Foot On The Rope 12.2.00: Their Own Worst Enemy
Posted by Bryce McNeil on 12.02.2000
There are two parallel opposite violations of wrestling fandom that people may suffer from: being too loyal to a company or being too hard on a company.
There are two parallel opposite violations of wrestling fandom that people may suffer from: being too loyal to a company or being too hard
on a company. I'll be the first to plead guilty on the latter offense.
I give wrestling promotions a hard time. No matter how many cylinders
a company is clicking on, it will probably never be enough for me. I
can always find at least one talent that I feel is being misused or
mistreated. This is besides the fact that I personally feel that
wrestlers have never gotten the proper fraction of financial benefit in
wrestling's most profitable days...but that is another column in and of
itself.
A lot of wrestling fans suffer from my vice. When their favourite
wrestler is stuck in a rotten feud, or is mired in the mid-card, the
easiest thing to do is to rag on the company. WCW is a favourite
target. Critics, myself included, have had a field day in the past two
years with misused talent in that company: "They never really knew
what to do with Bret Hart." "They didn't let Jericho rise to the top."
"Raven was right to walk out the door." And so forth.
In most cases it is difficult, sometimes downright impossible, to argue
with these cynics. There are a couple of wrestlers as of late, though,
who are proving that it is not always the big, bad company that is to
blame for their misfortunes. A quick glance in the mirror is all that
it takes to understand where their problems lie.
Scott Hall and Vampiro. Fans can chant "We want Hall!" all that they
like, or champion Vampiro as an edgy wrestler held down by the system
or what not, but the fact remains that these wrestlers have to stand up
and accept responsibility for where their careers are at this point,
and accept that maybe wrestling just isn't for them. WCW is not to
blame.
Hall's story is one that just about every fan is familiar with. The
man who began WCW's rise to the top is nowhere to found on Nitro today.
Dallas Page and Kevin Nash both openly campaign for his return. The
fans egg them on, chanting for the return of the original Outsider.
Chanting as if WCW is denying them something special by not bringing
Hall back.
The fact of the matter is that WCW bent over backwards to keep Hall in
the company. When his and Kevin Nash's egos were causing locker room
problems in 1997, it was Sean Waltman, not the Outsiders, who got the
axe. When Hall's martial and drug problems threatened to eat him alive
in 1998, the company allowed him time off with full pay so that it
could retain his services in the future.
Bischoff turned Hall to become a drunk in the storylines, perhaps
hoping that he would wise up to his problems if they were put right in
front of his face. Hall began to see prominence again, but it wouldn't
last long. Sure enough, Hall was boozing his way back into the
basement well into 1999.
What did WCW do? Did they fine Hall? Reprimand him? Release him?
No. Yet again, they allowed him time to compose himself for a return
and in late 1999, Hall was back. But when 2000 began, Hall was nothing
but a backstage pain again. Altercations with Terry Taylor and
embarrassing incidents overseas caused things to reach a near-breaking
point.
Finally, just when his release was imminent, Hall was injured at
Superbrawl. To avoid the negative backlash of a Davey Boy Smith
situation, the company waited months before releasing Hall. This
allowed him time to prove himself ready to return. Yet Hall wanted WCW
to call him, the rumoured reason being that he didn't want to pester,
as though he were some great force to be beckoned and not to do any
beckoning.
Well, the axe finally came and no matter how Kevin Nash tries to
portray it, Scott Hall is the only person to blame for Scott Hall not
being a major player in the industry. The WWF let him go in 1996 for
the same reasons. WCW gave him the chance to be a star again and put
up with his sheinanigans. Its thanks was a wrestler who still can not
get his life together.
Need proof? ECW was willing to allow Hall the chance to display his
talent. This was a chance for Hall to prove himself to the world. A
chance to demonstrate that he could still go, that he was clean of the
influence and was willing to play the game, not dictate it.
Not two weeks after his debut, he was pulled over for drunk driving in
Florida. Yet Page and Nash have the gall to call for his return.
Hall is far beyond second chances; most of us have lost count by now.
Juventud Guerrera only received a few, and I don't recall anyone
complaining for his return- even if he is incredibly talented and a
far better worker.
I do feel for Scott Hall as it is evident that his life is not in
order. Part of cleaning up that problem is to discover the main
culprit. Hall must tell his friends to stop demonizing the big
wrestling companies, and realize that he has issues to resolve. It
might mean that he never returns to wrestling again. That will be
fine, as long as he gets his life in order. This is far more important
than what goes on in the wrestling ring.
Then there is the tale of the "Dark Angel." Recently, after suffering
yet another injury, Vampiro declared that he is no longer interested in
participating in professional wrestling- at least not until his WCW
contract expires anyway. Both his agent and running partners of
mayhem, the Insane Clown Posse, have gone out of their way to paint the
company as the villains that allowed a great talent to walk away.
Normally, this is a case where I would be all over a company for abuse
of a proven, but unpushed talent. No one is more disappointed to see
what has become of Vampiro's career than I have. When I first saw him
in WCW.....well, truthfully, I wasn't too impressed. However, over
time, I began to realize that this was a major talent with a unique
personality that had star potential.
Too bad for wrestling that his personality became such that it couldn't
be harnessed by any force. While Vamp's matches proved entertaining,
his personae have proven sporadically sketchy at best. First, he's
distressed with WCW, then he's perfectly fine with them, first he's a
pale-faced heel with ICP, then he's a white-faced rock goon with the
Misfits, then he's unhappy with WCW again, but wait, no, he's not.....
Simply put, why should an instable company look to an instable
individual to right its ship? Vampiro can whine about Sting not doing
a job, but why would anyone put over a man who could complain for a new
onscreen persona at any moment, no matter how over his current one was?
He can cry that Mike Awesome was too rough with him, but it rings
hollow from a poster boy for stiff work.
Normally, a talent like Vampiro would elicit masses of support from the
online community. Truthfully, though, a lot of people just don't care
anymore. Ian Hodgkinson may be a wonderful person, but his approach to
his professional wrestling career as been less than ideal. His
spokespeople complain that WCW should utilize his talents better, yet
have no truthfully valid countering ideas to back their complaints up
with.
If Vampiro does not return to the wrestling ring, it will be a great
loss for the fans as he was a great performer with awesome potential
that had still yet to be tapped. But if leaving wrestling is what will
bring stability and happiness to Hodgkinson's life, than so be it-
this outweighs anything else.
A company ought to do a lot of things with its talent. It should treat
them and pay them fairly. It should offer them the opportunity to
advance. One thing it can not do is guarantee mental and/or emotional
stability on the job- this is something that comes from the worker
himself. Sometimes wrestling and wrestlers can't get along. If they
have to part ways, let it be. Just don't blame the big, bad company
because it wasn't its heart that wasn't in it.
