Go Away, Ken Shamrock

Stupid
I don’t know if there’s a phrase in wrestling that creates as much sympathy within me as “creative has nothing for you.”

It’s the phrase used when WWE (and, to a lesser extent, TNA) simply shrug their shoulders and walk away from a guy who, ultimately, has done nothing wrong. It’s the phrase used when a guy who hits the gym religiously, works his ass off, pulls it off in the ring and then has the rug pulled out from under his feet. It’s the phrase used when the powers-that-be have given up, and by no fault of your own, your ride is over.

Sometimes, though, it’s not the company’s fault. Sometimes, it not just creative that has nothing left. Sometimes, you’re just done. Pro wrestling has nothing for you.

That’s pretty much how I feel about Ken Shamrock these days. “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” has been campaigning for a comeback in either WWE or TNA. He keeps talking about how he wants to come back for one more title shot…and it’s not going to happen.

WWE doesn’t need Ken Shamrock. Shamrock, in his late 40s, hasn’t been relevant to wrestling fans, at any level, for over a decade. Today’s WWE fanbase doesn’t know who he is. He hasn’t mattered since he saved Stephanie McMahon from the Ministry, and battled The Rock for the Intercontinental Title.

It’s not like he’s done anything since then, either. He was NWA Champion (TNA’s first big belt), but nobody saw that. It didn’t count. He didn’t do anything in MMA after that either, besides get his ass handed to him by Tito Ortiz. He’s irrelevant. As much as I liked Shamrock in the 90s, I don’t want to see him now. I’d rather see Kofi Kingston, Bray Wyatt or the Shield – young talent on the way up – than a washed-up Ken Shamrock, on his way out.

As for TNA – why bother? The company can’t handle the roster it has now. I’m sure Shamrock isn’t going to work for peanuts, and with the company cutting every cost imaginable, it’s not happening. They’re not going to get rid of whatever’s left of the X-division to hire a nearly-50-year-old who hasn’t taken a bump in almost 10 years. Actually, they might, but Impact really doesn’t’ need to piss off any more fans.

He would have fit into that Tito Ortiz-Rampage Jackson clusterfuck quite nicely, though.

At the end of the day, Shamrock needs to stop complaining about how he’s been “blackballed” from wrestling. It’s not wrestling’s fault you walked away and never looked back. It’s not wrestling’s fault you’re sitting on the outside looking in, looking for a quick buck. If you want in that badly, work some indy dates and prove it, instead of bitching about it on the web.

Until then, creative has nothing for you, and neither does professional wrestling.

Join the Kayfabemetrics Institute on Patreon!
Become a patron at Patreon!