The State of Wrestling

Wrestling was a very important hobby to me for nearly 10 (or 14 depending how you look at it) years.  I followed it religiously.  I started off watching as a mark, a fan that is exactly what the "sport" is marketed towards.  I became a smark, which is the exact opposite type of fan.  I was analytical and critical of all wrestling.  Then I simply became... well I don't suppose there is a word for it in wrestling lingo, I just enjoyed it for the qualities I liked in it.  I loved Puroresu (Japanese wrestling) in almost all of it's wildly varying incarnations.  From the intense NOAH matches to the unimaginably insane HUSTLE carnivals I love every bit of it.  I followed the American indy scene closely, and was with ROH from it's beginnings as "the next ECW".

The industry seems to have passed me by and left me in the dust.  I can name about half of the WWE roster, I can't name a headlining ROH match for the past year, and I can't get into following Puroresu (which takes considerably more effort than US stuff) anymore.  I watch wrestling for the matches damnit!  The mainstream shit, WWE and TNA in particular, still focus on the lame ass storylines and wannabe soap opera bullshit!  It makes me angry every time I think about those companies.  They hoard the best actual wrestlers, and then have them do ridiculous monologues and lame gimmicks.  This stuff really can only be enjoyed by the less than intelligent crowd, because it insults the intelligence of anybody with a high school education.  Its not quality television, nobody remembers the buildup.  They remember the payoff!  The matches!  The focus in the mainstream of professional wrestling is no longer putting on the memorable matches.  I don't know what the focus is, but it's just not for me anymore.  Am I supposed to believe that a guy that has been out for months with an injury can just walk in and beat the champion?  The same day he comes back?  Does a REAL athlete immediately return to the top of their game after an injury?  I can no longer stand to have my intelligence insulted.  Watching WWE or TNA for more than five minutes kills brain cells, and I'm finished.

I'm sure Ring of Honor and New Japan and NOAH and Dragons Gate are all still doing fine. Yet, if I can't care about the "pinnacle" of the sport it takes some steam out of my enjoyment of the "sport" as a whole.

CM Punk was champion for about three months.  That was awesome, I cared again at that point.  But it was brief, because it was so fucking awesome that I was sucked back into wrestling.  Then he lost it without even being in the match!  And once again my intelligence was insulted, the "awesomeness" factor was gone, and so was I.