THEN AND NOW

    Cold’s are a son of a bitch aren’t they? One minute you’re fine and the next minute it comes down on you like a tonne of bricks and you’re laid up for a couple of weeks drowning in Lemsip and snot. On top of that my computer crashed and I had to have it repaired, which took so long I could have built another one from scratch in the time it took the so called experts to fix it. Thus the reason your saviour has been away for so long.

    While I’ve been laid up I’ve had a lot of time to think about the world of wrestling and my next blog, as well as my real life job, which believe it or not I do odd times. But alas, blogs are strange things, most people just write down their feelings about a certain subject, yet a blog is so much more than that. It needs a lot of thought almost a like a magazine article but written by a normal person. I’ve even read a lot of wrestlers blogs that aren’t written with all the love they sometimes put into the ring.

    It came to me that I’d have three weeks to come up with a blog so good that it exposes the true nature of the business we love so much. It’s not always easy, but it is a job I relish and complete with a certain ease. Being down and out and having no computer to connect with you lovely people, it also meant I had three weeks to write this blog. And it’s on a subject that I’ve wanted to write about for a while - complete with pictures.

    So the brain child of three weeks writing is this: wrestlers who are still wrestling today, despite their decline in health and appearance. For years now I’ve sat and watched in almost sadness as old and tired men who once shone in the spotlight, climbed back into the ring and tried to regain that former glory, when all the time they’re light had faded long ago.

    Below most of the articles about the wrestlers you’ll see pictures of before and after, or rather then and now. What they used to look like and what they look like now. In most circumstances I think you’ll agree that it would have been better for them to stay retired or found other professions rather than display their hideous, obese stomachs and their wrinkling skin each and every week. In some cases you may not even know they’re wrestling anymore, but your saviour follows everything wrestling and in some cases of then and now, it really isn’t pretty!

    In some cases it’s the money that draws them back. In the days of recession and the ever declining main event scene around the world, WWE, TNA and many more companies around the world are paying big bucks for old timers to do a one off performance or a few months stint, which by the way the old timers are more than happy to accept. In other cases it’s the spotlight they just can’t give up. It was Harley race, who at the 2004 WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony said: “There’s no better spot on earth , than under those bright lights!” Profound, I’ll give you that and I can even understand where he’s coming from. In my profession, I can attest to that. Is it really worth stepping back into the ring though when you’re health is on the line? Is it worth a 60 year old man risking his life night after night when he should be enjoying a well earned retirement? Of course its not.

    So here we go. Of course they’ll be many more that you can think of which do not appear here. Leave names in the comments box and your suggestions may appear in a future ‘Then and Now’ blog, along with pictures of the said superstar.

 SCOTT HALL

    Everyone in wrestling history will remember Scott Hall. He was The Diamond Stud, Scott Hall and Razor Ramon. For it is this latter gimmick that Scott Hall made a name for himself in wrestling folk law. Entering WWE in 1992, Hall played the greasy, arrogant Ramon with aplomb and was duly hated by the fans in response. Decked out in different coloured attire, which always consisted of wrestling tights, knee pads and elbow pads, coming to the ring decked out in his trademark jacket and enough gold around his neck to make you think he’d just mugged Mr. T, Hall cruised to the ring to most times outmatch his opponents.

    It was in late 1992 when Hall found real fame as Ramon, when he teamed with Ric Flair to oppose ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage and Curt ‘Mr. Perfect’ Henning, in a sterling encounter, at the 1992 Survivor Series, where Hall showed the doubting world that he could hang with the headliners. From there his career skyrocketed, when he challenged Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart for the WWF Championship at the 1993 Royal Rumble. The two would again lock horns later in 1993, in the first round of the King of the Ring tournament, which is highly regarded as one of the best King of the Ring matches ever.

    In late 1993, Hall was so over with wrestling fans that an inevitable good guy turn was coming, and come it did. Razor Ramon captured the WWF Intercontinental Championship towards the turn of 1994 and is widely considered to be one of the greatest Intercontinental Champions in history. And when you throw names into that bracket like Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect, British Bulldog, Ultimate Warrior, Macho Man Randy Savage, Honkey Tonk Man and Chris Jericho, then that isn’t such a bad thing to be remembered for at all.

    Magical feuds with the likes of I.R.S, Jeff Jarrett, Diesel and Shawn Michaels carried Hall well into 1996. His most famous match though came in 1994 at Wrestlemania 10, when he battled to a hard fought win over Shawn Michaels, in the brilliant ladder match.

    Backstage, the seeds of what was to become of Hall were slowly being planted. Making a political choice and making friends with big players in WWF, Hall aligned himself with Diesel, Shawn Michaels, 1-2-3 Kid and Hunter Hearst Helmsley. All though, would being to turn sour as Hall discovered a liking for alcohol.

    In 1996 Scott Hall ditched Razor Ramon, and with Kevin Nash who also dumped the Diesel moniker, headed over to rivals WCW (World Championship Wrestling) where they would form the Outsiders and with Hulk Hogan, become the NWO (New World Order). It was with the NWO

that Hall had his greatest reign of all, but it would also be where his career came unhinged and his downfall would begin.

    Hall could never hope to regain the brilliance of the Ramon character in a tremendously shallow WCW, and his career and lifestyle began to suffer. The renegade style of the group took its toll on Hall and the lifestyle choice became too much. Turning to alcohol to cope with the stress of the business and because he liked it, Hall became an alcoholic, a vice which would see him tragically decline in later years.

    Recovering in rehab, Hall, Nash and Hogan returned to WWE in 2002 to reform the NOW, yet their stint would be short lived. Hall no showed an event and was fired by Vince McMahon. The memories of Razor Ramon long gone, Hall joined the new start up company that would become TNA. It was in TNA that Hall captured the NWA Heavyweight Championship. It was too late. Already the alcohol had crept back into his life and his weight and appearance began to diminish into that of an old junkie.

    After being fired by TNA, Hall had a number of run ins with police, for being drunken and disorderly, driving whilst under the influence, assault, GBH, and a long list of many other offences. TNA gave him chance upon chance to clean up and return, all which Hall threw back at them and no showed events.

    In 2010, when former WCW runners, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff took the reigns of TNA, they re-hired Hall and gave him another chance. What fans hoped would be the second coming of Scott Hall were bitterly disappointed. Instead of a lean legend that had found his place in life and turned it around, they got a fat, flabby, out of shape Hall, who no longer cared for the business that made him his name and who was only there to collect a pay check every week.

    Hall was soon fired from TNA and has since been hospitalized for pneumonia, but is making a full recovery.

    The saddest thing about Scott Hall is that he was once a wonderful wrestler. To him were two sides. When Scott Hall was good he was phenomenal. When Scott Hall was bad, he was deplorable. Razor Ramon was as good as it was ever going to get for Hall. The sad thing is, he knew it. Yet more money and more power tempted him to WCW, where he spun out of control. I sometimes wonder if Hall had have stayed in WWE then he would have inevitably become WWE Champion and made a fortune which he could have based a better life for himself on. Going to WCW was the beginning of the end.

    Seeing a fat, tired, out of shape Hall wrestle in TNA was a sad moment for your saviour. After seeing the brilliance of Razor Ramon, to experience the fall of Scott Hall has been heartbreaking. In this time where wrestlers are dropping like flies and we’ve lost nine of our heroes in the last two years, I have to question how much longer Scott Hall can ride his luck. The alcohol will end up killing him, if the lifestyle he has now doesn’t. There is hope, if once again he can enter rehab, maybe at TNA or WWE’s expense (Vince McMahon pays for former talent to enter drug rehab - and alcohol is technically a drug), clean his life up, lose some weight, then maybe in five years time, Hall will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. When that day comes, I hope the man himself is there to receive the honour in person, I hope the man that comes out to accept his place among the best of the best is slimmer, happier in his life and cleaned himself up.

    Scott Hall was a genuine star, and though he can never recapture the glory again, he can at least prolong those wonderful memories by giving us and himself back the man that will be known as one of the greatest and most beloved WWE superstars of all time.

 RIC FLAIR

    ‘The Nature Boy’ Ric Flair is an enigma. On one hand you have the greatest wrestler to ever step into the ring. A man who has been a 16 time World Champion, wrestled to one hour draws with the toughest of them all, Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes among others. Survived onslaughts by wrestlers such as Lex Luger, Sting, Vader, the Undertaker and come out the other side. Ric Flair fought the machine that was WCW, he defied critics when he took the WCW Championship to WWE television and gladly paraded it around. So what has this fine specimen of a wrestler become?

    An old, decrepit, pensioner who has to blade himself week in, week out, in a dying promotion, just to make ends meat. Is that really what our legends should have to become, just to survive? And in TNA of all places.

    The career of Ric Flair was one of the hottest and most legendary careers that you could ever hear of. He was a ladies man, who in 1975 was ‘Rookie of the Year’ and the hottest property on the wrestling circuit. In 1985 Ric Flair was the NWA World Heavyweight Champion. In 1995 Ric Flair was years into his legendary career. In 2005, most agreed that he was well past his prime and should retire. Yet the relentless and virtually penniless ’Nature Boy’ has no choice but to wrestle every week, parading his overweight, tired, butchered frame around a ring, in front of a bunch of fans that don’t even pay to watch. For a boss, in Dixie Carter Salinas who can’t see what’s wrong with her own product, who thinks that matches are hot property belong on free T.V and not pay per view, and wonders why TNA is loosing money and fans, and therefore who is unable to change the steady decline TNA is on.

    Is that really what a 35 year career deserves, after so many bumps, after so much sacrifice, after so much grandeur? To die a horrible death in front of a boss and fans, who couldn’t really give a damn! Ric Flair deserved so much more, and so did his legacy and so did his fans.\

    It wasn’t always like this. The Ric Flair that I prefer to have fond memories of, paraded down to the ring in luxury robes with his long blonde hair flowing behind him, making the best of the best tap out to his signature Figure Four Leg Lock. Strutting, styling and profiling his way to superstardom. Riding in limousines and leer jets, proclaiming himself, “That limousine riding, jet flying, kiss stealing, wheeling dealing, son of a gun!” He had a physique that most men at that time would die for and the looks to match.

    From NWA, to WCW, to WWE, Flair left his mark wherever he would go. I’m not going to go into Flair’s career like I did Scott Hall, because if there’s one man’s career everyone knows about then it’s Ric Flair’s.

    So from greatness to humiliation, where did it all go wrong? Simply, Ric Flair loved women. I mean, who doesn‘t right? All of us hot blooded men in the world love the women that drive us crazy. The unrequited love, the girl next door, we all love to love and be loved. Hell, we even insist on loving the women we can never have. Ric Flair though, loved women more than anyone, and still does. In the past 35 years ‘Slick Ric’ has been through four wives and is married yet again. This love is the reason the once great wrestler is still doing jobs all over the place. Because four ex wives don’t pay for themselves.

    In the past few years, Flair has degraded himself so much that fans today who have yet to see the legacy he’ll leave wrestling, think he’s just an old man who bleeds nearly every week on TNA Impact. Surely Flair, who has a string of failed marriages and businesses, can see that its his vice of women that are ruining his legacy and career. There was once a time where Flair only cared about his career and his legacy, now he’s ruining what he worked so hard for.

    The greatest wrestler in history is fabled for the women and the alcohol he used to consume outside the ring, only this time Flair is the exception. Scott Hall and many other great wrestlers, namely Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts fell foul of the alcohol and drugs route, though Flair drank copious amounts, he was never an alcoholic. Astonishingly, Flair managed to cope with the devils brew and even make it into a part of his career.

    In 2008, when Flair was coming the to the end of his WWE tenure, and what most thought would be his career, people once again began to look up to him. Children loved him, those that once despised him for being so good couldn’t help but warm to the man that had given so much to the business we loved. It was a match against Shawn Michaels, the man that had styled himself after Flair, that would bring his career to a supposed halt.

    The match that took place at Wrestlemania 24, will never be forgotten by those that witnessed it. Flair and Michaels battled like they only had one night left on earth. And for an aging legend who hadn’t put in a credible performance since the early nineties, Flair gave us one last magical night to remember him by. Flair took Michaels to the limit and beyond, fighting for his life. In the end Flair bowed out graciously, when Shawn Michaels ended Ric’s fabled career with his trademark finisher, ‘Sweet Chin Music’. It was though what happened before the ‘Heartbreak Kid’ hit the move that fans will remember just as much.

    As Shawn cued up Flair for the end, he hesitated in pulling the trigger that would end Ric’s career. Looking his idol in the eyes and shouting at him, “I’m sorry! I love you!” before punting him in the jaw with his foot and making the cover, will always stand out as one of wrestling’s most memorable and saddest moments.

    The night before Wrestlemania 24, the night itself and the night that came after gave Flair the biggest send off of any wrestler in history. An induction into the Hall of Fame, one last great match and then a locker room empty out and a standing ovation by all those the man himself had inspired to walk that aisle, plus he got to say thank you to the fans that had made his career. No one could ask for a better send off than that. And when Flair walked up that aisle for the last time, turned back, and gave the final wave, it was the perfect end to the perfect career.

    Though, in the life of Ric Flair, it never stays like that. Soon after he left WWE, Flair was involved in a series of bust ups involving police arresting him. He fought with his daughters boyfriend, an incident that saw him splashed all over the news. He had a punch up with his wife, now ex wife which once again saw him in the news and dealing with the police. He was pulled up once or twice by police for drunk driving, and the most stupid of all was having a punch up in a supermarket with a fan of notable age at an autograph signing. How it came to this, no one will ever be sure.

    Ric Flair was offered a job by WWE when he retired, working backstage, in the office, booking talent, setting matches out, giving his wisdom to those that could have done with it. But in typical Flair style he turned it down, believing his asking price was higher on the autograph circuit. The only problem was, is that once you have someone’s autograph, then you don’t really need it again.

    Today Ric Flair cheapens himself in TNA, a company that cares less about him than he does now. It isn’t right for a man as great as Flair to be doing this until he dies. Of course it is extremely sad to see an aged man bump around a ring that made him famous, especially when he insists on having his trunks pulled down every PPV and every other week. There’s only so much old man arse you can see before you never want to see a man of Flair’s age in anything but a suit and tie again.

    I’ve gone on about the downfall of Ric Flair for long enough and we have others to move onto. In summation, Ric Flair may have done more damage than good in recent years, to a career that looked set to be carved in stone forever. For your saviour, I prefer to keep the memory of what Flair used to be, and not what he’s become. The memories I’ll savour of Ric Flair are those matches where he showed the world he was the best. Where he was ‘The Nature Boy.’

 ERIC BISCHOFF

    A young and brash Eric Bischoff first came to notoriety when he became WCW’s lead announcer, following the departure of Jim Ross. I can’t say with any degree of conviction that Eric was a great announcer, because at times he just plain deplorable. Though someone must have seen something in ’The Bisch’, because Ted Turner almost signed his life away to the man, and put him in charge of running WCW.

    As an announcer Eric was poor: as the runner of WCW he was a mastermind. Poaching many of the WWE and ECW stars away from their respective companies, buying more air time for the company, masterminding the Monday Night Wars by going head to head with a pre taped WWE in the schedules, bringing Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall and revamping a failing company.

    Eric was one of the greatest minds in wrestling in the late 90’s, creating the everlasting NWO and trashing WWE in the ratings. Eric even went one step further when he began to give away the results of WWE Raw live on air. It was Bischoff’s genius that would end up destroying WCW. The more wrestlers that came in through the WCW doors, the more money had to be thrown around. The more money that was thrown around the more WCW was counting on the fans to give it back, in PPV buys and merchandise sales. In the end the supply and demand became too much, and much like TNA is doing now, WCW ended up on relying on aged headline acts like Sting, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Macho Man, Lex Luger, Ric Flair and celebrities like David Arquette to carry WCW in its dying days.

    The most bizarre act in the final days of WCW was making Hollywood star David Arquette WCW Heavyweight Champion. Although, that was the responsibility of a very poor writer called Vince Russo. In a coincidence Vince Russo now works for the failing TNA, writing its ever more bizarre and boring storylines. Anyone noticing a pattern emerging here? In the end the ratings sank, the money and fan base dried up and WCW was finally brought out by WWE when it went bust.

    When WCW went bust, Bischoff jumped a sinking ship and resurfaced two years later in 2002, when Vince McMahon hired Bischoff to be the GM of Raw, and an inspired appointment it was. Eric shone in the role and drew so much heat he remained a mainstay on Raw until 2005, when his Smackdown counterparts came and went with ease.

    In the end it was an un-secure Vince McMahon that thought Bischoff was getting more popular than he, and decided in true time honoured WWE fashion, to embarrass him live on T.V. First by shaving his head and then holding a wrestlers court segment where he fired Bischoff in front of millions on T.V and then personally dumped him in a rubbish truck. Most, including your saviour, believe that McMahon only hired Bischoff with the intent of embarrassing him later on down the line. As is the normal with Vinny Mac.

    Deciding to stay away from the wrestling business, Eric was hardly heard of until January 4^th 2010, when he and Hulk Hogan were hired to turn around the sinking ship that still is TNA. Appearing on TNA Impact they promised to bring fresh new faces to the brand. Those fresh new faces included, an overweight and still drunk Scott Hall, Sean Waltman who had previously been in rehab for drug issues and gained a lot of weight and lost a lot of wrestling ability, the Nasty Boys - enough said, who only came to TNA because they were friends of Hogan, Ric Flair - need I say more, and celebrity Bubba the Love Sponge. If this was TNA’s new fresh faced talent, then the warning bells should have rung for TNA there. They didn’t!

    Bischoff and Hogan continued and still do, to push old men and hold back the younger ones, who are actually the future of this business. They had no excuse unlike WWE, because TNA has an extensive young roster ready to go and shine, if the glass ceiling is lifted from above their heads.

    On the side, Bischoff has a midget wrestling promotion going, and looks so bored and uninterested on TNA T.V, that everyone now believes he’s only there to collect a pay check at the end of the day (he is).    

    Bischoff is included in this list, because after WWE and the WCW bankruptcy, he should have stayed away from wrestling all together. Everyone knows that Bischoff is a master mind at business, but he no longer has what it takes to lift TNA from the depths of the wrestling ocean and set it sailing again. Bischoff looks older and that spark that he displayed in WCW in 1998 has long since gone. Eric’s career as an on and off screen personality peaked in WWE, where he should have graciously stepped down. A younger and more clued up businessman could have turned TNA around, I could do a better job that Hogan or Bischoff and so could you.

    I think it’s time for the old guard to retire and let someone who can do the job take over.

JEFF HARDY

    The man that was once adorned with the nickname ‘The Extreme Enigma’, has become one of wrestling’s greatest tragedy’s and he’s not even dead. Usually the word ‘wrestling tragedy’ belongs to a young wrestler that had his whole career ahead of him, who tragically died.

    But Jeff Hardy, though still alive and kicking, and here’s hoping he will be for many, many years to come, falls under this category. Jeff was and still, to some extent is, a very talented athlete. In the years that have passed he’s put his body through numerous dangerous stunts in the name of sports entertainment, including jumping from the tops of ladders, from the top of the Titan Tron’s, lorries, through tables and every time been in unimaginable danger. Each time though, Jeff has come out of it with his head held high and yet another spot for his ever growing highlight reel.

    Throughout the early naughty’s, Jeff along with his brother Matt, dominated the tag team ranks in WWE as the Hardy Boys, having many iconic matches that will never be forgotten. Most of these matches were fought with the Dudley Boys and Edge and Christian, at Wrestlemania’s 16 and 17 and SummerSlam 2000, where they contested TLC matches that would make you ache just watching them.

    It was always a foregone conclusion that a singles run would benefit Jeff more than Matt and so it did. When Jeff went on a singles run in his first stint with WWE he was the toast of the town, capturing the Intercontinental Championship from none other than Triple H. In true WWE style Jeff was buried days later by ‘the Game’, just to show the world that the McMahon’s ruled and no one had the right to think they could make a career for themselves without the higher powers say so. Though Jeff was crafty. He did the one thing no one else did at that point. Jeff got his head down and worked so hard, the fans rallied behind him.

    In 2003, Jeff Hardy left WWE to resurface in an ever ex WWE talent, growing TNA, where he thrived with the support of the Florida fans. Pushed by then head of TNA and co-founder Jeff Jarrett, Hardy took the ball and ran with it. Eventually becoming such a polished singles wrestler, when he returned to WWE in 2007, there was a noticeable difference in his attitude and performance. No longer was Jeff the slightly clumsy singles wrestler that won titles and lost them a week later, (though that would come later, thanks to the inability of WWE bookers). Jeff was the man which kids and those who had been down on their luck could identify with.

    Several times between 2000 and 2007 Jeff Hardy had been suspended by both WWE and TNA for numerous drug related scandals. All appeared to be forgiven when he resurfaced to take the Intercontinental Championship from the late Umaga, and Jeff continued on a roll which would take him to the pinnacle of wrestling.

    The never say die attitude had earned Jeff the respect of the fans and seemingly the backstage staff. Rewarded with the challenger role to the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships, Jeff came so close on so many occasions, whetting fans appetites for the eventual pay off. And the payoff came in December 2008 at Armageddon, when he defeated Edge and Triple H for the gold in a triple threat match. The feeling that night was electric and your saviour even felt a little special. Having invested so much time in following Hardy, you finally got what WWE can’t always do. And that’s that special feeling.

    Though the booking staff lost confidence as they so often do when they give the title to someone new. Jeff became a transitional champion losing the gold a short while after. Though that wasn’t the end. After a short feud with his brother Matt, Jeff regained the gold from Edge only to lose it seconds later to C.M.Punk.

    I feel now, that I should interject for those not in the know. Between this time of Jeff winning the gold in 2008 and then again in 2009, the downward spiral of Jeff Hardy had begun. Outside the ring, Jeff and his girlfriend lived together, happy. It was then that his house burnt down with all his wrestling memorabilia inside and his dog. Jeff lost everything he’d ever worked for in a tragic act of god. It was only natural that Jeff would feel some remorse or at least look like he’d given up. That’s where the problem started. Though there was the normal period of time off to get his life back together, when Jeff returned, he looked like nothing had happened. He acted like nothing had happened and he just got on with it.

    For a man who had just lost everything, the warning bells for everyone should have sounded there, but they didn’t. Everyone was happy to let him get on with his business. Jeff would enter a feud with C.M. Punk, a feud that was hotter than most in 2010 or even most in the last decade (2000 - 2010). C.M. Punk’s straight edged lifestyle, no drugs, no drink, no toxins in his body (which is a real act of Punk’s outside the ring) clashed perfectly with a man who has been suspended for numerous drug related incidents in the last ten years. Punk would preach about how he was living a straight edged life, while Jeff was taking the drugs to get him by each day. People booed Punk out of the arena, little did they know, his words would soon ring true.

    Jeff Hardy rose to a triumphant victory over Punk at Night of Champions 2009, lifting the World Heavyweight Championship. Behind the scenes, Hardy’s contract was about to expire and days after SummerSlam 2010, Jeff would leave WWE. He wouldn’t go though without a fight. And  fight he gave. First at SummerSlam, in a tremendous Ladder Match against Punk, when he gave everyone one last great move to remember him by - a Swanton Bomb from the top of a 20 foot ladder, straight through Punk on the announcers table. The last time WWE saw Jeff Hardy was five days later on Smackdown, when he lost a tearful and masterful ‘Looser Leaves WWE’ cage match against Punk. After the match had reached its dramatic conclusion, Hardy picked up the microphone and thanked the crowd for the years they’d put into him. His final words to the WWE Universe, “I’m sure, when the time is right, I’ll see you again!”

    Jeff Hardy couldn’t have wished for a better send off. Doing ‘the job’ for a fellow competitor and getting to say goodbye. All was set for a Hardy return months later, in which the plan was he’d return and take the belt from Punk, reigniting their feud. Though, even the best laid plans go awry!

    Just days after leaving WWE, police raided Jeff Hardy’s house and found enough drugs in it to kill a very small town. Jeff was arrested on suspicion of dealing drugs and still, seven months later, his trial has been put back several times. Jeff, who was wrestling’s hottest property, in a position to ask for more money from WWE for his eventual return, had gone from hero to zero in one foul move. To protect their pathetic PG rating, WWE trashed Hardy (and just days after they’d released a DVD bio on him) on T.V and PPV, having C.M. Punk delivering a promo at Breaking Point 2009, that said Jeff did exactly what Punk said he would. Only this time no one had the justification to boo him. Because the words Punk was speaking were exactly right.

    So what does a former WWE headliner and champion do once he’s been disgraced, no one will touch him and he can’t get work for love or money? Go to TNA. Home of washed up WWE stars. And that’s what Jeff did. He went to TNA under the Hogan and Bischoff regime, where he’s stayed until this day.

    Jeff has gone from an enigmatic superstar, to a man who looks tired and wrecked and who is gaining weight at a scary speed. The only problem with TNA is that they’re setting Hardy up to be champion. Until his trial has come and gone they can’t put the strap on him. If his trial continues to be put back, then fans are going to lose interest in his title push and concentrate on other up and comers. Quite why TNA want to put their heavyweight title on another ex WWE superstar so soon after they gave it to RVD, and instead of giving it to one of their original, young guys to carry the company forward is beyond me. It’s just another crazy decision in the world of TNA.

    Of course the other problem Hardy and TNA have is that there is every chance that Hardy could be found guilty at trial. If that happens then he faces a minimum of 70 months in jail (5 Years minimum), who knows what the maximum could be. If Jeff goes down for 5 years or more, which is a likely hood, then the image of TNA is going to take another bullet hole. One which many rightly say could be the final bullet. Because employing a drugs baron isn’t going to look good for anyone. Especially once it comes to light that TNA knew of Hardy’s charge months before they hired him (which they did)!

    I look at Jeff Hardy, slaving away in TNA for pittance and a pang of sadness comes across me. To the point where I have to turn it off. Because one year ago, Jeff Hardy could do no wrong. He was World Heavyweight Champion, headlining main event, after main event. One year later he’s a drug peddling, father to be, slaving away in a mid card / main event scene that means diddley squat to anyone. And on top of all that he faces a lengthily stint in jail, possibly before Christmas. The saddest thing is, it’s all his own doing.

    How did it come to this? How does one man go from hero to zero overnight? Especially someone like Jeff who had his whole career ahead of him. What a bloody waste!

                                                 
VADER

    For the first time in this piece, we’re going to take a look at a wrestler that hasn’t ended up in TNA, that’s not to say though he doesn’t deserve his place in this list, because he does.

    Leon ‘Vader’ White was once hailed as the best big man in business. And rightly so. At over five hundred pounds and well over six feet tall, the man once known as ‘Big Van Vader’ struck fear into the heart of wrestlers and fans alike. Remember though, this was the late eighties and wrestling looked and felt a lot more real than the polished products you see today. If you don’t believe me then search out an old VHS of any WCW/NWA or WWF event and see for yourself. There were no over the top moves and for the most there were hardly any ridiculous storylines to confuse and deter from what was great wrestling. If you can’t find any old WCW or WWF event, then invest in a copy of ‘The Essential Starrcade Collection’ or ‘The Rise and Fall of WCW’. Some of the matches on those discs go a long way to show why WCW/NWA was considered to be the elite in professional wrestling around that time.

    Getting back to the matter in hand, ‘Big Van Vader’ was one of the most mean looking men you’d ever hope to meet. Managed by the legend Harley Race, Vader sported a very mean and intimidating elephant helmet that made him look truly scary. I have to point out though that he only wore it to the ring and not to wrestle in. His real red and sometimes black mask and attire to match only added to the illusion that Vader was a tough cookie. Of course, if you knew Vader, then you knew the illusion was all too real.

    For a man that was so nice and cuddly outside the ring, Leon White had a ruthless reputation once he stepped through the ropes and opposed some poor up start in the squared circle. Famously, Vader will always be known for a match in Germany where he beat Mick Foley so bad, the man that was credited with the birth of Hardcore ended the match with several concussions and minus an ear. Yes, that’s right, read the sentence again. Mick Foley lost an ear. It wasn’t all Vader’s fault, Foley insisted on executing the move that lost him most of his ear. Vader clubbed Foley around the head, sending the father of hardcore tumbling into the ropes, where he’d stage a move he’d done thousands of times before. Only this time it went wrong. Usually the opponent would only tap Foley, leaving his own momentum to carry him into the ropes. This time, Vader literally thumped him, sending him faster than usual into the ropes, Foley then tangled his own head between the top rope and the middle rope so tight, it sliced off most of his ear.

    From that moment promoters were cueing up to sign the man that had mutilated one of wrestling’s most famous wrestlers. Of course, outside that incident, Vader made his name in WCW in hard hitting feuds with Mick Foley, Ric Flair, Lex Luger and most famously, Sting. He was a WCW World Heavyweight Champion that was feared by all. Facing Vader wasn’t a career gain, more a career ender.

    Vader left WCW, plied his trade in Japan and finally ended up in WWE. His stint in WWE was no where as great as the one in WCW, yet it he did his best with crap opponents and rubbish storylines. Aligning him with Jim Cornette, Vader tore through the ranks, teaming with the with the late Owen Hart and the late British Bulldog in his tenure. The only shot he got at the big time was at SummerSlam 1996 when he fought a decent main event bout with then WWE Champion, Shawn Michaels. Your saviour would also recommend this match as a highlight in Vader’s career, if you can find a copy for yourself. Considering he was aging and gaining weight, it was a great performance by the big man. Though doing what WWE do best, when they signed Vader, they stripped away everything that was original and fearsome about the character.

    Eventually Vader descended into feuds with Razor Ramon and crushingly disappointing feud with the Undertaker and then Kane in early 1997. Vader departed WWE for Japan and the independent promotions, where his star fell quicker than TNA’s has.

    Unless you were a fan of Japanese wrestling then Vader would have disappeared off of your radar until 2005, when he rejoined WWE in a comedy role, teaming with the now overweight Goldust to help Jonathan Coachman oppose Batista. His stint didn’t last long. Due to the moving times and the fact no one under thirty knew who he was. By that time Leon White had put on so much weight that he had trouble walking to the ring.

    In 2010, the last your saviour heard was that White was some kind of property developer, who still put on the Vader mask for independent promotions at weekends and whenever he was needed. It is hard for me to believe that any new up and coming independent promotion who wants to draw crowds, would hire an old man who weighs more than he did in his prime and can hardly walk let alone wrestle. But they do.

    In mid 2010 an announcement was made that a wrestling company was going to start running shows in 2011, building on what WWE and TNA didn’t have and that’s star power. Supposedly bringing in new faces and fresh talent to support their fight into the big time. Those fresh faced names they’re in talks with are a freakishly looking Scott Steiner and Vader himself. Can you believe it? Why a start up promotion who wants to be taken seriously would hire two men who can’t move anymore, is way beyond me. But good luck to them.

    It is for this reason that Vader makes the list. Leon White isn’t as old as some of the guys still walking that aisle today, but he’s no spring chicken either. Vader should be enjoying the twilight of his life now, not jumping back into the ring to ruin the reputations of some young guys that need the push. If people are hoping for another Vader vs. Sting feud with Vader and a new guy then they’re in for a very big disappointment. As much as Leon or the company starting up may think so, Vader has no drawing power anymore. It really is time to retire Vader. Hang up the mask, hang up the boots and quit walking that aisle. The longer it goes on, the longer Vader’s reputation is going to be kicked in the balls.

    For one I hope Leon sees the light and turns down a contract, if only part time with the company. He surely must see he’s in no physical state to recapture the glory years. Looking at him now, he’s one doughnut away from a heart attack, let alone taking punches and kicks and landing on his back every night. I hope Vader can learn from the mistakes of others. Because the man whose catchphrase used to be “It’s time! It’s time! It’s…Vader Time”, could do no better today than to use one last catchphrase “It’s time! It’s time! It’s time to say goodbye!”

STING

    If you said the name Sting in the 1980’s, the chances are people would say the singer who would go to the opening of anything, including a fridge, or the man that was once credited with revolutionizing wrestling. It is the latter that we’re going to focus on.

    You see, in the late 80’s the wrestling audience really weren’t that savvy. Anything that was put in front of them was classed as a decent bout and the fans went home happy that they’d seen a classic encounter. Truth be told, eighty percent of the matches staged in the late nineties, were the pits. Really, they were terrible. Though now and again you’d stumble across a classic. One such classic that your saviour highly recommends is Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat for the World Heavyweight Championship in 1989 at the ‘Chi-Town Rumble’. Anytime Flair and Steamboat stepped through the ropes together it was a classic. This one though, is the best of the bunch.

    Anyway, back to the man in hand. When NWA were looking to battle Vince McMahon in the late 80’s, anyone who was anyone got a shot at the big time. Lex Luger, Vader, Ron Simmons. None shined more than Sting. And hand on heart, the man wasn’t even that good. It’s a common thing that wrestlers are remembered for being better than they actually were. Hulk Hogan is a prime example. Sting though, could at least string moves together. Clad in bright face make up and usually colourful wrestling tights, the man that hailed from Venice Beach, California was taken to the hearts of women, children and old age pensioners everywhere (remind you of a certain WWE superstar at all?). Men though, didn’t take to him too well. His washboard stomach and abundance of muscles were the reason Sting got on the wrong side of the male fan base. Still, NWA and finally WCW would push Sting to the edge and beyond, and it worked.

    Like WWE are doing with John Cena now, WCW pushed Sting down everyone’s throat. The difference between John Cena and Sting is that Sting had charisma and at least a basic wrestling ability. Unlike the mechanical Cena with his no sell for anyone technique and his boring superhuman comeback routine. Sting became NWA/WCW Champion in no time and a star was born.

    Headlining many events Sting waged wars with Lex Luger, Vader and most famously Ric Flair. It was like a transformation. When Sting was in the ring with someone like Lex Luger who was for the most times, slow and pondering in the ring, then he was unable to hold a match together. Yet put him in the ring with Ric Flair and Sting came alive like never before. It was in the early 90’s that Sting came alive and his wrestling ability improved greatly. It’s then perhaps sad that Sting went the way of Flair and most other old guys. Instead of calling it quits when time rode on, Sting carried on.

    In the mid 90’s Sting managed to do what so few people have and reinvent his character. Instead of the bright colours and happy attitude. Sting became a darker man. Donning all black with a white scorpion and long black hair, he’d now descend from the rafters to prey on his opponents. It was a transformation that saw the character grow. It was also a transformation that saw his interest for wrestling dwindle. His performances were drab and dull, and nine times out of ten he looked like he was just going through the motions.

    When WCW was brought out in 2001 by WWE, Sting dropped off the radar after having the final match of WCW history with who else, but Ric Flair. The match was a laughable affair, which drew a tear or two. Not because it was the end of WCW, because the end had been signalled a long time before. The tears weren’t even because this was the last match in the long running feud of Sting and Flair. The tears came because both men who had such great matches with each other in the late 80’s, were now old, fat, out of shape men, tarnishing their legacy.

    Knowing the tradition of wrestlers, to find a home when one is knocked down. It should have been no surprise that Sting would resurface in TNA years later. Where to this day, he still resides. Only the character that steps into the ring today is a shell of his former self. No longer is it a Sting that would battle for an hour no matter how bad his wrestling ability was. This was Sting who would job to nobodies. Who would conform to the Hogan regime. And a Sting who would pad his body to take a bump on thumb tacks - a move I have to point out, which has been taken by countless wrestlers time and time again. Sting has become a lackey, a man that can’t say no.

    In 2010, Steve ’Sting’ Borden is a multi millionaire. A very successful businessman who doesn’t need to step into an arena again unless he’s buying it. Countless times Sting has vowed to retire, only to surface again and again. He is becoming Ric Flair - a man that is destined to die in the ring, because he can’t leave it. I often ask myself why Sting would feel the need to jump into a ring and get his aging body battered by younger, fitter men for a living, stealing their spotlight for fear of being forgotten. There’s no chance of Sting ever being forgotten, even if he keeps having his twenty second matches with people like Rob Van Dam, because he’s too beaten up to actually wrestle.

    People say that it’s a great shame that Sting never worked with Vince McMahon. Me, I say that it’s an even greater shame that Sting never stopped while he was ahead. Because instead of retiring as one of the most popular and loved wrestlers of all time. Sting is now going to retire (some time) as a man that was once great, but who will now be remembered by the next generation of fans after us, as a fat, out of shape, injury prone, has been. And I’m sure that’s not what he intended his legacy to be!

KEVIN NASH

    Hands up who here remembers ‘Big Daddy Cool’ Diesel? Anyone! Yes, you, well done. Because anyone who was a fan of WWE and its over the top, cartoon character like wrestlers between 1993 and 1996 will remember Kevin ‘Diesel’ Nash. Touching the heels of seven foot tall, and tipping the scales at a very lean three hundred pounds, Diesel was a great wrestler for a man of his size.

    Diesel first came to attention as the bodyguard of Shawn Michaels. Long before Diesel power came along, Kevin Nash was treading water in WCW as Vinnie Vegas! A pink tight wearing wrestler who looked like he belonged in the bed chamber of Liberache. It was in WWE that Diesel would rocket Nash to superstardom.

    Soon after Diesel split from Shawn Michaels in late 1994, the big man turned face and soon became the WWE Champion by beating Bob Backlund in a non T.V event, at Madison Square Garden, in 8 - yes count them 8, seconds. And for a time when titles changed hands strictly on pay per view only, and odd times on Monday Night Raw, this was some achievement. At least to the outside world. You see Vince McMahon was so scared that Diesel would bomb as champion on T.V that having him win the title out of the view of most of the audience was a sure fire way to see if the fan base was there. It was. If Diesel had elicited boo’s from the audience then WWE would have brushed aside the title win and kept the gold on Backlund, only for Bret Hart to defeat him for it somewhere down the line. Yet it wasn’t to be. And Diesel carried WWE into a new age of wrestling.

    Sterling matches and feuds with Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and tedious feud with Psycho Sid which most would like to forget about, saw Diesel and WWE rise to new fortunes. As it always is though in WWE, nothing good ever lasts, and Diesel began to sink down the ladder after the novelty wore off. Spotting a chance to hop ship, Kevin Nash handed in his notice and jumped ship to WCW with his old pal, Razor Ramon. Though the path to the exit sign of WWE doors was fraught with the usual turmoil. Diesel lost the 1996 Royal Rumble, turning him heel later that night when he attacked the Undertaker. From there, the end of Kevin Nash was clearly signposted. His final feud would be against the man from the dark side. At Wrestlemania 12, Diesel lost a half and half match to the Undertaker.

    In WCW, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall’s star was diminishing until Hulk Hogan came to the rising brand and as good as took over. When the NWO was formed Nash and Hall became two of the biggest stars in wrestling. Until their shelf life ran out and there was nothing left for them to do in a brand that was quickly running out of money. Once again, they jumped ship.

    The NWO resurfaced in WWE in 2002, where Kevin Nash would stay until 2003, when he decided he’d made a mistake coming back. In truth the mistake wasn’t a mistake. Ok Nash was injured, but who isn’t? The truth is that Nash was no longer a star in WWE in 2003. He had hit the twilight of his career in 1998 and in a company that at that time at least, was pushing young and new talent into headline positions, Nash wasn’t prepared to take anything less than the main spot, which was occupied by his best friend Triple H.

    Nash’s time in WWE between 2002 and 2003 wasn’t all wasted. He did managed to amble to a few decent matches in a feud with Triple H, that lasted way too long, including a bloody and hard hitting Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood 2003. The clock though was ticking for Nash in WWE. The fans weren’t interested in an old man fighting for the most valuable prize and so Nash ended his WWE reign for good in an instantly forgettable feud with Chris Jericho. The feud ended in a dull hair vs. hair match, where Nash succumbed to the punishment for leaving the company seven years previously and lost the majority of his brown locks. Dying his hair blonde. Kevin Nash would have walked out of WWE after SummerSlam 2003’s Elimination Chamber, in which he was so beaten up and riddled by injuries he barely managed to hit a few people before he was eliminated, yet injury struck again, forcing his hand to leave, when he picked up a serious leg injury in a match on Raw. That was the last time the WWE universe saw Kevin Nash.

    Not much is known of Kevin Nash’s activities in or outside the wrestling ring between the time he left WWE and joined TNA. But when he joined TNA, he was no longer the leader of the Wolfpack, he was no longer ‘Big Daddy Cool’. Kevin Nash was a man who looked a physical wreck. His leg wasn’t healed properly and the most he could do was amble around the ring, throwing punches when he could steady himself enough to let go of the ropes without falling over.

    Time only served Nash worse. Instead of calling it a day when he picked up even more injuries to his already deteriorating back and knees, Nash continued and does so until this day. Trying to recapture years gone by, Nash formed tag teams with Scott Hall and even Sean ‘X-Pac’ Waltman when they were around, yet he could never manage much more than a mid card spot due to his limited mobility. When Hogan took over TNA, he instantly tried to reform the NWO with Hall, Nash and Waltman calling themselves The Band. If I’m being honest, it wasn’t what it once was. It reminded me of several old uncles trying to be 16 again. It was pathetic.

    Yet in 2010, Kevin Nash refuses to give in to injury. In some respects you have to give him credit for it. In others you can only see the man as an utter fool. For someone who has turned grey, the wrong side of 40, whose knees are crumbling from underneath him, and who has more than enough money to retire on, Nash has been very stupid. In a recent interview, which was one of the saddest I’ve read, he stated that he’s not ready to retire yet. Sad, because the man thinks he still has a few good years left in him. If Nash continues to wrestle for another year he risks being paralyzed and having to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

    If Kevin Nash was the TNA world champion, who had a future and prospects in a company that needs to be left to die, then you could argue that Nash has everything to fight for. As it stands though, he hasn’t. It is because of people like Nash that TNA is nose diving towards the ocean of bankruptcy. Instead of moving aside and letting those who come next have their time, Nash is clinging onto the fading flame of his career. Surely this is no way to end a career for someone who will be known as one of the best big men in the business.  

 THE STEINER BROTHERS

    Maybe the most famous tag team in wrestling history, Rick and Scott Steiner are literally wrestling royalty. There aren’t many names you can say that about in 2010. In a wrestling industry that pushes those that put more money in the pockets of the promoters than the talented, then wrestling royalty is on the decline.

    The chances are that if you were a fan of NWA, WCW or WWE in the late 80’s or early nineties, then Rick and Scott couldn’t have slipped off of your radar. Only one other tag team garnered as much respect than the Steiner’s, and that was the Legion of Doom.

    To see what both men could do in the ring was at one time an absolute pleasure. I’d recommend any of their pre 1994 material to any wrestling fan around the world. If an alien were to land in my garden and ask about the fine art we are all here for, then I’d put on a DVD or VHS (I have an abundance of both) of the Steiner Brothers. Sadly, apart from the WWE released DVD’s today, the WCW era is mostly confined to old VHS tapes of pay per view events and WWE 24/7, where you can watch any match you like, but only if you happen to live in the U.S.A. So material of the brothers in their prime is in short supply. If only the same could be said for John Cena and Hulk Hogan.

    Born and raised in the tough nut state of Detroit, Michigan, Rick and Scott took the wrestling world by storm. Not only did they have a different style of wrestling but in a business that was mostly dominated by guys that stood at 6 foot 5 and over, and weighed in at over 250 pounds, the Steiner’s were a breath of fresh air. They were smaller, faster, trained better than any of the other guys that we’d been trained to watch and love. And that’s why everyone loved them.

    There’s so much of their NWA / WCW career that I couldn’t possibly do it justice here and neither would I dare try. All you need to know if you haven’t seen much of it is that you could do a lot worse than hunt out a few VHS tapes or other DVD material that people around the world have recorded themselves from WWE 24/7, maybe Ebay can help you out there. And if you did see it, then we were the lucky ones. Because there was no falseness in their art of wrestling. No posing to the crowd for half an hour, then run around the ring for ten seconds and get counted out. When they entered the ring, they went to business. A career spanning NWA, WCW, WWE, Japan and TNA - although separately, saw they went down as one of the most decorated tag teams in wrestling history. 

    So where did it all go wrong? There are many points in the career of the brothers Steiner that you could pause, mark off and argue that the part you’ve ear marked was the turning point. But I’m going to save you all the bother and tell you, because I’m that type of person. For once, the point where the glass ceiling collapsed under them and their career went free falling into the wrestling brimstone and hell fire wasn’t WWE’s fault, and that isn’t a sentence you’ll hear me say often. Usually, WWE takes a great talent and then strips away everything that was unique about them, moulding them into just another product of the WWE machine. This time, it was all down to WCW.

    When the Steiner’s rejoined WCW in the latter half of the 1990’s, they were to all observing, a different team. Japan had taken them to heart and showered them with tag team titles. Their first stint in NWA/WCW, they were hailed titans of the tag team division. Even WWE let them run with what had worked for them all the time they were making their names. But in WCW, it just wasn’t enough anymore. So who do we blame? The ever changing face of wrestling, for forcing their hand? The fans, for not wanting what worked? The promoters and bookers, for thinking they can tell us what we want to see? No! The blame lies squarely at the feet, of Eric Bischoff. Yes, that name creeps up again. The name that started so many careers and ended even more.

    When Rick and Scott arrived back on the shore of WCW, they weren’t greeted with big smiles and respect. They were greeted with massive pay checks and told what they would be doing. That was Eric. Truth is that Eric and the bookers in WCW never knew what was going on towards the end. And the way they treated the Steiner Brothers, the brothers that had revolutionized wrestling, it makes me wonder if they ever knew what they were doing at all. Eric, as the man in charge split up the Steiner Brothers and that was the point in their careers, when it all went south. You see Rick and Scott were a phenomenal tag team, possibly the best ever. As singles wrestlers, they both suck! Plain and simple! S.U.C.K!

    It was never going to work. I don’t even know what Bischoff was thinking. Because one you took away the magic of the team, then you had nothing to sell. Scott Steiner did the best of the pair, going on to singles titles and even the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. But by the time that came around the man had put on so much unnatural muscle - in other words it didn’t all come from weight training, that he could barely move around the ring and looked like a genetic experiment. Sure, he had a few feuds with Sting, Goldberg etc, but it was never really the same. He became more injury prone and clumsier, thus loosing the interest of the fans.

    When WCW folded, Scott Steiner jumped ship and went to WWE. Again, when he made his debut amongst much fan fair at Survivor Series 2002 the roof erupted for him, out of respect for the man, and quite rightly so. The plan was for Steiner to battle Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship, finally dethroning him at Wrestlemania 19. A great plan on paper. In practice though, everyone from his debut could see the flaw. In a year and a half Scott Steiner had added even more muscle to his already grotesque frame, and now he looked so unnatural, that his movement was limited and he could no longer take the required falls, nor keep up with the physical schedule that is demanded of the World Heavyweight Champion.

    Yet, WWE saw this and instead of scrapping the plan, they tried their hardest to push Steiner in other areas. They held a ridiculous bidding war angle, in which Stephanie McMahon - then General manager of Smackdown, offered Steiner sexual favours to join the blue brand and Eric Bischoff, the man who had ruined Steiner’s career in the first place was reduced to a bit part trying to persuade Scott to Raw. The angle was meant to hype the coming of Steiner to Raw to battle with Triple H. The saddest thing is, is that it would have worked if it had been done by anyone other than WWE. Paul Heyman once said, that in a performer, you have to accentuate the positives and hide the negatives. A tried and tested method in wrestling. Once again the problem was that Steiner by 2002 had no positives. He couldn’t wrestle, his microphone work was dreadful, and he looked like an old man in an experimented body - the age added to his face by years of piling on the muscle unnaturally (read into that what you will - we all know how it got there). What was left to sell of Steiner as a threat to Triple H’s title? His muscle of course.

    The only problem with putting a great wrestler in the ring with a powerhouse of muscle like Steiner is that, sooner or later, the great wrestler ala Triple H, was going to expose Steiner’s weaknesses. And that he did. In their first encounter at Royal Rumble 2003, Steiner entered to a huge fan fair - fans actually expected a great match. Your saviour remembers the night well - watching the match through fingers as I had my hand clasped to my face. There could only be one outcome. From the entrance to the ring, it was about thirty feet. In thirty feet, Scott Steiner looked like he’d been running thirty miles. What hope was there for a man that was out of breath before he reached the ring? The answer, was none. The match was awful. Steiner had to resort to holds and not moves just so he could get his breath back. And minutes in, Triple H began to show Steiner’s flaws. Being that he couldn’t actually wrestle anymore.

    After Triple H walked away with the Championship, Steiner was booed out of the building by the crowd that had been promised good things. A fair response. After investing so much time in Steiner, we all deserved better than he gave us that night. The match really was as a bad as it sounds. If you ever watch it in the future, you can skip to the end. Just watch as Triple H is leaving the ring, Steiner is hailed with a shower of jeers and boo’s. And it’s not just limited to the end. Towards the end, when Steiner fails to do anything of note they jump on him like a Lion on its fallen prey.

    So, what did WWE do after that night? Did they pull Steiner from T.V, in a convincing injury storyline? No! Did they make Steiner go back and actually learn some wrestling moves and drop some muscle? No! Did they even demote him to mid card status? Not yet! Instead, the inability of WWE’s writing staff to spin a story on a few hours notice, saw Steiner and Triple H clash again, this time one month later at No Way Out 2003. A good event that was let down by, guess who? Scott Steiner! Every match on the card was either good or great. Even the Rock managed to pull something of note out of Hogan in the main event. But Triple H had given up trying to make Steiner look good and I can’t really blame him. If the talent isn’t there, then you can’t create it.

    Thankfully, their match - which no one wanted to see twice, but that doesn’t matter to WWE - was mercifully shorter than the first a month earlier. Triple H won by pinfall, which everyone knew was the end of the feud. When a champion defeats a challenger by pinfall - especially a challenger that was pushed as a strong threat to the belt like Steiner was - then you know something has gone wrong and the feud is as good as over. And over it was, not that anyone cared. Triple H instead went on to have a great match with the multi talented Booker T at ‘Mania 19, and due to Booker’s talent, life story and quest for the gold, the match meant more than both of Triple H and Steiner’s clashes did. Scott Steiner on the other hand wasn’t even on the biggest card of the year.

    After WWE realized that old Scotty couldn’t cut the mustard they did the sensible thing and lost him in the mid card shuffle. Instead, seeing out his WWE tenure in a feud with the late Test for Stacey Kiebler (I’d go to war for Stacey Kiebler) and finally turning heel. After treading water in WWE for a year, Steiner picked up an injury, one that would see him exit WWE for good. True, he could have probably returned after he’d healed, but with nothing for him to do and no more story lines to give someone with little ability to do anything, WWE paid Scott Steiner to stay at home for the rest of contract. It was a wise decision.

    Scott Steiner wasn’t done yet. Just as the world thought there was no place for old, washed up stars and they could breathe a sigh of relief that they’d never see them disgrace a wrestling ring again, up pops TNA. And swiftly, Scott Steiner headed over to Florida. Now usually, I’d say that Steiner should have stayed at home. But he actually did lend a star quality to the brand. Ok, so it wasn’t the kind of star quality they needed, but for a brand that took anything they could get, it was something. In TNA Steiner stayed in the main event spotlight, with feuds against Sting, Jeff Jarrett, Samoa Joe, among others and joined the Main Event Mafia (a bunch of washed up wrestlers). Just when people thought Steiner had nothing else left, a miracle happened.

    Having to take time off for an operation, Steiner returned after his absence to TNA. Only it wasn’t the lumbering Scott Steiner that we’d come to know. Steiner returned and was a better wrestler. It was like the surgeons had put in a wrestling brain again, or at least switched back on the part that had been dimmed by Eric Bischoff. Scott had several great matches with the younger stars of TNA and people sat up and took notice again. It didn’t last, but it did give him one last hurrah before he left TNA. We could argue about weather it was coincidence that Steiner left just before Hogan and Bischoff took over TNA, or great thinking. One thing is for sure. If Steiner had still been there when Hogan and Bischoff took over, then he’d either be TNA Champion by now - which would have been a disaster for all concerned or Bischoff would have put that final nail in the coffin and buried Steiner so deep, he’d have had no chance of digging himself out.

    Either way Scott Steiner avoided embarrassment. If he could have wrestled like he did in the closing stages of his TNA career against Triple H, then wrestling history might have been very different now. Thus it is, that Scott Steiner hasn’t been heard of for a while - even though rumours were buzzing around that he’s about to sign, along with Vader, for a new start up wrestling company. It’ll be a mistake if he does. Not many wrestlers get a really good final wind before or even if they ever, step away from the spotlight.

    Rick Steiner on the other hand is a sadder case. Apart from a short WCW United States Championship reign and a brief run in TNA. Rick has done nothing of note in wrestling in thirteen years. I have had the privilege of speaking to Rick on a few occasions and he is one of the nicest guys you could hope to meet. His wrestling career though, now consists of taking independent dates and reliving the glory years in front of 50 people in a bingo hall. Still, I suppose it’s better than disgracing your legacy in front of millions of people every week.

    Either way, the time is now for the Steiner Brothers to step away from the ring. Neither can wrestle anymore and I prefer to remember them, as many do, as they once were. The greatest tag team in wrestling history.

HULK HOGAN

    How could I do a blog of this magnitude without mentioning the one man who probably, somewhere deep down, inspired this. The man that cast Hulkamania upon us like a plague of Locus on a hot summer day. The sadly immortal, Hulk Hogan.

    Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate Hulk Hogan. From the way I’ve spoken of the man you might get a sense of hatred from it. I respect Hulk Hogan the wrestler, but I loath Terry Boella the man. And there is good reason for it. For anyone who has read his two over exaggerating autobiographies then you’ll know how much the man loves himself. Although he seems to be under some false impression that Hulk Hogan was the greatest wrestler to have ever lived. Wrong! You see Hulk Hogan maybe the greatest entertainer that ever lived, I’ll give him that. The greatest wrestler that ever lived? Not a chance.

    I find it sad, that even today wrestling fans, if they’ve been watching for twenty years of twenty minutes lack the knowledge and ability to spot the difference between a great wrestler and great entertainer. If you are one of these small minded people who thinks John Cena and Hulk Hogan are great wrestlers, then read on, because your saviour is about to explain the difference between the two.

    Since the dawn of this business, wrestling has been a sports entertainment driven industry. There have been many great entertainers in this sport. There have also been many great wrestlers. A great entertainer is someone who whips the crowd up into a frenzy, who gets them chanting their name, who can deliver a scintillating promo and sell merchandise ten to the dozen. A great wrestler is someone who steps into the ring and can apply hold after hold, move after move. Though that’s not all that applies to being a great wrestler. To be classed as great, you must have the one important commodity. Psychology! It takes at least a small notion of ring psychology to be a great wrestler. You have know how to plan out a match move to move. How to draw heat from the audience. How to get the audience on your side without picking up the microphone. How to improvise when something goes wrong in a match, which it so often does. A brilliant example of this is New years Revolution 2007. Triple H and Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton and Edge. The match where Triple H delivered a thunderous spine buster to Randy Orton and in the process tore out his own quadricep, with just one wrongly placed knee. Normally the match would continue if a competitor was injured, this time though Triple H couldn’t continue. Instead of blowing a match, Shawn Michaels used his infinite and brilliant ring psychology and picked up a chair from ring side and nailed the referee, Orton and Edge. The match, instead of ending in a mess, because of Michaels ended in a no contest - and a believable one at that.

     Sometimes all it takes is one look. Sometimes all it takes is one great match. Hulk Hogan could just look at an audience and have them on their feet. All he had to say was “You know something Mean Gene?” or “What ya gonna do, when Hulkamania runs wild on you?” and the crowd were in the palm of his hand. When he stepped through the ropes though, it wasn’t so good. You see Hogan had the entertainment side down to a tee. The reality was though, he could hardly string a set of moves together. His Hulking up routine was unbelievable and samey after a while and even today he uses the same finishing move - a leg drop - as if a fan with half a brain today believes the biggest star or the champion of a company could be defeated with a lousy leg drop. Hulk Hogan is and to a degree always was, unbelievable.

    His autobiographies are an essential read for the Hulkamania fans, if only to make them see what a liar, exaggerator and a truly selfish man he really is. The problem is though they take his word as gospel and think everything he says actually happened. Poor, poor fools! In the first autobiography, Hogan demonstrates a classic example of his selfishness when he talks about Wrestlemania 6, Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior for the WWF Championship. That night Warrior defeated Hogan for the gold. Instead of reciting a passage from Hogan’s book, it’s simpler for me to put it into lames terms for you. If you don’t believe me then pick up a copy and see for yourself. Hogan, instead of losing gracefully, took it upon himself to make himself the star of the show as the losing champion. He fully admits by handing the title to the Warrior all eyes were cast upon him as he walked back up the aisle defeated, and not Warrior celebrating in the ring. Hulk Hogan ruined Ultimate Warrior’s Wrestlemania moment and knowingly at that. He says himself that all eyes were on him and that’s the way he wanted it. A truly selfish act - especially since Hogan, in years before and years to come would have many Wrestlemania moments, largely due to his selfishness.

    Becoming of a man who was meant to be an icon for children? I don’t think so! Another case is the way Hogan talks about revolutionizing wrestling and making Wrestlemania. In 2003, Hogan and McMahon had a storyline feud where they went to war over who created Wrestlemania. Sadly, in reality, Hogan really thinks it was him. In some sad little world in his head, the man thinks that it was him who should be credited for creating the grandest stage of them all. Hogan merely competed in the main event. Hogan didn’t create ’Maina! Hogan didn’t think ’Maina up! Hogan didn’t dip into his own pocket and pay for Wrestlemania! Just because you appear in something, it doesn’t mean you created anything! And all those who would disagree with me, really need to take a look at your views and knowledge of wrestling, because it’s extremely limited. I’m not here to give a character assassination of Hogan, because I could go on all day. The last point of his selfishness I’ll point out is from 2005. The dream feud, the dream match. Hulk Hogan vs. Shawn Michaels, in the main event of SummerSlam. What a match it was meant to be. Yet thanks to Hogan’s selfishness, it ended up being a one man show. Only this time, Hogan came off worst. For one match, Hogan demanded eight million dollars, which WWE gladly paid him, an old man with two hip replacements under his belt, just to waddle around a ring for twenty minutes. Pathetic.

    That night, Michaels was the star of the show. HBK threw himself around the ring to make Hogan look great. And he did! Only fans saw through it, and they saw that HBK was doing Hogan a favour. No longer was Hogan a great star in their eyes, just a second rate has been. Hogan shot himself in the foot one month later when he left WWE after selfishly refusing to lose a rematch to Michaels, just one month after refusing to lose to him at SummerSlam. The actions of an icon? No!

    History is littered with many selfish Hogan acts. When he refused to put Randy Orton over and make his career. The way he continuously keeps overshadowing the TNA roster every week and brining in aged stars just because they’re friends of his, and then in WCW when he convinced Bischoff to hire former WWE stars who he lost to whilst in the company between 1985 and 1993, just so he could beat and humiliate them on his ground. Now if you think that’s what a wrestling icon, who was a hero to millions should be, then you really shouldn’t be in this sport.

    So, onto the good. Because Hogan did do some good for wrestling. His name to some degree put wrestling on the map. Even though if McMahon had never hired him in the first place, then the WWE tycoon would have found someone else to play the part of Hogan. The Hulkster held many WWE and WCW championships as well as making his name in Japan. His name is now known all over the world. The chances are if you said the word wrestling, to anyone around the world, doesn’t matter how big or little their knowledge of the sport is, the they’d say, Hulk Hogan. Hell, there was even a mention of his name on Match of the Day 2 on 19^th September on BBC 2. That’s not too bad for someone with very limited ability. On top of everything else Hogan did prove that no matter how bad you are at something, you can still last a lifetime doing it.

    To that end Hulk Hogan lies in the middle of wrestling’s hallowed halls. In between the lines on success and failure. It’s up to you to decide where he ends up.

    Now though Hogan has tarnished his brush somewhat. From a young man who had millions following him, from humble beginnings to World Champion status, Hogan now embarrasses himself week in week out. Be it in the ring as a flabby, overweight pensioner with two new hips, who has to bleed himself with razor blades to get the crowd going. Or be it on the stick every week contradicting himself by talking about how he’s here to usher in a new generation of young talent, yet never actually seems to push any, favouring himself, his friends and Ric Flair instead. Or even having his face on the cover of many TNA DVD’s even when he’s not on them, just so he gets paid more. The ultimate embarrassment and the thing we’re going to leave Hogan on, for now anyway, is HULKAMANIA! The tour of Australia that Hogan arranged and paid for. The tour which he earmarked as a rousing success, with such legends on the card as himself, Ric Flair and failed WWE stars like the late Umaga and the not so sexy anymore, Val Venis. Which in reality turned out to be a huge loss at the box office and bloody awful wrestling show to boot.

    You see Hulk Hogan and his legion of mindless supporters, would have us think that if we don’t support Hogan, the man who is sinking TNA faster than that iceberg sank the Titanic, then we know nothing about wrestling. When in fact it’s the other way around. It’s those who think Hogan is the best thing since slice bread, who wear the hideous yellow t-shirts and dress up like him so they can say they touched Hulkamania, are actually the ones, I think you’ll find, that have very limited knowledge of this business. And from what I’ve seen, they’re like the man himself. So shallow, that they have no interest in the rest of the business or what‘s going on around them, they only look out for someone that will never be number one in many people’s eyes, and who has never been number one in some people’s opinions. Mine!

    Wrestling has moved on, and as a result Hulk Hogan has been buried with the shuffle. That’s the way it should be. The new move forward, the old step back and enjoy their life in the twilight. It took us twenty five years, but at last, Hulkamania is over!

   












PSYCHO SID

I wasn’t going to include Sid in this blog, because until recently even I had

no idea he was still flogging his trade. Alas, Sid Vicious, Psycho Sid, or the man more commonly known as Sid Eudy, hasn’t learnt his lesson from his previous life as a WWE/WCW star.

    Sid was never the greatest wrestler or the greatest entertainer, yet he had something that shined about him. Even I can’t put my finger on what it was, yet it was something that you couldn’t take your eye off. Like a car crash, you don’t want to look, but you can’t resist sneaking a peek or two. His most famous feuds were with Sting in WCW and Shawn Michaels in WWE. Either way, Sid came out looking like a million dollars in both.

    Forgetting the hideous Robocop angle in WCW, Sid’s feud with Sting was memorable, because it was the feud that made his name. Many giants have walked into the ring and just as quickly walked back out never to be seen again. Just because some have become World Heavyweight Champion, it doesn’t automatically mean that they’ll be remembered in years to come (*Cough*Cough*Great Khali*Cough*Cough*). Sid though, will. And not because he was a great talent, because he wasn’t, but because he was a memorable character. And that’s all you need in the end.

    Some T.V characters are played by bloody awful actors, who can’t act for toffee. Though, because the character themselves have something memorable about them, you’ll remember them forever. Alan Davies isn’t the greatest actor in the world, but you’ll always remember Jonathan Creek. He was even voted the fourth greatest detective in history, only just losing out to Sherlock Holmes.

    Sid hit the twilight of his career in 1997, when he defeated Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship, at Survivor Series. It was a poor match and a poor main event. Nevertheless, Sid became the WWF Champion, cementing his name in wrestling history. The reign was poor and forgettable, and ended two months later at the hands of the man he won it from, Shawn Michaels. Due to Michaels vacating the championship Sid became champion again and lost it shortly after, to Undertaker of Wrestlemania 13.

    It was the end of Sid’s short WWE career and he set sail for WCW where he became WCW Heavyweight Champion, an instantly forgettable reign due to the fact WCW was dropping faster than Jordan’s knickers on a night out. For all purposes, after Sid lost the WCW Championship he could have retired ahead of his game. Maybe that was the plan. Sadly he pushed his body too far and live on T.V Sid suffered a career ending injury. When he came off the middle rope and literally snapped his leg in two. It was a horrific injury and for anyone who saw it live, it was an unforgettable and sickening one. Sid’s lower leg, literally hung off, due to the bone completely breaking, the leg had no skeletal structure. I can’t stress how sickening it was. If you didn’t see it then it’s readily available for you to view on You Tube, and I would highly recommend it for all those who love and hate wrestling. It does more than just sicken. It serves as a reminder how dangerous this sport actually is. And for those who doubt how dangerous and authentic wrestling can be sometimes, watch it and then tell yourself it’s not real. You fools.

    After the incident, everyone thought that was the last they’d heard of Sid. Some even hoped that he couldn’t step into the ring again, therefore unable to disgrace the name of professional wrestling. Ten years on, in 2010 there have been years worth of rumours that Sid was negotiating with WWE and TNA to make his in ring return. A disastrous outcome for all. One would have thought that Sid would have been put off for life. After all, as I’ve said elsewhere in this blog, the human body can only take so much. Even more so when the person in question is prone to injury and stands at close to six foot nine. Big men like Sid aren’t meant to have long careers as active wrestlers. Already, the Great Khali has several knee problems which have seen him away from WWE TV lately. One has to question how much longer Khali can continue with his limited mobility.

    Sid though has to be given credit, at least partially. Not many people would suffer and injury of that horrific magnitude and then want to come back and do it all again. Sid though, has lived up to his though man character and has done that. Now, even though only on occasion, Sid Eudy does the odd match on the independent circuit match to help him relive the memories. For a man that broke his leg beyond repair (there are still parts that can’t be mended), then you’d have to question Eudy’s motive for stepping between the ropes again. Surely a man of his age and height and especially a man of his injury prone background could find something else to do with his life. If he does still want to be involved in wrestling then a backstage job as a booker or an office staff would suit him more.

    Still, if Sid does goes through with negotiations with either WWE or TNA then neither promotion has anything to gain from having Eudy on the roster again. There’s no place for a man with a wrecked leg and advanced age in today’s mainstream wrestling society. Even though Hogan and Flair keep on, people are bored with them beyond belief now. Eudy’s involvement with active wrestling would essentially put a cast iron backboard on what people are saying: that WWE and TNA are more bothered about pushing old men, rather than fresh new talent. If Eudy was signed to a deal with either company then no one could argue that the point people are trying to get across is wrong. A man of Sid’s age and physical condition would only turn people off of WWE more than the brand is doing now. And joining TNA may just be the final hole in the hull of an already sinking ship.

    Either way, Eudy should start to think about stepping away from the ring. TNA already has a plethora of ageing stars it needs to release and WWE, with it’s PG audience rating so fiercely in force, could they really take the risk of something as sickening happening to Eudy again, and in front of their child audience? For a company who stops matches to glue shut hard way cuts, the answer can only be no.

    While Eudy will be remembered most for his stint as one of the Skyscrapers and the Four Horsemen, the question remains, why tarnish that memory with a worse injury in front of the world? Because next time, it might not be a broken leg. Next time, it might be a hell of a lot worse.

JEFF JARRETT

    People think of Jeff Jarrett as a lifetime mid card wrestler who doesn’t deserve the push he got in WCW, to the main event spot and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. I have to disagree. Jarrett may have shook hands to the gold in WCW, but in fact has played a very clever game with his career thus far. What Jarrett did to get to the top, was no worse than what Hulk Hogan shamelessly and self admittedly did for himself.

    You’re probably getting tired now, so if you want to know about the early days of Jeff Jarrett then purchase a copy of his autobiographical DVD, ‘Jeff Jarrett - King of the Mountain.’ Your saviour would recommend it to anyone and I don’t say that about a lot of TNA DVD’s. It’s worth the thirty quid price tag and has an abundance of Jarrett history and matches on it. Some good, Jarrett vs. Angle, Jarrett vs. A.J Styles, plus many more and some howlers Jarrett vs. Scott Hall from TNA’s early days.

    Jeff first came to my attention in 1993, when he joined WWE. Of course, I was only a child back then, but those are my best memories of wrestling. There were hardly any stupid storylines back then. Jarrett, who was then billed as a country and music star who sung and had a really credible Intercontinental Championship reign, was a good wrestler. His most famous feud came in a series with Razor Ramon. It remains one of the nineties greatest feuds. It was slightly spoiled in later years when Jarrett and Hall clashed again in TNA, in bouts that bored the tears out of everyone.

    Who remembers the light up hat he used to wear to the ring and jacket with JJ on the back? Double J, Jeff Jarrett became a star and then was buried when WWE had nothing else for him to do. The shame of it was that Jarrett could hold his own with guys like Ramon, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart. The top stars could have good matches with Jarrett and if WWE had pushed him then by now he could be WWE Champion and wrestling history could be different.

    In 1999, Jeff Jarrett had altered his appearance. His long curly locks had gone, and his Double J moniker was no where to be seen. In its place was a straight talking, hard hitting wrestler and tag team champion with his best friend, the late, great Owen Hart. Sadly we all know how Owen’s career and life ended, live on pay per view, when he fell one hundred feet from the rafters to his death, breaking his neck in the ring. It was a stunt that should never have passed WWE health and safety. I could say a lot more, but I’m not legally bound. We know how petty WWE are these days, about taking responsibility for wrestlers deaths.

    After the tragic passing of Owen, Jarrett couldn’t stay in WWE. So he decided to ply his trade in WCW. A decision that would herald great results. In 2000, not even a year after he’d joined, Jarrett had made so many friends higher up that he was given the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. With Hogan gone from the company, the way was clear for Jarrett to take over as the main man. An opportunity he took with great aplomb. His decision may not have been all right, but they heralded results. The results were not enough to save WCW and when WWE took over, on the final night of WCW, Vince McMahon’s hatred for Jarrett, blaming them for Owen’s death and jumping ship, McMahon fired Jarrett live on air. That’s how pathetic the billionaire is.

    What came next was a shot across the bow of WWE. Jarrett and his father founded and poured their money into TNA. Ok, it wasn’t much, but it was two fingers in the direction of McMahon and a willingness not to let him win. An admirable feat I think you’ll agree. After all, if you’re going down, then you might as well go down fighting. Let everyone remember you. TNA was never seen as a threat to WWE, not at least for while. With Scott Hall, Jeff Jarrett and a list of old WCW names on the roster, it looked and felt like a remake of WCW. That was until Dixie Carter Salinas invested in the company. Ok, so Dixie has no real knowledge of this business and she doesn’t know how to run a wrestling promotion. But TNA changed and with Jarrett at the helm it was actually making headway later into its run. Jarrett was the heel champion who everyone wanted to vanquish and you only have to watch his DVD to see how much fun everyone was having around 2004.

    But, as sods law would have it, Jarrett was to be struck with the worst curse anyone could have. His wife, tragically passed away from Cancer and the wrestling world mourned with Jarrett. The man Jarrett is, he didn’t let it defeat him. Taking time away from the ring, the King of the Mountain returned better than ever, and TNA rose from the dead.

    A turning point was around the corner for Jarrett a good one and a bad one. When Kurt Angle joined TNA from WWE, with him he brought his gorgeous ex wife Karen Angle. Karen was a main stay for a while on TNA TV and to be honest she is the sexiest older woman I’ve ever seen. Ok, she’s not old and she has kids, also I’m not going into the M.I.L.F thing, but you know, if she was single then I would. Just take a look at the picture below to see what I’m talking about. Anyway Kurt and Karen went through a divorce while both working for TNA, and a while later Jarrett and Karen became friends.

    Now, I don’t care how they met! I don’t really care if they’d been seeing each other in private (they had). What matters is that they were both consenting adults - Jarrett was single after the passing of his wife and was mending his life again (good for him) and Karen was legally divorced from Kurt and free to live her life as she saw fit. So when it came out that Jarrett and Karen were seeing each other, and she was moving into his house with her children - with Jarrett and his children, then your saviour couldn’t have been happier for old Double J.

    The union was met with fierce opposition from fans and wrestlers and bigwigs around the world. Vince McMahon was convinced it was just a storyline. Kurt Angle was furious. Fans were appalled. And TNA officials, Dixie to name but one, suspended Jarrett, from his own company on the request of Kurt Angle. How pathetic is that? Really, who’s business is it if Jarrett and Karen want to make a life together? The fans have nothing to do with it, it’s none of our business, yet we made it our business and objected. It was certainly none of McMahon’s or WWE’s business and as it happened in their own time and not in the companies time, Dixie had no right to suspend Jarrett from his own company. Simply: it had nothing to do with anyone else, but the two people who fell in love with each other and wanted to make a life together. So everyone who was opposed to it, get a grip and concentrate on your own lives.

    Eventually, everything blew over and Jarrett returned to TNA. It was never the same. Jarrett had lost control of his company and Hogan was about to take over. What hope did Jarrett have?

    This time around this isn’t a criticism of Jarrett, not so much a defence of him. Ok, so maybe he should have stopped wrestling long ago, but he is still quite good when he wants to be and provides some light entertainment. On the home front, Jarrett and Karen I believe, plan to marry. And this time, there’s nothing anyone has the right to say about it.

    Out of all the guys mentioned above, Jeff Jarrett is the one I respect the most. For believing he could fight toe to toe with McMahon. For defying the laws of possibility. For standing up to the management. For coming through a tragedy that would see most men crumble away into a shadow of their former selves and finally, for finding love and a future again and not caring what anyone thinks for it. Too many people don’t go forward with their lives today, because they’re afraid of what people might think. Jeff didn’t and for that he should be commended.

    Good job Jeff.

TNA

    How much have we all learnt of TNA over the past god knows how long? A lot? Too much? Not enough? Well, I’m sure in future blogs I’ll be writing more about it and its failure to capitalize on its opportunities. Now though, TNA has made sure it makes this first list of those who should have called it a day, a long time ago.

    Enough has been said about all the shit that goes on in TNA. All the politics backstage, all the Hogan / Bischoff rubbish. Now though, its time to take a look at what’s really wrong. Hogan didn’t just stroll into the company, he was employed by the problem that is Dixie Carter Salinas.

    Everyone thinks this woman is a visionary. Everyone thought this woman was the saviour of TNA. Wrong! She was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Dixie couldn’t have done more damage to TNA if she had tried. Just because you plug money into something doesn’t mean you know better than others. I read an interview recently in which Dixie amazingly showed her lack of wrestling savvy. She stated that fans shouldn’t have to pay to see wrestling. Begging the question, how are TNA meant to make their money (which they’re not at the moment). Pay Per Views should be free (another money loss, giving away your biggest product). That she doesn’t see why big matches have to culminate on PPV (blow off matches to angles are meant for PPV. It’s what people pay to see). Among other things. This interview was ridiculous. And it just went to show that she’s the wrong person to be running a promotion. She thinks that TNA are a viable opposition for WWE. WWE is worth billions. Anyone with five figures could waltz in and buy TNA. In short, this woman can’t see what’s going wrong.

    Bringing in Hogan and Bischoff was the biggest mistake Dixie made. They were there to provide jobs for their friends and bury the talent TNA should be pushing to make a bid for future dominance. It looks like a retirement home for ex WWE stars. Stop hiring rubbish and starts plugging money into your company. Charge for tickets - people would gladly pay if the product was worth watching. Create big feuds that last years, it’s a tried and tested method which worked for WWE with people like Triple H and the Rock. Kane and Undertaker. Randy Orton and John Cena. Even Hulk Hogan and Macho Man. And talking of Macho Man. Was it really necessary to model Jay Lethal, a young, promising talent after Randy Savage? Or get A.J . Styles to imitate Ric Flair, or side Abyss with Hogan? Thankfully, most of those wrongs have been righted now apart from a few. TNA though has no core! It has no milestone it can pin its future on.

    All TNA and Dixie are saying to the world is come and see a free show that isn’t worth the TV time it’s given - and it’s not. Ok, so it’s gotten a little better recently, how long though until Hogan and Bischoff get bored and bring back their mates for a little reunion? Like the E.V 02 reunion that got together all the old ECW guys and gave them a pay per view all to themselves, instead of giving it to the future talent. Will someone in Florida wake up please!!!

    You could attribute the downfall of TNA to many other people, one being Vince Russo. The former writer of WWE! The writer who almost single handedly sunk WCW by making himself and David Arquette WCW Champion and the current writer of the rubbish TNA. Sack the man, he’s a proven failure who thinks he holds power of life or death over TNA. And he does. If he writes something rubbish then it could be the final nail in the coffin. You only have to fall so far before you’re out of reach of help. And we can only put up with so much rubbish before we tune out.

    So do us a favour Dixie. Sack Hogan and Bischoff, they’re doing you no good! Sack Russo, he’s crap! Clear out all the old farts that you have on display and employ better people in their place. Paul Heyman was recently in talks with TNA to take over from Hogan. Make the deal before it’s too late!

    TNA has become the old, terminally ill relative. There was and is a cure out there but the people looking after it aren’t willing to fetch it. And while it might make them feel better, keeping it alive, the kindest thing for everyone including TNA, is to let it die, peacefully, and with dignity.

   

   You know, I could go on. I could list other names, and sometime in the future I will. There’ll be another blog following this up, but that’s left for another time I think.

    Above, I think I’ve proved beyond reasonable doubt that once a wrestler hit’s a certain physical condition and age, then the time to listen to the bells chiming your time has come. Yet they don’t. They carry on, just in case they can muster the impossible. Just in case they can produce one last great run before it all ends. They can’t. Because injuries and time won’t allow it. The human body is only capable of sustaining so much before it waves the white flag and says enough. You can’t land on your back, your neck, your knees forever. Sooner or later, mother nature is going to come knocking at your door. And for the men above it has. They’ve failed to open the door and accept they’ve had a great career and all have. And they’ve failed to step down gracefully and leave us with something special.

    I’m going to end this blog though, on a high note. I would like to send out my congratulations to someone who stepped away from the spotlight a few years ago and has managed to carve out a career for herself.

STACEY KIEBLER

    There isn’t a man alive that wouldn’t go weak at the knees when they saw Stacey Kiebler. Her legs seemed to go on for miles, her looks were that of the girl next door and her smile shone out the darkest light. I’m not going to go on about Stacey’s wrestling career, because she was more of a valet than wrestler. Plus, I’m just about at the end of my three week rest period and I can feel my cold lifting and my computer winging its way back to me as I type.

    Stacey left WWE and many thought she would be back within the year. Years down the line though, there’s no sign of Stacey anywhere near a wrestling ring and neither has she shown any interest in returning to the squared circle. Instead Stacey is making her name, slowly but surely, in Hollywood. Attending celebrity parties, making sure her name and face are seen where it matter, even getting in some acting experience where she can.

    Out of all the above and all those to come, Stacey Kiebler along with people like Steve Austin, Trish Stratus and the Rock are wrestling’s biggest successes. Because you see, in reality, it’s not the stepping into the ring that makes you one of wrestling’s success’. It’s stepping out of it and staying out when the time comes. That’s what really matters. And Stacey has done that. So in my book, Stacey Kiebler is one of wrestling’s biggest successes, and a woman I hope I get to meet in the near future. Congratulations Stacey. You did it girl.

    So that really is the end. I have to get back to work! You have to get back to your lives! Remember them? And wrestling has to go back to doing what it does best. Messing up and occasionally doing something so good that we actually rethink our opinions that it’s a business that has fallen so far that it can never turn around.

    I don’t watch these people anymore, because it’s sad what they’ve all become. I prefer to stay with the memory of what they all once were. But like I’ve said before. I really do believe the best is yet to come from the future of wrestling. Honestly!

   

    “If you never travel that road you keep passing. Then how will you ever know where it leads?”

Happy Times and Places…