Why Do We Celebrate History, But Not Share It? by PaperClip Mike

History was always my favorite subject in school. I always like it, but I have two people to thank for nurturing my interest: my late father and my high school history teacher. My dad was always a history guy. We were always watching the History channel when it wasn’t all reality garbage. And he always had an answer when I asked him stuff. Legit one of the smartest men I've known. On top of that, he was huge into the Civil War. He has so many books, magazines, and documentaries that it was insane. Whenever I had to do reports or papers on it, my parents' house would be the first place I went. Sometimes, it would be all I needed, no joke.

Also have to give props to the teacher with the biggest impact on me, my high school history teacher, Todd Edmond. History can be stuff sometimes, sure. But Mr. Edmond taught in a way that stuck with you. When we were talking about the 20s and 30s, we actually got to watch The Untouchables in class. I still remember him trying to mute the movie every time ‘fuck’ was said (it was a lot). He even started a group at the school that helped excavate local Civil War sites, looking for artifacts. My interests would not be where they are today without those two men.

Why am I saying this on a wrestling website? Well, all the WWE content on Peacock is going away at the end of the year. And a lot of the older stuff will likely not be making the trek to Netflix, ESPN, or anywhere else. It has been said in interviews that since the older stuff ‘didn’t get enough views’, it will just go away. Why do wrestling companies not care about letting us watch history?

I was a purchaser of the WWE Network day one. I paid my $9.99 and tried to get on with so many other people. I was scrolling through what they had to offer. It was a lot, not a gigantic library yet, but it has a lot of stuff to watch. First thing I watched? Starrcade ‘83. I know, I know…I am as shocked as you. That time frame is my comfort zone. It is the same reason we all watch the same shows over and over. We know we are getting something good and are not surprised. That doesn’t mean I did not explore. Of course I did.

I watched the new stuff. I watched the old stuff. Documentaries, specials, one-offs. It was one of the reasons I have not had cable in over 10 years. I even discovered stuff to fall in love with. This was how I discovered Mid-South Wrestling. I tried so many things. Did everything work for me? No. But if it was never offered, I would have never known.

Here is the thing, WWE/TKO has a lot of tapes. When all the territories went away, they scooped up all the libraries. They have decades and decades of stuff. I get it logistically; they could not put everything on there. I don’t want to sound too much like ‘Old Man Yells at Cloud’, but…

Why not let us see the history of the stuff we love so much? If it weren’t for this history, the present would never have happened. It seems like wherever we do get a crumb or two, it comes across as (for lack of a better term), propaganda. Hell, it can go both ways. When ‘The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior’ came out, they raked that man over the coals. But when he went into the HOF, they made a DVD set that damn near beautified him. I mean, it does make sense. If you control everything, you can make someone bigger than they are or make them go away. But it also works when you want to cover up mistakes from those you love. But here is the thing, I don’t want that.

I am sure a lot of people agree with me. To paraphrase the theme from ‘The Facts of Life’, ‘You take the good, you take the bad. Put them together, what do you get?’ History. That is what you get…HISTORY. My all-time favorite wrestler is Ricky “The Dragon’ Steamboat. His match with Randy Savage at WM 3 is still considered of of the best Wrestlemania matches. His trilogy of matches with Ric Flair over the NWA World title a few years later is considered one of the best trilogies. But has he had matches that may not have been the best? Sure. I have even seen some.

But you know what, that makes me appreciate him more. Not everyone is perfect. But if you want to appreciate people for what they do, you need to see the failures with the successes. But also look at it this way. They could have had a match with someone I have never heard of. And if I like their opponent, I am going to look them up. And you likely got that wrestler a new fan.

Now, some of you may mention the influx of the new YouTube channels WWE has made recently. One called WWE Vault, one just WCW stuff, hell, even The Undertaker is getting one. These are great…to a point. But it is going backwards. You gave us a lot of stuff, took it all away, then gave us a couple of things. If you do this, you know what people are gonna do? The will be a bunch of Paul Burchills and Jean-Pierre Laffittes, if you catch my drift. But if we get what we used to have, will all of them go away? Of course not, this is the internet. As much as there is talk to the contrary about the older content. There is a market.

The new YT channels prove this. Lots of subs, lots of views on all the videos. Plus, they do a lot of live streams of content, the chat is flowing, so loads are watching. The analytics are there. The worst thing you can do is just sit on the stuff. With the way ticket prices are going, we know they want to make money. So why not have a better network and let us enjoy what we already do? Do I want to watch Steamboat/Funk from Clash of the Champions VII in 1989? Yes, because it is a great match. But I will also watch the new stuff as well. You can watch both, trust me.

I know this was less joke-filled and more rant-filled than usual, but I needed to get it off my chest. I only rant because I love this stuff. I watched it as a kid, and I trained as an adult. I played the games. Hell, it is the reason I am right here. Let us enjoy it, and let us show the next generation why this is the greatest show on earth.