Recently, Shane Douglas decided to throw his hat into the ring known as ECW Revival Shows. This project has been dubbed “Extreme Rising”. Their debut show in Philadelphia garnered an attendance of over 2000 fans that wanted to see yet another Extreme enkindling. Yet another Extreme Invigoration. Yet another chance to chant ECW and pretend it’s 1997.
Meanwhile, in the Stamford, Oceania, World Wrestling Entertainment is getting ready to celebrate the 1000th episode of its flagship broadcast, Monday Night Raw. Recent episodes of Raw have been filled with recaps, look backs and cameo appearances from WWE Superstars of the past that come out to give Heath Slater his comeuppance for…being Heath Slater. Longtime fans get their jollies and get to pretend that wrestling is “good” again, like they remembered it. Before lawsuits caused name changes and before we discovered West Newbury, Massachusetts was actually a passage way to the planet Krypton.
Right now, as you read this, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine is getting booked in the main event of a wrestling show that will be in front of MAYBE 200 people. And that stirs up something some of you that would make you want to see the 60-year old put on a robe that is older than most people reading this and show everyone exactly what Darren Arronofsky saw in him that inspired him to make a movie.
And maybe a little Lex Luger, too...
We as wrestling fans a permanently stuck in a nostalgia-focused time warp, and modern independent wrestling in the year 2012 is the biggest victim of it all.
Contrary to what die-hard defenders of the Attitude Era may have you believe, pro wrestling has been a television product that has been predominantly targeting children since Rock N’ Wrestling, and the things we discover as children shape us and stay with us for our entire lives. Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and The New Generation are permanently etched into my mind as part of my first memories as a wrestling fan, complete with the likes of the team of Money, Inc, The Repo Man, President Jack Tunney and a World Wrestling Federation that wasn’t on Monday Nights. The Monday Night Wars were during my teens. Chris Jericho’s WCW years and the cruiserweights, along with the biggest names of the era have shaped my wrestling fandom today. Here’s the thing that separates this wrestling fan who you probably think lives in his mom’s basement from so many others: I don’t need to look back. Ever again.
I had spoken with CHIKARA Senior Official Bryce Remsburg at a CHIKARA Event in Taylor, MI last year. I told him that at 26 years old, I loved wrestling now more than I ever have, thanks to promotions like CHIKARA and CLASH Wrestling (Detroit’s best kept secret). The amount of entertainment I have gotten from so many of these independent promotions that were born in the 21st Century have eclipsed the fandom of my childhood. I don’t think this has be to be a strange case. I don’t think I need to be in the minority.
I know this may be hard for some people that only think of wrestling as just another show to put on to veg out, but for those of us that could be considered enthusiasts of the genre, this should be a no-brainier. Buying 3 King of Trios DVDs and going in with an open mind for the same price as one Wrestlemania Pay-Per-View that will guarantee to have at least one or 2 things you won’t enjoy shouldn’t be difficult. Going to WrestleReunion and sticking around to watch Pro Wrestling Guerrilla after you get your autographs from your favorites from when you were younger isn’t nearly as bad as you may think. Getting an iPPV for 15 bucks to watch on your PC over the weekend….is 15 bucks. And if it’s Ring of Honor, chances are you at least know that that’s the company CM Punk, Daniel Bryan and Samoa Joe came from. Pay attention. You may just join the wrestling hipster club where you’ll be able to say you were a fan of those guys before it was cool. If you are endlessly frustrated with the irrelevance of the WWE divas and you are not watching SHIMMER or Women Superstars Uncensored by now, than I implore you to get to that as soon as possible. You may not immediately recognize any of the names right away, but just like you did in the past, you can give them a chance to entertain you. Thanks to the indies, you just may become a full-on FAN again.
—–10 years from now if I’m pining for CHIKARA, please feel free to throw this in my face.