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HELLO SPOTLIGHTERS!!!
I always said if I didn’t have a topic to speak about than I wouldn’t just throw some piece of crapola up on a site to have a voice heard and not counted. So, that is why I haven’t written an article for Dave and his wonderful team at pwinsider in a while. I’ve also been busy writing my book and an album (a bit on that later).
It doesn’t matter really matter what drugs we speak of. Steroids, Cocaine, Crack, or a heavy amount of Alcohol, it is all bad. But this article isn’t about what other people’s habits are or how I disagree or agree with them. I always try to write spotlight from a fans point of view and so it is with that perspective I travel on.
As a fan, you never want an overdose (sorry for the bad pun) of a certain character. But in most cases we also don’t want to lose them completely. In the past few months two major storylines have been halted and screwed with because of unfortunate events and peoples choices (and by that I am not blaming anyone, choices come from performers, heads of companies, creative teams and doctors).
Jeff Hardy and William Regal were each riding a high wave of popularity, more than they ever have before arguably. Jeff was headed more than likely for the World Title Belt and Regal seemed to be headed into a long feud with Ken Kennedy that could have been excellent. I had the pleasure of seeing Regal and Kennedy wrestle at a house show in Madison, Wisconsin which happens to be about 4 hours south east of where Kennedy grew up. He loves his state it seems and was over huge. The fans were red hot for the match and it delivered big time. It delivered so well that in my opinion it could have been on PPV easily and I would have paid my hard earned cash just for that match (well, I guess I did that by going to the house show but you know what I am saying).
Drugs or even injuries always lead to disappointed fans which lead to low buy rates and confusion. Now, sometimes we get a cool little spin out of this like when Jericho surprised everyone and won the IC title (which WWE has done zip with by the way). It was a cool little moment since I didn’t know why when it aired that it transpired. But then I read why, and I am like oh….so creative wasn’t being “creative” they just had to come up with something really quick. In most cases however, we get quickly stopped or rushed story lines (ala Regal/Kennedy) and we as fans lose all that we care about in wrestling.
The thing that kills me the most as a fan is that none of this has to occur. Sometimes injuries happen, there is no stopping that and WWE went through a slew of them last year. No one could have predicted the Benoit situation so that is understandable as well but drugs can be avoided. And the wrestlers and promoters could also write matches where people don’t have to kill themselves in the ring. As long as the performance was good, the shots sold, the story continuity intact, and the verbal sparring correctly given, we’d all go home happy. Everyone loves a high spot, and they have their place. Some of my favorite wrestlers are Paul London, Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles, but they are putting their bodies on the line too much.
The end all be all of it is that we want the characters we love to be around for a long time and we want them healthy. I plead with the rosters of ROH, TNA and WWE to get it together and stop any drug use (if there is any) and insane bumps and let the fans have you forever or as long as you all can live on in wrestling infamy. This is art. Art is important. This is sport. Sport is important. And this is life…and that is more important than any of the other.
For people who would like to hear my music please find me on garageband.com and if you’d like to buy some of my music or talk with me about the squared circle – go to www.myspace.com/joelcroyle I will be posting a professional album there within the next two months. You can buy a few of my “demo” tunes if you want right now and enjoy listening to a few things for free. Thanks all…SUPPORT OUR ART!!!
Until next time (Which I promise will be sooner this time) SEE YA SOON SPOTLIGHTERS!
