Brian Damage
This is the 379th installment of the ‘Wrestling with Sin‘ series. A group of stories that delves into the darker, underbelly of pro wrestling. Many of the stories involve such subjects as sex, drugs, greed and in some cases even murder! As with every single story in the Sin series, I do not condone or condemn the alleged participants. We simply retell their stories by researching interviews, newspapers, magazines and various other sources of media.
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Brian Damage
The biggest misconception in pro wrestling in making a top star, is having said wrestler win the promotion’s world title. While that can certainly help elevate a mid card star into main event status…there are no guarantees that it will always pay off. The truth is, you can make a star out of an individual just as easily by having them lose a match. It all depends on how the match is booked. Such is the case of the ‘Charismatic Enigma’ Jeff Hardy.
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Brian Damage
With World Championship Wrestling emerging as a legitimate threat to the World Wrestling Federation in 1997…the WWF began making changes to how they did business. Fewer squash matches were used to enhance top stars and in its place were more meaningful confrontations. The WWF was slowly getting a bit more edgier with its content. We were seeing less and less cartoonish gimmicks and were being given more characters with relateability. This was a time where Vince McMahon and company were testing the waters for a product with a bit more…attitude.
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Brian Damage
Make no mistake about it, pro wrestling does have a dark side to it. There are hundreds upon hundreds of stories about the dark and sometimes sinister side as chronicled in my ‘Wrestling with Sin‘ series. This piece is a direct opposite of that. With every bad story I have shared…there are also positive stories. Stories of wrestlers making it above and beyond the ring. Positive stories to inspire. Pro wrestlers aren’t all drug addicts, scam artists and carny sideshows. They all don’t die at an early age, or are broke and need to wrestle till they die. They don’t necessarily have to get into acting like The Rock or Batista. They don’t have to necessarily switch over to MMA like Brock Lesnar or CM Punk. Some of these stories are just about hard work, dreaming big and doing whatever it takes to succeed. We’ve already covered some stories as chronicled in part 1, part 2 , part 3 and part 4. With that said, let’s look at some positives…
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B. Dangerous, Brian Damage, Gypsy King and Lowlife Louie Ramos
This week’s top five is all about wrestlers who were really good inside the ring, but weren’t the best at doing interviews and promos. We would also like to give a warm welcome to a new contributor to the blog…The Gypsy King! Welcome!
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B. Dangerous and Brian Damage
What? This week we return with the top five best catchphrases from a pro wrestler. What? Phrases that fans loved to chant with a particular wrestler. What? And no…the WHAT catchphrase should not be listed…ever.
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Lowlife Louie Ramos, B Dangerous and Brian Damage
This week’s top five is inspired by the recent success of Matt (Don’t call me Zack Ryder) Cardona and his venture into the world of death matches. We look at wrestlers who may or may not have had great success under a certain gimmick or character…but have had a long career with the ability to reinvent themselves and adapt to the ever changing world of professional wrestling.
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Brian Damage
This is the 325th installment of the ‘Wrestling with Sin‘ series. A group of stories that delves into the darker, underbelly of pro wrestling. Many of the stories involve such subjects as sex, drugs, greed and in some cases even murder! As with every single story in the Sin series, I do not condone or condemn the alleged participants. We simply retell their stories by researching interviews, newspapers, magazines and various other sources of media.
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Amerigo Diehl and Brian Damage
Vince McMahon has gotten some heat (and deservedly so) for tinkering with wrestlers looks, name and gimmicks throughout the years. What are your top five WWF/WWE changes that actually paid off well for the company?
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Ring the Damn Bell 