The Goodness 03.14.07: March Madness
Posted by on 03.14.2007
The NCAA Tournament creates a madness nothing can match...well except for the run-up to WrestleMania when pro wrestling takes me back to my childhood and gets me positively giddy about wrestling again.
So I read somewhere that Kurt Angle, who we can all agree has pretty much lost his mind, said that having Donald Trump at WrestleMania is a desperation move by the WWE. Excuse me? Trump, for better or worse, is a media darling. His appearances on Raw have garnered the WWE some mainstream attention that they just haven't gotten in recent years, except when Cena or Kane make a crappy movie. I think it was a brilliant move by Vince and company and has really infused some energy into Raw. I mean, the Rock showed up Monday night! I know it was a taped segment, but we haven't seen the Rock's face in a while, have we? I think Trump is more than holding up his end in the ring on the mic, Vince is doing his Vince things and Lashley and Umaga are two young wrestlers the crowds are responding to. It has the feel of a really, really big match. A match worthy of WrestleMania, ya know?
Stay to the end to get a link to my WrestleMania in Five series running on my TooMuchSports.com website.
The Goodness 03.14.07: March Madness
The NCAA Tournament is one of my favorite events of the year. And it's not just because I love filling out my brackets, or that my alma mater George Washington has made three straight tournaments or that I just like basketball. It reminds me, each year, of my childhood. When I was younger in grade school, I used to fake an illness each year so I could stay home from school and watch the first two days of the tournament. After a couple years, my parents caught on but let me stay home. In the pre-Internet days, I was the one who my dad called to get scores for everyone at work. He called it NCAA-itis and it's a fun childhood memory. So when the tournament starts on Thursday, I'll be reminded of a simpler time. It's almost poetic, isn't it?
Well, the month of March provides me with two memories like that because as long as I can remember, I've been just as wrapped up in the march to WrestleMania. On Monday night, I was legitimately excited for Raw to start. That only happens once a year. I was so excited I even decided to tape 24 and watch it the next day, that's how into Raw I was Monday night. Yes, part of it is because the storylines are good this year and the matches are intriguing. But another part of it is the fact that WrestleMania reminds me why and how I became a wrestling fan in the first place. How I turned into this wrestling geek that still gets a kick out of two guys in spandex going at in the squared circle.
I became a wrestling fan for good in the spring of 1992. I had followed it at times but when I hit 9 years old, that's when I fully appreciated pro wrestling. I can recall the moments from the lead-up to that WrestleMania like it happened yesterday. Sid Justice walking out on Hogan at Saturday Night's Main Event. The interview with Hogan and McMahon where Vince thanks Hogan for all he's done, signaling that the match would be Hogan's last. Ric Flair's announcement that he had a centerfold of Miss Elizabeth and he was going to unveil it at WrestleMania. The tension between Bret Hart and Roddy Piper increasing to a point that during a match between Piper & HBK (maybe Bret & HBK?), the two nearly came to blows and I lost my little mind. Or the emergence of the Undertaker as a full-fledged face. Let's not forget Shawn Michaels throwing Marty Janetty threw a plate-glass window. Yes, all this happened with a span of three months and each Saturday morning, I was plopped on the couch in front of the television, counting down the seconds until Superstars began.
The thing about WrestleMania is that everything that happens leading up to the show becomes part of pro wrestling lore. Whether the build is good or bad, whether the show is good or bad or whether the business is in a down- or upswing, it still gets recalled. Because 10 years from now, you probably won't remember what happened at this year's Unforgiven or No Mercy. But you will remember what happened at WrestleMania. The WWE doesn't put the history of Backlash up and use it to get people excited. No, that's saved for WrestleMania. Everything that will happen in the next few weeks is historic by default. You will remember Donald Trump pushing Vince McMahon over. You'll remember the pop Stone Cold got upon his arrival.
It's funny because the NCAA Tournament mirrors the lead-up to WrestleMania in another way. The regular season in college basketball isn't totally meaningless but, other than diehards, not too many people pay attention. Some of the Cinderella's, the upstarts, that dominate March were ignored by everybody just a month ago. For the WWE, there is a lack of interest in the fall. Sometimes, there's even a lack of interest in the summer. But when spring rolls around, all those casual fans come back to the WWE like birds coming back north after migrating south for the winter. When the calendar hits March, wrestling fans know something's up and they should probably watch Raw.
This year, the potential is there for not only a great WrestleMania but some blowaway shows leading up to it. I was shocked to hear that Shawn Michaels is wrestling JBL next week or Cena is taking on Benoit. These are pay-per-view quality matches that I don't remember seeing and I'm certain HBK hasn't wrestled JBL since his return in 2002. I'm excited a full week before Raw even begins. That's entertainment. That's why I watch wrestling. That's why I spend my time writing these columns and scouring the Internet for rumors.
And my favorite part of the lead-in to WrestleMania is trying to decipher what matches are going to be on the big card. It's funny because a couple weeks ago I wrote about the impending break-up of Rated RKO and their match at WrestleMania as being a classic. But then the WWE expanded the Money in the Bank field to 8 and both Orton and Edge were in there. That sucked, I thought. I really wanted to see Edge face Orton. Then, towards the end of Raw, my prayers just might have been answered when Edge signed Orton up to face Umaga. I'm writing this Tuesday afternoon, you'll read this Wednesday and maybe I'm wrong again...or right again...but I think we're headed towards Edge/Orton at WrestleMania.
Why not wait until after WrestleMania? Because it won't mean as much then. Edge/Orton at Backlash would be fun. But Edge/Orton at WrestleMania is legendary and historic. That's the definition of madness: when a 20-something like myself can't stop but giddy over a wrestling match. Good times.
Check out TooMuchSports.com and my ongoing WrestleMania in Five series. I'm up to WrestleMania V as of Tuesday afternoon and will be posting a new one each day until WrestleMania 23.
