Corner to Corner: Where do we go from here?
    Submitted by Stan Grubb on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 12:08 AM EST


    It never fails. When you think you have it all ready to go, something comes up. Whether it's a bad thing or a good thing, it never EVER fails. And so, FINALLY, I get the chance to come back and get this started RIGHT. With the way it's been lately, one can only wonder, WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?


    Hello everyone and WELCOME BACK TO CORNER TO CORNER! I'm Stan Grubb, and I'll be lending a hand as we slosh through the vast sea of idiocy that seems to surround our favorite genre. It's been a rough few days for me, but I'm back and in full form.


    A Quick Sentimental Moment
    I want to take this time to say a special goodbye to someone who was a very important part of my family. And while I hadn't seen him recently, this guy was a huge help in all I did. This past Friday the 13th, my uncle Jerry passed away due to some complications from cancer treatment. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the services due to conflicts with my work schedule. So, this is my place to say my peace. I know that Jerry is up there looking down on me and the rest of his family. I just want him to know that everything he did for me was and will forever be appreciated.


      Where do we go from here?


    The most trying time to be a wrestling fan has finaly arrived. Ratings are down, attendance is down, and the product itself is SUFFERING. So, what is a fan to do?


    First and foremost, my advice is NOT to panic. This means, don't go out and bash the product just because it's not what you want RIGHT NOW. If you consider yourself a fan worth his salt, then you know that this business goes in cycles. I am so sick of hearing people BASH what they don't really understand or know. We all know that when FOOTBALL teams have a rebuilding time that they won't always be what we expect. That's right, I AGREE with Vince McMahon. Before we all go out and claim that the business is falling apart, maybe we should remember how long it took for the business to become mainstream. I mean for goodness sake, if you don't like it that much and you're really THAT angry about it, then just turn it off. Chances are, you're just discouraging the other fans who may still care about this business.


    The second thing I'd advise you to do is to concentrate on the positive points and move on from there. Here at 'Corner to Corner,' I try as hard as I can to be sure to POINT OUT my favorite parts of each show. For example, while I did not like the ending of the Jericho/Flair bout from Unforgiven, I thought the action leading into it was VERY entertaining and solid. The movement was fluid and fast paced while the impact of each move was noticable and appreciated. I even liked how Jericho got away with a sneaky win, even though I dislike his version of the Boston crab. Looking at the positive parts of each show and event will help you out immensely. Nobody says that the shows don't need improvement, but in all honesty, to fully appreciate the show, you have to see the good first.


    This doesn't mean you can't email WWE's Fan Services and lodge your complaints. If done intelligently and with maturity, they'll respond to you and they'll take your comments into consideration. If you don't believe me, take a trip down memory lane and check out my Request for Change edition of Corner to Corner. In it, you'll see just how much they DO pay attention. I'm not saying they'll offer you a job, because if that were the case, I'd be putting this on wwe.com! All I'm saying is that these people aren't stupid and they WILL listen.


    The third thing we should all try to do as much as we can is simple. Relax. Somewhere in this entire ordeal I often wonder if we got so involved that perhaps we lost the ability to let our inhibitions go and just enjoy what we witness. I know that when I first saw HLA I was so taken aback that I couldn't see the forest for the trees. The fact is that WWE is making us watch. Whether it's in disgust or in lust WE ALL watched HLA. Vince knew that the idea itself would generate interest. I'm going to quote Eric Bischoff here so I can reitterate my point. "Controversy creates CASH."


    Nobody said it would always be pretty but then again, nobody has to. We all like to look back on the good old days and remember the days of Bret Hart in the WWF and the crusierweight division in the WCW. Still, I think that as great as those times were, we need to concentrate on the present. That is what made those memories so great anyway. the deal there was that we didn't have any preconcieved notions, we just went with it. Would it be so bad if we just went with it now?


    My final point of advice is to continue to contribute. If we want to see wrestling continue to move forward and improve, whether we like it or not, we're going to have to put some money into it. We're going to have to show our support for the wrestlers and the divas and start supporting our cause. Too many of us like to go out there and chastize the other fans because they don't like the same things we like. Hey, we're not supposed to ALL like the same things, that's why this is AMERICA and not some third world country. When too much time is spent arguing over who is brainwashed and who isn't, that takes away from the time that can be spent talking about the genre and what we love about it.


    Folks, this genre is unique for many reasons. It is up to us to continue to push wrestling forward and push the ignorance BACK. There's just not enough time in this life to argue about who likes what. I am truly bothered by those who seem to get off in their efforts to make people turn wrestling off today. It just seems that some would rather look at the negative than try to let their hangups go and just take it all in.


    The WWE is a multi-million dollar company. I highly doubt that in one or even TWO years that they will go bankrupt. RAW's ratings were up this week, by the way. Vince McMahon announced today that Wrestlemania XiX will take place in Seattle, Washington. At the conference, Vince said that they have good times and bad times and that it’s only temporary. So, what does that mean?


    Vince is a promoter, only a fool would say their promotion is doomed. Vince is also intelligent enough to know that a lot can happen between now and then and that this could very well be a distant memory by the time Wrestlemania rolls around. The point here is that NONE of us are psychic and NONE of us will truly know the outcome until it arrives. While I have been one of the most vocal to point out what needs fixing, it is important that I point out that they are working on things. It's just too soon to tell where this could all go so for right now, we shouldn't go ANYWHERE.


    Next week, we'll start talking about some of the wrestlers who are going to be the ones to benefit the most from the WWE rebirth.


    Check out the NAW! Today's HOTTEST VIRTUAL PROMOTION!


    --StanGrubb--




    *NEW GALLERY* An XTREME Catfight with Sunny, Payton Banks and ROH's Lacey! WOW!

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