Angry at Fans for Being Fans

[OYDK]

I want to know where this ultra conservative BS ends when it comes to the WWE, because all the garbage they used to spew about "the first amendment" and freedom of expression has completely been thrown out the window in the past 10 years. We've heard about instances of WWE personnel taking away signs, T-shirts, and even going so far as to chastise the live audience for not cheering the way they want them to. This past week however, I think they went a bit far when they attempted to throw fans out of the arena for being just that, fans.

I think we all remember those 3 fans who were dressed up as Hogan, Macho, and Taker last Monday, yes? Well, it's being reported that those 3 were actually asked to leave the arena before being let back in, moved to a new seat, and told to "calm it down". Apparently, these 3 were enjoying the show, getting into the action, and began to mimic the mannerisms of the wrestlers they were dressed as. As a result, fans began to chant "Randy Savage", which didn't sit well with WWE who than went ahead and told them to leave before letting them back in with a warning.

Now my question is, what exactly did these guys do wrong? As far as I can tell, they weren't purposely disrupting the show, they weren't being overtly loud or obnoxious, and they didn't do anything to upset the people around them. The only thing they seem to be guilty of, is being more entertaining than half the stuff WWE puts on TV each week. If fans are paying more attention to some random dressed as the Macho Man than your own product, that says more about you than them. I just find it ridiculous that we as fans can go to a show, but if we enjoy it too much, they have a right to kick us out. Huh?

I know there are some on here that will agree with what WWE did. I'd just like to hear why.

 

[Nate DaMac]

The only reason I could see them being upset over is the guy dressed as Hogan. They're still rabidly to keep distance between the two parties after his racial tirades. Other than that though, leave them the fuck alone. They weren't hurting anything.

 

[Prince Vee]

The above mentioned problem has been happening for a while, yes. Quite a few times they look rational as WWE doesn't want to advertise Hulk Hogan, CM Punk or Colt Cabana or other Independent wrestlers in any sort of way. It seems quite alright to take off those signs but sometimes this gets way too over the limits. The fans who were been so active had been asked to go out in the recent past which isn't acceptable. It seems like a two way knife where we can't judge who's doing much wrong stuffs.

Australia had banned the Barmy army in their cricket stadiums which raised a lot of negative reactions from the British fans, but the Australians welcomed it. These sort of things can change from different perspectives.

 

[timothy26]

The above mentioned problem has been happening for a while, yes. Quite a few times they look rational as WWE doesn't want to advertise Hulk Hogan, CM Punk or Colt Cabana or other Independent wrestlers in any sort of way. It seems quite alright to take off those signs but sometimes this gets way too over the limits. The fans who were been so active had been asked to go out in the recent past which isn't acceptable. It seems like a two way knife where we can't judge who's doing much wrong stuffs.

Australia had banned the Barmy army in their cricket stadiums which raised a lot of negative reactions from the British fans, but the Australians welcomed it. These sort of things can change from different perspectives.

wait a second the Barmy Army weren't banned in Australia to my knowledge but they were banned at Lord's in the UK. Most fans here loved the Barmy Army and no issue with them coming here.

I think in the case of a fan at a televised WWE event holding a sign that advertises a non WWE wrestler for example is fair if asked by wwe officials to get rid of the sign. However to remove fans who essentially cosplayed as three legends affiliated with WWE history is ridiculous as long as their behaviour wasn't disruptive

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE has lightened up on some things, otherwise those three guys at Raw would've been evicted from the arena and not allowed back in. The biggest problem WWE had was the Rock going off script and giving these guys actual television time. Allegedly, some of the wrestlers were pissed off at this because of the preferential treatment the Rock gets because the vast majority of them would have been fired if they went so far off script.

If you've got fans who're there being disruptive, I think the proper thing to do is give them a warning the first time and tell them to simmer down if what they're doing is causing problems for others around them. If they keep it up after they've been told to calm down, escort them out of the arena, simple as that.

The real problem here was that Vince decided to put on a match that filled about 10+ minutes of TV time that a helluva lot of fans just weren't interested in seeing. We've seen Kane vs. Wyatt in the past, it wasn't entertaining before and it wasn't entertaining this time; they let Vince know about it in no uncertain terms and it ruffled Vince's feathers more than a little. I think this is another part of the problem regarding Vince being out of touch with fans: if you don't want fan shenanigans distracting from the match, then put on a match that fans want to see instead of one that bores them to tears.

Now this isn't the case in every single instance, so let's not give the idea that EVERY situation like this is simply fans being fans. Sometimes, there are fans who behave like outright idiots, who're disrespectful as a whole and are more interested in trying to be stars of the show rather than try to enjoy the show itself. That wasn't the case this time, but it has been with similar incidents.

 

[Piss Bucket]

WWE has basocally given Hogan the Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter treatment, same a certain Canadian bloke who died nearly 9 years ago, because of what they both did, we're not allowed to talk about them or even mention them in WWE circles any more.

I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually remove Hogan footage from the WWE Network.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Now this isn't the case in every single instance, so let's not give the idea that EVERY situation like this is simply fans being fans. Sometimes, there are fans who behave like outright idiots, who're disrespectful as a whole and are more interested in trying to be stars of the show rather than try to enjoy the show itself.

There isn't much discussion of crowd control on this forum but WWE must spend a lot of time worrying about it. One thing about which they seem to be fighting a losing battle is fans touching wrestlers. Obviously, the company would love to see the fans reacting to events displayed right in front of them in the 'proper' manner. Instead, we see a performer slammed into the barrier that separates the crowd from the ring; he might be hurt or bleeding but the fans near him are laughing and smiling, trying desperately to touch the wrestler who's reeling in pain right next to them. Surely, that's not what WWE wants; they'd prefer the crowd to be reeling from the plight of the wrestler.

Still, how do you try and direct the crowd to follow the act..... and then allow the ring entrance of Roman Reigns, in which this kind of thing is encouraged?

For that matter, how do you get fans to stop trying to get attention directed toward them when the camera is constantly panning the crowd? Doesn't that encourage them to mug for the camera during their 2 seconds of fame?

Fans are fans....and I still contend that the number of them who don't care about pro wrestling at all is much, much greater than many of us believe. If you clamp down on the 'don't cares' too much, they won't pay to get in.

It all depends on how much WWE wants the fans' hard-earned dollars.

 

[Azane]

I remember back in the Attitude Era, when you would see signs with no moderation "Why are you watching RAW, WCW IS ON!", and "Eric Bischoff is GOD" in the 2nd row, none of these signs made me watch WCW, they made me watch WWF, because I loved the expression.

I have no problem with like, a Benoit sign being confiscated, or something to that extreme, but WWF really should stop attacking it's fans, especially in the age of Social media, I hate the stuff personally, but getting retweeted to hell for ejecting fans for being into the show is bad publicity. Like, my #1 reason for not watching Smackdown anymore, is that the crowd ALWAYS seems so dead, and they don't care about anything, while RAW is 50/50, and NXT is a completely different beast (I enjoy the noise, but some people find NXT crowds to be too loud).

Fans used to follow the show, because WWE wrote the show to be somewhat logical, the guy getting cheers was the face, people loved them, the guy getting booed was the hell, everyone hated him. You had people throwing Garbage at Vince McMahon, and people wanting to cheer when Stone Cold walked out. Fast Forward to 2016, and the guy getting the 2nd loudest Boos in the company is their "FACE", you know, the guy they cheered Heel Sheamus over? That's the out of touch part of WWE. Vince, the NAACP isn't going to grab you by the balls for someone dressed up as Hulk Hogan being in Row 1, stop worrying about him.

WWE can't be mad that a random fan at a show gets more cheers than Roman Reigns has gotten his entire career combined, they should just get the damn clue.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

This is absolutely disgraceful. "WWE Universe" my as. And knowing WWE, they will problably include those 3 fans in their WWE Universe promo videos. But no, they have to be escorted out..

Plus there was heat on The Rock? And if it was somebody other than Cena he would have been fired? Why? Was it so bad? It's not like there's an imaginary wall between the ring and the fans. The fans are there, of course the wrestlers in the ring should react at the fans and vice-versa.

Plus the fact that these guys were sitting in front row, means that they most likely paid a hell lot of money, so instead of being treated even more nicely, they get escorted out and then back in again.

 

[BillAlfonsos_Whistle]

The corporatization of the WWE is what killed the product.
You just have to enjoy the individual wrestlers who "get it" and get over despite the nonsense. This is why CM Punk and Bryan and The Rock and Austin before them (on a much larger scale) got over so heavily. They learned to just basically disobey the trend of being scared of management and it worked out for them all.

Difference being look at how they've treated Bryan and obviously Brooks took a hike like a wuss. Still hasn't tapped out in a cage yet BTW. PS I'm a huge Punk mark.

 

[Good Golly It's Ollie]

I don't believe they were asked to leave but they were on the camera side distracting from the action. It's understandable WWE would move them; I think they would have done it even if there wasn't a Hogan cosplayer. If you notice they were allowed to move to other front row seats, just in a place where the cameras were less likely to catch them.

they weren't purposely disrupting the show,

Arguably they were, they were showboating and getting over with the crowd ...

they weren't being overtly loud or obnoxious, and they didn't do anything to upset the people around them.

... But I do completely agree with you here. It's a difficult one for WWE to deal with because the truth is they were just having fun with the other crowd members. However WWE is trying to keep the home audience's attention on the in-ring action.

Rocky handled the situation well tbh - gave them a couple of minutes and then moved on. Perfect solution, don't ignore them but don't waste too much time on them either. They seemed like cool guys who were just being part of the show at the end of the day, this is probably a mountain out of a molehill.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually remove Hogan footage from the WWE Network.

That's not possible. That would literally take away almost ALL main events of the first 9 WrestleManias and PPVs between. You just can't do that.

 

[legendkiller1979]

Let's be honest. Those three guys didn't go to the show because they wanted to pay tribute to some of their favorite wrestlers, they did it to draw attention to themselves. Vince and others at WWE have to be so sick of fans wanting to make the show about them. Everybody knows what I'm talking about. The argument is going to be that "they were just having fun". There has been this irritating trend in the last couple of years of the fans wanting to be stars. Does everybody remember when Bray Wyatt debuted? The smarks chanted "Husky Harris!" through the whole match. Congratulations jack asses! You knew about his previous gimmick.

Would you go to a Patriots game with a sign that salyys "Tom Brady sucks"? No, you wouldn't. You might get on TV but you would probably also get your ass kicked. It seems like all wrestling fans are that guy carrying the Tom Brady sign for the sole purpose of drawing attention and trying to be cute. There's having fun and there's being respectful to the show that you're attending. Honestly I can't believe the jack ass in the Hulk Hogan costume was even let into the arena.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

The match during which they first started chanting "Randy Savage" was Bray Wyatt vs. Kane. Neither is great in the ring and without a story or point to the match, there's no wonder the crowd got distracted and bored.

Were the fans disruptive? Yes, but why were they disruptive? Because there was a boring match with no story that has been done before.

If WWE can't keep fans interested, they deserve this.

 

[Headman]

I attended several shows during the attitude era where signs were confiscated. This is nothing new. Now maybe being kicked out for dressing like a jack ass is new, but I'm there to watch a wrestling show not to garner attention for myself like so many fans seem to be doing. I look at it this way. TV shows shot in front of a live studio audience would not tolerate any sort of distraction from a crowd. The WWE is first and foremost in the television business so controlling the content of their programming is well within their rights. First amendment does not apply in this case.

 

[oneguy]

Sorry but censorship is not an ultra conservative thing, it is an ultra liberal thing.

 

[Good Golly It's Ollie]

Sorry but censorship is not an ultra conservative thing, it is an ultra liberal thing.

Censorship is about neither the left wing nor the right; it is about authoritarianism, which is not exclusive to one wing of the political spectrum, and how far that gets taken. Sometimes it's justified, other times not. It comes down to the sensitivities and attitudes of the time and people rarely agree on it.

With that educational moment out of the way, what has been censored exactly? Censorship is defined by Wiktionary as "The use of state or group power to control freedom of expression or press, such as passing laws to prevent media from being published or propagated." Sorry bro, but that hasn't happened here. In case you missed it, WWE let them move and they were still allowed to watch the show from the front row, just in a place where they weren't distracting from the action as picked up by the cameras. And then the Rock went and gave them their two minutes anyway.

Your statement is the ludicrous sort of reactionary thing I see from Channers and the like.

 

[Skinsley]

I will go as far as to say that I know WHY they do it. But I don't believe it gives them the right to do what they do. I don't think that it really disrupts the show enough to affect their story lines or the amount of money they receive in their business. So why do it in the first place?
It is a power play, that is all it is. The same reason they call women divas and the same reason why they try to change the name of every wrestler if they can do it....it's all about power and superiority. Vince has his yes men; who lap up everything he says. And they do what they can to appease him. Those men in the crowd were, just as you said, being fans! And there is nothing wrong with that. If people want to wear CM punk shirts and bring signs...so be it. That is their right, and WWE should have no say in the matter...period.

 

[Navi]

Didn't this happen once before, and when we saw the fans a second time, they were all wearing Cena t-shirts.

Kind of shocked that the WWE now has a dress code in effect. I can see their point to a certain degree, but come on they made these wrestlers famous and fans want to emulate their favourites.

As long as they're not drunk, cursing, causing an issue by bothering people around them, who the hell cares what they dress in. At a recent house show here in Toronto, there was some guy dressed as HBK, everyone outside was posing with him for pictures, and they and he were having a ball.

It's harmless entertainment, and by focusing it on the way the WWE does, it just encourages more people to do it.

 

[whoopin' ass]

It's a part of modern wrestling today. You are supposed to buy into the current wwe product without question otherwise something is wrong with you. It's the same reason why you can't complain about current angles, etc - being a fan is not allowed anymore. You can't show up dressed like Hogan because wwe is not pushing Hogan anymore and that is the past - you need to accept it and move on ... that is until Mania hits or ratings drop and wwe pulls in every old wrestler they can find to get the audience to pop. If you have an opinion of your own that doesn't fit with what wwe wants, its a bad thing and they have to squash it because it wasn't their idea.

A lot of it is just current pop culture - you need to be behind something 100% without question otherwise you just don't get it. If you are a Star Trek fan, you have to love the last few JJ films otherwise you are just a hater and don't count. If you are a nerd, you have to think Big Bang Theory is the best thing on tv otherwise you don't count. You can't hate the Marvel movies because they are the best comic movies out there. See the pattern? wwe is no different right now - if you would rather come dressed as Hogan or Savage and not Cena, you are living in the past. The fact that you have your own opinion no longer matters, you are not following the "popular" opinion so you are wrong, a troublemaker, don't count, etc. And in a case like this, who is going to actually to challenge wwe for kicking them out for no reason? wwe needs to be careful - social media is freaky today in what it can accomplish and one person complaining online can get them a whole lot of negative publicity they might not want.

 

[OYDK]

I attended several shows during the attitude era where signs were confiscated. This is nothing new.

Maybe the most extreme signs were confiscated. But there were also signs that said "Kill Bischoff", "Weed 4:20", "Nitro rules Raw", etc. and multiple signs that displayed profanity or sexuality. Hell, women used to take their tops off and people wouldn't give a shit. Signs or T-shirts didn't get confiscated for displaying the name of a past wrestler on it. They didn't even get confiscated for having the competitors name on them.

Now maybe being kicked out for dressing like a jack ass is new, but I'm there to watch a wrestling show not to garner attention for myself like so many fans seem to be doing.

I'm sorry, how is dressing up garnering attention? Have you ever been a fan of anything? The more hardcore fans like to have some fun and these guys were obviously pretty big fans. Would you rather everyone sit on their hands and act like a bunch of friggin lame asses for 3 hours because that's basically what happens nowadays. Like I said, if 3 people can't go to Raw dressed up without distracting from the show, than that says more about WWE than it does about the fans.

I look at it this way. TV shows shot in front of a live studio audience would not tolerate any sort of distraction from a crowd. The WWE is first and foremost in the television business so controlling the content of their programming is well within their rights. First amendment does not apply in this case.

I have no problem with them moving these guys away from the camera, it's the way it was done. Treat your fans with some respect, especially if the fans are obviously marks and not smarks. Don't threaten to remove them, chastise them, and than give them a warning to "chill out" when all they're doing is having fun. Maybe ask them if they wouldn't mind moving out of camera range? Novel idea, I know.

 

[Headman]

It was between 1998-2000. I believe at the time the event staff was probably given discretion over what they thought should be taken away. With that said, most of the signs I've seen taken weren't that bad and were in the vein of what you mentioned.

If dressing up in a costume is not an attempt to garner attention then what is? I didn't say dressing up isn't fun for some people. But it's certainly a "Hey look at me!" kind of fun. This portion of my comment was admittedly opinion btw.

Last point and I could be wrong on this one because I admit I haven't followed this situation as close as some of you. But was there a video of these guys being harassed by WWE staff? Do we know that they weren't approached politely to move off camera? Maybe being asked to move is in of it's self offensive, but it's the peaceful resolution you suggested so we'll go with that. And please don't think I'm being snarky because I'm honestly not.

 

[Navi]

You know it's not necessarily fans who dress as their favourite wrestlers who are annoying, because I don't find they are. It's the people like the kid tonight on RAW. He was sitting on the side of the hard camera and had neon green long sleeved shirt on, he kept jumping up and down when the camera was on, and was one hell of a distraction. I'm sure the people sitting around him didn't appreciate it either. His parents should have told him to stop.

Or the guy a couple of weeks ago who had a really big mouth. He was obviously sitting near the mic and all I could hear was him making comments. That's what I find distracting not someone dressed as Macho Man. Those guys usually just sit there and watch the show. After a while they blend with the rest of the audience. Kids in neon green jumping up and down don't.

 

[ghost94]

I want to know where this ultra conservative BS ends when it comes to the WWE, because all the garbage they used to spew about "the first amendment" and freedom of expression has completely been thrown out the window in the past 10 years. We've heard about instances of WWE personnel taking away signs, T-shirts, and even going so far as to chastise the live audience for not cheering the way they want them to. This past week however, I think they went a bit far when they attempted to throw fans out of the arena for being just that, fans.

I think we all remember those 3 fans who were dressed up as Hogan, Macho, and Taker last Monday, yes? Well, it's being reported that those 3 were actually asked to leave the arena before being let back in, moved to a new seat, and told to "calm it down". Apparently, these 3 were enjoying the show, getting into the action, and began to mimic the mannerisms of the wrestlers they were dressed as. As a result, fans began to chant "Randy Savage", which didn't sit well with WWE who than went ahead and told them to leave before letting them back in with a warning.

Now my question is, what exactly did these guys do wrong? As far as I can tell, they weren't purposely disrupting the show, they weren't being overtly loud or obnoxious, and they didn't do anything to upset the people around them. The only thing they seem to be guilty of, is being more entertaining than half the stuff WWE puts on TV each week. If fans are paying more attention to some random dressed as the Macho Man than your own product, that says more about you than them. I just find it ridiculous that we as fans can go to a show, but if we enjoy it too much, they have a right to kick us out. Huh?

I know there are some on here that will agree with what WWE did. I'd just like to hear why.

Oh, they totally weren't doing that when they were the only fans in the front row not watching the match, standing and screaming at Luke Harper, also stood up, back turned to the match, arms fully extended, yelling at the crowd for more chants.

You know if Ric Flair would have done that same shit IN THE RING with Wahoo McDaniel, turned his back, arms and yelling at the crowd, Wahoo McDaniel would have stretched him like nobody's business!!! Get those idiot fans out of here and respect what the hell you're watching.

If you want the WWE and the wrestlers to respect you paying your hard-earned money from your business, respect their business.

Now we're going to be treated to more idiots dressing up and #hijackraw and stupid ass social media movements because they think maybe... DANIEL BRYAN will talk to them or... maybe CM PUNK will return!!!

Stop it.