In the early expansion of the Rock N’ Wrestling era Vince McMahon built his promotion around Hulk Hogan. Yes he was fortunate to have some other talented acts such as Roddy Piper, Randy Savage and Bobby Heenan but his strategy was to bring in stars such as Cindi Lauper and Mr.T to place the spotlight on his product and hopefully turn those new eyeballs into fans of his current product, most noticeably The Hulkster.
And it was wildly successful, and lasted several years.
But it did have a shelf life, and by early 1992 the fans had lost some interest in Hogan, and in fact Vince thought that could eventually happen which is why The Ultimate Warrior had a shot 2 years prior.
This combined with the steroid scandal the WWF was facing caused a change at the top, but with how the promotion had been built around Hogan there wasn’t a real strong heir apparent, so Bret Hart, Diesel (Kevin Nash), Shawn Michaels, Psycho Sid Vicious, and even The Undertaker all had a chance.
Many of these men I enjoyed a great deal, but none of them lit the world on fire and the WWF struggled under their championship reigns.
Until the next big superstar emerged, in fact 2 of them did, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. And yes they were once again lucky to have other very talented performers there at the same time such as Mick Foley or Triple H but make no doubt who were now the faces of the promotion. And it was wildly successful, but lasted a few less years.
One of these men left to injuries cutting his magnificent career short. The other had accomplished all his goals in just a few short years and left to challenge him self in new ways.
And once again an heir apparent was not quite ready, and business went down, though not as low as in the post Hogan era.
So Vince did something very smart, he began pushing the brand instead. The WWE, as it was now known, became the top star of the company, and he no longer had to worry what would happen if he lost the face of his company to such a degree.
And even once he did have a new star that was far and away above the rest in John Cena he was able to lose him on occasion to injury without the same swing in business affecting the company.
Vince now didn’t have that one mega star like Hogan, Austin or The Rock but many superstars he could rely on and a brand name that is stronger than ever.
But what happens when almost all these top names leave in such a short period of time?
The Undertaker, Edge, Michaels, Triple H, Batista, and even the Mr. McMahon character all are now essentially gone. Others that have played a major role in the WWE over the last decade such as Kurt Angle, Booker T, Jeff Hardy, RVD, Ric Flair, also are no longer in the company, and I’m sure I’m missing some major names too.
And all you can really say they’ve added of note to the viewing audience within the last couple of years is C.M. Punk, who’s contemplating leaving for an extended period, The Miz, and maybe Alberto Del Rio?
So what’s the point of all my ramblings here? Simply this.
PLEASE COME BACK CHRIS JERICHO!
I know you don’t need the WWE. You have lots of projects on the go in T.V., film and Television and another novel to come. Plus you’ve been smart with your money from all accounts. You also have met all your goals like The Rock already.
And the WWE will say the brand is strong so they would like you but don’t need you either. Even though they’re wrong that’s their attitude.
But I want to enjoy watching wrestling. I want that one segment or match or both where I know, for sure, I’ll have fun watching. I want that one angle that’s well done and I want to actually want to have something I’ll pay to see on PPV.
So what I’m saying is on behalf of me and so many other fans…
PLEASE COME HOME CHRIS JERICHO, BECAUSE I NEED YOU!
Thanks in advance
