(Warning! Warning! I'm gonna try an idea out I've had for a while for a column. If it sucks, I'm blaming it on you. If it catches on, my lawyers will sue your nose off if you use it.  End Warning.)

 

See, the Internet is (supposedly) all about information and interaction. It's true to a certain extent -- there are many places on the Information Pothole-ridden Entrance Ramp that you can go for good wrestling information, but rarely, do you see column writers that truly interact -- most don't discuss other writers (except in the occasionally seen intersite feuds -- right Sean?).

 

My proposal goes something like this: for my column (which I am leaning towards calling "The Reversal" or "He Reverses"), I'm gonna go out there in the jungle that is the Online Wrestling Community(tm Al Issacs), and find some wrestling related article(s) and critique them, T-style. Anyone and everyone is fair game, but I'll try to avoid the big targets unless it's a slow week. I'll also try to be creative enough to get an amusing subtitle up there, related to the writer(s) or topic.

 

Getting right to the tryst,  I (if you hadn't guessed by the title) am gonna wander into the

vaunted jungle owned & operated by the man who's catchphrase I , uh, borrowed in the last paragraph, and try to prove I'm good for serious writing by taking on Scoop's RichinKC.

 

Here's some background: RichinKC is by far one of my favorite (if not THE favorite) writers on Scoops. He started writing the "Reality Check" in 1997, and continues to do so today in the new slow load pages despite a few long "vacations" in writing. He is also a real life friend of DDP's and considered to be an "insider" of sorts in WCW. We're about to critique the latest Reality Check, on the topic of giving Ric Flair the book.in WCW. Rich's comments are in italics, mine are not.

 

[First paragraph deals with last column. Nothing relevant here.]

 

 

I, having read "this column" for a while and being a frequent visitor to the archives, would have to agree with this statement. Despite his real life relationship with several WCW stars, his writing is pretty objective. Bonus points for the Chianti jokes. No problems here.

There is a very large school of thought on the Net that sees WCW as two opposing forces : the old and the young, for lack of a better set of terms. The premise behind this is that the old guys are keeping the young guys down. While I do not dispute that many of the older generation have kept a lot of the younger talent down, I have a problem with this whole young/old thing. All that is old is not necessarily bad and all that is young is not necessarily good.

My big issue is with the idea that there are only these two groups. For my money, if you are going to split people up by age categories, I think there are actually three in WCW. You definitely have the old guard in WCW. These are the established stars that have been around in the 80s and are in the twilight of their careers. The most prominent of these forces would include Roddy Piper, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Randy Savage.

You also have your young lions that are trying to climb up the ladder. These stars are relatively new to the business, and are not yet marquee names. These stars are the future of WCW and will make or break this company in the next millennium. The names that leap to mind are Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio Jr, Eddy Guerrero, Billy Kidman, Chris Kanyon, Saturn, Juventud Guerrero, and many more.

There is, however, a third group. All too often they are tied into the older generation or the younger generation unfairly. They are not Baby Boomers like Flair and Hogan, but they are not Generation Xers like Benoit and the rest. These men lie in that gray area that labels, by their very nature, always tend to create. These men have been in the business for several years and have fought the same battles that the younger generation is fighting now. Among their number are Sting, Bret Hart, the Steiner, Harlem Heat, Hall, Nash (despite his recently discovered booking power), and DDP. These men have paid their dues with years on the road. To write them off as the older generation that is trying to kill off the younger talent is unfair and inaccurate. They inhabit the middle ground, and thus constantly find themselves fighting the booking power of older generation and the ambition of the younger generation.

This premise is very good. However, the problem with this is that all of the names he's mentioned are *established stars*. Sidestepping DDP for a second, all of these stars had name power sometime in the 80's. Hall made his pro wrestling debut in 1984, Heat were around in the late '80s, and even had an 1989 (or 90?) WCW PPV (Chi-Town Rumble) named after their then-called team, "Chi-Town Heat". I'm not sure if I should mention that Bret Hart has well over 20 years of experience in Our Great Sport. The Bookerman dates back to the mid 80s, being a *somewhat* prominent top carder in an early 90's WWF run. The Steiners? 1989, although Ric was already in the NWA almost a year prior. Sting? Do the words Blade Runners ring a bell? While these guys are not the fossils that Hogan and Piper are, they've been around a while, and they happen to be dominating WCW TV, and they've FOUGHT the battle the news guys are going thru, but I'd disagree that they are currently fighting in it now, as most of those names are in the top tier of WCW right now (Steiner, DDP, Sting, Bret Hart), and Heat are NINE-time Tag Champs. From my point of view, only people that made their name in the early to mid 90's would fall into such a middleground, and DDP is the only one that fits that bill, but his career as a manager before he broke into wrestling (if I'm not mistaken) also extends back to the AWA days.  I'm not sure WHO else would fall into this category, as most names that pop to mind are either 'a: retired/semi retired' b: in the WWF' or 'c: has been in the WWF'. Also, of these "middleground" stars, you'll notice that ALL of the singles stars you've mentioned have held a World Title (Sans Hall), several of them have WWF Title reigns to credit as well, quite a few have held the WCW US Title, Hall has held the US & IC titles, and ALL of these stars have been WCW Tag Team Champions in a dominant team, for a significant period of time, at some point in time (sans Bret Hart).      

I think that all three generations have a role to play in WCW. The older generation is required to give the federation credibility and drawing power. They do need to be phased out and develop younger talent, but there is absolutely no reason not to let them stay onboard in on-air roles…provided they do what they are told. The younger generation is indeed the future of the federation, but they need to realize that youth does not guarantee them success. It takes time to be a superstar in this business. You have to earn it. The middle group can probably do the most good for WCW in the short term. They have the name recognition, so it is an easier transition to have them work main events with the Boomers, and they are not diminished by working programs with the GenXers. By working with both groups, this middle group can help transition to the main event while elevating the younger talent in the process. I doubt that it will work that way, but we can always hope.

Again, very good point, but as I said above, the "middleground" stars you speak of are far and few between. The idea here is that the "almost mega-stars" can elevate the young'uns without bringing the top card crashing down. None of the men you mentioned (save DDP, in an ironic twist) are "almost" main eventers, they *ARE* main eventers. Once again, even though these guys aren't fossils, they have been in the business for quite a while, and they have the same attitude (As a general rule) towards the new guys as the topcard does.

 

 

Even if he were willing to relinquish an on-camera role, and judging from Flair's ego that is one huge IF, I wouldn't give him booking power. The biggest complaint heard about the booking in WCW is the cliques, the favoritism, and the cronyism. Flair is one of the biggest example of those problems. Can you picture anyone other than Flair being behind the David Flair push and title reign? When guys like Sting, DDP, and Douglas have shoot interviews about how they were held down by Flair, they aren't making those things up. There is a lot of genuine resentment in this business about Ric Flair. You cannot help but respect what he has accomplished in this business. He is still a huge draw, but he has alienated a lot of people with that power.

 

Yes. However, in the past two years, I'd say he's been repaid for those alienations in SPADES. His "legendary" status has been undermined by stupid booking, and he's had to put over most of these shoots clean as a sheet. For your money, Ric Flair has put over pretty much ALL the people that should have gotten the rub from the main-eventers, while the other stars have been protected by run - ins. He's done, in essence, what LOD did in the WWF and Hogan/Piper/etc. et al should have done or been forced to do: repay the business in your fading years by giving tomorrow's stars "the rub." You've got to respect him for doing that, and I'd have to at least give him a chance, based on that and his success with the book in the NWA. As for David Flair, here's some names for you: Vincent, Ed Leslie, John Tenta, Horace, Jim Duggan, Lanny Poffo, Shockmaster. How about another list: Arn & Ole Anderson, Luger, Barry Windham, Benoit, Malenko, Sting, Terry Funk, Ricky Steamboat. What's the relation, you say? List #1 is comprised of people that, as a general consensus, only have a job (well, had a job in the case of Horace and maybe more, if the WCW housecleaning keeps going) because they are an FOH (Friend of Hogan). List #2 is a list of people involved in the Horseman angle over the years that have either become over/famous or had their stature increased as a direct result of being involved with Flair and the horsemen angle. Chew on THAT.