WWE Is Coming Close To The End Of an Era : My Trip Down Memory Lane

WWE is full of stars that we have been cheering for since we were children. For a lot of the writers on this site many of their favorites from when they are kids are now starting to retire.

Guys like Shawn Michaels, who retired after losing a match to Undertaker at Wrestlemania, are the people we grew up idolizing. I remember one year I dressed up as Shawn for halloween.

I made his trademark chaps by cutting some pieces out of a pair of sweatpants and I drew the trademark broken hearts and stripes myself. I already owned the glasses, hat and gloves that WWE used to sell back in the day, so the only thing missing was the vest.

My father dug up an old suit vest he had that was kind of big, but still looked right for the outfit. I was so proud of my costume. I went around to all the neighborhood houses trick or treating and I got more compliments on my costume than I ever had, or have had since then.

These kinds of memories are why pro wrestling holds a special place in my heart. Wrestlers are like real life superheroes. They dress up in ridiculous outfits, perform superhuman feats of strength and agility, and represent good vs evil.

Nowadays we have new faces ruling the WWE. Maybe not new to everyone but new to some. Guys like John Cena, Edge, Randy Orton, CM Punk and Rey Mysterio are the figureheads of the biggest wrestling promotion in the world.

Back when I first began watching the main faces of wrestling were guys like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Sting, Bret Hart, Randy Savage and The Ultimate Warrior.

As I watched wrestling the first few years, I saw many great matches and feuds that still stick out in my mind to this day. The Epic feud between Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannety i still fresh in my mind as if it were yesterday.

The moment when Shawn super kicked Marty through the window of Brutus Beefcake's barber shop set I knew Shawn was going to be a star. He went on to accomplish things a lot of people never thought he could.

Shawn made waves again in WWE when he and Razor Ramon had the first WWE Ladder match which was seen by more than just a house show crowd. Shawn and Razor made magic in the ring that night and changed the way WWE thought of stipulation matches.

As many now know Bret Hart and HBK actually had a ladder match in WWE prior to the Razor/HBK match. The match was held at a house show so the only people to see it are the ones in attendance that night and the people who bought the best ladder matches DVD.

Another mainstay in WWE who is closing in on the end of his career is The Undertaker. Taker has ruled WWE sine first appearing as Ted Dibiase's mystery partner at Survivor Series.

When he went up against the imposter Undertaker I thought I was witnessing one of the best storyline culminations I had ever seen. Now he is a multi time World Champion and one of the most respected men in the history of the business.

Until Michaels retired he and Taker were the only WWE superstars to still be in the company since the first WWE Raw telecast. Now the Taker stand alone.

Only a few in WWE can say they have been wrestling as long as the dead man. One person many seem to forget who has been wrestling longer than the dead man is Dustin Runnels AKA Golddust.

Goldie has been wrestling since he was old enough to lace up a pair of boots. He was known in WCW for years before making his way to WWE to create one of the most talked about characters of the decade.

Golddust challenged heterosexual men's confidence before Orlando Jordan was squirting lotion on his chest or Billy and Chuck were planning on getting married.

Dustin Runnels is the son of the Legendary Dusty Rhodes who was also a big part of WWE in his heyday.

Saddled with a terrible gimmick, Dusty made the most of it by becoming one of WWE's most popular stars of the day. His working man image made him popular with the whole of America, and his charisma made him a star.

When I was entering my teen years guys like Matt and Jeff Hardy were starting to gain steam. Their TLC matches put them on the map, but it their passion and drive that have made the fan favorites all over the world.

People said Jeff would never win a World Title because he was too much of a liability due to his checkered past. They were wrong and he went on to win three World Titles with the company.

No one thought that after almost a decade of not holding a World Title that Kane would never be champion again. He proved them wrong by winning the World Title recently.

Kane is now embroiled in a feud that could finally see him defeat his long time nemesis and storyline brother The Undertaker.

Now that we are nearing the retirement of Undertaker, and maybe even Triple H, we are going to start seeing the begining of the end.

By "End" I don't mean the end of WWE, but the end of the old WWE. Once Undertaker, Triple H and Golddust are gone all the things that represented wrestling from my childhood will be gone, and that is a sad thought to think about.

I love WWE's current crop of stars, and I never intend to stop watching them hone their craft, but for me personally, wrestling has been a huge part of my life in terms of entertainment since I was a child.

I recently began packing up my posessions to move into a new home and found the program and ticket stub from my first live WWF event.

I was excited to find this as I had assumed it had been lost in all the moves I have done over the years. Seeing the lineup of matches brought back great memories for me. One person whose name popped off the program was Lex Luger.

Lex was the man who first slammed the gigantic Yokozuna, a feat not thought to be possible by any mortal man. :ex is a controversial figure in wrestling. Many people have criticized him for not being as passionate about wrestling as some of his colleagues.

Those are not the things I think of when I think of fond memories of my favorite superstars. I think of the moments that make up the highlight reels of these men's and women's careers.

When I think of Shawn Michaels I don't think about DX or his involvement in the Montreal Incident, I think of Him and Sensational Sherri making the lives of other men in WWE a living hell. I think of the times Shawn And Diesel teamed up together, and fought against each other.

Unfortunately there are also many sad moments that go along with the good. The Day Owen Hart passed away was one of the few days when I just couldn't watch wrestling. One of my favorite heels of all time wa gone and there was nothing I could do about it.

I can't lie, I shed more than a single tear when Mark Henry read the poem he wrote in honor of Owen the night Raw held their tribute to the fallen warrior.

The day it was announced that Brian Pillman had been found dead I was speechless. He had just come off an amazing match with Golddust where the stipulation was if Pillman won he got Marlena, Golddust's valet, and real life wife at the time, all to himself.

The days when I heard of the passing of Stars Sensational Sherri, Davey Boy Smith, Curt Hennig and Stu Hart were truly sad days indeed.

The Wrestling world has lost many of its family members to early deaths, and it is unfortunately the nature of the business.

These days it seems as if every week we hear of the passing of another Superstar. When I heard Umaga had passed away I was stunned. He was so young and had so much potential. It was truly a huge loss to the wrestling world.

These moments will never be forgotten, but in spite of all the sad memories, I still love wrestling because it is something I can use to escape the everyday world. It is a world in itself filled with good guys and bad guys fighting for pride, glory and championship gold.

There are so many matches that come to mind when I think of what my favorite moments in pro wrestling are.

When Bret Hart beat Curt Hennig for the Intercontinental title, I cheered out loud. When Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat fought over the same title I was in awe of their skill and intensity.

When Vince McMahon made the controversial decision to host Smackdown in the wake of 9/11 I was proud to be a fan of a company that wanted to help the country remember that life would continue and we would be ok in the end.

And When Hulk Hogan was revealed to be the third man in the NWO I knew I was witnessing a huge change that would change the world of wrestling forever, And When Mick Foley won his first WWE title I knew I was watching the efforts of a truly great performer pay off.

Watching Wrestling is something that I am not at all ashamed of because it makes me happy. Some people criticize wrestling fans for cheering on "fake" fighting, but I always respond with the same thing "Do you think Jack Bauer is actually torturing people, or did you think Dean Cain could really fly when he wore the Superman outfit? No". These are all part of the same thing, entertainment.

On a side note I have no idea why I mentioned Dean Cain.

There are certainly many stars who have reached greatness over the years that are worth mentioning, but a lot of my all time favorites are the ones who never quite reached the top.

Arn Anderson is the main person who comes to mind when I think of great wrestlers who never won the World Title. His in ring ability was second to none and he was the one who coined the name of The Four Horsemen, arguably the greatest faction in wrestling history.

Another who never won the big one but certainly deserved to was Paul Orndorff. He had the look, charisma and promo skills of a champion, but because Hulkamania was running wild during his prime years he never got the chance to get the brass ring.

There have been countless people and moments that make up my memories of wrestling, and to outline them all would take forever, so I will end on this, Never let anyone tell you that wrestling is low class or dumb because wrestling as a whole has had an impact on more people than any other franchise in entertainment history.

I apologize if the article jumped around a lot, and thank you to anyone who read the whole thing, I know it was long but it was worth writing.