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The following opinion piece by former WWF and ECW star Brian "The Blue Meanie" Heffron was submitted today to PWInsider.com. We are running it, unedited:
Seems like the next great wrestling war isn't isn't being fought on Monday nights, on pay per view or at the box office. It's all on social media where one wrestling hemisphere says their wayis right while the other wrestling hemisphere claims that their way is truly thee highway. While both sides claim that they are right, neither are really wrong NOR right. The solution to this argument though, may be harder to discuss without looking ironic and hypocritical.
Wrestling is like Rock and Roll. It falls into different categories. Rock, blues, hard rock, heavy metal, hair metal, classic rock, soft rock, pop rock, punk rock, prog rock and even some forms of country music could be considered rock. There's something for everyone. You could like it all, you could like one or you could like none. But someone somewhere likes it and is willing to spend their hard earned cash to support it. Same with wrestling.
WWF had their style, Crockett's had their style, Georgia had its style. As did Memphis and did Mid-South. Then England had World of Sport. Germany had CATCH Wrestling. Japan had Puroresu. Mexico had Lucha Libre. Different philosophies. Different psychologies in different regions of the world. Now take all that smash it together into a big ball and that's the hybrid of what we know as today's wrestling world. It truly is a hodgepodge.
It's like UFC. It started out as a competition to see which discipline aka "style" was better. As time went on UFC became evolved into what we know today as Mixed Martial Art also known as MMA for short. Everything discipline the was used. Every strategy that was used. Every approach in training in early days of UFC was melted together to form this new hybrid for of fighter and fighting. It truly became a hodgepodge.
Wrestling with the advent of national expansion and exposure with the early days of cable. With ideological cross pollination through tape trading amongst fans and future wrestlers. With current and up and coming wrestlers traveling the world to broaden their skill set in the ring training with different trainers. Many different tastes for different people as a fan and performer transformed and evolved the business gradually to where we are now.
Imagine there is a set of parents. Or better yet imagine a parent and their parent. Now imagine they were to have a disagreement and instead of respectfully working out a difference in private. Where they SHOULD work it out. They decide to have it out with each other in front of their child/children/grandchild/grandchildren to the point where it could skew the child's opinion of one or both parents or grandparents.
Now imagine we are all the grandparent and parent and our fans are children/grand children and whatever we say about the business good, bad or indifferent skews our fans view on business and what they consider good wrestling as bad wrestling.
I've noticed and feel biggest offenders of this are the people who exclaim that kayfabe is dead. Instead of pointing this out in private amongst their peers they point out in social media in front of fans how it was broken. The same fans who wouldn't probably have noticed if it wasn't for the said people in the business pointing out to the the then unaffected fans.
I've seen an interview with a musician like Sting or an interview with a Paul McCartney where the interview asks about the meaning of one of their many hit songs. They simply answer "It means whatever the listener wants it to mean." Same with a "Pulp Fiction" writer/director Quentin Tarantino and the mystery of the golden light in the briefcase of what John Travolta looks at in the movie.
It's been a mystery and Tarantino has yet to disclose what it is. To Quentin Tarantino the golden light in the briefcase John Travolta looks at is whatever the viewer wants it to be. Why ruin the fantasy? After all that isn't fantasy, like music and movies what we're selling?
Here we find ourselves having the battle of traditional vs. Millennial. Having traditionalist vs. evolutionists. Having veterans wax poetic of how they wish things still were. Having guys in today's game saying things have changed. Having self appointed gurus trying to put their spin on things while also telling people how things should be.
So what do we do now? Keep lobbing grenades online in front of the fans? Do we further delegitimize the fans emotions and likes of what the fans want to like? Do we keep making the fans feel stupid by saying “Hey. You know that thing you really like and that thing that excites you? It's wrong and your stupid for liking it!”
OR do we dare do the exact thing we repeatedly declared dead. The thing we miss but we continue to further smother said thing with a wrestle buddy pillow? Do we dare kayfabe in private instead of breaking in public by complaining it's dead and explaining how.
How about this? Maybe instead of all the public jousting and volleying find a way to make the wrestling world again what it once was. A SECRET SOCIETY. If you're so worried about opponents thanking each other online and appearing in public. How about stop pointing out for all to see. Why not do yourself and your point of a view a favor and start a private Facebook only group to suggest such things? Kayfabe was as kayfabe can be continued to be as you believe it should be. Do what you say. Say what you mean. If not, you defeat you own purpose.
If you are a Millennial wrestler. This is your business. Please take care of it. Treat it with respect. Treat it with dignity. Leave it in a better place than you found it. If you believe things have evolved then carry on as you are. But please, please don't dismiss the views of those who came before you. Who paved the way for you. Who bled for you. Who broke bones for you. Who missed crucial parts of their family life to entertain you. Who ultimately broke down physically and are in need of assistance for the things they did for this business.
They should be respected. They deserve to be respected. They've earned their respect. It's the same respect today as you will have wanted to earn when you become the veteran. Especially when the roles become reversed in the future and you are where they are now and the next generation calls YOU out of touch.
Wash. Rinse. Dive. Headlock. Repeat.
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