WWE and the cost of tickets in today's economy!

With gas prices expected to reach $5.00 per gallon this summer, one has to wonder how the wrestling business will be effected by today's economy. The average price of a wrestling ticket to a live event these days is around $30 per ticket. With attendance down in the summer months anyways, and the cost of getting to a wrestling show skyrocketing due to fuel costs. WWE may see less in the way of live event attendance throughout the summer months.

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

In the past, the 80s brought us superstars bigger then wrestling itself,
with names like Macho Man, Warrior, and Hogan. Into the 90's those same
stars shined, slowly fading. Of course still drawing crowds of old
fans, but the newer fans didn't seem to quite get it like we did, but
they had their own stars that were growing, with names like Michaels,
Razor Ramone, and Diesel, even HHH, Rock, and Stone cold helped close
that decade. But as the millennium changed so did the face of
wrestling, with the fall of WCW, a lot of guys losing their jobs or
sitting at home, a lot of old bridges burned, and a lot of guys stepping
back from the spotlight. This brought the over shadowed 90's guys to
the fore front trying to carry a company and re invent it self one more
time.

In the past the 2 reasons WWE was here and WCW was not was 1. WWE
created superstars, wcw didn't, and 2. Vince plain and simple. Now do
I agree with all his decisions, not on your life but at the same time he
has done wonders for this business. Seems like the evolving face of
wrestling, with guys using scripts to walk though a lot of what they do
verbally, and bring in people from Hollywood to work with steff and the
team of writers is interesting. But I often wonder if it was the 80's
would those writers be able to write a Jake the snake interview, or an
ultimate warrior one either I don't think so. I think any active
wrestler regardless of who they are married to should not be in the
booking at all, we saw how that went in WCW, and I think the workers
need to do more then to just run though the lines

The superstars of today still need a lot of growth, I think this is
evident by who they brought in for agents and how they keep going back
to older superstars for guidance such as Michaels, Viscera, Hacksaw and
Flair. The with the growth of some of the younger guys you see real
growth and potential, people like Benjamin, Burke, CM Punk, and Kennedy
really have the potential to grow into something big, but will they be
able to take the torch the way Michaels had to. I think you will see a
bunch of these guys wash out eventually, people like Masters who are
great physical specimens really don't seem to get over as well as mgt
might home, same with Lashley. Why they try to force these people down
the throats of the public is beyond me, yet they sit back and do nothing
with the CM Punks who the fans seem to love and embrace. I think its
time to run though some of the names of the future, young stars starting
to come into their own, and some that maybe shouldn't

Masters:
Any momentum he could have had is over, there's not much you can do with
a gimmick that didn't work for lex Lugar, he will need to be re invented
to be saved.

Hass:
I don't see him moving above midcard status, he blends in and doesn't
stand out, could he maybe. Unfortunately I do not see them doing
anything with him.

Benjamin:
This kid is good, puts on great matches, but cant seem to get over that
hump. He would benefit from making the IC title division made into
something... remember Dragon vs Savage at wrestlemania III, the title
meant something back then.

Nitro:
The future, although tough enough might not have been looked highly
upon, this kid has the look, the gimmick, and the ability, just keep him
away from the mic, he needs to work on that portion. Being put with
someone like Melina really works for him.

Dykstra:
I know Kenny, he can be arrogant but he's really good as well. I think
he has potential to be an Owen Hart like wrestler, however WWE didn't
know what to do with Owen, will they figure out that they are wasting
Kenny's talents before its to late, or are they just making him pay his
dues... only time will tell

Umaga:
Classic, love it, keep it up

Cena:
The modern Hogan, yeah he might not have revolutionized the business but
Vince is big on him, he respects the business and love him or hate him,
you talk about him and that's what matters

Edge:
I think the public is starting to see what management has seen for
years, Hes got something special, just development is key, and they are
doing a great job with him

Orton:
The Future as well, you think he's big now, give him a few years, as
long as his personal life doesn't drag him down, he's got what it takes
to really be the next big it factor, he can be the next heartbreak kid.

Deuce and Domino
Key here is Deuce... the gimmick might not last but Deuce aka Jimmy
Snuka Jr has potential, only time will see if it grows to something
special. He's got the look, that's half the battle.

Miz:
He has no place in this business. Go back to road rules and real world

Thorn:
I hope they figure out how to use him, Mordici was a disappointment and
they seemed to lose what to do with gangrel...I just hope that Thorn
might stick around, he's got some really good things about him, but at
the same time there are elements that I can see getting re invented.

CM Punk
The future if they figure it out. He is the next generation Chris
Benoit, fans love and respect him. He can work submission matches on
big stages. I look forward to watching his career take off

As it does every couple years, the business is changing we will have to
see where these changes bring us. Will we see an xdivision style
videogame all highspot style match, or are we looking at a classic match
that tells a story and brings us into a world to escape from our own...
We will have to wait and see.
Till next time.

Road to Wrestlemania...20 years in the making!

If this was 1987 we would be on the verge of Wrestlmania III, A spectacle like no other at this time. Oddly enough by today's standers is wasn't quite the show that it is today, staring out with a tag team match where no music, no ring entrance, just the Can Am connection, vs Ace and Muraco. The Silverdome packed beond belief, Vince even having to bring in projection screens so the cheap seats could see what was going on, heck if it wasn't for overcast they wouldn't even have worked but Vince took the risk. that opening match was quick and to the point, it brought the fans to their feet, I wonder if Bob Orton Jr ever thought twenty years later he would have a son who would be appearing at Wrestlemania.

Lets face it though, twenty years ago they had better announcers, better managers and you cant go wrong with the Fink either... they even had a great quick interview with the IC champ macho man, who at the time that title meant something. Even their tag teams matched and worked as a tandom. Their storylines were built up over the course of months, not just one month of only pushing the main event.

Twenty years later one of the only things that is still there is the king's music will be playing, this time it will be for Jerry Lawler intead of Harley Race and Ricky Steamboat, this time there as an agent. The Name has changed, and the players have also. It appears that we might be on the verge of a new generation in pro wrestling, the growth of new Young wrestlers as well as the second and third generations living to filling their fathers footsteps are what's going to fuel this sport for years to come. names like Orton, Neigthart, Hart, Smith, who knows maybe even Hogan are coming up the ranks with big legacies to live up to. Along with new names like Dykstra, Nitro, Cena. Is the WWE about to start a new chapter in pro wrestling. the attitude era has come and gone, the federation years are just memories and hall of fame moments.

This Wrestlemania being billed as the biggest of all time Pushing Hair Vs Hair, however no one cares... We have to face it no one cares about Lashly he looks the part but can't talk to save his life and he's decent in the ring with power moves...in the past this guy would be a bad guy with Bobby Heenan as a manager, but the lack of managers in the wwe could be detrimental to long term careers for Lashly... and as for Umaga, we have to face it, the big Samoan wrestler will always work, we don't know why but it always will.

As for Cena vs Michaels, I'm interested to see where this one will go, michaels is still one hell of a worker, and Cena i believe is under rated by the smart marks out there...

The highlight of the last couple Wrestlemanias was the money in the bank ladder match. the past two years this was like an xdivision match at its finest and it was great, this year i'm not sure if it can live up with all the oddball cast of people. I am not sure why booker is in this match, or edge for that matter, but its always nice to see Jeff, CM Punk and maybe even orton... no prediction here other then if its half as good as the previous two, then this will be great.

ECW at Wrestlemania...I'm from the days of the bingo halls, the blood flying and having to watch out cause Sabu would jump over my row and land in the one behind me battling the Dudleys.. the watered down New ECW missed the boat on where they could have gone, but they are making a decent efforts as of late. This new breed is likeable, they got unique looks and decent gimmicks, this is not your dads ECW, this is Your ECW

womans title match... Ashley does not deserve to be there, i don't care how many CC's of of gel is pumped into her chest, she doesn't deserve to be there yet. Not trying to take anything away from her as a person, she is beautiful, and I'm sure a great person, however I don't think she is ready for Wrestlemania, then again I could be wrong

Kane Vs Khali, heck every card needs a match were you can go get some food and come back and not have to care about what you missed, then again that's what this years womans match is for. I hope this can be a massive match, but i guess we will see exactly what to expect from this one

Undertaker vs Batista, this should be interesting, i truly hope they keep the streak alive, give him the belt one more time the Undertaker deserves

and one last match MVP, Vs Chris Benoit, this young athlete has potential, but i'm not sure if he deserves to be here either, he hasn't have a stand out match yet.

I guess when you look at the cards, today's athletes have a lot to live up to, they are not the Hart foundation, they are not Hulk Hogan or Andre the Giant. Half of the guys from Wrestlemania III could be or are in the hall of fame. I find it hard to believe that any of the matches on this years card could even match up to the quality of The dragon vs Macho man match, or ever live up to Andre vs Hogan... we have to face it, no one cares about hair, lets just hope the WWE realizes this and delivers. Again the newer fans might not agree with any of this, they might like everything new about WWE, and older fans might be hyper critical. We all have to realize that more so then the work, sometimes there's no way for any newer wrestler to ever live up to a childhood memeory. We have to give todays generation room to breath, and grow and see where it takes us.... Welcome to the Road to Wrestlemania, the grand daddy of them all