Reported by Jon Minners of WrestleView.com
On Monday, December 4, 2006 at 3:16 AM EST

Hey yo! Wow. 400 columns. It is really something else to realize that for almost eight years, I have been writing this wrestling column and the fans have been reading each week.

Paul Nemer; I’d like to thank you so much for allowing me to write this commentary on wrestling for so long. Adam Martin has also been a great help. At one point, my column was on more than one site. I think at one point, my column graced 10 different news boards. But my emails would seem to come from Wrestleview readers and it made sense to stick with these two guys who brought me to the dance in the first place.

I remember when I first emailed Nemer many years ago, asking them for an opportunity to write my column. Back then, I would write it in the message space and just post it from there. Now, to keep records and make sure my spelling is accurate, I use Microsoft Word first. Unfortunately, I don’t have all my old columns, but if Nemer has them, I would love to read my very first Badseed’s Bottomline.

I couldn’t even tell you what it was about. I have no clue. But I do know that I have covered almost every topic in wrestling from steroid use to Internet reporting and all else in between. I’ve been critical, speculative and I believe, very fair in my criticism of the product, as well as the positive views of the sport. I’ve received both negative and positive emails and they are all appreciated. It’s actually quite hard to get to them all these days, but they are all read.

Back then, I was working at Carvel and going to Baruch College in hopes of making it as a journalist. Badseed’s Bottomline was actually my sole published work outside of school papers and magazines, but since then, I’ve graduated; then became a newspaper reporter for the Bronx Times Reporter, the managing editor and now the sport editor and co-webmaster for the company’s website.

You have all seen me at my happiest, dating someone for six of the years I wrote this column before breaking up, being miserable and going from one horrible relationship to the next until I met the true love of my life this past March.

I even owned two sites at www.ybfree.com and www.g-pop.net and also became highly addicted to Myspace. You can check out www.myspace.com/gpop2005 or www.myspace/Jon1976 and say yo.

But through it all, Badseed’s Bottomline has remained the one constant in my life and for that; to the readers – I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

So much has happened in wrestling over these years. I lost WCW and ECW and wrestling became dull, because there just was not enough competition, but now I have two brands of the WWE. ECW has returned and TNA has become a solid competitor. And of course, Ring of Honor helped change the concept of wrestling and MTV has even dabbled in the industry, creating the upcoming television project, Wrestle Society X.

During my time with this column, I have seen so many versions of the New World Order, Four Horsemen and Degeneration X. In fact, Degeneration X has sort of splintered off into two groups; one in the WWE and the Voodoo Kin Mafia in TNA. I actually think the Voodoo Kin Mafia is a better angle than when I originally heard of it. I think the duo in TNA is not just good for the company, but also for the WWE and vice versa. If the WWE acknowledged VKM, I think a new war could start between the companies. I will discuss that later.

Wow. So much has gone on in wrestling. We had the unfortunate deaths of Owen Hart, Eddie Guerrero and Chris Candido. We all saw the screw job of Bret Hart, the sudden emergence and disappearance of Brock Lesnar and the craziest work/shoot angle of all-time involving Edge, Matt Hardy and Lita. There were also the shocking defections of Christian and Kurt Angle to TNA. We’ve seen Trish Stratus, Lita and Chris Jericho all take a last bow and do so in uniquely different ways. We also saw The Rock turn his back on wrestling while Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan have come and gone as they please.

We also saw Ric Flair at a point where he should have retired to a point now where he has had a history of stellar matches with Kurt Angle, Undertaker, HHH, Edge, HBK, Randy Orton and Mick Foley. How about Foley? He’s had some crazy things happen to him. He retired a former world champion and then came back and still managed to have incredible matches with Randy Orton, Edge, Ric Flair and Tommy Dreamer and Terry Funk.

So much has gone on. Damn. I was even a color commentator and interviewer for USA Pro Wrestling at one time. But the biggest things to happen in recent memory include the fans choosing Batista over Randy Orton to be their champion, the emergence of Edge, JBL and Rey Mysterio as main event players and John Cena’s career fall apart until a Halloween episode and a Vanilla Ice impersonation helped to create one of the most marketable stars since The Rock and Steve Austin.

Of course, the one thing to happen that will help change the face of wrestling for the next eight years is the emergence of Samoa Joe and TNA.

TNA is the future of this business. I don’t think they will even beat the WWE. I love the WWE too much and too many fans feel the same way, but TNA helps make wrestling better in general. They up the ante. They try to be different. They create stars like Monty Brown who is the first coveted TNA wrestler to jump ship to the WWE. The X Division helps Paul London and Brian Kendrick be as successful as they have been, because their action in the ring mirrors that of X Division stars. TNA’s easier schedule becomes more desirable to an aging upper echelon in the WWE who will move on and make TNA bigger, but will also allow younger stars to rise and shine in the WWE. Everything works hand in hand and things are just looking better and better in the years to come.

I’ve been watching for 25 years and it never ceases to amaze me. Pre-determined? Sure. But as a whole, wrestling is totally unpredictable. It’s the reason why I watch. It’s the reason why I’ll be writing this column for as long as I can. As long as you keep reading, Badseed’s Bottomline will keep coming. Thank you. It’s been a pleasure. See you next week.