Even though it’s been a few weeks now, I’ve been thinking about putting e-pen to e-paper about Randy Savage. There’s been a plethora of online tributes both written and recorded, and a million facebook posts / profile picture reflections,  but only a few real in depth tributes. Now I never knew Randy Savage, was never lucky enough to meet the man, but I was a fan of his work so I felt I would share my views on Randy “Macho Man” Savage.

When I was initially introduced to WWF wrestling back in 1992, the first show I ever saw was Wrestlemania 8. Headlined by the culmination of the Hogan – Sid feud, this was a huge event with a huge storyline leading in. Having only seen WCW for a year prior (which I still believe was the superior product at that time), the sheer magnitude of the WWF blew me away. The crowd size, the production, the OTT characters, I was hooked straight off the bat. While I found The Legion Of Doom cool with their spiked shoulder pads, a cocky young star called Shawn Michaels impressive with some promise, the colourful yet slightly silly Undertaker captivating, one guy that truly caught my attention and locked me to the product on the essential emotional level, was Randy “Macho Man” Savage. Decked in a shimmering gold tassled outfit, entering the ring to Pomp & Circumstance, Randy was the epitome of “superstar” before it was the demanded vernacular. I quickly (thanks to Bobby Heenan) picked up on the storyline to his match against then-WWF champion Ric Flair and as such felt a reason to cheer for Savage, an empathy for his plight and passion to see him gain his retribution against the dastardly Flair. What followed was an absolute classic match where Savage got his revenge, won the day and the championship and further solidified his stardom in the business. I was a fan of the Macho Man right away.

Savage was unlike most of the top stars of the time. He was a big man by average social standards, but a small one by wrestling’s. Billed as 6ft2 and 245, he was dwarfed by Hogan and Sid, the LOD etc. But he could work circles around anyone on the card. Before I understood what “workrate” was, I understood that Savage was an immense talent and could evoke a true emotional following from his fans unlike most others. As my VHS (an old version of DVD’s for you youngsters) collection grew, I collected Savage’s back catalogue of his WWF work, and sat in awe as I watched his matches with Hulk Hogan, Ted DiBiase, Jake Roberts and of course, Ricky Steamboat. As I watched it became evident that Randy Savage simply did not have bad matches. He never looked sub-par, he never seemed to wrestle at anything less than 200%, he was pretty much perfect. As I watched his trials and tribulations with Elizabeth, the shocking events with Jake Roberts, I became a big Savage fan. I just loved to watch him. And that was the thing. I WANTED to watch him. I cared for him as a character, wanted to see him succeed or win for a reason, not just because he was a “good guy” wrestler. Savage had the (now lost) ability of being able to connect with fans on an emotional level, get them to feel for him and his actions. It truly is a lost art now, as modern wrestlers just can’t do it and the current product doesn’t encourage it in them.

Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart are often recognised as the ones who made smaller workers credible as main eventers for their runs in 92 onwards. But the truth is that Savage did it long before them, and truly set the standard of smaller non-giants being top line stars. Last year I started getting back into watching classic wrestling, WWF & WCW from 87 to 93, and it was after re-watching the old tapes I remembered how Savage wasn’t just a great worker but one of the rare super-workers. Never a bad match, no mediocre feuds, always captivating, always connecting. I remember saying to a few friends that I regarded Savage as the second best overall worker of all time behind Michaels as his sheer consistency and ability was just that good.

It says a lot about how impactful Randy Savage was that after his death so many mainstream news outlets and entertainment mediums commented on it and paid tribute. Randy was one of the very very few who transcended wrestling into pop culture, Along with Hogan, Austin, Rock and to a degree Flair, Savage was a mainstream  name who people remembered. Thoroughly embedded in American and worldwide everyday culture. And that is no small feat. Another example is how so many wrestlers remembered Randy, and none had a bad word for him. He was by all sources, a great man. And apparently lived out his final years very happy, re-marrying and living comfortably, having been sensible to leave wrestling before it ruined his living standards. 

As I’ve said before, wrestler deaths have happened so often now that a level of desensitisation is now present and it’s often a case of “oh another one”. But Savage was different. Everyone was truly shocked by his death and genuinely upset. He was an icon to so many, an inspiration to even more. He set the tone for smaller wrestlers to succeed, paved the way for the more athletic wrestlers to follow, and was one of the true cornerstones in our business’s foundations.

I for one will miss The Macho Man greatly. He will always be one of the very best to ever set foot in a wrestling ring and his legacy is untouchable. R.I.P. Macho. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku-lEHg42Rc

Chris Benoit is a subject I have considered writing about for a long long time. I haven’t done, for no other reason than I thought it just didn’t warrant any more talk. Or opinions, thoughts or views. But the above video, linked today on Facebook by my Mentor Justin Richards convinced me to share my thoughts.

I met Chris in 2004. At the Blue Bloods Wrestling Academy in Atlanta, GA. Along with Dave Taylor and William Regal we had been training at the facility for almost a week under the tutelege of two of the greatest UK wrestlers of all time. Dave had mentioned he was trying to get Chris to come visit, as he lived only a mile or so away. We hoped he may, but pinned no dreams on it just in case. Then one of the days, a large Humvee pulled up outside, and Chris Benoit entered the facility. 

Chris was on the smackdown brand at the time, and had just finished his usual 4 days working stretch. Dave had explained that with the travelling and gruelling schedule the WWE wrestlers performed each week, Chris would try his best but his personal time was always limited so it was no guarantee he could even fit us in. But Chris did. A day after arriving home, he made the effort to come and visit 6 small time English wrestling trainees and help us. A huge man. Not in height, but in both physical appearance and presence. Chris exuded an aura of sheer super-human quality. We all welcomed him and he was a true gentleman of a man. He had brought his son Daniel, then 4 years old. Daniel was a wonderful boy. Quiet, shy, but you could see a personality already developing in the young man who clearly idolized his superstar father.

Chris, as stated before, had just finished a hard 4 day stint on the road, including TV. He not only came down to see us, but he came prepared to wrestle. He then went on to wrestle alongside William Regal against myself, Martin Stone, Terry Frazier and Leroy Kincaide for 65 minutes. Just working with us, teaching us, making us learn, making us grow as wrestlers. No liberties taken, no bullying, safe educational teaching. And he was happy to do it. No pay from Dave, nothing to gain from it, than to help. After he finished, drenched in sweat, Chris shook all our hands, thanked us for the day and gave us all advice and told us to keep at it, and left the facility, Daniel in tow. 

That day we met an amazing man. A loving, devoted father, a great athlete and performer, and a true standup Gentle-man. I still hold the photos from that day dear as cherished memories in my wrestling career.

On June 25, 2007 when I was on holiday in spain at my brother’s apartment, I logged onto the internet and started seeing the news of the Benoits. Initially it was speculation, “murder”, “slaughtered” were all thrown around, but the facts were there. Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy, and Daniel had all been killed. As the days progressed and the story came to light of what had happened, I just sat stunned. There was no end to the reports I read, stories, postings, all trying to find one that said the rest were wrong. But that one never came. Because it was clear, Chris Benoit, the man I had met those 3 years prior, had killed himself and his family. 

I was never a huge fan of Chris the wrestler really. I didn’t dislike him or his work at all, I just was never much of a fan. The fact a star I watched each week had died, or the fact that he was one of my brothers in the wrestling business was sad, but I had felt this so many times before through the deaths of Owen Hart, Brian Pillman, Eddy Guerrero and so many more. This one however, was so much more powerful because it was a man I had met and respected as a person outside of wrestling for what he had given to me. A man I had met and thought so highly of as a celebrity taking time out of his life, as a doting father, a good man. This one felt more personal.

It will be 4 years this june. I still stand by the same stance I did 4 years ago. I don’t judge Chris for what he did. Yes, it was a heinous act. Yes it was a terrible, awful act he committed. But I still standby the fact, that whatever happened that weekend in the walls of the Benoit home, whatever Chris did, he did as not of his mind. The Chris I met was in no way the man who could or would have committed those acts. There has been much speculation of brain damage, post concussion trauma, degenerative brain disease, maybe some or all are guilty. And to this day still, something just “isn’t right” to it all for me. But we will never know. None of us. 

I met Chris Benoit in 2004. He was a great man. I will remember him, not as the Rabid Wolverine or The Crippler, not as the WWE Champion, not as the man forever known for his crimes upon death, but for being Chris Benoit, the great man I met that day. 

“What was once a captivating, trendsetting program has now deteriorated into a clichéd, boring snooze fest

Now let’s go over the facts; television ratings - downward spiral, pay per view buyrates - plummeting, mainstream acceptance - non-existent and reactions of the live crowds - complete and utter silence. And I know why you’re silent. You’re silent because you’re embarrassed to be here and quite honestly I’m embarrassed for you. And the reason why you’re embarrassed is because of the steady stream of uninteresting, untalented sports entertainers who you’re forced to cheer for and care for.

You people have been led to believe that mediocrity is excellence. Uh-uh. Jericho is excellence! “

Wrestler, rock star, Prophet? I’m beginning to wonder if Jericho was indeed a wrestling Nostradamus (as opposed to Matt Hardy, the wrestling Buddha) when he uttered these lines in his WWF Debut a whole 12 years ago. Long before the pg era, the ovw-production line, these throwaway heat-seeking lines have come painfully true in recent times with regards to the wrestling scene. But I can’t lay the blame entirely on messers McMahon, Laurinitis, etc. People are sheep as a general trait. The last 20 years or so, the entertainment media has become more and more entrenched in people and they have become more and more reliant on it. The average person now takes more advice from newspapers and tv shows than real people. They believe all the papers tell them, base their lives, their aspirations, their plans on what the latest no-name sub-z-list celebrity talks about in OK magazine, and generally go with the flow. (“Only Dead fish go with the flow” – Malcolm Muggeridge). But I’ll address that another time.

With the wrestling element, wrestling fans are more and more rapidly becoming drones, applauding and lauding mediocrity in growing amounts. There are no standards anymore, no minimum requirement of quality insisted upon. And for that reason it will continue its’ downward slide. The wwe farm production line is showing no sign of ceasing operations, and as long as old Vinny sees profits coming in, why would he? Some would say why should he? But the answer is simple. The rot has set in, and rot grows. Wrestling history has shown it time and again, if you don’t keep a finger on the pulse and remain relevant then those walls will come crashing down in time. There’s a huge lack of individuality now in wrestling. Worldwide. Legacy was the crowning example of this. I always imagined a conversation with a non-fan;
“Who’s Cody Rhodes?”
“The tall ripped handsome guy in trunks.”
“ Ok, so who was DiBiase?”
“ Oh, he was the tall ripped handsome guy in trunks.”
“ Er. Orton?”
“ The tall ripped handsome guy in trunks. With tattoos.”
“ I thought that was Batista?”
“ No, he’s the jacked up main event guy. “
“Isn’t that Cena?”
“No, he wears jean shorts and trainers.”
“ Oh ok. Why is a wrestler wearing jean shorts?”

And the characters (the few that there are) are totally non cross-demographic. And there is where the success lies, in filtering into society. That is what raises stock values, increases live gates, allows your movies to be a success and not straight to dvd messes.  Steve Austin was a character any adult or even child could identify with. Anti authority, didn’t suffer bullies, down to earth, fought the good fight. Rock was a pure athlete, like a college jock, had money and was cocky for it, so was easily dislikeable. We all knew people like them. Randy Orton is an unattainable character. Obvious genetics (natural of course), grew up in wrestling, looks like *that*. The average Joe doesn’t know anyone like that. Unless they know gay underwear models. Which is what he looks like. Back to the conversation with the non-fan.
“What’s his character”
“The VIPER!”
“Why?”
“Because he’s a snake”
“But he’s not underhanded or sneaky and has no reptilian gimmickery like Jake Roberts”
“…………..shut up”

But this isn’t an attack on Randolph alone, the whole roster is like it. And those with actual gimmicks, are un-relatable too. Wrestlers need to be superheroes but even superman has human qualities, weaknesses, moments when you can relate to him. The characters of today have none of that, and that makes wrestling a niche quantity again. Which puts it on the lower tiers, and as long as that is the case, it won’t be mainstream again, and will continue to sit in its’ own little corner. But wrestling fans will accept that. Because wrestling is a drug to them. And a junkie needs their fix. And no matter how shitty the fix, how unfulfilling, that fix has to be had. Wrestling fans have become apologists as of late, doing anything to try and justify the product, list mediocre elements as “genius” or “awesome” just so they can feel justified in liking it despite its’ lacklustre quality. It’s not as good as it used to be, the viewing figures, PPV rates, house show attendances all attest to that. It’s in a bubble and in that bubble it is a success. Don’t you as fans want it to be more????

It’s a shame. I’ve been a fan long enough to experience the glory days, and I know how good wrestling can be. The business I have dedicated my adult life to, that has been with me through everything, every relationship, every job, every life moment, has changed so much. It’s apt I’m writing this on valentine’s day, because I’ve really fallen out of love with wrestling. 

Maybe it’s a little pretentious, to think that the inane ramblings in my overactive mind could either be of interest to anyone or be worth sharing, but I’m hoping it will at the very least assist me in venting / voicing myself a little more. That or make more people hate me. Ah well, misery loves company and all. 

I’ll make an effort to blog or post on here semi regularly. Even if it’s updates on my many life goals that I’ll likely never achieve because I’m too busy blogging photos of dogs in outfits to entertain myself. I’ll probably offend people, spark discussion, start arguments, but hey. I’m single. I get bored. It could be fun. 

We shall see………