10 years ago today the number one song in the United States was Far East Movement’s “Like a G6” (like a G6)
The top movie in the United States was the Jake Glynhall, Anne Hathaway rom-com Love & Other Drugs about a Viagra salesman and his unlikely love interest.
Earlier in the month, programmers Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger launched their brand-new photo-sharing website and phone application: Instagram.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg would be named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year later in the year.
The late Roy Halladay pitched only the 2nd no-hitter in MLB postseason history leading his Philadelphia Phillies over the Cincinnati Reds in Game 1 on the National League Division Series.
In the world of pro wrestling: Satoshi Kojima, five years after his first IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign, defeated Togi Makabe to become the IWGP Heavyweight Champion.
Jeff Hardy just a few weeks prior defeated both Kurt Angle and Mr. Anderson in a three-way tournament final for the vacant TNA World Heavyweight Champion. In adhering to a pre-match stipulation Angle was forced to retire, forever. Which he did, of course!
Independent wrestling’s top company Ring of Honor was led by Roderick Strong who defeated Tyler Black at Glory By Honor IX to become the new ROH World Champion. Strong would hold the title until March 2011 when he was defeated by Eddie Edwards.
The Young Bucks were just 264 matches into their pro wrestler careers.
I can provide more examples but I think you get the picture: October 25, 2010, was a long time ago — 3,654 days, to be exact.
In NJPW, the two men battling over the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and complete non-factors in the company today. Both men playing out the strings on lengthy careers.
TNA, well, it’s not even the same company anymore—quite literally—as Hardy, Angle and Anderson are all no longer with TNA/Impact Wrestling. Angle, well, he didn’t retire. He returned to TNA in January 2011 and wrestled 284 more times including a final run in WWE. Hardy is currently in WWE, having lost to Elias at yesterday’s WWE Hell in a Cell 2020.
For Ring of Honor, Black lost the title and moved onto WWE developmental becoming Seth Rollins. Strong, the new champion, is now firmly entrenched in WWE’s current developmental company/territory NXT. Edwards is one of the stars of Impact Wrestling.
Matt & Nick Jackson now have 900 matches to their name and a company built on the backbone of their success.
A lot has changed in 10 years, 3,654 days and 5,261,205 minutes.
On October 25, 2010, Randy Orton—fresh off a victory in a Hell in a Cell match at the Hell in a Cell PPV—is your WWE Champion.
On October 25, 2010, The Miz is your Money in the Bank briefcase holder. He is your *shudder* Mr. Money in the Bank.
Fast-forward to October 25, 2020.
WWE has just wrapped up their Hell in a Cell 2020 PPV. A show that featured three Hell in a Cell matches.
Randy Orton—fresh off a victory in a Hell in a Cell match at the Hell in a Cell PPV—is your WWE Champion. His 10th official reign with the WWE Championship (he also has four reigns with the World Heavyweight Championship).
Also, The Miz is your Money in the Bank briefcase holder. He is, if you will, Mr. Money in the Bank!
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
10 years used to be a lifetime in the pro wrestling business. Compare 1980 to 1990 in the WWF. Hell, the WWF only became the WWF a year prior. They were still three years away from breaking off their inclusion in the National Wrestling Alliance. By 1990, 10 years later, the WWF has all but put the NWA and territory wrestling out of business.
From 1990 to 2000, forget it. You have the rise and fall of World Championship Wrestling, once the juggernaut defeating the incumbent WWF for 83 straight weeks, now on the path towards its ultimate demise. You have Hulk Hogan saying his prayers and eating his vitamins at the top of the company now replaced by the peak of the Attitude Era and sacrifices on the Undertaker “symbol” the year prior.
Even 2000 to 2010 features a wide array of changes to the company. Gone are The Rock, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and many more, they’ve been replaced by a new crop of top stars in John Cena, Batista, Edge and more.
How much change have we really seen from 2010 to 2020? Of course, it being THIS year of all years, there are obviously no crowds, the Thunderdome and sure, there are new people up and down the card, there are new levels of storytelling, a match like Sasha Banks and Bayley in Hell in a Cell absolutely does not exist in 2010.
Why are we back to Orton and Miz?
Why is Orton now in his 14th World Title reign setting up for a potential WrestleMania match against the 46-year-old Edge.
Why is The Miz once again *shudder* Mr. Money in the Bank?
Roster stagnation is a necessary evil in today’s pro wrestling business. The wrestlers keep themselves in far better shape mentally and physically than they did in any other point in this industry’s history. With less places to work and make a living, more hours than ever of first-run content, it’s just something we cannot avoid.
Creative stagnation is inexcusable, though.
There is no reason, whatsoever, we should have the same champion and number-one contender we did 10 years ago.
Yet, here we are. The same champion and the same number-one contender we had 10 years ago.
