Are Wrestlers Generally Disrespected more by the Public or Wrestling Fans?

[Midgetmania619]

The general public, most of them who aren't WWE/wrestling fans, often make fun of "big men" grabbing each other, that wrestling is fake, etc, and WWE stars have 260+ days on the road. As Kurt Angle said, "I missed the birth of my baby because I was here entertaining you people, I missed my babies first steps for what? To be disrespected by you losers!?" and he's right, so many wrestlers miss so much because of their job.

What do you think? Are any wrestlers disrespected more by public or fans?

As fans we know what they have to go through, but some (most) still make fun of wrestlers or disrespect them for either stupid reasons or no reason, but the main public reason is because it's "fake", which could be most disrespectful in its on right seeing as how many times wrestlers are injured.

 

[klunderbunker]

Oh it's the public. The fans may criticize the wrestlers, but just watch what happens when a non-fan criticizes a feisty fan. It's some of the most entertaining arguing you'll ever see. This sport that we love may be insane, stupid and even bad at times, but it's OURS. A true fans will criticize the guys over something that gets on their nerves, but they'll defend it when they have to. It can be annoying, but it's better than anything else on TV for me. If not, why would I spend so much time with it? It's the general public and it's not even close.

 

[Midgetmania619]

It's the general public and it's not even close.

True, but when fans nearly universally combine to hate one, or a select group of stars, it starts a large chain.
Take Cena, he has so many haters (and fans) but all his hate is from wrestling fans because the public don't know why to hate him. He's just another "big man hugging another big man in a fake fight" to them, and they'd dislike him for those actions but they wouldn't hate him for the reasons "we" do, wrestling fans (that understand the show) go far more in depth to their hatred or likeness of a certain wrestler.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Take Cena, he has so many haters (and fans) but all his hate is from wrestling fans because the public don't know why to hate him.

Remember that "hating" Cena is different from "disrespecting" what he does. In fact, a wrestling fan who claims to "hate" Cena is actually showing him as much respect as a performer as a fan "loves" him. They hate his character, which is much different than hating what he does for a living.

Same thing with The Miz; some people on this forum seemed to think he would be upset because the little girl whose picture was taken as he won the championship "hated" him. In reality, Miz was probably thrilled with the whole effect because it showed that he was successfully portraying a heel who was worth the girl's hatred. Fans like the girl are suspending their belief in order to enjoy the show going on in front of them; that's respect, even if they "hate" the wrestler.

The true disrespect comes from non-wrestling people who dismiss the spectacle as "fake." Of course it's fake, but I don't see how the fakeness of wrestling is any different from TV and movie entertainment that they do profess to enjoy. On a police show or western, is the actor you just saw shot to death actually dead? Does the guy who plays Spiderman really have the ability to leap from building to building propelled by a spider web? In "The Wizard of Oz," were Judy Garland and the rest of the cast actually transported over the rainbow to film the damn movie?

The answer to all of that is "no," yet the non-wrestling public doesn't dismiss that form of entertainment as being "fake." Yet, that stuff is more fake than wrestling because if an actor in a TV show screws up, the director yells "cut!" and they get to try it again. In wrestling, if a performer messes up, the show must go on and his screw-up is there for millions of people to see.

The non-wrestling person who dismisses wrestling because it's fake, yet likes what he sees on TV, has his priorities reversed.

 

[neildittmar]

EVERY sustainable entertainment vehicle (radio programs, TV series, movies with several sequels) has its section of hating fans. That is, those who continue tuning in seemingly just to mock the show, make fun of it, run it down, or incessantly profess about the old days when said program was actually "good." We all tend to do it to a certain extent, especially the longer we've been a fan of said thing.

On the other hand, specifically with wrestling, you have an entirely different set of circumstances from the general public that just doesn't seem to get it. You can see this immediately, as the same stale arguments are used over and over again. It's fake, they don't really hurt each other, et. al. Their interest (or bashing) level never goes above or beyond this. Though the arguments may get heated, the core disparaging remarks against wrestling from non-wrestling fans never really leaves those central ideas.

That said, pro-wrestling fans will get a little more personal in their dislike for particular wrestlers, but that's only because they have the knowledge and background (or at least, their perceived knowledge and background) to work with. They're "in the know" whether they really are or not. It's the same reason why there are a contingent of Opie and Anthony "fans" who do nothing but run their radio show down. The same goes for any TV show or movie series really. There is a perceived level of ownership there even though that sect of fans really don't own anything.

As far as which group is more toxic to a particular wrestler or wrestlers in general, that's a tough call. In my opinion, it would be the difference between being disparaged on the Internet as opposed to being disparaged on TV. You're still getting disrespected and hated regardless of the medium. It might be presented or packaged differently, but both avenues still attempt to relegate the person/performer to a substandard level.

In essence, you could say that non-fans "hate" because they don't know any better. Fans typically "hate" because they at least think they do. What's the difference really?