It’s almost time for Monday Night RAW but before that it’s time for Monday Mat Musings. I apologise profusely for missing last week’s column. Working a 60 hour week meant I couldn’t write the column, but unlike The Rock, I won’t leave you again. (Sorry Dwayne) This week I’m going to talk about, in my opinion, the biggest heel in pro wrestling today………The Internet Wrestling Community (IWC)

Let me preface this by saying I’m part Of the IWC but there are some fans who to me are the ultimate heels.

Here are the three parts to my argument:

Long Term Booking
Some internet fans crave long term booking. They long for the days where a feud with Hogan/Savage or Austin/McMahon could last a year. But then when they get it….THEY COMPLAIN! The prime example of this is the return of Chris Jericho. We all thought he would come back vying for CM Punk. Instead, he shocked us and came out as a cheesy babyface who played up to the fans, ran round the ring smiling and then left. I went online not long after RAW and fans were DEMANDING AN EXPLANATION! Why would Jericho do this to his fans? This comes back to long term booking that the IWC crave for and then when they see Jericho starting a long term storyline over a few weeks or months, they complain about not having an instant explanation. The funny thing is, we’ve all done this in the past. But lets try and watch a story play out, it’s much more fun.

The Element of Surprise
The IWC longs for the element of surprise. Fans want to be shocked with a storyline twist or an unexpected return. The ironic thing is that even though some of the IWC long for the surprise, they will constantly read spoilers or look to see who’s been spotted backstage or at an airport. In 2012, with dirtsheets, magazines and the internet it’s hard enough to be shocked and surprised in wrestling, so don’t spoil it for yourself IWC!

Everyone can’t/shouldn’t be a World Champion
In recent years in wrestling, companies have made lots of title switches to try and find the next big star in the business and some of the IWC have followed suit. In the past three or four years, I’ve read hundreds of columns/forum posts/articles on wrestlers who ‘Should hold a World Title by the end of XXXX’ The truth Is that not everyone should be a world champion because if they are then it loses it’s special feel and aura. In the 1980’s it was only Hogan, Andre, Savage and Warrior that held the belt in a 7 year period. Sure Piper, Rude, DiBiase, Perfect and others were tremendous talents but if they had all been WWF champion then maybe the belt wouldn’t have meant as much as it did. In the late 90’s apart from a 4 day title reign by Vince McMahon, only Austin, Rock, Undertaker, Triple H, Kane and Mankind held the belt. Nobody can deny the talent that Shamrock, X-Pac, Owen Hart and Billy Gunn were all great talents, but would the WWF Championship have kept its big time feel had the belt been passed to everyone? Today people are predicting title reigns from many youngsters in the business. Some young men will get to that level and excel, others unfortunately will have reigns like Jack Swagger that ultimately prove that they thrive and belong in the mid card.

This column has expressed some strong opinions. But in all honesty, I love the IWC. There are some crazy bastards and some good friends. I love them all. But lets hope in 2012, the IWC chills out a bit and enjoys wrestling – that’s what it’s there for after all.

Finally, I have started a wrestling radio podcast called Inside The Ropes with my partner in crime Robert Duffin. Here’s a link to this week’s episode.

That’s all for this week, I’ll be back next week, enjoy the Royal Rumble! 🙂

Rambling Scotsman