Adam, with Wrestling's "Hollywood's Finest"
I fell in love with professional wrestling in 1978, when my dad (R.I.P.) showed me Georgia Championship Wrestling on Superstation WTBS. I was enthralled with the competition, the look, presentation, gimmicks, angles, etc. Bruiser Brody and Ric Flair were instantly my two favorites. When Jim Crockett Promotions took over that TV slot, I fell more in love with guys like The Midnight Express and Jim Cornette, The Four Horsemen, and Magnum TA. I later found the WWF, but I wasn’t nearly as into it. It was too “cartoony” for me, and didn’t feel as “real,” or “legit,” even to a 12 year old boy (At that time). My beloved NWA was the best wrestling out there, including its territories like Mid South, and World Class. I’d watch a WWF show from time to time, and enjoy guys like Tito Santana, Randy Savage, and a few others, but again, for the most part, the NWA was where it was at for me. In that way, I’ve been a “Wrestling snob” since I was very young.
Throughout the 80’s wrestling found its greatest success in my eyes. The NWA had the Four Horsemen, Dusty Rhodes, Magnum TA, The Crocket Cup, Starrcade, and we saw companies like Mid-South become the UWF, and World Class branched out on their own, away from the NWA! Even the WWF found worldwide super success with the birth of “Hulkamania,” and soon after, Wrestlemania. The 90’s saw some quality stuff too, but to me, wrestling took a step down some in quality at this time. While the 90’s weren’t terrible, and I was still a big fan, the bookings, angles, and gimmicks (for the most part) just weren’t as good over all, but still….I was a wrestling fan, a big one. The late 90’s saw a major resurgence with the nWo and WWE’s “Attitude era.” I wasn’t a fan of the Attitude Era, at all, but I accept the stars that were created during it, and enjoyed some of them, from time to time. I was a big nWo fan, until it got way too big, and had embarrassing members.
When the 2000’s got here, I was crushed when Vince McMahon bought WCW, but the ideas of what was possible excited me. Of course the WWF blew that, and never gave us a real WWF vs WCW story line. How anyone could screw that up is beyond me. Yes, I know all of the excuses (reasons) but WWE vs WCW could still have been so much better than it was. Thankfully, a little company called “Ring of Honor” started shortly after the WWF/WCW mess, and I took my devotion there. For many years after its beginning in 2002, I would do anything I could to watch, and or follow Ring of Honor Wrestling. That company kept me from walking away from the sport I grew up loving. Around a decade later, I got into the “independent” companies around the Country. Eventually I even began working for numerous “indies” as a commentator, and or back stage interviewer. I worked for companies such as The Ultimate Wrestling Experience, Lancaster Championship Wrestling, Legacy Wrestling, and MCW Pro Wrestling. I created the pre-show idea for independent wrestling shows that has been copied by many, ever since. My “Indie Wrestling Saturday” Facebook Live show was a big hit, and I took it on the road to many different companies. I am proud that I spent around five years in the wrestling business, on the independent scene. I worked with, and made friends with, numerous wrestlers that now work for WWE, AEW, Impact, and the NWA. However, watching an amazing mat performer like Drew Gulak be used the way he is on WWE television just pushes me further away from the American version of “pro wrestling.”
Since the arrival of WWE’s NXT, I watched the independent talent dwindle, and several of the companies I worked for fold. I watched remaining companies book much lesser talent, including far too many “comedy” guys. I stepped away from working in the business and began solely following Japanese companies like New Japan Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, NOAH, and Joshi powerhouse company, Stardom. For the next several years those companies fulfilled my wrestling fix. However, as time went on, no selling, over the top (called “super indie style”) wrestling began to dominate Japan. Yes, I understand that this was always big in Japan, but it grew to extreme lengths, with countless wrestlers no selling moves like DDT’s and brain busters on the concrete floor! Plus goofy comedy from the likes of Taguchi, and Toro Yano, as well as mega star Kenny Omega just started to disgust, and embarrass me. It got to the point to where I would only watch Joshi promotion, Stardom. Stardom reminds me of a younger, much better than today’s, Ring of Honor. It’s a “modern style” of wrestling, but they sell well, the matches aren’t over the top long, and comedy is sparse. That said though, Stardom’s insistence on using an over the top comedy performer like Session Moth Martina often leaves me rolling my eyes. Since adding “Death Yama-san, it’s almost too much to take. When my favorite Stardom wrestler, Hazuki, announced she was retiring, at the age of 22, that pushed me over the edge, and I crossed Stardom off my list.
My last hope was the new, resurgent, National Wrestling Alliance, with Billy Corgan at the helm. They started a weekly “studio wrestling” show that looked almost exactly like my beloved NWA from back in the WTBS days. I wanted to love this company, but their use of clowns like Colt Cabana, Aaron Stevens, and Josephus, now under a mask, calling himself Question Mark, was too much for me to take. The fact that supposed “NWA fans” cheer this silliness, shows me that these people aren’t really the NWA fans I know and love. Finally, after 42 years as a fan, and member of the wrestling business, I had to accept that it’s time for me to say goodbye to my once beloved professional wrestling. I hope that one day wrestling returns to its former greatness, but I have serious doubts that will ever happen. If it does, I’d consider a return, but only if this new, well done, exciting company had some type of role for me. Just being a fan isn’t enough for me anymore, but I have no desire to work for, in, or with any current company, and I don’t see that ever changing. Thanks for the support, and the memories, and for the few times in my 42 years that I was given “Wrestling Done Right!”
-Adam Leavelle
The Wrestling Snob
Throughout the 80’s wrestling found its greatest success in my eyes. The NWA had the Four Horsemen, Dusty Rhodes, Magnum TA, The Crocket Cup, Starrcade, and we saw companies like Mid-South become the UWF, and World Class branched out on their own, away from the NWA! Even the WWF found worldwide super success with the birth of “Hulkamania,” and soon after, Wrestlemania. The 90’s saw some quality stuff too, but to me, wrestling took a step down some in quality at this time. While the 90’s weren’t terrible, and I was still a big fan, the bookings, angles, and gimmicks (for the most part) just weren’t as good over all, but still….I was a wrestling fan, a big one. The late 90’s saw a major resurgence with the nWo and WWE’s “Attitude era.” I wasn’t a fan of the Attitude Era, at all, but I accept the stars that were created during it, and enjoyed some of them, from time to time. I was a big nWo fan, until it got way too big, and had embarrassing members.
When the 2000’s got here, I was crushed when Vince McMahon bought WCW, but the ideas of what was possible excited me. Of course the WWF blew that, and never gave us a real WWF vs WCW story line. How anyone could screw that up is beyond me. Yes, I know all of the excuses (reasons) but WWE vs WCW could still have been so much better than it was. Thankfully, a little company called “Ring of Honor” started shortly after the WWF/WCW mess, and I took my devotion there. For many years after its beginning in 2002, I would do anything I could to watch, and or follow Ring of Honor Wrestling. That company kept me from walking away from the sport I grew up loving. Around a decade later, I got into the “independent” companies around the Country. Eventually I even began working for numerous “indies” as a commentator, and or back stage interviewer. I worked for companies such as The Ultimate Wrestling Experience, Lancaster Championship Wrestling, Legacy Wrestling, and MCW Pro Wrestling. I created the pre-show idea for independent wrestling shows that has been copied by many, ever since. My “Indie Wrestling Saturday” Facebook Live show was a big hit, and I took it on the road to many different companies. I am proud that I spent around five years in the wrestling business, on the independent scene. I worked with, and made friends with, numerous wrestlers that now work for WWE, AEW, Impact, and the NWA. However, watching an amazing mat performer like Drew Gulak be used the way he is on WWE television just pushes me further away from the American version of “pro wrestling.”
Since the arrival of WWE’s NXT, I watched the independent talent dwindle, and several of the companies I worked for fold. I watched remaining companies book much lesser talent, including far too many “comedy” guys. I stepped away from working in the business and began solely following Japanese companies like New Japan Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, NOAH, and Joshi powerhouse company, Stardom. For the next several years those companies fulfilled my wrestling fix. However, as time went on, no selling, over the top (called “super indie style”) wrestling began to dominate Japan. Yes, I understand that this was always big in Japan, but it grew to extreme lengths, with countless wrestlers no selling moves like DDT’s and brain busters on the concrete floor! Plus goofy comedy from the likes of Taguchi, and Toro Yano, as well as mega star Kenny Omega just started to disgust, and embarrass me. It got to the point to where I would only watch Joshi promotion, Stardom. Stardom reminds me of a younger, much better than today’s, Ring of Honor. It’s a “modern style” of wrestling, but they sell well, the matches aren’t over the top long, and comedy is sparse. That said though, Stardom’s insistence on using an over the top comedy performer like Session Moth Martina often leaves me rolling my eyes. Since adding “Death Yama-san, it’s almost too much to take. When my favorite Stardom wrestler, Hazuki, announced she was retiring, at the age of 22, that pushed me over the edge, and I crossed Stardom off my list.
My last hope was the new, resurgent, National Wrestling Alliance, with Billy Corgan at the helm. They started a weekly “studio wrestling” show that looked almost exactly like my beloved NWA from back in the WTBS days. I wanted to love this company, but their use of clowns like Colt Cabana, Aaron Stevens, and Josephus, now under a mask, calling himself Question Mark, was too much for me to take. The fact that supposed “NWA fans” cheer this silliness, shows me that these people aren’t really the NWA fans I know and love. Finally, after 42 years as a fan, and member of the wrestling business, I had to accept that it’s time for me to say goodbye to my once beloved professional wrestling. I hope that one day wrestling returns to its former greatness, but I have serious doubts that will ever happen. If it does, I’d consider a return, but only if this new, well done, exciting company had some type of role for me. Just being a fan isn’t enough for me anymore, but I have no desire to work for, in, or with any current company, and I don’t see that ever changing. Thanks for the support, and the memories, and for the few times in my 42 years that I was given “Wrestling Done Right!”
-Adam Leavelle
The Wrestling Snob
