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OTC: Smackdown Grades for 11/27/03 RRC: 11/24/03 OTC: Smackdown Grades for 11/20/03 RRC: 11/17/03 AMV: #144: Survivor Series 2003 Point/Counterpoint [Bottom Line #1]
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The Show: #39: Who Remembers Crash?
by: KJ on: 11/30/2003 10:25 am est  Very few people even know that one of the most talented workers in the entire company was only minutes away from his death, and on his return, he's treated like he's being punished, rather than rewarded for his dedication. -Brett Berliner, Say What? #3: Who Betta? Another week goes by and another Smackdown airs with no sign of Chris Kanyon. The former Mortis, self-titled Alliance MVP and Innovator of Offence has not had an easy time since the end of October, 2001. As the giant hulk of the Invasion angle spluttered and died Kanyon found himself regulated to the injury bench after a freak ring accident tore his ACL. After four and half months of intensive rehab he was ready to return to the ring- only to suffer another serious injury during a match in the Heartland Wrestling Association- a former WWF development territory- a match that was supposed to help him shake off ring rust in readiness for his return to the main roster. His shoulder became dangerously infected and was made worse by Kanyon’s attempts to work through the pain. The infection caused migraines and fluid to build up in his lungs. Before he could receive proper treatment Kanyon collapsed in his house and had to be rushed to hospital. He survived, but by all accounts it was no sure thing. Chris Kanyon came very, very close to dying. By the time he had recovered enough to return to his job Kanyon had been away from the ring for nearly two years. Passion is an apt word to describe what links the men and women who perform in the surreal world of professional wrestling. Perhaps there are more than one or two mercenaries out there, but I have no doubt that such people exist in a minority. The more I learn about the wrestling world each week the more convinced I am of it. It doesn’t take a genius to see that by and large pro wrestlers take their jobs very seriously indeed, exactly because for them it’s more than just their work- it’s also their passion. What else would drive them to endure the travel, pain, frustration and disappointments that are inseparably bound to their life as wrestlers? What else is it, if not passion, that fuels their dreams of success? A few will reach the top, many more will not, but they will still go through all the hardship trying to. For all its glitz wrestling is not such a nice world; it takes more than a little passion to make it desirable. Passion is what compelled Chris Kanyon to spend two years of his life fighting his way back to what he loved. Passion is what ultimately allowed him to return. Passion is the reason he is a pro wrestler at all. But passion only takes you so far. You may remember Kanyon’s comeback match… actually you wouldn’t; there never was one. Kanyon’s big comeback from a life threatening injury consisted of him jumping out of a giant box dressed as Boy George. He sang to the Undertaker, and then he got beaten up. His massive recovery was never mentioned. A couple of months later he wrestled his first return match on Velocity. He lost. He’s appeared maybe twice on Smackdown since then, only ever to make other people look good. And that’s it. As I said, it seems passion is never enough to solve everything. Not enough to make the WWE treat Kanyon as anything more than a job boy, not enough to protect him from those injuries in the first place. But then, what’s new? Kanyon’s mistreatment may be especially baffling, considering he’s a big guy with a good look, who can speak as well as wrestle- but it’s hardly unique. Complaining about any particular wrestler’s plight in the WWE is nothing new, and would not make for a very interesting column. The fact of the matter is, that for all his potential, Kanyon is not someone who matters in today’s WWE, apparently not to the management, and definitely not to the fans. It’s sad to see him go to waste, I can only hope that there is some kind of tangible reason for it on the WWE’s part and that sooner or later this reason will be a non-factor and he will be given the shot he so richly deserves. Until then, so long Kanyon, we won’t notice it if you leave. Which is, I think, exactly why every week when I watch a Kanyon-less Smackdown it keeps on bringing Crash Holly to my mind. I suppose the similarities aren’t all that obvious. While Kanyon has all the tools he needs to become a legitimate player on Smackdown, Crash never had the look or the character to become anything more than comic relief. At his peak Kanyon was competing in the upper-midcard of WCW, at his Crash was championing a novelty division. He doesn’t even hold the ‘minor Internet favourite’ status that Kanyon enjoys. No, where these two essentially different wrestlers are connected, or where they were connected, is just in the shared sense that if they dropped off the face of the earth the wrestling world would not stop to blink. When Kanyon dropped out of the WWE’s active roster the federation did not hesitate. When Crash left the WWE’s roster for NWA:TNA he didn’t affect anything, he didn’t have a ‘Loser Leaves Town’ match, or any kind of match at all. He just left WWE TV one more time and didn’t return. And then when he passed away little under a month ago he received no tribute on WWE Television. Unlike Mr. Perfect, or Miss Elizabeth, or Road Warrior Hawk, Crash is unlikely to appear in a future ‘WWE Highlights Reel’ or a ‘Greatest Matches’ compilation. He had a couple of funny moments, but- lets be honest- nothing enduring. When fans look back at wrestling at the start of the 21st century who’s going to recall that goofy little guy with the bleached-blonde hair? Who’s going to talk about just another ‘never was’ working the card before the main attractions? Who’s going to remember Crash? Not me. Not the WWE Audience. Not the TNA audience. Probably not you, either. There’s no one to blame for it, really. The Wrestling Industry may not have helped him to live, but it didn’t kill him. It didn’t force drugs down him or stop his heart. If you read a couple of the wrestler commentaries on his death it’s easy to learn that Crash loved his job, but his death did not cut and end to a promising career. The WWE didn’t use him badly, in fact they put him to very good use, giving him his own little rut on the card as the ever-plucky-underdog/irritating little guy, and to his credit he was a huge part of what turned the hardcore division into a sturdy sideshow attraction in the heyday of the 24/7 rule. There was just never going to be much more than that, no big angles, no real credibility, not enough to be remembered by. It’s sad, but it’s reality. I wouldn’t say that I miss Crash, I mean, I’m not happy that he died or anything, but his passing has not been a major blow to me, I’m not upset that I won’t be able to watch him perform anymore. And honestly, if Kanyon had died in hospital two years ago, I’m sure I would have felt the same way about him. Harsh? Yeah, I guess, but it’s true. For me, Crash’s death represents a nasty truth of the wrestling business more than anything. That no matter how much passion you bring to the table as a wrestler, and even if the fans do cheer you or boo you for awhile that still doesn’t mean they’ll remember you when you’re gone. It goes way beyond just him and Chris Kanyon. Think of all the wrestlers working on the rosters of all the companies you watch and then imagine how many of them you would simply, and I don’t mean maliciously, not miss at all if they weren’t there anymore. How many of them deserve that? Do any of them? Perhaps it’s a misjudgement to say that any wrestler lives for the lasting impact he or she will have on an audience. I’m sure there are many who will love their profession no matter how much success they acquire, or otherwise. I hope Crash Holly didn’t die hating his lot, and if he did, I sure hope he isn’t indicative of all too many other wrestlers out there, reaching for a success they won’t ever get. Trying to win over fans that will forget them too easily. Who remembers Crash? The question could just have easily been who remembers Kanyon? And the answer, I fear, would be no different. -This is KJ |
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