In the seventy’s there was a football coach named George Allen. He coached a Washington Redskins team that was known as the "Over the Hill Gang" . They were a bunch of veterans and guys that were tossed to the side. He made them into a great team of competitors.
Much like those Redskins, the WWE puts most of its resources into a few people Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and The Undertaker. They are all men that have made the company a lot of money. They are talented individuals but how much life is left in their careers? If managed intelligently these guys careers could be extended. In the case of Shawn and The Undertaker, I am not even sure these guys have the internal drive and desire to continue into the distant future.
When does Triple H actually start learning how to run a company the size of the WWE? The WWE historically chooses to drain resources rather than manage them properly for the long term. It’s clear that the talent pool out there is very limited these days. In a world where the draft pool is so limited you must manage your talent better. It has to be clear to everyone that Jeff Hardy is getting huge reactions from the crowds these days. It should also be clear that this guys body is beat up. He still continues to take ridiculous chances and endanger his body. How does that help the WWE long term? Who is protecting and managing Jeff to ensure he is around for the long term.
So the WWE won’t be on the CW Network after this year. What does this mean to those of us that chose to indulge in Smackdown. Well I think it means that Vince McMahon has something up his sleeve. It will take time to see how this all plays out. It wasn’t all that long ago that WWE left the USA Network and went to Spike TV. In my opinion that was a miserable mistake. I would hope that Vince is smart enough this time to not repeat mistakes especially big ones. It would be hard to believe that a man who operates a fiscally strong company with a slim roster and no real headliner who make another knucklehead move. So all in all I believe Vince will end up pulling a rabbit out of his hat and coming up with something big for this one.
I have had the pleasure of spending time with two of the biggest legends in Professional Wrestling. I spent some time around Nature Boy Buddy Rogers and a lot of time around Wrestling's Living Legend Bruno Sammartino. I have heard many stories about Buddy Rogers and had a chance to experience what it was like to be in his company. I have heard many things about Buddy Rogers that don’t make me think very much of the man. I do recognize that he was a great performer and could have been of a lot more value if he wasn’t such an arrogant person.
I have spent a lot of time traveling with Bruno Sammartino and, as a general rule, we talk numerous times a week. He is a stand up guy who I have hired to work for me in the past. The only thing that I can tell you that I believe is the same about these two men is that they conduct themselves like stars. They give off a totally different vibe when you’re around them ... the vibe of a champion.
It’s funny, but Dusty Rhodes has many times been compared to the common man but aside from Ric Flair, when you compare other wrestlers to Rogers and Sammartino they are all common men. I have seen how people handle themselves around Bruno and most men adjust their behavior and speak to him in a different way and listen very intently. The closest thing to that type of presence that I have seen today is Randy Orton but for sure he is a lot closer to a Buddy Rogers type then a Bruno Sammartino type. If it was me I’d rather be compared to Sammartino than Rogers.
The picture from this article is one of Tammy “Sunny” Sytch she sent them to me and said that I could use them in my article as long as I gave credit to someone I have known for years. The photographer for this one is Bob Mulrenin someone that I met as soon as I got in the wrestling business. It is my pleasure when I think about guys like Bob it always brings back good memories of how the wresting business used to be. I think Tammy looks incredible WWE what are you waiting for?
This has been a piece of my mind
