Sample Article: The Next Big Boom

Today I am going to post the wrestling article that I had mentioned sending to wrestling-edge.com when they offered me the paid position of a columnist.

So here it is. Comments and criticism are welcome, because I want to know how this is received, especially if I'm going to be getting paid for this.


So hopefully, this is the article that will get me the “columnist” job on Wrestling-Edge.com, so I guess I better make this some of my A material.

My name is B.a.D, and I’m a wrestling fan. If you’re reading this, you’re a wrestling fan too. We’re all wrestling fans here. So let’s just start by being honest. To the majority of the population on Earth, wrestling is lame. Watching wrestling is lame. There was a period in the late 90’s where it was marginally less lame… for a while, anyways.

During that period, I can remember when a friend would find out you watched wrestling. They’d give you hell, somewhat justifiably, and you’d go “No, check this out.” And, in a defense, you could show them the nWo. Or ECW. Or Steve Austin. Or The Rock. You may even have shown them Goldberg. And they’d go home either being into it, not being into it but thinking that it’s not so bad, or admit to you that it’s not bad and then start watching it in secret. (Those people tended to be the most fun.)

Nowadays, it’s pretty embarrassing to admit you still watch wrestling. I hide the fact as much as possible. While my good friends and family know I’m into it, I wouldn’t let anyone else in on that nugget of information. Back in the day though, I can think of at least 6 guy friends and at least 6 girl friends that I either watched or talked about wrestling with. None of them watch wrestling at all anymore.

Why is that?


WWE: The Chumbawumba Of Sports Entertainment

It’s because of the fact that I can defy anyone to turn on RAW for two minutes with someone who is not a wrestling fan, and try to defend what you see to them. Any rational person over the age of 10 will tell you its crap. And what’s interesting is that’s literally all it takes. 2 minutes. If during that 2 minutes, you see (deep breath now) Armando, Chris Masters, Eugene, Snitsky, Hacksaw, Johnny Nitro, Coach, any of the 5 Spirit Squad guys, Lance Cade, Rob Conway, The Highlanders, Trevor Murdoch, Umaga, Val Venis, or Viscera, you are screwed. God forbid they tune in during a Diva Search segment.

That’s 90% of the RAW roster that I believe would cause anyone who is even a stone’s toss away from being legally retarded to change the channel. And the only reason 90% of those names even came to me was because I went to the “Superstars” page on WWE.com.

And weather you like it or not, WWE (RAW in particular because it’s the flagship program) sets the standard for the industry… hell, it is the industry. So when WWE and RAW is bad, everything is bad by comparison.

SmackDown is a pretty OK show… sure, there are problems. Why do they have a great wrestler like Booker T, on a fantastic title run, crapping all over his legacy by being the second coming of Jerry Lawler? Booker T is enough just being Booker T. But at least he is champion. Why are they having Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guererro exploit the death of Eddie by turning it into a storyline with his widow? But at least they are in a mainstream program together. So while there are problems, at least there are upsides and benefits as a result.

ECW is pretty solid, but it’s not regarded as a major part of WWE’s brand. They don’t have their own PPV’s and get one hour of TV a week as opposed to two, in a timeslot and channel most people either can’t find or don’t get. Myself included. I have to download ECW every week because I live in Canada.

But neither of those shows are RAW, are they? The only real OK thing about RAW right now is DX, and that’s only half of the time, and that’s not going to last forever. It’s nostalgia. You could make the argument for John Cena… at least he is getting better all-around by all accounts, but he’s not there yet. Good for WWE for not giving up on him, but who knows if he’ll make it in the long run… but that’s another story.

And as far as actual wrestling? On RAW, you have HHH, Shawn Michaels, Kane, Shelton Benjamin and Ric Flair. Maybe someone else will have a good night once in a while, but those are really the only ones you can count on for a really good match most of the time. But realistically, even those guys don’t put out their “A game” on RAW, they save that for the PPV’s. And fair play to them, really.

So really, that’s about all there is. 10% of the flagship show is passable maybe half of the time.

And therein lies the problem. Public perception of wrestling right now is damaged.

Look at last Monday’s RAW. The “family reunion”. While it certainly was a pretty good show, especially by current WWE standards, it would still probably not have attracted anyone who is not a wrestling fan. So while we, as wrestling fans may have liked it, isn’t that the real quality gauge for wrestling? When you can pull off something that wrestling fans like, that’s impressive. Especially these days.

But when you can pull off something that will attract someone who is not wrestling fan, that’s when you know you have something that’s not just good, it’s great. That’s when you know you have something that you can build a brand or company around…

I am dating a wonderful girl who was not a wrestling fan. But when I told her how much I liked it, she agreed to try it. It certainly tended to be a better response than most non-fans would give, which tend to involve lighting me on fire and then going to hang with the cool kids while I roast like a pig at a company bonfire.

What current wrestling product do you think I showed her, to convince her that it actually is (or rather, can be) entertaining?


And so to TNA… the great white hope.

I watch Impact! every week, and I am glued to the PPV’s. But that’s because I enjoy most of the stuff that’s on there, not all of it. TNA has a lot of great things going for them right now.

Samoa Joe is the most prominent name that comes to mind.. AJ and Daniels at the head of the tag division have produced great matches and given the tag division a much needed revival, and I believe their feud with LAX has produced the matches of the year anywhere in wrestling. The new X Division with Senshi, Sabin, Williams, Dutt, Lethal, and Shelley could be another major selling point. All those things make up 90% of the show.
But the other 10% of the show is what they’re actually building the brand around. So that’s what people perceive TNA to be all about. They’re mis-representing themselves in the worst way. When I watch a PPV, most of the time (no, not all of it) I watch everything up to the main event. A die-hard wrestling fan buys a PPV and watches everything up to the main event. And I’m not the only one. What does that tell you?

And what do they have in the main event? (And have for the past few years, for the most part.)

Jeff Jarrett… the face of TNA, sadly. A redneck who used to get beat up by Chyna in WWE and was never believed to be good enough to move past mid-card status. When will they understand that putting Jarrett and Sting on TV is just a bad idea? People don’t care about Sting. And don’t get me wrong. I like Sting. But the hard truth is that he was never in WWE, so most people don’t know who he is.

People flip to TNA and because they see this in the main event storylines, which therefore takes up a lot of the show, and assume that this, rather than the good stuff, is what TNA is all about. If I had never seen the rest of TNA and saw this as their selling point, there’s no way I would watch it, let alone buy a PPV.

Now, I’ve heard the argument that TNA is moving towards making the good 90% the entire show, and I suppose you could make that case. I certainly hope it’s true, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

And if TNA pulls their crap together and starts emphasizing and promoting what actually makes it a really good show to watch… especially with them getting their prime time deal…


Here’s Where It All Comes Full Circle… What Can Be Done About It?

Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying that 100% of wresting is crap. I’m not saying that 100% of WWE is crap, and I’m certainly not saying that 100% of TNA is crap. I’m saying it can be better. I’m saying it should be better.

The last boom period for wrestling happened when the mainstream participants in wrestling at the time had each other as competition. WWE and WCW. Those two companies inadvertently pushed each other to be better because they we’re trying to drive each other out of business. So they had extra motivation to put on the best show possible. And they both did. Sure, WWE, won the war, but who expected that outcome back in 1996?

I’m not saying TNA would win. I’m not saying WWE would win. I’m saying we would all win because that, more than anything else anyways, is what is most likely to start the next boom period for wrestling.

If I had showed my girl WWE, or the main focus of TNA right now (Jarrett / Sting), she would never have liked it. But I showed her X division. I showed her Joe. I showed her LAX .vs. Daniels and Styles. I showed her old ECW. I showed her old WWE and WCW during the Monday Night Wars.

I’ve heard the argument that wrestling is cyclical. That it all goes up and down. That’s just absurd. Wrestling has had two, maybe three real boom periods in its entire existence. So people justify not getting worried about it because they believe it has to go back up.

Wake up. It doesn’t have to do anything.

Three boom periods is not a cycle. That’s something happening 3 times. I’ve stubbed my toe on the fridge going around the corner 3 times. That is not a cycle. It can fall off (wrestling, not my toe) someday and never come back. It’s scary, but it can happen.

And don’t misconstrue what I’m saying to think that I believe wrestling needs more fans to survive. It doesn’t. I’m just saying that a boom period, set off by something that is good enough to reel in people who aren’t wrestling fans, is good for everyone. It brings in new fans which is good for the industry, and we, as the tried and true faithful wrestling fans, get to see wrestling at its full potential. Because if it’s good enough to bring in new people, than it’s a better product.

And we all win if that happens.

I love wrestling. Have since I was a kid. I’m sure I always will. That’s why the prospect of writing for a wrestling website is exciting for me. But in that respect, there’s not many like me out there anymore. And that’s also why I want wrestling to get better, because I know it can be something that you can happily present to a non-fan again.

B.a.D


There you go. Hope everyone enjoyed.