Back from a tragic weekend....no other way to put it.

For those hoping & waiting for a fitting tribute to Randy Poffo tonight, I implore you to not hold your breath.
For reasons that have been fodder on the internet for years, Vince McMahon & Randy had been on bad terms dating back to the mid 1990's, with no apparent end in sight.

The rash of deaths in wrestling, and the scrutiny of the McMahons over them, have prevented even momentary acknowledge over the past several years...I doubt they break form that edict tonight.

I would be proud to follow up on this tomorrow should WWE catch me off guard, by the way....
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I'd like to spend a little time this blog discussing the fundemental purpose of a wrestling match: Winning.

Clearly by now, it has been put ( pounded?) into our, the wrestling fan, psyche that the wins & losses do not matter- for this is entertainment,folks!- but I think one of the things most easily forgotten is that most of us were aware of that, anyway, and by taking away the importance of winning & losing in the make up of wrestling matches, it has :

A) drove away a huge part of the fan base
B) made it much more difficult for talent to "get over"
and
C) made us not a pseudo sport watched by sports fans, but a pseudo pseudo sport with no meaning,purpose,or direction

In previous generations, much care was taken to elevate an upcoming talent & protect the veteran talent....and while WWE continues to do the latter, they have completely forgot how to due the former.

The idea that putting a "time limit" on a bout hampers ones perception of the bout is, at best, puzzling and at worst, preposterous. Every sporting event- with the exception of baseball- has a time limit in which a winner needs to be determined.

I noticed about 20 years ago that all WWE bouts stopped being scheduled for "1 fall, or a (20/30/1hour etc) "time limit to being "scheduled for 1 fall". I think this took a great deal of the drama out of bouts, particularly ones where a major championship was on the line.

Then of course, theres the total devaluing of the titles. Imagine for a few minutes that everyone who played in the NFL,MLB,NBA,etc were playing without any GOAL whatsoever. None. Literally doing it to see who wins and then, completely ignoring the victory? Sound unlikely? Improbable?  Yes.

So why is WWE so obsessed with telling us none of this matters? More to the point, from looking at what the titles mean, whos over with the crowd, whos popping PPV buys- how they have succeeded!

They were never REAL titles- but they were symbolic of the goals of everyone- to achieve the level of the "best" in their field. Now, the titles are passed around like joints at a REGGAE SUNSPLASH event, given to guys as a gold watch or trinket. And it means nothing...NOTHING.

Honestly, just to use an example, does anyone out there truly hold EDGE in great reverence because he was an 11 time WWE champion? He was champion 11 times in a 4 year period, which doesn't hold up in my vision of wrestling, where anyone who was of upper tier caliber didn't lose their hold on the "most prestigious trophy in the sport" at least 10 times within the span of 1,460 days.

Compare that to the reverence & great respect I have for Harley Race, whom held the NWA title 8 times from 1973-1983; or Bruno Sammartino,who held the WWWF title CONSECUTIVELY from May 1963- January 1971, then again from December 1973-April 1977.

The titles of wrestling should be treated within the confines of wrestling as the ultimate prize- just like an pro football player covets the Lombardi Trophy, baseballers strive to win the World Series,etc.

I'm not endorsing turning back the clock to such runs, but to truly believe someone is the best, they should not get beaten every 30,60,90 days for that acclaim. Just my opinion.

Without the fundemental hope & work for achievement, what are we fighting for? and moreover, why the hell should we watch if theres no menaing?

Until next time...
SSS