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Igoe Undead: Five Good Things About 2005
By Robert Igoe
Dec 30, 2005 - 6:46 PM

Hi, gang. Hope you’ve all had a great holiday. Sorry I’ve been gone for a while, but I’ve had some personal family and legal issues to straighten out. But those out of the way, I wanted to drop in and say hello.

It’s the end of the year, and it’s only natural to take a look back on the events of the past 365. It would be easy to focus on the bad, but though there was enough of that, I’d prefer to think of the good things that happened. And while the whole J.R. incident and the Tim White “suicide” were certainly memorable for the wrong reasons, there were plenty of good things that I’d like to remind you all of.

So I guess you can call this my “Top Five Reasons You Can’t Blame…WWE fans for staying tuned in during 2005.”

5) WWE shakeups. In some ways, WWE hasn’t changed much. Triple H and Shawn Michaels are still getting their way. Size still overcomes substance.

But look a little deeper and you’ll see that WWE made some major changes in 2005. Jim Ross was dismissed. Say what you will about how he was let go and why. But Good Old JR managed to move on with his life, and thanks to the debut of Joey Styles, so did most of us. Eric Bischoff was taken off as general manager, and I suspect even Uncle Eric is happier.

Two new champions came to the forefront. Batista took over on Raw, then moved to Smackdown and proved he was the real deal, even playing through a terrible injury that should have sidelined most wrestlers. John Cena became WWE Champion on Smackdown before moving to Raw, where he provided a new face and some new angles.

And the future? Bobby Lashley has the look of a winner. Chris Masters is showing great improvement. Randy Orton has stayed healthy. I even like the Boogeyman and think he shows some promise as a character, if not a champion.

4) John Cena comes clean. Almost ten years ago, Shawn Michaels was cutting a promo on Bret Hart and said that it doesn’t bother him when fans booed him. I watched that promo a few times and every time, he sets off every insincerity alarm in town.

Just weeks ago, John Cena cut a promo on Kurt Angle, telling him that he should quit whining about the fans hating him saying “half those fans hate me.” And guess what? Cena came off as sincere and genuine. Unaccustomed to such honesty, fans cheered even more for Cena, a young champion whose best days are ahead of him.

3) Invasion angles. Four years after the botched WCW/ECW invasion, WWE got it right twice in 2005. First, WWE brings back ECW for “One Night Only.” But up to that point, Vince had several weeks booked in which ECW stars invaded WWE television and the WWE stars put them over. But in the back of our minds, we all feared that the payoff would be ECW getting buried by the WWE invaders. But in the end, ECW was left standing tall. Though the possible return of ECW full-time has yet to materialize, Vince’s appreciation of the fans’ feeling created a lot of goodwill at a time when it was needed.

And months later, WWE launched the Smackdown vs Raw feud. While Smackdown were the fan favorites and got over early, Raw was able to gain some decisive victories leading up to the big match at Survivor Series. Raw lost, but Big Show and Kane have got some heat back for Raw with big wins over Rey Mysterio and Batista.

2) The troops. WWE is getting a lot of deserved goodwill over their recent trip to Afghanistan, but WWE has actually done tons of service to the troops. From visits to stateside bases and military hospitals to giving away free tickets and pay-per-view rentals, WWE has been great to the men and women of the armed forces. At a time when most of the entertainment industry is too busy arguing whether or not we should be in Iraq and who’s to blame, WWE decided to just be good for the troops and leave the politics to our lawmakers.

And the number one good thing that happened in WWE in 2005: Tryouts. Maybe the best thing WWE did was create a program allowing local talents to work out for WWE for a chance to earn a developmental contract. For many young talents, this would cut the time for them to get their opportunity to play for the big club by years, giving them the chance to learn new skills right at a time when they should be getting that chance.

Of course, I admit I’m a bit biased because as I write this, two wrestlers from the CWF show that I reviewed on this site weeks ago, Powerhouse Hughes and $mooth X, are getting their chance to show their stuff for WWE agents at the Civic Arena (I refuse to refer to it by its corporate stooge name). This chance is all they ever wanted and I know they’ll make the most of it. Even those who don’t make it will have come away with skills that could help them down the road and the chance to say that they went where few ever get invited.

And if Hughes and X are co-headlining WrestleMania in a few years, remember: you heard it here first!

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