The Outsiders' Edge

Well folks Wrestle Mania 25 has come and gone. The event was an uneven effort that went from the highs of the daring spots in the Money in the Bank ladder and the God-like greatness of the Undertaker-Shawn Michaels match to the lows of the paralyzis waiting to happen Diva battle royale and the Abdullah the Butcher and Giant Gonzales like slowness of the Randy Orton/ HHH main event.

Looking back at this event, two things from Wrestle Mania 25 will be imprinted in our consciousness: The Undertaker/ Shawn Michaels match and the last call for Stone Cold Steve Austin and his legendary wrestling career.

Stone Cold gestures to a few thousand of his closest disciples

Look, I understand Stone Cold had his faults. A walk out on Raw here, a little spousal abuse there, a little more spousal abuse there, but he at least he didn’t use his finishing move to knock off any family members or heart attack himself by taking too many steroids. Austin was a fantastic performer who entertained millions in the WWE, but he was more then that. He was extremely charismatic guy who was a complete original who stayed true to himself and had a special uniqueness. That originality and charisma is what separates the high times of the Attitude Era to the cookie cutter “everyone be like Hunter” era of today.

The big names from the Attitude Era all had a certain spark and larger than life quality that is hard to put into words. Stone Cold had it. Mick Foley had it. Hulk Hogan and the nWo had it. My close personal friend Bret Hart had it. Shawn Michaels had it. Undertaker had it. The Rock had it. Ric Flair had it. Sting had it.

HBK and Taker have it.

The biggest difference between the superstars of yesterday and today is that today’s peeps all have to come through the WWE monopolized training system where all the stars are trained, packaged, and old the exact same way. Instead of guys learning their craft in the old NWA territories (Flair) or the AWA (HBK) or by training with their dads (Rock) all of today’s wrestlers come through the same developmental system. Imagine if every baseball player played for the same minor league team, with the same minor league manager. All of today’s baseball players would have the same strengths, swings, steroid habits and weaknesses.

Do you think Ric Flair learned to dress like this in WWE developmental?

Look at a few of today’s big names. John Cena, Batista, and Randy Orton. They’re all jacked up HHH style. They all have similar move sets. They all get the same reactions form the crowd. They all have similar promo skills. Pretty much their only difference is that Randy Orton is a little thinner, but still a statue, John Cena is totally ripped, and Batista is Ultimate Warrior in his steroid heydey ripped. And look at some of the young stars currently filtering through the system. Vladimir Kozlov, Cody Rhodes,  Jack Swagger, Ted DiBiase, etc. They’re all either miniature Hunters, Ortons, Batistas, or Cenas. The two best up and coming unique guys CM Punk and Evan Bourne both made their way up through ROH, Japan, and the Indy system instead of WWE Inc.

But enough with my screed about McWWE and their corporate squareness as it deals with their developmental system. If you want to hear my interview with someone who knows alot more than I about this issue, check out my conversation with the great JJ Dillon at this link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lordelevation

The former 4 Horsemen mouthpiece had some eye opening opinions on the WWE and their inability to create interesting new individuals.

Give me a Hell Yeah if you want it to be 1998 again.

I want to talk a little more about Stone Cold. I enjoyed what little I saw of his Hall of Fame speech. I’m sure Men’s Wearhouse is happy for his glowing endorsement. One of my favorite moments from the weekend was his beer bash at Wrestle Mania. Lately I haven’t gotten too hyped up about Stone Cold’s WWE appearances, because they’ve all featured the same things. It usually involves him being some sort of special referee, giving some unlucky bastards a few stunners, and pounding down about 25 Steveweisers. But the fact that the announcers were really making it sound like this will be the final appearance Austin ever makes in the WWE really struck a nerve with me. His speech the night before indicated that he was thinking about doing anything else with the company, so that speech cominbed with the things the announcers were saying led me to believe that this was Stone Cold’s final dance. I just didn’t want the moment to end. I wanted one more drink. One more middle finger to the Man. One more Stunner. One more Hell Yeah. But alas, it had to end. I would have been much more content to enjoy the time with Stone Cold than move on to the Orton/HHH church-like excitement of the main event.

Orton provides more aerial offense in this old match from Raw against HHH than he did during all of Mania.

Perhaps the thing I’m going to miss most about Steve Austin is the electricity he brought to all of in-ring appearances, whther they were matches, segments, or promos. His three Wrestle Mania main events against the Rock were among the most exciting in company history. His Austin 3:16 speech following the King of the Ring Victory in 1996 against Jake Roberts will always be remembered. His antics involving everything from bedpans to monster trucks to beer trucks always entertained millions and lit up the crowd.

Two guys who know a thing or two about how to treat a lady with respect.

My single favorite Stone Cold related moment was his fantastic submission match with my close personal friend Bret the Hit Man Hart (You can hear my interview with Bret at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lordelevation)  from Wrestle Mania 13. It was a submission match, with UFC champion Ken Shamrock thrown in as the special referee. ( You can hear my interview with Ken’s brother Frank at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lordelevation)

Bret and Stone Cold had some of the best ring psychology you’re ever going to see, and was able to play the crowd like an instrument in their hands. The match truly was a work of art, and featured an amazing double turn when Austin turned face and Hart turned heel in the same instant, when Hart refused to let Stone Cold out of the Sharpshooter. Undertaker and HBK are the only two guys who could execute a spot like that today. Maybe Jericho also. That same move with HHH and Batista would cause a power outage or something.

Man just one more match between the Rock and Stone Cold and my wrestling fanhood would enter a place of total nirvana.  Damn that would be sweet. Damn to neck injuries, old age, and making millions of dollars in Hollywood. I guess YouTube and the DVD aisle will be the only places where these dreams come true.

One more for the road.

~ by lordelevation on April 7, 2009.

Posted in Uncategorized
Tags: Stone Cold final match, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, The Undertaker, Wrestle Mania 25