Shining a Spotlight 02.09.12: Respect

The Super Bowl, to me, is less interesting as a game and more as a fascinating sociological study. This year has certainly proved that. The second victory by Eli Manning and the Giants over the Patriots has provided a lot of talking points for ESPN and other sports analysts. Despite winning two Super Bowl MVP awards, Eli Manning still seems to be getting little respect for achievements and still said to be inferior to his brother, who had to sit out this entire season due to injury. Meanwhile, Tom Brady is getting a lot of blame for the loss, talk of overthrowing and such and people seeming to overlook the tiny fact he already has three championships and multiple records.

I believe that had the Internet existed in the ‘80’s, the perceptions of a lot of guys would be much different. Hogan would probably be treated like Cena is, complaints over always being on top and of course, stories of his backstage politics. Flair would probably still be revered but no doubt more talk on his personal issues and his own tendency to play politics. McMahon would be getting the same treatment, trashed by most over his attitudes and crazy characters while ignoring his good work bringing wrestling to new prominence. The IWC is a great thing but also home to quite a few “facts” that have been proven wrong and too many times of fans getting it into their heads how certain “Judgments” should be held by all.

Achievements

It does get annoying how many fans (and I’m as guilty of that mentality as anyone) go too far holding one’s past against them. I’m not a fan of Mark Henry but I respect the fact the man has come back from multiple injuries and bad angles to continue to do his best to succeed. Yet I’ve seen lots of folks still treating Henry like this dull slow guy who has no heat with the fans. On the reverse side, I still see guys rave about RVD like he’s the same amazing athlete he once was, ignoring how he hasn’t changed his moveset in years. There are guys who can overcome such past stuff. Bully Ray is an example as he’s really turned a corner as a singles guy, good in matches and one of the best mic guys in TNA. But it can be hard to be judged properly when personal stuff comes into play.

Obviously, the biggest example of that mentality is Benoit. I know people make the “separate the man from the performer” argument but it’s almost impossible in his case as he was his on-screen character so much. Benoit truly is the O.J. of pro wrestling, a man whose horrific acts will stain his work. Even ultra-Benoit marks like Scott Keith have acknowledged it’s hard as hell to watch a match with him, knowing the monster he would become. It’s one thing to have judgments of a guy affected like Jeff Hardy but this is a completely different level. You can respect the hell out of Eddie Guerrero more, the man overcoming horrendous personal demons to become a bigger star than ever but Kurt Angle has lost some for his personal issues overshadowing what he can do in the ring.

John Cena is also a guy to talk about regarding respect. Even if you don’t like the guy as a person or performer or the way he’s booked, he should earn props for several things. For example, there’s his cardio as even his haters have to admit it’s impressive how he can do a 30-minute match and still look like he just got out of the locker room. Plus, there’s the way he throws himself into charity work, always available for stuff like Make-A-Wish Foundation and others. I’m down on TNA a lot but I do respect how they try to give the fans something else to watch and managing to go on despite various creative pitfalls. And while he can drive me crazy with some of his antics and decisions, I still maintain Vince McMahon is truly a genius for taking wrestling to a new level and keeping sane in a position of bossing a hundred egos that would drive anyone else to a nervous breakdown.

It can be difficult to give up personal feelings to really judge a guy. I’ve always found it ironic that had Shawn Michaels stayed retired in 1998, he’d get props for his work but also slammed for his personal stuff. However, coming back has won him huge respect, not only for amazing matches but also for coming clean over his problems and his ego to convince his doubters. Orton is another guy who’s changed a lot to get folks to admire him for his work, if not his actions. It can be hard to really judge someone in the long run. Again, Eli was criticized a lot for his season-to-season work but winning two Super Bowl MVP trophies should merit a lot more consideration from critics. The Chicago media can groan about Cutler but I guarantee he leads the Bears to a Super Bowl, all will be forgiven, much like we always cut Ozzie Guillen some slack because he led the White Sox to a World Series win. It’s true that titles don’t mean as much respect as they once did as so many guys can get them with little push today. But it’s still a clear difference between someone who gives it his all like Cena and someone just getting a push like Del Rio. Then again, guys like that can turn around as Sheamus was a bit flat in his initial WWE title run but now looks more improved, especially after his Rumble win. It shows you how you can’t judge by initial stuff, you need to put some guys at a bit of a distance to appreciate their work.

It’s always been hard for wrestling to get the proper respect from the mainstream. There’s still the misconception that it’s all stuntwork, no one ever getting hurt and treated as a lark. The sad rise in deaths of workers shed more of a bad light on things, making all wrestlers seem mentally damaged somehow. Yet even the fans of the business find it hard to give respect to guys who give so much to things. We sniff at guys not doing their best when the majority of us could never put up with the constant travel and pressures of performing in front of thousands of people every night. We come up with ratings to dismiss a match that didn’t meet our exacting standards and judge whether or not a guy has what it takes before they really get a chance to show their stuff. And we far too often let personal opinions and past stuff cloud our judgment of a guy as a worker and a person. The fact is, there are a lot of wrestlers out there who deserve a lot more respect than we give them and should be remembered for that. It’s hard to put personal judgments aside but respect is something well earned and if we want our opinions treated with some, maybe it’s past time we gave more out in return.

For this week, the spotlight is off.