Still Here!: Brief WWE/Chick Musings

Yeah, this post purely exists because October 8th was almost a month ago. I hope to get back to "full" posts soon, but, for now, I'll mention one thing that has bothered me since I read it a couple hours ago.

The WWE is in a poor state of affairs right now and it's entirely of their own doing. The details and such I'll go into in a future post, but let me give you a quick insight.

The booking of WWE is now heavily slanted towards Twitter, specifically to "trend" as many times as possible within a single 2 hr program. That concept, and the long-term ramifications of such, are bad enough. But I just read that Vince McMahon and his underlings were pissed that they failed to get any trending on Monday's episode of RAW.

Nevermind the crap quality of the product, which was actually GREAT just last June/July ("Summer of Punk"), but then was overbooked into an unfocused mess that it currently sits in. Nevermind that Monday Night RAW's attendance was so bad even TNA had them beat the last time they were in town. Nevermind PPV buys are dangerously low. Nevermind that, with all this, Vince McMahon borrowed over $250 million against the company, a move never before done not even when he nearly went "out of business" back in 1997, to fund the upcoming WWE Network channel.

It's a scary time for a wrestling fan. Or, should I say, a wrestling fan who actually gives a damn about the business-side of the industry, the current state of the industry as a whole, and its long-term viability.

On the plus side, yeah things are still going with this chick. ..err...lady! Going very well. We managed 4 consecutive dates last Thursday thru Sunday. In fact, we've got a 3 day camping trip planned for her B-Day 2 weekends from now. I've never been camping and the prospects of getting eaten by a bear don't sound very sexy, but, hey, the things we do, right?

WrestleMania 25: Chris Jericho vs Randy "The Ram" Robinson

So The Wrestler still has not appeared on Baton Rougean shores as promised, missing its Jan 23rd opening date, but the hype just got taken to a whole 'nother level.

As I have gathered while trying to remain spoil-free, the movie revolves around an aged, down-and-out wrestler, Randy "The Ram" Robinson, who finds himself with no family, friends, or career. Robinson goes on a journey to reconnect with his daughter and get a shot at "the big one".

I've no idea what happens at the end of The Wrestler, but it appears Mickey Rourke/Randy "The Ram" will get his final hurrah not at the end of the film, but on "the grandest stage of them all", WrestleMania, against current super heel Chris Jericho on April 5th.

This just might be the biggest thing to hit wrestling since Hulk Hogan vs The Rock at WrestleMania X8. First, we have a wrestling related movie that serves some justice to the industry, unlike David Arquette's Ready to Rumble. Then it's actually recognized as being a pretty good movie, not only by wrestling fans, but critics, too. And now we have Mickey Rourke bringing his character off the silver screen with Randy "The Ram" Robinson getting the opportunity to perform at WrestleMania in Houston.

For the movie, Rourke was trained by WWE Hall of Famer Afa "The Wild Samoan", so Rourke is suppose to have had serious wrestling training, unlike Jack Black's Nacho Libre. According to Afa, Rourke deeply impressed him and can be considered "one of the boys".

But can he successfully bring Randy "The Ram" to WrestleMania?

Non-wrestlers' wrestling matches tend to be fairly safe and non-eventful beyond the name value. Though Rourke and the WWE can go this route, it would be a poor choice. Likely the promotional main event of WrestleMania, all eyes will be on this match, fan and non-fan alike. As such, WWE needs to book this match to properly hide whatever faults Rourke may have due to his lack of experience while giving the audience a big main event match in content that matches the forthcoming media blitz. In terms of The Wrestler and the character of Randy "The Ram" Robinson, it's important that Rourke and the WWE step up to give a proper closing chapter to "The Ram". Much like Rocky Balboa, Robinson manages to find himself in the main event at a major promotion. It's not a matter of winning or losing. It's about going the distance and ending your career with satisfaction. Robinson has this chance.

So the stage is set for potentially one of the greatest WrestleMania matches/moments of all time. It's in the hands of Vince McMahon, Rourke, Jericho, and Rourke's insurance company. Let's hope everything works out.

Thank the Jesus that Nicolas Cage dropped out of the movie.