You Haven't Made it Until...

[DethMetal]

So, the other day I was watching the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony of 2008. It came to the time where The Rock came out to induct a member of his family into the Hall of Fame. He did his usual catchphrases and made fun of miscellaneous guys like Stone Cold, Show, Triple H, and Jericho. Eventually, he got to John Cena (he said something about torture and the Marine movie). While speaking to Cena, he said that Cena hadn't fully made it until he had an entire arena full of raging fans chanting "You suck!" towards him. That got me thinking?

In your opinion, at what point has a guy truly made it in the wrestling business?

A standard answer would probably be when he wins the WWE Championship, or when he main events a big pay-per-view. This isn't necessarily true; look at Wade Barrett. He had argurably the best year of 2010; he headed a group towards damn near destroying the WWE, was in many main event matches, and brought the face of the company to his knees. However, he still hasn't won the big one, and still hasn't really shattered the glass.

So, in your opinion, at what point has a guy really made it in wrestling?

 

[Steve0904]

I think you've made it when you're a guy like the Rock who can have relatively corny catchphrases and still get the fans to chant them regularly. When you consistently can have the crowd in the palm of your hand like Rock does then you've made it because people care about you.

And if you look at a guy like John Cena. He's made it because the fans care about him. They care whether they want to see him win or they want to see him get his ass kicked, but they care nonetheless. If I could relate it to what Cena said the week after he got grilled by the Rock (when Rock was announced as WM guest host in Feb 2011) I would say what Cena said was correct. He said something like "It's like a roast; when The Rock makes fun of you you're in." Meaning of course that Cena has "made it." Which indeed he has.

 

[lowandmighty]

Well despite what us wrestling fans want to think, wrestling isn't exactly everyone's cup of tea and lots of people choose not to like it because its "fake" as some of my friends say or or as my grandmother used to put it "undignified". These people on purpose don't pay attention to what's going on in wrestling and who the main stars are. They only know names like Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Triple H (at a stretch) and still refer to the big show as the giant. Sometimes they've never even heard of people like Ric Flair or Vince McMahon.
So I think a wrestler hasn't truly made it until they've forced all outsiders to know who they are and turned into household names like Hulk Hogan.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

It is pretty much impossible to have a career, in any field, consisting of only high points. I guess that is what Rock means. You are bound to fail at some point and every time you fail, you learn something. There is the story of Steve Austin suffering through a similar experience early in his career which he has mentioned in his book. He talks about being booed by the whole audience during a match early in his career. He says he was confused because according to him he had wrestled well, shown off many moves and what not. He approached the booker and asked him what had gone wrong. The booker him to observe the main event match that was coming up next and make notes. Austin talks about that day being a turning point in his life.

At the end of the day, sure, you will have only made it in the business if you have the fans caring for you on a consistent basis. But that is not possible unless and until you realize your own weaknesses and work on them. You have to know where you suck and just how much you suck and you have got to be capable of some brutal self analysis. Yes, there are quite a few wrestling schools available these days but for most part wrestling is learnt inside the ring in front of the crowds watching you and reacting to your every move. Nothing can replicate that.