Respect for the fans

There are two types of fans: the casual fans who love WWE or TNA and your "smart marks"-fans who love all types of wrestling, ranging from independents here in the United States to international companies. The common denominator they share is their love for the products they watch put money in the pockets of the wrestling companies, and in turn, the wrestlers who work for those companies. I get a little irked when wrestlers blantantly disrespect fans, telling them they are better and smarter than the fans by calling them "smarks", which means smart marks or smart wrestling fans. Case in point, Kevin Nash said on Twitter Tuesday after teasing he would be on WWE Raw the night before that social media "is his PS3. Thanks for playing along tonight. I'll always be relevant due to my IQ." The tweet was in response to many fans who believe Kevin Nash doesn't have a place in the national wrestling spotlight anymore. Bottom line is, no matter who you are in the wrestling business, bottom of the card to main event, the wrestling fans should never be disrespected by the people that they spend their time supporting every week through television viewership and merchandise, pay-per-view, and ticket purchases. The fans are the reason wrestlers like John Cena, Randy Orton, CM Punk, and the very "inquisitive" Kevin Nash have the luxuries they do. It's because of "us," the paying wrestling customer. So next time Nash, or even, Eric Bischoff, TNA executive, who has been notorious for utlizing the internet to bash wrestling fans, or again, "internet marks" for being in the low percentile of wrestling fans who comprise its makeup, they should think that it's those "10 percent" smart fans who are responsible for them earning a living in a business where very few aspiring athletes can make it. Wrestling fans should never, ever, be disrespected by their heroes. And those heroes should remember that there are fans out there who hail them as such on a daily basis.

One giant step forward, two steps backward for wrestling

Just when I think wrestling takes a giant leap forward, I think of ways it takes two steps backwards. With the return of the Rock, and recently, Brock Lesnar, WWE has seen a mild swing in pay-per-view buys as Wrestlemania 28, headlined by Rock vs John Cena, reached 1.3 million buys. Mania'28 became the highest grossing WWE ppv in history. Extreme Rules, which featured a brutal Cena vs Lesnar Extreme Rules, a street fight for the WWE Championship between CM Punk vs Chris Jericho and a 2 out of 3 falls World Heavyweight Championship match between Daniel Bryan and Sheamus, was arguably the best ppv of the year so far, eclipsing Wrestlemania even. When you think of the roll WWE is on and the potential upswing in business the returns of the Rock and Lesnar could bring, I think of an "old school" issue that plagues the wrestling business. One that's on another wrestling hemisphere so to speak. Nothing screams "political manuevering" more than the current push of Garret Bischoff, son of TNA and former WCW executive Eric, on IMPACT Wrestling. It's no secret in wrestling that sons of promoters have always been given pushes in the family business. Greg Gagne, son of AWA promoter Verne, the Von Erich boys, son of Fritz, in WCCW, and even the Hart boys were featured attractions in father Stu's Stampede Wrestling promotion in Canada. The difference between them and Garrett Bischoff is they had the talent to go with their push. Bischoff hasn't shown any of that during his time on IMPACT Wrestling. No charisma, no personality, and no wrestling skills equals a company going back to a tradition that is frowned upon. It's another case of a promoter forcing the promotion to give his son airtime because of his position of power. "He's a very very talented kid. I told him from the beginning, look you are going to have to be better than the next guy because people are going to be so much more critical of you than they would anybody there," TNA president Dixie Carter said. "And I think because of that, it's a really difficult position to be in, and I respect his guts because it does take a lot-quite honestly-to be able to face that and all these critics. "But the kid's got talent, he really really does. Just like others, he's been cycled into a solid storyline, and there's ebbs and flows to kind of keep people in the limelight. But he's no different than a Crimson who's on a great winning streak or a Magnus." Umm no!! With Cowboy James Storm, who is arguably the best interview and potentially TNA's next big star, AJ Styles, Bobby Roode, Matt Morgan and Austin Aries on its roster, there is no way Garrett deserves the push he's getting. That is one of the many problems of TNA. They let egos and bad management get in the way of good business decisions. TNA has a roster that is potentially the best of any company right now, even the big gorilla WWE. But when you're taking an old-school approach and pushing a son of a promoter who doesn't have an iota of talent then you're company will always be taking two steps backwards.