This one is probably going to be short, because my job starts soon and I want to get a column out before my days get hectic. I have many things running through my mind, but this is one of the ones on the forefront. I see people acting very confused about wrestlers getting egotistical or just professional athletes in general. I am not defending this in any way, shape, or form, but I think that there is going to be ego in today's wrestling. I am sure there was ego in the wrestling of the 1950s and I am sure there will be ego in the 2020s. I just find it odd, when people are surprised that the ego exists. I mean can any man resist the temptations of the professional world. When you have 30,000 people moving on your ever word. When you have people paying 20 bucks to buy a T-shirt with your name on it. When you have people on the Internet spending time writing about how great (or how bad) you are. Can any man resist the lure of temptation there? I know that if there was a shirt that had Sweet Jesus Funk on it and thousands of people across the globe were buying it, I would gain satisfaction from it. From satisfaction comes confidence and from confidence comes ego.

Sure, there are some people who can handle the ego a lot better than others. Mick Foley seems to be one of the more humble wrestlers. However, you cannot tell me that he looks at the "Foley is God" signs and does not get some head fuel from that. A lot of wrestlers seem to be able to handle the ego pretty well. Then again, you have the Kevin Nashes, the Hollywood Hogans of the world. People who have the confidence overflowing. Perhaps it could be said that those who handle the ego better are those who can back it up. A common saying is that if you can back it up, it isn't arrogance. Mick Foley can back up his claims (well at least until he leaped from the top rope at WM2K). Lance Storm, another humble wrestler, can also back up his ego with his advanced wrestling talent. The people who cannot back it up are Hogan, Nash, and co. They are the one who are outwardly called egotistical, but I think that Foley and Lance and co. must have an ego too. Even the most humble wrestler must have ego, because you do not make it to that extreme level of success without having confidence in yourself. A confidence which is prayed upon by the love of the fans and the merchants. The ego bug has bitten even the most humble wrestler I can think of.

The story of Jushin Liger is an exciting one. He has been one of the foremost wrestling talents for the past decade or so. While I am not his biggest fan (and actually think he is somewhat overrated), I do realize that he has talent up the wazoo. Included in that is his pretty self-less booking. Liger was the booker for the 1994 Super J Cup and had himself losing in the semis to Sasuke. Liger would job when needed. He has also had some of the greatest selling around, which is a sign of humility. Hogan no sells, because he does not want to make his character look weak. He is (I am conjecturing here) insecure about how people view his character and so he does not want to give them reason to think that Hogan might be weak. Liger had no such problem and would sell extremely well for his opponents. When a brain tumor shortened his high-flying career (although how high flying he is seems in question to me), he had no problem switching over to another style. Mil Mascaras continues to do high flying maneuvers which are deemed pedestrian by today's standards, because it is HIS style and he does not want to adapt (once again I am making an educated guess). Liger had no problem with that. Until very recently, that is.

Enter: Black Liger. At the start of the 2000 calendar year, Liger changed again. Well, he had been working up to that change, but he went into full force persona then. At the 1/4/00 Dome Show, Liger debuted his new Black Liger character. He squashed Kohji Kanemoto in 4 minutes or so. He did the same thing to Minoru Tanaka too at a later show. He talked about wanting to join with Chris Benoit to challenge for the IWGP Tag Titles. He also talked about wanting a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Title. He started defeating a lot of IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Challengers in a few minutes with his biggest moves. He would no-sell their moves to show that he was a heavyweight. Without getting into the classic insanity that this New Japan storyline was (aren't they all), it basically turned Liger into an no-selling incredible monster. When I say incredible there, I do not mean he was out-of-this-world, but instead non-credible. They built Liger up as this heavyweight and then had him lose to three heavyweights (Frye, Kojima, and Sasaski) in pretty short matches. After this failed foray into heavyweight fighting, Yamada went back to the junior status and recently won the mediocre 2000 J Cup, continuing his no-selling ways. Even one of the most humble wrestlers that I have stumbled upon seemed to fall to the ego trap. Moreover, if Liger can end up like this, anyone could.

I think that ego when out of control can be a terrible thing. It can stunt people's growth in the industry (as evidenced by Liger squashing all those Juniors). However, the word ego itself should not be met with scorn. All the wrestlers are probably going to have one by the virtue of their outstanding skills/bodies/fans. Accept the fact that even the most humble wrestlers are a bad year away from indulging themselves in their self-hype. Many have already done it and many more will follow that path. It is a regular part of any portion of daily life be it wrestling, baseball, or school.

Anyway, if you have any comments, concerns, complaints, or questions or just wanna chat about where I got that snazzy Ligah~! pic then please, by all means, email me at talboito@uclink4.berkeley.edu.

PS I am becoming the US Distributor for Wrestling's Last Hope, England's premier wrestling sheet. This UK version of the Torch or the Observer should be far cheaper now that overseas postage does not have to be paid. If you are interested in getting a subscription in this cheap sheet, then email me and I'll give you prices.