"I am your density...I mean your destiny."--George McFly
Isn't it interesting how often the word "destiny" is thrown around in the world of wrestling? I mean, really, it wasn't Randy Orton's destiny to defeat the Undertaker at SummerSlam anymore than it was my destiny to take a shower this morning. Of course, you could make the case that both of those things were planned, but planning alone does not make destiny. Hell, even if wrestling wasn't a fake sport and there were people winning and losing real matches, I'm not convinced that a victory by Orton over Taker could be considered a result of destiny. It would simply be one guy defeating the other and, along with the result of their Wrestlemania match, lead to a rubber match between the two. It has nothing at all to do with destiny. I suppose it's fair to say that a win like this propels the third generation star in the eyes of wrestling fans, but so did his victories over Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, Shelton Benjamin, Chris Benoit, Ric Flair, and Batista. If he obtained a victory over Triple H in their feud, I'm sure that did, as well; I honestly don't remember if Orton ever scored one on The Game. But it wasn't destiny that led Orton to these victories, it was booking. As a side note, Orton didn't destroy the Undertaker's legacy, he simply defeated him in a match.
Destiny isn't something you can plan, it isn't something you can look forward to and say, "I'm going to do this; it's going to happen." Destiny is always a function of the past. For an example of this, look at Raven. When Raven first joined TNA, he claimed that it was his destiny to defeat Jeff Jarrett for the NWA World Championship. He finally won the title in May of this year, which means that it took him over two years to achieve this goal, and even then it wasn't obtained the way he claimed it would be, as Jeff Jarrett--arrogant cock that he is--refused to take part in the match. Even so, Raven cried in the locker room before the match when he learned that he was being put over. But was this because of destiny? Possibly, he could believe--as I do--that it is his destiny to lead the company towards it's goal of eventual competition with the WWF. But, it certainly wasn't because Scott Levy truly believed it was his destiny to win the World Title. He has a passion for the business, he knows the history of the National Wrestling Alliance and it's championship, and he was proud that he was going to become the next holder of it. Those are the reasons I believe he shed those tears, not because the man truly believed the character's destiny was being fulfilled.
Is it simply a trick of the language that density and destiny have exactly the same letters and are so very close in spelling? Or is it something more? Is it ka or God or whomever/whatever is running things having a bit of fun with us? Who knows? But, I do believe that those of us that believe we know our own destiny are dense and make fools of ourselves for others to laugh at. It's a lot easier for an outsider to see how the course of our lives is going, because they aren't stuck smack in the middle of it. Of course, Randall K. Orton and Scott Levy themselves probably don't believe in the destiny that they spout off about in character, and rather are just playing the role. But what if they did? Is wrestling big enough for destiny to truly apply? How important does one have to be to meet their demise and be assassinated rather than being murdered and dying as a result? How big do you need to get to have fulfilled your destiny, rather than simply living out your life? I don't know, but I submit to you that we, as wrestling fans, often believe we know how great a wrestler is going to get or can be, and we're not always right.
"I'm in a wonderful position; I'm unknown, I'm underrated, and there's nowhere to go but up."--Pierre S. Dupont IV
We can make judgment calls about destiny and, of course, sometimes these are realized. On the other hand, sometimes they aren't. At the beginning of the 1990's, I can think of three wrestlers that people believed were going to be the heirs to Ric Flair. The first was "Stunning" Steve Austin. Upon entering the organization that at the time was reorganizing into World Championship Wrestling, Austin was accompanied by a beautiful valet named Lady Blossom, who was actually the ex-wife of Chris Adams, wore a maroon and black robe with the moniker "Stunning Steve" on the back of it, and strutted very arrogantly down to the ring. With his mane of blond hair, he seemed exactly like Ric Flair. He didn't wrestle a lot like Flair, though he was a strong technician, but given his look, attitude, and mic skills, it seemed certain that he was going to become the next in the Nature Boy's line. Fast-forward 14 years and this first impression has been proven wrong in many ways. Austin was closer to being his generation's Hulk Hogan than Ric Flair in terms of popularity, merchandise sales, drawing ability, and worldwide recognition. He was like Flair in the sense that he is well-known for strong ring performances also, but he proved himself to be a different beast all-together really than any who have come before. He was the first anti-hero in wrestling to make it big.
When Shawn Michaels was wrestling as a member of the Rockers, his talent was evident, but it certainly never seemed to the majority of fans that he was going to become one of the biggest solo stars in the world. Of course, at that time it wasn't as commonplace as it is now to split up tag teams. There was a time, led by the Road Warriors, when tag team wrestling was every bit as much of a fuel for the industry as single's work was and, although Jannetty and Michaels never held the tag titles together, they were certainly a vibrant part of the big tag era of the World Wrestling Federation. But that team was broken up when Shawn kicked Marty in the face and threw him through the window of The Barbershop in what's still one of my biggest mark-out moments of all time. As soon as he took this action, became The Heart Break Kid, and starting having lights-out performances, IWC fans(not columnists, there weren't any then) were lining up to predict that he was going to be the next in the Flair line. Shawn has defied these experts by becoming unclassifiable. Like Austin, he became truly different from anyone that came before, and basically pioneered--at least in the States- the death-defying style that guys such as Rob Van Dam and AJ Styles have made a living performing since. The only things Michaels really has in common with Ric Flair are his flamboyance and influence. As Vince McMahon has said many times, there's only one Shawn Michaels, and he's not a copy of anyone.
Which leads us to Hunter Hearst Helmsley, a man who has been on the shit list of internet wrestling fans for a few years now. Over the last 18 months, he's done what he can to make new stars for the business, and I salute him for it, but when I watch the guy perform, he's certainly more of a throwback than just about anyone else in the industry is. He plays the part of the arrogant heel to a tee, uses an almost entirely mat-based offense, anddespite the claims that Evolution was about generations, it was far more like this generation's Four Horsemen. Sure, it was more like a Mongo-Benoit-Flair-Anderson version than the great ones of many years ago, but it was like the Horsemen nonetheless in that they were lying, cheating scoundrels watching each other's back and doing everything necessary to make sure Triple H won and retained the World Title, much like the Horsemen used to do for Flair. Trips is great on the mic, dresses sharply, and is a solid technical wrestler who's not afraid to cheat, yet often focuses on one body part to work on during the course of a match. In case all this evidence isn't enough for you that he is for all intents and purposes this generation's version of Ric Flair, feature this: Triple H has been a world champion 10 times now. Only two men have held more world titles than that; Hulk Hogan and Triple H's mentor, the sixteen time World Champion, Ric Flair.
This all goes to show that although there were three men who were proclaimed as destined to be the heir to Ric Flair, only one did, in fact, become that. All three have had phenomenal success in the sport of kings, of course. Austin generated more revenue for professional wrestling than anybody not named Hulk Hogan and started the most recent boom the wrestling business has had. Shawn Michaels set a new level for in-ring performance and became an icon by being what the organization has needed, a shining superstar giving everything he has to each and every match and truly making himself into the Showstoppa. Triple H hasn't had the commercial success that Michaels or Austin have, but I'd argue that's not what he wanted. He grew up with Flair as his hero and apparently he was the one man destined to follow in his footsteps. This would seem to indicate that more people were wrong about the successor to Flair than were right. That's no great surprise, as all we can do is guess, not actually know what fate has in store.
" 'We hope you enjoy your stay in Chicago or wherever your final destination may be.' All destinations are final. That's what it means. Destiny: final. If you haven't gotten where you're going, you aren't there yet."--George Carlin
Even with all evidence to the contrary that the wrestling-loving public has a great ability to predict the destiny of wrestlers, I am going to finish with trying to predict how the careers are going to proceed for some of today's current stars, and we'll see--in time--if I'm any better a prognosticator than those who came before me. I'm going to start with the current World Heavyweight Champion. Batista is an interesting phenomenon, as he's gone from hated to loved in about a year's time by a lot of wrestling fans with no discernible change in his wrestling style or demeanor. He's got a big, bruising power game and that's about it. Presumably, the "fan darling" status that's befallen this guy has a lot to do with folks wanting a future star, and cheering his turn against the hated Triple H, because I just don't see a lot of depth to the man they call The Animal. I don't see a bright future in store for Dave Batista. He has no variety to what he does. He is a one dimensional, forward-always power machine, and while you can get over on having two big moves, it's unlikely you can stay over for long that way. Batista in a lot of ways seems like the Ultimate Warrior 2K5. A quick build, dominant victories, and the rare jobbing of the biggest star in the promotion were what put them both at the top, and Batista's even got the rope-shaking thing down pat. Dave's a lot easier to understand on the mic than Warrior ever was, but that's not going to be enough to keep him in favor with the audience. This guy's in for a hard fall, and will probably need a heel turn to recover from it.
What an interesting 17 months it's been for Shelton Benjamin. In March of 2004, he and Charlie Haas were still being billed as The World's Greatest Tag Team and he was a multiple time WWF Tag Team Champion. The next month he was drafted over to RAW and surprised many, including yours truly, by displaying an immense personality, talent, and charisma that was either subdued or simply not in evidence when he was in the former Team Angle. It was obvious he had talent, but it certainly seemed that it blossomed tremendously when he was able to show it on the solo level. He defeated Triple H three times in three weeks and defeated him again later in the year, before finally losing to Trips early this year, and was the second guy to benefit from the attitude adjustment of The Game that allowed him to start putting over others and being a star-maker. Since then, Benjamin has been phenomenal to the point that he's become one of my, if not my absolute, favorite wrestlers to watch. While people put him down for his mic work, he's young and that will come with experience. I think Shelton Benjamin's destiny is to become the next minority WWF Champion and the best pure black wrestler in the history of the WWF. I hate to make it about race, but I think he's going to be the man to break the barrier that Butch Reed, Ron Simmons, Ahmed Johnson, Kamala, and Booker T couldn't.
I'll be finishing this piece by talking about John Cena. After all, what would a destiny column for current stars be without possibly the biggest star in the industry right now? This guy appears to me to be the next in the line of the WWF performers who've become cross-over stars. Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, The Rock, John Cena. That's the list, and he proved at SummerSlam and the next night on RAW that he belongs on it. I've had my doubts about Cena, it's true. Not about his mic skills or his charisma, but about his work ethic. I think Randy Orton's an asshole and injury prone, but it's pretty obvious to me that The Legend Killer has been working his butt off to get better in the ring and really learn how to be a pro wrestling star, while Cena's been content to remain at his current skill level. Whether it's because he was working with Chris Jericho or because he finally gets it, the Doctah has been at another level in the last 3 to 4 weeks, and again that culminated for me in his two matches against Y2J. The guy put on a show that was at the same level as some of The Rock's best matches, and that's more than I really felt we could hope for; it only got better this past RAW when he was intense as all fuck in his promo against Kurt Angle. I don't think Cena's going to be the biggest star in the history of the industry, but I do think that he's the next go-to guy to carry the WWF. It's obvious they're trying to push him as the next Stone Cold with his feud against Eric Bischoff, and he's doing well at that, as well, proving he's got the chops. Hopefully, they'll tone that down a little now, though, because I think a personal feud with Angle is what Cena really needs to rubber stamp his status as THE star of the promotion. And a Wrestlemania feud against the Showstoppa wouldn't hurt, either.
Long days, pleasant nights
Constant Readers
The one thing I will surely miss from my tenure in the Columns Forum is reading and replying to all the feedback that I've received over the years. Praise and criticism have helped me become the writer that I am in equal measures. While I can't correspond here as I would there, I offer this: I will choose the best 2 to 4 pieces of feedback I get, whether by e-mail to XanManX@hotmail.com, by PM, or by leaving me feedback in the LOP Feedback Forum. Those pieces will receive full or partial posting(depending on circumstance) right here and a public response to each. For those that don't get selected for that, I will do my best to respond to each one of you that lets me know what you think, whether good, bad, or indifferent. This week, I'm simply going to mention some comments from my column in the ECW Tourney mentioned above and respond to them.
Big Brotherwrites:
I loved X-men. I loved their comics, I loved the movies and the videogame that came out not too long ago is the first one not to suck ass (The X-Men serie is known for it's very low quality...). The way you talked about these guys and then you tried to link this with wrestling and how masked men were used but the mask wasn't supopsed to overshadow their talent, they should shine through the mask. I loved it. The link between X-Men and wrestling wasn't strong but I liked it. Now, I just hope you didn't think you had to talk about Superman and Batman. I didn't have a disclaimer saying that those poorly chosen titles were the result of wayyyyyyyyyy to many hours without sleep... But that's besides the point. Great job.
No man, I knew the rules, I just wanted to state that because it's the way I feel. Superman's a pussy and Wolverine rocks the ass. You're right, it wasn't a strong link, but I wasn't in love with the topic. Thing is, I subjected myself to writing about the topic you assigned to me and I had to roll with it, so to find my way into the groove, I used the one thing I really know masks from: comics. And, what's the best superhero comic ever? X-Men.
1,000,000 BC writes:
Xan: This column was about half comics/half wrestling, which is fine, but only helped draw the line between the cartoonishness and thus unbelievability of masked wrestlers. It helped prove your point.
Cactus Jack in WCW was over. Period. People may not have recognized him without the mask, but he was over. Still, the mask gave him a fresh start, which again added to your point.
Yes, BC, Cactus Jack was over as hell in WCW, but I contend that a large part of the audience that watched the WWF didn't watch WCW and vice versa. Personally, until the NWO came into the Turner organization in 1996, I far preferred what the WWF had to offer. While I tried to catch WCW, as well, it never appealed to me the way the WWF did. And I think part of the reason the WWF appealed to me more was the characters and the comic style atmosphere.
jeff writes:
Well, that was an awesome column man. I liked how you tyed in the subject of comics in with your column and linked it to wrestling. Really awesome stuff. Even though I'm too young for X-men (I've seen the movies) I understood how you were trying to link it.
I loved the final paragraph to the column as well. I have to agree, talent will be the deciding factor in whether or not a wrestler will succeed, masked or not.
Thank you. As I said to BC, I felt that was my only way into the topic, but I'm glad it increased your enjoyment of the column. As far as X-Men goes, it's never too early to start. You can pick up the graphic novels pretty cheap; probably $20 to $25. I'd recommend the Dark Phoenix Saga, as that's likely what X-3 will focus on. I think that last paragraph was a microcosm of my column.
Jayamel writes:
Xandertaker, drawing the comic book comparison was a wise choice, especially when you think of the history of masked wrestler in lucha libre. While I agree with some that your comic book analysis was a bit much (Was it really necessary to explain to us the basic metaphor of the X-Men?), focusing on Wolverine was brilliant. I actually think you could rewrite this into a much better piece. My suggestion, draw your orginal point out more that Batman wheres the mask and Superman doesn't, yet, against what you would instinctively think, Batman is a much more compelling character. Then you could transition to Wolverine, as you did, as the middle ground between a masked and unmasked superhero, proving your point that the mask doesn't make the character. Then you could apply your point to pro wrestling as you did.
Actually, the basic metaphor of the X-Men probably wasn't necessary for this particular column, I agree. If I ever want to draw a line connecting professional wrestling to the world of Marvel Comics, though, that would be a good place to start. I had that in there because I feel both the X-books and the WWF take chances in trying to deal with real-life issues, though the WWF does tend to stereotype them far more. Interesting suggestion as to another way to go with the same style, but clearly I'm not going to re-write the column. This is likely a topic I never would have tackled in the first place if it hadn't been assigned me by the Tourney creator, Big Brother. Thanks for the solid feedback, JML.
You can send any comments by email to me at XanManX@hotmail.com with the words "Northern Star" or "feedback" in the subject line or you can click here to leave feedback if you're a member of The Lop Forums.
