I wanna talk about something that's been on my mind lately but first let's cover a few things going on in wrestling right now.
Christian Cage wins the NWA World Title!
While I do feel the belt needed to be off of Jarrett (we'll see for how long though) I think they may have jumped the gun on putting the belt on Christian, they could have let him chase it for a while to make the win more meaningful but I guess change is good.
Bret Hart agrees to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame
Well Ol' Bret continues to sell out little by little to Vince. A couple years ago he said he would NEVER have anything to do with Vince or WWE again but the idea of his good name being tarnished on a dvd (ala Ultimate Warrior) was too much for him to bare so he came back and not only did the dvd but gave a few 'photo ops' shaking hands with McMahon. Now he's decided to come be inducted into the Hall of Fame, which I think is great but if he's gonna do this kinda stuff then he needs to lay off the 'WWE is evil' shit in his interviews and fan q&a's. I'm sure it's only a matter of time(if not at WrestleMania 22) that McMahon will have him talked into doing the in-ring confrontation he's been trying to sell him on for a while now.
Speaking of Wrestlemania, I have to say I'm disappointed. While the WWE has sucked pretty bad for a few years now they've always been able to pull something out of there ass for Wrestlemania that gets you interested. This year they really don't seem to have anything that's gonna be a can't miss match. The shit with HBK/Vince/Shane is just coming off like a desperate thrown together angle for a meaningless Wrestemania match, which it probably is since rumor is Shawn Michaels wanted to wrestle the Rock at Wrestlemania but Rock turned it down because he legit dislikes Shawn for being such a prick when he first broke in. We'll see, maybe they will come up with something.
Axeman has heat!!!
Damn man, what's with all the Axeman haters on the message board? They've been roasting him for weeks now. Give the guy a break, he writes a good column, if you don't like it don't read it. Now as for the people who are taking him to task on claiming he worked for World Class in the eighties, can you really blame them? If you go on record making a claim like that then you should be prepared to back it up. As someone who has hundreds of hours of World Class Wrestling on tape myself I would love to know the details of Axeman's stint there, so come on Axe, show the proof and shut them up already.
Here's an Example of what's wrong with wrestling today
Look at this, it 's ending soon so I hope the link will still work but some dumbass indy promoter has Ebay auctions to be a manager on his show. You can pay $200 bucks to manage Raven, Abyss, or the New Age Outlaws, or they can pay $125 to be the ring announcer.
Here's a link:
Click here to become a wrestling manager!
"Hey Gene, Rhino took your ring name."
Well, I recieved several emails from people informing me that TNA has started calling Rhino, "The War Machine" and have even trademarked the name for wrestling. I guess this is supposed to upset me but I don't really care. I stole the name from when Ray Traylor used it in the WarGames in 1987. As for it being trademarked I really don't think I would get caught using it on some show in Mississippi or Alabama in front of 30 people but to make people happy I will drop it all the same. I have no intention of wrestling anytime soon if at all so it's really not a big deal. I've been working on some more stand up material and plan to go back to the Comedy Club in Birmingham in March or April.
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Okay, like I mentioned at the beginning. Here's what's been bugging me. It really sucks that wrestling fans of the present and future will never know what wrestling really is (or was). I mean think about it, fans who have only been watching 8-10 years don't really know what wrestling was really all about. It really hit me recently when I was talking to a young guy at work(17 or so) and came to realize that his idea of "old school" wrestling is the nWo. He said he started watching wrestling around '97. He says he watches RAW and wonders what the big deal about Ric Flair is? Think about it, he's right. If you didn't know Flair's history and have only seen him in the past few years as Triple H's bitch you would wonder that too. Or what about the fans who hear people talk about how great Memphis Wrestling was and it's rich history but all they've seen is fucking Corey Maclin working the main angles for the past three years. (Honestly, Koko B. Ware vs. Corey FUCKIN' Maclin in a Cage!?!? and they wonder why they can't draw in Memphis anymore) Back to the point, these fans have been brought up on an entirely different "wrestling" than most of us did and the bad thing is, it can never be fixed. You can't bring back kayfabe. You can't slow the matches back down and make them mean something, you can't put the real emotion back that used to be there. Now most could care less who wins or loses they just want to see if they can spot how many times someone 'fucked up' or 'blows a spot'. It's all about how many moves someone can perform rather than any emotional attachment. People have been told it's fake to the point that no one wants to believe anything is EVER real because God forbid they be "worked". For Christ's sake there are people on messages boards who think Eddie Guerrero's death is a work and he's gonna do a run in at Wrestlemania. (although who can blame them since his name has been thrown around on tv more in the past few weeks than some of the midcarders currently still there.) So much was done during the 'Monday Night Wars' that gave them short term ratings boosts but have killed wrestling in the long run. Plus it's obvious how much real wrestling fans long for the old days of wrestling, that's why the sales of the dvd's with old footage are doing so well, and their Classic Wrestling Figures are such hot items, fans want to cling to that last memory of the sport they once loved. As for the young people you can watch the dvds but you still can't understand or appreciate how it used to be, just watching random matches most find them boring when compared to todays X-Division type stuff. Alot of the matches from the past don't hold up as well without seeing the monthes of buildup that led to them. That's another thing, most angles have a FOUR WEEK build then a PPV match and then it's on to the next one. I guess there really was no purpose to this other than to vent and see if I get any feedback from people who feel the same way. So if you agree or have an opposing view, I would love to hear it. Seriously. genejackson@charter.net
You know some jerkoff on the message board made some comment, something to the effect of. "Gene Jackson is an ass, he acts like he know's the business when he doesn't even work any shows." Not exact, but it was something to that effect. In response to that I will say, that yes I am an ass, no argument there. However, I do know something about the "business" and I've got news for you. Most of the guys who work shows every weekend don't have a damn clue about the business. I think most people who have read my columns for a while will tell you that while I'm not a good wrestler by any stretch, I do however know and understand the business. Not from working but from studying it my entire life. Since I was a small child I have watched and read everything I could get my hands that had anything to do with wrestling. Not just watched it as a fan, but studied it. What people do in the ring, how people react, why they react that way. You don't have to get in the ring to "know the business". Dave Meltzer has never worked a match, but he "knows the business". Bill Apter is not a worker, but he "knows the business". So while you may be right that I'm an ass, and no I don't wrestle much these days, I do understand the business and what it's about, which more than I can say for a whole of people. (and the sad thing is, they don't even know)
Thanks for Reading.
GENE
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