Random Thoughts

These are some of the random thoughts that go through my head. Most often I tweet them but here I figure I'll expand on them.

*While I recognise her role and place in wrestling history, I really don't care for or like Miss Elizabeth's character. Some have characterised her as the "first Diva" (although more put that on Sunny including Sunny herself but honestly - is that really something you'd want to be known for in wrestling?), but she's not even that to me. Savage brought her in after a bunch of people had been wanting to manage him, saying he'd found her but she never managed him, not in the way that Heenan, Jimmy Hart, Mr. Fuji, etc were managers. She was just a valet, and a shadow of a valet at that.

Before he turned face, Macho Man berated her, terrorised her, and basically was the abusive spouse that he was rumoured to be behind the scenes (not going to go into that, as I don't know all the details). She was weepy, cringing and basically the damsel in distress 24/7. Which, that was her role and she played it to a T. But good grief, it got tiring. I greatly preferred Queen Sherri and King Macho because Sherri wasn't afraid to get in there and go after Savage's opponents.

However, I do understand her role as a foil for Macho Man. She's just too passive for my tastes. When she came to Randy's aid and clobbered Sherri, that's the first time I cheered for her. I suppose it's the era I grew up in but I don't want women in wrestling to be passive wallflowers. And that's what Elizabeth was, to me. That said, I hope that one day her and Savage will be inducted into the Hall of Fame together.

*Jimmy Hart is the absolute worst manager, ever. He's annoying but not in the "get heat" way (at least, he doesn't get heat from me) - he's "Michael Cole" annoying. Which isn't good. I find his voice annoying, his mannerisms annoying and his outfits horrid. True, he gets in there and does what a manager should do, help his clients win, but damn. ANNOYING.

*When did Wrestlemania stop being the "Grandest Stage of them All" and start being the "Stage Where Every Tom, Dick and Harry Gets On the Card"? Granted, I've not seen them all, and I'm not as good of a historian as other fans, didn't it used to be that there were fewer matches, and the ones that got on were ones that had build and backstory and such? Or am I completely wrong? When the 12-man (I think) tag match was announced for this year's Wrestlemania to determine who gets to be General Manager (or whatever the reason for having it is), I thought, "Wow. That's a great way to shove everyone who doesn't have a match onto the card for one big cluster fuck." For all the talk of "Wrestlemania Moments" and "Grandest Stage" and people working their "whole lives" to wrestle on the show...trying to find a way to shoehorn everyone on the roster onto the card doesn't make it feel special. It makes it feel ordinary, and even lackluster. I appreciate the roster wanting to get that Wrestlemania payday, but when you have too many matches, some of them have to be cut shorter to make room for others, and then no one gets the chance to shine.

I could be wrong though, and it was always this way. I'm hoping someone can inform me either way.

*Watching Ric Flair in the 80's and late 90's makes me sad to see how far downhill he has gone now. I understand needing money, but surely he could have stayed with WWE as an agent or something else behind the scenes. The sendoff they gave him was unparalleled. Even HBK's was much more humble, possibly due to his request. But I do wish he would leave TNA totally. Perhaps after being inducted into the Hall of Fame twice he will.

*I finished watching a four disc DVD set that Steve burned for me. It featured matches involving the Kliq (HBK, Scott, Kevin, Sean and HHH) and a bit of discussion at the end about the "Curtain Call" incident. Steve's attention to detail is tremendous, he took matches from their original tape or DVD and combined them with matches that were from recent WWE compilations and put them in chronological order. I didn't know some of the stuff that had happened, and I hadn't seen most of the matches, which were awesome. Of the five, I think Kevin was the most limited. He had mic skills and charisma, but if he wasn't wrestling someone who could carry him, it showed. The others were all great in the ring.

Steve has been wonderful enough to burn me a ton of DVDs that are catching me up on my wrestling history. I didn't think I'd be into some of the stuff from the 80's or early 90's, but I am. Flair, Bret Hart, Davey Boy Smith, Savage, Steamboat - I'm convinced that Savage and Steamboat never had a bad match. This isn't news to a lot of people but it is to me. I'm an amateur historian as it is, so whenever I get into something new I like to learn the history behind it. Wrestling has been no different, and it's fascinating to watch something from 20 years ago the same day as I watch something that's current. Makes it clearer what has changed from then to now. I'm currently making my way through a Macho Man set, and still have the year 1997 that he's burned of PPVs and highlights from RAWs.

I can't thank him enough for making all these for me! It's been fantastic learning what I've missed and didn't know about! Between him and Lee, I've gotten a lot of knowledge in the past year alone. Definitely a good thing.