The Top Events That Affected the Pro Wrestling Industry in the 2000s
(By PWTorch reader Ransom)

(10) Linda McMahon - U. S. Senator? As the wife of "The Chairman" leaves the WWE to pursue higher office, we must wonder if the Pro Wrestling association will help or hurt her. She did have an on-air role more than once. She is potentially opening herself and VKM to a lot of very public exposure should the campaign get nasty. It does, however, also focus a light on her and so the WWE also gets some free publicity out of the whole campaign.

(9) You Tube and the Backyard Wrestling Phenomena: As computers were able to view steaming video files from the internet, people, like Matt and Jeff Hardy, began to videotape their homegrown wrestling - aka Backyard Wreslting and it grew a fanbase virally. This also started the WWE and TNA and others who broadcast Pro Wrestling to include so-called public service announcements asking that people not try these things at home. You Tube has also provided audience exposure for indy circuit wrestlers who can put their product out through the Web. TNA survived as a weekly show via the internet before securing their deal with Spike TV.

(8) The Internet Explosion: Speaking of You Tube and the rest from #9, this gets its own category because of the global reach the Internet has provided to the WWE, TNA and even smaller outfits like ROH and Dragonsgate. Thanks to the explosion of broadband, the cheapness of computers and the increasingly worldwide market of TV people in countries from all over the globe have seen an American or regional "Professional Wrestling" show and then they check it out on the Internet. TNA now tours Europe, WWE tours from Auckland, NZ to Sydney, AU and from Los Angeles, CA to Rio de Jainero, BR. The true global impact of Pro Wrestling has come with the maturation of the Internet.

(7) The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: For many young people in the military wrestling is something they grew up with. For others it is a welcome reminder of home even if they are not big fans. The WWE has supported the troops continuously in both theaters of operation. Each year the WWE has made a point of doing a show from one of these countries as a thank you to the men and women who are putting themselves in harm's way in service to the nation. This has generated a lot of positive attention to the WWE specifically and to Pro Wrestling more generally as the annual "Tribute To The Troops" show draws a lot of mainstream attention.

(6) The Mortality Rate of Wrestlers 50 and Under: Over the 2000's there have been a huge number of current and former wrestlers who passed away far too early. Yokozuna, Curt Henning, Terry Gordy, Road Warrior Hawk, Miss Elizabeth, Rocco Rock, Johnny Grunge, Eddie Guerrero, all wrestlers, all dead before 50. Sadly, this is but a sampling of the lengthy list of those who seemingly passed before their time. Whether from the wear and tear of the life or from the things done to cope with injuries too many times in the last decade an obituary for a person under 50 has contained the words Pro Wrestler.

(5) TNA Gets a Weekly Show: From the first fledging steps in 2002 to the weekly PPVs TNA grew slowly but steadily. Then in 2004 they began broadcsting a weekly show and until finally getting a deal with Spike TV. TNA has proven to have enough of an audience to support a 2 hour show. While no real threat so far to the WWE's marketshare or ratings dominance, the recent addition of Hulk Hogan to the TNA roster may have the potential to help TNA raise their game once again.

(4) Ric Flair Retires: When Flair came out for his "final" time on Raw after losing to Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania XXIV. The entire event was the classiest send-off anyone can remember. Indeed it may have been the single greatest goodbye to a wrestler that ever was at anytime in the annals of Pro Wrestling. Flair could talk and Flair could wrestle. In his prime Ric Flair could have wrestled a push-broom to a 60 minute draw and had everyone believing the broom was in there with a real chance. It was the end of an era and intended to be a grand last gesture to the man many consider the very best "between the ropes" wrestler of all time.

(3) Chris Nowinski's Career: Think this is an odd one to have this high on the list? Consider that since his tenure with the WWE ended with a serious concussion, Nowinski has worked with his organization Sports Legacy Institute to research various aspects of brain injury but working specifically on the long term effects of repeated head trauma. Andrew "Test" Martin and Chris Benoit in post-mortem exams were both found to have significant brain damage at the time of their repsective deaths. This issue has touched the NFL as well, with all of the head trauma that an NFL calibre players endures during a career. This has rightfully started to change how wrestlers look at taking naked headshots (in most cases).



(2) The End of the Monday Night Wars: On March 23, 2001, Vince McMahon officially purchased World Championship Wrestling and that is the day the music died. Though ECW struggled along for awhile more, when VKM bought WCW tapes, belts, history and all the wrestling wars were over, and Vince was the last man standing. Not long after he was able to do the same with ECW. Since then no other organization has posed a realistic threat to the WWE's market share and so the product has suffered from that lack of urgency that real cutthroat competition brought with it. TNA hopes to be that brand in the future, time will tell.

(1) The Chris Benoit Tragedy: Chris Benoit "no-showed" a houseshow event in which he was headlining and initially blamed a missed flight and family "food-poisoning" to his co-workers. As the tragic terrible timeline of events unfolded it became clear that the Benoit house on the weekend of June 22 - 24 2007 was a murder suicide scene. The Benoit tragedy re-opened the steroids and PED debate on the Federal level once again. Additionally the findings post-mortem of the state of Benoit's brain started the discussion on the impact or repeated head trauma on wrestlers on a more serious level than ever before. And this case also helped bring Chris Nowinski's cause to the public's attention.

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Send your top ten lists on either the year 2009 or the decade of the 2000s based on any criteria to pwtorch@gmail.com. Thanks!

[Nitro Announcers Mongo, Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan art by Joseph Borzotta (c) PWTorch]

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