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WWE Looking
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Sometimes I will feel
the need to talk about certain situations
or current products that are being run
in the WWE at the time. Whether it be
the current push for my favorite Raw
character, Booker T or the situation
with Steve Austin, I sometimes will
give my thoughts. While it is uncharacteristic
of me since I do run an all Indy site,
I still watch the WWE and though their
are negatives to the show, their are
also positives. This week, I want to
talk about Steve Austin
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Say what you will about
the Austin situation, I know everyone
has their own opinion on the situation
now. Some say he did the right thing
by standing up to the progressio of
his character, he saw no change so he
took a stand & walked out. Others
say it is unceremonial the way he treated
the situation, by putting the quality
of Raw in jeporady & forcing talent
to change the direction of the show.
The third party could go on to say that
other workers, including Sid Vicious,
have made a carrer gimmick over walking
out on a promotion before the show stars,
HELL Xpac was going to do it a week
before Austin did. There is one man
who hasn't had a say in this situation
yet, and that is Steve Williams.
When dealing with the backstage politics
that seem to be taken as importantly
as your in ring ability, I look at the
situation with Austin and take a step
back and look at the entire scenario.
Austin has been the top dog in the WWE
for the past 7 years, no matter which
way you look at it. Almost every major
angle has involved Austin in some way.
He is as much apart of the WWE brand
as any wrestler to pass through the
federation during the Wrestlemania era.
Look at the direction of the current
brand of entertainment, and now look
at the situation in Austin's shoes.
Austin draws crowds, he brings fantastic
heat with whomever he works with, and
he plays his character to a fine. His
character reached unbelievable new dimensions
over the course of the past 10 months.
He went from being the top babyface
to the top villain and he kept with
the progression of his heel tactics.
Watching him in his angles with McMahon
& Angle, and begging for his life
when he was working a program with Austin,
reminded myself of the old heel Stone
Cold that used to troment & trash
Bret Hart.
Look at the direction of the company
since that failed invasion angle. The
Rock ventures off in hopes of a film
carrer, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Scott
Hall & Kevin Nash return to the
WWE. All wrestling giants in the industry,
all giant egos. Notice the sudden &
extreme push for the NWO, while everyone
including Austin played second fiddle
to. Notice the program with the Rock
& Stone Cold for "The very
BEST EVER!", a program I believe
would have worked just as well with
Austin & Flair, but it didn't. Austin
had to work a program with Scott Hall,
a very good worker yes, but a storyline
that brought enough heat into WrestleMania?
No. The quick angle made for little
suspense for Austin at Wrestlemania,
his match is one of the most forgetable
for that particular Mania.
So Austin vents his anger and no shows
at Raw, leaving the creative department
to rewrite the course of the storylines.
Austin returns two weeks later for the
WWE Draft, and in the closing segment
signs with Flair & his Raw brand.
Before we can cheer on the possibilities
of this new direction of storylines,
Austin is once again put in an angle
where he, the employee must fight the
boss. An angle that elevated him to
superstardom 2-3 year previous, but
now only looks like one of the many
washed up angles that the WWE has been
running with lately (Booker T getting
superkicked & kicked out of the
NWO, didn't the same angle run with
Sting & the four horsemen years
previous?).
I can understand Austin
being angry for the direction of his
character & the company, because
its at a down. They are working with
older talent, working the same angles
& pushing young guys who are as
green as Hurricane Helm's hair, case
in point Brock Lesnar. By putting Austin
in an angle with Brock Lesnar would
have made very little sense. Vince needs
to wake up & realize that Brock
is not the next big thing, he will flop.
Yes he is an intimidating figure, but
he hasn't spoken a word. True his mouthpiece
is Paul Heyman, who has the amazing
ability of hiding the weaknesses &
overexposing the strengths of those
he works with, but in order to get over
without speaking you must prove your
actions in the ring, something Brock
also has not done. He only works the
corner ropes, the center ropes &
finishes off with his helicopter slam.
How can someone as over as Austin, who
has dedicated his life & his health
numerous times, work a program with
someone who hasn't even been in the
business for more than 2 years, to me
it is inconceiveable. Brock needs to
be able to build a basis of either boos
or cheers before he can work a program
of that mangitude, otherwise he will
bring down Austin's heat, something
i'm sure Austin is not all about.
So now there is heat about the fact
that he his Debra. Now I do not condone
violence against women, what he does
outside of the ring does not constitute
at all with what he does in the wrestling
business. If all the black cards were
dealt to the media about different situations
& events that have occured with
the wrestlers in the WWE, the wholesame
family entertainment would be looked
at in a WHOLE NEW light.
Though it goes against the workings
& one of the most states rules in
the business, never walk out on the
show, I believe it was the best thing
Austin could have done at this time.
He is a great worker, he cuts great
promos & he always puts over those
he works with. While some workers may
have fantastic matches, some will not
sell & not put over the smaller
guy and make themselves look like a
superstar. Stone Cold always brings
that intensity into the ring that gets
the fans on their feet, and the programs
he works in always elevates the match.
I can understand the WWE wanting to
put him in a program with Brock, because
the fans would finally get into a match
of his, but Brock lost any chance of
getting heat after his horrible match
with the Hardyz at his first PPV. The
worst part is the kid can wrestle, but
they continue to push him as a powerhouse,
only manuevering with power moves, he
hasn't even shown the world his shooting
star press.
To me, Austin was the WWE. He represented
the attitude that the WWE pushed for
so long, he represented current wrestling
at its finest. But Austin is no more.
The WWE can bury him on television like
they did tonight, the media can continue
to post news articles on his domestic
abuse, but there is one person I feel
we should listen to before we continue
to point & blame, and that is Austin
himself. I feel sooner than later we'll
find out the final pieces to the story,
because there is more to it than what
Jim & Vince, the top "WWE Talent
relations" had to say. That is
one opinion to this story, but all in
all, Stone Cold is dead, and that is
a damn shame.
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