Why I'm happy for Darren Young

Darren Young: Sexuality be damned, he's an excellent heel.

With Summerslam a few days away, noted bottom-of-the-barrel "journalism" site TMZ decided that they would ambush a pro wrestler to see if they could get them to make some silly statement to run on their equally silly website. Instead, Darren Young did something cool. Darren Young came out of the closet.

Now, to be honest, there have been gay wrestlers before. Kanyon was gay, as was Pat Patterson. (Side Note: If you really want to put the lie to the "gay guys can't be tough" meme, show someone Pat Patterson vs Sgt. Slaughter from MSG. That was a war.) This is the first time we're doing it in a more forgiving climate. I, for one, can't wait to see how the WWE handles this. My hope? Nothing changes. Darren Young is still a jerk and a giant heel you want to see punched in the face all the time. My fear? They turn him into some caricature of the worst homosexual stereotypes just to make their jockish male audience smile and laugh.

My Personal White Whale: Revisiting The Best Way To Build A Light Heavyweight Division In The WWE

When i wrote this blogpost, I left it as it was. Namely, an idea for something cool that I thought you could do in the WWE if given enough time and inclination. But as I think about it more,  I realize that if I want a chance for younger fans to be dazzled by pro wrestling beyond what the 'E gives them I have to really sit down and try to make this work for both promotions. Because, if it's done right, what the WCW cruiserweight division meant to so many, and what Michinoku Pro and Dragon Gate mean to so many now, these two divisions can mean now if they're done right. That last sentence, though, is the important part. Because, for both the large company in Stamford, there are lots of things that need to be explained, and fixed, about the way that the juniors have been viewed during all of the previous times that they have tried this.

Now I know that this is my white whale, and i accept it. I am, if nothing else, a man who loves wrestling big and small, past and present, and I'd like very much to see something I know could work done the right way.

What Not To Wear: The Wrestling Edition #1: Eve Torres

It's time to start a new feature on the Majesty of Wrestling. And after thinking about this a while, I came to the realization that the best thing that could be done was to fix the problems we see on big-box wrestling every week. But how to do that? I'm not qualified to be a writer for the 'E (although considering some of the crappy storylines they've been putting out recently, I may need to rethink this opinion.) I can't teach people how to wrestle. So what to do then? Easy. Fix the gear of some people who desperately need it.

The Daily Liger: Another gaijin into the breach

 The funny thing, and the sad thing too, about the WWF in the 1990's was that unless you fit a very narrow box you probably weren't going to get the kind of shot commensurate with your abilities. Proof in point: Owen Hart. Clearly he had the skills to be an important part of the WWF, as evidenced by the fact that he was around for the spectacular Brother vs Brother angle just a few years later. But here, he's not doing that. here he's in the ring with a man who was almost peerless athletically during this time frame. Watch and enjoy.

Wednesday Night Wrestling: Rugged Ronnie Garvin vs Greg "The Hammer" Valentine

This is a new feature. Spend your wednesday night watching wrestling on youtube. Here is our first choice.

Why I Have Stopped Watching The WWE, And A New Mission Statement.

Here's the thing. I started this blog wanting to talk about all kinds of wrestling, and i correctly assumed that the WWE was going to be a huge part of it. I mean, after all, this is the biggest wrestling promotion in the world, despite their protestations to the contrary that they are an "entertainment" company or whatever such nonsense. And initially, this blog was exactly that. It's not a smart-marky blog really. It's more of a remembrance and tribute to all of the various things that I love about wrestling, and that I sincerely hope my readership loves as well.

But something happened recently to make me change my mind. And while part of it was Randy Savage, the rest of it had almost nothing to do with him. It had to do with Vince McMahon, and his idea of what professional wrestling should be. And I could take no more.

The 2009 Hall of Fame Class: Why Ricky Steamboat killed something that is already dead

By now you’ve probably already heard and read the 3 names in the class of 2009 for the WWE’s hall of fame. Try as I might to ignore them I’m actually happy for one man in this class: Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat. Not because of his skills, although those are tremendous. Utterly tremendous. rather this tribute, to me at least, serves as the last shovel of dirt on a concept that has been the walking dead for a long time now: the virtuous face.

Think about it…. Name the most popular guys from the last decade. Steve Austin drank beer, cursed, and generally acted like the a-hole you sat across from at a local bar. Shawn Michaels played a male stripper. Need I say more about that? Rey Misterio Jr. even spent a time as a foulmouthed heel.

No, with Ricky Steamboat becoming a hall-of-famer, the era of the proud babyface always doing the right thing and standing up against jerks and bastards is dead. And I for one miss it.

I happily remember watching WCW Worldwide at 12:05 on a Saturday night on CBS 2 here in NYC and wishing Sting, Dustin Rhodes, and the rest of the good guys would shut up the Dangerous Alliance. It was comforting to root for people like that.

Sad to see it gone. But, Ricky, Salud. Enjoy your induction.

GEAR!

I have found that without a single exception, that the first way you notice a wrestler is by how he looks, and more specifically what he wears. Think about it. When you see kickpads and shiny pants you think Indy. This post is about the gear that is truly “iconic”.

First off, the patron saint of the iconic gear. As much as I hate to say it it’s Hulk Hogan. To this day mention Hulk Hogan and the first words out of your mouth will be “Red and Yellow.” And to think he managed to completely blow that straight out of the water with the Hollywood Hogan gimmick later.




Next up is the modern version of this. He used to say this about himself, and it's accurate. While Hogan's gear was iconic in that it was one basic color scheme for the entirety of his run, our next subject was famous because he had about 25 different combinations of the same idera and they all looked perfect because they all fit his gimmick. This man.... is "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair. I'm not going to even try to explain this. Just watch and enjoy the magic.


Before we go on further there is a honorable mention. This was contributed by Aaron Glazer of Pulse Wrestling, and he did such a good job of selling it that I decided to put it in. Whether it is his current camo-influenced stuff, or the Superman gimmick he has worked with for the vast portion of his career, Chris Hero has remained where he wanted to be: at the forefront of innovation. He does earn my respect.



And finally... the penultimate Japanese guy for this: Mitsuharu Misawa. He has never changed anything about himself from the time of his unmasking as Tiger Mask II in 1990. Some would argue that this is a bad thing, and it more than likely is.But here is not the place to argue that point. Instead it's to argue that he is the best heavyweight of his era. Thank you Misawa.