What is "Respect for the Business"?
Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker go toe-to-toe with verbal shots. Courtesy of the WWE and NBC Universal.
By Matthew Klink (@klinkmatt)
September 4, 2018
Last night was a big night in wrestling. Why? Because shit got real, yo!
It all started when Shawn Michaels came out to address the live audience and the wonderful folks at home. The topic: Triple H vs the Undertaker at the Super Show-Down. Michaels began his pitch by reminding us that this match was going to happen in just a few weeks in Australia. For those of us unlucky enough to be stuck in the states, he also threw in a quick pitch for the WWE Network. Everything seemed pretty standard and the segment began teetering towards ‘skippable’ on the WWE programming scale.
However, after Shawn finally caught on to the reason he was in the ring (because he was rambling for a bit there) his old nemesis, the Undertaker, decided to pay Shawn a visit. The reason Taker decided to enhance Michaels’ day was because Shawn was building up his old DX pal, Triple H. Apparently Shawn had been listening to the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin and wanted throw his hat into the ring for predictions. They both, Shawn and Steve, believe that this will be the time for Triple H to shine brighter than the Dead Man.
Shawn did bring up some good points for why Hunter would win. First, this match isn’t at WrestleMania. Whatever special power the Undertaker would summon to get the victory, just wouldn’t be present in Melbourne. Second: Taker lost his streak. Ever since that horrible moment with Brock Lesnar and then again, with Roman Reigns, he doesn’t carry the same mystique anymore. He’s still fun to watch, but it’s the same as watching any of the old guys make an appearance now. Neat, but not as awe inspiring at ‘Streak Taker’.
The real shot at Taker, which motivated him to come to the ring, was when Michaels lead on to Taker’s expiring career. Shawn spelled it out by blatantly stating Triple H had more left in the tank than Taker. And then using the Triple H moniker, Michaels let Taker know that he would cerebrally assassinated.
These claims didn’t sit well with the Dead Man, so he did eventually make his ten-minute entrance to defend himself and (verbally) attack the Heartbreak Kid. It was actually pretty great just to see these guys in the ring together. Bringing back all of the memories from WrestleMania’s past and my favorite match of all time at WrestleMania 25. It kicked this moment up a notch and well past ‘skippable’ and just about at ‘must-see’ (not quite ‘must-see’, but I would make a point to see it later).
I would’ve been happy with the imagery, but then it got personal. Here’s a cut down version from WWE’s YouTube page:
Michaels attacked Undertaker and Taker got him right back. Verbally of course. The two characters (Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker), while friends outside of the business (Mark and Mike), really took each other to task and peeled apart the many layers of these two giant onions.
But what really intrigued many was the notion of Shawn Michaels returning to the ring to fight the Undertaker. Would the Undertaker’s taunts finally push the Heartbreak Kid to break his vow to stay retired? After Michaels defended his choice to stay retired, saying he’s a man of his word and a man of honor, he also said he chose to stay retired out of respect. Respect for the system, for us the fans, and for the Undertaker. This being the far more appealing piece of forbidden fruit to me.
This fruit is forbidden because Michaels is shaming the world of pro wrestling for the choices it makes. Shaming it for saying one thing and then doing another. Shame.
Shame for all of the wrestlers, writers, and bookers who have promised creativity only to forget about it a month later. For the wrestlers who have quit, been fired, or retired only to return…well…as soon as the next week (Ric Flair, Kevin Owens, Y2J). For the instances of Authority figures losing their job only to decide vacation is over (Triple H and the Authority losing on account of Sting interfering at Survivor Series). For the feuds that force a heel and a face (Flair and Becky Lynch or Reigns and Strowman). For the Champions who never get a rematch. For the contenders that never really deserved it. For every show that has dubbed over fan noise to quiet the organic reaction. For every DQ and rope break conveniently forgotten about. Oh…and did I forget to mention all of the guys that have ever been told that they are too small? I’m sure Michaels would have a thing or two to say about that.
Pro Wrestling is silly, but the way it ignores its own rules, stipulations, guidelines, stories, feuds, and most importantly, its fans, should kill it. It would kill any other form of entertainment. And if you think the indies get this stuff right all the time, check out Botchamania.
I’m still watching every week and I will be watching SmackDown tonight. Of course, to tune in and see if Becky Lynch is still going to be trying to make us hate her. Until she goes out of her way to attack my own family, I’ll love Becky Lynch till the day I die.
This would've worked better if Becky's name was George Bailey.
I’m not saying any of the dumb decisions that the WWE has made thus far have been enough to make me stop watching. I just wish I could…respect my own pastime a little more.
Going over my website for the past week, I noticed how many wasted minutes and hours I had devoted to thinking about what was next for Kevin Owens. I wanted to know if he was going to turn face. Was he going to be off of TV for a while? Was he going to bide his time till a number one contender’s opportunity was made available? Was he really upset with the WWE? No. No to all of it. No to anything that would have been a smidge more interesting than what happened.
Kevin Owens came to the ring to attack the most boring guy in pro wrestling. Bobby Lashley. Why? Cause Kevin is a bad guy. And Lashley is a good guy. That’s pretty much it. Kevin loses all summer and then he’ll lose to Lashley. Yeah, I’m bitter. Bitter about this dumb storyline, my wasted time, and one of my favorite wrestlers being made into hero fodder. Super fun…
Kevin fighting Lashley isn’t the real problem here. Kevin is our little void filler, apparently. But why have Kevin Owens quit the week before? The answer is two parted, and neither are redeeming for the WWE.
The first part is that the WWE probably had something happen internally which made them change plans. Maybe an injury, maybe an oversight, maybe someone in creative got fired. Maybe even Kevin Owens’ plans changed. This part doesn’t need an exact answer, but the point is that the WWE probably needed to fill another role, so they pivoted from the “I Quit” story.
The second part is that the WWE does not care about what we watched a week before. They do if it will give them a positive outcome, but they think so little of their fan base and their own stories, that if they need to be trashed for some other reason, they do it. They don’t see my question, “why do this”, as a problem. They don’t see people noticing and complaining on Twitter as a problem. They don’t see any fan revolt or boycott as a problem. And trust me…to over use the word problem…I am a part of the problem.
Sure, I have this blog and I whine every week, but it doesn’t really matter. I won’t hurt their bottom dollar and I really don’t want to. I enjoy the product as a whole. And since you’re reading this, you probably do to. I nitpick it because I love it. I want my show to be better because I want my time to feel like it was well spent. For that to happen, the WWE needs to take a note from Shawn Michaels and start respecting the business again.
Respecting the business means not cutting corners. Just like Shawn has decided to say ‘no’, to what I’m sure he could negotiate to being millions of dollars, the WWE needs to start saying ‘no’. Not just ‘no’ to anything, but ‘no’ when it means its best for the product. Best for the brand’s legitimacy. Best for the fans. Hell…I’ll say it: When its ‘Best for Business’.
I think my reoccurring theme on the website is a request for everyone to be more open and creative. Be open to anything being possible, but get there in a creative way. This is TV and a form of entertainment after all. And don’t confuse this article for being ‘hope’ that Shawn Michaels stays retired. There is a right way to bringing him out of retirement and having it respect the storyline. I think my initial reaction was a big, fat ‘no’ to having Michaels come back, but a lot of that comes back to my confidence with the WWE creative team to actually be creative.
Michaels returning has to be months in the making. And he absolutely cannot come back at this dumb Super Show-Down. Sure, he can hint at the possibility of his return, but it can only happen at WrestleMania. Michaels’ will to stay retired should be tested multiple times. Not just once and then everything he fought against for ten years goes out the window. This is a man of strong faith. This is a guy who hasn’t been given a reason to come back to wrestling FOR TEN YEARS! AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND GLORY WASN’T ENOUGH EITHER!
I’m not a man of strong faith, but I can assume his faith is tested every now and then. Mine was…and well…here we are. Michaels is steadfast in his beliefs and I‘ve heard him speak about it. He’s pretty real and honest. That’s the kind of guy who can brush off what Taker said to him at Monday Night Raw. But he won’t be able to do it forever.
(Ha! I just realized I compared a man’s faith to pro wrestling, but its more about someone’s character and how long they can be put down before they fight back).
Michaels also should be 100% on board for this. The way we, the fans, urge him to comeback is almost unfair. The guy is trying to do right by himself too, not just us. He wanted to step away and we won’t let him. Let’s not pretend that Michaels accidentally signed up for a match that could end his career. He ended it on his own terms and he was happy with that. Every time we yell “One more match”, we’re actually shaming a man who knew there was more to life than glory, money and peer acceptance.
If Michael Shawn Hickenbottom is okay with coming out of retirement, then let him back in baby! But stop pressuring the guy into thinking his life choices aren’t good enough.
To wrap this up, the important thing to walk away with is the sentiment that we should want better pro-wrestling. We should demand it. The WWE is far from a perfect product and damning it helps no one, but asking them to respect the business and us is not too much to request. Be more like Shawn Michaels. Respect this silly business and in turn, you’re respecting the fans.
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