1000 ‘Raw’ Episodes Is Enough

I watched the 1000th episode of Monday Night Raw and it was the first time in a long while that I watched an entire episode from start to finish.  Over the last few years I usually lose interest and flip over to a baseball game.

I've been a fan of pro wrestling my entire life.  I worked on the independent circuit for 10 years.  My wrestling career should be considered a failure, but I had some good times and enjoyed the opportunity to do some unbelievable things like manage Sabu in over 100 matches, wrestle Traci Brooks at TNA's Bound For Glory in 2007 and get my ass kicked by a living legend named Kevin Sullivan.  I've spent a lot of time defending wrestling to people who don't like it or understand it.  Now, I'm not liking it or understanding it either.  At least not the type of wrestling that I saw this week on Raw.  Nothing makes sense and it's all super silly now.  I always liked to suspend disbelief and watch wrestling as if it was real, but now that's impossible with WWE.

Vince McMahon, the head honcho of WWE shocked the WWE Universe by naming AJ the new General Manager of Raw.  AJ is a 25 year old smoking hot chick who has next to no experience in the wrestling business and has been pushed the last couple of months as being "crazy", yet a smart business mogul like McMahon is going to leave his top brand in her hands?  I'm not buying it and you just lost me.  It's just stupid booking and it insults my intelligence.

I was going to write a complete recap of everything that happened on the show, but why would I waste time writing about something that I no longer care about?  I'm not trying to attack the WWE, but the entire industry has become extremely stale.  Pro wrestling is dead.  I've felt this way for a while but didn't want to admit it because it's always been a big part of my life.  The current product across the board is not what I fell in love with as a kid.  There is no psychology and most shows feature more talk than actual wrestling.  The 3-hour Raw featured a total of 5 matches and 2 of those were quick gimmick matches with Brodus Clay beating Jack Swagger in 10 seconds so they could show him dance with Dude Love for a few minutes, and then Lita beating Heath Slater in a "Let's Bring Everyone Who Ever Wrestled For WWE To The Ring Match."  The majority of the show was talk and hype and buy this and buy that.  It was like a 3 hour infomercial with a few matches scattered in.

I think 1000 episodes is enough for me.  I'm sure I'll be back but for now I don't consider myself a fan and it sucks.  It's like no longer liking your favorite band.  It's crazy.  I can't imagine ever saying that I no longer have an interest in going to a Pearl Jam concert.

Wrestling is meant to be believable, even if you know it's a work.  Now, none of it is believable at all because the talent doesn't understand how to work or the company doesn't want them to work.  Either way, I'm bored.

I'm a grown man.  I no longer have time for this crap.  I fought for it and I bled for it but what I fought for and bled for no longer exists.  Again, pro wrestling is dead.