The best and worst thing about the WWE is that Vince McMahon has never been able to tell Vince McMahon, “No.” The owner of the WWE and its Chairman of the Board has been the cocky owner wrestler, and character he has always wanted to be – thus it has been his success and failure that has made the company other wrestling promotions have come to hate over the decades.
[adinserter block=”1″]To steal a phrase from Dan Patrick, Vince is “En Fuego” and wrestling outfits couldn’t stop him, they only hoped to contain him.
Now that we have gone through our little ESPN and Sports Center shtick, let’s just face facts, if WrestleMania 30 is to succeed in New Orleans, it will live and day by the covenant of the McMahons – the way ti should always be.
Over the last decade there has been such an ebb and flow of uneasiness of the event that it can all be linked to McMahon’s fertile and aging mind. Everything with the 68-year-old wrestling owner and sports entertainment mogul that he is actually betting against himself with every pay-per-view, every movie he produces with WWE superstars and the current reality series “Total Divas.” At some time, Vince is going to have to tell Vince to slow down – he’s moving too fast or in the wrong direction.
WrestleMania propels the worldwide commercial success of the WWE through media, merchandise and shows. All of the events produced, except for WrestleMania 13, have been sold out within a short period of time, with recent editions being sold out within minutes of tickets going on sale. The first WrestleMania was held in Madison Square Garden in New York City; the 10th and 20th editions were also held there. WrestleMania III in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan was the highest-attended indoor sports event in the world, with 93,173 fans in attendance.
At least when the NWA and WCW was running hot and blowing everything up at the hands of Jim Crockett and Dusty Rhodes, it could be said there was a level playing field between both organizations. Not anymore, my friends. So much rides on the fact Vince and the McMahons bought WCW, eliminating competition and creating a huge roadblock that maybe Vince did not foresee in the future, but it is the reason the current state of the company stinks and programs like “The Authority vs. Daniel Bryan” is not as demanding at it could have been had competition led to better writing and a sense of urgency that was once a staple of wrestling that we never talk about.
I have made the claim before that a wrestle chasing a title is often better at the moment of attack than the one holding the time title – mainly because the champion has to be beaten. There are many ways (and we all know them) of how a wrestler loses a match and retains the title. Most of them refer to a “Dusty Finish” or the “Flair way” or we can now call it “The Authority’s Way.” Either way the WWE is still in a spot because the fans are not getting what they want, but McMahon and his stable of writers and promoters are.
McMahon has no competition within his own company and “Red vs. Blue” branding only made us made in the end. The unification of the WWE World Title did nothing to show two operations could work within one wrestling promotion. Not enough storylines, not enough titles and not enough cross-promotion. It’s the way Vince has wanted it. It’s what Vince is left with. And it is what we the fans and the WWE Universe, have to deal with.
If the events of WrestleMania 30 do not live up to the hype, then the fans will continue its mass Exodus and the professional wrestling will continue its tumble.
[adinserter block=”2″]Disclaimer: For the next 30 days, this will be an ongoing series of stories as we move down the Road to WrestleMania. Follow Camel Clutch Blog writer/blogger David M. Levin as he talks about the history, the pageantry and the success and failures of the past when it comes to wrestling’s biggest events. The views of the writer are not necessarily the views of Camel Clutch Blog, and this series is intended to ramp up the excitement that is associated with WrestleMania XXX and the Crescent City of New Orleans. Please enjoy this new feature and any comments are most welcome.
Follow David on Twitter @davidlevin71
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