Posted in: Just Business Just Business #31 - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
By 'Plan
Jun 5, 2009 - 4:12:20 PM
#31
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
My name is ‘Plan and I am the loyal type. My pride never gets in the way of doing whatever I’m asked to do. I don’t have much of an ego and when I say I care for something, when I love something, I mean it. I won’t pay lip service to look like something I’m not and I won’t get persuaded by pound signs (vote Team UK!) or bribed by guarantees; promises, after all, more often than not get broken, especially in our little world.
A man’s loyalty is a powerful thing to possess. To be able to steal it from under the nose of your competition is a weapon with potentially devastating consequences. In war time, defections can lead to costly ventures for the old side and save the new side from total failure. It can save a man’s career when timed to perfection and cost him his legacy when misjudged.
Defection is a powerful weapon.
“Drainage! Drainage Eli, you boy!”
In the 1990s our world was at war. It raged in every corner of the globe leaving no stone, no nut or cranny untouched. The realms of possibility were readjusted, the status quo shifted, the soldier’s bodies pushed to new limits that previously none imagined possible…or condonable.
No man or woman or even child was immune to this war. It affected them all. Children would lose their heroes to the enemy and be forced to defect with them or to place their loyalties on some unknown trooper of the line. The women and the men were faced every day with what can be described only as a choice unenviable in its nature. At every turn there were new contracts being offered, shoved under their noses with more clauses in them that were worth reading.
Some did defect to the enemy during the course of the war. One man did so after having established a legacy not solely confined to his own nation. It spanned the globe and crossed borders. His reputation preceded him wherever he went and often other men would speak his name in a whisper of fear, a bark of resentment or a swell of admiration and respect. He could not be pushed to the back on defecting; his name was already engrained in the history books. His presence could not go ignored. It didn’t. In his new nation he swelled to greater heights and achieved, depending on one’s perspective, new fame or infamy. He stopped being a hero, turning on those that adored him with great vehemence, becoming one of the “bad guys”. He pulled more strings among his superiors and peers than ever before until soon, even those in his own nation, those that called themselves his allies grew to resent Hulk Hogan’s defection. But he was not alone.
War breeds fear; men and women alike fear for their lives. Often times, that fear can get the better of them, make them obey orders without question. We are told that Sharpe captured an eagle of Imperial France. We know that Alundra Blayze took with her upon her defection an eagle of the imperial Federation. She proceeded to spit on its credibility and what was once a shining beacon of a nation became nothing more than junk in a trash can. It was a deadly blow. Defection can be a powerful weapon.
But it was a two way street. In every war, every side teeters to and from the brink of extinction and defeat. War can breed dissatisfaction; poor morale on the front lines and back home. Some desert the ranks never to be seen again, disillusioned with their role in the world while others will seek their fortunes and smile at the enemy and defect, hoping for something better across the border. Four men did so and while two would fade mostly into obscurity talking to mops and relegated to being back up, two would charge with the front lines and eventually become generals in their own right carrying with them on their shoulders the two greatest medals of honour that could be awarded in the post war world. Their defection was yet one more killing blow in the final phase of a war going badly for a tarnished and broken nation.
Like all wars, this one ended when the enemy was crushed without mercy, defeated and left broken. Some were lucky and found their enemy was waiting with welcome arms; on arrival, many paid the price for not defecting earlier and while few hung on to their spot hoping for their new home to turn around and become warm and welcoming others gave up, broke down or simply got thrown out.
If only they had proven their loyalty to the winning side earlier. If only they had defected.
“Drained dry, I’m so sorry.”
When you get men to defect, you have in your hands a very powerful weapon. You can drain your enemies dry until they have nothing left, put them under siege until they are faced with the horrendous choice of eating up the rats in the gutter, holding them up as their last possible saviour in a venture poorly executed.
But the thing with weapons is that they don’t discriminate. You put a gun in the hands of a man with good intentions and he may just about cling to his morals through his new found power and put that gun to a worthy cause, if there can be such a thing with weapons. A police officer uses the power of the gun to serve and to protect.
Put a gun in the hands of a man with bad intentions and the result would be decidedly similar. Kill, steal, maim, rape, pillage, whatever the outcome it will not be a pleasant one. A murderer uses the power of the gun to succeed and to destroy.
When our world was at war there were many casualties, including many men’s egos. But perhaps the most notable of all those slain by the two nations at war was a third nation, trampled over and forgotten to be a cause worth fighting for as the super-powers wielded whatever they could to slaughter their enemy and come out the victor. That nation’s name was ECW.
Many have often pondered just what it was that killed ECW. Was it the small fan base? Unlikely. If left untouched, even with its niche population, ECW would have prospered and remained steady through the years. Perhaps it could have become more of a force to be reckoned with, perhaps it would have remained obscure to many outside Philadelphia but it would have survived thanks to those remaining fiercely loyal to their chosen nation. You know you have truly earned the admiration of a man when he will shout your name amidst a field of the enemy.
Was it that the world was not ready for their radicalism, for their vicious give no quarter violence? Doubtful. More often than not, something comes along to shake up the status quo and sometimes that will be something radical, something unseen, something new and controversial that garners attention and captures the imagination. ECW may not have been the prettiest mistress to have in your basement, but she was certainly the one most ready to please; just so happens, those can often be the dirtiest mistresses of them all.
So just what did kill ECW? What made them bankrupt, turning a steady sailing ship into a sinking wreck, now forgotten and recreated in an image totally removed from what it once looked like? Why, drainage of course.
ECW was a nation with a loyal population; its army, however, had been given the choice of remaining loyal and standing on deck as their vessel sunk or of jumping overboard, swinging over to the enemy and accepting a place aboard that ship. Some remained where they were on the ladder, others prospered to become generals with more power than they ever possessed in their little forgotten nation and others were relegated to scrubbing the decks before the Captain came on board or hoisting the rigging ready for others to clamber up it and pass them by without so much of a nod or a wink or a rub on the shoulder.
The survival of those soldiers led to the death of their former home and the destruction of their home nation. Now that nation has faded into obscurity, sank into the ocean of history, our own little Atlantis. And all because of defections, loyalties bought with sacks of green bills and empty promises, all because of drainage, a weapon that, when used for bad, can kill anyone it’s aimed at. And slowly, at that.
“Here, if you have a milkshake, and I have a milkshake, and I have a straw....”
History is often written by the victors. It is more the case than not. Some may view that as unfortunate but no one ever got anywhere dwelling on the right and wrong of things. We must take what we have and put it to use as best we can lest we stand still and stagnant and let the days pass us by one by one.
The victor in this case is of course the only real super-power left alive in The World; World Wrestling Entertainment. Their monopoly is far reaching and all powerful and at any time it is an empire that can bring its imperial fist crashing down on any rebel faction it wishes too. It may not target that nation’s government but it can always buy out the only men fighting the good fight for said nation. It can use drainage to suck that nation dry and leave it a frail crumbling mess with no choice but to accept domination.
World Wrestling Entertainment may not be “good guys” but they will certainly paint themselves to look that way in their own history; that history, whether we like it or not, is the most relevant to have in this day and age. So let us presume that they are the good guys.
Much like Rome, McMahon’s empire has grown so large and vast it must be split into two smaller kingdoms, each ruled by their own seat of power, a third fiefdom out on the fringes trying to get noticed. The kingdoms are separate in many ways but will forever be joined together by a bond of brotherhood, forced to look out for one another and stop them from sinking like ECW once sank before them.
And so even in times of peace, the good guys can put their weapon of drainage to good use, to help keep nations alive, not kill them. Sometimes a kingdom will find itself depleted, plagued by desertion, injury, mistakes, sometimes in the most unfortunate circumstances even fatality. But McMahon is always watching and when one kingdom starts to sink the other steps in, lending resources, lending soldiers, voluntarily draining itself to keep its brother alive.
It is too easy in this day and age to be left sitting on your laurels and accepting the world for a dark and dingy place, a reality of endless pessimism and bad luck, if any luck at all. Yet every cloud has a silver lining. Sometimes it shines brighter, sometimes one has to look really hard to find it but in this case, that silver lining is that weapons don’t discriminate.
Drainage can be used to kill but it can also be used to save. It saved the Blue Kingdom a couple of years ago when their soldiers were left exhausted, depleted and stale. The Red Kingdom drained itself of a major general and that general went on to carry his new home to victory and success on his shoulders alone. Now what was once a younger sibling struggling to stay alive, is a place thriving with strength, talent and entertainment; a true breath of fresh air.
Drainage may be a weapon used to great evils by the bad, but is also one that can be used for a great deal of good by those looking to succeed in times of peace, looking to stay alive and stay fresh. Sometimes a man’s loyalty belongs to the greater good; scope is a beautiful thing.
“And my straw reaches acrooooss the room and starts to drink your milkshake….”
Even in times of peace, minor conflicts spark up that barely get noticed. The ignorant few may believe in freedom of speech and the freedom of the press, but those who can see the world for what it really is know we only get told what we need to hear to react accordingly.
The modern age sees a monopoly in our little world and while power rests firmly in the hands of the nation of the WWE, there are those wanting to get noticed and build their own power; scope is as beautiful as aspiration can be dangerous.
Rome wasn’t built in day but it did fall pretty quickly when it was on top. All it took was that one enemy who timed it well and attacked when it was least expected. Absolute power crumbles absolutely. Everything that has a beginning has an end.
The point of this diatribe? The point of those one liners? Competition is beginning to build and it is not being nipped in the bud. It is being allowed to grow, to prosper, to think and to thrive. Why? Why would McMahon not nip any potential problems in the bud when it is easiest to kill them off? Is he too preoccupied with his empire’s own internal problems? Or is he too overconfident? Too ignorant perhaps?
The sad fact is his enemies are killing themselves, especially his biggest potential threat. They tried to use the weapon that has been used so successfully in the past, they’ve tried to drain the competition to build up a plethora of renowned generals. Angle, Sting, Foley, Steiner, Nash, Team 3D and many more besides have all shown their loyalty to this new nation. On first glimpse, it seems defections to TNA are bound to benefit.
The problem is when you drink too much, you drown. TNA is drowning, drowning in their own misplaced optimism and foolhardy mistakes. Their obsession of taking any meandering free agents, any renowned generals with no allegiance left to the one super-power has led them to believe in an immunity that they do not posses. These newly loyal veteran generals are leading the way in their world weary bodies that are breaking apart at the seams while the fresh faces, the next generation, the ones truly loyal to the TNation are being left to wallow in the background, twiddling their thumbs and whistling while the dogs of war so easily persuaded by fortune and fame take their spots at the front.
More often than not war is a driving force for progression. Sadly, without it there is a tendency for progression to stop, for the world to become stale and unmoving. Many claim our world has dwindled into such a state with no power left to challenge the monopolising empire up top, no man to stand up and take a knife to McMahon’s throat and make him fight his most desperate fight yet.
A world mired in stagnancy is truly a tragedy, least of all because war must break out for anything to move forwards and war incites with it casualties, injury and mistakes that plague men’s souls for the rest of their lives. But here, in this case, the real tragedy is that the one nation that has the potential to stand up to the power that has ruled so ruthlessly for almost a decade now, the one nation with growing exposure and growing strength has become tangled up in its own greed to drink other rivers dry. As a result it, like many nations before it, has dwindled into nothing short of a sinking ship doomed to wallow in the depths with Davey Jones and the rest.
There is always hope. There is always a rebel faction struggling forwards to develop its own nation. There is always ROH.
“I…DRINK…YOUR…MILKSHAKE!”
A man’s loyalty is a powerful thing to possess. Defections in times of war can make or break nations entirely. What here has been called drainage is a weapon with immense power; it has wiped nations from the map, it has saved kingdoms from terminal disease and, unfortunately, it is leading to the slow death of the only nation currently looking to be on course to challenge the one super-power that has ruled unchallenged with an iron fist for almost a decade now. It is a weapon that can be used for good, a weapon that can be used for bad and a weapon that, when used without adequate sense or knowledge, can become down right ugly.
I’m not a prophet and I’m not a soothsayer. I can’t tell the future and given the choice I don’t think I would want to. What I do know is that nothing lasts forever, not even Vince McMahon and his empire. War brings out the skewed best of a man, the worst parts of his nature and sadly it is that which leads to progress. Progress leads to revitalisation and renewed interest.
War may be the only thing left to breathe life back into an industry fledgling to find its former glory. The competition is going nowhere fast, a victim of its own zeal, but we can simply hope that one day, hopefully some year soon, one nation will rise up from the murky depths and challenge the might of the WWE Empire.
But until that day PlanFans, until the gauntlet is laid down, I will remain ‘Plan and I will carry on writing these columns.
(Author’s Note: This column is dedicated to JohnnyBoomerang for his creativity and inspiration; may a bright future await you my friend.)
Written with thanks to “There Will Be Blood” from which the quotes used here are derived.
Feedback to: planm4n@hotmail.co.uk
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