My goodness, how long ago does Wrestlemania seem already!? Despite the WWE’s attempts to link everything they could at Backlash with WM24, the night felt far detached from the bright lights of the Citrus Bowl. It’s a shame that there is so little time to take in what happened at the biggest event of the year. Before you could blink, the following evening’s episode of Raw has happened and laid the foundations for the coming weeks programming. Even during the show itself, the WWE were promoting next month’s pay-per-view, already looking to their next big money event. As a consequence nothing lasts in wrestling anymore, one day JBL is just about beating Finlay in a ‘Belfast Brawl’ (denying poor Finlay and Hornswoggle any redemption over Layfield whatsoever) the next JBL is in a top line feud and on course to headline Backlash with Cena, Orton and Triple H. Worst of all for me though is the lack of closure you get from being a wrestling fan and this has led me to think maybe it’s time the WWE had an off-season?

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I’d like to make a survey asking fans of professional wrestling why it is that they watch it. I wonder how many of them would answer because it’s a form of combat? I only wonder about this because over the last 3 or 4 years I’ve become increasingly perplexed at the close proximity of sports-entertainment and the ever-growing world of Mixed Martial Arts. Now I admit to not knowing an awful lot about MMA just that, having given it a go, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not for me. I don’t have anything against its brutality or its violence and I have no other ethical or moral qualms with it. My problem with MMA is that it keeps infringing on publications, programmes, websites and other media outlets that were originally professional wrestling in theme. Read the rest of this entry »

Ever since I was very young and watched my first WWE (F as it was at the time) pay-per-view, Royal Rumble 1994, I had always wanted to see it live. The way Vince McMahon would assure everybody that the arena had gone cold when The Undertaker came out and the fan reaction to Bret Hart’s entrance into the Royal Rumble were unforgettable, I couldn’t possibly imagine what it would be like to be at such a show. As I grew up I grew ever more cynical but that initial desire to see the WWE in the flesh always stuck with me. Read the rest of this entry »