Is Being A Mark Any Different Than Being a Smark ?

[Wrath]

The growth of internet created new fan group called IWC. For the last few years members of IWC have increased so much. Right now many people have a knowledge about backstage in both WWE and TNA. With the growth of smarks some people have started having problem with smarks. Especially marks think that smarks ruin wrestling. They chant heels in arenas, boo wrestlers like John Cena just because they think he only knows 5 moves, they many times complain about WWE's predictibility but they don't know that if they don't look spoilers and backstage stuff from internet WWE can still be unpredictable. So maybe including me there are some wrestling fans who are really disturbed by some smarks.

I actually agree with most of the marks at some points. Sometimes IWC can really be annoying. Especiallly when it comes to Cena. John Cena is a great wrestler and the whole John Cena has 5 moves topic is just bullshit. They complain nearly everything about WWE because they want to show that they know better than WWE do. Instead of reading spoilers on internet every week if they suspend their disbelief and watch the shows like all of us maybe they won't be complaining this much. So yes at some points marks are really right smarks think that they know the business better than everyone else and act like that. For example for them Shelton Benjamin is one of the best wrestlers in business today but he still couldn't prove that he could draw but John Cena who is the biggest wrestler ever is a shitty wrestler because they think he only knows 5 moves. So these things make smarks sometimes annoying as hell.

I came to a realisation after I registered this forum. Actually marks act same as IWC. Yes they do. Marks hate Shelton Benjamin just because he is an IWC darling. They think that he has no fucking charisma but no one said so, just because he's loved by internet fans he's hated by marks. They think that people who cheer for heels are stupid and think that they act like that just because to seem they know better than other people but marks cheer for faces just because they think they know wrestling more than IWC do, maybe some of the heels in the arena are their favorite wrestlers. For most of the marks John Cena is what Bryan Danielson is to internet. John Cena is mark darling and if you even try to criticise him marks would jump on you. They don't like some wrestlers just because they think they don't have enough charisma or don't have drawing ability, but when IWC don't like wrestlers just because they think those wrestlers don't have enough wrestling ability they get annoyed by that. So can someone tell me that how can being a mark is any different than being a member of IWC. You just defend opposite things with same act.

It's not an anti-IWC or anti-marks topic. I just think that IWC is heavily criticised in these forums just because of their actions but marks have also same actions as marks. So do you think that hating Shelton Benjamin is any different than hating Cena ? I'm not saying either of them right or wrong but they just have the same act. The both groups think they know wrestling more than the other. For marks IWC don't know a shit about wrestling because they think people like Benjamin should never main event, for IWC marks don't know a shit they cheer for a wrestler who only has 5 moves and 0 wrestling ability. So can anybody tell me the difference ?

 

[DDPandNWOfan]

It's all stupid if ya ask me. Neither one of those kinds of fans are right or wrong but it's silly to see those fans that actually bash each other for what wrestlers they like and dislike. And they are the exact same kinds of fans the only difference is they are just a fan of the opposite wrestlers.

It's no wonder so many people are never satisfied with wrestling now because all they worry about are hating on everything that happens and bashing others for being able to form their own opinions.

 

[Rayne]

A "mark" is a true believer. Someone who believes that Batista is a legitimate psychopath and John Cena is the best hope of containing him. I promise you these people still exist, and in greater numbers than you think. "Mark" is an old carnival term (axiom: professional wrestling started at the carnies, and has not traveled far) for "sucker"; someone who can be counted on to buy into whatever act of prestidigitation you're currently performing.

The "smart mark" came around in the 1990's, with the rise of the internet (and what later became known as the IWC). The difference (and this is "no duh" for most people here) is that the smart mark understands that the product is falsified. The similarity is that the smart mark pays the same money as the mark does.

So is there a difference between a mark and a smark? Not any important ones. I do like marks more than smarks, however, as smarks are prone to expounding upon all kinds of ridiculous bullshit because they think they have some kind of "inside knowledge", be it through dirt sheets, what they thought they saw in a match, etc. Marks are at least willing to suspend their disbelief.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Well, just like anything in life, it only takes a few rotten ones to spoil the whole bunch. It's true for apples and it's true for marks and smarks. Some marks are completely hopeless and will willingly accept anything that a company or a particular wrestler does. Anyone that doesn't have as high of an opinion on the product and/or certain wrestlers, some marks will completely overreact and behave as if you've committed some sacrilage. Both TNA and the WWE have some hopeless marks amongst their viewers.

Smark is a term that can be qualified to just about anyone that understands at least the fundamentals of the wrestling industry. We know that wrestling is "fake" buy we watch it anyhow. Now, unfortunately, there are far too many smarks that simply cannot be satisfied by anything that goes on. They're unwilling to suspend their disbelief and watch the show to be entertained. They'd rather watch it to dump all over it for whatever reason. Every match could be a 5 star classic, every promo could be solid gold and every storyline would be able to hook you in and there are some smarks that will still nitpick and poke around until they find something they can bitch about. If someone is unimpressed by what they see and have some logical, legitimate and reasonable reasons for why they do, then I've got no problem personally.