By Melissa Antoinette Garza
Pro-wrestling is back and there are two men to thank for it. Broken Matt Hardy and Brother Nero. TNA IMPACT WRESTLING has become a must-see show and I am overjoyed and eternally grateful!
When I was a kid my heroes were Bobby Heenan, Jim Cornette, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Cowboy Bob Orton, The Fabulous Freebirds and Nikolai Volkoff. My brother, sister and I would watch wrestling religiously. We even went to events to see them live. It was incredible. I miss that so much.
Sadly, in the early 90s it became lame and we, like many, stopped watching. It was overly kid friendly at times and then used gross out humor at other times. They would start something really funny and really good, but then never use it again. Mostly there were no surprises and the announcers were horrible.
Then came the Monday Night Wars. Remember NITRO vs RAW? When it was good, it was great! It was beating football every week. It was the top rated program of the night. Even the repeat was getting higher ratings than football. NWO merchandise and AUSTIN 3:16 shirts, posters and action figures were sold out. My brother, cousin Neil, great friends Jeremy and Steve all went to see the 1998 SLAMBOREE pay-per-view at The Centrum in Worcester MA. It was amazing. We went over to the mall and took pictures with the late great Eddie Guerrero and had the pleasure of speaking with Chavo Guerrero.
Sadly that ended too. When Vince bought out WCW and WWE had zero real competition things went downhill fast. They brought in soap opera writers for wrestling. There was very little wrestling, so many were on steroids, some of the greatest wrestlers died and the powers-that-be didn’t understand how to successfully choreograph fights, promote wrestlers, utilize managers for those who have no mic-skills and allow those who can sell themselves to do so.
There’s a few elements to pro-wrestling fans need to be interested.
1) Great Matches: Broken Matt Hardy and Brother Nero always give 110%. Their fights are legendary. They put their body at risk and perform amazingly.
Basically wrestling NEEDS wrestling – now it should seem obvious, but it seems that WWE needs a reminder and TNA IMPACT is right on the ball – thanks to Broken Matt Hardy.
Classic battles are so important. They are remembered for years to come. I will still watch Piper vs Greg the Hammer Valentine, the great Lucha libre fights, Hell in the Cell with Mick Foley and The Undertaker, the various matches between Hardy Boyz vs Edge and Christian, etc. – I could go on and on, but those fights are burned in my mind and continue to amaze me.
2) Storylines: Fans need the emotional build-up to the matches too. Broken Matt Hardy gets this too. His backstory is fantastic. His recent argument with Brother Nero reminds me of old school memories.
Who can forget Hulk Hogan bleeding during Piper’s Pit when Andre The Giant turned heel with Bobby Heenan by his side? The major 90s comeback for wrestling was the NWO. When Scott Hall and Kevin Nash left the WWE and acted as though they were infiltrating WCW it was amazing. It was funny, interesting, riveting and the three hours it ran didn’t seem long enough. We didn’t know who was part of the New World Order, who would turn and what they were going to do – and we loved it.
3) Entertaining Wrestlers: Broken Matt Hardy is the most entertaining wrestler in 20 years. I could watch him for days. I am so happy that my brother-n-law told my husband about THE FINAL DELETION (watch below)
Back in the day we had The Piper’s Pit where Piper would go off on people and criticize them for nothing. It was hilarious. Cowboy Bob Orton would join in.
In WCW, we had The Fabulous Freebirds, a tag team that were bad guys but were cheered for. Michael Hayes would strut around and just be fabulous. He sang BAD STREET USA which I listen to at least once a month. There was Adrian Street, Macho Man Randy Savage, Superstar Billy Graham, Dusty Rhodes – these guys didn’t care if they appeared tough, they just wanted to entertain: and they did.
So many wrestlers now have this machismo attitude where they don’t want to appear dumb or insane. It ruins it for the viewer. Fans don’t want pro-wrestling to be like UFC. We want wrestlers to be funny and silly. Not everyone needs to be a bulked up, angry tough guy.
Also, announcers and managers really need to take a look back to the 80s. I know no one will ever compare to the amazing icons Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon, but we need capable announcers
Broken Matt Hardy and Brother Nero completely understand the ins and outs of everything related to pro-wrestling. They were born to be wrestlers.
He understands the importance of entertainment and is just brilliant.
4) Keeping It Real: Everyone knows that wrestling is choreographed. People have known for decades. It’s an art. It’s a play. Still, viewers like to suspend disbelief. We don’t want to constantly be reminded that it’s “entertainment” and that the wrestlers are different than what is shown.
Back in the day, it was a matter of respect for the sport. D. David Schultz knocked John Stossel around for being a dick and conducting an ambush interview saying wrestling was fake. Whether WWF (WWE) told him to slam Stossel or not, good for him. D. David Schultz is the man! I remember watching that as a kid and I was so glad Schultz cared so much about the integrity of his job and the amount of work he had done.
The old school wrestlers like Dusty Rhodes and Rowdy Piper knew how important it was to both professional wrestling and the fans to suspend disbelief. I adore them for that. They helped me through many dark days and made me laugh when I really needed to.
Again, Broken Matt Hardy is old school and cares about the sport much more than MeekMahan. The man is a fucking genius. When doing interviews or podcasts, he’s still Broken Matt Hardy. He’s confused when people tell him to break character insisting this is who he is. He just gets it.
For old and new wrestling fans, if you haven’t already I beg that you start tuning into IMPACT Thursdays at 8 PM/7 PM Central. Wrestling is back and I really want it to stay! I also think Broken Matt Hardy needs a 1/2 hour weekly talk show interviewing guests with Brother Nero in the position of sidekick and Senor Benjamin as the announcer.
