Larry Zbyszko was smug, a braggart, cheated each and every time the opportunity presented itself, and never ran out of things to say to anger fans. In short, he was one of the greatest heels in wreâŚ

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Larry Zbyszko was smug, a braggart, cheated each and every time the opportunity presented itself, and never ran out of things to say to anger fans. In short, he was one of the greatest heels in wreâŚ

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I was 12 years old the first and only time my dad took me to the âWorld Famousâ Sportatorium in Dallas. I had no idea Iâd finish the night as one of the biggest heels in the building.
Verne Gagne built the AWA into one of the most successful pro wrestling promotions in the history of the industry. Then, he got sideways with Hulk Hogan and it all came crashing down.
The Pacific Northwest Championship is symbolic of heavyweight supremacy. Right now, Iâve got it and Iâm damn proud of it! â Dutch Savage Before Vince McMahon began his national puâŚ
Chavo Guerrero, crying about how âI spent two years of my life away from my family to achieve winning this belt in Tokyo, Japan.â Well, Chavo, like the saying goes, âA fool loses âŚ

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Ahahaha! You shoulda seen what the Cuban Assassin and I did to Archie Gouldie and Steven Pettipas last week! We beat âem up so bad! Now they have the nerve to wanna have a street fight? Well,âŚ
âMoolah has seen her day. They couldnât even put her face on a can of dog food to sell it and she knows it!â â Wendi Richter Captain Lou Albano was on a plane to New York, hâŚ
Todayâs Heels Could Learn A Lot From Larry Zbyszko
I decided to get IllegalForeignObject.com back up and running. Give me a read! I swear to every last one of you, I know where a semicolon belongs!
I am Professional Wrestlingâs living legend. I donât care about you people, Billy Robinson or his Empire Championship. 1001 holds? I have 1001 records from coast to coast! I am number one! â âThe Living Legendâ Larry Zbyszko
I absolutely loathed âThe Living Legendâ Larry Zbyszko when I was a kid. He was smug, a braggart, cheated each and every time the opportunity presented itself, and toppedâŚ
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The death of the AWA could have been avoided
By the late-80s, after years of declining interest, subpar rosters, and an inability to change with the times, the American Wrestling Association (AWA) was all but dead in the water, ultimately shutting down in 1991.
Did it have to be that way? Had Verne Gagne, rather than digging in his heels, gotten with the times (or hired someone to get with the times for him), would the AWA have had a puncherâs chance at not only surviving, but thriving into the 90s and beyond?
When the AWA thrived
From the early 60s into the late-70s, the AWA was a very successful wrestling promotion. Verne Gagne, an amateur wrestler and alternate on the â48 U.S. Olympic Team not only ran the promotion, but was its most recognizable champion. From August 1960 to May 1981, Verne held the AWA World Title 10 times for a total of 4,677 days (almost 13 years).
During that era, Gagne took his promotion from a local Minnesota show and expanded into several large markets, including Chicago, San Francisco, Denver and Las Vegas. His success in this area made the AWA an extremely popular ticket, and his live shows regularly brought crowds by the thousands.
âI want my MTVâ
Then the 80s happened.
The âeverything, all the time, right nowâ generation had no time for time. Donât wanna sit through a 12 round fight? âIronâ Mike Tyson knocks everyone out in under three rounds! NBA games too slow? Have no fear, the âShowtimeâ Lakers are here!
Gone were the days when you could keep a kidâs attention for more than three minutes; Nintendo, Coca-Cola and Hostess made sure of that.
In the 60s and 70s, pro wrestling venues were smoke-filled, darkly lit and full of an older demographic. When the 80s rolled around, young, loud, hopped up on cocaine and stuffed with TV dinners, Verne wasnât prepared.
Prior to Vince McMahonâs talent raids, the AWA boasted some of the biggest names in the business. Consider that in 1984, WWFâs number one babyface (and biggest name in the history of the industry), Hulk Hogan, number one manager (and arguably greatest manager of all time), Bobby âThe Brainâ Heenan, number one color commentator, Jesse âThe Bodyâ Ventura, and number one announcer, âMeanâ Gene Okerlund had all been, just a short time prior, under the employ of the AWA.
What if Verne had employed someone capable of marketing Hogan the way Vince and the WWF were able to do for the better part of the 80s and early 90s? What if heâd worked with Hogan on merchandising, rather than trying to steal from him by selling his shirts at shows while Hulk was away on a Japanese tour? What if he hadnât gone out of his way to keep the belt off Hogan, actually going so far as to say he wasnât good enough to carry the AWA Title? Finally, what if Verne hadnât angered Hogan enough to where, once Vince came calling, he was more than willing to not only jump ship, but do so without finishing up his scheduled dates with the AWA?
How much different does the first WrestleMania look without Hogan in the Main Event? Does WrestleMania 1 even take place without Hogan on the WWF roster?
Greg Gagne wasnât the answer
Verneâs stubborn nature (Greg Gagneâs words, not mine) cost the promotion dearly when it came to the acquisition and retention of marketable talent, forcing the promotion to rely on burly animals like The Crusher and Mad Dog Vachon, men who could draw a promotion all kinds of money in the 60s and 70s, but were dinosaurs in the eyes of the glitzy 80s fan. Beer bellies and cigar breath simply would not cut it.
Sure, the AWA still had a contingent of diehard wrestling fans, many of whom attended every local show possible, but selling a guy a program and a beer is night and day to selling a guy a program and a beer, while selling his kids t-shirts, action figures and foam fingers. This is where I believe Gagne was greatly in need of someone to put a fresh set of hands on his product, and by âsomeoneâ I donât mean his goof of a son, Greg.
Hulkamania ran wildâŚaway from Verne
Consider that had Hulk and Verne been able to work together the way Hogan ultimately did with Vince, the AWA would have been all but set (creatively, at least). In Nick Bockwinkel, Larry Zbyszko, Col. DeBeers and later, Curt Hennig, the AWA was loaded with main event level heel talent, all of whom had quality promo skills and could work circles around most in the ring. Hogan was a superhero, his job was to look unbeatable. Surrounding him with these four pros, men capable of bumping all around the ring for him while retaining every last bit of their heat, would have carried the promotion for years.
Plus, without Hogan, would Vince have had the leverage to buy off television stations, preventing them from airing other promotions shows? Who was Vinceâs second choice had Hogan not gone to New York? Would he have stayed in-house and tried to go national with Jimmy Snuka or Sgt. Slaughter? Would he have looked to another promotion, possibly WCCW and Kerry Von Erich? Whatever he would have decided, the WWF roster would have looked (and sounded) decidedly different.
What might have been for the AWA
If WCW taught us nothing else, it was that the market would bear two successful promotions. Even ECW, using mostly smoke and mirrors (and a lot of Vinceâs kickback money) was able to thrive in the 90s as a somewhat viable third promotion. Certainly, with proper management and greater attention to what fans wanted to see, the AWA could have just as easily been in this mix. Fans like having options, and history has proven time and again that with competition, all involved up their game making for a better overall product.
There is no doubt Verne Gagne should be remembered for all he did for professional wrestling. Not only did he run a successful promotion for more than 30 years, he also trained some of the biggest names the industry has ever known, including Iron Sheik, Ricky Steamboat, Curt Hennig and âNature Boyâ Ric Flair. His immense contributions to wrestling cannot be overlooked.
Thatâs what made his inability to move with the changing climate rather than becoming resistant to it so frustrating. Verneâs knowledge could have been useful to so many other future performers. Unfortunately, for him, for the fans, for the industry as a whole, it wasnât meant to be.
Pro wrestling is fine; pro wrestling fans need work
Gentle reader, Iâm an old man. At 40 years of age, Iâm proud to say I can claim 33 years of love and adoration for the awesome spectacle that is professional wrestling.
During this long run as a fan, Iâve seen plenty of would-be legends, plenty of true blue legends, plenty of technicians, high flyers, grapplers, monsters, and superheroes. Iâve seen some of the best talkers the world has ever known. Iâve seen bump machines, spot monkeys and monsters. Iâve seen little people and Iâve seen giants. Pro wrestling comes in thousands of different shapes and sizes, has thousands of different voices, and based on everything Iâve seen, I feel safe in saying I still havenât seen it all.
Thatâs the true beauty of pro wrestling for me. Just when I think Iâve got it all figured out, it throws me a curveball that buckles my knees and completely surprises me. Itâs why I continue to watch, even with the knowledge Iâm no longer the target demographic of the largest wrestling, ersports entertainment company in the world.
âPerfectâ doesnât exist
From time to time, Iâm as guilty as anyone of being too judgmental, despite my continued efforts to avoid acting in such a way. I donât know why it is, but we pro wrestling fans are entirely too nit-picky about the things we see and hear on television each week, arenât we? There are millions of us watching each week; weâre not all gonna get to see exactly what we want all the time, yet we remain a whiny bunch. Weâre all seeking this mythologicalperfect show, as if such a thing ever existed. Go back and watch some old ECW or Attitude Era WWE programming. There was a ton of filler on those shows too. My point is, thereâs no such thing as âperfectâ.
I do my best to remind myself to sit back and enjoy the ride a little bit more. I mean, itâs pro wrestling; itâs okay to not take it so damned seriously. Personally, I donât ever wanna see The Great Khali come back and wrestle again, but I guarantee you, somewhere in the world right this second is a person who thinks that dude has âone more run with the strapâ in him.
There are plenty of people out there perfectly happy seeing Brock Lesnar work 10 days a year.
Someone in reading this article while rocking a homemade Tamina Snuka t-shirt.
The thing many of you find objectionable about pro wrestling is the very thing that makes it so great: thereâs something for everyone.
Championships arenât participation trophies
For months Iâve read complaints concerning WWEâs supposed indifference to anyone not named Roman, Braun or Brock.
âKOâs being wasted!â
âItâs Nakamuraâs time!â
âFinn Balor is being buried!â
âAnderson and Gallows should go back to Japan!â
Folks, not everyone is meant to carry a championship and they shouldnât be treated like participation trophies. Try and remember, as much as you might love a particular wrestler, as popular as they might be, that does not guarantee them a title run. Hell, when I was 10 years old, I thought Billy Jack Haynes shoulda been headlining WrestleMania III against Andre the Giant. See how wonderfully silly wrestling fandom can be?
Fans, find positives rather than dwell on negativesÂ
Pro wrestling is doing just fine. Itâs arguably doing better than itâs ever done before, at least from the standpoint of variety. There are a multitude of successful promotions all across the globe, most of them now just a click away thanks to the greatness of online streaming services. WWE too kid-friendly for you? Try NJPW or ROH on for size. New Japan gotten too âmainstreamâ for you? Pro Wrestling NOAH and AJPW are there for the consuming. Donât like watching yoked up monsters wrestle? Give Dragon Gate a look. Progress, DDT Pro, Stardom, Impact, and a whole host of other promotions offer streaming services to showcase their particular brand of pro wrestling as well.
Rather than showing up every Monday and Tuesday to complain about what youâre not getting from WWE, find a promotion more to your liking and rep the hell out of it. Itâs a far better use of your time and energy.
@ifowrestling

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Bret Hartâs Bitterness Has Turned Him Into A Punchline Bret âHitmanâ Hart is one of the very best of all time. His in-ring skill and understated charisma perfectly suited his âbest there is, best there was, best there ever will beâ catchphrase. However, with his sour, shouting-at-clouds post-career attitude, has Bret Hart, a man who prided himself in making us believe in the serious side of pro wrestling, made himself a punchline? From â92 through most of 1997, Vince McMahon gave Bret Hart one of the best runs in WWF/E history. Whether he was working as a babyface against Yokozuna, Jerry Lawler, his brother, Owen, or as a heel against Shawn Michaels or Steve Austin, Hart was always positioned as âthe manâ; until it was time for him to no longer be âthe manâ. It was at this point when Bret Hart seemingly lost the whole damn plot and started believing his gimmick a bit too much. So, does Bret Hart, after so many accomplishments, after a two decade career in which he won every last title you could possibly win, after being paid so much money (and at least as many compliments), still feel the need to belittle so many? The unending shots on Eric Bischoff, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Hulk Hogan, Goldberg, Seth Rollins, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Vince McMahon, blah blah blah blah blah⌠Itâs all really pathetic, honestly, and itâs long been enough already. Let it go, Bret. âThe Excellence of Executionâ is a wealth of wrestling knowledge, someone capable to putting together a match better than just about anyone in the history of the industry. Imagine having him working with the men and women in NXT? What an amazing resource he could be for all those up-and-coming wrestlers. Through them, his legacy could live on long after heâs gone. Instead, heâs too busy rehashing slights from two decades ago. Say what you will about guys like HHH and Bischoff, but theyâre not crippled by their pasts. His latest bit of pettiness is yet another shot at Bischoff, saying, âBischoff is an idiot; a total, complete idiot. Maybe the single stupidest idiot that ever got into wrestlingâ. No, unfortunately, that wasnât a quote from an 8 year old, and with each of these diatribes, Bret further damages his own image. There is no doubt Hart has suffered a great deal of loss throughout his life. He watched his parents struggle mightily to keep their Stampede Wrestling promotion afloat during some extremely trying financial times. Heâs seen many of his closest friends go down dark and lonely paths of abuse and violence, some of whom lost their lives far too early. He lost his brother Owen to a freak accident that took him from the world far too soon. He suffered a stroke. Yes, Bret has endured his share of bad times, but the way in which heâs chosen to cope has manifested itself into something altogether sad. Perhaps itâs jealousy that eats at Bret; to see so many of the people he dislikes be so, well, happy? HBK has found contentment, Hunter is basically running the show in WWE, Bischoff has a very popular podcast (and a number of interests outside pro wrestling), Vince is still the most powerful man in the industry, and Hulk Hogan (for better or worse) will always be Hulk Hogan. Pro wrestling went ahead and carried on just fine without Bret. Why without him? Because he made that choice. He took himself âout of the gameâ, forgetting he was little more than a spoke on the wheel. Perhaps heâs content in his negativity? If so, carry on wayward Hitman, but do so with the knowledge that a high percentage of the very fans you worked so hard to entertain now view you with rolled eyes and a shake of the head. Iâm quite sure thatâs not how Bret saw things playing out.
Todayâs Heels Could Learn A Lot From Larry Zbyszko I absolutely loathed âThe Living Legendâ Larry Zbyszko when I was a kid. He was smug, a braggart, cheated each and every time the opportunity presented itself, and topped it all off by never running out of things to say to make fans despise him. In short, he was one of the greatest wrestling heels in the history of ever and doesnât get nearly enough credit for his genius. Underrated Genius Iâve been watching pro wrestling for over 30 years and during that time, Iâve seen few wrestlers Iâve wanted to choke more than Larry Zbyszko. Yet, when it comes time to start naming some of the greatest bad guys to ever lace up the boots, fans and experts alike are quick to throw out names like âNature Boyâ Ric Flair and âRowdyâ Roddy Piper. Both men entertained me for more hours than I could ever begin to count, but as great as they were, they each retained the same redeeming quality: Ric and Roddy were hilarious. Sure, they did some awful things, but they were almost so charming in how terrible they were being, I couldnât help rooting for them. With Larry Zbyszko, that sort of thing was never an issue. I never did anything but hate that dude and Iâm quite sure heâd be pleased to know that. No Cheering, Spudhead! There simply wasnât a thing about Larry that made you cheer for him. He wasnât a cool âshade of grayâ, he wasnât trying to impress the crowd with his wit and in-ring ability; he was just a complete prick. Watching Larryâs old matches now, I marvel at how well he worked a crowd. When I was a kid, I wanted to punch him in the face every single time heâd stall on the outside of the ring, roll back in, then right back out to stall some more. It was infuriating stuff. So good was he at being a heel, Iâve heard there were even wrestlers who would get angered at his in-match antics. When youâre getting the guy in the ring with you to lose it, youâre really doing work! Zbyszko did everything he could to be a despicable human being, and regardless of how âsmartâ you thought you were to the business, he still found a way to reel you in. Old School Will Always Be Cool Iâm a bit too young to have seen âThe Living Legendâ in the WWWF, but his feud with Bruno Sammartino is legendary. Universally abhorred (with heat as white hot as you can get it), Zbyszko really took off when he turned on the popular babyface and mentor Sammartino, attacking him with a chair, leaving him bloody and broken in front of thousands of hardcore Bruno fans. This set the stage for a feud that accounted for many sell out crowds throughout 1980, culminating in their most famous match together, the Shea Stadium Steel Cage Match in which Bruno finally got his revenge in front of more than thirty six thousand fans. Iâm most familiar with Larry Legendâs work in the AWA and NWA/WCW. As a kid growing up in East Texas, I was afforded a good many wrestling options on my television each week. Everything from World Class to Mid-South, WWF to NWA could be seen weekly thanks to superstations like USA and TBS, and a local channel out of Dallas, KXTX. When you consider the talent those promotions sported during the early to late-80âs, itâs more than a little overwhelming. Many of the all-time greats were plying their craft at the highest of levels then, and I had the honor of seeing them all. I got up close to The Freebirds, Jimmy Garvin, The Four Horsemen, Bobby Heenan, and countless other heels, but none of them elicited a hate from me like the hate I felt when I watched Larry Zbyszko. If youâve never yelled at your television screen, then you donât really know how much fun it can be to get totally taken in by a wrestling bad guy. Larry Zbyszko was that guy for me. Larry Legend Is The Measuring Stick I wonder, if more of todayâs wrestlers were willing to go that extra mile at being a heel, placed more emphasis on being legitimately hated, could wrestling reclaim a bit of whatâs been lost since fans decided it was cooler to be a jerk than to be a superhero? I know times have changed, but I still say thereâs a place for the bad guy who just wants to be a loathsome character. Jinder Mahal and Tommaso Ciampa are do a great job being just that, although wrestling fandom has changed so dramatically, Iâm not sure theyâll ever truly be appreciated for their level of brilliance. Perhaps itâs just a sign of the times, but I believe many of todayâs wrestlers would do themselves an enormous favor to go back and watch as much of Larry Zbyszkoâs work as they can possibly find. The WWE might not ever go out of its way to tell the âUniverseâ how amazing âThe Living Legendâ was, but that doesnât mean he wasnât.
Is Braun Strowman "the one", or just the next one you'll turn against? Braun Strowman is a captivating giant of a man. His size, charisma, and believability are everything Vince McMahon positively salivates over, all but ensuring the trajectory of his career is pointed in but one direction: up. Braun Strowman also has the WWE Universe in the palms of those grizzly paws he calls hands. He is universally loved, our boundless adoration growing with each flipped semi truck, each complete obliteration of whomever WWE pits against him, each short and sweet âGET THESE HANDS!â style promo. Sports Entertainment DĂŠtente? âThe Monster Among Menâ is everything the fans want in âthe manâ. With it becoming increasingly rare the times when both Vince McMahon and the IWC agree on a âtop guyâ, one can only assume this will be a glorious âtime of peaceâ, one that will directly coincide with a substantive push of Strowmanâs character. Right? Sadly, probably not⌠With Braun now all but guaranteed a run at the top of WWE, the question is not how long before heâs wearing championship gold, but rather, how long before you all turn on him the way youâve turned on so many other wrestlers you once cheered? How long before the very thing you love about Braun becomes the thing you openly mock on Twitter, all in the name of âlikesâ and âretweetsâ? How long before Braun becomes a âone trick ponyâ, a âterrible promoâ, a âguy who does the same thing every matchâ? How long before Braun becomes the latest wrestler Vince is âshoving down your throatâ? Youâre nothing if not predictable Make no mistake about it, you will turn against Braun, because youâve done it so many times before. Once upon a time, you loved John Cena. Donât deny it because you know you did. When Cena was spewing those corny bars and chasing gold, you loved him. Then he won gold and went on to become the biggest name in wrestling since âStone Coldâ Steve Austin. Cena hasnât been able to do anything right in the eyes of the almighty Twitterverse since. Roman Reigns is currently suffering a similar fate to that of Cena. When he was a member of The Shield, murking dudes like Undertaker and squaring off against a reformed Evolution, Roman was just fine by you. Sure, he didnât have the âindie charmâ of Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, but he was intense as hell, hard-working, and what he lacked in experience he more than made up for in charisma. Vince heard those cheers, saw those merchandise sales numbers, stared deeply into The Big Dogâs smoldering eyes (dude, donât say shit to me about this, you know his eyes smolder like a mutha), and attached the rocket to him. And then, you booed. Point of fact: nothing about the work ethic or desire of John or Roman has changed since those early days. What changed was your attitude towards them being rewarded for their efforts. You love these guys on the way up the ladder, then complain about them once they finally reach the top rung. âTheyâre overexposed!â Fine, then what about when a top guy isnât overexposed? What about when he goes away for a long stretch? Is he welcomed back with open arms by the tweeting masses? Ask Dave Batista about that. Better still, ask Dwayne Johnson. People, you booed The Rock when he came back. The effinâ Rock! The only dude capable of claiming to have been as hot as Steve Austin during your beloved Attitude Era. That dude is rich beyond any of our wildest dreams, had absolutely nothing to gain from coming back to WWE, and still set aside large swaths of time over the course of two years to entertain us. Why? Because he loves pro wrestling. But there many of you were, chiding him for having a few bullet points scribbled on his arm for a pivotal promo in an angle designed to entertain you. Well done, Internet. If youâre an âoverexposedâ main event wrestler, youâre getting booed. If youâre a âpart-timerâ coming back, youâre âtaking âthe spotâ of someone more deservingâ. These men and women of extreme achievement cannot win with most of you, which makes all the more sense why they put very little stock in your opinions. But, please, by all means, carry on screaming into the void. Is Braun different? When does âthe monster among menâ get his turn in your grinder? When does all the hard work he puts in, all the town-to-town travel, all the late nights and early mornings, no longer mean anything to you? Does he have another week before you turn against him? Another month? Maybe he needs to become WWEâs new marketing hood ornament before your vitriol washes over social media? Perhaps heâll make it to the Road to WrestleMania before your daggers come out en masse? You see, gentle reader, it is not a question of âifâ, itâs a question of âwhenâ. When will you, once again, show yourself to be short-sighted, small-minded, and petty? When will you take yet another thing designed to be fun, and piss all over it? Or, is Braun Strowman really âthe oneâ.
WWE doesnât (and shouldnât) care about your opinion
Roman Reigns is a main event superstar. Youâre welcome to hate this, but it doesnât dismiss it as fact. So, why is Roman a main eventer if you boo so loudly? Why is he âThe Big Dogâ when:
âRomanâs promos arenât that great.â
âRoman canât wrestle.â
âRoman is the worst member of The Shield.â
Itâs really quite an easy thing to answer. Roman is âthe manâ because Vince McMahon says so, and history has shown that most of you who complain each week will return the following week to complain some more. Hell, youâve been booing John Cena for over a decade, and there he remains, the biggest name in the industry.
Opinions are likeâŚ
Regarding the three previously posted negative statements made about Roman, they are widely held #WrestlingTwitter opinions. Opinions are neither right nor wrong, because theyâre just opinions. My opinion on something might be completely different from yours, but it doesnât automatically dismiss either of them simply because they donât align. Why? Because our opinions as wrestling fans donât really matter all that much. Weâre certainly welcome to have them, but donât think just because youâre convinced of something it automatically makes it gospel.
Five star matches barely matter
I saw several people on Twitter  this week complaining about Lanaâs first win.
âSheâs not talented!â
âOther women are better wrestlers.â
âShe doesnât deserve to be in the Money In The Bank match.â
Again, opinionsâŚ
The facts are, Lana has consistently gotten a huge crowd reaction, regardless of what WWE has tried to do with her. Accent? Huge crowd pop. No accent? Huge pop. Accent again? Still popping the crowd. Heel? Babyface? Managing? Wrestling? Pop, pop, pop, pop, good people of the Internets.
Send in the clowns
It seems far too many fans donât actually understand what theyâre watching. Try and think of a WWE show like a three-ring circus. At a circus, you might get some clowns, a high wire act, a strongman, and if youâre lucky, someone might even stick their head in a lionâs mouth. The circus offers a variety of things, efforting to cast a net wide enough to grab the attention of as many people as possible. WWE is no different. Not every segment of a WWE show is tailored specifically to you. It is a billion dollar company for a reason, and itâs not because it markets the brand exclusively to 32 year old dudes with itchy tweeting fingers.
Same Vince, different fan
There isnât a doubt in my mind that Vince McMahon loves professional wrestling. Iâll bet if you sat down with him over a few drinks, he could go on and on about different wrestling matches that have resonated with him over the years. As a teen, Vince was a massive Dr. Jerry Graham fan. In a Playboy interview back on 2001, Vince waxed poetically about Dr. Jerryâs larger-than-life personality, talking about him âlighting cigars with $100 billsâ and how Graham âwore red shoes and rode around Washington in a blood-red 1959 Cadillac.â Nowhere in those quotes will you see anything about âin-ring abilityâ or âworkrateâ, because in WWE, actual wrestling ability is the least important thing you need to become a superstar. What is important, however, is the ability to connect, not only with fans, but with Vince. Right or wrong, thatâs how itâs always been.
Vince hasnât changed; your need to bitch and complain has.
Roman Reigns is âthe manâ and no amount of booing will change that
Roman Reigns isnât a new thing. WWE, dating all the way back to the WWWF days, has always been known as a promotion built on a strong supporting cast with a âSuperman-likeâ babyface atop the heap. So, why the hate for âThe Big Dogâ?
Vincent J. McMahon loved superhero babyfaces. He built the WWWF off a relatively simple concept: push an âall-americanâ, unstoppable babyface capable of carrying the company on his back with class and legitimacy. For close to 15 years, whether he was wearing the WWWF Title or not, Bruno Sammartino was that man, owning the Northeast to the tune of untold sold out arenas and countless ecstatic fans.
The next âhood ornamentâ babyface to come around for Vince Sr. was Bob Backlund, a walking, talking embodiment of the phrase âaw shucksâ if there ever was one. But Bob was also a Division II NCAA wrestling champion, as well as an All-American in both wrestling and football, meaning when the time came to step into the squared circle, what he lacked in charisma, he more than made up for by being a great athlete. Backlund was world champion for close to six years.
Next, it was Hulk Hoganâs turn to be âthe manâ. In Hulk, Vincent K. McMahon found the perfect âSuperman" to take what was once a local family owned territory, and rebrand it for the mainstream, ultimately making the WWF synonymous with professional wrestling. People who donât know the first thing about pro wrestling still know Hulk Hogan, and after he won the WWF Title from The Iron Sheik in 1984, he carried the belt (and the wrestling world) for most of the next seven years, forever transforming the way we view the genre. With all due respect to âStone Coldâ Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan is the most influential wrestler the industry has ever produced.
Speaking of Steve Austin, he owned the late 90s and early 2000s and did so whether he was wearing a championship or not. He crossed over into pop culture in a way only bested by Hulk Hogan, taking the WWF to unseen heights in revenue.
John Cena picked up the load of being âthe manâ in 2005 and carried it for a decade. No babyface has ever been more vilified by fans, but through it all, Cena remained the face of not only the WWE, but the industry as a whole.
Whether you like it or not, itâs Roman Reignsâ turn. He is, quite simply, the guy Vince McMahon has decided is his most marketable face. Vince doesnât care about 5-star matches, workrate, and catering to the anti-Roman Twitter army (most of whom likely harbor a double secret crush on âThe Big Dogâ. Vince wants someone he can market to middle America, to little kids, to your grandmother. He wants another Hulk Hogan. He wants another John Cena.
Yes, Vince has had âmissesâ. Anyone making as many decisions as heâs made is gonna have plenty of them, but in Roman, I guarantee he sees someone he can count on. Dependability and work ethic go a long way with guys like Vince McMahon.
Would Roman, from a creative standpoint, be better off with a heel turn? Maybe, depending on what Creative had for him. Thatâs the thing about a turn: doing it just to do it doesnât work. Look at the hundred times Big Show had done it for no reason. How about Randy Ortonâs 94 turns? I can name two that were memorable.
The dislike for Roman is likely rooted more in overexposure than anything else, which is much the same thing that hurt Cena (from an Internet fan standpoint, at least). With Bruno and Backlund, fans almost always had to go to the arena to see them. Hulk and Austin were merchandise juggernauts, but we still only saw them on TV once a week. Neither had to worry about the level of overexposure Cena and Roman have been saddled with working through.
Regardless, Roman Reigns isnât going anywhere. Why, because youâve proven to Vince youâre not going anywhere either. Youâll whine and moan about Roman (or Cena before him) but youâll be right back in front of your television every Monday and Tuesday, ready to get mad all over again. Just accept that Vince has you and stop taking it all so seriously.

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"The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes
Like it or not, for many of you, Jinder Mahal is the best heel youâve ever seen
If youâre under the age of 20, thereâs a very good chance Jinder Mahal is one of the best wrestling heel youâve ever seen. You probably donât realize this, but itâs true. You see, gentle reader, there was a time long ago when the pro wrestling heel actually wanted to be hated. They didnât pimp merchandise, sign autographs, and bend over backwards to appear âcoolâ to the fans. It was a time old guys like me commonly refer to as âthe good olâ daysâ.
One Man Gang threatened me with a chain
The first live wrestling show I ever attended was in my grade school gymnasium. I was 8 years old and the Main Event that night was One Man Gang vs. my childhood hero, âThe Modern Day Warriorâ Kerry Von Erich. I donât remember a thing about the rest of the show, but I remember this: One Man Gang beat Kerry bloody with a chain (in front of a sea of children), then threatened to do the same to me and a few of my friends as he left the ring. It was terrifying. It was awesome.
I saw One Man Gang at a convention a few years ago. I didnât approach him. Iâm a grown-ass man, pay all my bills, travel the world in search of adventure (and great food), and the second I saw Gang up close, I was 8 years old again.
I know times have changed regarding the manner in which professional wrestling is presented, but even as a kid I knew things were predetermined. But, you see, the magic wasnât in One Man Gang convincing me pro wrestling is real. The magic was in him convincing me he was real.
Heâs âstill real to me, dammitâ! Sorry, I couldnât resist.
Donât hinder Jinder
In Jinder Mahal, you actually have someone willing to tap into something deeper within your fandom than the basic âboo/yayâ culture established by WWEâs systematic dismantling of what professional wrestling once was. The problem is, far too many of you have been raised on âshades of greyâ. Youâre so caught up in heels acting like babyfaces and babyfaces acting like heels that you discount the greatness of a guy like Mahal, a guy working his ass off to simply be despised.
A good many of you will probably argue against this, vehemently, but as someone who actually saw (when it occurred) most of the âold schoolâ stuff WWE now offers you on the Network, I feel secure in what Iâm saying. Youâll mention things like âworkrateâ and âfive star matchesâ and Iâll yawn back in your general direction and tell you Hulk Hogan slamming Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III is still the greatest âspotâ of all time. Was is because Hulk and Andre did an amazing sequence of fast-paced moves leading up to the slam, all along no-selling every last thing that was being done to them? No, it most certainly wasnât. Itâs because we all hated Andre, we all loved Hulk, and the idea of Hogan losing to this evil giant was terrifying to us.
Hate Jinder for the right reasons
You might not like Jinderâs matches, but it doesnât mean what heâs been doing the last year and a half hasnât been great. Heâs a throwback to a time people like me miss, and even though WWE no longer has any interest in catering to my age demographic, Iâm all in on Jinderâs efforts. If youâre not, thatâs fine, but thatâs not a knock on Jinder or his abilities. It is, instead, a clear look into just how brainwashed youâve become by sports entertainment and guys with match-rating star systems. I enjoy all those crazy highspot-intensive matches too; I just also happen to be able to appreciate a guy who understands his character so well he can make you forget heâs playing a character in the first place.
Jinder has zero desire to âput smiles on facesâ, and as someone who grew up on names like Ivan Koloff, âPlayboyâ Gary Hart, and Stan Hansen, that plays just fine with me. Heâs chasing real âheatâ with fans, and I those efforts deserve acknowledgement, regardless of whether he ever pulls a moonsault out of his ass or not.