(PLEASE NOTE: The views expressed in FWF RINGSIDE do not necessarily reflect those of this column's true author. Seriously. I love all of you guys (and Amy).)
Hey there cybersurfers and squatters! Glad you could join me for the
inaugural issue of "FWF RINGSIDE", the only column on the Net written *for*
genuine wrestling fans *BY* a genuine wrestling fan!! Today marks a brand
SPANKIN' new age for wrestling fans in the Information Age!! See, up until
now, if you wanted your dose of wrestling news and opinions, you would've
had to endure the kind of tripe written by the likes of Dave Scherer, Al
Isaacs, and
Let me ask you, when do you think was the last time any of those "journalists" actually BOUGHT a ticket to a live event?? I doubt they even remember what it feels to get back anything but a compted ticket stub!! Sorry folks, but they sold out their wrestling fan membership card YEARS ago, and today they belong to the prestigious "My web column has more ad banners than yours" club!
But then there's ME....
I'm just your average FWF fan, randomly picked from a crowd of mindless screaming lemmings to jot down my opinions, observations, comments, and notions about the Frontier Wrestling Federation. I don't get free tickets to live events. I spend my BattleGround viewing hours on a sofa in my basement, following along with the rest of America. I don't even get paid for THIS creative outpouring, even though I SHOULD be. Seems *Mister* Joe LeBron and his wife Scott Malec want a voice for their fanbase, or some liberal bullsh*t. Hey, I don't mind. Being a "published writer" has a nice ring to it, and chicks dig it, something I don't have ANY problems with. But enough about me. Like any wrestling fan with the opportunity to vent in a public forum, I've got a lot of ground to cover, and more then enough opinionated attitude to go around!
JUST PULL THE TRIGGER - Abel Wicks. Good God in Heaven, stop the pain! I still can't believe this guy was once Frontier Champion. And he won the strap in legitimate match, too! What the f*ck?! He's main-evented cards more times then I can remember and how many times has this guy actually, y'know...WON a match? You know what he reminds me of? Herpes. He gets treated, he goes away for a while, but he always comes back...Kudos to the FWF brass keeping him out of the World Title tournament. I can do without ole Abel polluting my TV screen.
MICHAEL MANSON THE EXECUTIVE - Hey, I'll give almost anything a chance to fail on its own before I rip it apart in print. I will admit, I had less than the highest of expectations when Manson stepped into the front office. I was expecting the old "abuse of power" angle warmed over, with 11th hour stipulations to matches and countless run-ins by Manson's lackeys, but I'm being (slowly) won over by what I'm seeing. Manson telling Nevada to ride a ten-speed to the ring was good for a chuckle, and forcing the refs to dress in stupid uniforms was also a humorous touch. The biggest problem with this type of angle, is that invariably you start rehashing angles from other "evil promoter" feuds. The sad fact is, that this angle has been done to death at least 50 times over, and that's just in the FWF alone. Manson and company are walking a very fine line with keeping this storyline fresh. Here's to hoping they don't find a way to f*ck it up for themselves.
HEEL TURN(AROUND) - Billy Matthews was FWF National Champion about the time I started tuning in to BattleGround regularly. I remembered surveying the roster at that time, and making the prediction that his title reign would short and sweet, emphasis on "short". I just saw too much young blood in the ranks below him, with guys like Nevada and Stone Wolf working their way up. As predicted, Matthews dropped the title to Nevada a short time later, and from there, it just seemed like the Billy's career stalled a bit. He won the vacant Cable TV title in August of '99, but dropped it to Stone Wolf less than a month later. "Uninspired" was how I would describe Billy during those months....
But oh what a difference a heel turn makes....
I was almost completely blown away when Billy turned heel at Total Conquest this February. It had so many of the right elements going for it. It shocked the hell out of everybody who saw it. It had plausible motive. It had a change of scenery, with Billy aligning himself with Ricky Kabe and his brother Brian. I think it breathed new life into Billy Matthews. You could tell just by the promos he was cutting. He walked a little taller, spoke a little louder. In short, turning heel might've been the best thing that Billy could have ever done for himself. Here's to hoping that the babyface persona stays buried in the ground next to all that female lingerie he used to wear....
TRADITION CAN SIT ON A STICK AND SPIN - I understand that sometimes, there's a point that needs to made. Hey, preserving ideals is something even *I* can relate to. It doesn't have to be the popular choice you make. And if it doesn't further your career, it usually validates your commitment to your cause....
So why does Black Sage abstaining from the World Title tournament sound so f*cking hypocritical??
What am I missing here? Sure, the new World strap is nothing more than a corporate creation. But you know what? So was the Cable TV title! And now that I think about, the same goes for the Frontier, the Extreme Ring, and the National tag and singles titles too! Still, I understand Sage's point. The TRADITION forged from the blood, sweat, and tears of the warriors who battled for those titles validate their significance! Can the same be said for the new World title? Of course not...
Not yet, anyway...
The fact remains, that at some point in the coming months, the first FWF World Champion will be crowned, and from the way things look right now, it WON'T be Black Sage! A new tradition will be born that night, and it will only grow from there. I would think that Sage winning that belt and being the first champion would be the ultimate vindication to the New Breed's mission! Forget about changing what IS. Start where there is nothing to be re-written, on a clean slate. That would be the ultimate realization of what the Breed wants! 'Cause rest assured, if Sage doesn't do it, somebody else WILL. And Sage will wake up one morning and realize that there's another game in town.
Whelp, I got women comin' over pretty soon, so I guess I gotta wrap this up. Drop me a line in e-mail and if you're lucky, it might make it into my next column! Until next time, boobs....
**Justin Jay likes boobs. E-mail him your thoughts at [email protected] by express click the Email button below:
