Since I have some background in football, I was constantly being questioned as to my opinion of Vince McMahon's newest venture, the Extreme Football League. Unlike many in mainstream media, I elected to withhold my opinions until the league had played a few games, if not a full season. As I prepared to review the inaugural season of the XFL, the league, as of May 10, 2001, ceased operation. So now instead of discussing how the leagued fared in their first season, and what improvements were necessary heading into the second, every story that is and will be written will be discussing the demise of another failed venture from Vince McMahon.When the league was formed, though I elected to view the league objectively, I was also a little skeptical due to Vince's other failures. I remembered his attempts at boxing, bodybuilding, and the movies, but still I chose to view the football league as a football league. Little did I know that the XFL was going to be presented the way that it was presented. Starting with the one of the biggest criticisms of the league, I had no problem with the outfits worn by the XFL cheerleaders. Having seen how professional cheerleading uniforms have become more suggestive with each passing year, it was only a matter of time before the "major" sports adopted outfits similar to the ones that the XFL cheerleaders wore. What I couldn't understand was what upset the media more, the fact that the outfits were suggestive, or the fact that the XFL used them before the NFL or the NBA got around to, and these leagues hated being scooped by an upstart league.
Allowing the players to use something other than their sir names on their jerseys is a tradition within the world of international soccer. It allows the fans to relate to each player individually, instead of trying to determine if the Johnson that you are a fan of plays for Team 'A' or Team 'B'. I have no problem with it, and I actually went shopping, looking for a "He Hate Me" jersey. A little personality is not a bad thing, and eventually, the NFL will realize this. The National Football League believes that a little personality is harmful, which is why they have outlawed end zone celebrations or any planned celebrations of any kind. They believe to celebrate an outstanding achievement is to perform in a manner that goes against the principles of sportsmanship, never understanding that the best way to keep a person from celebrating after a score is to keep him from scoring. With all of the murders, rapes, and drug use being attributed to the NFL over the past two years, the biggest accomplishment to come from the last round of owner's meetings is a vote outlawing the wearing of bandanas by the players under their helmets. No wonder fans refer to it as the "No Fun League".
I did, however, have a problem with the interviewing of players during the game, and the ability of the fans, players and coaches to hear the television announcers during the game. It was this air of "professional wrestling-ism" that bothered many in mainstream media. Wrestling is wrestling and football should be football. Some of the different camera angles were interesting, but who cares how a player felt after he made a tackle and stopped a drive? Interview skills, like any other skill, has to be honed, and it is hard to truly display your gift of articulation after you have just ran 70 yards to catch a linebacker who had just intercepted the ball and was attempting to score. Conduct your interviews before or after the game, but not during it.
Apart from all of these things, the only thing that a football league should be judged on is the quality of the football. While it is true that the players in the XFL are players that were either trying to break into the NFL, or just wanting to play a few more years, so are the players in the World Football League, the Canadian Football League and the Arena Football League. There is nothing wrong with players having an outlet to display their talents. As much as the NFL and the media panned these players as guys not good enough to play in the "major leagues", many of the to stars from the XFL were signed by NFL teams, even before the league folded. Several media members panned the quality of the football, even before any games were played, failing to recognize that all of these teams would be playing for the first time ever. Without the benefit of even 1 preseason game, the league begun, and after 3 or 4 weeks, the level of play was adequate. However, since the "experts" had determined with the first games that the football was substandard, the football itself was never given a chance to be judged on its own merits. The quality of play grew more entertaining with each passing week, and by the championship, the games were nearly as entertaining as the NFL.
The issues that threatened the league's survival were in the areas of attendance and ratings. NBC bought into the league, and committed to airing the games each week, but Saturday nights might not have been the best time for a football game. The XFL suffered from a lack of advertising, as well as a lack of coverage. Even the Women's Professional Soccer League score appear in newspapers week by week. Not one newspaper assigned anyone to properly cover the XFL, and networks like ESPN and CNN refused to show XFL highlights. Much of this built in disdain for the league came from disdain within the media for Vince McMahon. There is a belief that Vince, through the WWF, is corrupting the youth of America by showcasing scantily clad women and men using profanity. I guess the WWF is responsible for hip-hop music, hip-hop music videos and shows like "The Sopranos". Since Vince is so disliked throughout the world, even though he is just a man attempting to earn a living just like everyone else, the credibility of the league came into question. One has to wonder how Ted Turner's Goodwill Games became one of the most important events in the careers of amateur athletes. Isn't this the same Ted Turner who, during the time the Goodwill Games were being contested every four years, was the primary owner of World Championship Wrestling? What makes his sporting event so much more credible than one conceived by a rival wrestling federation owner?
The Extreme Football League, though a good idea, was never given an adequate chance to succeed. It may have been a bad idea for Vince and the heads of the league to brag about how they were going to change the face of football and do things that the NFL was afraid to attempt. However, this is no reason to pan the league before the league has had a chance to prove itself. There has been a belief among wrestling fans that the WWF product had begun to suffer from Vince's attention being diverted with other projects. Now that the XFL has ceased operations, maybe the WWF product will improve, which is all wrestling fans want anyway. Vince, leave the football to the football people, and do what you do best; churn out quality sports entertainment week after week.
Based on the title of this piece, it would seem that it is about the Christian conversion of a professional wrestler, and that would not be a bad thing. However, that is not the case. This piece is about a professional who becomes a star wherever he goes, but he seems to keep changing addresses.Everywhere Chris Benoit has been, he has been a star. He was a standout in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling in Canada, and he also was a titleholder in ECW and Japan. In WCW, Benoit earned 3 Television titles and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, which he returned upon his signing with the WWF. Chris Benoit has been a star everywhere he has been, but at WWF Judgment Day, Chris Benoit reemerged, and a star was born…again.
In the early beginnings of professional wrestling, even through the early 1980's, it was not uncommon for a single wrestler to wrestle two or three matches on the same card. In a tournament situation, like the early King of the Ring cards, as well as certain cards in Japan, wrestlers sometimes wrestle three or four matches, but only one or two of those matches reach a championship level. At WWF Judgment Day, Chris Benoit was booked into a 2 out of 3 falls match against Kurt Angle for ownership of Kurt's Olympic gold medals. If either man were to lose any of those matches, which Benoit did losing 2 of the three, then they would risk losing the entire match, so Benoit had to wrestle all three matches at a championship level. Later in the card, Chris Jericho was entered into a tag team gauntlet match that was to determine the top contender for the tag titles. When it came time for Jericho to announce his chosen partner, he brought out the very same Chris Benoit. Since the two Chrises were the next to last team to enter the match, they were forced to wrestle two matches before they were named number one contenders. By the end of Judgment day, Chris Benoit had wrestled 5 total matches, all at a championship level. In this day of professional wrestling, that type of performance is virtually unheard of.
Benoit followed his 5 match performance on Sunday with a championship victory with Chris Jericho over Triple H and Steve Austin, the two best active performers in the federation, and another victory, with injured ribs, over the next three best team in the WWF in a tables, ladders & chairs match for the titles. There are many people who are viewing Chris Jericho as the next superstar in the WWF, but before those experts anoint Jericho as the new champion, they need to take a long look at Chris Benoit.
If there were an award for MVP of the Pay-per-views, Benoit would definitely win the award. Chris Benoit, a former champion in the United States and Japan, is on the rise again. There have been many tremendous performances in the history of the World Wrestling Federation, but this single day by Chris Benoit probably ranks as one of the best performances on a single card in the history of the sport. Keep an eye on Chris Benoit, because a star is born…again.
While watching the World Wrestling Federation's most recent TLC match, I marveled at the acrobatic exploits of the Hardy Boys, Edge & Christian. These men appear as if they have no regard for the own bodies and all that matters is leaving the fans with the sense that they have seen something truly amazing. Watching these men, and others like them perform makes me wonder, how will they react to their first significant injury. Many high flyers have suffered that single significant injury that completely changed their careers.Anyone who saw ECW's very first pay-per-view, 1997's Barely Legal, saw some of the most amazing feats from Perry Saturn and his partner John Kronus. Saturn had been lauded for his power, wrestling ability and his martial arts skill, but his aerial ability had long been underrated. During his and Kronus' match against the Dudley Boys for the ECW tag team titles, Saturn performed a beautiful double springboard moonsault, and combined with Kronus for a pair of twisting top rope splashes. The Eliminators finishing move, "Total Elimination" combined the athletic ability and martial arts skill of both Saturn and Kronus. Towards the end of his stint in ECW, Saturn suffered a severs knee injury, and upon his return, Perry Saturn relied more heavily on his martial arts and mat wrestling skills and stayed away from the top rope. These days, Saturn only ventures to the top rope to execute his Randy Savage inspired flying elbow. The injury changed Saturn's style, and altered his wrestling career.
When Sean Waltman wrestled as the Lightning Kid, he was famous for his blinding speed and his aerial skill. During his transformations from the 1-2-3 Kid to Syxx, Waltman remained one of the most daring performers in the sport, but a neck injury ended that. The injury, suffered during his time as Syxx in the New World Order portion of WCW, not only ended his WCW career, but ended the career of one of the better high flyers in the sport, with skills rivaling those of the best performers in Japan or Mexico. Upon Waltman's return to the WWF as X-Pac, the newest member of Degeneration-X, Sean depended primarily on his martial arts ability and his still blinding speed to win his matches. These days, X-Pac seldom climbs to the top rope, preferring to execute a more ground-oriented strategy in his matches. Though the injury was to his neck and not to his legs, the effect was the same. The reluctance to risk another similar injury forced these men to completely alter their in-ring styles in an effort to return to active competition.
Seeing how these men's careers were permanently altered makes me wonder if men like Matt & Jeff Hardy or Edge & Christian even consider the risks that they take each time they climb into the ring and execute the types of moves that are seen during their matches. It would be a shame to have to watch Jeff Hardy depending on suplexes and chops for the next ten years, but a serious injury could mean that this would be the only way that the fans would be able to continue seeing him at all.
With the recent debut of the WWF's "Tough Enough", my attention was drawn to the sudden growth of wrestling related television programming. For years, wrestlers like Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Sting & Randy Savage have appeared in various television shows and movies, either as themselves or as other characters, but lately there have been several shows whose primary theme is wrestling related."Tough Enough" is the professional wrestling entry into the "reality-based" arena. While very similar to shows like Survivor & Boot Camp, Tough Enough combines elements of those shows as well as Star Search. Thirteen people were selected out of nearly 5,000 entrants to participate in this venture. The 13 people, men and women, will live in a house and for the next few weeks, they will train far careers in professional wrestling. People will be asked to leave the house until eventually the last remaining man and woman will be given contracts with the World Wrestling Federation. It seems apparent that the people who are eventually chosen will not be the to most talented wrestlers, but the two people who generate the most fan reaction, either positive or negative. Professional wrestling is, after all, a business, and the people who fans will pay to see will also make money for the federation, whether or not they can wrestle. The show, which will feature WWF start as trainers, should be very interesting, especially as they get near the end and the competition for the two contracts becomes stiffer.
The sit-com entry is a show on the WB network entitled "Nikki". It is a show about a Las Vegas showgirl who performs in a second-rate revue while her husband struggles to become a successful professional wrestler. The husband is essentially a jobber, a wrestler who is paid to lose matches and put the other guys over, but he feels as if he is one break away from becoming a star. While the both parties struggle for success in their respective careers, various professional wrestlers stop by to compete in the fictional federation. The show is sort of cute, as the couple reminds the viewer Kevin James & Leah Remini on "The King of Queens". Though I am not in the business of reviewing television shows, watching this show would probably not disappoint the average wrestling fan. It is a lighter and funnier look at the world of professional wrestling than "Learning the Ropes" starring Lyle Alzado several years ago.
Children's television has also found professional wrestling to be a useful source for programming. Los Luchadores is a show in the mold of the Power Rangers, and was even created by the same individuals who created the Power Rangers. Lobo Fuerte, Turbine & Maria Valentine are masked professional wrestlers who utilize their wrestling abilities to thwart crime and save the world. Never having been a fan of the Power Rangers, I elected to give this show a chance purely for the wrestling angle. A name like "Los Luchadores" lead me to think that the wrestlers were going to exhibit skill reminiscent of the best wrestlers from Mexico, but they do not. A fan of the Rangers will probably enjoy the show, but hard core wrestling fans should probably find something else to do on Saturday mornings. The show falls well short of even imitating believable wrestling action before falling into the Power Ranger formula.
Professional wrestling is quickly becoming the hip thing to be a part of, as the Rock & Chyna are currently wrapping up roles in major motion pictures. Television was a natural next step, after movies and music. Maybe someday, the creators of television show will figure out a way to make a wrestling show that will appeal to wrestling fans.
Two weeks ago, there was a news report that Joanie Laurer, known to wrestling fans as Chyna in the WWF, will not be resigned when her current deal expires in November of 2001. After a few days, news came out that she had developed an ego similar to Rena Mero's when she performed as Sable. Chyna was said to have become hard to work with, and this among other things lead to the federation's decision not to retain her services. Unfortunately for Chyna, because of the demise of ECW and the purchase of WCW by WWFE, there is no other major federation that Joanie can sign with.In recent years, if a wrestler was unable to reach an agreement with the WWF, he could threaten to sign with WCW and vice versa. Depending on the star, either a deal was struck or the wrestler was allowed to switch federations. If the wrestler was unable to sign with neither federation, there was always ECW for the wrestler to fall back on. The wrestler always had a choice of where he wanted to work, and for those wrestlers without choices, they could always go to whichever federation that had bridges that had not been burned. Today, that has all changed and Vince McMahon and the WWF is seemingly the only game in town.
It is not a problem for the casual wrestling fan where they get their wrestling from. It really doesn't matter who owns which federation, as long as there is plenty quality wrestling programming on television. The problem, as I see it, is with regards to job security for the talent. The is no labor union in place to protect the wrestlers from career-ending injuries or unsafe working conditions, and nothing to protect them in contract negotiations. As I mentioned, in the past, there were other options for wrestlers who were unable to make a deal with their current federation. Certain wrestlers will never have to worry about job security, because Vince McMahon would be foolish to let guys like the Rock, Triple H, Stone Cold, Booker T, and the Undertaker leave his employ while they still had wrestling years left. If either of these men were to venture to one of the smaller independent federations, that fed would immediately become a major player. Television networks would bend over backwards to air their programming, and every show that the star is scheduled to appear on would be an instant sellout at double the regular ticket price for that federation's show in their regular arenas. The marginal, however, are not so fortunate.
Every wrestler below the absolute top level of WCW or the WWF is in jeopardy. One day, each and every one of their contracts will be near expiration, and when that happens, they will need to negotiate. As is the case in negotiations, the talent presents the reasons that they feel that they should be resigned, at possibly a salary increase. On the other hand, the contract holder presents the reasons why they disagree, and the two sides either reach an agreement or not. If they were not able to make a deal, the wrestler, in the past, would have been able to use other federations as leverage. Today, without that leverage, the wrestler is at the mercy of the contract holder, in this case Vince McMahon. The wrestlers must either accept Vince's offer, or go to work for one of the many smaller independent federations for significantly less money than they were used to making in the WWF.
As long as a wrestler is on good terms with Vince McMahon, the WWF and the WWF locker room, the wrestler's future is secure. As soon as the wrestler crosses either of those things, the wrestler's career may as well be over.
In the Summer of 1974, when I was about 8 1/2, I remember that every Saturday, I would look forward to watching Boxing and Roller Derby, both emanating from the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, on channel 52 (a local independent at the time) at 2:00 and 4:00 respectively. Each show ran 1-hour in length, so for the hour in between, I would usually go outside to play. One Saturday, while I was watching Boxing, I happened to fall asleep in my mom's easy chair, and when I woke up, I still saw a ring and fans, so I thought that I was still watching boxing. What I saw was some pretty elaborate costumes and no gloves. I knew that this wasn't boxing, but I was really curious as to what I was watching.Two guys came to the ring together, which confused me more. Then two other guys came to the ring, carrying championship belts. The announcer introduced the two champions as "The Twin Devils", and since the two men were in fact twins, the name made sense. When the bell rung, one man from each team came into the ring, and the men began doing something very similar to what I thought that wrestling looked like. The announcer kept using the phrase "professional wrestling", so that helped to clear up what I was looking at.
At the high point in the match, the "wrestling" stopped and fists started flying. One of the Twin Devils was lying seemingly unconscious in the ring, but the referee was occupied with his opponent. While the ref's back was turned, the healthy Devil switched places with the injured Devil, and when the opponent went in for the kill, the Devil arose from his prone position to defeat his opponent, and score the win for his team. I was impressed and intrigued, so I continued watching.
Other matches like this one took place this day, and I discovered that next week, the show would return. I was so happy that finally, there was something else that I could watch between boxing & Roller Derby. After watching the show in its entirety the following Saturday, I was hooked, and I have been watching professional wrestling as often as I could ever since.
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