For the lateness of this blog, you have
my apologies. Currently, I’m moving house and in the midst of everything I
could have forgotten, I neglected to pay my internet bill so the nice people at
Orange cut me off, bless them, for three days which is why you’re getting a
blog you should have had last Monday, now. Still, I’m back, not quite sorted
but hey I’ll get there. My life has been lived through a haze of confusion and
annoyance so a little more won’t hurt.
Before we touch upon a few subjects
which have caught my attention this week, I would just like to elaborate on
something that has niggled me constantly whilst reviewing the latest WWE DVD’s
which you will be seeing here over the next few weeks. I’m sure I’m not the
only person who has been completely annoyed by this, but I haven’t seen many
more people mention it, especially on Twitter where wrestling fans seem scared
to voice their true opinions in case Vince McMahon finds out and bans them from
a being a fan or whatever punishment they can conjure up in their own fertile
and somewhat retarded little minds.
For those who have been tuning into WWE
programming since Payback will have heard Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and
anyone else they pay to think like them mention Daniel Bryan and his neck
surgery. Not in too friendly terms either. It astounds me that even though
they’re doing it in character, The Authority seem to be under the pathetic
misapprehension that Daniel Bryan is “weak” and “not WWE World Heavyweight
Championship material” because he can’t compete with a broken neck. Seriously?
I mean, is it just me or this is the most ludicrous and ridiculous statement
you’ve ever heard? Even in character, do these people really expect Daniel
Bryan to fight with a broken neck when they could get sued for everything
they’re worth if he was to end up paralysed?
I know this is all part of a storyline
in which Daniel Bryan will return and at some point regain the titles but
still, WWE could have thought of something better than this drivel. Honestly,
it all feels like the punishment is being heaped on us. WWE’s way of laughing
at the fans for being wrong and forcing their hand to make Bryan champion at
WrestleMania XXX. If so, they can stop right now because with the WWE Network
entering financial crisis the company can’t afford to rile any of its audience.
If we tune out, the company will make a massive loss and be forced to make even
more cuts to counteract it.
The best thing WWE can do now is stop
being petty, shut their god damn mouths and give us wrestling we want to watch.
If WWE believe that this little setback is going to stop us cheering for Daniel
Bryan or even demanding what we want when we don’t get it, they’re wrong. And
if Vince McMahon thinks he can go back to doing what he wants and telling us
what we want to watch which is actually what he wants to see then how about we
just stop tuning in? Because I’ve had just about a gut full of WWE believing
they can tell the fans what they have to watch and still demanding money for
it. We wanted to see Daniel Bryan as WWE World Heavyweight Champion and lobbied
for it. That shouldn’t mean because he’s inured WWE can have a go at us through
him.
Vince McMahon has a huge and false sense
of self importance. He thinks he’s better than us because he owns a company,
has a few hundred million in the bank and believes he knows about wrestling.
Whilst I’m not disputing McMahon knows what he’s talking about, I am disputing
the fact that he knows more than us. I think we’ve proven over and over again
that we known more about wrestling than not just Vince McMahon but most working
in the company today. We can pick out mistakes in storylines, who should have
won for the good of the future and why when these things are seemingly blind to
WWE. We’re the ones who pay the wages through our hard earned money and if WWE
are going to do what they want and not listen to us again, or ridicule us when
someone we want to see goes down with an injury no one could have helped or
foreseen they may as well close their doors now.
You can’t run a company like that. It’s
not good for business. Vince McMahon needs to sit and have a long think what
happens if we revolt more than before. What if we were to go elsewhere? Where
would the WWE be then? What would happen to the WWE Network if thousands
unsubscribed? And how would they like it if we began talking about them not
being wrestling company material because they were wrong? These things can
easily be turned around on the people making the accusations if they want to
play at that game. I can name twenty mistakes WWE have made over the years just
off the top of my head. If I sat and thought for a few hours I could name a lot
more. The one difference is though, us backing Daniel Bryan wasn’t a mistake
and if necessary we’ll lobby all over again for his rise until WWE are forced
to listen to us.
We’re the voice in wrestling. We say
what happens and what doesn’t and if we don’t like it, we tune off. At some
point in time WWE has to listen to us on a regular occurrence. Nothing good can
come of it if they don’t. Ridiculing us and saying we were wrong to choose
Daniel Bryan because he can’t wrestle through a broken neck is some of the
worst and most ridiculous material they’ve ever come up with. How do you think
Triple H would have reacted in 1998, 2001 or 2007 if people had have come out
and said “Triple H isn’t WWE Championship material because he can’t fight with
a torn quad muscle in his leg?” He’d have hit the roof so right now, stop
dealing in double standards and start speaking the truth.
If anyone is going to be criticised it’s
WWE at the way it’s handled new talent. If they’d have had the foresight to
push Daniel Bryan in the first place when he clearly had the talent and not
kept him back because of their childish vendetta against independent promotions
and anyone who has wrestled on them, we wouldn’t have had to force their hand
or rise up against them. They’ve messed up so many young and promising careers
all in the aid of preserving John Cena’s image when it wouldn’t have hurt for
him to give something back to wrestling. God knows he’s taken enough. If anyone
wants to dispute that then you tell me how many careers and wrestlers John Cena
has made as the face of WWE. How many people he’s actually helped without
thinking of his own selfish needs. This is should be basic stuff for someone
like Cena, it only reaffirms he’s here for the cheque.
It’s time for WWE to stop their petty
finger pointing and realize the customer is always right. It’s pathetic and
juvenile, but then again at its heart, that is what WWE has always been.
A Sting in the Tale
Do you realise it’s been thirty years in
the making? Sting has wrestled for every major American wrestling promotion
with the exception of ECW and WWE and finally, he has signed with the company
as his t-shirt on WWEshop.com and his inclusion on the WWE2K15 game would
suggest. I’m going to deny that I’m excited, it’s huge for the company but it’s
also puts them in a difficult position. Because now, they have to find room for
him on the roster which includes several up and coming names who need the spot
he’ll occupy.
Like Brock Lesnar, Sting will wrestle on
a part-time basis. At his advanced age, there’s no way he could ever keep up
with WWE’s full time schedule but in 2014, he’s done so much for wrestling
there’s no need for him to be on TV every week. Acts like Sting work better
when they’re used as speciality acts, though the company will want him to
wrestle on all their major shows just to say he’s fought on Raw, Smackdown,
Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series. For the money
they’re paying him it’s not unreasonable to ask that of him.
Sting’s deal comes with a guaranteed
WrestleMania appearance which we’ll touch upon in a moment, the merchandise
deal which includes the T-shirt which your Wrestling God has already
pre-ordered and the inclusion as a pre-order bonus on WWE2K15 which hits stores
in October. Also included in Sting’s sizable contract is a DVD and Blu-ray deal
which will hit stores in September 2014 and will appear hear later in the year
and should also cover his own WWE action figure, posters and whatever else the
company can think of to capitalize on his coming after so many years of
rumours. Of course, with the deal also comes a guaranteed spot in the WWE Hall
of Fame.
Of course, there are questions abound of
Sting’s role in the company. Yes, he will appear in a wrestling capacity on
television and pay-per view as soon as SummerSlam if rumours are to be believed
but will he take the spotlight away from the young guns? It’s possible but if
WWE play their cards close to their chests then they could use that to their
advantage. Sting has beaten every huge name in wrestling since bursting on the
scene in a singles capacity in the mid 1980’s. It wouldn’t be right if he doesn’t
beat Triple H and John Cena whilst with the company. In fact, it would be
fruitful for WWE to have Sting defeat John Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight
Championship and then lose it to Roman Reigns or Seth Rollins. A victory over
an icon like Sting would do more for whomever is chosen to defeat him for the
gold than it would with a win over Cena.
Many will think that Sting winning the
top title is a step back for the company but they’re wrong. Sting is
notoriously unselfish when it comes to talent making. His final act in TNA was
to put over Magnus and allow him to take the step up to become TNA World
Heavyweight Champion, thus making a star in the process. A Sting WWE World
Heavyweight Championship reign wouldn’t only propel a young star into the
stratosphere once they defeated him for the gold, but everyone deep down wants
to see Sting hold WWE’s title as well. Only a very few handful of people have
held the WWE, WCW and TNA World Heavyweight Championships. Sting has earned the
right to be added to that list.
His biggest contribution thought has to
surely come at WrestleMania and in the dream match everyone has been yearning
to see. Sting vs The Undertaker. The Undertaker is just about done in
wrestling. He’s got one fight left in him though and we’ll see it at
WrestleMania 31 when he takes his final bow. There’s nothing left for The
Undertaker to prove in wrestling and it’s only right that now he’s dumped the
streak to someone who didn’t need it he goes out on final victory over a dream
opponent. Sting would give The Undertaker that moment in time. That exit. That
finale which he truly deserves.
There are many roles Sting can occupy in
wrestling in 2014 before looking at retirement and we will cover them all over
the months or years he’s with the company. Joint first though has to be making
a new star and allowing an old one to bow out in style. It’s the way he’s
always worked. That cannot change now. In a land of selfish giants, Sting has
to be the one to show the new generation another way.
Goodbye Old Friend
Those of you who read this blog will
also read the wrestling magazine, Power Slam, which for me is the greatest
wrestling magazine in the UK bar none and certainly beats the other, kayfabe
filled piece of toilet paper which is filled with boot licking and arse kissing
and thinks everything is just great when its plainly not. Well, I have some sad
news for Power Slam readers though if you picked up the recent copy which was
released on July 17th 2014, you’ll already know that Power Slam magazine is no
more.
It was a shocking piece of news to your
Wrestling God who grew up with the magazine from its inception as many others
did as well. It provided an honest insight to wrestling each month and was such
an enjoyable read that I looked forward to every month’s release. It was like
the cosy old blanket that threw its arms around you and hugged you until you
put it down and it will be sorely missed. Now, your Wrestling God is the only
and foremost source of truth in wrestling and whilst it’s a daunting task I
will as usual do my job to the best of my ability.
I thank Power Slam and its editor /
creator Findlay Martin for twenty years of unparalleled service and enjoyment.
We’ll not see the likes of this wonderful magazine again. Like all good things,
it went out at the top of its game.
Strange Requests
All the time I’ve been doing this blog,
I haven’t really encountered any strange requests from readers. When I say
strange requests I don’t mean ridiculous stuff like ‘send me a mask you’ve
sweated into’ or a bottle of my old bath water, that would be plain bizarre,
though I know people out there get off on that sort of stuff. What I’m talking
about is enough recognition to be known for my work here. I’m not some self
righteous prick who babbles on about saving a starving community from poverty
in some god awful third world country where I wouldn’t go in the first place,
I’m not Madonna, but I like to think that I do some good with my words.
Maybe when you read this blog, you do so
to have a laugh at wrestling where you can’t on weekly television because it
takes itself so bloody seriously. Perhaps you read these columns as part of a
set of other blogs you also read on wrestling and like to hear the different
takes on what’s been going down or what’s coming up. It’s possible that you
good people, my minions, actually want to know and hear the truth about
wrestling and that’s why you grace me with your presence on a daily and weekly
occurrence. Whatever the reason, I like to think that you leave with something.
Some slither of truth, some wit which you’ll be chuckling about in two days
time or an insight you never thought of before. I know it’s unlikely because
I’m a mere blogger and I know I have my critics but to hell with them.
Whatever you do take away after reading
this blog, I’ve never thought anyone would take away such a like that they’d
grace me with one of the weirdest requests I’ve ever heard. Of course, the
person who I was talking to three days ago had no idea they were talking to The
Wrestling God, not that I take myself seriously at all you understand. I saw
them waiting at my bus stop reading the blog on their phone. I don’t usually
peep over people’s shoulders whilst they’re reading their phones but as it’s my
blog I felt I had a duty. As they read, they had a small smile on their face
and then we got into a discussion about the blog and The Wrestling God. It was
nice to hear how much they liked what I wrote even though they had no idea it
was me. And then they dropped it on me.
The person in question, after about
fifteen minutes of talking enthusiastically about the blog said this; “I wish I
could get their autograph!” To which I just smiled and agreed as I usually do
whilst all the time, in my mind I was thinking “is it normal for someone to
want a blogger’s autograph?” I had no idea. For celebrities it’s part of their
everyday life. Someone sends them something or pushes something in their face
and they sign it whilst the person on the other end dances in dizzy glee but I
had no idea if it was normal to want a blogger’s autograph. So I got searching
the net, I talked to fellow bloggers and asked them but none had ever been
asked for such a request. And why would they? Their sites aren’t as big as this
one is or as great. Me being big headed? Maybe, but I think we’ve worked for
that privilege.
And then after about five hours of
searching the web and autograph sites I found a woman in America who ran a blog
and got talking to her. After hearing a life story I had no interest in, I
finally found the information I’d been looking for which she could have told me
five minutes into our conversation and skipped the rest. Her blog had become so
big in America, like this one has in Britain or at least with certain people in
the UK, that she’d been asked for autographs in places and even had requests
sent to her agent for autographs. So I decided that I’d stop replying to her
emails and move on with my life. Believe me, it was going nowhere.
It got me thinking. If that person
wanted my autograph then does anyone else? And this is the question. Does
anyone reading this or anyone they know want a personalized autograph from The
Wrestling God? I’m not going to give out my agents address for just one person,
it’s pointless, but if more than one person would like an 8x10 of me (in
wrestling mask to preserve my identity) signed to them or would like me to sign
something else wrestling related then I have my agent’s permission to give out
their office address so you can send me requests.
As I’ve had to disable comments on this
blog because of idiots, you can’t reach me here but for you, my minions, I’ve
opened a Twitter account so you can contact me there at @TWGISHERE and vote yes
or no. The link to the address is on your left at the top of the column. I will
also throw up a survey to your left so you can vote there as well, so make sure
you bother I don’t do this for my own amusement. If enough people want it, if
you message me on Twitter then I’ll accept autograph requests but do take note
that all fan mail and requests will be read first by my agent’s legal team and
anything with no return address will be immediately destroyed and abuse will be
logged and reported to the police. But then if you’re a true fan, I welcome any
all fan mail and requests. So what do you think?
I think it is worth mentioning that I
will not charge for the pictures or anything sent to me to sign but will
require you to enclose a stamped address envelope and I’ll even be glad to sign
for people from abroad. Once again I will irritate, any abusive mail will NOT
reach me and only go as far as my agent and her legal team who will take steps
to ensure the person is brought to justice and yes that does mean police.
Likewise, any mail not with a return address on the top of the page (if just
fan mail) or with no stamped address envelope (if an autograph request) will go
straight in the bin also without being read. And if people think it’ll be
clever to send me abusive messages on Twitter, you’ll just be blocked.
So let me know what you think. Of course
you don’t just have to contact me on Twitter for that, I’d love to hear from
you all there. If there is interest in autographs then let me know as soon as
possible so we can get the ball rolling.
Onwards and upwards...
