Consider this an introduction. I'm a huge wrestling fan in the sense that I like good wrestling, good stories, and unexpected plot twists. With TNA sinking faster than the Titanic these days, I stick to my good old WWE. So naturally, when I have my Monday nights off, I like to plop down on the couch, Turn on Raw, and turn up the volume. In more recent years, I have come to realize that I have a somewhat insane/masochistic relationship with my wrestling, insanity here being defined as doing the same action over and over expecting different results and masochism as doing something you know will hurt, whether physically or mentally, whilst grinning like an idiot. I watch Raw and Smackdown when I can, knowing full well that the show will probably suck. I can predict the outcome of every bit in the show, and my brain hurts from doing it. Each week, I tune in hoping that maybe, just maybe, tonight's show will be a little less sucky, and it rarely is. I watch to see talented guys put on an entertaining show that keeps the audience glued to the action, not get put in stupid bits and cheesy movies while an interchangeable group of impractically dressed skanks pull hair and fake bulldogs for the tenth week in a row. However, in spite of all that, I was generally pleased with the results of the show from 8/15. Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio put on a great match. It was a fitting ending to the show, and I was all ready to flip over to catch the second half of Jon Stewart until who should arrive like an unwanted Superman but John Cena. Heaven forbid they have one show without this overhyped army-wannabe. He pummels Del Rio and decides that he's pissed off at him. Not at CM Punk, who beat him down, or at Triple H who made the controversial 3-count, or even the guy that directed 12 rounds(because God knows after I saw it, I wanted to bash someone in the head), but Del Rio. Why? Because Alberto cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on a weakened champion, which was for whatever reason terrible. This coming from the same guy who commended both The Miz and Edge for doing the same, "sensible" thing, the latter against.....Cena himself. Yes, I know it's scripted. I don't hate John Cena on a personal level; I respect the work he's done for charity and such. But the writers and the guys organizing these shows need a real wake-up call. First of all, do they even pay attention to old storylines? It doesn't really work when you just magically change a guy's attitude towards another for no apparent reason (see Undertaker/Kane we're brothers/I hate you gimmick that gets rehashed every few years). The wrestling audience, for at least some part, is smarter than that. Want proof? Watch the shows, read the tweets and the facebook posts, read the magazine articles. Pay attention to each fan and who they're favorite wrestler is. See the kid whose first show this is, who's not quite old enough to realize that it's not all real, who's decked out in the shirt and the hat with the fake belt his parents got to enhance the experience? Chances are he's screaming for John Cena. Same goes for the preteen girl who thinks he's just so dreamy, or the middle-aged trailerwife who "knows" it's real(this comes from personal experience). Now find the real wrestling fans, the ones who know real names, failed gimmicks, win-loss records, and are virtually walking wrestling encyclopedias. Chances are, they're the ones responding to every "Let's go Cena" chant with a heartfelt "Cena sucks!" Just because you're in the main event week in and week out does not mean you're the best wrestler or even the best entertainer. It just means that you're going along with what you're supposed to do. I have seen plenty of very talented guys and girls who could outperform the best of them get stuck with bad gimmicks and get relegated to 5 minute time fillers or the unemployment line. The more I think about it all, I am taken back to the mid-90s. They tried to tell us that Bret Hart and Rocky Maivia were the good guys, while Steve Austin and DX were villains, but the audience didn't go with it. The bad guys became the most popular superstars, while Rocky's career really took off after his heel turn. The guys at the top need to realize that their audience does not consist entirely of children and simpletons who have to be told who is good and who isn't. Until then, I will just sit back and wait until next Monday so I can watch two hours of the same thing again. Or maybe not.....
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