;

 



WWE Should Do More To Push New Talent So They Can Die Young: A Canadian Bulldog Editorial

By Canadian Bulldog
Sep 15, 2009 - 4:05 PM


Bookmark and Share

(The following opinions are those of Canadian Bulldog, and do not necessarily represent those of World Wrestling Insanity. They do, however, represent the opinions of James Guttman, Matt Dawgs, Mallory Mahling, RD Lee, Mike Rickard, Jamie Kennedy, Jay Winterz, That Guy Who Does The ROH Report, Chris Cooley, Dan Crocker and Crazy Uncle Ralph. But not Aaron Wood, because Aaron Wood sucks.)

I look around World Wrestling Entertainment these days, and all I see are the same old faces at the top of the card; the ones I've been watching for decades. Triple H (yawn). The Undertaker (bo-ring). Shawn Michaels (hang up the the trunks, leather chaps and blouse already!). C.M. Punk (enough!).

At the same time, the mortality rate of wrestling stars has been on a startling decline. Sure, Andrew "Test" Martin and Mitsuhara Misawa passed on, but how many others fell prey to wrestling's famed "culture of death" this year? You can't really include Billy Red Lyons, Waldo Von Erich, or John Tolos in that category, because they all died of (sigh) natural causes. 

WWE dictator Vince McMahon has clearly lost touch with the industry, and what the public (and by "the public", I mean "a few thousand Internet wrestling fans") wants. Just because he built up a hugely profitable wrestling empire that has been the dominant promotion for almost three decades, it doesn't mean he has any idea whatsoever what he's doing.

Instead of using the same, tired combinations of "sports entertainers", month in and month out, I think that now is the time to elevate younger talent. Also to kill them.

One only needs to look back to the mid-1980's, which was the last time I watched wrestling for pure enjoyment and not because I liked to crap all over the product. WWE (which was called WWF back then, but Vince McMahon was too stupid to keep his company's name intact) pushed young, up and coming stars such as Hulk Hogan, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Andre The Giant, Junkyard Dog and The Magnificent Muraco.

Only 25 years later, all of those names are legitimate Hall of Famers, while two-fifths of them have passed away, entirely because of wrestling's famed "culture of death" and not because of things such as heart attacks and car accidents. This is the brass ring WWE needs to strive for once again.

The proof is in the pudding. Nielsen ratings for WWE's flagship programs "Monday Night Raw", "Friday Night SmackDown", "ECW on Syfy" and "Superstars", when averaged over a period of 27 weeks and then multiplied by 15, are down significantly over the same ratings from 1999. Even though WWE only had two of those shows back then, but you get the point.

This process isn't going to happen overnight, and this is why WWE needs to put the spotlight on young stars such as Evan Bourne, Cody Rhodes, Ezekiel Jackson and C.M. Punk now.

The quicker they catch on to the casual wrestling fan (who doesn't ever read websites such as this one), the quicker those wrestlers can "get over" with audiences, and the quicker they can be caught up in wrestling's famed "culture of death" and overdose on drugs and alcohol.

This isn't rocket science, people.


Canadian Bulldog is a borderline journalist who writes weekly for World Wrestling Insanity and has published his own book of nutty prank e-mails to wrestlers. He can be reached at canadian.bulldog@gmail.com or followed at http://twitter.com/canadianbulldog

 


Canadian Bulldog
Latest Headlines
Bulldog's DVD Rack: The World's Greatest Wrestling Managers
World Wrestling Insanity Breaking News: Hacksaw, Boner, Flair, Undertaker and MORE!!!
Bulldog's Bookshelf: Are We There Yet?, Bobby The Brain, Hardcore History, Journey Into Darkness
Canadian Bulldog Presents... 20 Extreme Moments In ECW History
World Wrestling Insanity Breaking News: Jericho, Taz, Russo, McMahon and MORE!
Bulldog's DVD Rack: John Cena - My Life
Canadian Bulldog Presents.... 30 Amazing But True Royal Rumble Facts!
World Wrestling Insanity Breaking News: Leno, Shatner, Bischoff, Babies and MORE!!!
World Wrestling Insanity Breaking News: TNA Ownership SHOCKER!!!
Canadian Bulldog Presents....WWE (In) Jeopardy (?)
Canadian Bulldog's True Wrestling Stories: 2009 (Part Two)
Canadian Bulldog's True Wrestling Stories: 2009 (Part One)
World Wrestling Insanity Breaking News: Skinner, Tiger Ali Singh, Scott Norton and MORE!!!
Canadian Bulldog presents.... An Animated Holiday Favorite
World Wrestling Insanity Breaking News: Snitsky, Hurricane, Hogan, Yokozuna and MORE!!!
Bulldog's DVD Rack: Hulk Hogan's Unreleased Collectors Series (Plus... Bonus Advice To TNA!)
Canadian Bulldog Presents... The Missing PWI Covers!!!
World Wrestling Insanity Breaking News: Hulk Hogan To TNA SPECIAL EDITION!
Canadian Bulldog's True Wrestling Stories: Jerry "The King" Lawler
World Wrestling Insanity Breaking News: Eugene, Kane, Captain Lou, Lindy Mac and MORE!!!

Alphabetical Listing of Guests You Can Hear on...

A

Sivi Afi
Aaron Aguliera
Skandar Akbar
Brent Albright
Ole Anderson
Road Warrior Animal
Tony "T.L. Hopper" Anthony

B

Buff Bagwell
Doug Basham
Paul Bearer
Giant Bernard
Big Daddy V
Eric Bischoff
Steve Blackman
Brian Blair
Tully Blanchard
Nick Bockwinkel
"The Boogeyman" Marty Wright
Bad News Brown
D-Lo Brown
"Jumping" Jim Brunzell
Mike "Simon Dean" Bucci
Bull Buchanan

C

Lance Cade
Christian
John Cena Sr.
Chaz "Headbanger Mosh"
Bryan "Adam Bomb" Clark
Rob Conway
Jim Cornette

Justin Credible

D

D-Ray 3000
Scott D'Amore
Christopher Daniels
Shawn Daivari
Dangerous Danny Davis
Dawn Marie
Damian Demento
Colin Delaney
Brother Devon
Demolition Ax
Demolition Smash
Bill DeMott
Ted DiBiase
J.J. Dillon
Nick "Eugene" Dinsmore
Disco Inferno
Spike Dudley

Hacksaw Jim Duggan
Kenny Dykstra

E

Bobby Eaton
Paul Ellering

Armando Estrada

F

Manny Fernandez
Francine
Mr. Fuji
Dory Funk Jr.
Terry Funk

G

Greg Gagne
Ronnie Garvin
Jackie Gayda
Robert Gibson
Glacier
Sylvain Grenier
Tod Gordon
Zach Gowen
Juventud Guerrera

H

Chalie Haas
Chris Harris
Bruce Hart
Jimmy Hart
Diva Search's Jessica Hatch
Dave Hebner
Earl Hebner
Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
Jon Heidenreich
Christy Hemme
Hillbilly Jim
Molly Holly
The Honky Tonk Man
Tim Horner
Scotty 2 Hotty
Sam Houston

Mr. Hughes


I

The Iron Sheik
Ivory

J

B.G. James
Jazz
Ahmed Johnson
Judge Jeff Jones
Orlando Jordan

K


Kamala
Kid Kash
Kevin Kelly
Pat "Simon Diamond" Kenney
Ron Killings
Cpl. Kirschner
Kizarny
Kevin Kleinrock
Brian Knobbs
Ivan Koloff

Nikita Koloff


L

Bobby Lashley
Bruno "Harvey Wippleman" Lauer
Jerry "The King" Lawler
"The Total Package" Lex Luger
Buschwhacker Luke

M

Rodney Mack
Magnum T.A.
Balls Mahoney
Dutch Mantell
Rick Martel
Clarence Mason
"Masterpiece" Chris Masters
Robbie McAllister
Rory McAllister
Matt Morgan
Ernest Miller
Missing Link
Father James Mitchell
Mo From Men on a Mission
Sean Mooney
Ricky Morton

Trevor Murdoch

N

Kevin Nash
Nidia

Nunzio

O

One Man Gang
Sonny Onoo
Paul "Mr. Wonderful" Orndorff
Oscar From Men on a Mission
Fred "Typhoon/Tugboat/Shockmaster" Ottman
Pierre-Carl Ouellet

Outback Jack

P

Diamond Dallas Page
Ken Patera
Nick Patrick
Thunderbolt Patterson
Jim Powers
Tom Prichard
Ivan Putski

R

Harley Race
Baron Von Raschke
"The Yeti" Ron Reis
Rhino
Dustin Rhodes
Tommy Rich
Rikishi
Paul Roma
"Super Hero in Training" Rosie
Jacques Rougeau
Terri Runnels

Lance Russell


S

Samoa Joe
Bruno Sammartino
Samu
Tito Santana
Dan "The Beast" Severn
Ron Simmons
Elix Skipper
Slick
Tracey Smothers
Al Snow
Sim "Deuce" Snuka
Dennis Stamp
George "The Animal" Steele
Rick Steiner
Scott Steiner
Idol Stevens
The Stro
AJ Styles
Dave "Evad" Sullivan
Kevin Sullivan

T

Dave Taylor
Sylvester Terkay
ECW's Tiffany
Too Cold Scorpio

V

Greg "The Hammer" Valentine
Jimmy Valiant
Johnny Valiant
Jesse "The Body" Ventura
Sid Vicious
Vito
Nikolai Volkoff


W

 

Y
David Young
Mae Young


Z

Larry Zybszko

Need More Insanity? Join The Club


Top of Page

Universal Wrestling Archives Online Store!

 
All content contained here Copyright 2010 by James Guttman *** World Wrestling Insanity and ClubWWI are not affiliated with any wrestling promotion.