https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW6_0H44aQw Starting somewhere around the time that Hardcore Holly assaulted Matt Cappotelli on an episode of MTV's Tough Enough in 2002, the death knell for "old school" wrestling was silently starting to ring. Throughout the past decade, moments including Chris Nowinski's retirement, Triple H embracing becoming "office," the surge in pro wrestling podcasting, CM Punk's WWE departure, and finally Bill DeMott's resignation have allowed that "death knell" to now ring louder than ever before. Now more than ever, it's easy-to-argue that WWE becoming a publicly-traded company killed "pro wrestling." That carny business filled with dark "secrets?" Dead. That industry where homophobia, sexism, racism and all manner of denigration is encouraged because it helps make money? Dead. The industry where training greenhorns involved literally breaking them in order to build them back up again? Dead, too. To some people like Bill DeMott, that's sad. To a shareholder hoping to turn a profit, that's wonderful. If attempting to locate the difference between "wrestling" and "sports entertainment," that has to be it. It's not the CEO, but the shareholders who run corporations. If the shareholders are unhappy, then the corporation loses money. If the corporation loses enough money, the corporation ceases to exist. Of course, Vince McMahon will never see the day that WWE is no longer economically viable.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.