Written By: Mike Johns on 09/22/06
I remember when I used to look forward to seeing the next wrestling show. Whether it was WCW, WWF, or ECW, I used to go crazy waiting for that next wrestling show to come on. Even the bad ones. There was many a night I tuned in to watch a horrible WCW event, simply because it was the only wrestling on at the moment, hoping to see something worthwhile. When wrestling wasn’t on, I’d read wrestling magazines, or surf wrestling websites, or, if I could get a hold of Terry that day, we’d get together and wrestle in his backyard. My friendship with Terry Marvin, if nothing else, has been based on a mutual love for professional wrestling. He eventually went on to become a wrestler, and I became a writer. Since then, WCW died, the WWF became WWE, then split their company in half, and ECW eventually became the third branch of WWE’s Brand Split. Meanwhile, TNA and ROH have both come into prominence, mostly because, outside of WWE itself, there isn’t a whole hell of a lot going on in American Pro Wrestling these days.
Long before Vince McMahon took over the American Wrestling World, the country was divided up amongst the different wrestling promoters, who each ran their own territory relatively unopposed. McMahon saw this as unrealistic and un-capitalistic, and thus, destroyed the system outright as he went national. 20-some years later, the fruits of his labor made him a billionaire, but in the process, McMahon may have also killed off any real possibility of equal competition for himself, a move that could possibly end up killing wrestling altogether should business seriously decline. While the old territorial system was socialistic, it provided a farm system that allowed wrestlers to hone their skills, while giving promoters the ability to trade stale talent for fresh faces, which kept promotions from growing stale and boring fans, which, ultimately, kept these promotions in business. It also gave fans alternatives, which, had the territorial system survived into the Information Age, would have given wrestling fans a near-endless amount of wrestling to sate their tastes, all from organizations that had reputations, not only in their own territory, but elsewhere, as strong wrestling organizations. So, while McMahon made wrestling more capitalistic, and more profitable, he’s also taken something from the fans – a choice of quality products. While some may argue that there is competition out there, the truth of the matter is that none of the organizations out there right now who promote professional wrestling in this country have half of the money or the credibility that WWE has, let alone the credibility the old territories had. Because of this, fans are turned off to these products. They see the WWE with slick production, heavily-scripted shows, pyrotechnics, colorful characters, and the reputation of being the top wrestling organization in the world today, bar none, then turn on another organization’s show and see dimly-lit arenas, shows produced on camcorders, music and promos you can barely hear, a lot of wrestlers who look exactly the same, and zero reputation whatsoever. It doesn’t mean the WWE’s wrestling is any better. Actually, some of the best wrestling you’ll in America these days is at these local shows. But, sadly, to the majority of wrestling’s fan base, none of that really matters. After all, wrestling is fake, right?
And so what if it is? For the last 20-some years, American Culture as a whole has been taught that wrestling isn’t real, and that it’s actually Sports Entertainment, a term that many die-hard wrestling fans resent. Perhaps, it’s time to stop resenting it. Let’s face facts, pro wrestling is not a sport. It might have been once, at the beginning of the 20th Century, but once the media found out some of the matches were rigged, that ended that. We’ve had nearly 100 years to get used to the idea that wrestling was, as they say, “fake”, yet some fans still have a problem with this. In fact, many wrestling fans wish for the days when wrestling would be taken as seriously as, say, the UFC. There’s only one major problem with that, though. UFC is a sport. Pro Wrestling is not. See the problem? Pro Wrestling is a show, as proven by the fact that the wrestling you see today is a direct descendant of the old carnival shows where wrestlers would challenge all comers for cash prizes. The fact that wrestling presents heroes and villains, good guys and bad guys, in stories that range from the pursuit of pride and championships to justice and vengeance, should tell you, right off, that this isn’t a sport. Wrestling as a sport is simply the setting of pro wrestling’s story. That’s the extent. Otherwise, it’s not a sport. It’s a show. It’s a continuing story that, depending on the quality of the show in general, is not meant to end. Sure, one conflict comes to an end, and some of the characters’ stories end, but the story of wrestling meant to be continuous and on-going, until the end of forever. At least, that’s the idea.
Sadly, most promotions that come up these days die within a year or two of their founding. I should know, I’ve been involved with three thus far, and building a fourth now. Sometimes, the people in charge don’t know what they’re doing, and they run out of money. Sometimes, the promoter is a dick, and they have a hard time keeping wrestlers on the roster, either because they aren’t paying the wrestlers sh*t, or, the guy in charge is such an a$$hole that no amount of money is worth dealing with that guy. Sometimes, the company is part of an elaborate scam. Yes, this actually happens. Some guy blows into town, starts a promotion, hires on a bunch of kids, teaches them a few holds, bilks them and the sponsors out of a whole sh*tload of money, then skips town months later with all the money, leaving what was an otherwise successful promotion in shambles. And sometimes, people don’t cover their ass legally, and end up getting sued into oblivion. There’s a lot of reasons why promotions fall apart so quickly, but it’s usually a matter of money and/or legal issues the company did not prepare for. So, even when people try to create more choices in the wrestling market, at least at the local level, the odds are generally against them. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. In fact, there are many organizations out there who started at the local level and grew into major territorial wrestling promotions, successfully drawing in fans and booking major-name talents. Cleveland All-Pro, Jersey All-Pro, IWA Mid-South, Pro Wrestling Guerilla, as well as many of the current NWA affiliates, are surviving, and, in some cases, even thriving thanks to their fans, the Internet, and the DVD market. The continues success of these and other territorial wrestling promotions goes a long way towards reestablishing a farm system where wrestlers can travel the road and hone their skills so, when they do eventually get signed by a major organization like ROH, TNA, or, if you’re really lucky, WWE, they actually know what the hell they’re doing in the ring, unlike, say, most of the schmucks that come up through the WWE Developmental System these days. It’s not equal footing, and, likely, it never will be, but it’s something that can help keep the business alive by providing fans a choice between products. It’s not the same as it might have been had the old territorial system stayed intact, but, then again, perhaps that system would have fallen apart by itself anyway. God knows the AWA, UWF, WCCW, and Jim Crockett Promotions (what some may consider the “major players” outside of the WWF at the time) didn’t exactly do themselves any favors in the mid-80’s…
It really makes one wonder if Vince McMahon really did a good thing for the wrestling industry. On one hand, Vince helped wrestling break into mainstream culture, not once, but twice, during both the mid-80’s and the late 90’s. On the other, McMahon damaged a lot of what helped wrestling survive and thrive over the last 100 years. Capitalism works only when there is equal competition in the marketplace, yet McMahon’s reasoning behind his takeover of the wrestling world was supposedly capitalistic. TNA remains light-years behind the WWE in both exposure and reputation, while ROH, despite the adoration of Internet Fans, remains light years behind even TNA. Meanwhile, everyone else in the market scrambles just to survive, and most of them never get the chance to really make a name for themselves. Some of this is incompetence, some of it is lousy luck, and sometimes, trying just isn’t enough. But at least they ARE trying, which is a hell of a lot more than some people are willing to do.
Will the wrestling world ever be as exciting as it was back when I couldn’t wait to see the next show? I hope it will. I don’t like being bored with wrestling. But until someone can get on equal footing with Vince McMahon and give him a real fight, there’s a very good chance this boredom will continue, and personally, I don’t like that one bit.
Have something to say about today’s Rant? Write Mike Johns at TheMaverickMJ@yahoo.com and tell him all about it! Also, don’t forget to check out Mike’s Profile on MySpace www.MySpace.com/MikeJohnsUSAW – for more about your favorite wrestling columnist!
