As it relates to wrestling though, in particular the WWE, they really need to embrace the “less is more” philosophy if they ever want to return to doing the big business they did during Hulk Hogan’s 1980′s run and the Attitude era of 1998-2001. With that in mind, here is my take on how the WWE can deliver the best possible product to its fans and jump start another great era in the industry. This is my complete fix for the WWE:

1. Abolish the brand split and unify the titles

I’m starting with the most essential and most common sense move that the WWE can make right now to ensure future success and a high quality product for their irrationally loyal fanbase. There are people that actually argue this point, which boggles my mind. These types of fans are the biggest reason the company has continued to flounder in terms of quality since the spring of 2001. They accept garbage and stupidity by continuing to forfeit over dollars and what little intelligence they have in return for more garbage and stupidity. Ultimately, the product now sucks because the fans won’t demand something better.

There are some people that believe the WWE has been good in 2010 and 2011, and shockingly, many of them are over the age of 14. Look, I’m not into complaining just for the sake of complaining, but the last decade of wrestling has been putrid, and my first step to solve this problem is also by far the most important and one that all the remaining logical fans need to rally around and embrace: There can be only one roster and one world champion. Period, end of story. If we stopped right there, the WWE product would be infinitely better overnight. That seriously might solve about 90% of their problems right now, and the company would make a lot more money in the long run if they just came to their senses and operated like they had from 1963 through mid 2002 (39 freaking years) as compared to the ridiculous way they’ve operated for the past 10 years.

Look, I know the brand split was initially perceived as being necessary because of the overflow of capable wrestlers on the WWF roster after the WCW purchase in March of 2001. But right now, and even back then, there was never a need for a brand split and two separate rosters. Sure, I’ve heard the arguments. “But what about the guys on the bottom of both rosters, won’t they get let go and be out of a job?” And the ever-popular, “Having only one show and one world title will limit the the main event pushes of this guy and that guy and they would have never been able to be 9 time champions.”

To answer moronic objection number one, I hate to break it to you, but it’s not our job as fans to worry about the job security of a bunch of low-grade professional wrestlers whom we don’t know personally and aren’t entertained by. Our only job as fans is to be entertained, as harsh as that may sound. These guys can find a job in TNA, ROH, the NWA or somewhere else on the independent circuit. Or they can be unemployed. It really makes no difference to me. I’m only interested in putting together the best possible wrestling company that will entertain me and the most amount of people possible. If the rosters combined and the total amount of employed WWE wrestlers suddenly went from 80 or whatever it is, to 40 or 45, that’s theoretically eliminating quantity and greatly increasing the quality. That’s all that matters.

To answer moronic objection number two, and this one is even more stupid, we don’t want a bunch of useless upper mid carders constantly in the hunt for one of two watered down worthless titles when we could have an elite, smaller group of actual main eventers going after the one true world title in the company… you know, kind of like it worked for THIRTY NINE YEARS.

The stupidity of some fans amazes me. The reason we don’t have one unified undisputed champion and one normal wrestling roster is the same reason why the NCAA football BCS and bowl system still exists. Idiotic sheep continue to open their wallets in droves and shill out way too much money for a product that could be and should be WAY better than it is. But just like the NCAA has approximately 35 bowl games per year, with 34 of them meaning absolutely NOTHING, the WWE inexplicably has two rosters and two world titles. Who’s the man, the current face of the WWE? Well there’s two. That, my friends, is 100% ridiculous.

So here’s how this should play out. Have your stupid two champions and two rosters through Wrestlemania 28. You can even do your ridiculous draft right after Wrestlemania. But start working on a Smackdown vs. Raw feud and more importantly a WWE champion vs. World heavyweight champion feud in April. Have it build until Summerslam 2012, when the the titles get unified, along with the U.S. title and Intercontinental title being unified, and recombine the rosters on that night with matches pitting Smackdown wrestlers against Raw wrestlers. The night after Summerslam, all will finally be right in the wrestling world for the first time in 10 years. The one world title will have meaning and value again. The main event roster will be bolstered. The fat will be eventually trimmed from the bottom of the roster and business will slowly but surely start to boom once again. But that brings me to point #2. As much as this move alone would benefit the WWE and its fans, there’s more they can do under the “less is more” philosophy.

2. Less Pay Per Views, Less TV shows, Less House Shows

You want to really create a demand and a desire to see your product WWE? Then it’s time to start limiting your exposure in the marketplace to the level it should have always stayed at anyway. First, cut down on pay per views. And I don’t mean from 12 to 8, but more like 12 to 4. Actually, I’ll give them credit because it looks like the creation of the WWE Network in the fall of 2012 is going to make this happen to a certain extent, although there will still be too many “supercards.” I’ll get to that in a bit.

Go back to just having the “big four” pay per views: Wrestlemania, Summerslam, Royal Rumble and Survivor Series. Cut the rest of the garbage out completely. Don’t even put on a monthly big event on your channel that would have been a pay per view in the past. Give these feuds and angles time to build for the love of God, like they did in the late 80′s and early 90′s. I would only have two big shows per year that are not a Monday Night Raw on the WWE Network: King of the Ring and one other show that you can call whatever you want. I would go with either No Mercy or Night of Champions. Either way, this brings your total amount of big shows per year to six, with four pay per views and two on the network. Here’s how I’d schedule out the WWE calendar:

Mid January- Royal Rumble PPV

Early April- Wrestlemania PPV

Mid June- King of the Ring on WWE Network

Mid August- Summerslam PPV

Early October- Night of Champions on WWE Network

Mid November- Survivor Series PPV

By the way, all four pay per views should be priced at $29.95 until further notice. If you haven’t noticed Vince, and every other boxing, MMA and wrestling promoter, along with seemingly everyone in any kind of business, we’re in a freaking recession, and people have very limited income to spend on frivolous entertainment.

So now you have six big shows per year, with four on pay per view, one undisputed world champion and one roster. Already the total WWE product is eons better than it’s been since 2001. Now let’s take it a step further.

Get rid of the Superstars program, get rid of NXT, and yes, even cancel Smackdown. A live, two hour Monday night Raw should be the only new WWE program each week, aside from any miscellaneous stuff they do on their network like reality shows and roundtable discussion shows. And preferably, Raw should eventually air on the WWE network as well after the contract with USA runs out.

The rest of the WWE Network, aside from Raw and the new original programming, can consist of the unbelievable amount of archived footage they have from their own nearly 50 year history, plus the tape libraries of the WCW, ECW, AWA and all of the other promotions they own. This alone will make the Network a huge success, and when combined with a significantly improved current product on Monday nights and at the 6 big super shows per year, it will create a thriving business that the McMahons have not seen since early 2001.

The hardest short-term hit to the WWE books under this business model would be the loss of half of the house shows they put on during the year if there’s only one touring roster. I understand this is likely the best and most logical argument from a business perspective to keeping the brand split in place. However, I still feel that the suggestions provided here would have such a positive impact on the bottom line that they’d cancel out any losses from the sheer decrease in the amount of house shows put on each year. In the long run, having half the house shows would contribute just as greatly as the reduction in pay per views and TV shows to creating a better product and more of a demand for the product.

3. Write Better and More Compelling Storylines/Develop Characters Better

This is the only one of the three that I can’t give specific recommendations on, but to me, this just flows naturally if you do the first two. Of course, it’s definitely easier said than done. The WWE needs wrestling people, not entertainment people, to write their shows and develop their characters. The people outside of the biz just don’t get it, and they probably never will.

I’ll be the first to admit that as much as I major in logic and feel I can provide helpful suggestions to the business side of pro wrestling, I am not creative enough to write storylines or develop angles and characters for the WWE. But like I said, make the first two improvements and you make the incompetent current creative staff at the WWE look a lot better overnight. The quality of the product has nowhere to go but up if you have less TV shows, pay per views and house shows, and one unified world champion and talent roster.

So if the WWE would just take these logical steps towards improving their business model in 2012 and beyond, the product would be so much more enjoyable for the fans and thus profitable for the company. I truly believe that less is more, and if Vince and company don’t want to take these preemptive steps towards improving their business, then these things will likely be forced upon them at some point, because the U.S. market will simply not continue to support a bland, stale, watered-down product that has the potential to be so much better than it is. At least I hope they won’t. But either way, more money is better than less, and if the WWE wants to create more profit, then they need to create a better product, and this is the way to do it.

Honorable Mention: WWF Wrestlemania 7, WWF Royal Rumble 1990, WCW Uncensored 1998, WCW Super Brawl IX 1999, WCW Uncensored 1999, WWF Wrestlemania 3, WWF Wrestlemania 5, WWF Wrestlemania 6, WWF Wrestlemania 9, WWF Wrestlemania 14, WWF Wrestlemania 17, WWF Wrestlemania 18, WWF Summerslam 1988, WWF Summerslam 1989, WWF Summerslam 1990, WWF Summerslam 1992, WWF Survivor Series 1987, WWF Survivor Series 1988, WWF Survivor Series 1989, WWF Survivor Series 1990, WWF Tuesday in Texas 1991, WWF No Way Out 2002, WWF Backlash 2002, WWE Summerslam 2005, WWE Summerslam 2006, WCW Bash at the Beach 1994, WCW Halloween Havoc 1994, WCW Bash at the Beach 1995, WCW Bash at the Beach 1996, WCW Hog Wild 1996, WCW Road Wild 1997, WCW Road Wild 1999, WCW spring Stampede 1998, WCW Spring Stampede 1999, WCW Fall Brawl 1996, WCW Super Brawl VIII 1998, WCW Starrcade 1996, WCW Starrcade 1997, WCW Great American Bash 1998, WCW Super Brawl 2000, WCW Uncensored 2000

5. WWF Royal Rumble 1991

Best. Opener. Ever. Not for nothing, but was that not the most exciting tag team match or opening contest to a pay per view you have ever seen? I’m of course referencing The Rockers vs. The Orient Express, and if you  have yet to see this match, or this pay per view for that matter, go watch it right now. Seriously, I’ll wait.

Ok, so on to the rest of the show now that you’re back. We had some really solid, underrated stuff in the mid card with matches like the The Big Boss Man vs. The Barbarian, The Mountie vs. Koko B. Ware, and the tag team encounter between Ted Dibiase and Virgil vs. Dusty Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes. The WWF Championship match between The Ultimate Warrior and Sgt. Slaughter was also memorable, especially with the interference from the Macho Man Randy Savage.

Then we come to the Rumble match itself. It was the second best ever in my opinion behind 1992′s match. The lineup of superstars in these two Rumble matches is unsurpassed and completely awesome. Every guy matters, and the crowd was pumped for just about everyone. The current day WWE roster should be extremely jealous of these early 90′s Royal Rumble pay per views and the time period in general. The fact that Hogan won his second straight Royal Rumble on his way to his third WWF championship when he defeated Sgt. Slaughter at Wrestlemania 7 just makes this event that much more enjoyable in retrospect.

4. WWF Royal Rumble 1992

I liked the undercard for Royal Rumble 91 a little more than this one, but the actual Rumble match for the 1992 event was the best ever in my opinion. I’ll touch on the commentary of Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby the Brain Heenan again when I talk about Wrestlemania 8, but this event probably had the best, most entertaining commentary of any wrestling show in history. The crowd was hot for the entire Rumble match, and Ric Flair put on what I still feel is the best performance ever in a Royal Rumble. And he did it against an all-time classic lineup of WWF superstars that even exceeded the previous two years and anything from the Attitude Era in my opinion.

This show was a great lead-in to Wrestlemania 8, but it was fantastic as a stand-alone event on its own merits, mostly because this Rumble match meant more than any other. The winner of this match was to be crowned WWF champion, and Flair shocked the world with a thrilling ending to capture his first WWF title. This legitimized him in the eyes of the WWF audience, much of whom were not familiar with his legendary NWA career. Flair entered at number 3 and proceeded to take a pounding for the next hour, coming very close to being eliminated several times. This was a result that shocked and disappointed me when I was younger, but much like Ric Flair’s career, I’ve come to appreciate this match and this pay per view much more over the years to the point where it’s one of my favorite shows to watch period.

I recommend it to anyone that’s only seen more modern Royal Rumbles and might not be familiar with this era of the WWF or these awesome early Rumble matches. To me, this is the year everything really started coming together and the WWF officials finally understood how to book the Royal Rumble event from start to finish. It wasn’t as much of a messy battle royal as it was in previous years. This was an unforgettable show that led to my second favorite Wrestlemania ever:

3. WWF Wrestlemania 8

Much like Royal Rumble 92, this event was elevated so much by the commentary of Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby the Brain Heenan. Not that the actual event itself wasn’t great because it was. Now I have to say that the last match main event did not live up to its potential, mostly because of Sid Justice and the botched run-in ending by Papa Shango, but Hogan came out fired up and this wasn’t a terrible match overall. The Warrior’s comeback at the end was also a really big deal at the time and it left the awesome Hoosier Dome crowd with a good taste in their mouth after the match ended in a disqualification. You may not understand if you’re a young fan watching this Wrestlemania today, but if you were a young fan at the time, this was the talk of the wrestling world and a really cool thing to have the Warrior come back unannounced. Remember, there was no Internet dirt sheets to spoil this surprise in 1992.

Two matches stand above the rest at Wrestlemania 8.

Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair for the WWF title was one of my favorite feuds and matches of all time. These two legends put on a classic match that had an exciting finish and enabled the feud, mostly over Miss Elizabeth, to continue on into late 1992.

The other excellent match of this show was the Intercontinental title match between Rowdy Roddy Piper and Bret the Hitman Hart. Although I’m a huge fan of Piper and his character, I never really like his brawling, somewhat sloppy working style. But he was more than capable of putting on a quality match with an opponent who was a great inside the ring. Bret Hart was definitely great inside the ring, and he carried Piper to perhaps the best match of his career. Also, the interviews surrounding this match, much like the ones before and after the Savage vs. Flair match, are some of my favorite in the history of the WWE.

The rest of the card was very enjoyable and really brought to life by the enormous, electric Indianapolis crowd and the phenomenal commentary. Undertaker vs. Jake Roberts was a very good match, despite the weak tombstone piledriver at the end. Shawn Michaels got his singles career off to a terrific start against Tito Santana. And while the other matches could be considered filler by some, they were all Wrestlemania worthy in my opinion and once again showcased the depth and star power of the WWF’s mid card at the time.

This was a fantastic, underrated event that was far from a perfect show but still one of the best I’ve ever seen and one that has great replay value, much like the next two.

2. WWE Wrestlemania 19

One of these things just doesn’t belong here…Wow, I never thought I’d be completely blown away by a wrestling show again after the Attitude Era ended, and for the most part, I’ve been right. The only major exception in the last 11 years has been Wrestlemania 19. If you thought pro wrestling died after the WCW buyout and the excellence of Wrestlemania 17, think again, because you need to see this show. We got four very solid undercard matches followed up by easily the best 5 match main event run in the history of wrestling. One match after another blew me away, and each exceeded expectations even though they were very high to begin with.

Let’s start on Sunday Night Heat, that’s right, Sunday Night Heat, where we got an above average world tag team championship match between the team of Lance Storm and Chief Morley (Val Venis) vs. the team of Kane and Rob Van Dam. The we move on to the actual pay per view, where Matt Hardy defeated Rey Mysterio Jr. in a short but entertaining opener for the Cruiserweight title. Then we had the Undertaker defeat The Big Show and A-Train in a handicap match, with a little assistance from Nathan Jones. Next up was probably the best women’s wrestling match I’ve ever seen, a triple threat match for the title featuring Trish Stratus, Victoria and Jazz. Fourth on the card was Team Angle retaining their WWE tag team titles against Los Guerreros and the team of Chris Benoit and Rhyno. These were all good matches and worthy of being on a Wrestlemania card, which is much more than you can say for a lot of Wrestlemania undercard matches since then, but starting with match five, things really got intense.

You could make a pretty valid argument that Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho was one of the best wrestling matches ever. It’s definitely in my top 10. If there’s one match from this show you need to see, it’s this one, although this is really an event that needs to be viewed in its entirety to be fully appreciated.

The next match completely shocked me, because my expectations for it weren’t all that high and I was really interested in a bunch of other matches on the card much more than this one. But Triple H and Booker T really brought it on this night. I think they knew what they were surrounded by and they didn’t want to get overlooked, and I’d say if that was their goal, they achieved it.

The most anticipated match for me was Hulk Hogan vs. Vince McMahon in a streetfight, which if you’re not familiar, is really just wrestling lingo for a match without rules. I did expect this to be good, despite the age and physical limitations of both men, but they both put on a performance that went way beyond what I expected from them, and I’m sure almost everyone else watching felt the same way. Roddy Piper’s interference was a nice touch, but in reality it wasn’t needed. I like the way McMahon was booked strong like he had a chance to win, and Hogan was booked as kind of the underdog babyface like he had been earlier in his career. Critics and haters always say Hogan should have retired long ago, after this match or that match, and usually I disagree. But if the Hulkster had chosen to hang up the boots after this match, I wouldn’t argue that decision at all. I’m glad this was his last Wrestlemania match, and in my mind at least, he sealed his legacy on this night as the best wrestler ever. Had had come completely full circle and ended the war with Vince that was 20 years in the making.

That could have ended the show and the crowd would have went home happy. But we were then treated to another one of the greatest rivalries in wrestling history, the third Wrestlemania encounter between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Honestly, it was probably the third best of the three matches they had at Wrestlemania, but it was still fantastic, and it had a surprising ending that I won’t mention here in case you haven’t seen it.

Finally, the actual last match main event of the evening was the WWE championship match between champion Kurt Angle and number one contender Brock Lesnar. This is another match that has to be seen to be believed. If you knew the backstory behind this match, how Angle was injured leading up to this event and how legitimately messed up Lesnar was after his botched shooting star press at the end of the match, then you’d appreciate this even more. And when I say “botched,” it was probably the greatest botch in the history of the business. I actually think Lesnar missing that move made the match even more epic than it would have been had he hit it cleanly as he was supposed to. Instead, after more than 20 minutes of a classic wrestling match, Lesnar nearly broke his neck coming off the top rope with that move, and in his concussed state, managed to use his F5 finisher on Angle and pin him for the 1-2-3.

The end of this match and this entire show left me with my jaw dropped, completely stunned that the WWE was still capable of putting on this type of a show. Not only was this a reminder that they still had “it” when they wanted to, but it was arguably the best pro wrestling show in history. If only they could recapture this magic today. Taking nostalgia completely out of the equation, this was probably the best professional wrestling event I’ve ever seen and if you have yet to see it, I can’t recommend anything else more than Wrestlemania 19.

1. WWF Summerslam 1991- The first pay per view event I ever saw on pay per view is still my favorite. This pick is not just about nostalgia though. It actually was one of the best wrestling events ever, for several reasons. Most fans remember this show for the classic Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart Intercontinental title match, and rightfully so. This was one of my favorite matches of all time and the launching point to Bret Hart’s legendary singles career in the WWF. But to me, this event had so much more to offer.

“The Match Made in Hell,” featuring the team of Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior against Sgt. Slaughter, Gen. Adnan and Col. Mustafa, does not get many rave reviews from hardcore wrestling fans on the Internet, who tend to favor meaningless things like “workrate” and “technical wrestling ability,” but this match was one of the most memorable of my youth and to this day, it has that big match feel that you just don’t get nowadays. Plus, Sgt. Slaughter, as he had done for Hogan in their Wrestlemania 7 singles match for the WWF title, sold like hell and made Hogan and Warrior both look good. I am one of the few people who thought this match actually delivered on the hype and was worthy of being a main event to one of the best shows in history.

The best thing about this card is that it had no weaknesses, which is something you just can’t say for any WWE show since Wrestlemania 19 in my opinion. The most dull match was probably IRS vs Greg the Hammer Valentine, but even that was a quality match and a nice addition to the show. The rest was just awesome. You had the main event and the IC title match which I already mentioned, plus the entertaining six man tag team match to open the show, Legion of Doom winning the tag team titles, Virgil winning the million dollar belt over Ted Dibiase, the Big Boss Man defeating the Mountie in the “Jailhouse Match,” including the memorable humorous spots with the Mountie going to jail, and finally the Natural Disasters vs. the Bushwhackers.

This event just screamed early 90′s WWF and it showcased a true superstar lineup of a wrestling roster, unlike what we have today unfortunately. The WWF delivered on the hype with the actual wrestling matches, but who could forget “The Match Made in Heaven,” with the wedding of the Macho Man Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth.

The commentary with Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby the Brain Heenan and Rowdy Roddy Piper was superb as well. In fact, everything about this show was.

Ok, so maybe I’m very biased here as I had just turned 7 years old when this aired, so it would be ridiculous to say nostalgia doesn’t play a big part in my high opinion of Summerslam 91, but if you’re a young fan or just someone who never saw this pay per view, I highly recommend you watch this immediately as well.

So that’s my list. Feel free to share your favorites and discuss my picks in the comment section below.

Honorable Mention: Randy Savage vs. Ricky the Dragon Steamboat- Wrestlemania 3

Rowdy Roddy Piper vs. Bret the Hitman Hart- Wrestlemania 8

Top 10

10. Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter- Wrestlemania 7

This was such an underrated match. The Savage/Warrior bout earlier in the show was a classic as well, but this was a worthy main event in my mind. Hogan reclaimed the WWF Title for the third time in a hard-hitting encounter that saw Slaughter take some great bumps and really sell for Hogan, who delivered his usual high-enery, entertaining performance in front of more than 16,000 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena on March 24, 1991.

9. Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior- Wrestlemania 6

This Wrestlemania main event featured the top two most popular wrestlers in the world at the time in a rare “face vs. face match” in Toronto. Officially, it was champion vs. champion, as Hogan put his WWF title up against the Warrior’s Intercontinental belt. The crowd was split 50/50 for Hogan and Warrior, and the two delivered a performance way behind their normal in-ring capabilities, with a big assist going to the superb booking of WWF agent Pat Patterson. Although Hogan lost, he solidified his Hall of Fame career on this night and allowed the Warrior to have his 15 minutes of fame too.

8. Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock- Wrestlemania 18

What really made this match was the incredible Toronto crowd, which literally erupted for every move of the match, especially when Hogan was on the offensive. The build to this match was also fantastic, but what really made it remarkable was that Hogan was supposed to be the full-fledged heel coming in, while the Rock was the face of the company at the time in early 2002. At least 90% of the crowd was completely behind Hogan from the get-go, and their intensity lifted both men up to a match that will never be forgotten. Hogan once again lost at a Toronto Wrestlemania, the same place he had lost to the Ultimate Warrior 12 years earlier, but Hulkamania was reborn on this day. Crowds around the country made their feelings known that they loved and respected Hogan more than any other WWF superstar ever in the next few months, while the Rock cemented his legacy inside the ring and soon found success outside of it on the big screen.

7. Hulk Hogan vs. Vince McMahon- Wrestlemania 19

I consider Wrestlemania 19 to be the best Wrestlemania of the last 10 years, and arguably the best ever. It had a solid undercard, and four advertised main events (actually five if you count the number 6 match on this list), which all delivered beyond anyone’s expectations. But it was Hogan vs. McMahon which really made this show special for me. McMahon dished out a surprising amount of brutal offense on Hogan, including Hogan’s own patented leg drop off of a ladder through a table. It was a great street fight that ended with Hogan using three leg drops to get the pin. After the match, Hogan and Vince’s son Shane had an intense stare down that I always felt should have led to a feud between the two of them, but it never came to be. It was still a nice touch on an epic match that could have been the main event of the show, but was ultimately overshadowed by Austin/Rock 3, Triple H/Booker T, Angle/Lesnar and the next match in this countdown.

6. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho- Wrestlemania 19

I wasn’t a huge Shawn Michaels or Chris Jericho fan going into this match. I had missed most of Michaels singles main event singles run in the 90′s, and I had always just sort of overlooked Jericho. To say I was thoroughly impressed with both of them by the conclusion of this match would be an understatement. Once again, if it wasn’t for the most stacked card in history, this would have been a show-stealer. From a pure wrestling standpoint, it may be number 1 or 2 for me all time. I just wasn’t that into the build of this match or either man’s career going into Wrestlemania 19, but this masterpiece of a match shocked me and made me re-evaluate my appreciation for both men and their hall of fame careers.

5. Bret the Hitman Hart vs. Shawn Michaels- Wrestlemania 12

I have just recently begun to appreciate this match more as the all-time classic that it is. I didn’t see it live on pay per view. Actually, I think the first time I saw Wrestlemania 12 at all was about six years later in 2002. But this 60 minute iron-man match was near perfect. I love that it was booked to end 0-0 and go into sudden death, and I love the ending, with Michaels delivering two superkicks to Bret Hart’s jaw to win his first WWF title. If you haven’t seen this match, I urge you to give it a chance. It’s much different than your average 10 minute TV match or 25 minute pay per view match we get these days from the WWE, but it holds your attention throughout and really showcases both Hart and Michaels as perhaps the two best in-ring competitors of all time.

4. Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage- Wrestlemania 8

The build to this match and the feud between Savage and Flair, which involved Miss Elizabeth, made this match so much more than what it was, but just looking at the match itself, it was still incredible. Flair was on top of his game in this one, and brought Savage up to a level he may not have been at since he fought Ricky Steamboat at Wrestlemania 3. The announcing of Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby the Brain Heenan also deserves to be mentioned here, as it was exceptional throughout all of Wrestlemania 8. It added so much to the show, along with the atmosphere of the packed out Hoosier Dome. Savage got the win and regained the title for the first time in three years, while Flair gained a new level of respect from the WWF fans who hadn’t seen much of his work in the NWA and WCW.

3. Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig vs. Bret the Hitman Hart- Summerslam 91

My favorite wrestling show ever, Summerslam 1991, did not have any weaknesses in my mind. Some of that may be nostalgia, but looking back at that show, you just can’t deny how awesome it was. The Madison Square Garden crowd, the announcing of Heenan, Monsoon and Roddy Piper, the phenomenal WWF roster of mid 1991, and the added touch of “The Match Made in Heaven” with Randy Savage marrying Miss Elizabeth made this the perfect wrestling pay per view. While I loved every match on the card, particularly “The Match Made in Hell” that featured Hogan and Warrior against Sgt. Slaughter, Col. Mustafa and Gen. Adnan, the match of the night was Mr Perfect vs. Bret Hart. Hart’s singles run could not have gotten off to a better start as he won the Intercontinental championship from Hennig in what many consider to be the best match of either man’s career. Considering their resumes, that’s really saying something. This was a back and forth athletic encounter that makes you remember why you watch pro wrestling in the first place. A true classic.

2. Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker- Wrestlemania 25

The perfect wrestling match. I don’t believe it can be done better than Michaels and Taker performed on this night. And luckily for Vince McMahon, it saved what was otherwise a terrible Wrestlemania. I should mention their Wrestlemania 26 rematch was spectacular as well and one of the greatest Wrestlemania matches ever, also on an otherwise bad card by the way, but it cannot touch this breathtaking piece of art. If you’ve given up on wrestling in the past 8-10 years, I don’t blame you. There hasn’t been much to get excited about since the WWF botched the invasion angle in 2001. But I implore you to watch this match on YouTube or get a hold of it somehow. If you ever enjoyed pro wrestling, you will love this match, especially if you are a fan of either Michaels or Undertaker. It’s so good that I won’t even spoil the ending for you. You’ll have to see it for yourself to believe that pro wrestling can still be this good again if it’s done by true professionals who give their all for the fans.

1. Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage- Wrestlemania 5

The Mega Powers explode! I’ll admit, this is just a personal favorite of mine, and in no way better as an in-ring match than some of the other matches on this list. But it features my two favorite wrestlers ever, in what was their best match among all of the classics they had throughout the years. This was the culmination of the perfect wrestling angle, and a feud that was built up with several different chapters throughout 1988 and early 1989. The raucous Atlantic City crowd, the announcing of Jesse the Body Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon, and the presence of Miss Elizabeth at ring-side certainly added to the drama, but Savage always brought out Hogan’s best inside the ring, and this night was no exception. (On a side note, this is probably my favorite Hogan leg drop ever. He got some serious air on that one, for a 35 year-old, 300-pound white guy anyway.) For me, nothing will ever touch this match. Believe me, by all rights Michaels vs. Undertaker at Wrestlemania 25 should have eclipsed this and all other matches, but I can’t ever drop Hogan vs. Savage out of my number one position. I could watch it every day and probably not get sick of it. This is, or should I say was, professional wrestling at its finest. If someone asked me why I’m a fan, I’d point to this match before any other.

In regards to these other sites though, what I mean by awful isn’t necessarily the content or the design of these websites, but the unbelievably obnoxious advertising. In light of this, I’d like to take this moment to apologize to anyone who has come to my site in the past year or so and clicked on some of the flat-out garbage links I provided in the right side bar, which are now removed. Actually, I’m mainly targeting one site in this rant and I’ll get to that in a minute.

Almost every pro wrestling website has annoying, obtrusive advertising that makes you never want to go back, but you do anyway because you want the latest news and rumors in the industry and you don’t know where else to turn online. For the most part though, these websites are tolerable.

Take Wrestlezone for instance. It’s a fantastic site, with a great forum,  a nice layout, generally good reporting (although they rarely break stories) and an overall good user experience. The only negatives that I can see is that they associate with Mark Madden, who is among the lowest scum on earth, and they have some fairly annoying “scroll-over” advertising. But it’s definitely not bad enough to make you want to strangle the webmaster, at least in my opinion.

That being said, the one site I felt compelled to remove from my links list is the king of horrible advertising on a pro wrestling website. It makes all of these other sites look tame with their advertising. It’s screwed up my computer one too many times where I had to restart because it overtook my Firefox browser and froze everything. This website is…

PW Insider. Seriously, what the heck is these guys’ problem anyway? Are you aware that your site is such a piece of crap? I’m well aware that they break a lot of stories, and they are respected in some circles, but they need to drastically change up the advertising and maybe make it so their website doesn’t bring down Internet browsers or entire computers.

Aren’t these the same people that put out the wrestling observer newsletter, like Dave Schererererer or whatever the heck his name is (I may have thrown a few too many “er’s” in there)? Oh wait, I think that’s Dave Meltzer…whatever. I know that PW Insider offers some type of paid subscription news service, and that they should be happy with using their site as promotion for the newsletter subscription and find some other ways to profit from the wrestling business besides completely littering their site with ads and making it use up all of your CPU memory with spyware.

I just did a little research and I found this article written in 2010 that also talks about about PW Insider and their despicable advertising and spyware: http://www.cagesideseats.com/2010/9/20/1700127/an-open-letter-to-the-staff-of

Actually, after initially publishing this post and then coming back to edit it after doing some more research, I’ve come to the revelation that this is all pretty well-known in the Internet wrestling community. It seems that almost everyone but me knows that PW Insider is a spyware-filled, garbage wrestling site that may give your computer a virus and is run by a complete toolbag who has no business taking up air on this planet, the aforementioned Dave Scherer.

Here’s my open letter to Schererererererererer and the apparently scummy people that run PW Insider. The article I provided a link to above is wondering if there’s such a thing as Google bombing and if we can sabotage PW Insider. Well you’ll be happy to know that yes, there is. It’s called Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and I happen to be a professional. So basically, my message is to fix your crappy site, remove the spyware and viruses and reduce the advertising, or get ready to be absolutely obliterated through social media, search engine results and every other means of online marketing known to man.

1. Hulk Hogan>Chris Benoit

Actually, let me do that over. Hulk Hogan>>>>>>>>>>>>Chris Benoit

This one is not even disputable. You’re a moron if you think otherwise. This doesn’t even take into account that Chris Benoit was a sick, twisted, disgusting human being that killed his own family and himself. I’m just talking about the wrestler here. Hogan is infinitely better in all the areas that matter. Benoit had no charisma and is perhaps the most overrated wrestler in history.

2. Hulk Hogan>Your favorite wrestler

The only possible argument I’d take here is from Ric Flair fans. But arguing for anyone else is just being ridiculous. Stop weighing meaningless things like “workrate” and “technical ability” and start looking at things that matter like popularity, ability to draw and charisma. Whether you like it or not, these guys are actors in a fake sport, and it’s not how athletic they are or how good they are as legitimate amateur wrestlers, it’s how much they can capture the imagination of an audience. No one did that better than Hogan.

3. The end of Wrestlemania 20 was the worst ending to any wrestling event ever

To have a Wrestlemania go off the air with two WCW midget mid carders embracing as they held two world titles (which is asinine enough in its own right) is just down right pathetic. These guys should have opened the show or maybe been in some meaningless tag match as the third or fourth match on the card. Eddie Guererro and Chris Benoit were NEVER main event material. That’s right. Deal with it. Combine this terrible ending with the Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg debacle and all the other things that went on at this show, and you have what I consider to be the most disappointing and underwhelming wrestling show in history. If I were to rank all of the Wrestlemanias, 20 would definitely be in my bottom five.

4. You can’t book for WWE or TNA

While you may have some good ideas from time to time, as this is bound to happen just by the sheer fact that you spend all day talking about this stuff, you are not writer or booker material. I’ve said it before in one of my posts, but if the IWC were to run the creative department of the WWE, it would be out of business in six months. Your only audience would be other 18-30 “technical wrestling” fans, or in other words Internet rumor mill fans, and that would mean the other 90% of wrestling fans would be turned away by a boring, terrible product. I’d rather have these awful TV writers or a 12 year old kid in the third row at a WWE event book the show than the 29 year old hardcore fan that thinks only cruiserweights and “mat technicians” should main event pay per views.

5. 1980′s and early 90′s WWF> Attitude Era

The attitude era was a cool time to be a fan. There was a lot of quality stuff going on. But I don’t care if you’re not old enough to remember the real golden age of wrestling, from 1984-1992, but it was much much better than any other era of wrestling in history, including 98-01. Speaking of eras in wrestling history…

6. The WWF new generation era (1993-1997) was freaking terrible

This is for guys like Scott Keith, who thinks that wrestling started to get good in the mid 90′s and like that was some golden era for the industry. The WWE almost died in mid 1997 for a reason. It’s because the previous five years SUCKED. Hulk Hogan left and it all went to hell until Steve Austin became very popular in late 1997. Hey don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and Undertaker, but outside of those three guys, the WWF had NOTHING. They were a joke, their storylines were crap, their talent roster by and large had no talent, and they were way behind the times. This was not a golden era. This was quite possibly the worst era in the history of pro wrestling, including the extremely dull and boring post attitude era that we’re currently in (2002-2010).

And don’t think I’m letting WCW off the hook for this time period either. They were just as bad if not worse. Actually, in the entire history of the company, the WCW’s only quality programming occurred from mid 1996 until mid 1998. Everything else was pretty much garbage. If you got hooked on wrestling somewhere between 1993 and 1997 and this is your personal golden era, I understand how nostalgic it is for you. But sorry, it was just plain terrible for everyone else.

7. Old wrestlers are awesome

They’re all we have left. These young athletic guys for the most part don’t know how to work an audience anymore or really entertain. They just go through matches from one spot to the next and they can’t really involve the fans or get them to suspend their disbelief. Stop trying to kick the 40+ guys out the door, because they are the only thing good about the wrestling industry anymore, with very few exceptions. They’re not athletic enough for you anymore you say? Too bad, they have name value and popularity, something these young athletic types can’t seem to achieve because they don’t know how to be professional wrestlers. This is why TNA’s roster is currently better than the WWE’s roster.

8. Wrestlemania 17 is overrated

It was a good show, but the not the perfect mecca of wrestling excellence that everyone claims it was. Seriously, why was it so great? Austin vs. Rock was a very good match, so was Undertaker vs. Triple H. Angle vs. Benoit was overrated. TLC II was a nice spectacle and a very good match, but the rest of the card was very average. Actually, some of the matches were below average, but I guess that’s to be expected on any card.

Wrestlemania 19 was much better. It was the best modern Wrestlemania and it even ranks alongside Wrestlemanias 1 through 9 as one of the best ever. For obvious reasons, the best Wrestlemanias ever were 1-9, 18-19 and 21 was decent too. In other words, all the Hogan Wrestlemanias. The other Wrestlemanias have a definite lack of Hogan in them. They are lacking Hoganness, and therefore they are not as good. Oh by the way, Wrestlemania 10 is overrated too.

9. Scott Steiner is awesome

Not all Internet fans dislike Steiner, and not all non-IWC fans like him obviously, but here’s my major issue with the criticism he receives. Those matches with Triple H at Royal Rumble and No Way Out 2003 really weren’t all that bad. He botched like one move in each match.

People started booing when he did a bunch of suplexes in a row. I don’t get it. Kurt Angle or Chris Benoit or Eddie Guerrero do 25 suplexes in a match and the IWC fans chant “This is awesome,” but when Scott Steiner does it he’s repetitive and boring. You’re a bunch of hypocrites. Sure he was past his prime and dealing with injuries in those matches and really from 2003 to the end of his career, but he wasn’t terrible in the ring, and he was freaking hilarious on the mic. Steiner was a quality entertainer and at one time really good in the ring, especially with the Steiner Brothers tag team. His look alone, along with the newfound heel persona in 1998, made him the best thing about WCW in its dying days. Steiner was awesome. Just deal with it. Oh, and he was better than Benoit too.

10. The NWA/territorial wrestling hasn’t been relevant since the early 80′s

Sorry, but the WWE was, is and always will be wrestling. Don’t get me wrong, the territories back in the day were important for the evolution of wrestling and the business never would have taken off if it wasn’t for them. And I do like some of what TNA is doing now, and WCW’s product from mid 96 to mid 98. But honestly, the WWE is all that matters.

I find it laughable that people think there was some type of WWF/NWA rivalry in the mid 80′s and early 90′s. The NWA was so insignificant when Hulkamania was running wild. As much as I like and respect Flair, there was no Hogan/Flair rivalry in the 80′s. It was all Hogan. It was all WWF. Don’t kid yourself. Heck I didn’t even know what the NWA/WCW was until the nWo formed. Seriously, I didn’t even know where Hogan went when I was like 10 years old in 1994. I never heard of the company and had never seen them on TV. My friend had a Sting action figure and I thought he was from some cartoon or something. That’s how irrelevant WCW was.

And it’s not just them, but every minor league territory from 1984 to the present. Sorry, they just don’t matter. Well, FCW kind of matters because it’s a developmental league for the WWE, and TNA has at least been on cable TV. But Ring of Honor? Sorry, I’ve never seen it. NWA? I just found out they still exist when I started updating this website in January of 2010. Everything else? Completely and totally insignificant.

Say what you want about Vince McMahon and the current WWE product, because I’ll agree with you that it’s not near what it could be, but it’s all that really matters in the world of wrestling, and it’s all that mattered since around 1984, with the exception of the year and half when WCW was beating them in the ratings.

That’s about it for now for my list of things to piss off the Internet wrestling community. I’m sure I’ll think of more and I will be sure to include them on future rants. Just remember one thing when it comes to the wrestling business, oh Internet wrestling moron fans: I’m right, you’re wrong.

So come back and read more of this site often to get enlightened on what wrestling is really all about.