The Old Guys: An Appreciation

One of the nostalgic favorites
Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

No matter who we are right now and what we like in wrestling, all of us have a beginning as a fan. For some, that beginning is quite recently. Others more famously were fans in the womb. The point is though that we all have wrestlers we remember from days gone by. Chikara and Mike Quackenbush know this. Hell, Quack himself told me last year at Conclave that he is able to run the company because he himself is still a fan at heart. This has manifested itself in many ways, whether it be the joshis coming over, his (albeit rocky) relationship with lucha libre legends or the importing of World of Sport legends like Johnnies Saint and Kidd.

Not least important are olden stars from mainstream wrestling promotions. In the past, Chikara has featured Demolition, Glacier, Dave Taylor, D' Lo Brown, Jinsei "Hakushi" Shinzaki, One Man Gang, Tommy Dreamer, 1-2-3 Kid and Al Snow on cards. This weekend, Dreamer, Demolition and Kid returned, bringing the Powers of Pain, Meng, Jerry Lynn, 2 Cold Scorpio, Tito Santana, Tatanka, Marty Jannetty and Aldo Montoya with them. It was the most legends-laden weekend to date. To the stereotypical "Internet" fan, that would be abhorrent. However, that fan really doesn't exist, and if it does, then he or she is not really a wrestling fan anyway.

I know that there are certain, unwritten rules about how to book by age, but in all reality, I've learned over the last few years that there really are no hard and fast rules for booking, especially by how old you are. Yeah, I know, I'm the same guy who wrote a whole big long somewhat pedantic post about booking rules a few years ago. Truth be told, those rules oftentimes end up getting "followed" anyway when something feels right. That being said, I almost feel like booking is more art than science. You have to get a feel for it and know what buttons to press with the crowd more than having an age chart or strictly following some rigid guideline.

At least on Night 3, everything felt just right. A big reason for that was that the old men were able to satisfy our sense of nostalgia, our childlike wonderment. That's not trivial. Yes, we should always be moving forward, especially in wrestling, but there's definitely value, even if it's only sentimental, in looking back at the past. The trick is not to take up permanent residence in the past. That's why Chikara is successful while Extreme Reunion gets mocked. They only revisit rather than beat a dead horse.

Ax, Smash, Barbarian, Warlord, 1-2-3 Kid and Jannetty aren't necessarily guys that I'd count on to go at full-tilt on a regular basis. Okay, maybe Waltman might be okay on a main roster right now, but he's the exception. That being said, it was great to see them all one more time, and I'm happy they indulged us when they were approached by Chikara to appear. It's nice to be reminded of reasons why we became wrestling fans, and even though the number of people who were ensnared in the grip of a wrestling fandom by the Powers of Pain is probably very small, it doesn't mean their presence doesn't remind us of a time when they rode with the men who did.