UseYourBrain
Pre-Show Stalwart
By far the best columnist the site has. To be honest, I don't watch wrestling anymore and haven't for a few years now. I do, however, read the occasional wrestling book and watch the "Legends of Wrestling" roundtable discussions. I'm a fan of the craft, but not enough to make me want to ever go and do it.
That being said, as much as I dig Madden's columns, they are certainly losing their luster. When they started, he was so confident (to the point of being condescending as hell) and truthful. He's definitely still confident (and condescending). I get it. It's hard to be patient with wrestling fans who don't know anything about what they're talking about. Totally understandable. Every know-nothing is a huge know-it-all. Reminds me of a lot of people I know. The ones who never left the nest (mom's basement) but who can still tell you about the way the world really works. I totally understand Madden's bluntness. I also understand he's playing a "heel" to an extent.
That being said, at some point the articles turned a little ignorant. I dare say he started to sound like the fanboys he constantly berates. He went from arrogantly pointing out the facts to arrogantly emphasizing his opinions and making any who might disagree out to be stupid. There's nothing wrong with being on the fence with some issues. There's nothing wrong with sometimes admitting "I don't know" or "I wasn't there". He writes in great detail about the goings on in WCW while he was there, which adds to his credibility... but he also talks in great detail about the goings on in current WWE, where he is NOT. He talks about what's going on backstage, who's getting screwed, and who's being played against one another. But... he's not there. He doesn't even work IN WRESTLING!
I do believe that a man who once had something to offer has run out of that very thing. I noticed a remark he made about how the crowd doesn't like old rebels and he said "but don't tell DX that" and I thought to myself "The whole point of DX is that they ARE too old to be rebels. They don't really defy authority and the jokes are goofy and lame. That's the entire gag! How does the all-knowing Madden not see this? If somebody knocked Flair for his age, Madden would swoop in defending him and throwing the words "love" and "passion" all over the place, simply because he's Flair's friend. Mr. Brutal Honesty is playing favorites and putting friendship over truth and logic... which in turn is the exact same thing as politics... and "politics" are that backstage thing that we're all supposed to hate. They are what he writes about every single week. Strange.
It's then that I realized that the man is, unfortunately, just another fan with way more opinions than facts. He's a fan who happened to be closer to the action than most. Was he in the inner circle? No, but he was close enough that when he ran back to all the other kids, we all gathered around to listen to his cool inner-circle stories. Like the kid who delivered pizza to the mob meeting and then ran home and told all his friends the inner workings of being in the mob.
Hence the "Ask me a good question" routine. Well, if you're being that picky about what questions we should be asking... maybe you don't have as many answers as we thought.
That being said, as much as I dig Madden's columns, they are certainly losing their luster. When they started, he was so confident (to the point of being condescending as hell) and truthful. He's definitely still confident (and condescending). I get it. It's hard to be patient with wrestling fans who don't know anything about what they're talking about. Totally understandable. Every know-nothing is a huge know-it-all. Reminds me of a lot of people I know. The ones who never left the nest (mom's basement) but who can still tell you about the way the world really works. I totally understand Madden's bluntness. I also understand he's playing a "heel" to an extent.
That being said, at some point the articles turned a little ignorant. I dare say he started to sound like the fanboys he constantly berates. He went from arrogantly pointing out the facts to arrogantly emphasizing his opinions and making any who might disagree out to be stupid. There's nothing wrong with being on the fence with some issues. There's nothing wrong with sometimes admitting "I don't know" or "I wasn't there". He writes in great detail about the goings on in WCW while he was there, which adds to his credibility... but he also talks in great detail about the goings on in current WWE, where he is NOT. He talks about what's going on backstage, who's getting screwed, and who's being played against one another. But... he's not there. He doesn't even work IN WRESTLING!
I do believe that a man who once had something to offer has run out of that very thing. I noticed a remark he made about how the crowd doesn't like old rebels and he said "but don't tell DX that" and I thought to myself "The whole point of DX is that they ARE too old to be rebels. They don't really defy authority and the jokes are goofy and lame. That's the entire gag! How does the all-knowing Madden not see this? If somebody knocked Flair for his age, Madden would swoop in defending him and throwing the words "love" and "passion" all over the place, simply because he's Flair's friend. Mr. Brutal Honesty is playing favorites and putting friendship over truth and logic... which in turn is the exact same thing as politics... and "politics" are that backstage thing that we're all supposed to hate. They are what he writes about every single week. Strange.
It's then that I realized that the man is, unfortunately, just another fan with way more opinions than facts. He's a fan who happened to be closer to the action than most. Was he in the inner circle? No, but he was close enough that when he ran back to all the other kids, we all gathered around to listen to his cool inner-circle stories. Like the kid who delivered pizza to the mob meeting and then ran home and told all his friends the inner workings of being in the mob.
Hence the "Ask me a good question" routine. Well, if you're being that picky about what questions we should be asking... maybe you don't have as many answers as we thought.
