Time has a way of changing one's perspective.

Nothing has ever hammered that point down more firmly in my mind than re-reading my rant, entitled “End of an Era”, originally posted at WrestlingLARGE in the Ringside forum. Although WL had a very good wrestling forum called Wrestling101, I used to post the occasional wrestling topic in Ringside, the no-holds-barred forum, when I wanted a good scrap.

I was extremely upset with the idea of Vince McMahon getting his hands on WCW, obviously.

In my honest opinion, that post has to be my biggest *markout* of all time…although I know without a doubt that I made a few others that could also qualify. That being said, time also has a way of healing all wounds…and all cares, for that matter. In my current state of mind, it's almost hard for me to admit to myself that the words represented my true feelings at the time, because a lot of what I said back then seems ridiculous to me now.

But time does indeed have a way of changing everything.

After reading an extremely lonnng thread at a friend's no-flaming-allowed board (WRESTLERANT), entitled JOHN CENA SUCKS! , in which the original author was being congratulated for a lot of flaming via some creative mark-baiting/newbie-bashing… in one of my last statements ever in a public wrestling forum, at the conclusion of a much larger piece, I posted the following…
Quote: Here then, is my challenge...

Instead of simply complaining and calling people names, I will do my best to "go the extra mile" by digging a little deeper to get to the BOTTOM LINE before instantly assigning blame to anybody for any given problem. I will also go out of my way to offer at least some form of possible solution.

Anybody with me on this, or is that just TOO BIG of a challenge for you?
Well, the time has come for me to meet my own challenge…

As much as I like to believe that I have *evolved* over the years, I have tried to keep professional wrestling virtually-sealed inside of what it represented to me when I was a true wrestling MARK.

Now, contrary to popular belief… I don't see anything wrong with being a “wrestling mark”. It isn't necessarily that such a person is extremely gullible and/or unbelievably stupid, although I'm sure that at least some of them are… but that could honestly be said about practically any class or group of people that have ever existed, including presidents, kings, & heads of state. Being a wrestling mark merely requires “the suspension of disbelief”, in the pursuit of honestly enjoying the show.

Basically, my problem with today's professional wrestling was my stubborn refusal to see it for what it is… a business . Nothing “sacred”… just a business, and as a business, pro wrestling has had to evolve in order to compete with an ever-changing list of challengers, not to mention the challenges that go with the territory.

One of the biggest challengers to pro wrestling has been all of the mixed martial-arts (MMA) productions, like the Ultimate Fighting Championships, Pride Fighting, and King Of The Cage. After watching just a few of these no-holds-barred exhibitions, it became virtually impossible for me to be entertained by pre-scripted shows of men and women pretending to hurt each other, where every other championship is decided by a ref-bump that wouldn't bruise the average girl scout.

Wrestling has become “sports entertainment”. Some very talented wrestlers apparently can't get a decent/consistent push to save their lives, while some non-wrestling heatless wonders seem to hold onto the belts indefinitely. Divas often seem to take center-stage, while upper-card talents wait in their shadows.

I guess it is all part of how the game is played these days. Times have changed, and pro wrestling has had to change just to keep in existence. To a significant degree, quality wrestling has been pushed somewhat out of the center-stage spotlight by controversy and sex. That being said, WWE currently has some of the best wrestlers to ever lace up a pair of boots. VKM has definitely swerved away from “tradition” at a few spots along the road, but in all honesty, I feel that he has done as much “preserving” as he has “swerving”.

For quite a few years now, I have been waging my own personal vendetta against one Vincent K. McMahon (VKM). Not that I was ever alone in doing this, (Tom Zenk's name comes quickly to mind)… but if anything could ever be said to characterize the majority of my posts, the subject of bashing VKM would be right up at the top of the list.

True to the words of my own challenge, I now feel like I owe VKM an apology. Not that he ever read any of my work, at least not to my knowledge- although he may have seen some of my rants at bobbythebrain.com …but an apology he shall have from me, nonetheless, and even a “thank you” to top it off.

Many people, many wrestling fans including myself, would consider VKM to be a royal bastard- but as I have said before…in the business world, being a bastard WORKS like a motherf@cker! The WWE is literally “The Last Man Standing”, having successfully killed, eaten, and devoured its 2 biggest competitors, wCw and ECW.

Vince has done one hell of a job keeping people tuning in, considering all of the challenges he has faced. He's obviously been doing something right, where all of the supposedly “better men” have failed.

I would also like to thank all of you for “tuning in” to moggysdomain.com, and reading this.
Thank you.

The man who wants nothing is invincible.