Respect for the business - What separates the Takers and HBKs

Through the years, we’ve seen guys stepping into the ring and give it all to the business they had fallen in love with as a kid. The Edges, Christians, CM Punks have always been huge fans of the professional wrestling industry, and had done everything they could, giving everything they had to make a name for themselves in the business. They never had it easy, and were never given anything on the silver platter. A guy like The Undertaker has given 30 years of his life to the business, thus earning the respect of his peers and followers, being known as the greatest performer in the industry, and the most respected athlete that the business had ever seen.

Sometimes you don’t have to work so hard to achieve ‘it’ in the business. ‘It’ is defined as the be all, end all status in the organization. Sometimes things get easy for you, either because the bookers/promoters see something in you that would make you stand out among all the others, or the simple fact that you are more marketable than the rest of the bunch, who had given 2 decades of their lives to be where they were. The professional wrestling business isn’t a walk in the park, and more often than not, you find yourself stuck in the middle of nowhere, and like most of the guys who get into the business, if you do not have a way out, you will perish as a part of the business that you wanted to conquer. The wrestling industry has always been unforgiving, but when your lucky stars shine brightly, and you’re at the right place at the right time, things can go the other way.

There have been people in the business who got their statuses by working hard, and those who were seen as the faces of the organization simply because they were marketable. In this article, I take a look at two such superstars, who didn’t have to work as hard as most of the others, and how their success made them complacent, even in the eyes of the veterans and other respected performers. They say when success finds its way to you, you forget how you had to work for it. There were the Hogans, who stopped working hard once they reached the pinnacle of the business, and stagnated. But since those were the good old days, without internet and knowledgeable wrestling fans, it gave him and Vince an easy pass. But when Vince tried to repeat the same thing years later, it didn’t quite work as well as he had planned.

Post ’05, two people were chosen as the future of the WWE. They were John Cena and Batista. Both of them won their respective brands’ championships, and became the top dogs in the company. But something was different about them, something that wasn’t a case with The Undertakers, Austins or Bret Harts, and that was complete lack of understanding of in-ring psychology and the ability to work a decent match. Both were brawlers, but unless paired with a Kurt Angle or Shawn Michaels, neither of them had any basic sense as to how to work a match. And soon the fans and the Internet Wrestling Community turned against them, and started booing both of them.

But perhaps the biggest testament is when the veterans think you’re not good enough to pass on the torch. In ’08, Cena found himself feuding with one of the greatest performers of all time, Shawn Michaels, and Batista had found himself in a feud with the legendary Undertaker. This was seen as a pivotal moment in the company’s history, as the two future flag bearers of the company were facing two legends who were the foundation of the WWE. As the feud went along, Cena had to face Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 23 for the WWE Championship, while Batista had to defend his World Heavyweight Title against The Undertaker.

The Undertaker – Batista match was good, but Batista showed his lack of skills by botching some of the moves during the match, and that ticked The Undertaker off. For these two legends, it wasn’t about winning the titles anymore, but they wanted to put the younger guys over. Even if the younger guys lose the match, they can be put over due to their effort, and an acknowledgement from these two old work horses would have given Cena and Batista a huge rub. But as it stood during the encounter, Undertaker apparently got frustrated with Batista, and after he won the match and the World Heavyweight title, a clearly annoyed Taker told the referee to ‘Get Batista out’ of the ring.

As the video goes to 28:39 mark, Taker tells Robinson to get him out of the ring. Post event, rumours floated around about how Taker was disappointed with the poor work rate of Batista. Batista was given everything on a silver platter, and like most of the guys who’re spoon fed, he became complacent. But that wasn’t the end of things. The last match between Michaels and Cena saw its fair share of tantrums as well.

There was a point in the match where the audio was cut off, and only the crowd could be heard. HBK had worked on the leg of Cena for more than half of the match, and Cena being himself, wasn’t selling it. This apparently ticked HBK off, as he cut a promo during the match itself. At 21:48, you can clearly see an annoyed Shawn Michaels giving a piece of his mind to John Cena, who has always been criticized for his lack of selling in a match, and his inability to work a good match.

Post match, Shawn was so upset with the quality of the match being poor that he refused to shake hands with Cena, something that was scripted to happen. When you have the two veterans being upset over the quality of their matches, which are supposed to be the main events, you know that these guys are taking things lightly. It is therefore no wonder that Cena receives such negative reactions from the crowd everywhere he goes. It is not only about his character being stale, but his inability to perform that makes the fans want an alternative to the Cenas and Batistas. You have to wonder how much these guys respect the business, considering they haven’t improved during the course of time. I found it pretty amusing while I was watching WrestleMania 23; Batista always had a bad attitude, as he considered himself bigger than the other stars, and he got into trouble because of that, the most famous being against Booker T during their Summerslam promo. John Cena hasn’t improved either, and this only raises questions regarding their commitment to the industry.