HTML tutorial

Wrestling's New Golden Age

The world of pro-wrestling sucks right now. TNA is having issues and just got dropped from Spike TV only to sign with a channel that only airs in the United States and is only accessible by half as many people. Ring of Honor doesn't actually own Ring of Honor anymore, Sinclair does. WWE claims it's doing great but it's lost $350 Million on the network and the subscribers are no where near enough to make a profit. NJPW actually is going broke, AJ Styles is running around breaking necks and Rainmaker Okada has placed rebuilding the brand with his own two hands if necessary. People are really excited for Jeff Jarret's GFW but they have nothing of their own. No roster, now buildings, no titles. It's literally nothing but an idea and a trademark right now. It's a sad for pro-wrestling. But, like Kofi Kingston said A New Day is coming.

Wrestling has been in this position before. With WCW and ECW gone WWE had no competition. NJPW was not widely circulated because the internet was great but not the monster is right now. Hulk Hogan was long gone. The Rock was gone. Steve Austin was gone. Ratings were the lowest they had ever been and wrestling was in a bad spot. That's what sparked the last golden age.

I know you're expecting me to say CM Punk saved wresting but I'm not a liar. The last great age of wrestling was sparked by a new generation of wrestlers entering the spotlight and a class of under appreciated veterans stepping up to the plate to show their skill or help build up younger talent. Who was that class? John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, The Motor City Machine Guns, etc. all stepped up to take the spotlight in their respective companies. Who were the veterans? Edge, Christian, The Hardy Boys, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Tommy Dreamer etc.

Now we're at that moment again. WWE has built up NXT by not only building new talent but bringing in some of the greatest independent wrestlers. Prince Devitt, Kenta, Kevin Steen, Pac, El Generico, they're all there. TNA has dedicated itself to building the future around youth as well. TNA has brought in EC3, Bram, Rockstar Spud, Mahabali Shera, Manik, Sanada and even Chris Melendez.

Who are the old talent stepping up to elevate the youth and keep the ships from sinking? John Cena, Bobby Roode, Randy Orton, James Storm, Kane, Abyss, The Hardys, Goldust, Eric Young etc. The same class that ushered in the new golden age. They're not hanging around just to pad their career history's like Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair or Hulk Hogan. They don't have a problem taking a loss. As much as you hate Cena he knows when to take a loss. He may win at almost every pay per view but he'll take the loss on Raw or SmackDown where many more people will be watching.

Meanwhile NJPW is gaining attention in the states by working with big names like AJ Styles and the Young Bucks. Ring of Honor has committed to gaining a weekly televised show. Meanwhile TNA has signed with a much smaller channel. But that's not all bad. TNA signed with a channel that is owned by Discovery meaning wherever Discovery is accessible, TNA is accessible. Discovery is in the middle of negotiations with Netflix to bring all of their programming to Netflix. Meaning TNA could soon be accessible almost everywhere.

No, I'm not saying Kofi Kingston is going to usher in a new age of pro wrestling. I'm just saying even with almost every company being in a bad position there's a ton of upside to it all right now. If they play their cards right wrestling could become what it was in the days of Macho Man regularly appearing on Arsenio Hall. Movies starring wrestlers could be better than straight to DVD. If there was ever time for a wrestling revival, it's now while the fruit is ripe.

You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet

Darrell S.

Hey, I write stuff, a lot of different stuff, that's all.

1 Comments

  1. As a long time watcher since the days of Bam Bam Bigalow, Koko BWare, JunkYard Dog to the first entrance of the Undertaker, I wholeheartedly agree with you. This genre has faced death and resurrection before... When we thought Hulk Hogan couldn't do anymore, they gave us Ultimate warrior... Even with comics, everything has to die for a rebirth. But the current state of the WWE is much like the uncivilized wild west before the steam train. We will set back and just wait for the next Resurrection. Good job pointing out that J.Cena knows how to take a loss... not every superstar can say that.

    ReplyDelete
Previous Post Next Post

Facebook

Ultra Black History