Wrestling Is Lost in a Fake Reality—Who's to Blame?

Who are the champions in the WWE right now? CM Punk for Raw, Triple H for Smackdown, and Mark Henry for ECW.

The fact that I even had to sit back and think about it kind of scares me. And the fact that on shows like Smackdown the Championship storyline isn't the top script is a little scary, too.

I remember Starcade 1997 when Sting finally came back in the ring and beat Hulk Hogan (with the help of Bret Hart punching out Nick Patrick). I remember feeling the same excitement as the crowd in that arena.

But once 2001 came and WWE bought out WCW and ECW it seemed wrestling, and even the WWE itself, changed.

As I reflect on the past and the present, I start to think about what has changed. Have the personas changed? Have the storylines changed? The show itself? Advertising?

Whatever the case may be, wrestling is not grabbing people's attention as it once did. The only thing we hear about wrestling now is drug suspensions and politics.

As the questions linger in the air, the reality is that people today have settled with the fact that wrestling is just a show that they don't get lost in anymore. I know when I now see someone get the title I don't get excited.

Instead I ask, "What cards were played for this person getting the push?" Likewise, in response to such instances as when Jeff Hardy had to lose the intercontinental title to Jericho to serve a drug suspension, I just hang my head in shame.

Despite the downfalls of these wrestlers, one of the biggest punches in the gut to wrestling is the Internet.

When wrestling websites started being published you started to hear more about the politics of wrestling and it destroyed the company. Now if you go on YouTube you can watch shoot interviews with current and former wrestlers like Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Spike, Bubba Ray and Devon, etc. and it's all about politics and who made who mad in the locker room.

What can save wrestling? Honestly, I doubt anybody can totally destroy professional wrestling. However, I do believe ratings will continue to drop due to the fact that our wrestling heroes are not what they were back in the day when you never heard about politics and suspensions.

Get rid of these two factors and you might see wrestling start to come back to life.