WHO'S NEXT?!
WRESTLERS THAT WILL SOON BE GIVEN A TEARFUL FAREWELL
THE UNDERTAKER
Age: 45
Years Active: 26
Notable Injuries: Landing square on his head and folding up like a Wile E. Coyote accordion at WrestleMania 25, nagging hips, knees and probably just everything.
Other Career-Shortening Variables: Buried countless times; actually declared dead by his brother Kane after one particular burial; all of those flares to the face; surely shooting lightning from your fingertips is pretty draining (like Wolverine's claws "hurts everytime"); dates Michelle McCool.
Technically The Undertaker (my pet name: Uncletaker - he raised me) is undead, so he should never go away. I fully believe he should start becoming more of a myth and disappear after April only to return around December, like the ghost of WrestleMania who appears only to duel those who challenge his streak. And he would continue to get greyer and older and more ghastly looking, so obviously this is the most awesome idea anyone's ever come up with.
In all seriousness, he can't have too much left. I wouldn't be surprised if he's gone by next 'Mania.
WHO'S NEXT?!: The Undertaker probably is. And this creature of the night (Undertaker's, not Jeff Hardy's) will cry a single black tear that will end up tattooed on my cheek.
EDGE
Age: 36
Years Active: 18
Notable Injuries: Major neck surgery, torn achilles, torn pectoral muscle (at least twice), legit-knocked out by John Cena's STFU, dislocated jaw via an RVD spin kick.
Other Career-Shortening Variables: Countless TLC matches that must take their toll; touched lips with Vickie Guerrero; spent some hard time in HELL; had intercourse with Lita; he pulls his hair a lot, that's got to speed up the balding.
Edge has been beat-up and injured more than your average wrestler. I've heard rumours that his retirement may be much closer than you might think. You can't get hurt that often and not re-assess your future.
WHO'S NEXT?!: Edge might not be next, but he's pretty darn close if you ask me.
FINLAY
Age: 50
Years Active: 36 (Yep, since he was FOURTEEN)
Notable Injuries: A seriously lacerated nerve in his leg (allegedly almost cost him his fucking LEG) in 1999, ten years later - an eye injury. But other than that, I'm pretty sure he just DOES the injuring.
Other Career-Shortening Variables: Produced a leprechaun as offspring.
Finlay, while being the oldest active member of the WWE Roster, also had a lengthy break when he acted as a trainer (mainly for the Divas, I believe) for four years.
WHO'S NEXT?!: Finlay will wrestle until the end of time, so not him.
TRIPLE H
Age: 40
Years Active: 18
Notable Injuries: Exploded quadriceps.
Other Career-Shortening Variables: Abducted boss' daughter and rape-married her.
At first I thought he'd never go away, once he married into the McMahon family. But lately he seems to be letting himself go, getting a little Matt Hardy-round around the edges. And now his buddies are all peacing out of the business, Flair's gone, Shawn's gone, and Batista can't be far off. He has a new butt buddy in Sheamus, but c'mon, who actually wants to be seen with that pasty freak?!
Triple H is going to end up like Morgan Freeman in the Shawshank Redemption. All of his friends have made it out, and he's the only one left on the inside. Then he'll go dig up a box that Shawn Michaels hid for him underneath a big oak tree and he'll shed a tear that gets lost in his Lemmy beard. Some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. *sniff*
WHO'S NEXT?!: I can't tell when, but I don't think he's next. And when he's gone, he won't really be gone. He'll always be there. Running the joint. As usual.
CHRIS JERICHO
Age: 39
Years Active: 20
Notable Injuries: NONE.
Other Career-Shortening Variables: If being loved by smarks everywhere gives you cancer, then that.
Chris Jericho, to my knowledge, has never... E-E-E-EEEEVER... suffered a serious injury. He is beat up from 20 years of wrestling, that's for damn sure, but unlike Edge or Batista or whoever, he has yet to be sidelined in a major way. I recall some story from Smoky Mountain where he broke a bone or something. But I think that's it. And that was years ago.
Jericho also took a hiatus that he claims rejuvenated his physical AND mental health, so he is now nowhere close to being burned out. He has been known to wrestle on RAW, NXT, Smackdown!, Superstars, PPV, and even ECW when it existed, AND house shows, AND he has a band that he regularly is supporting. Plus, children. He is a machine.
WHO'S NEXT?!: Certainly not Christ Jericho.
CHRISTIAN
Age: 36
Years Active: 15
Notable Injuries: Severe back injury (four months sidelined) that I remember him describing in his shoot interview, and it was horrifying. He didn't really feel it until he went back to the hotel, at which point he had to crawl on the floor to get to the phone. Insane.
Other Career-Shortening Variables: Four years in TNA (ewwww); mental anguish suffered out of just sheer frustration of not getting his main event push (I made this up, I have no idea how this man feels).
Rumours were swirling (just SWIRLING I tell you) when Christian was returning that he felt he wanted to have one last big money run in WWE before he gets too old/broken down. That could be all rumour and no truth, but it sounds practical to me.
He's maybe the most believable and exciting face on the roster right now that everyone in the building gets behind. He has no real detractors. That has to motivate you to keep going.
WHO'S NEXT?!: Not Christian. He still has some years left, I believe - he managed to avoid serious injury, unlike his bestie Edge.
MATT HARDY
Age: 35
Years Active: 18
Notable Injuries: Knee injury (which spawned a broken heart :( ), burst appendix, exploded intestines, torn abdominal wall, good god.
Matt seems unwavering in his quest for main event gold in the WWE, so my initial thought, despite his many injuries and the fact that he's been wrestling for more than half of his life, is that he's sticking around for a while.
WHO'S NEXT?!: MATT HARDY WILL NOT DIE
KANE
Age: 42
Years Active: 18
Notable Injuries: Somehow survived a horrible house-fire as a Young Red Machine and had to wear a mask and fake hair and talk through a voice box thing, but as his career progressed he managed to regenerate his skin and regain the ability to speak like a normal person (albeit always in a deep shout that ends with a muah-ha-ha type laugh).
Other Career-Shortening Variables: Involved in all of the most notoriously embarrassing angles in pro wrestling (Katie Vick, setting JR on fire, Imposter Kane, See No Evil, torturing and massacring Rey Mysterio's body off-screen (only for Rey to show up later looking completely untouched), facing Khali once as a face (failed angle) then years later as a heel (failed angle), evil dentist, fake Diesel (FAKE KEVIN NASH?! c'mon now.), Christmas tree, kidnapping Ranjin Singh (now there's a good bargaining chip), once wore a cape, once carried a bag to the ring, once carried a hook to the ring, once heard voices "in his head" (he was Randy Orton before Randy Orton was Randy Orton!) that the entire arena also heard, accidentally aborted a baby, jumpstarted Gene Snitsky's career (it was Kane's fault, incidentally); wore the same pants for longer than Batista's been in the WWE.
I can't read Kane. He hasn't ever really been gone for a long period of time. I feel like he has always been there. And I can't tell if he's hurt, or burnt out (although he did mention he was bored tonight on Smackdown!), so who the fuck knows when he'll hang up the boots and one glove and same 8 year old pants.
WHO'S NEXT?!: Kane's brah
BIG SHOW
Age: 38
Years Active: 15
Notable Injuries: Dropped on his head by Kevin Nash, chokeslammed THROUGH THE RING, PEOPLE, serious back injuries that allegedly threatened to end his career, acromegaly.
Other Career-Shortening Variables: Watching your dead father being whipped around town by the Big Boss Man has to do some unrepairable mental damage; loves to act in movies.
I can only assume Big Show is inching closer to the end of his career, what with him being utilized mostly in tag matches now, as well as his continuing perusal of an acting career. Plus, he is a HUGE MAN and that must take an especially large toll on your body in general, let alone if your a 15-year veteran pro wrestler.
WHO'S NEXT?!: Big Show isn't next, but he's up there.
REY MYSTERIO
Age: 35
Years Active: 21
Notable Injuries: I had surgery five times in my left knee.
Other Career-Shortening Variables: Grew horns at one point, but I think he had them surgically removed; was not a good friend
Rey has been rumoured to be broken down and his kids are taller than him. Unless if he wants to wrestle like those old fat Lucha Libre wrestlers who still do all the same Lucha moves but at half-speed, he could be on his way out in a few years.
WHO'S NEXT?!: Not Rey quite yet. But he might be on his last legs.
BATISTA
Age: 41
Years Active: 13 (I am shocked too... must include training... right?!)
Notable Injuries: In order of appearance: Torn triceps, re-tore the same triceps during training, torn back muscle (er... kayfabe, maybe?), torn triceps (again), torn hamstring, torn biceps. Essentially a torn body.
Other Career-Shortening Variables: Bodybuilding makes for not the most durable body type; I don't want to say steroids... but... ster...oids; walking alone in a pit of danger.
Big Dave is killing it right now, but I don't think that matters. He's recently been in the "news" (wrestling websites!) about taking time off. And we all know what taking time off means - retirement pro-wrestling style. The kind of retirement where you ease yourself out like you would ease yourself IN to a hot bath.
WHO'S NEXT?!: Come to think of it, Batista could maybe rival Undertaker as one of the next to go. His body is not the kind that can go for years and years, and he doesn't seem like the kind of dude who wants to be going out on national HD(3D soon)TV with Ric Flair titties.
TNA
Age: This many
Years Active: 8
Notable Injuries: Mostly bruised-egos.
Other Career-Shortening Variables: Anytime Jeff Jarrett says "Tee-In-Ayy" I know I can feel the months shaved off of my career, and I don't even have a career.
WHO'S NEXT?!: Kurt Angle, Mick Foley, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Syxx-Pac, Eric Bischoff (does he even count, I don't know), Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Team 3D, Jeff Jarrett, Rob Van Dam, Sting are all on their way out any day now. In fact, some of them already went out, then came back to TNA. Many of them. Okay all of them. Except Jarrett. He started TNA to get friends and force people to respect him, like when Michael Scott in the Office revealed (in the saddest moment ever) how as a child he said he would have 100 kids so they would all have to be his friend.
Okay that is officially the meanest thing I've ever said.
Sorry Jeff. I'll be your friend.
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