From the NAI Archive – December 28, 2014 – DC’s Network Diaries: Smackdown from April 12, 2001

From the NAI Archive – December 28, 2014 – DC’s Network Diaries: Smackdown from April 12, 2001

The year was 2001. This future teacher was 2+ months away from graduating high school, and for some reason, he has no earthly recollection of any of the events from this Smackdown. Should be a good time.

Opening Recap
Highlight: Realizing I have no earthly recollection of this show. I don’t remember the “Two Man Power Trip”, their feud with the Hardy’s, and I certainlyI don’t remember Linda demanding a divorce from Vince. All of this is new to me. Looking back, this is the time of my life when I had finally figured out how to talk to girls, so perhaps that’s why this time in wrestling is so hazy.

So What: This is obviously back when top talents elevated younger talents on a regular basis. Hint hint, WWE.

From the N2C Archive – October 13, 2014 – The Teacher plays a game. “Heel or Not Heel?”

From the N2C Archive – October 13, 2014 – The Teacher plays a game. “Heel or Not Heel?”

When I began watching the then-WWF in 1993, you could draw a definite line between the good guys and the bad guys. It was plain as day. Bret Hart? The ultimate good guy, always battling the odds and fighting for what was right. Jerry Lawler? Totally a villain, what with his insults to the crowd and his demeaning looks. Now, maybe it was because I was a kid and believe what my elders told me (even if my elders were Bobby Heenan and Randy Savage), but I never had a question in my mind as to who the faces and the heels were.

Flash forward to today. Look around the WWE – can you really tell the difference anymore?

From the N2C Archive – October 11, 2014 – The Teacher’s Lounge: Why WWE really needs Brock Lesnar.

From the N2C Archive – October 11, 2014 – The Teacher’s Lounge: Why WWE really needs Brock Lesnar.

Brock Lesnar is most likely not going to wrestle again until January’s Royal Rumble. In fact, from all reports, he and his advocate Paul Heyman might not even appear on WWE programming until around the holiday season. Now, depending on who you ask and what time you ask them, this is viewed as both a positive and a negative for the company. I can see both sides of the argument here, but I lean more towards the Barrett side (Bad News, get it?), though it’s not for the same reason everyone else does.

Truth be told, I don’t think Brock Lesnar is as big of a sales pitch as many other people do. I don’t think people are tuning into RAW or watching PPV’s to see Lesnar compete. Right now there are only two reasons people are really watching WWE these days.