How Far Has Pro-Wrestling Come In The Publie Eye?

[Tenta]

Read this article from MSN.com, in the sports section.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/9201246/Report:-WWE-wrestler-hits-female-fan-in-face?MSNHPHMA


Doesn't exactly portray pro wrestlers, especially Chris Jericho, who most people see as a pretty open wrestler to the media, in the greatest of pictures. Look at how this story is portrayed by the media outside of the wrestling circles.

My question is this; Has pro wrestling really come that far in the public eye? And will it ever be fully accepted by the media outisde of the IWC?

 

[klunderbunker]

This is one of the most biased articles I've ever read. They ignore to mention the fan coming at Jericho, they ignore Jericho getting out of the car to take pictures, and they ignore the scuffle. This article was doing everything it could to make Jericho out to be the bad guy here and implies that he just couldn't control himself and snapped, which simply isn't the case. Terrible article that hopefully not a lot of people see.

This article shows that pro wrestling is still viewed as a joke and not at all a form of entertainment or anything close to athleticism. It's portrayed as something that is full of a bunch of muscle bound idiots that can't control their anger, which simply isn't true. While wrestling isn't and shouldn't be seen as a real professional sport, it should be seen as soemthing between that and entertainment. The performances take talent, but reports like this tarnish that talent.

 

[Starchild]

Wow is all I can say to this article. My first thought is did the writer even watch the video?
Jericho is caught in traffic and gets out to take pictures with fans. And he is then attacked and reacts in self-defense. What the hell would anyone else do? Just allow yourself to be attacked by some stranger who could potentially have a weapon and do serious harm...None of us are Jesus ya know!
And for a media member to lash out against Jericho like this is appalling. If there is a professional wrestler that willingly will talk with the media, even about controversial topics (such as Benoit's murder/suicide incident), it is more than likely going to be Jericho. He wasn't in the business at the time that happened, but certainly had substantial knowledge of the biz and was friends with Benoit. If the media members can't even acknowledge what really happened in a situation like this, then pro wrestling really hasn't come too far at all. They tend to blow small things up, and leave key details out but to completely reverse the situation and make him look like the wrong-doer here is deplorable.
I can only hope not too much is read into this particular article by other media outlets and that if they choose to say anything, they at least include all the details so an average reader wouldn't view pro wrestling in an even worse way that they might already

 

[Blue Chipper]

This just further displays how the media looks down on pro wrestling by making it out to be as worse as possible. The article fails to mention anything remotely related to a positive justification as to why Jericho did this and they squeezed out negatives by showcasing it as another muscle head wrestler that's crazy and outragious. Chris might have had a legit reason but the media would'nt care and would bash it as hard as they could anyway.

The media has never really showed pro wrestling in a glowing, shiny light. They don't mention how the WWE countlessly tries to help society, such as tribute to the troops, make a wish foundation, etc. But, instead, they care about the negatives in the buisness like drugs, deaths, etc. and paint a bad picture of wrestling as if it's not another entertainment product or show.

 

[jokerbateman86]

This just goes to show you that the WWE will never get the mainstream attention they want. Only the horrible things. I don't mind that. What I hate is the fact that they make Jericho look like a jerk who just wanted to lash out at fans. Expect the media to bring up the roid rage nonsense as always. Fox has always been against wrestling but this is too far. Jericho has done countless interviews for them and has always been a nice guy. They don't even mention the fact that these people were hitting his rental car, pushing him, spitting on him, that security was lousy and lazy and did nothing to prevent this, that these fans also went and did the same thing to other wrestlers. This also speaks volumes about how these idiot wrestling fans are challenging 220+lb wrestlers and provoking them to do these things. It makes us fans look horrible.

Jericho, who has always been one of the nicest guys to meet in not only my experiences, but many others, is getting some bad publicity (I've read on numerous websites many supporting his actions). I mean, we had Monica Seles get stabbed on court, we've had people jump over rails during these wrestling events and go after wrestlers, we've had people go after baseball and soccer players on the field and in the bullpen. I mean, what the hell. And this wasn't the only incident this weekend:

- A fan in attendance at the RAW/ECW show in British Columbia over the weekend sent word about another fan incident involving Randy Orton. Reader Rory says that a fan was throwing popcorn at Orton until Orton got pissed off and got in the guys face for another intense moment. Security eventually made their way over and broke things up.

Several readers sent word that WWE Diva Maria was attacked while signing autographs at the Washington Auto Show over the weekend. According to fans in attendance, Maria was signing when a man who was waiting in line rushed her and began grabbing & squeezing her. Security guards rushed him and removed him from the building. Maria was said to be shaken up for a few minutes but eventually kept on signing.

According to several WWE superstars that were at the house show in Victoria, there was a mob of fans that were not only going after Chris Jericho but other wrestlers as well. This group of fans were apparently surronding the cars of wrestlers as they were trying to leave the arena. The fans would start pounding their fists on the cars and security wasn't doing much of anything. One wrestler said: "never leave the car... that was the mistake Jericho made."

What in the world are these fans coming to?

 

[kaihorro]

just goes to show that some fans take things too seriously

from all the media stuff hes done he comes across as a genuinly nice guy n dont think he would hit a fan for no reason

usual lousy reporters not reporting the facts

 

[thepoo62]

Another example of how society views wrestling as a circus show is all the buzz and talk about "The Wrestler".

It litterally shows a very hardcore ROH match with Necro Butcher and instantly took all credibility away from the comment that it is an "artform involving world renowned athletes". This movie was about the bottom rung of the wrestling world (drug addicted burnouts with no eductation or ability to provide a reasonable quality of life for themselves) and the manistream eats it up like they now understand wrestling.

It makes me really ashamed as this could have been the vehicle to show people the reasons why we appreciate the product besides petty blood lust...