Chazz
05-26-2004, 04:30 PM
So there I was. I was sitting at home in my recliner watching Raw this past Monday. It is a normal routine for me. My friends all know not to bother me on Monday's from 8-10pm unless it is a dire emergency (and it better be a damn good one :D ). I sit in my chair while one my cats gets up in my lap (yes, I am a cat person. Blame my wife.) and lays there while I pet her and she purrs. It is my normal routine. Anyways, a question came to mind when I witnessed an event that all to common occurs in wrestling. First, the question that came to mind was, "Why is it some people just can't catch a break?". The event that inspired the question? HHH beating down who he thought was Shawn Michaels, when it turned out to be Steven Richards. Wrong place. Wrong time. And that seems to be the curse that follows guys like Richards. No matter how talented or gifted they are, guys like Steven just never can catch a break.
I'm sure many a philosopher has tried to answer this question. The simple fact is that though it is not fair, it is life. I gave up a long time ago trying to figure out why some people get all the breaks, while others just get by. Still, I was intrigued when this question popped into my head. So naturally, I started to ponder on it. Except, this time, I didn't look at it as why some people can't catch a break in life. I looked at it as why is it some wrestler's never can catch a break like The Rock, Stone Cold, Hogan, HHH and Bret Hart did. Looking at it like this, I felt certain that I could find an answer. So, did I indeed find the answer?
Well, before we get to the conclusion, let's take a look at some factors that do and don't affect the equation. And, since Steven was my inspiration for this question, we will use him as our guinea pig. Talent wise, anybody who has watched Steven in the ring know that he is technically sound. I've seen him put on good matches with many wrestlers, which shows that he can work with just about anyone. So as far as talent goes, Stevie is not lacking. However, I have seen cases where wrestler's had little talent but were somehow able to make it big. Yes, you guessed it, this is where Goldberg comes in. The guy was not a "wrestler" in any sense, and as far as technical moves go, well Bill had maybe a couple. Other wrestler's like Marc Mero, Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger and Sid Viscious were able to manage pushes in their respective career's with little to no talent. So, Steven has talent and is still on Heat, while Goldberg and others have no wrestling talent yet achieved wrestling success. Very interesting.
Next is charisma. Here, I'm going to include promo skills and mic ability. Steven has good mic skills, which he really showed when he lead RTC. He was able to generate some heat and he was always convincing as the leader of the group (which is why he did most of the talking). Hogan, Rock, Austin and Jericho are all heavyweight champions who possessed the ability to get the crowd to love them or hate them. There mic work was essential to them because they just had the ability to get the fans to care about them. This is where Steven falls short. However, I do not think it is his own fault (we'll cover this in just a few moments). Look at Hunter. What makes him the best heel in the business (and one of the best of all-time) is the fact that Hunter can make the fans love to hate him. And only Angle is up their with him in this respect. I've always believed that charisma is all about having confidence within yourself to allow yourself to portray a character. Basically, it is one's confidence with his acting skills.
Which leads me to our next catagory: gimmick. Steven has had no gimmick since his RTC days, and it seems that the WWE does not know how to use him. I find this hard to understand, simply because I know that if they would give him something to work with that he could do it. Earlier I stated that Steven can't get the fans to care about him and how I felt it wasn't all his fault. Well, here is the proof. The WWE has failed to give him the chance to make an impact. In RTC, Steven had a role that he played well. And to me, he was becoming a solid heel character. Then, RTC started to fade and Vince pulled the plug and sent Steven back down to Heat. I'm not trying to say Steven could be (with the right gimmick) the next Stone Cold. The next Rock. The next Hogan. All I am saying is that he is not getting a chance to try. It is no secret that the right gimmick makes all the difference. Guys like Hogan, Austin and Rock all became who they were because of their characters. Guys like Steven, Storm, Venis and others are great talents who have never had a gimmick to help them in their careers.
The last thing I will mention is something that many don't like to discuss, but since I'm writing this, I will. Polotics is very much a part of the wrestling business. We know more about what goes on backstage because of the internet. And because of the net, we now know all about the political games being played behind the scenes. I really don't think Steven is a man of polotics because if he were then he would be getting more tv time. I find it strange that a 23 year old like Randy Orton is the IC champion and has accomplished more in his very brief career than Steven has. I'm not sure of Steven's age, but you get my point. And no, I'm not blaming Orton for his push. Frankly, I feel the guy has improved and is showing he will be a big star in the WWE. But Orton has achieved so much because of his name. Argue all you want, but it is a fact. The good thing is is that Orton is proving himself. Now, I could say that if Richards had married Stephanie, then he would be a big star. :chuckles: Yes, I had to mention HHH here. How could I not? Thing is, Hunter was already an established star before he hooked up with Stephanie. Yet, I still feel that he used his influence to get his way when he came back from his injury. This has been discussed to death, so I will only point out these facts. One. It took Hunter three months to win the Royal Rumble, beat Stone Cold at No Way Out, and then win the WWE Undisputed title at WM18. I have never seen a wrestler get that kind of push coming off an injury. So, think what you will, but you cannot deny that Hunter had to used his stroke to get his way. Steven's only claim to fame lately is that he got his ass beat by Hunter for being at the wrong place, at the wrong time.
So, why can't some wrestler's catch a break? Honestly, I have no idea. Even when you break it down, there still is not a proven formula. Some guys are just meant to be the one's who make it big, while other's simply get by. And for guys like Steven, that is a shame.
I'm sure many a philosopher has tried to answer this question. The simple fact is that though it is not fair, it is life. I gave up a long time ago trying to figure out why some people get all the breaks, while others just get by. Still, I was intrigued when this question popped into my head. So naturally, I started to ponder on it. Except, this time, I didn't look at it as why some people can't catch a break in life. I looked at it as why is it some wrestler's never can catch a break like The Rock, Stone Cold, Hogan, HHH and Bret Hart did. Looking at it like this, I felt certain that I could find an answer. So, did I indeed find the answer?
Well, before we get to the conclusion, let's take a look at some factors that do and don't affect the equation. And, since Steven was my inspiration for this question, we will use him as our guinea pig. Talent wise, anybody who has watched Steven in the ring know that he is technically sound. I've seen him put on good matches with many wrestlers, which shows that he can work with just about anyone. So as far as talent goes, Stevie is not lacking. However, I have seen cases where wrestler's had little talent but were somehow able to make it big. Yes, you guessed it, this is where Goldberg comes in. The guy was not a "wrestler" in any sense, and as far as technical moves go, well Bill had maybe a couple. Other wrestler's like Marc Mero, Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger and Sid Viscious were able to manage pushes in their respective career's with little to no talent. So, Steven has talent and is still on Heat, while Goldberg and others have no wrestling talent yet achieved wrestling success. Very interesting.
Next is charisma. Here, I'm going to include promo skills and mic ability. Steven has good mic skills, which he really showed when he lead RTC. He was able to generate some heat and he was always convincing as the leader of the group (which is why he did most of the talking). Hogan, Rock, Austin and Jericho are all heavyweight champions who possessed the ability to get the crowd to love them or hate them. There mic work was essential to them because they just had the ability to get the fans to care about them. This is where Steven falls short. However, I do not think it is his own fault (we'll cover this in just a few moments). Look at Hunter. What makes him the best heel in the business (and one of the best of all-time) is the fact that Hunter can make the fans love to hate him. And only Angle is up their with him in this respect. I've always believed that charisma is all about having confidence within yourself to allow yourself to portray a character. Basically, it is one's confidence with his acting skills.
Which leads me to our next catagory: gimmick. Steven has had no gimmick since his RTC days, and it seems that the WWE does not know how to use him. I find this hard to understand, simply because I know that if they would give him something to work with that he could do it. Earlier I stated that Steven can't get the fans to care about him and how I felt it wasn't all his fault. Well, here is the proof. The WWE has failed to give him the chance to make an impact. In RTC, Steven had a role that he played well. And to me, he was becoming a solid heel character. Then, RTC started to fade and Vince pulled the plug and sent Steven back down to Heat. I'm not trying to say Steven could be (with the right gimmick) the next Stone Cold. The next Rock. The next Hogan. All I am saying is that he is not getting a chance to try. It is no secret that the right gimmick makes all the difference. Guys like Hogan, Austin and Rock all became who they were because of their characters. Guys like Steven, Storm, Venis and others are great talents who have never had a gimmick to help them in their careers.
The last thing I will mention is something that many don't like to discuss, but since I'm writing this, I will. Polotics is very much a part of the wrestling business. We know more about what goes on backstage because of the internet. And because of the net, we now know all about the political games being played behind the scenes. I really don't think Steven is a man of polotics because if he were then he would be getting more tv time. I find it strange that a 23 year old like Randy Orton is the IC champion and has accomplished more in his very brief career than Steven has. I'm not sure of Steven's age, but you get my point. And no, I'm not blaming Orton for his push. Frankly, I feel the guy has improved and is showing he will be a big star in the WWE. But Orton has achieved so much because of his name. Argue all you want, but it is a fact. The good thing is is that Orton is proving himself. Now, I could say that if Richards had married Stephanie, then he would be a big star. :chuckles: Yes, I had to mention HHH here. How could I not? Thing is, Hunter was already an established star before he hooked up with Stephanie. Yet, I still feel that he used his influence to get his way when he came back from his injury. This has been discussed to death, so I will only point out these facts. One. It took Hunter three months to win the Royal Rumble, beat Stone Cold at No Way Out, and then win the WWE Undisputed title at WM18. I have never seen a wrestler get that kind of push coming off an injury. So, think what you will, but you cannot deny that Hunter had to used his stroke to get his way. Steven's only claim to fame lately is that he got his ass beat by Hunter for being at the wrong place, at the wrong time.
So, why can't some wrestler's catch a break? Honestly, I have no idea. Even when you break it down, there still is not a proven formula. Some guys are just meant to be the one's who make it big, while other's simply get by. And for guys like Steven, that is a shame.