So, the big news coming out of Hollywood this morning is that “Think Like a Man” triumphs the box office and reigns in at #1. Think Like a Man is the romantic comedy based off the bestselling book by Comedian, Actor and Radio Personality Steve Harvey.
This is a great achievement for director Tim Story (love his last name), to be able to deliver to movie watchers a solid depiction of this relationship book. This is shades of the success of “He’s just not that in to you” written by Greg Behrendt. I think in the man-woman game that we all play on a daily bases, just when we think we have all the answers we can always go for some more insight on this issue. However, that is not my issue for writing this today. But I want to take a second to look at the differences between this film and the movie “Red Tails” that came out earlier this year.
Just to bring to speed, Red Tails was the elaborate screen rendition of the story of the Tuskegee Airmen. Directed by Anthony Hemmingway, and coming out of Lucas Films studio, ran by George Lucas (Star Wars creator). This was a stylized picture with some amazing shooting and special effects of the Tuskegee air program as they dealt with preparation to battle against the Nazi’s in WW2. The buzz going around the media circuit, before this film hit the airwaves, was not focused on the content of the film, but more so on the trials and difficulties that he faced in getting studio financing for it. That studios are apprehensive about financing a “Black Film”. This is an area which I can actually understand the studios stance, due to the fact that numbers have shown that the return of what is gained for a “Black Film” can be significantly lower than others. I blame this on the convenience of the “bootleg man”. But with that, that was the issue that I had with Red Tails, that its marketing was geared more towards guilting the audience into the theater, rather than them making an informed decision on their own to go see it. Facebook and Twitter rang this to be true because during opening weekend of Red Tails, much of the commonality between all of the posts revolved around “Going to see Red Tails. Gotta Support. Go see Red Tails! You need to support it. We’re the only ones who can make a difference, go see Red Tails.” And yes, I am on board for the theory of disciplining your dollars, but at the same time, would these movie goer’s have gone seen it, without the remorseful nature of the marketing? I would hope so, but I doubt it. The result showed that it worked, opening up at #1 opening weekend.
Now, did “Think like a Man” need this kind of marketing to take place? Absolutely not and $33 million dollars opening weekend, proved to show that a solid and intriguing story is all that is needed to get people into the cinema.
The marketing for this film was done the same as every other movie and proved well. And it really does bring a smile to my face because without the guilt, it goes to show that people will indeed support a quality story being presented to them. Although the storyline may be a bit formulaic, having the likes of Kevin Hart and Romany Malco in your cast will be a recipe for direct fun. I can hope that Hollywood would get the message so that financing won’t be so much of a challenge for casts that are predominantly African American. The foresight of this would be smart. Reason being, one of my frat brothers posted on facebook that “The Theater looked like the club, with everyone seeing Think Like a Man.” Even though, this is funny, I looked beyond that comment. So if people really are decking themselves out for a film, they are making an evening out of this. Dinner reservations at 7pm, Tickets for the 9:30pm show, and after hour night cap (drinks) at the lounge at midnight. And to be honest, I love that. More and more of this would constitute that the “bootleg man” may actually need to get a real job.
So, my congratulatories to “Think Like a Man” and hopefully, we get more films built around adult romantic comedies with casts of different cultures, so we can get a feel from all perspectives.
Wrestlemania 18, is the 18th annual wrestlemania professional wrestling pay per view, produced by the world wrestling federation.
This would be the last Wrestlemania with the company being named “World Wrestling Federation” or “WWF”. Shortly after this maina, The WWF would then be The WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment); due to a lawsuit settlement between the WWE and World Wildlife Fund.
Wrestlemania is returning back to Toronto. The last time Wrestlemania was in the Sky Dome was for WM 6; where over 60,000 fans witnessed Hulk Hogan vs The Ultimate Warrior; title for title. This year, the arena would hold yet another dream match. This would be the house that will bring you Icon vs Icon- The Rock vs Hollywood Hulk Hogan. In addition, Hogan is making his illustrious Wrestlemania Return!
This Wrestlemania was on the bell curve of a new era of the company. The Attitude Era was no more, this would be the rooted beginnings of the “Ruthless Aggression” era (some argue that, that started at WM 17). The invasion angle is long over, WCW guys have fully assimilated into being WWF guys. The World Titles of Wrestling have consolidated into one and a major player of THE GAME recently returned as well.
A little under a year ago, Triple H suffered a devastating quad injury (while in a match partnered with Steve Austin against Jericho and Benoit on a live edition of Raw), which immediately put him on the shelf. After surgery and many many months of rehab, Triple H made his return at the 2002 Royal Rumble and won the event. This would grant him the right to face the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World; Chris Jericho. Jericho won this honor back in Dec of 2001 when he was victorious in a 3 match stipulation; by defeating The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin; both in the same night. With Triple H earning the main event spot, and his “ex-wife” now siding with the champion; this is set up to be a wild contest.
A week before the No Way Out 2002 PPV, in an attempt to gain vengeance against Ric Flair who has taken over the company (thanks to him being the consortium who bought Shane and Stephanie’s stock of the company), Vince McMahon announced that he is “injecting a poison into the company he father built”. Vince broke news by announcing that he was bringing in the New World Order into the WWF, and they will be debuting at No Way Out in Milwaukee, WI. After they debuted, The Rock pressed and had some fun on the expense of Hall and Nash. However, when Hogan came out to cut a promo and lash out on the fans, is when The Rock got involved. It was during this promo where The Rock challenged Hulk Hogan, one on one at Wrestlemania. Hogan accepted…GAME ON!
Wrestlemania begins with already getting 5 STARS! Rob Van Dam challenges William Regal for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. And with the 5 star frog splash, RVD wins his 2nd singles title with the company!
Undertaker Note: The Undertaker faces Ric Flair. This would be the first time (and only time) that The Undertaker is wrestling as a heel at Mania. Due to some disagreements between the Deadman and Flair, this match came about. This was a very good 20 min match, and Flair looked as good in the match as he ever did. But Taker was just too much for the Nature Boy and pins the 16 time former heavyweight champion of the world. Undertaker is 10-0 at wrestlemania.
The video package begins showing the clips of the return of the nWo at No Way Out, and then leads to the epic promo between Hulk Hogan and The Rock, where the challenge is set for Wrestlemania. Clips follow, along with heart pounding rock music to illustrate the story of these two. The last image you vividly see, is a black and white image that looks to be cutting into the current footage that we are looking at. A spliced scene from one of the many invasions the nWo did on the Monday Nitro set between Hogan, Hall and Nash. A graphic of the footage looks to be ripping in half to show us present day and plays the most familiar theme music of them all, the nWo theme, Enter Hollywood Hulk Hogan. I swear to you, as I am writing this, I am getting Goosebumps thinking of this moment. 68,237 people on their feet screaming in joy, not only because of the one of the most familiar and coolest themes of our time is playing, but because (at this time) the King of Wrestlemania, Hulk Hogan is walking down a WWF Aisle into a WWF ring for his Wrestlemania return, that was have not seen in 9 years. The electricity of the crowd was so electric, that it would’ve made sense to be exhausted by the time the opening bell hit, but that wouldn’t be the case, not for this sold out crowd. Hulk Hogan, was finally home. But at an even louder ovation, The Rock’s theme hit and with (what seemed like) millions of cameras flashing in the crowd, The Rock enters into the Ring and is set center stage in front of millions watching around the world, face to face with the Icon of Pro Wrestling, Hulk Hogan in the ring with him. The match started with a memorable stare down onto each other and the crowd.
The two lock up and Rock overpowers Hogan and muscles him to the ground. Hogan back to his feet and locks back up with The Rock, however, this time it would be Hogan to overpower and throws The Rock. This send the crowd into a complete frenzy and to add fuel to the fire, Hogan breaks the cool Hollywood persona and goes back into Retro Hogan and throws poses at The Rock. There is not a soul sitting for this monumental moment. The match goes on. During the match, The Rock locked on the Sharpshooter, causing Hogan to tap out. However, the referee was down and unable to acknowledge the submission. The Rock let go of the hold and tried to revive the referee, but Hogan gave him a low blow followed by his own version of The Rock’s finisher, the Rock Bottom for a two-count. The two tried their respective finishers, the Rock Bottom and the leg drop but each kicked out. After two more Rock Bottoms and a People’s Elbow, The Rock pins the Legendary Hulk Hogan and gets the 1-2-3 victory to win the match. After the match, Hall and Nash come to ringside and express disappointment o Hogan for losing and jump Hogan. The Rock assist Hogan and both of them beat on Nash and Hall. They clear the ring. The Rock also steps to the side and gives the spotlight to the 68 thousand plus, to pose for the crowd. Hogan, not only stole the show, but was once again and officially a face in the world wrestling federation.
The main event was for the World Wrestling Federation Undisputed Championship. Chris Jericho vs Triple H. Just like how Triple H entered with Motorhead playing his theme, Drowning Pool would play a version of his theme song as he entered to the ring. Jericho, entered the arena with Stephanie McMahon on his side and the match takes place. In all fairness, both of them really do give the world a very very good match. If you watched this match isolated to the rest of the card, you can really appreciate the efforts by both of them. However, at the same time, the crowd just was not into it, and it was not anything against the two men in the ring, but more so due to how overwhelming the Rock/Hogan match was and drained the crowd of all of their energy. Not even the Divas match before the championship match could help matters. During the match Triple H went for the Pedigree on Jericho through the announcers’ table. However, Jericho reversed it into a back drop, sending Triple H through the Spanish announcers’ table. Stephanie tried to hit Triple H with a steel chair but had it removed by referee Earl Hebner. Stephanie pushed Hebner aside but then, she was met by a Pedigree from Triple H. Jericho tried his own Pedigree on Triple H but ended up having it reversed into a catapult. Triple H then hit the Pedigree on Jericho and pinned him to become the new Undisputed Champion
Match Card
HEAT- Rikishi, Scotty 2 Hotty, and Albert defeated Mr. Perfect, Lance Storm and, Test
PPV
-Rob Van Dam defeated William Regal (c) to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship
-Diamond Dallas Page (c) defeated Christian to retain the WWF European Championship
-Maven (c) fought Goldust to a no contest in a Hardcore Match for the WWF Hardcore Championship. The title changed hands on a number of occasions between The Hurricanne, Molly Holly, Christian and back to Maven.
-Kurt Angle defeated Kane
-The Undertaker defeated Ric Flair in a no DQ match
-Edge defeated Booker T.
-Steve Austin defeated Scott Hall (with Kevin Nash).
-Billy and Chuck (c) defeated The APA (Faarooq and Bradshaw), The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) (with Stacy Keibler) and The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff) in a Four Corners Elimination match for the WWF Tag Team Championship with Billy and Chuck retaining the titles.
-The Rock defeated Hollywood Hulk Hogan
Jazz (c) defeated Trish Stratus and Lita in a triple threat match to retain the WWF Womens Championship
Triple H defeated Chris Jericho (c) (with Stephanie McMahon). To win the World Wrestling Federation Undisputed World Championship.
April 4th 2011; The day after Wrestlemania 27; in Atlanta, GA. The Rock addresses the crowd. Giving his take on what happened in the night before WWE Championship match between John Cena and The Miz. The Miz walks away with the victory over Cena; but this night was not about The Miz, this was about Cena. The Rock was not focused on the man who was (at that time) proudly holding the WWE championship and coming off the victory of the lifetime, but rather the attention of The Rock was on the man who in fact lost the championship title fight in the headlining main event. The Rock; before a sold out crowd in the Philips Arena, made an unprecedented announcement, where be put out a challenge to John Cena, in a one on one match at Wrestlemania 28 in Miami, Florida. With the exception of Mr. Kennedy (with an asterisk) in 2007; never has there been a wrestler to make a challenge to another wrestler, exactly 1 year from the date. A very bold, brash and calculating risk that the WWE is taking in scheduling a match 1 year in advance.
Dream Match...Check!
Who’s to say what will take place in one year? Who’s to say where the wrestlers will be? Who’s to say where the company/business would be? Would this be able to hold the attention of the audience and keep them interested? So many questions and so many red flags can be raised when doing this. But knowing how the WWE is when it comes to what the present to their fans, this was a risk that was worth taking and was executed perfectly. Between promoting the film “Fast 5”; to being involved with “The Summer of Punk”, to shooting “G.I. Joe: Retaliation”, to the WWE Title triangle, to Survivor Series Tag Match main event; to promoting Disney’s “Journey 2”, to Kane trying to make Cena “Embrace the Hate”, here we are at the end of February/ beginning of March, just 4-5 weeks away from wrestlemania, the journey is close to coming to a close and our final destination will be the dream match between The Rock and John Cena.
The Rock came back a year ago to the WWE, in what is being looked at as one of the biggest and most astounding comebacks in wrestling history. The buzz that The Rock created was absolutely uncanny. Between The Rock being the #1 trend worldwide on twitter to every facebook status (at his return) on FB that night, being in relation with The Rock. Fan or no fan, you were talking about the return of the peoples champion (See my issue of Proffits Piledriver from 2-3 weeks ago that talks more about this…*link*). The Rock said one line in that promo, that seems to be like an STD, it just keeps looming its ugly head over and over again periodically. The Rock gave a memorable 20 min promo and he stated “I am never ever going away”. Yes, hearing that was comfortable and hearing that from him felt great knowing that The Rock was back.
Honey, Guess who got fired?
But let’s be real…
I would hope that anyone with a half a brain would know that, he would NOT be wrestling full time the way he did back in 1998. No, Rock still had films to promote, we all knew about G.I. Joe, so how would it be possible for him to wrestle full time again?
Duh!!! I need to fulfill contract obligations by kicking Cobras ass, prick!
I had a lightly heated discussion with someone after The Rocks comeback where I was explaining to them, that he’s not back full time. He will be back on a legends contract but not full time, he doesn’t need to. But there is a percentage of fans that feel that he is supposed to be in the ring wrestling full time, and that is what confuses and bothers me.
Yeah, this is just the scheudle for the 2nd week of May. You didnt have anything planned now, did you?
If indeed The Rock came back and wrestled on a full time basis, he would then be deemed as “boring” or you’ll hear people crying saying “he’s taking up a roster spot”, also “The Rock is old.” Any of those variations, we would be flooded with all of those comments.
I have nothing to do but cry about something that's awesome! (In your Nancy Kerrigan voicce) Why! Why! Why!
So, The Rock doesn’t come back immediately the next week on Raw, and he goes back to fulfill his Hollywood obligations. We see The Rock on a very sporadic basis due to his schedule. But fast forward to right now, fans are pissed off at The Rock for leaving! Fans…WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT??!?! Do they want to see The Rock vs Tyler Reks on a weekly basis? Is this what you want?
Whoaaa Dude. Im relevant again? Gnarly!
Really? C’mon. American Wrestling fans who expect the world from everyone, calm down and relax and just enjoy what we are getting. The Rock does not need to wrestle on a full time basis at all. This man is arguably one of the greatest entertainers pro wrestling has ever seen. He was one of the leaders of the Attitude Era (the WWE’s most financial successful years in the companies existence) to help propel the WWE into competing ranks with other top outlets of entertainment. The Rock has toured the world, headlined several wrestlemanias, sold out arenas all over the world. Sold a gaudy amount of merchandise and is a constant hit on the media circuit. He is the man that Access Hollywood, Extra, Entertainment Tonight, The Tonight Show, Conan, Letterman, all go to, to appear on their shows. There is a reason behind this and it’s not that The Rocks name keeps getting pulled from a hat, that’s for sure. But it’s because he is the right man to choose from when it comes to mainstream media.
This over taking bumps, injuries, living out a suitcase and politics? Yeah, I chose right.
The Rock still at the moment, still holds the segment for the highest rated segment in the history of professional wrestling, with “The Rock; This is your life” segment, with him and Mankind (Rock and Sock Connection). The Rock main evented three…excuse me, I don’t think you heard me….THREE Wrestlemanias wrestling Stone Cold Steve Austin. And two of those matches were for the WWE Championship. When has that ever happened in the history of the WWE? Never! The Rock has won every major title in the company from the WWE title, the World Heavyweight Championship, The IC championship to the Tag Team Championships. Arguably, he has made the company more money than any other superstar. So please help me in understanding where it is a mandatory that a wrestler who is THIS accomplished, HAVE to work a full time schedule like he did his rookie year within the WWE? Where does it say that he has to fulfill these obligations? But I guess according to many of these current disgruntled fans, this is obviously a requirement. An odd requirement, but a requirement never the less.
But the most common heat is “The Rock Leaving” in the first place. Fan are besides themselves that The Rock pursued a Hollywood career. How dare he make an independent adult decision to take advantage of an opportunity.
Let me just ask this first. You are a young professional; mid to late 20’s, in your ideal career. Within your department, you are a hot shot and your work speaks for itself. You work hard and you have a great respect and admiration of your peers. One day, someone approaches you and informs you of a wonderful opportunity that is available. The work is not as strenuous, still in a similar field, but the pay is out of this world. Here you are, with a long time girlfriend, whom you’re looking to propose to soon. And you know down the line you two will be speaking of starting a family as well. What would be the logical move? Turn down the opportunity because you are Mr. Office Funny Guy, and what would the department do without your presence? Or seize this opportunity so you can set up a better life for you and your family?
Do I take the new offer and provide for my family or do i stay so I can continue being the office douche?
Exactly. So why is The Rock being crucified for making the same decision that we would all make as well? Why is it ok for us to seize better opportunities, but he’s not allowed to. I think that is a massive imbalance that I would need clarity on.
Becuase if I tweet my anger and frustration, then it must hold some merit. (Mom. can you let me know when its time for my show?)
Survivor Series 2011; live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The main event was a tag match between The Miz and R-Truth vs John Cena and The Rock. This would be the first time The Rock would be in the middle of the ring wrestling, for the first time in 7 ½ years (since wrestlemania 20). The Rock stood in the middle of the ring next to John Cena and (at the risk of sounding like I want to rape him) The Rock looked like a Greek god.
This aint gonna tickle.
The Rock was in the best shape that he’s ever been in, in his life. Rock looked like an exaggerated characterture of himself, because he really did look like he was chiseled out of stone next to everyone else. Nothing against John Cena, because Cena is in amazing shape, but standing next to The Rock, Cena looked like he was no where even near his league. Cena looked pale compared to him. He looked very short and small next to The Rock. Cena did not look strong at all next to The Rock. There was an obvious contrast between the two, and I’m sure that if an average Joe fan like myself could notice it, you know the boss; Vince McMahon; noticed it more than ever. The Rock looked flawless in the ring that night, and even though Cena did most of the work, The Rock looked better than the entire WWE Roster, easily. Physically and how smooth his ring work was. Lord, if wrestlemania was that night, and Cena went over, there wouldn’t be a soul in that arena who would’ve bought that.
What Cena looks like Next to the Rock.
Lets fast forward to 2012. The John Cena/Kane storyline was MUCH needed. Some people thought the storyline was a waste of time, I on the other hand felt it was extremely necessary because Cena needed to go through a slight transformation and embrace a more aggressive side of his. If Cena is going into Mania as the happy go lucky, “Awwwww shucks” wrestler that we know him as, he’d be laughed at. Vince needs for this dream match to look as credible as it can. The last time we had this match of this caliber was Hogan-Rock at Wrestlemania X8 (18). Those were two guys you can put in the middle of the ring, both of them look like they belong, and they will give you something memorable.
Veteran Status In Da Hooooouse!!!!
Yes, Cena IS the right man to be in this spot. Yes, Cena IS whom we want to see in the middle of the ring with The Rock. But we all know that Cena just needed more of an edge to make this match credible. So with the storyline with Kane and how that evolved and what it resulted to, Cena has his edge. But he needs more of a direct edge with The Rock. Enter The Monday night raw edition of 2/20/2012. John Cena cuts a very intense promo against The Rock…
And the Buzz around the world was. How will The Rock respond to something so strong and passionate from Cena. Finally Cena gave us something that wasn’t full of clichés, potty humor, gay jokes (which I have a true problem with) and of course the ONE joke he’s been leaning on ALLLLLL YEAR “Being Via Satellite” or “He’s not here”. We didn’t get Robo Cena, where he comes out and is just reciting the memorized promo that was written for him by Brian Gerwitz team, in the back. We actually got a John Cena that channeled a legit emotion and brought out to the television audience. JOHN, THIS IS WHAT WE WANT FROM YOU!!!!! THANK YOU!!! He has finally arrived.
Cena now has a credible and almost meanacing edge to him, but one more piece of the puzzle needs to be added on, The Rock needs to scale back.
On the Feb 27th edition of Raw, The Rock was live in Eugene, Oregon. He cut a promo…but…it….just….wasn’t…Rock….like….
Huh? #1.) Was The Rock NOT intense? #2.) Was he frazzled and thrown off? #3.) Did he have blatant notes on his arm? HUH?!?!?!?
What was the over/under of some fan boy going through thr trouble to make this pic and post it online. Mr. Internet Hero! WoooHooo!!!
Since when has The Rock NOT been intense? It could be for a 45 sec promo, The Rock always brings it. Since when does The Rock needs noted to help him know what to say next??? Since when does The Rock look thrown off? Dude, you’re a professional actor, you…wait….you’re a professional actor.
"Ha! Yeah, you forgot. Im a professional actor, Moron!"
What better way to control the crowd in a direction that you want them to go in? Yes, YOU direct them yourself. Makes all the sense in the world. I see many many many comments of people bashing The Rock for what he did. I see many comments that are damn near filled with vile hate for him. People wishing death upon him. I’m sorry are these fans of pro wrestling or is this a lynch mob?
It’s odd, how one year ago, the electricity and the buzz of The Rock returning brought a resurgence back to professional wrestling that is has been missing for so long; suddenly turns into this hostile hate for someone, who is on a part time schedule with the WWE. But to me, it was obvious that this was done all on purpose. The scaled back promo, the stumbling and bumbling, the written notes. All of this has to be a work in order to make Cena look like the more superior. If The Rock is The Rock every week going into Mania, Cena will look so insignificant in that match, that the match would no longer look like money the way it once did. So, in other words, all of these angry wrestling fans that are having an aneurism over this, guess what kids…you’ve been worked.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
And it doesn’t just take one for that promo to work, it took 2…maybe 3. It took The Rock; John Cena and possibly an agent. That promo was systematically done a certain way to move the crowd. The plan worked. So if you think that you’re getting one over on The Rock because you jump on a Facebook page or twitter and leave disparaging comments about The Rock, guess again genius, because you’re only doing what he wanted you to do in the first place.
Now don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a piece for me to write so I can say “You have to choose The Rock! What’s wrong with you?!?!” Not at all. I understand that there are Rock Fans and I understand that there are Cena fans. And it should be that way. I love the emotion that is going through people right now. There is such a vested interest in both of these men, that you cannot help but select a side. There hasn’t been this kind of emotion since WWF vs. WCW (during the hay day years, not the Invasion Angle).
Ahhhhh, the glory days of war...
You had to choose a side and it’s that I love. But I can seriously deal without the ignorant hate that I see coming from other “fans” (and I use that term loosely with them).
I can admit that Cena had the upper edge once again on the 2/27 edition of Raw, in terms of promos. And that is fine. But something stood out tremendously in his 2/27 promo. The Rock’s influence. The Rock mentioned something that I felt was very significant. Last year, when he did his first promo on his comeback, he called Cena a “bowl of fruity pebbles”. Cena response to that insult by a quiet video shot of him eating a bowl of fruity pebbles. About a good 6-9 months later, boom, John Cena is on the front of the box of Fruity Pebbles. As funny as that sounds on paper, the numbers are even better. We’re talking about a multimillion dollar endorsement with Post Cereal, for John Cena to be on the box of cereal. A one liner for The Rock turns into a mega bank role with a billion dollar company. Good for The Rock, Great for John Cena, Tremendous for The WWE.
I just paid BEEEEOTCH!!! Thanks Rock!
Add this to his existing endorsement deals with Subway and with Gillette. In addition to this, When The Rock speaks, people are going to be all ears; whether they like him or not. But people will tune in to see and hear what he is going to say. He has the crowd just eating out of the palm of his hands on Monday in Eugene. And the last time he spoke, and the last, and the last, and the last. The Rock has been controlling the crowd for many years before his semi retirement to Hollywood, and he knows the ring and knows the culture. The Rock knows what the do’s and don’ts are in pro wrestling (which is why it’s laughable that people really bought the writing on the arm). The Rock has been around this business for literally his entire life. But overall, The Rock understands and respects the time honored tradition of pro wrestling. Which is why The Rock will indeed put over John Cena at Wrestlemania 28.
Haha!
He did it before with Brock Lesnar at Summer Slam 2002. The Rock put over Lesanr and dropped the WWE Undisputed Championship to him. Pretty much passing the torch that was passed to him by Hulk Hogan 4 months earlier. And now it is time to do it once again, but this time to Cena. When we think of the greatest of all times we automatically think of Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, The Rock, Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart. That is a very elite class of men to be a part of. John Cena is a tremendous worth and a great man to have represent your company. But he’s just not in that class yet. But with the assistance of The Rock, and with him putting Cena over at the grandest stage of them all at Wrestlemania 28, it will be at moment in the middle of Sun Life Stadium where The Rock will then endorse John Cena as the true leader of this current era of pro wrestling and from there and so on, Cena will then be a part of that upper echelon of legends that were mentioned earlier, to make him immortal.
Wrestling fans have encountered that conversation dozens and dozens of times through their lifetime. Aside from the outrageous cost to watch a live PPV, it’s almost the full price that we pay for being a fan of said sport. But my question is, are we alone? Are we the only ones who share the same category of fandom? Honestly, I don’t think we are. This may be a bold statement, however, I believe that the same ones who question why we are fans in the first place and enlighten us with that revelation of breaking news that its “fake”, may just be one rung under us hardcore fans in appreciating what we see every week.
Shhhhh, Elin knows about the hookers, but NOT the Royal Rumble DVD's
I really feel that there are 3 kinds of people in the world (in terms of pro wrestling) Those who are legit fans, those who are closet fans and those who honestly do not know and do not care for (not out of spite) what is going on. But I do not think that there are people that absolutely hate professional wrestling (besides wrestling fans, but that’s a whole another article, which I will speak about at a later date). I have 3 situations that I would like to speak about that helps my theory.
The Attitude Era.
Not your granddad's wresting!
Back in 94-96, I was in 8th grade/freshman year in HS. And it was very known that I was a pro wrestling fan. And on a daily basis I would receive the whole “you know its fake” gimmick from people. I didn’t know anyone who was publicly a fan of wrestling with the exception of one guy in 8th grade and then in HS, he ended up going to a different school, so once again I was all alone in terms of being a fan. I cannot stress the word ALONE enough.
Yes, I do have Lionel Richie playing in my head #Hello
No one but me was pulling for the WWE when they had the likes of Adam Bomb, King Mable, Sparky Plugg, The Portuguese Man O War Aldo Montoya, Duke The Dumpster Drose and Max Moon.
Yes, please take him seriously as a potential world champion
Yes, I sat through these matches that were 100% gimmicked up. And would be too corny for the ABC Family Channel.
That corny shit wouldnt fly here, prick!
But I did not care for a second at all. It was fine with me seeing these half rated matches because of my love of this product. And then, a year to two later, the WWF goes into a different direction and bring us “The Attitude Era”. This was a period in wrestling that paralleled with the current culture of young people and where we were in general from a society’s stand point. The Attitude Era gave you the cutting edge, in your face, party to the edge of death mentality that was currently revolving around music, TV and films at the time. It was a very alternative way of viewing the product and a success it was. So much of a success in fact, that I noticed that there were more and more people who had no shame in wearing “Austin 3:16” t-shirts to school.
"My Austin Shirt, can kick your Abercrombie shirts ass"
DX T-shirts, Chyna Shirts, nWo shirts were all in this mix as well. Constantly on a daily basis. But here’s the funny part. The people who were wearing these shirts were ones that never were public about their fandom in the first place and some where even people who would question my loyalty to it (questioning in terms of “why” do I like it?). Now, I’m not calling them banwagoners, but to me, you had to have been there during the transition period in order to understand what all was happening, in order for your to appreciate the product so much that you invested your dollars into said t-shirt that you wear on your back. I am convinced that you were always a fan of the sport, but you needed that push so that you would be comfortable enough to be out there with your passion for it. Sir, you are and always were…a fan.
Radio.
Video didnt kill a G*d Damn Thing!!!
Sunday April 2nd 2006. The morning of Wrestlemania 22, live in Chicago, IL at the AllState Arena. During this time my Sunday mornings normally consisted of me cooking a Sunday morning breakfast for my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) and cleaning the kitchen. Call it domesticated if you want, but to me it was my Zen.
Eat my chicken carbonara, or I'll kick you in the dick!
Not so much because of the dirty skillet meeting the suds, but because I would listen to this radio show on 92.3 (Power 92) called “Sports Talk”. Power 92 is an all Hip Hop/ R&B radio station, geared towards an urban audience in the Chicago/Hammond, IN area. “Sports Talk” was the only all black sports radio show that was on the radio at this time. It was a great show, not just because of its audience that it was trying to target, but because the commentary was just really good, and very honest. The show received a moderate amount of reception from listeners; they may’ve gotten about 6 calls within the two hour time span that they were on the air each week. So naturally in radio, when the calls aren’t coming in, you either elongate the current phone call or fill in the gaps with in studio discussion.
No wonder we cant get calls, we got Cowheard.
One of the hosts name was Leon Rogers, very well-known radio personality in the Chicago land area, so he would bring not only his veteran radio skills, but also the comedy of the show and input with current sports related topics. On this early spring morning, the main topic of discussion was the start of the new baseball season for both the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox organizations. Especially the White Sox, since at that time, they were the reigning world champions of Major league Baseball. So, needless to say, this was a pretty important episode.
I dare you to talk about anything other than us, ripping the leauge a new one!
Now, Leon is indeed an open fan of pro wrestling, and sometimes, he would drop little wrestling connections to the topic at hand dealing with sports, and the other guys would just (playfully) brush him off. 15 min before the show ended, Leon, mentioned that Wrestlemania 22 would be coming on that night and how much he was looking forward to seeing John Cena face Triple H for the WWE Title. The guys in the studio, once again, tried dismissing what he said, but he opened the phone lines up, for anyone who wanted to call in to talk about WRESTLING. The other guys in the studio joked with him, telling him not to text his mama to call into the station now since no one would call. The show went to a quick break, and when they came back, the LINES WERE FULL. Within that 15 min time frame, they took about 11 calls, with me being one of the calls (yay! Happy face!) In 15 min, they almost doubled their weekly average for a whole show.
I knew when they'd mention WWE, I'd have to actually WORK now!
Now, this is NOT me saying Wrestling> All Pro Sports. Not at all. But that once announcement, triggered an itch for callers to call in somewhat aggressive like to discuss pro wrestling on the radio, even if it was only for about a min-min and half, they embraced that immediate bond that was put on the table and once again when it was ok to be open about it, all inhibitions are taken down and the closet fan is no more. Chicago Sports talk Radio listeners…You were and are always a fan.
I'm looking at you Chicago
The Rock Returns.
Still...The Great One.
The night was February 14th 2011. For a week now, it was heavily announced that Vince McMahon would unveil the guest host of Wrestlemania 27, live in Atlanta, GA. The 2/14/11 edition of Raw, CM Punk defeats John Cena; Miz beats Daniel Bryan, R-Truth and Morrison def Otunga and McGuillicutty, Eve def Natalya and Randy Orton def Shemus. Pretty standard Raw, but it wouldn’t be the solid matches that would make this night memorable. It was how the show closed, when the host of Wrestlemania was announced by Justin Roberts. As we waited a good 1min and 7 sec in anticipation (and 1 min and 7 sec of anticipation does feel quite like an eternity) from out of nowhere we hear…
No one saw this coming, everyone was just side blasted by this announcement that The Rock returned to the WWE and would be guest hosting Wrestlemania. As the late great Gorilla Monsoon would say “The Electrically was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.” And indeed it was. We have gone almost 7 years without seeing The Rock in a WWE ring. Granted, we have seen small snippets and reminders of The Rock throughout time weather it would be a movie promotion, him inducting his father at the HOF or a video message for the Smackdown anniversary. We have been reminded of The Rock, but something about him being IN a WWE ring brings a certain spark, a certain degree of magic to it, that we have been without for the last 7 years. We got it that night and every reminder of why we loved this man in the first place all came back. Any reservations that we once had before about him, and him “turning Hollywood” on us, were suspended, and all that mattered in life was the 21 min segment we would receive of The Rock addressing his fans once again. All was right in not only in the world of wrestling, but in the world in general.
Arrived, Kicked Record Breaking Ass, Leave
This was obvious because on FB and Twitter, the Rock was blowing up. But it was Facebook that surprised me the most. No surprise from my fellow wrestling fans that I talk with on a daily basis on FB, but it was the people whom I always assumed that if they passed a wrestling ring on the street they’d have no idea what the hell it was. THEY were FB’ing about The Rock. People who never (and The Rock means NEVER) speak about that world, but now that world has become theirs, and they were loving every sec of it. My FB wall was filled of people who were asking about The Rock and asking me if he really was back. Twitter was going bananas and The Rock was instantly trending world wide.
Rock Killed Me.
My text inbox, same thing. And next week, the text messages, and FB Wall notes of people asking me “what time does Raw come on?” and “Is The Rock wrestling tonight.” One of the biggest names of all time in wrestling next to Hogan and Austin returns to the ring. Now Casual fans have a reason to tune in and embrace what they have always loved. Casual viewers, you will always…be fans.
But let’s go back to the word “Fake”. I think that word is not only harmful to pro wrestling, but also is offensive as well. I myself has trained a little bit to be a prowrestler. I have 1 Indy match under my belt and that is with a local figure by the name of Matt Longtime. I am a proud 0-1.
Yeah! It was I who made the Proffit, Stop It!
But to call what we did in that ring and how we prepared for the match to give everyone a great show as “fake” couldn’t be more insulting. I call professional wrestling a “Controlled Situation, with a premeditated outcome”. What happens in between those words hurts like hell (believe me). Now, I only have 1 match to show for it. But what about showing some respect to the men and women who do this constantly on a regular basis, night in and night out and leave everything in the ring. Risking their health and risking injury, just to not only put on a helluva show, but also to do something that they love doing? Ripping prowrestling with ignorance is just as bad as taking food off a man’s table to feed his family. I’m not telling you to go to Best Buy, buy a DVD and become an instant fan, but I feel that it should get more respect, and I would like to see that the description of professional wrestling, on a common basis, can fully abolish the word “FAKE” from its description.
"Fake" The New "N" word.
Give it some dignity, please. But if you want to take it an extra mile, let’s talk about how many dives are taken in professional boxing. Boxing promoters are one rung above criminals, you mean to tell me that everything that goes on behind the scenes with pro boxing is completely legitimate?
Only In America, can you get convicted of 2nd Degree Murder and end up a millionaire!
Man, please. Or what about the NBA? It was revealed a couple of years ago, that Tim Doungehey solely RIGGED the 2002 NBA Playoffs, to see to it that the Lakers would win the championship.
Lebron, get me out of jail and my job back, you will have 5 championships
What does that sound to me? From his angle, it sounds like a controlled situation with a premeditated outcome, but only he and whatever mobsters he was working with, knew that. So, why isn’t the finger on Boxing? Why isn’t it on Pro basketball? Why do they get the pass, but Prowretling, which embraces that its sports entertainment is the one that gets the shaft? Don’t be hypocritical, Lets…Be…REAL (not fake).
I think there is a strong amount of fandom in the majority of us. Some embrace it more than others. And that is absolutely fine. But I just want to say that there is no reason at all to shy away from what you have an interest in. It’s a great excuse to escape from the reality that we know that is life and to suspend disbelief for just a few hours a week to take pleasure in being entertained. For those who can appreciate this, I saw “salud” to you. To those who are a part of the 33% who don’t know a thing of what is going on…man are you missing out.
Your healthcare coverage should take care of FOMO symptoms…only if you’re in Canada.
Before I end this. Just want to show some love to a few SOLID bloggers that I am learning A LOT from (thank you gentlemen)
For your Baseball Fix, this man is a walking/living Wikipedia of anything dealing with Major League Baseball. Check out Matt Adams (Twitter: @2012WhiteSox) His Web sites are: http://ramblingsofbaseball.com and http://southsideshowdown.com
For your Premier English Football League fix, on opinions, topics, analysis and all that good stuff that deal with English Football, check out Ross Bell (Twitter: @RossBell1984 ) His Web Site is: http://www.johnnykashmirsrandomblog.blogspot.com/
For anyone that take an appreciation in commentary on computers, Video Games, Politics, other outlets of technology (of which i am completely clueless about but I envy the hell out of him) and other random yet relevent thoughts. Check out Sekani Wright (Twitter: @Sekani2 ) his Web site is http://www.sekani2.com
Maurice D. Proffit
proffitspiledriver 