I have a pretty big wrestling DVD library. I never thought about it before, but as I found myself dusting off the collection a few nights ago, it suddenly occurred to me that I held hours upon hours of wrestling from a number of organizations. WWE, WCW, ECW, TNA, ROH, NJPW, XWF, WSX, and even some backyard wrestling that I had completely forgotten about. I have every WrestleMania on VHS as well as DVD, and I somehow found the cash and time to purchase and watch the Royal Rumble and Summerslam Anthologies. I hold within my 10x6’ closet the evolution of professional wrestling from the late seventies to the present day.

“So is there a point to your bragging, Tom?”

Actually, there is. My time spent looking back at the wrestlers of the past and watching them grow to become legendary figures made me realize the importance, the significance, of the mid card division. Now don’t get me wrong, the main event guys are what bring in the big bucks, and everyone gets their start as either jobbers or card openers, but I can’t help but feel that the mid carders don’t get their moment in the spotlight often enough considering the rapid transition that many in that position are forced to make. Once a wrestler is hired by a company, that wrestler will always be given a spot (as long as he or she is drug free and not in the dog house of course) within the opening bouts of televised or house shows. Once a wrestler becomes a main eventer, that wrestler is set for life in any organization. The majority of the time these are guarantees that go with the position. The mid carder, however, steps between both lines and enters a void of uncertainty with both the company and the fans. Sometimes a wrestler will stick out like a sore thumb while another fades away from the public eye. It’s in this territory that a professional wrestler is supposed to develop the right gimmick, the right amount of charisma, and the right amount of wrestling talent to be propelled to main event status. Sometimes the wrestler will succeed, but there are a number of unsung heroes who, no matter how hard they tried, never wound up becoming one of the elite champions of wrestling.

Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, Tito Santana, The Honky Tonk Man, Bam Bam Bigelow, Mr. Perfect, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine. These are just a few of the many names that, while familiar to us, were not associated with being in the main event picture in their prime. No, these guys had titles of their own to go after. Whether it was the Intercontinental, the United States, or even the Tag Team Championships, these belts were buffers made to maintain mid card status until the fans decided for themselves who was worthy of headlining the big events. In their defense, a wrestler’s position in history does not require a vast amount of championship gold. Look at Roddy Piper who for many years main evented matches with Hulk Hogan without ever possessing the gold himself. Jake Roberts never held WWE gold, but that didn’t stop him from keeping the viewers glued to their seats and TV monitors with his witty, poetic style of cutting a promo. It also didn’t hurt that he carried a giant snake to the ring.

Looking back, it might sound rather odd for me to say that these guys were not main eventers. You know their names, you know their looks, and you know some of the classic feuds they had in the past. Even now they present themselves as wrestling “legends” all across the indie circuit, and sometimes they do wind up in the main event picture, if only for a brief amount of time. But over twenty years ago, these men were not the biggest names in the industry. Far from it, they were just the regular gang of professionals who took it upon themselves to entertain the fans who sat waited with slight impatience for Hulk Hogan to come out, rip his shirt off, and drop a big ol’ leg on Andre the Giant. The future of these characters was not set in stone, but during a period of time where “enhanced medication” was making its rounds within the locker room, many of the wrestlers were marking their own graves without even realizing it.

Steroids? Marking graves? A forced Hulk Hogan reference? This doesn’t sound like a very positive edition of “The Lighter Side”.

Let’s shine a little light on the subject matter and fast forward to the present day. It may not look like it at first, but the WWE has a fantastic variety of mid card wrestlers, all with the potential to become headline entertainers. Meanwhile, TNA, while constantly changing, does give every member of the roster a chance to shine at the top. That glass ceiling is always breaking, which may be the reason why their story structure isn’t as solid. You may like these wrestlers, or you may despise them, but if you’re a fan you can understand that each mid carder has a place on the show, and at the end of the night, they will entertain you to some degree. Now I’m not going to make a huge list of names, and I sure as hell won’t rank them from most to least potential. You guys have seen all that in the past, and I’m sure my ranking would cause most of you to whine and complain because so-and-so “sucks ass” or what’s-his-face “is better than that”. Instead I’ll simply ask you guys to compare and contrast the superstars of tomorrow with the superstars of yesterday. Look for the arrogant jerk that can walk the walk, look for the comedian who talks the talk, look for the powerhouse who steals his wins, look for the Adonis who loves his looks more than his fans, look for the cowardly heel, and look for the people’s champion looking to etch his name in stone. Keep an eye out, and you’ll see that these wrestling archetypes are still alive and well, and will likely continue to lay the foundation for why we watch professional wrestling in a weekly basis.

I’ve found that the average wrestling fan has grown to be impatient over the years. We want more action, more violence, more charisma, and more innovative moves…basically more of everything. Steve Austin, The Rock, and Mick Foley spoiled us in the late nineties; they managed to set the bar so high that many attempting to reach such a scale wind up hurting their careers, sometimes permanently, in the hopes of getting the approval of the fans. If someone’s not getting thrown off a ladder and placed through a burning table, they’re not “over” enough. Now the mid carder’s job is much, much harder than ever before. Could you imagine Tito Santana in a Money in the Bank match? Aye yi yi!

Before I finish, there is one example that I want to present you guys with. Earlier tonight on Raw, Bret Hart addressed the WWE fans (I won’t say universe; that’s where I draw the line) and before leaving was saying his goodbyes to members of the WWE roster. The first person he said goodbye to was Kofi Kingston. It only lasted a few seconds, and it would be easily for anyone to miss, but for me it was a surreal moment where the evolution of the professional wrestler went full circle. In his beginning years Bret Hart was much like Kofi Kingston. He didn’t talk much, and he didn’t have much charisma, but he told a story in the ring, and the fans loved him for it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not implying that Kingston is going to be the next Bret Hart. But that’s the funny thing about the future; it’s impossible to know for sure. Maybe in another twenty years we will see Kofi as one of the biggest names in professional wrestling. Perhaps one day he will look upon a rookie, shake hands with him, and wish him the best of luck in the future.

And maybe one day I’ll be dusting off a “Best of Kofi Kingston” DVD from my shelf and reflect back on the early years when he was “Jamaican” us crazy. Or maybe I’m the one going crazy.

Just for fun, let’s go over the main points of this column:

-The legends of today were uncertain variables twenty years ago, much like the mid carders of today are now.

-A wrestler can extend his fan base beyond the promotion he works for.

-Wrestling archetypes are still around, and they will always shape the way we view a character in the ring.

-The mid card wrestlers are having a much harder time getting over with the fans than ever before. Give them a break!

-Keep an eye out on the mid carders. One of them could become the next Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels.

My Final Statement: The Mid Card division is perhaps the most important division in any wrestling promotion. They are the future of the wrestling industry, and should be groomed and respected as such.

On a side note, I find it rather ironic that as I write this column, Raw is having a Jerry Springer segment in the ring which involves a number of mid card wrestlers putting on a Springer Show-like skit, and basically making fools of themselves. I guess there are always a few exceptions to the rule.

Remember, if you guys have any ideas for what my next Silver Lining should be, or if you just want to kick my teeth down my throat, e-mail me at tagibbs4@yahoo.com

Until next time, remember that every ring is bound to have a silver lining.