20 New Blood, Steel Cage and Change

Coffee Table Thoughts {20}: New Blood, Steel Cage and Change

New Blood

In the recent times in Impact Wrestling, there has been an influx of new talent. There is enough variety in the talent too; they have come in all shapes and sizes.

We have Alex Silva and Sam Shaw who both are X-Division category with their small frames. They are both young and know the moves that suit this division. After some time on the roster, they will be able to gain experience and get more comfortable both in the in-ring aspects and other showmanship aspects that are associated with the professional wrestling industry. They already have a lot of talent but it is more in the form of potential. I am quite sure that they both will be headlining the X-Division in not so distant future.

We have Wes Briscoe who comes from a legendary wrestling family – his father Gerald Briscoe and Uncle Jack Briscoe were NWA mainstays. He seems to have a good wrestling acumen and a well built frame. He has been inserted in a storyline with Kurt Angle where Kurt is acting as his mentor. This can only point to good things in his future and I don’t think TNA will hesitate in giving him proper pushes from time to time. They need the aura of second generation superstars as their roster is not exactly full of them.

There is Jessie Godderz from the Big Brother who has got the look that chicks fall for and well, one of the hotties is already all over his body. I’m sorry, that’s all I see when I see Jessie and Tara together – Tara and her seductive antics. As far as the intangibles are concerned, he seems to have a good grip of that. He has a great screen presence and knows how to take advantage of every single minute afforded to him. He brings with him the previous success of a reality show so he can bring a lot of media concentration on the company which is in bad need of it. Plus, he seems to be athletic enough and doesn’t seem out of place in a wrestling ring. His look effectively puts him right at the top of the food chain – as a main eventer and possibly as the face of the company. But it is too soon to call on that. Right now I am just happy to see his progress and of course, Tara.

Then, we have Joey Ryan who seems to be some sort of Indy Darling coming up from little feds. Now I know, there are a lot of people who find him obnoxious and over the top but he has developed quite a fan-following in the IWC (who, by the way, also find him obnoxious and over the top). His in-ring ability is good and he has been placed in a tag-team with Matt Morgan. As odd as the pairing seems, it will give him a lot of exposure and he will be able to learn a lot in-ring wise by facing opponents the like of Chavo Guerrero.

DOC, of course is not new to the limelight as he has come from WWE. But he has been thrust into a major storyline in the TNA in the form of Aces and Eights and so far he hasn’t disappointed. He looks believable in his role of an evil enforcer, although, everyone in Aces and Eights is essentially an enforcer only. The storyline with Aces and Eights may have run out of gas and may ultimately be nothing more than a bust but Doc is surely set for a great run in TNA.

Meanwhile, those who have peculiar interest in redheads may not worry, for Taeler Hendrix has been added to the Knockout roster. I am yet to see her matches in more detail but I liked her first match after being added to the Impact Roster when she challenged the then Knockouts Champion! Currently she seems to have been lost somewhere and isn’t presented on television but she will surely be getting some exposure in that division some time in near future.

Have I missed something? Oh Yeah.

Christian York has arrived.

There is this feel good story about him. He has been in this business for about 15 years and has only now been able to reach the big leagues. He was there on the very first TNA show but he was let go afterwards because he wasn’t ready.

But now, he is.

And how!

He is ready to be the member of the Impact Roster and a very prominent one at that. Already, he has fought a former World Heavyweight Champion and the current World Heavyweight Champion. Granted, he lost both of these matches but he put on a showing that assured the fans and the management alike of his ability to become a major player in future.

Although those two matches were high profile matches, I think it was only for testing the waters. He is not going to be placed in the World Heavyweight Championship matches any time soon. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. He has been added in the Mini tournament to determine the number one contender for the X-Division Championship. I would bet my hard earned money to predict that he will win this tournament, and go on to challenge Rob Van Dam, whose respect he has already earned (in Kayfabe).

At 35 years of age, he is not exactly a young man. There are what, about 5 to 7 years left in his career. He is not starting things at the top of the card and he may spend well over a year in the mid-card. But sooner or later, he is going to be too important a part to keep away from the main event.

Look for the big things in his future.

 

Aces and Eights

Not required. That’s what my initial reaction was to the idea of Aces and Eights.

But alas, we have to endure what has been started. Many of us who were excited for this group of thugs have grown bored of their repetitive antics and lack of faces. We had two faces revealed in over 6 months – Devon and Doc. Now there is a third face – Mike Knox from WWE (That’s how he was described when unmasked).

To be honest though, I think the storyline with the Doc was handled pretty well. And Doc has worked well to get that character over as a heel. The reason why they have gone for the slow reveal is (what I think anyway) that they really want to give room to these characters. If all the faces were revealed in a short span of time, we wouldn’t be noticing the character traits of each individual and none of them would be getting the spot light. In the given scenario, Doc has been well exposed for well over two months, audience have come to know him and therefore, he doesn’t need that spotlight that much anymore. Hence, it’s a good time to put the emphasis on Mike Knox right about now. He will be given all the spotlight that one can come to expect and his role will be the major part in the coming weeks.

Speaking of the unmasking, I have to throw some light on the manner in which it was done. Firstly, a Steel Cage tag-team match was held between the team of Devon and an unmasked member of Aces and Eights (Not too difficult to guess who turned out to be Mike Knox of the two) and the team of Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle. While there was nothing negative to say about the quality of the match or how the things were worked around the match – there was one huge eye-catching fault – The Camera Work.

A Steel Cage match is the one where the ring is surrounded by a Steel Cage. There is just one door through which one can enter or exit. There is also an option to climb up that Steel Cage and enter from over that cage and into the ring, which can be a risky move.

Do you know, however, that these Steel Cages also have a large hole in them through which a Camera-man can record all the in-ring action? A hole large enough that even a man the size of Samoa Joe can enter/exit through it? No? What if I tell you that this particular Steel Cage did not have one, but two such holes in it?

And these hidden doors, so to speak, weren’t shown just once or twice but throughout the match! Yes! Throughout the match, on national television on a show that was hyped month long – 1. 3. 13!

I hope that this matter gets brought to the notice of the TNA Management and they take some corrective measures in ensuring that these loopholes don’t get exposed ever again!

Inter-Continental Championship

The year 2012 hasn’t really been kind on the WWE Inter-Continental Championship. We saw uninspired title reigns of Cody Rhodes, Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Christian, The Miz and Kofi Kingston.

Things did seem to be going in the right direction on quite a few occasions but they never really materialised into anything worthwhile. The most important of it all was the potential of a feud between The Miz and Kofi Kingston. There were some good to great matches the two had and it seemed that The Miz was able to get under the skin of Kofi and was forcing him to react – for a while anyway.

But then it cooled off. Kofi won the championship; there were a couple of rematches. And that was it.

In the end of 2012, Kofi found a new challenger in Wade Barret. Wade Barret failed to win the championship at TLC. However, he did win the title on the first Raw of 2013. Well, there was a rematch on Smackdown again and Kofi did not manage to win his title back. To be honest, this is more of the same old, same old here. There is a credible challenger. There are about two to three matches in a very short span of time. Challenger wins it either the first time or the second time. Then there is a rematch. The former champion fails to win back. The winner (and the Champion) goes on to another challenger. It would be far-fetched to even call these shenanigans a feud.

However, there was something that I noticed on this week’s Smackdown that I liked; something that tells me that a change is coming; for better.

First, let me tell as to what all took place on Smackdown. Two separate interviews were conducted by the very talented, Matt Striker. One with the current champion, Wade Barret and another with the challenger, Kofi Kingston. 

This is standard affair, so far.

In his interview, Wade Barret bigged himself up and ran down Kofi Kingston for allegedly attacking him from behind after he had already beaten three different opponents in a Gauntlet match in the Main Event this week. This is a very basic heel tactic to distort the picture and present the facts in a skewed manner. But he did it #LikeABoss. His mannerisms, his voice and his annoying self-belief tells me that Wade Barret will represent the belt in a much better way than any of the former (and talented, I must add) champions that I mentioned above.

Then, in his interview, Kofi Kingston said he is not challenging for the Inter-continental Championship tonight because of what happened at the Main Event. He is challenging for the title tonight because he wanted that title back from the very moment that Wade Barret took it from him. He can’t forget that moment when Barret stood in the ring, when Kofi lied down on his back, and held that title. Kofi Kingston showed emotions. He showed the pain through his eyes. It wasn’t a do-gooder Kofi anymore. He showed a desire to win, a desire to avenge. He showed confidence and determination, but more than all that, a desire.

More so, he brought those emotions in the match. Throughout the match, he kept coming with these emotional outbursts. Once, he had Wade Barret covered in a pin attempt and Wade Barret was able to kick out just in time to save the match for him. Kofi went right on Barret’s face and showed though hand gesture, that he was this close from winning.

The match itself was a great match to witness. It should not come as a surprise to anyone, given the calibre of the competitors involved. It was not a Kofi Kingston match, however. Well, it indeed was a Kofi Kingston match because he dictated the pace and the direction of the match, but it wasn’t a normal Kofi Kingston match. This is because Kofi had toned down his high flying offence. There still were a lot of high flying moves, but the majority of match was fought with ground offence. Kofi came up with many submission moves and even more pinning combinations. He concentrated on winning. Gone were the attempts to cheer the audience by mesmerizing them with his moves. He was purposeful the entire match.

He did not win the match, sure. But he had changed. For the better.

   

Yet Another TNA Column

Coffee Table Thoughts {21} : Yet another TNA column

TNA Tag Team Championship Scene

What we were hoping for

There were many of us who were hoping and praying for TNA to be bold over here. It would have been a hitherto unseen competition between two of the most entertaining acts in the modern history of professional wrestling.

The Bad Influence has been on a roll, entertainment-wise even before it was named as such. With their mere presence, they are able to convert even the worst of the segments and storylines in pure gold.

Even though the Clair Lynch farce of a storyline continued well over a decade, you cannot argue that it was still bearable due to the antics of Christopher Daniels. Alright, may be that was a hyperbole. Wait, where are you going? Please don’t go away, I promise I won’t mention that name again. Promise!

Bad Influence consists of Christopher Daniels and Kazarian, two of the very solid performers that have been in TNA, on and off, for a very long time. There are many admirers of the in ring ability of Christopher Daniels; his matches in the X-Division and against AJ Styles are still talked about to this day. He is no slouch in terms of mic skills either. In fact, he can make you puke by making you laugh so hard. With all that said, he is at the most, an upper mid-card guy in the TNA wrestling.

Kazarian is a solid in ring performer but he is not at the level of Christopher Daniels. He also is solid on the mic but you won’t find yourself get immersed in his promos.

However, when you combine both of them, it becomes a Super Combination. Christopher Daniels definitely leads the team but Kaz is very good in his role as a lackey of Daniels. They entertain in the ring, they entertain on the mic and you are always wondering what they will bring to the table next as they are constantly looking out for more and more things and people to fuck up with.

It’s an unmatched combination.

Or so we thought.

After having lost their world championship opportunities, both Bobby Roode and Austin Aries entered into a love-hate relationship. It followed with constant efforts of one-upping each other. For example, if Bobby Roode came out in his robe, Austin Aries would come out in his robe and wearing a t-shirt inside. Amazing, isn’t it?

As much differences as they had between themselves, they agreed on one thing. They agreed that they were both miles ahead of the rest of the roster. That was enough for them to form a tag team and begin a quest of capturing all the gold that TNA has to offer.

In terms of credibility, surely the team of Austin Aries and Bobby Roode are on a much higher rank than Bad Influence, if we take the individual achievements into consideration. However, as a team, I would argue they are quite on an equal footing. Austin Aries and Bobby Roode is a team of titans, while Bad Influence compensates that in the form of teacher-student kind of relationship. Kazarian is the least entertaining of the four guys involved but he can hold his own against any of them and his partnership with Christopher Daniels has only improved his charisma.

If TNA had been gutsy, they would have gone with a direct feud between these two teams. Let me tell you, if this would have happened, nothing in the weekly dose of wrestling would have been as much entertaining as this.

But alas, it didn’t.

What we got

For now though, they have gone with the 3^rd ranked team in the 3 team division of TNA Wrestling. That being the team of Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez.

In the last episode of Impact Wrestling, we saw an unusual Contract Signing for the World Tag Team championship match. These kinds of things are usually reserved for World Championships.  In the contract-signing, a stipulation was added to make it a best 2 out of 3 falls match. Going further, the heel team of Double A and It Factor went on to add a stipulation that if Chavo and Super Mex were to lose the said match, they will no longer be able to tag along in future. Basically, their team would be dead. This made sense because Hernandez and Chavo had ample opportunities at the Tag Titles but were unsuccessful in capturing them every time they faced against Aries and Roode. There was a need to raise the stakes in order to make them hungrier.

It was interesting to see how it all went down. When the stipulation was suggested by the heel team, it was Chavo who jumped on and agreed to the stipulation without any resistance. He was ready for the challenge, ready to risk it all. But Hernandez on the other hand, was sceptical and wasn’t ready to risk it all. He tried to talk Chavo out of it while Chavo was trying to talk him into it. Ultimately, Chavo convinced Hernandez to sign the contract, although it was clear from the expressions of Hernandez that he was doing it out of compulsion and not on his free will.

This disagreement, however little it was, led me to believe that we were about to see the Mexican team disbanded. I hoped that we would be getting a feud between the two of them. And to tell the truth, I was quite looking forward to that feud. How awesome it would have been if Hernandez would have called out Chavo for using his family name in excess of required and that Chavo is nothing but a self hyped glorified jobber.

In the match itself, there were many moments which could have led us to believe that the Mexicans were about to lose the gold opportunity as well as the right to stay together. Early on in the match, Team Extraordinary got an advantage as Super Mex was disposed off outside the ring while Chavo was rendered motionless inside the ring. They got the early first fall too. It was fitting, wasn’t it? The man who was hell bent on accepting the challenge was the man who got pinned. And that too in such a short time. Hernandez would have all the more reason to get angry.

Chavo, however, was able to get the balancing pin fall soon enough due to the unnecessary mocking and rejoicing of the Aries and Roode that followed the first fall. Soon enough Super Mex was back in action and was on a super strength roll.

Once again there came a point in the match where it seemed that the champions were about to win the match when Hernandez came running from the ramp straight into the ring on to the team of Double A and It Factor. However, both the champions were able to move out of the way just in time to keep Chavo right in the middle of the ring where he would take the crash landing of his own partner.

But alas, it was for nought. Chavo and Hernandez managed to win the match despite all the obstacles thrown at them. It was a beautiful story to see unfold before my eyes.

Here I would like to point out that I feel the wrestling product, that is the in ring product, presented by TNA is different from the product presented by WWE. WWE’s in-ring product seems to be an assembly line manufactured product whereas there’s a lot of difference in every match that TNA presents. Or maybe not. I need to observe a little more trend in TNA matches before I can conclude this. But I do get more entertained by TNA matches than the WWE matches as far as regular weekly television is concerned.

I was looking forward to having to get rid of Chavo and Hernandez as a tag team. I like Hernandez; he’s an absolute beast inside the ring and moves very fast in the ring for someone of his size and mass. But Chavo Guerrero bores me to tears. No, actually he irritates me a lot.

These ill feelings towards Chavo Guererro and this team changed, however, during the course of the match as I was able to comprehend just how solid a talent Chavo actually is. He is not going to win Oscars for his acting ability and he is not going to bring thousands of listeners through his promos (quite the opposite, actually) but he sure is a great wrestling talent. It always feels good to watch those three amigos thrown in any match! After the match and the result, I found myself excited for this team as the champions. I have to give the credit of this change of heart to the match and to the efforts put in by of all the four participants

Where do we go from here?

Now his win points out to an exit from the tag division of Austin Aries and Bobby Roode. Or maybe they will continue the feud with the Mexi-Guererro. May be this is a way of getting the strap from an awesome heel team to some team from Aces and Eights without making this phenomenal team look weak. Who knows really? It would be interesting to see where each of these teams goes from here.

May be Austin Aries and Bobby Roode will start feuding with each other by blaming each other for the loss of tag team straps. Or maybe they both join in the forces to fight against the Aces and Eights.

Meanwhile Bad Influence seems to be getting back in fucking up with the innocent mind of AJ Styles...

What if they go with a completely unexpected route by making Aries and Roode join Bad Influence? That would be an epicity of HAM! Or maybe we will eventually indeed get the feud between Bad Influence and the team of AJ Styles and Bobby Roode? May be they are waiting for a more opportune time? Slammiversary, anyone?

It's not about you!

Coffee Table Thoughts 19: It’s not about you!

Like a Phoenix bird.

Sometimes in life, we have to endure those incidents and moments which define us. Sometimes those moments can be so damaging that we can’t forget them for rest of our lives. I am specifically talking about the bad moments when we embarrass ourselves by our deeds for the whole world to see.

I know I have had them. And those memories will remain with me for the rest of my life.

There is one wrestler in particular who had that embarrassing moment not a long while ago. He fell down when he was on the top of the world, with all the spotlights on him. He became the talk of the town. I am sure what hurt him more were not the words that berated him but the silence that disapproved of him.

I am talking about one Jeff Hardy. At Victory Road 2011 pay per view offering by TNA, Jeff Hardy was involved in a match for TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Sting. And from the moment his theme music started to play for the first time in the night up until the time the show ended, he embarrassed himself. He had come to the ring intoxicated seemingly unable to walk properly let alone to wrestle properly. Those 3-4 minutes will stay in his mind forever and most probably in the memory of us wrestling fans too.

In hindsight, though, I think there couldn’t have been a better thing to happen to Jeff Hardy.

See, it wasn’t for the first time that Jeff Hardy was intoxicated. He had his issues with the alcohol and the substance abuse before too. He was even suspended from WWE for a Wellness Policy violation and speculation was running rampant that he had left WWE because he didn’t want another Wellness Policy violation.

Jeff Hardy had probably been in the similar physical state before this incident in TNA as well. But those incidents remained far removed from the public eye. But what Victory Road 2011 did to him was to throw him down to the very rock bottom. He didn’t have an option after that night. The whole world was disappointed by him and there were no more excuses left.

As CM Punk would say, he was naked in the middle of the ring for the whole world to see.

He could have either stayed with his demons or continued on with life wrestling for smaller organisations. There are many such examples in the wrestling profession. Or, he could have made an effort to better his life and fight these substance abuse issues.

For a while, it seemed that Jeff Hardy had gained control over himself and his issues and was on way to being normal again. He was, therefore, brought back to TNA.

I liked how TNA had handled Jeff Hardy’s return. He wasn’t thrust down in the ring directly. He wasn’t inserted into a high profile storyline. He wasn’t thrown into the World Title scene. He came out in the ring, told everyone that he had made a fool out of himself and he had disappointed everyone. He said that he was sorry and asked for forgiveness and another chance.

For weeks, Jeff Hardy kept meeting the other members of the roster and personally apologised to each one of them. Some handled it well, some not. He took everything on the chin. AJ Styles made one apt comment that as long as he and Hardy goes, there will never be a right time to talk. This comment actually reflected most of the sentiment felt by us wrestling fans that Jeff Hardy had been given too many opportunities in this industry and simply doubted his efforts this time around. We were not sure whether he had turned his life around for better or were the issues going to surface again.

Ever since his return, Jeff Hardy has worked hard and kept his head clean. It has been over a year that he has returned and none of the issues that were common for him in the early days have come to light in his latest stint with the company.

During this one year, sure he has been put in the high profile feuds. Sure, he has been given the shot at the World Heavyweight championship. But he hasn’t been trusted with the World Championship thus far.

But now, after over a year of presence in the TNA, at Bound for Glory, Jeff Hardy will challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship and on that night all the spotlight will be on him again. It can turn out to be a golden opportunity for him to regain everything that he lost on that fateful night and take a final step to redemption.

Yes sir, it’s all very beautiful. But you know what? It isn’t solely about Jeff Hardy.

It is also about one Austin Aries.

Here is the guy that has paid his dues for all his wrestling life. He is the only wrestler in the world to have obtained the ROH World Championship twice. He gets called the absolute best thing going in wrestling for quite some time. He has been lauded with praises for all the time he has been on the public eye. He is an IWC hero.

And yet, for all his accomplishments and accolades, he couldn’t even manage to get qualified for Tough enough of the WWE!

Austin Aries is a big fish in a small pond and that’s what he has been for most of his wrestling career. He had been the focal point of ROH for a long time and had even been a member of the TNA roster for some time capturing the X-Division championship on multiple occasions. But for all intents and purposes, he was still, just a small league player.  

It is only in his latest TNA run, for a little more than a year that he has truly achieved all the potential that he had. He started off with a heel run and an X-Division championship reign. He brought the prestige back to the X-Division when it needed and in comparison to him, the rest of the division felt like an Indy fed.

He constantly provided great matches and added so much to his character that he became the highlight of TNA programming. He wasn’t supposed to be anything more than a Veteran who was holding his position so that eventually he can give rub to some rookie wrestler.

But in this entire process, he became so good that people started liking him no matter what. He was turned face because of this and placed in some entertaining feuds to take benefit of his rising popularity. And the popularity kept rising, the performances kept getting better.

Eventually when the Bound for glory series began, and there was no one that could feud with the then reigning champion, Bobby Roode, he was presented with an opportunity. He was asked to give up his X-Division championship in order to get a shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

It was a risky move. He could end up losing everything that he had earned and become nothing more than a Douglas Williams. He took on the risk and gave up his X-Division championship to fight against probably the greatest TNA World Heavyweight Champion of all time in the middle of the most epic TNA World Heavyweight Championship reign of all time.

Everyone assumed that the match was created just to pass the time. Bobby Roode was being kept busy for the time being, so as to keep him ready for whoever eventually wins the Bound for glory series.

And how wrong they were! Austin Aries not only beat Bobby Roode to finally win the real big one, the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but he also successfully defended his Championship and removed Bobby Roode from the title contention.

But what now? How long is this reign expected to last? Does Austin Aries stand a chance against Jeff Hardy and his momentum? Is he even in the same league as Jeff Hardy?

To be exact, No, Austin Aries is not in the same league as Jeff Hardy.

You see, Austin Aries gets the cheers of the audience. The people love him. But people love Jeff Hardy even more. When they are both in the ring, it becomes absolutely clear that Jeff Hardy is their preferred choice. It all becomes very clear that Austin Aries was given a Thank You run with the World Heavyweight championship. Jeff Hardy would like to take the last step to his triumphant story and gain the ultimate prize, the World Heavyweight championship. Austin has with him what Jeff Hardy wants.

But at the same time, Austin Aries wants something that Jeff Hardy has with him. You see, even after winning the Big Gold, Austin Aries hasn’t reached that upper echelon of players. He is a star, but he is not a superstar. And if he loses the belt this October, he probably would never get a chance to regain that glory.

At bound for glory, every eye will be set on Jeff hardy. And if on that night, Austin is able to beat Jeff and retain the World Heavyweight Championship; his place will be cemented in the history. He will finally gain everything that he yearns for – the belt, the glory, the name, the respect, the money and the fans that never leave him and follow him like sheep.

Jeff needs this win to conclude a revival journey. But Austin needs this win to reach that spot that is called Main-Eventer.

And then there were none

Coffee Table Thoughts: And then there were none

Welcome everyone to the year end edition of your favourite column to give a miss, Coffee Table Thoughts! A whole year will end tonight and we will embark on a new journey. Wow!

As happens every time a year ends, we like to look back at the year and relive those moments – high and low, which represented that year. In my personal life, it has been nothing except job and studies. I haven’t been able to crack up this accounting degree course for a full 3 year streak now! That’s a 6 attempt losing streak if you count in the fact that these exams are taken every six months. I have given yet another exam in the November and I’m as hopeful of clearing it this time round as George Steele would be of dating Miss Elizabeth. Well, that about sums up my personal life.

What about the year 1989 in general? We have Indian Prime Minister defending the allegations of corruption against his party; the situation upside in the so-called disputed territory of Kashmir seems to have worsened; the sad events of Tiananmen Square in China; Islamic world getting heated over a video err...a book; and what not. In Hollywoodland, we had a knight who critics say was too dark, Batman. In Bollywood, we had a hearty love story of....oh alright, I get it. You are not interested in listening to all that ‘garbage’’. Fine then, I won’t. That doesn’t give you the right, however, of singing ‘Baby I don’t care’ on my face!

Every December 31 gives us a reason to look back at the year and reflect on as to how important it was for any particular field, be it life, sports, politics or in our case, professional wrestling. This year, however, is special. This night signals the end of a decade. And what a decade it was! We go on to the 90s now and I just have to wonder, will the 90s generation be as rebellious as us?

What effect did the 80s have on our beloved sport of professional wrestling? Well, to be honest, the world of difference. When we look at the events backwards, they might not seem extraordinary. When we look at them in the progressive manner, however, we can establish their true importance.

The professional wrestling as it was on the 1 April 1980 is completely different from what it is today on 31 December 1989 (Not December 31 1989). Well, a lot of it has been documented really so I don’t have much to add as far as insider information goes. What I can do however, is share my thoughts on these happenings.

In the early 1980, the NWA was still going strong in America and was considered as the highest promotion even though it wasn’t a promotion in itself. WWF, headed by Vince McMahon, was a part of it, although WWF did not show much interest in bringing in the NWA Champion over on WWF shows. American Wrestling Association was a big promotion in its own right, under the guidance of Verne Gagne and it looked as if it had a bright future ahead with its ability to create new stars. Georgia Championship Wrestling was headed by Jim Barnet who secretly wanted to be the King of entire Professional Wrestling. His first step towards achieving that dream was  going national with his Television offering. Jim Crockett was gaining more and more prominence in the NWA territory in the early 1980s and was named and elected as the President of the NWA soon after. With the seemingly unending pool of talent now under his control because of the powers that were attached to the position of the President, he kept adding more value to his own promotion, Jim Crockett Promotions. Apart from those mentioned above, there were many other medium to large size wrestling promotions that were quite successful in their respective areas. All of this pointed to a bright future for professional wrestling in one way, and surely it was a positive. There was another side to the coin too, however.

The boom that was witnessed by the industry in the late 1940s with the creation of NWA had considerably slowed down by the time the 80s arrived. The very nature of NWA cooperative moment ensured there were enough reasons for conflict to occur between various member promotions. One unique World Championship meant there would be one wrestler above all others for the majority of time and whichever promotion he belonged to would benefit the most. There were small and large conflicts within the NWA which sometimes resulted in member promotions opting out of the NWA. AWA was one such promotion that had opted out of the NWA, so was WWF. WWF had rejoined the NWA back in the 1970s but did not become a major part of it. The biggest negative for professional wrestling was that it had lost its audience, not by a huge margin, but still it was a loss.

These were the positives and negatives that were associated with the professional wrestling. To be honest, they weren’t as huge of a deal. It represented more of a cyclical change in the business, which may be applied to any sport or business or company in the world. Good times and bad times. It’s always a mixed package. Even for Apple Inc, which seemed to have a bright future with the Macintosh, but alas.

Things were going normal.

Until, Vince McMahon Jr. arrived, that is.

Vince McMahon Jr. had aspirations that were a lot more than ambitious. You may as well look at this decade as that of Vince McMahon Jr. (Will refer to him as Vince McMahon or Vince only, somehow that JR so close to Vince McMahon does not seem to be a good idea to me)

There had been promoters who tried to invade the territories that did not belong to them before but Vince took the concept of invading to a whole new level. He completely disregarded the well written law of territory system and made every effort to expand his business wherever he could. He gained a lot of money because of the increased income from both television deals and video tapes sales. He used this money for his evil plan to expand and to destroy other territories. He was on a rampage to acquire new talent at a pace faster than a cheerleader in the college football loses her virginity by each and every member of the team, including the coach. (Rumour has it that he once went to a hitherto unexplored territory without declaring his identity, visited the local wrestling promotion, saw the entire show they had presented, went to the locker room, shook hands with the wrestler who had been the highlight of the night and said to him loudly, in front of the entire locker room watching him, “YOU’RE HIRED!!!” and went out of the room with a wide grin on his face. The wrestler was so shocked by the entire affair he took the next flight to his home country of Mongolia and never returned. Random, I know.)

Vince McMahon, however, was not the only one that was innovating. Jim Crockett managed to present better overall shows as he had a lot of pull in the NWA. He even started the concept of super shows with the inaugural Starrcade in the year 1983 which was widely successful and well received. He had selected Ric Flair as the main man that would lead his company throughout the 80s. Although Ric Flair did not get much appreciation and acceptance from the fans initially, he became a huge star by the time the very first Starrcade ended. He defeated Harley Race in a steel cage after a highly intense feud.

If Starrcade was a Super show, then Vince McMahon intended to change the very definition of Super Show. He brought in Wrestlemania which saw wrestling stars teaming with celebrities. It got a wide media attention and was well received. Wrestlemania also created a huge revenue earning potential with the concept of pay-per views. If Jim Crockett had Ric Flair, the hero; Vince brought in Hulk Hogan, the Super Hero.

Georgia Championship Wrestling hadn’t lasted long and was ultimately acquired by WWF. AWA was the one where Hulk Hogan was created and despite losing ground to major promotions, AWA has still found a way to keep producing new talents. But the question is can it survive? I highly doubt.

Jim Crockett would bring in new concepts and events but would always be one upped by Vince, sometimes in very unethical ways. After giving a lot of fight, Jim Crockett would have to finally give away his dream.

So what was essentially a many horse race in the early 1980s was left with just one winner, thus the column titled, ‘And then were none’. That would have been the case except for Ted Turner buying out Jim Crockett Promotions.