Pay It Forward

It seems like it was just yesterday. I was walking down Hollywood Blvd. and went into a local shop.

This place specializes in gothic clothing, the latest rave gear, and various forms of future bondage participants. I turn a corner and what did I see but a Stone Cold "Austin 3:16" t-shirt.

This caught me completely by surprise. Had wrestling really become this big? I bought the damned thing and kept it moving. Over the next few months I started seeing shirts proclaiming allegiance to different stars and promotions. N.W.O shirts. The Rock. DX. These damned things were popping up in the oddest places. One day my mama asked me "What the fuck does 'Austin 3: 16' mean?" I responded with "It means I just whooped your ass!" She didnt find it funny.

I was tickled by the fact that she knew a wrestling reference. Over the years she only knew of Hogan, The Undertaker, and Yokozuna. Wrestling was just that damned huge back then.

Nowadays you have to find people wearing wrestling shirts. I'll see the random Cena shirt on some poor kid not realizing how close he came to getting Pedigreed by me. Or an old ass N.W.O or Stone Cold shirt. I still have a couple of E.C.W shirts. But things have died down quite a bit. Alot of people when you ask them "You watch wrestling?" they kinda give you this look like "Are you fucking kidding?" It's like admitting that you still watch Bugs Bunny or something.

But when you look them in the eyes you see that they were once fans. Talk to them long enough and they mention the usual suspects: Hogan, Piper, Savage, Snuka, Slaughter, Sheik, or HBK. When did it become shameful to admit that you watch wrestling? I have noticed that the more people shit on wrestling the bigger MMA fans they become. You can be both, people.

I know that there is alot of bitching involved when it comes to the sport. We watch hours of it every week and sit there talking about what we could do to fix it. One of our greatest hopes is that one day it will be like it was years ago. When we could see over ten hours of the shit and kill ourselves if we missed a PPV. Those days are long gone and I accept that.

But to sit around and dwell on the negative does nothing. Dont you think that after all this time at least one of us would have been hired by a large company to help fix this shit? There are a dozen of them and millions of us yet they cater to maybe thousands. Sometimes I wonder if there are people that are actually happy with the way the business is going. Are there people out there going "Fuck, yeah! Raw is coming on!" or "Fuck. Raw is coming on..."

As much as I wish for the old days I know that there is no going back. We as wrestling fans have travelled down the rabbit hole. We know about things that decades ago were unheard of. We know things before they happen. A few weeks back I had no internet connection. Know what happened? Raw was unpredictable. I hadnt stumbled across any spoilers. I had no idea who would win matches or what happened backstage afterwards. Shit was alright in the world again.

Now, I'm not saying that everyone should get rid of their internet (how else would you check out Tha O Show?) but just open your mind to the possibilities of actually watching shows again blindly. Instead of reading what will happen days from now actually watch it. Some writers may say a show sucked ass only for you to watch it later and think "What was he talking about? That was a good match."

Too often we give far too much credit to the internet in regards to wrestling. Dont forget: Years ago there was no internet. If you missed a show you prayed for a replay. There was no fast forwarding shows because you may miss something very important. This was back when announcers had funny and intersting shit to say. Give wrestling another chance. Read the results after you watch for yourself. Make your own opinion. They're called "spoilers" for a reason.

We can reverse what happened in a sort of "Pay It Forward" kind of way. After Donnie started with his non-no's a few others started. Let's keep this trend rolling. Instead of totally focusing on what you didnt like try and find what you did and embrace it. No matter what other sports you get into you'll always be a mark for wrestling. Accept it and love it. I do.

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