgiving Night Tradition” and is now just a Thanksgiving “time” tradition). However, I think that lately this annual event has had somewhat of a lessened impact. Why so? Well, I think it’s because part of what always made the Survivor Series so interesting was the fact that you knew that there would inevitably be a 4 on 1 match or a 3 on 1 match – since that was usually how the matches played out.
This is something that you don’t really see anymore. True, WWE is setting up some Survivor matches at this year’s event, but do you remember the days of four or five of those matches on a card? That was something that you could sit down in a nice, cozy couch and watch for hours!
I think that what made this time of the year the most wonderful as far as wrestling is concerned is the fact that not only could you normally get a good world title match at Survivor Series, but you would basically have the entire roster squaring off against each other in Survivor matches. One of the great things about putting the entire roster out there was the fact that you would have all different types of match-ups that you normally wouldn’t see. Just imagine seeing someone like The Undertaker fighting against The World’s Greatest Tag Team on the Smackdown brand. There you have a match-up that might have happened in the past, but is just something different for the time being.
And on the RAW side, you could even have a gathering of the SuperHeroes (let’s make it Hurricane, Rosie, Storm, and Goldust) going against a team like Evolution. Yeah, Evolution would probably win hands down, but that would be a great rub for those younger guys.
I guess the point that I’m making here about the Survivor Series is that sometimes you have to stick with what works – even in the face of change. WWE has changed too much from its original, innovative format of the 80’s. They spent a great deal of time focusing on staying with the times and making sure that their program morphed into what they perceived as what they fans wanted to see. I would bet that a lot of the fans would like to see a throwback Survivor Series – where everyone is placed on a team and the whole roster just goes at it. I guarantee that that would bring in some more viewers.
Oh well, though. I can’t complain too much about the WWE product lately – the little bit that I catch in between Monday Night Football and the political debates has seemed good to me. So, even though I’d like to see more 4 on 4 and 5 on 5 matches, I’ll be more than happy to sit back and watch the Survivor Series this year.
Why?
Because not only are the Christmas Tree in Rockerfeller Center and long days at FAO Schwarz a part of the most wonderful time of the year for me, but so is the Thanksgiving time tradition – Survivor Series!
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