Back To Tha Future

So I have friends and family that are still surprised that I still watch wrestling. Most of them watched when they were kids and know certain wrestlers (Hogan, Andre The Giant, Ultimate Warrior) and ask what they’re up to.

Sometimes its depressing. “Hey, what’s Mr. Perfect up to? He was cool!” “Yeah. He was.” “What do you mean ‘was’?” “Well, he died a while back.” And this game will continue until I start getting pissed because I’ll never see Chris Benoit versus Mr. Perfect at some kinda legends match down the road.

Some people have caught it either from their kids, friends, or family members that still watch. They see it and laugh at how it is now and wonder why no one is wrestling. At these times I will gladly loan someone a DVD featuring Ring Of Honor or something around the time they stopped watching.

Hell, I’ll sit here with someone and watch some old Lesner matches. Which leads to “Where is he at now?” I tell them how he quit and is the UFC champ now. Then they’ll ask why he left. He wasn’t banged up. He hadn’t been around for years.

“He just got sick of it.”

Lots of fans are feeling this way. People are having a hard time even covering the shows anymore because it upsets them so much. The fact that we still get mad shows not only how much we once loved wrestling, but how much we still do. Yes, I said still do. You wouldn’t get so mad if you didn’t. Its like that ex that you say you hate so much but when you find out she’s doing fine and dating someone else you get pissed. We’re mad that wrestling is surviving whether we watch or not.

Like I mentioned with showing some new stuff to people there are certain wrestlers that I will youtube for them or send a link. This list includes guys like Bryan Danielson, Delirious, Austin Aries, Nigel McGuinness, Human Tornado, Chris Hero, El Generico, KENTA, Brent Albright, and Kevin Steen.

Look at this list. Most of these guys are small in terms of being a WWE superstar. Albright was there before (as Gunner Scott) and was wasted. Some of the others have had tryouts and Danielson is on his way. We’re already writing his future endeavors before he’s even debuted.

There are many discussions going on as to who is the future of wrestling. Some say AJ Styles, Matt Morgan, Bryan Danielson, Legacy, or Cena. Sadly, Styles has been called the future since the past. Matt Morgan has so much when people describe a “wrestler.” The size, power, and intensity. Plus this guy can do shit that most 7 footers cant even begin to do in terms of agility. This dude is a damned create-a-wrestler come to life. But is he the future?

Not many people are that size and when he loses it doesn’t seem like it should be possible. The members of Legacy have a job no matter where they are based on their last names alone. If Cena is your cup of tea then you have to be happy as shit right now since he’s going nowhere anytime soon barring injuries (or making a new film).

My biggest question when I think about the future is this: How can there be a future when the past wont fade away? Look at TNA. That place is full of history that dictates the future. When the 40 and over club hold the most important storylines with the “future” floating in and out its hard to predict where TNA will be five years from now.

In WWE they say that they’re waiting for the future to “claim their spot.” They say no one has stepped up. Listen to any interview where they’re asked who is the future and they actually have to think. They’ll throw out a few names like Morrison or Evan Bourne. After that they struggle to find anyone.

Why is this such a hard question to answer?

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