By "Net.cop" Scott Keith

Sometimes I just feel like screaming "RETIRE ALREADY!" at the TV.

I mean, Vince McMahon can rightly be accused of many things at this point, but misusing certain wrestlers in his federation is not one of them. Boo hoo, Vader is jobbing to Kane, Scorpio is jobbing to everyone, Terry Funk is losing clean all the time. Well, good!

The WWF is indeed doing exactly what ECW tried to do for the bulk of it's "good period" in 1994-96: Hook the hardcore fans and make them believe that the WWF is #1. Not by screaming "We're the #1 promotion in North America" every five minutes while Duggan v. The Barbarian was on, but by actually putting on what the fans want to see. I think it's apparent at this point that Vader is not among that.

Austin swears and people pop, so he does it a lot. Rocky does the Elbow and people pop, so he does it a lot. Hunter tells dick jokes and people pop, so he does it a lot. It's money. Common sense says that the old have to step aside at some point and let the young give it a shot. That's what Vince Sr. found out years ago and that's what Vince Jr. is finding out currently as the "hardcore" plan of his son Shane is paying off in spades.

Does Vince truly "care" about the fans? Who gives a shit? I can accept that he's a liar and a hypocrite because he's putting on a show that entertains me. His personal life is his own business. If he wants to burn in coporate hell for his deeds, that's his cross to bear, not mine. In the meantime, I'm entertained by RAW and I'm happy to give him my money.

I think it's about time that he finally dumped that stupid "family entertainment" nonsense for good. If the best way to increase the age of the audience is by offending some housewifes, then more power to him. The angles and storylines are supposed to be escapism, not Disneyworld. A wrestling porn star is a *cool* idea, politically correct or not. Hearing the Big Valbowski extort the virtues of his manhood doesn't particularly bother me any more than the cast of Seinfeld discussing masturbation in prime time. Guess what, porn exists and many people like it and can relate to a wrestling porn star, as ludicrous as that sounds. And Vince's lecherous overtones with Sable are no more disgusting and sexist than anything you'll see on a trashy daytime soap opera. The only difference between Now and Then is that instead of disguising the porn and pimp and penis references in semi-witty double-entendres that any 14-year old could see through, they're simply coming out and saying "This is a porn star" or "This is a pimp". I find that much less insulting to my intelligence than Rick Rude being suspended for "insulting comments about the Big Bossman's mother." I grew up and so should the product.

Speaking of the product growing up, the other major criticism is the lack of great wrestling on RAW. And who's fault is that? Who's the one who signed Rick Martel and let him sit for three months just so Vince couldn't get him? Who's the one who signed Konnan and then jobbed the luchadores to Jim Duggan and friends just so Vince couldn't get them? Who's the one who signed the WWF's World champion not because they really needed him, but just because they could? Who's the one who signed a bunch of indy talent and stuck them in the Flock to watch matches at ringside?

Vince has been forced to either push the midcard guys and hope they develop (Rock, HHH, Austin) or develop rookie talent on his own (Edge, Val Venis). He can't bring in great talent because it's all in WCW. In the long run, this is a better move, business-wise, than relying on Hogan and Savage to carry the promotion and panicking when a knee injury takes one out. If Hulk Hogan died tomorrow, who would the big draw in WCW be? Almost every major storyline suddenly dies because there is no backup plan in place. Sting wasn't given a chance to re-develop into a main event draw, Kevin Nash is too old to give any kind of long term reign, Lex Luger wasn't given a chance to run with the World title, DDP is too old to develop further, and really there's no one else who could conceivably carry the promotion. Goldberg is very popular, but he's not capable of carrying an entire promotion on his back yet. WCW really, really needs to start moving the (very) young talent they have at their disposal up the ladder to a position where they can be taken seriously as a draw, and they need to do it yesterday. Having Chris Jericho develop as well as he has is fine in the short term, but if his entire schedule revolves around defending against the same four people and rotating the feuds, then his heat won't last long. I won't even get into Chris Benoit, who gets pops as big as anyone in WCW but has nothing to show for it yet. And having Booker T feud with his brother is counter productive. Say what you will about the talent he pushes, but Vince is definitely moving new blood up the ladder.

Ah, but he's misusing great talent like Vader, right? You know, I'm really sick of this argument. Vader has put on all of about 3 good to great matches in the WWF. Big whoop. He was *done* in 1995. Over. Fini. That feud with Hulk Hogan killed his credibility and heat. Blame Hulk or Vader or whoever you want, but Vader died in 1995, RIP. Why should Vince push him to the top on past laurels? That's exactly the kind of backwards logic that got the Steiners another bazillion tag title reigns in WCW in 1997 when it was obvious that they were so sloppy that they were risking serious injury to someone. Vader had every chance to prove that he still had it and he BLEW IT. Shawn carried him to a **** match at Summerslam 96 but just about everything else since then has sucked. He couldn't carry Sid to a decent match (a feat which has been done by others less talented than Vader), he couldn't carry Undertaker to a decent match (Bret and Shawn both did it on numerous occasions), he couldn't carry Yokozuna to a decent match (done by Bret and Shawn again), so if he's not capable of either a) Getting over as a heel or b) Making the other stiffs in the federation look good then I for one am glad that his fat ass is jobbing. He had his shot in 1992 with WCW, he made the most of it, good for him. But Vader is 42 years old right now. This is not the guy to make a long-term heel champion. By wrestling standards, he's old and obviously tired and that's when it's time to start putting the kids over.

This is it, folks. Everyone complains about the "old guard" running things too long, well, the young guard is taking over and Vader is not young. Like it or not, if the fans pop for HHH's jokes and The Rock's elbow, then these are the guys that have got to get a shot at going for it in the next decade. At some point, you have to say "Okay, here's the ball, run with it." Rocky is doing that. HHH is doing that. X-Pac is doing that, something I never thought I would see from him. Vince signed an old, fat, Steve Williams and ended up getting Bart Gunn over bigger than he's ever been. I'd wager that one act alone was worth more than any PPV match Williams and Austin could brawl through. Is Williams a good wrestler? He used to be. Is Bart a good wrestler? I don't know yet, because he hasn't had a chance to show it. But now maybe he will. And I'm pretty sure the one loss won't kill Williams, a guy who spent most of 1988 jobbing in the NWA.

And what more could Vince do for someone like Scorpio? He's not over. Period. And he's not that great. A series of matches with Malenko and Guerrero in ECW will tend to make you look pretty good. And Vince brought in Al Snow, with the Head, just like everyone wanted him to, and it DIDN'T WORK. Period. He did everything he could reasonably be expected to do to make the fans pop for him but they didn't. So he's gone. That's how it works. Quality TV programs get cancelled because of low viewership, quality wrestlers get shafted because of poor fan response. That's just wrestling for you, and at some point you have to accept that if someone's not over by now, they never will be and just move on to someone who the fans are popping for. If the fans don't want to pop for more than just Scorpio's 450 splash, then really there's very little alternative, short of actually paying them money to cheer for him.

Vince is doing exactly what the internet has been screaming for: Dumping the old folks and letting someone new and fresh take a shot at it. Which is why I think Terry Funk is being properly used, Vader is being properly used, and now finally the LOD are being properly used.  They've had their turn, and now it's time for guys like the Nation and D-X and the hybrid fighters to stake their place in the wrestling world like everyone promised they would. The LOD should be jobbing in every match now in payback for the years of no-selling and spotless records and blood spilled in the name of building up their reputation. We know these guys are great, we've heard the hyperbole and the endless repetition of their past reputations. I don't care anymore. If Ed Leslie's face is being held together by pins, then he shouldn't be in the ring, no matter how tight he is with Hogan.

To quote either the Beatles or Arn Anderson, it's time to let it be. Stop resurrecting the Horsemen and create the long-rumored Apocolypse instead. Instead of spending millions on stealing Jeff Jarrett out of spite, use the money to sign a few dozen young indy stars to build the next century around. Open a Hall of Fame and pay tribute to the past greats, but I no longer want to see them pushed. We, as wrestling fans, owe a debt of gratitude to guys like Sting and Vader and Kevin Nash and Bret Hart for carrying wrestling through the Dark Period in the early 90s, but we're not there anymore and they're not 30 anymore. They've had their turn. Now the Rock wants his.