Do Wrestling Fans Need To Lighten Up?

[The Brain]

I just watched the latest Table For 3 show on WWE Network with William Regal, Wade Barrett, and Sheamus. Regal mentioned that he's been a comedy character for most of his WWE run and brought up the time he had to dress as a Vegas showgirl. I can't say I remember that night very well. It was more like oh yeah, now that you mention it I remember that happening. It did get me thinking though about how a lot of fans react to segments like that.

Usually when something like that happens a lot of fans get upset that someone they respect is “forced” to do something that is perceived to beneath them. Well it turns out Regal loved it. He said it was the most fun and his favorite thing that he's done in his career. I'm sure there were people who felt bad for Regal because he was a technician that was being humiliated but it turned out he was having the time of his life. People reacted that way last year with Damian Sandow before the Mizdow character got over. So many people said Sandow should quit WWE and go to a promotion that would show him more respect. I can't say how Sandow felt about his role at that time but we probably shouldn't assume he was as upset about it as some of us were. For all we know he was having a blast with it.

I guess my point is maybe we all need to lighten up a little. This is pro wrestling after all. Really it's a cheesy show that has occasional flashes of brilliance, not a brilliant show with occasional cheesy segments. I'm not saying you have to like all the silly segments like the ones that involved Regal and Sandow but we probably shouldn't feel too bad for them. Chances are we are taking it much more seriously than they are.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I'd like to believe that most of the time when guys go out with goofy gimmicks, that they are having fun with it. You always want to see a guy like Regal, who was a real pro's pro his entire career, be used in a more serious manner but as long as the performer is having fun, I think that is all the ultimately matters.

I remember when they first paired Daniel Bryan with Kane, there were people who felt they were purposely holding DBry back, but it ended up being some of the best television WWE produced at the time.

To me wrestling is at its best when you can tell the performers are having fun. It is what makes New Day such a treat for me. You have three guys that are just going out there having a good time, dancing & gyrating, and taking classic heel pot shots at the city they are in.

 

[MTL722]

I think we can chalk fans feelings up to the age old condition of being butthurt. Sure, Regal may not have been upset with being somewhat of a comedy jobber. I mean, he still got to live his dream. But that doesn't mean his fans, who took his wrestling ability seriously, didnt to see him "treated" like a fool

Same thing goes for Sandow, Axel, Slater, etc. Every single one of those guys has the dream of headlining Wrestlemania. Every single one of those guys can say that they are one of the best pro wrestlers in the world. Not alot of guys get to do what they do, where they do, and for whom they do it. Thousands of people every week see them in person, millions on television. So what if they have to make a fool of themselves to get on TV. They're on TV, they're paid rather handsomely, and they get to travel the world

I take every one of those guys seriously. Not necessarily wrestling wise. Not even necessary their ability to engage me on a weekly basis. But I take them seriously as entertainers because that is their job, and they do it damn well

People hate to be wrong. Usually even more than they like to be right. So when Casual Fan A sees Generic Wrestler A and says to themselves "This guy could be something special", only to see a year later that Generic Wrestler A is now a dastardly shoe salesman who moves his feet and "turns heel" every week, Casual Fan A is now butthurt. The guy he saw potential in and bragged to his friends about is not hitting guys with shoe horns and screaming "Don't be Lace-y"

It's all a case of butt hurt. And to answer the OP's question, yes we should lighten up. Otherwise, Penn E. Loafer might give em' the old Foot Treatment

 

[Mustang Sally]

Chances are we are taking it much more seriously than they are.

I agree, as far as the things these people are instructed to do by management. The gimmick isn't who they actually are, it's the part an actor is being told to play. In that vein, I doubt they are as offended (and often 'outraged') by the role or program as the wrestling fan is.

But like any actor or entertainer, the WWE performers probably have a good idea of what their public is saying about them, and I maintain it must be occasionally discouraging to put your all into a role, only to have the fans saying and writing: "It stinks" ...."I hate it"....'They don't know what the f__k they're doing'.....and all the other unlovely things anyone can find on forums such as ours.

I sometimes wonder about how John Cena feels about the hate, too. Yes, I believe he's savvy enough to understand that even the boos qualify as a reaction......and a negative reception is much better than none at all.....yet, as a performer who has been giving his absolute all to the company and fans for years, I sometimes wonder about what he must think of those who 'hate' him.

And yes, if your answer to this is that 'He's making plenty of money so it shouldn't bother him,' I'd say you're missing the point.

In your job, do you like working as hard as you can....and getting good results.....only to constantly hear from the bosses and fellow employees how much you 'suck?'

Yeah, a lot of wrestling fans would do well to lighten up.

 

[That N Word]

I totally agree. When most legends/veterans know its not they're time anymore they are there still to have fun,make money,and put over young stars. That's what Regal did, hell R-Truth is doing it now and appears to enjoy it.

 

[Blade]

Absolutely. The funny thing is, many of the same people who hate the comedy now are the same people who talk about how awesome the Attitude Era is. You know, the era where Mae Young gave birth to a hand, and Japanese businessmen threatened to mutilate Val Venis' genitalia. Yeah, that era.

And this goes way beyond comedy. When certain wrestling fans don't get exactly what they want, they don't enjoy the product, and won't even try. Not just when it comes to the comedy stuff, but with anything to do with the WWE booking. I mean, that's so ridiculous when you think about it. Do you hear anyone saying, "If Luke Skywalker doesn't turn out to be the bad guy in the Force Awakens, I'm going to boo the movie"? It's just a very wrestling fan mentality, because many in the community believe they're entitled to get exactly what they want, regardless of whether it's good for the product or good for the majority of fans.

And nothing is going to change. The internet has allowed entitled know-it-alls to congregate a circle jerk over how WWE sucks so badly now, even though they still buy tickets to WWE events, and then end up booing the outcomes. It's a pathetic cycle.

 

[Nada]

I just watched the latest Table For 3 show on WWE Network with William Regal, Wade Barrett, and Sheamus.,,
Usually when something like that happens a lot of fans get upset that someone they respect is “forced” to do something that is perceived to beneath them. Well it turns out Regal loved it. He said it was the most fun and his favorite thing that he's done in his career.

If you ask any WWE talent about anything WWE related they will give a phoney smile and say what is expected of them. They always do that. I am sure all those guys you listed are "HAPPY " with how things are going. I am sure Charlotte was very "HAPPY " to use her dead brother to sell a third rate PPV. These people are whipped into toting the company line, or else.

Yet when they are shooting in some basement on camera or a podcast they have a lot more to say than usual. And the tone is completely different.

I think what you are asking is whether fans should buy into prepackaged WWE bullshit: The answer is that fans who know better cannot lower themselves to that level.

If at least hardcore fans and the few who cover wrestling seriously (Meltzer and not ESPN) are not voicing their opinions and common sense then it means that select few people in WWE get to dominate not only their talent but also everyone else. That is a disaster. Those people should not even dominate the talent, much less the fans.

 

[Woodstuff]

I think it depends on the individual.

Theres casual fans, usually kids and parents that have to watch because their kids do. They don't care either way about the backstage politics of somebody working a comedy gimmick. If it's funny, they like it. It's a TV show, after all.

Theres the casual 'smart' fans, who understand that theres a lot more to pro-wrestling than what you see on your TV set every week, but still understand that it's a TV show and don't trick themselves into thinking they have a personal investment in the wrestlers on screen.

Then theres the losers that obsess over every little facet of the show. People that don't have much going on in the real world, so they spend hours on wrestling websites ciriticizing every little aspect of the show. The guys that slate WWE on a weekly basis, but then have nothing better to do with their spare time than tune in to bitch week after week.

For the first two groups, comedy gimmicks are just fine. The guys playing the part are getting TV time, they're getting paid, and they're probably having fun. The only people that hate to think of these guys being 'disrespected' are the ones that think not liking the show they chose to watch makes them smart. As a whole, I don't think wrestling fans need to lighten up. There is, however, a small percentage of 'fans' that need to realise the show bares no impact on them or their lives. To these people, I suggest you draw a thicker line between what matters and what doesn't.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Generally speaking, wrestling fans can often be no different than militant fans of basketball, football, or what have you and many of them can take things FAR too seriously. Using basketball as an example, when you get right down to it, it's a bunch of grown men playing what's essentially a game for children; it's the same with baseball really and can be applied to a number of other sports. Pro wrestling exists within a fictional realm in which men & women portray fictional personas, or heavily exaggerated aspects of their own personalities, in which they engage in fictional rivalries with one another that culminate in fictional fights in which the end result of scripted.

Now there's nothing wrong with being a passionate fan, nor is there anything wrong with voicing your opinion on something you like or dislike about what's going on. We all do get a little carried away sometimes, which is to be expected every so often if something highly enjoyable or lousy, depending upon your perspective, takes place. However, the problem is that fans who're too passionate and too serious can often wind up sabotaging the entertainment value for not only themselves, but for others who may not be as militant or gung ho about every little thing. Pro wrestling is not an actual competitive sport and while it's fun to view it in that sense and talk about it as such, I think that too many sometimes lose focus on the fact that it's scripted entertainment and pretty much always has been.

 

[The Brain]

If you ask any WWE talent about anything WWE related they will give a phoney smile and say what is expected of them. They always do that. I am sure all those guys you listed are "HAPPY " with how things are going. I am sure Charlotte was very "HAPPY " to use her dead brother to sell a third rate PPV. These people are whipped into toting the company line, or else.

Yet when they are shooting in some basement on camera or a podcast they have a lot more to say than usual. And the tone is completely different.

I think what you are asking is whether fans should buy into prepackaged WWE bullshit: The answer is that fans who know better cannot lower themselves to that level.

If at least hardcore fans and the few who cover wrestling seriously (Meltzer and not ESPN) are not voicing their opinions and common sense then it means that select few people in WWE get to dominate not only their talent but also everyone else. That is a disaster. Those people should not even dominate the talent, much less the fans.

I knew someone would reply with this, and believe me, I did consider that I was watching a WWE production before creating this thread. There are a few reasons I decided to believe Regal despite telling his story in front of a WWE camera.

First, he begins the show by commenting on how the three of them were the worst King of the Ring winners ever. This includes current KOTR Wade Barrett. So while I didn't expect a tell all style interview in this 25 minute show it was clear from the start they weren't even protecting current stories, much less past ones. Sheamus was also critical of his time as KOTR, and while no one was aggressively complaining they also weren't portraying everything to be rainbows and sunshine.

Second, as I mentioned this was a 25 minute show featuring three wrestlers. There is absolutely no reason for Regal to bring up such a forgettable moment in his long career unless his thoughts were genuine. He didn't defend more memorable moments like the Kiss My Ass Club or drinking tea that Jericho pissed in. He picked an obscure moment because it was special to him.

Finally, it just made honest sense. Regal is a fun guy with a sense of humor. As I said, and I think as you've proven, some fans take wrestling more seriously than most wrestlers. If you watched The Big Bang Theory this week you saw a scene where Johnny Galecki was dressed in lingerie. I don't know for sure but I doubt he thought doing that scene was beneath him. He's a actor in a comedy show so he did that scene for a laugh. Same thing with Regal.

Wrestling is certainly a unique business and while there are many obvious differences some fans need to realize it's more like a television show than they care to admit.

 

[klunderbunker]

Two things come to mind when I read this.

1. Billy Gunn was asked what he thought about the Billy and Chuck angle. Gunn said he'd do it again in a heartbeat because he's a professional wrestler and that was the character he was given to get over. He did what he could with it and the team wound up having some pretty good success.

2. Back in the late 80s, right before Crockett was out of power, he signed a bunch of his friends to ridiculous contracts that Ted Turner would have to pay. A few years later, WCW wanted to get the wrestlers to quit to get out of these contracts so they tried having the people on them lose all the time in an attempt to humiliate them into quitting. Brian Pillman was one such guy and he said he'd love to be the highest paid loser in wrestling history.

The point is very simple: this is their job. How many of you love every single aspect of your job? How many of you have something that you have to do every week or every day that makes you wish you could be ANYWHERE else? Now how many of you are going to quit over it and walk away from your paycheck every week?

That's the thing people often forget about WWE performers: yeah they may be treated badly on the main roster at times, but it's either this or driving four hundred miles for a $500 payday in front of 100 people in a high school gym somewhere. Or they could just do something they don't love and just work for the check with no enjoyment.

I write about wrestling for a living and I'm always broke. However, I'm doing what I love and that gives me a kind of peace of mind and happiness that no other job is going to give me. I can imagine wrestlers are the exact same way, even if they're doing something we find demeaning. The office still pays them and quite often, doing something over the top or ridiculous is going to keep you employed a lot longer than just being a guy out there in trunks doing moves. If you don't believe me, ask Dustin Rhodes.

Fans can freak out and say their favorites are being disrespected or humiliated or whatever, but they're also on national TV making bank to give their families a good life. Not everyone is going to be WWE Champion, but they're out there to entertain us. I've had more fun watching Brodus Clay as the Funkasaurus doing his stupid dances than I've had watching a boring technical match and that's the entire point of wrestling and the wrestlers themselves: to entertain us.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Fans at home and on the internet need to lighten up ,
(That includes me when creative decides to write crap for talented wrestlers who deserve better ) but live fans need to stay insane. Remember ECW and how passionate those fans were ? I like watching matches that have completely involved fans ... John Cena matches, Icon vs Icon Hogan and Rock ... those are the best kind of fans, that truly enjoy the product and cheer their faces off.

So live fans need to stay insane....and some internet fans can lighten up. ( Me included )

 

[Checkmate]

I'll preface this whole thing with the fact that I haven't watched the particular Table for 3 being referenced, but:

The point is very simple: this is their job.

Exactly. Yes, these people have hopes and dreams, as do we all, but they do not run the company. They are cogs in a machine that gives people chances. Some people get more chances than others, and some make way more out of these chances, something that often shows to the audience. Point being, are they going to like everything they are asked to do? No, but the ability to look back on an obscure moment in their career and say they had fun with it is something I'd love to be able to do in 20 years.

As a fan, I like to give things a chance. I like to give superstars a chance. I like to give storylines a chance. Granted, there have been plenty of times where I've given up, called it stupid, and zoned out on a character, match, show, etc., but that's my prerogative as a fan. If all I relied on were snap judgments and first impressions, many examples listed by other posters above never would have made me laugh or allowed me to invest in a quality match.

So, on the main question, I'd say yes, fans need a small dose of perspective when it comes to watching the product. Give things a chance, even if it's just a small chance. Good things can be found when you're not looking for perfection.

 

[Azane]

My favorite recent memory like this, has got to be the Re-debut of Brodus Clay as the Funkasauraus, when the initial reaction by everyone was "What the hell, why are they ruining this guy's career?" We also found out that this was WWE "punishing" Clay for some backstage shenanigans, giving him a "terrible" gimmick.

Fast Forward a few months, and the man took that and made it salvageable and was actually getting over pretty well for what he was given. In this example, fans were initially ready with pitchforks to crucify WWE, as they turned Brodus into the "Dancing on Smackdown" personification that we always love to bring up as a "low" in someone's career.

I guess the main point is that, a Great showman will take something and run with it, and an average or good showman will just die with the gimmicks, William Regal put up with a ton of Crap in his day, but he's had a great career if you look outside of the ring... And I think that's where a lot of fans get upset, as Regal is a great oldschool wrestler, but his entertainment factor simply comes from him being a super stereotypical brit that lets WWE do whatever with him. Regal is probably absolutely fine with it, because he's been relevant for almost 20 years on and off, and honestly, the man's taken relatively little abuse to his body over those years compared to people who wrestle full time in their careers.

Fans being overly protective of people's "Gimmicks" and image are fine, as others said, the workers don't want to bad talk or refuse to do things in fear of losing their job or losing brownie points, fans only make big deals about things because they care. They buy the tickets, watch the show, support the product, etc.... So they have in some regards, a right to be protective of their favorite stars (Regal has a small cult following I've noticed).

 

[whoopin' ass]

In some ways the fans do need to lighten up. You can have fun in wrestling and have those goofy characters. I think the problem a lot of fans have, including myself, is the amount of time and energy spent on those goofy characters compared to others. Take Santino - wwe devoted a lot of time to him and his goofyness for what? He has been off tv for a long time now and there really isn't a gap without him which makes you wonder if his character was really necessary. That's where fans have problems - he was the Jar-Jar of wwe and just like Jar-Jar, got moved aside and no one missed him. But that time could have been spent on others instead to help get them over better.

The other thing is The Big Bang Theory was mentioned - that show is supposed to be a comedy so there are comedic parts all the time. What is Raw? The closest reference for it is sports. Would you ever see a quarterback come out to the game with a skirt added to his uniform to be funny? At its core, wrestling is still supposed to be a sports demonstration, just enhanced for tv. wwe is trying to be drama, comedy, reality tv, action-adventure all rolled up into one which is causing the problem because how can you take it seriously as any of them? And you can't mix them as heavily as wwe tries. So I think that adds to the problem - wwe has abandoned what basic wrestling is about but what they replaced it with is a mess of genres that no one else does because they know it won't mix well. In that respect, I don't think the fans are wrong and the ratings and numbers for the wwe network back that since they are no where near what wwe expected.

 

[Azane]

In some ways the fans do need to lighten up. You can have fun in wrestling and have those goofy characters. I think the problem a lot of fans have, including myself, is the amount of time and energy spent on those goofy characters compared to others. Take Santino - wwe devoted a lot of time to him and his goofyness for what? He has been off tv for a long time now and there really isn't a gap without him which makes you wonder if his character was really necessary. That's where fans have problems - he was the Jar-Jar of wwe and just like Jar-Jar, got moved aside and no one missed him. But that time could have been spent on others instead to help get them over better.

The other thing is The Big Bang Theory was mentioned - that show is supposed to be a comedy so there are comedic parts all the time. What is Raw? The closest reference for it is sports. Would you ever see a quarterback come out to the game with a skirt added to his uniform to be funny? At its core, wrestling is still supposed to be a sports demonstration, just enhanced for tv. wwe is trying to be drama, comedy, reality tv, action-adventure all rolled up into one which is causing the problem because how can you take it seriously as any of them? And you can't mix them as heavily as wwe tries. So I think that adds to the problem - wwe has abandoned what basic wrestling is about but what they replaced it with is a mess of genres that no one else does because they know it won't mix well. In that respect, I don't think the fans are wrong and the ratings and numbers for the wwe network back that since they are no where near what wwe expected.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HznErMk97B4

Simply replace the 90's shows with recent shows, I feel like it's still Vince's idea to combine entertainment from every form.

 

[The Dark Warlords]

I understand your point to a degree. Fans should enjoy what they are viewing, but the thing is that certain humbling or embarrassing stunts should be those that you know should be comedic talents. They should only be for those that meant to be the comic relief.

Santino, Zack Ryder, Heath Slater can bear the brunt of those deals because their personas are catered to receive those things happening to them. But not everyone should be of that ill. Let me tell you something.

I was born in 1981. I am 34 years old, and have been watching wrestling all that time. George South and The Italian Stallion could handle those things. Barry Horowitz and The Brooklyn Brawler could handle it.

But Would you want to see The Road Warriors be placed in that situation?

Would you want to see The Powers Of Pain placed in that situation?

Would you want to see the Texas Hangmen for Texas and Puerto Rican Wrestling and The Moondogs from Memphis Wrestling be placed in that situation?

NO NO NO NO on all of those deals.

Lord Humongous, The Undertaker, Goldberg should never be placed in situations to be considered comedy fodder for the show!

Some talents are the comedy relief for the show, and some are not. Mizdow can be comedy fodder, but Regal should have NEVER BEEN!

If your favorite is a true badass of wrestling, the only humor that should come from him is the humor of a sadistic annihilator. No embarrassing moments from that person.

In closing, i agree to a degree.