WCW was notorious for backstage politics affecting their onscreen brand; people were pushed based on their relationships with bigger stars or the opinion that these bigger stars (who had the ear of the decision makers or often were the decision makers themselves). Kevin Nash while booking WCW was said to be fed up with the complaining of Benoit and the rest of the Vanilla Midgets (insider slang for small, boring wrestlers) about their spot; while Hulk Hogan would go on his friend Bubba the Love Sponges radio show and bury talent. On one occasion he said that Billy Kidman wouldnt be able to headline a wrestling show at a flea market and in another appearance he slagged off most of the roster and said that nobody under forty could draw. Bret Hart tried to get several ideas for feuds off of the ground only to find the likes of Nash and Hogan blocking him at every turn; despite being one of the most revered wrestlers of his generation and being potentially the hottest property in wresting when he arrived in the company off of the back of the Montreal Screw Job. You had to be a very savvy political operator to get by in WCW and have the ear of one of the top stars just to stay afloat; let alone progress up the card. Todays WWE operates in a different world; but it is no less of a political minefield. Wrestlers are encouraged to do media interviews and maintain a social media presence through platforms such as Twitter; yet are then berated and punished for speaking their mind about issues. Many believe a key factor in the fall down the card in recent times of men like Dolph Ziggler and Cesaro had more to do with comments made in press interviews than anything else (though recent events may indicate that Dolph has righted the ship and is on the rise again); and stories do the rounds of the main event talent trying to derail rising talent just as Hogan and Nash did. If rumors are to be believed; the likes of John Cena and Randy Orton do just as much as Hogan and Nash did to derail talent. They just go about it in different ways; with Cena not putting over Bray Wyatt cleanly during their feud (which derailed the massive momentum The Wyatt Family had) and Orton reportedly being on a go slow during his house show run with Roman Reigns. But what about having the ear of those in power and higher up the card? Well, that still exists in the modern WWE; Sheamus and Batista have benefited from their relationship with Triple H over the years, Funaki and Zack Ryder have stayed employed based off of their friendships with top stars (Shawn Michaels and John Cena respectively; Funaki was only released once Michaels retired), the Rhodes brothers paid for their father Dusty going off script and getting in Stephanie McMahons face during a segment and you get the feeling that WWE wouldve done more to reach out to and bring back CM Punk if it wasnt for Triple H feeling slighted by Punk not being overly enamored with the idea of their proposed Wrestlemania match. Then theres also the matter of the President of the company, Vince McMahon himself, going on his friends podcast and saying his roster lacked the drive to become stars; sound familiar to anyone?
John is a hippie, Buddhist musician and writer from East London.
When he's not pondering about Wrestling, films, TV, video games, comics or music he can occasionally be found refereeing Dodgeball games around London and the South of England or wandering off into traffic muttering to himself...
