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A guy I work with, let’s call him Charlie, mentioned that he basically grew out of watching TV wrestling about 10 years ago, when he was about 18. He said he felt like "there are so many better things to do" with his time than to watch WWE or TNA.

That got me thinking: Why do I still like watching this stuff? This being an Olympics year, I said to myself that if I couldn’t come up with five solid gold reasons -- I'd probably have to take a break from the scripted silliness.

Podcast: 'Old School, New School' -- Episode 84

Well, that ain't gonna happen, kids.

Here's why:

Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels
Jericho is quite possibly the best performer behind the microphone and in the ring in the world today. Right behind him is The Hearbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels. In recent weeks, these two have been feuding on WWE programming, and it’s been nothing short of phenomenal. Jericho has gone full heel (he was a babyface when he came back to the business earlier this year), and has adopted a gimmick where he simply tells his version of the truth in a calm, yet menacing manner. Michaels, meanwhile, is pretty much the same guy, the showstopper fans still love -- the icon Jericho wants to beat into submission until he retires. Will Jericho ever get the job done and end HBK's career? Stay tuned.

John Cena
I can't believe I'm writing this, but like him or not, John Cena delivers. He’s always been solid on the microphone and he always works hard in the ring. I'm not saying he's overly creative in the ring -- he just does enough not to get hurt (like Hulk Hogan) -- but there's a reason he's one of the most recognizable names in the business today. Right now, Cena is in a babyface feud against Dave Batista -- with their first match at "SummerSlam" last weekend. It wasn’t a long affair, but it was intense enough where you wanted to see more. I’m giving the credit for that largely to Cena, who seemed to care more about putting on a quality match than anything. He lost that one, carrying Batista to a fine performance. Will Cena get a return pin on The Animal? Stay tuned.

C.M. Punk
Punk is the current World Heavyweight Champion (on "Raw") and he gets very little respect. The reason why, I’m guessing, is because Vince McMahon has a hard time making mega-stars out of smaller wrestlers. Remember Rey Mysterio's title run? Pretty pathetic. He seemed to lose non-title matches every week. On "Raw" this past week, Punk was pinned by Jericho in a non-title bout. While Jericho is worthy, Punk got punked. Worse, he has to defend his belt against five other contestants in next month's pay-per-view. Despite it all, Punk continues to deliver solid matches, and is getting better and better on the microphone. He gets a gold medal from me simply for seeming to have a great attitude throughout it all. Will Punk continue to keep his gold, or is he merely a transitional champion? Stay tuned.

Mike Adamle
Every once in a while, a person is hired and put on WWE air and you have no idea why. Adamle was that guy -- and I railed against him every chance I could. He was terrible as an announcer. Well, the ranting is over. Adamle is now the "Raw" general manager, and for some reason the gimmick works. Adamle simply delivers the lines he's given and plays the perfect straight man. I'm guessing McMahon signed him for ridiculous money and had to figure out what to do with him on the air. Well, every once in a while WWE writers make lemonade out of lemons, gold out of tin. The fact that I’m now watching "Raw" to see what Adamle does next is simply amazing. Will Adamle stay steady or will he fall apart again? Stay tuned.

Bryan Alvarez
I’m a big fan of Alvarez' weekly free podcast on his Figure Four Online (f4wonline.com) Web site. It comes out every Tuesday, and with the help of his sidekick Vince, they basically run down what happened on "Raw" the night before. I'd offer a link to it here, but I can't because they tend to swear a lot. This is a family Web site, after all. Anyway, Bryan and Vinny are great. They know wrestling inside and out and are brutally honest when picking apart McMahon's messes. There are very few podcasters out there who do it right, and Alvarez is one of them. It's a fun, funny show (the music clips with The Great Khali are a hoot) and I hope you enjoy it. Tune in.

Which brings me, of course, to the weekly podcast offered here. It's called "Old School, New School" and Episode 84 is ready for you to download right now, right here. Joining me again this week are the amazing Mike Lano and George Schire, two of the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet. If you haven't heard it before, we talk about wrestling’s past and we chat about what’s going on today. It’s pretty simple, and yes, deserves a gold medal of its own. We hope you enjoy it as well.

That’s it!

Class … is dismissed!

(Professor Wrestling is a masked employee of Internet Broadcasting, hailing from Parts Unknown. Got a question, comment, complaint? E-mail him right here. )