The day the joke died

In the grand spectrum of the wrestling industry, Nelson Frazier, Jr. was nothing substantial.  Most people have no idea who Nelson Frazier, Jr. was, including myself, because we remembered him as names such as “(King) Mabel,” “Viscera,” or “Big Daddy V.”  Some might even classify him as a glorified jobber, since he never held a major world championship, or even a mid-tier championship, and frankly, did his fair share of jobs throughout the majority of his career.

In spite of his marginally accomplished career, the news of Viscera’s passing still prompts me to write something about it, because the existence of Viscera was always something of a positive note in my life, and to actually lose him now is somewhat of a sour note worth sharing a few words about.

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Being a fan again

The ending to this past week’s Smackdown was probably the best ending to a Smackdown there has ever been since the program came on the air in 1999.  Never in a million years would I have actually thought that [don’t-call-him-Antonio] Cesaro would get a clean win over Randy Orton, no matter how much I preferred Cesaro over Orton any day of the week.  I totally expected Orton to kick out of the Neutralizer and hit some hackneyed RKO out of nowhere for an infuriating victory.

But he didn’t kick out, and Cesaro got a clean win on national television.

I actually came out of my seat at that moment and pumped my fist at that.  I’m 31-years old and cheering over the result of a professional wrestling match.

As a fan, I think this was a win on the level of Benoit winning the world title almost ten years ago for me.  Seriously.

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WWE Power Rankings going into Wrestlemania season

Apparently, it’s a good thing I didn’t see the Royal Rumble, because the general consensus from scuttlebutt is that it was pretty much the worst show on the planet, worse than last year’s Wrestlemania, the fans were unhappy all over the internet, and from the sounds of it, the fans at the venue were none too pleased either. Thinking back to the results, the heel(s) won every single match, and piggy backing onto the notion that HHH cronies always benefit, it’s a valid complaint seeing as how the New Age Outlaws took the tag belts, Randy Orton retained the World titles and Batista won the actual Royal Rumble. Hell, even Kevin Nash made a little appearance coin by being a surprise entrant in the Rumble. From the smarky perspective, it makes sense why there’s a lot of unrest amongst “the Universe.”

But I’m not here to talk about the unrest, or Mick Foley’s (IMO worked shoot) Facebook post that is taking the smark interwebs by storm. I’m here to be a little more backhanded and indirect, and I’ve got nothing else to write, so this seemed like as good as anything to write since it’s intriguing to me today.

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Okay, that was pretty awesome

I rarely watch RAW live, because I’m a bad wrestling fan, and I prefer to watch RAW after it’s been DVR’d, so that I can skip the 64 minutes worth of commercials during the three-hour program, most of which are conveniently tucked in the middle of matches. I’ve become quite the expert at anticipating when they’ll happen based on Michael Cole’s choice of words, when someone conveniently gets thrown out of the ring, and that it’s usually seven clicks of the 30 seconds ahead before I’m right back into the action where the heel is almost undoubtedly in control of the match when TV resumes.  It’s also handy for skipping matches from untalented, formulaic, or just plain boring wrestlers like Santino Marella, the Great Khali and Randy Orton, and the seemingly weekly/monthly Alberto del Rio versus Sin Cara/Hunico-in-a-mask match.

Needless to say, I do a boatload of skipping when I do watch RAW, because I’m a bad wrestling fan apparently.

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The biggest diva of Total Divas

Yes, I admit I watch Total Divas.  To some, this shouldn’t be much of a surprise, given the fact that I’ve been a fan of professional wrestling pretty much my entire life.  From the kid who used to believe that it was all real, to the smarky, kayfabe-wise adult I am now that knows the whole thing is all scripted and pre-determined, but no less enjoyable from varying other aspects.

Anyway, I knew I would end up watching Total Divas, because I’m a wrestling fan, and even though it’s a show aimed at a primarily female audience, I was pretty sure that I wasn’t going to be the only guy around who ended up watching it, because frankly, WWE Divas are pleasant on the eyes, and who wouldn’t want to see some eye candy?  Furthermore, and as full of shit as it might sound, I just like the idea of getting a glimpse of the supposed reality of the wrestling industry as well, even if it was going to come from the divas’ perspective, primarily.

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I hope I’m wrong about this

But upon finally watching the conclusion of last week’s RAW, I’m going to say that the steam has just been released out of the Daniel Bryan/Randy Orton/Best for Business storyline.  When Orton confronted Brie Bella in the back was one thing, but as soon as Brie Bella ran out to ringside to helplessly plead with Orton and then watch him beat down on Daniel Bryan, the entire storyline to me, went from one that was a test to see if Bryan Danielson the performer, could hold the WWE’s torch in a time of need, to one that is now being used to conveniently hype the continuation of Total Divas.

I really hope I’m wrong about it, because as a fan, the rise of Daniel Bryan is the best thing that has happened to the WWE in quite some time.  This is the first year in numerous years where wrestling has managed to keep a hold of my attention on weekly basis throughout an entire baseball season, and I’m making conscious efforts to keep up with weekly shows, even if I am DVR-skipping most of the actual action, just to see where the storylines are going.  Because that’s what’s the best thing about wrestling now – the interesting storylines.

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Positive ambivalence

Earlier in the week, Darren Young, a current active WWE wrestler, came out of the closet and announced that he is gay, when he was approached by a meddling paparazzo at an airport.  Admittedly, it’s funny to watch how the paparazzo probably thought he could corner Young into an uncomfortable situation with a loaded question, only for this admission to happen, and completely turn the tables on him.

But the point remains, it’s somewhat notable that a WWE wrestler would come out of the closet while still currently active and fairly regularly used on television, considering that just about every wrestler or other professional athlete who also admit to being gay, all waited until their careers were already over and in the past before doing so.

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