wrestling / Columns

The Wrestling 5 & 1 04.27.13: Emma vs Charlotte

April 27, 2013 | Posted by Tony Acero

It’s Week 2 without a computer, and I hate it. I’m currently on campus, and let me tell you…when a dude is cutting and pasting some pics of hot chicks in a full computer lab, it’s not the best look…

BRING ON THE GIRLS!

Versus
With Tony Acero

Last week, Audrey Marie took the win over Sasha Banks in week two in what I have decided is going to be an NXT bracket style Versus. Audrey will take a seat along with Paige as we move on to…

Vs.

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Last week in The Wrestling 5&1…

COMMENTARY FEEDBACK WILL RETURN NEXT WEEK!

What Might Have Been…
By Justin Freemeyer

“ECW, ECW ECW!” Those chants roared through the Wells Fargo Center as Raw this week emanated this the from the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia, PA. As former owner of ECW, Paul Heyman opened Raw with CM Punk, as they continue to taunt the Deadman just days away from climatic meeting at WrestleMania 29. Fans still can’t forget the impact that promotion made some time ago as ECW took the business to a different place. And now that we are approaching the 12 year anniversary of the demise of this promotion I thought it would make a perfect topic this week.

The early seeds of ECW were planted in 1989 and then Todd Gorden took over in 1992 as where it became Eastern Championship Wrestling and then in 1996 the reigns were handed to a crazy man named Paul Heyman. But what Heyman did to ECW was innovative and eye opening to many wrestling fans all over the world, the stars that came through were a who’s who of the wrestling world. August 24, 1994, was the day ECW “crossed the line” so to speak when ECW became “Exteme”! But then we fast forward to April 5, 2001, ECW died just four days after Paul Heyman sat in the commentators booth at WrestleMania x-7 .So what might have been if ECW never closed it’s doors? If Paul Heyman never took over? Paul Heyman is one of wrestling most brilliant minds of all time that turned just another wrestling promotion to something special. A promotion that meant something, that had a cult following to this very day. Heyman helped revamp the career of one Stone Cold Steve Austin, would we of have seen a Stone Cold Steve Austin in the WWE without the influence of ECW?

Steve Austin ECw Promo by AttitudeSC

What if we didn’t see the innovators of ECW like Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman and of course Mr. Monday Night, Rob Van Dam! Yes, Some of them were around before ECW went extreme, but would their careers launched off to heights it went if ECW never went extreme? The battles and things we wouldn’t of saw, some of them that shaped the face of wrestling as we know it.

Let’s look back at the relationship ECW had with the WWE. Vince McMahon helping the ECW with promotion and finances, how much of that impacted the survival of the promotion? Do you think Paul Heyman ran it to the ground financially? What if the money was handled better? What if they TNN decided to keep ECW on television? ECW is one of the few promotions I know of as a fan that had a full crowd down to the final bell of the last ECW match.

ECW Invades Raw 1997 by wcwAttitude

I think if ECW survived a little bit longer maybe things would be different. But at the end of the day, ECW still had an expiration date. When, we will never know the answer to that question. But if would of stuck around past April of 2001, they would of been eventually bought out by either WCW if they would of survived the Monday Night Wars or WWE would swallowed them eventually. Wrestling was changing dramatically when ECW took it’s last chair shot to wrestling past.

But so many questions, so little time…

…but in the words of Tony Schiavone,”We’re out of time!”

You Decide: What Do You Think the Wrestling Landscape would be like had ECW not gone…Extreme!?

Hoganomics:
The introduction of Hogan and the idea of Wrestlemania really altered the perception of wrestling as a powerhouse. Whereas before, it was a small idea getting only slightly bigger, it was becoming a huge idea, ready and willing to take over the world. From a small mecca of New York City, Vince McMahon was ready to go nationwide, and he did it by changing what we knew as wrestling. It was to be a supershow, mixing the world of entertainment with the athleticism of wrestling. This was the ultimate test of McMahon’s “new wrestling” and if it failed, many thought that the idea of WWF would have failed as well. We truly don’t know because it went on to become wildly successful and ushered in an idea of wrestling that we still know today. The idea of entertainment being a separate but equal entity within the wrestling world was new, it was fresh, and it helped spread what would be a small company into a worldwide phenomenon. Still, with the advent of a bigger stage, bigger egos came to play, and with that came challenges. For a bulk of the 80’s, Hulk Hogan was the man. And although it was nearing the time of his end in the sun, 1989 still had him at the top of the game.

World Wide Recognition:
Like the WWE, hip hop was continuing to evolve into its own beast. The old guard of Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash was disappearing though, as a new type of rapper came into play; one that focused on the fashion, the attitude, and the youth of the movement. Although it wasn’t quite as visceral as gangsta rap would become, there was a distinct difference in the musical choices of newer groups and artists. There was also a bit more diversity. One such group that stood out amongst the rest was that of Run-DMC. Three guys who really stressed the aforementioned relationship of DJ and MC, also ushered in a new era of hip-hop stars that continued the success of hip hop as a movement. Although still form the New York area, they had an outworldly feel about them, and it wasn’t long before the trademark outfits that they wore, and the unique rapping that they had would get the attention of the nation. With two-turntables and a mic, this trio brought about a new idea of hip hop that still resembled the past, but gave the ok to change for the future.
The Connection:

This is perhaps the most obvious, as the answer is Wrestlemania V. As I said, Run-DMC got the attention of the nation, and in particular WWF. Wrestlemania V was headlined by Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage going head to head, in one of the better told stories of the WWF’s past, but in a direct tie of hip hop and wrestling, Run-DMC was able to stand in the middle of the squared circle, showing that just like the WWE, hip-hop was deserving of a larger audience than a small pocket of New York.

About the show:
After becoming a Tuesday night tradition, The Greg DeMarco Show moves to Sunday nights and on The SportsRantz Radio Network! For nearly two years, Greg has been joined by co-host and best friend “The Wrestling Realist” Patrick O’Dowd. With his unique viewpoint on the professional wrestling business, Patrick will take those fans who overact to the events of the past week and welcome them back to earth! Originally built as an extension of their near daily banter, the pair have grown into some of the most respected wrestling analysts on the ‘net.

The GDMS guest list is one of the most impressive in the business, including appearances by TNA talent “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels, former WWE Superstar Chris “Masters” Mordetzky, ECW/WWF/WCW legend “The Franchise” Shane Douglas, former 5-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion “Scrap Iron” Adam Pearce and many of today’s top independent talent including Ring of Honor World Champion Kevin Steen, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Champion Adam Cole, Dragon Gate USA Open The Freedom Gate Champion Johnny Gargano and independent wrestling’s #1 female star, Rain.

The show also features appearances by The DeMarcettes, the seven hottest unsigned talents in all of women’s independent wrestling. Buggy Nova, Barbi Hayden, Veda Scott, Terra Calaway, Scarlett Bordeaux, Su Yung, Allie Parker, Cherry Bomb, Jessie Belle, Leah Von Dutch and Niki Nitro entertain fans on a regular basis during The Greg DeMarco Show!

You Decide:

A Whole New World:
I’d like to acknowledge that in a way, I am glossing over a solid six years of the history of the WWE, but I’m also doing the same with hip hop. Not because I couldn’t find ties, but simply because they were uninteresting. The important part, however, is that the WWE was on the verge of greatness before skyrocketing into a worldwide conglomerate, thanks to Hulk Hogan, and savvy business tactics. Soon, though, something would have to change, and it did just that with the addition of the Mr. McMahon character. True, that wasn’t the sole reason what we known as The Attitude Era came to fruition, but it was – I think – the catalyst. The Montreal Screwjob is so well known that I truly don’t have to tell you about it, but it is my watershed moment of when The Attitude Era got its birthright. Soon thereafter, there were no punches pulled, and we got what most call the most riveting and exciting television out there.

The Attitude Era was full of tits and ass, debauchery, antics that were out of this world, and an all around good time. WE had an arrogant group of misfits in DX, a beer-chugging Redneck, a Dead dude, a masked deformity, and a bevy of other characters that belong nowhere else but a wrestling ring. Vince had achieved his great idea of sports and entertainment being a hybrid singular entity, and he did it with the idea of competition in his heart. The Attitude Era was crass, was offensive, was sexual, was altogether in your face – and we loved practically every minute of it. From Sable’s handprints to Triple H’s ass. From Mae Young’s flash, to The Kats. From handbirth’s to pimps and hos, the Attitude Era was a new look at Wrestling, and an era that although sorely missed, would pave the way for something more….real.

West Coast Woes:
Like in wrestling, hip hop flooded the world. From the depths of New York, hip hop found its way to the West Coast of America, and did a complete 180. In a sense, hip hop had its own Atttitude Era, and similar to the WWE, fans loved it. When hip hop made its way to the left side of the map, the West wanted to do something different with it. One man, Ice – T, would serve as the bridge to that alteration. The moment rap came to California, is the moment drama become prevalent. Flashy characters were gone, and everything was a battle. A group like NWA could come out and have racially, sexually, and emotionally charged rant-like raps that blatantly spelled out the death of someone, or a direct call to police. Rappers like Tupac could claim he’d kill someone a few tracks before an ode to his mother. Hip hop became a vessel, a way to get a complaint out. Hip hop became…a wrestling ring, and no two “wrestlers” in the hip hop world could be bigger than Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace. The Biggie and Tupac feud pitted one half of the country against the other, and I could write reams of paper (and have) on the dissension between two people who had – at one time – called each other friends. I won’t, because this is still mostly a wrestling column. But to say that hip hop changed would have been an understatement. It changed, so much, that the man most would call the father of hip hop (Afrika Bambaataa) became very critical of it, and it took many years for something to give in the hip hop world – only it wasn’t exactly what some were hoping for…

The Connection:
I think the most obvious connection here is the “attitude” of both products. Whereas before, larger than life superstars were having fun and there were lots of smiles to be had, both products were more adult-themed and offensive. Sex sells, and both products latched onto that idea full force. Hip Hop would turn the idea of a woman into an object, the art of rap into a mode of feuding, and the idea that entire gangs would be against each other due to music. Wrestling would focus more on offensive feuds, also turn the idea of a woman into an object, and focus on “ATTITUDE.” If the 80’s were wrestling and hip-hops childhood, then the attitude era was surely the teenage rebellious years of both.

PG-Era and Onward:
There is a blatant hole in the WWE right now, in terms of quality and interest. The older fans (such as myself and practically every writer on the site) want something to stand out. We don’t cry or yearn for the older days, but we do wish there was a better focus on the current product. It seems like a lot of wrestling is just going through the motions, and at this time of the year, that simply should not be the case. The younger fans of wrestling are latching onto people that may not deserve that spotlight, while other, better athletes are left in the dust of those big stars. There seems to be a large focus on nostalgia due to a (perhaps) lack of faith in the youth movement. That may not be as much the wrestlers’ fault as it is the product’s demands, but it’s still present. Some blame the ratings, others blame the writers, but it may very well be a combination of things going into it that cause the lull that we are in. In either case, fans still flock to the product, and it’s most likely that a large number of us always will.

Something’s Missing:
There is a blatant hole in the world of hip hop right now, in terms of quality and interest. One can practically take everything I said about wrestling in the previous blurb and paste it here for hip hop. Older fans want a better focus, and younger fans seem to be latching onto people that simply don’t deserve it. Nostalgia is still present, and there is a lack of faith in the youth movement. Just like Bruno Sammartino’s stance against the Attitude Era, Afrika Bambaataa despised hip hop for the longest time. In hip hop, I can definitely blame the product’s demands, because just like wrestling, the youth control the demands. There is no PG-rating for hip hop, but there is evidence for a toned down approach to it. In some cases, it works. In others, it doesn’t.

The Connection:
In writing this, there were some moments I didn’t think would work, but lining the timelines up next to each other show just how closely they resemble each other. From the cartoonish era of Kangol hats and colorful tassels, to the attitude era of NWA and DX, all the way to PG-Era Cena and A$AP Rocky, both products have had their ups, their downs, their successes, and their failures, but there is one thing for certain – I love both of them, and I wouldn’t trade my fandom, or the years of happiness that the WWE and hip hop have brought me for anything.