Last week, I asked you to email what was bothering you in professional wrestling. I received a ton of submissions and will post a couple of them at the end of this column. However, before I get started with what's bothering "me" in wrestling this week, I want to address a couple of things.
One of the main complaints with the inaugural edition of this column last week was simple – a lot of you asked why I would devote an entire article to looking at nothing but the bad in pro wrestling. It's a fair question and I am one writer that doesn't want to be one-sided with my opinions. I feel writers should always praise the product they're covering as often as they criticize it. I have other features here on WZ where I try to do that.
The reasons I am writing this weekly column are simple and I want to tell you now (and for one time only) what they are:
1. Weekly Creativity: I'm writing three regular, opinionated pieces on WZ every week. I also host VOW on Mondays and I do pay per view reviews two-three times a month. This feature is easy to keep fresh and doesn't require a ton of energy, allowing me to save said energy for all the articles I write for WrestleZone.
2. Fan Response: Believe it or not, negativity sells! Who knew, right? Media often focuses on the negative stuff way too much, but society responds to it more than they do anything else. It's a fact and WZ is still a business. If you respond to this more than you do "feel good" articles, this type of stuff wins every time.
3. Fan Interaction: This feature is an easy way to include our loyal followers at WZ. You can email me at wzchriscash@yahoo.com every week with your own thoughts about what's bothering you and I can use it in future editions. The response was overwhelming last week as I was flooded with good entries – a couple of which you'll see featured at the end of this piece.
Hopefully, that's enough explanation as to why I'm doing this each week. But for those of you that are still not satisfied, I promise to reserve future editions of this column to focus on "What's NOT Bothering Me (In Professional Wrestling)" as well.
Now, let's get started…
#3. Pay Per View Fever
I understood (and still do) the business side of the WWE and why they made the decision to go from 12 pay per views a year to 13-15. It made sense and Vince made more money. Luckily, they've cut back some and this time of year is the only time anymore that it sucks to be a blue collar wrestling fan. That's not true. $55/month sucks any time of the year.
It bothers me that WWE hasn't solidified their pay per view names and gimmicks. A wrestling fan should know exactly what to expect with every event. How many name changes have we had over the past three years? How many different themes have been thrown against the wall without sticking?
If there's going to be 13 pay per views a year, fine. But each need to have their own place and their own level of importance. They won't be equal, but they should be unique in their own right. Each pay per view needs to be cemented in wrestling fans' minds at this point. When it's June, there should be NO question as to what the PPV will be. Capital Punishment, though? Come on!
Personally, I would much rather see WWE go back to only 12 a year. But more importantly, for me anyway, I'd just be happy with each of them having a purpose each year. Well, and the same damn name at the very least.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
