The Good
Wrestlers Becoming Stars out of the Ring
Highlighted by Stacy Keibler becoming a celebrity, several other wrestling stars have become a part of mainstream culture. Candice Michelle made a big splash early in the year with her Playboy appearance and Go Daddy.com Super Bowl commercial. Kane starred in a “hit” movie, and Maven appeared on The Surreal Life. Due to the success of Hogan Knows Best, Brooke has landed a major record deal. The second half of this year will feature John Cena in his first movie, The Rock back on the silver screen and Brooke Hogan trying to launch her singing career. On the reality TV front, Hogan Knows Best will return with a third season and Chyna will be on a Real World All Star Challenge Show.
Is Wrestling About to Enter a New Boom Period?
The WWE has recently relaunched ECW and now has first run TV programming on three nights a week. A year ago at this time, TNA had no national television deal. The return of Saturday Night’s Main Event in March gave the WWE a chance to be seen by an NBC primetime audience for the first time in almost two decades. Wall Street has been going crazy about the WWE and the stock price and dividends paid reflect this.
The Wellness Program
In light of Eddie Guerrero’s death and a scary incident involving Eugene, the WWE decided to start a wellness programming. The program appears to be working as it is heavily rumored that two of the younger WWE stars that are currently are dealing with some issues that they might not have if not for the testing. In addition, many veterans have had to take some time off to let their bodies heal naturally. As much as I would like to see these athletes in the ring, it is far more important that they take care of themselves the right way and avoid the trap that has led to the horrible fate that far too many wrestlers suffer. It is rumored that TNA will soon conduct their own blood testing program to see if any of the wrestlers have and diseases that can be transferred via blood.
The Bad
Too Many Losses
Hopefully, the WWE Wellness program will have a positive affect on this problem but for too many wrestlers the program has started too late. So far this year, the world has lost Ricky Romero, El Texano, Emory Hale, Jay Pallo, Johnny Grunge, Earthquake, & Luke Graham.
Ted Turner Doesn’t Get Back Into Wrestling
With his 5 year non-compete clause over, many figured that Ted Turner would get back into wrestling and in the process reignite the Monday Night Wars which led to the popularity of wrestling in the 90’s. Instead, Ted Turner wound up stepping down from his post at Time Warner.
Lionel Tate
Lionel Tate was back in the news for another alleged criminal activity. Wrestling fans will recognize this jerk as the youngster who killed a little girl and claimed that he was just doing what he saw in the wrestling ring. His criminal actions and pathetic excuse for his behavior led to major problems for both the WWE and WCW in the late 90’s.
