Kane Knight
11-07-2005, 02:06 AM
Vince McMahon has been credited with many things in his life, including making wrestling popular, creating Hulkamania, revolutionising pro wrestling, he's a genius, etc. etc. These days, however, he's more likely to be called an idiot, an asshole, whatever. Even the markiest of marks gets a little pissed off at Vince sometimes, like when he "fired" JR (It's funny watching people asking if Ross is really fired, and bitching that this kills wrestling, but it's happening).
While reading the 15 or 16 threads on Christian, something occurred to me that never really sank in before. I'd thought about it in the past, but the whole "Will he be called Christian" thing was kind of a big tipper.
After WCW went belly up, when there was pretty much only the WWE, what everyone said was that we really needed some competition. People like Heyman and Bischoff, whether capable on their own, made the WWF interesting because the F was forced to kick it up a notch on a regular basis. Even bad competition could be good for us, the WWF-loving public.
Now, Vince has bought wrestling history. He's got the rights to tons of footage, multiple promotions, and the best (By best I mean biggest and most successful) promotion in town, can put more money into a show, can basically trump anyone on the market. Much as I love watchig Cruiserweights capped at 3 moves (Arm drag, monkey flip, and their finisher), or the virtual monopoly he's created here, I wonder: Has this killed professional wrestling as we know it (In this country)?
The WWE has trademarked Christian, though it looks like Reso has a legit claim to the mark. No worries, he could challenge that, right? Right, except the WWE has a lot of money to throw around if they want to make things difficult for wrestlers. Considering their impunity with the WWFund, I'd say the threat of an indy wrestler is really small. With the Dudleyz, it was a little less surprising, but they did go to the point of anal minutia on the trademarking there.
Then there's talent. The WWE can afford to buy the up and comers and not even use them. Kazarian, Kash, Kennedy (Kidding), they can pay to bring a guy in from another promotion and not really even be bothered to use him. I wonder if even the promotions are safe, or if TNA would be snatched up by the WWE and swallowed whole if it ever bordered on competition.
And I'm sure there are beter pmotions out there than TNA, but none of them will get the money or support to go out there. At the end of the day, the WWE's got backing that nothing short of Turner's return to wrestling could match. It's hard to get recognition when you're being stacked up against something that big. You could have the best wrestlers in the world and never stack up to them...And then they'd try and hire your talent anyway.
The best hope for improved wrestling is competition, and I think the WWE will do their best to keep that from happening in the long run. TNA may start to look like a viable competitor, but I think if they ever come close, the WWE will do their best to buy them. They are a monopoly and will seek to remain one, and the quality suffers because there's no reason to actually improve. Ratings are slipping, making wrestling look less appealing to the market in general, and making companies less likely to back another promotion, because who needs a second program when there's no money in the first?
While reading the 15 or 16 threads on Christian, something occurred to me that never really sank in before. I'd thought about it in the past, but the whole "Will he be called Christian" thing was kind of a big tipper.
After WCW went belly up, when there was pretty much only the WWE, what everyone said was that we really needed some competition. People like Heyman and Bischoff, whether capable on their own, made the WWF interesting because the F was forced to kick it up a notch on a regular basis. Even bad competition could be good for us, the WWF-loving public.
Now, Vince has bought wrestling history. He's got the rights to tons of footage, multiple promotions, and the best (By best I mean biggest and most successful) promotion in town, can put more money into a show, can basically trump anyone on the market. Much as I love watchig Cruiserweights capped at 3 moves (Arm drag, monkey flip, and their finisher), or the virtual monopoly he's created here, I wonder: Has this killed professional wrestling as we know it (In this country)?
The WWE has trademarked Christian, though it looks like Reso has a legit claim to the mark. No worries, he could challenge that, right? Right, except the WWE has a lot of money to throw around if they want to make things difficult for wrestlers. Considering their impunity with the WWFund, I'd say the threat of an indy wrestler is really small. With the Dudleyz, it was a little less surprising, but they did go to the point of anal minutia on the trademarking there.
Then there's talent. The WWE can afford to buy the up and comers and not even use them. Kazarian, Kash, Kennedy (Kidding), they can pay to bring a guy in from another promotion and not really even be bothered to use him. I wonder if even the promotions are safe, or if TNA would be snatched up by the WWE and swallowed whole if it ever bordered on competition.
And I'm sure there are beter pmotions out there than TNA, but none of them will get the money or support to go out there. At the end of the day, the WWE's got backing that nothing short of Turner's return to wrestling could match. It's hard to get recognition when you're being stacked up against something that big. You could have the best wrestlers in the world and never stack up to them...And then they'd try and hire your talent anyway.
The best hope for improved wrestling is competition, and I think the WWE will do their best to keep that from happening in the long run. TNA may start to look like a viable competitor, but I think if they ever come close, the WWE will do their best to buy them. They are a monopoly and will seek to remain one, and the quality suffers because there's no reason to actually improve. Ratings are slipping, making wrestling look less appealing to the market in general, and making companies less likely to back another promotion, because who needs a second program when there's no money in the first?