Pro Wrestling Needs More Genuine Emotion

This speech from the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies two weeks ago exemplifies what has made wrestling great throughout the ages and what is missing now:

This wasn't just a great promo... it was a great speech.

5 Things in Pro Wrestling That Need to Go Away #3

#3 Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon has often been termed an "audience of one", and that has been no more apparent than at this year's Wrestlemania. McMahon has surrendered some of the day-to-day control of the on-camera product to Triple H and his daughter Stephanie, but it was widely reported that Vince still considers the annual event to be his baby.

In lieu of actually reviewing Wrestlemania 28 this year, I thought the show fit in with the theme of this series. The matches that are getting the highest praise on the show are the ones where I imagine Vince trusted the guys well enough to go where they wanted to with it. I can't imagine Vince giving Rock, Undertaker and Jericho much more than a finish and a time limit and then letting them go figure it out on their own.

On the other hand, you have the 18-second opener where Daniel Bryan dropped the World Championship to Sheamus. This match did nothing for either side, but it's the sort of thing that you know Vince was in the back saying, "Aha! Can't you see... haha! it would be funny! FUNNY! haha! If we have the fastest title match at... haha! WRRRRRRRRRESTLLLLLLLLLLEMANIAAAAAAAAAAA! And we'll do it with the pasty ginger guy! haha! And the vegetarian!"

"Ummmmmmm... what's a vegan?"

Here Comes the Pain... Again!

So... yeah, Brock Lesnar is back in WWE after taking nearly a decade off to try and make it in the NFL and become the UFC Heavyweight Champion.

If we've learned anything from Wrestlemania 28, it's this: WWE has no problem offering up their cash cow as a sacrificial lamb if they think it will draw money. Your brain would tell you that John Cena should have beat Rocky on Sunday. Like he said for the last month, after Rock leaves, he'll still be there. Hogan passed the torch and did the job for Rocky, and it should have been passed along.

The current generation of fans don't remember Wrestlemania 18 in Toronto though, so this is truly their "once in a lifetime" match. The problem with promoting a once in a lifetime match: how do you get people to tune in after that? And buy the next show after that? After all, once you get that high, everything else is just crap in comparison, right? What's the next big thing?

It seems that literally is what WWE went out to get. With Lesnar, you again get a guy with credibility outside of WWE (this time in the sports world instead of the entertainment world). You get a guy that doesn't need or have to work a full-time schedule, so he'll naturally be fresh. The problem is that you can't book this match a year out. The furthest out they could promote this match would be Summer Slam, at which point Rock might get involved again.

I don't know... the whole thing seems weird to me. Although they never had the crossover appeal that Rock has, could you imagine Vince going to Undertaker this year and asking him to put over Rock at Wrestlemania? Triple H? Heck, I don't think even CM Punk would do that now, and he certainly doesn't have the tenure of those guys.

John Cena is a merchandising and publicity machine... a commodity. I think that's what we've seen the most from him over the last year. CM Punk and Rocky have played the babyface often against him when they've not been traditional babyfaces, yet he still lays out and sells out. The question you have to wonder is, how many times can they set him up to get beat up by the fans and still remain a draw?