Fer Feck's Sake...
...What Is It With You Guys?

Remember me? Cool.
This time's rant is all about what drives wrestlers. And everyone else for that matter.

See...this week we lost a whole damn federation - one that looked like it was going places and doing real business. President Angela Chang has folded her operation and moved on. What to? No feckin' idea. And why did she close it?

She folded the fed because people were bitchin'.

No. Not in a good way. In a bad way.

This is how it goes. Some guy gets a few wins under his belt, maybe takes down a champion or two and then gets the idea that he's someone special. Now maybe that's true and maybe it's not - what I know is that it ain't my place to say. That guy, who might or might not be a special person, makes a demand or two. Something I do know is that federation presidents are busy people. You got a dozen or so talents on the roster, you've got maybe two TV shows to book and a good few matches to make...do you have time to make sure that everyone is happy all the time?

No. You don't.

Your roster is pretty good...but varied. Some guys are green and need developing. Some guys are solid hands and can be left to get on with making the mid-card work. Some guys are solid company men and will do whatever they are told, whether it's doing the J.O.B. to put someone else over, working a gimmick match or doing a run-in. These guys are the core of a company. And then you have the stars. The guys that draw real money just by showing up and doing a little mic work. The guys that Main Event. Maybe you only have three or four major talents, but that's enough for most feds.

Let's name names here. Look at Sean Boden. Solid company guy for every fed he's ever worked for. Boden takes the word "proffessionalism" and makes it a way of life. He does what he's told to, works hard and never, ever gives up. Now he's getting the shots he deserves but dammit, he's worked for every win he's ever got. Is he now doing the "prima donna" thing? Nope.

But all it took to take down Angela Chang's enterprise was a couple of dissenting voices. How did she let this get so bad? She didn't. Unless you've been on the receiving end of a protracted whining from a star you have no idea how soul destroying it can be. You take the time to build these guys up, work them through their early matches and then give them angles to run with. And how do they repay you? By sulking, throwing a fit and stalking off at the first opportunity when things don't go their way. I am reminded of the scene in "Spinal Tap" when Nigel Tuffnel complains about the bckstage catering.

I've seen Angela Chang's work up close and I have to admit that she's one of the better creative minds in the business. But even she has limits. She doesn't have Corey Collins' armour plated exterior (it's Corey's mutant power, apparently, and boy does he need it from time to time) and therefore got hurt when someone got all soggy and difficult to light. It happens. Ms. Chang is a busy person. Maybe she doesn't need the nonsense that Star egos produce.

But come to that, does anyone?

The way you earn real star status in this circuit, or any circuit, is to get respect. And you earn respect by being that solid company guy I spoke about earlier. Who out there begrudges Sean Boden his victories? Who wants to disagree that, even with the (justifiable) ego he has, Grady Smith is an excellent example of a solid company guy? When a respected star makes a request, they know that the answer might be "no" and they work with that answer.

There are top hands in the business who will take an adverse situation and turn it into an angle that rocks the fed. There are hands who will work any match just to keep the card flowing. And there are guys who will slack off, walk off or otherwise goof off if they don't get the treatment they think they deserve.

Put yourself in the place of Angela Chang. Who would you rather have on the roster?

People...for Feck's Sake! Kill your Ego. Not a Fed.

I'm Still Joshua Norton.
It's my blessing. It's also my curse.