berlinbrawler
Lovable Curmudgeon
The way we were...
Remember the good old days? When Austin and the Rock were raising hell and the program was raunchy and Attitude and everyone loved it and the WWF presented just an awesome product all around?
Because I don't.
Here is what I do remember:
I remember people being sick of Stone Cold dealing out stunners night after night after night. People being sick of the mighty Rock winning against everybody, even against 5 or 6 DX guys in a handicap match and using the same old catchphrases over and over and over and over. I remember people being sick of Triple H. Fans saying that making Mankind champion was the dumbest move the WWF could have ever made.
People complaining that the storylines were idiotic - Val Venis getting, well, circumcised by Yakuzzas, Mae Young giving birth to a hand, Undertaker and Paul Bearer trying to literally murder Steve Austin. People complaining that DX was just tasteless and unfunny and disrespectful towards the business.
People complaining that there were no more real wrestling matches like in the old days and instead an overabundance of talking, chairshots, run-ins and gimmick matches.
Listening to the Internet fans back then you got a clear impression: the product sucked.
Pre-Attitude the Internet fanbase wasn't really there, but I bet the story would have been exactly the same. Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Diesel - they all would have been considered lame compared to the good old days when Hulkamania was still running wild, just like during the 80s there would have been a lot of voices of people being sick and tired of Hulk Hogan.
And these days? Everyone is condemning the current product because the storylines are bad, the characters are lame and everyone is sick and tired of Super Cena. Everything sucks, ESPECIALLY when compared to the awesome Attitude Era.
Why is that?
One factor is that we simply loved wrestling more when we were kids.
We didn't question or overthink the purpose of storylines and characters as much. We didn't watch as self-proclaimed critics judging whether two guys were having a quality match - we were really rooting for one guy to defeat the other. When was the last time you wondered "Who would win?" rather than "Who SHOULD win?"?
We didn't go "Oh no, Undertaker defeats Kamala AGAIN? The WWE is totally burying Kamala." Neither did we go "Sheesh, that match was just awful." (Well, maybe a little, but not to the extend we would today.) Instead we were just happy that our beloved grave digger had collected one more soul. Now as older, more jaded fans we don't get the same rush from watching these silly scenarios, so a voice in the back of our head insists that back then everything was better. In reality when I go back and watch some stuff from the time around when I became a wrestling fan (not just the highlights - some average shows or matches) I can't help but often feel slightly embarrassed... (I mean, come on, the Repo Man???)
A couple years back when Shawn and Triple H destroyed the Spirit Squad week in and week out all I was thinking was they were totally burying those young guys. SO WHAT? Why did I spend my time watching wrestling playing critic when I could just be a fan? Had I been 9 years old again I would have loved it! That was the whole point! Wrestling is not just about building new stars, it is, for a large part, about making the audience happy - and 90+% of the audience is simply not concerned with the future of the product, they want to enjoy the presence. Many long term fans (myself obviously included) tend to forget about that.
Now, I'm NOT saying that todays's product is just as good as it was back then (tired of Cena myself and the ratings from now and then speak a very clear language). My point is the online fans (or the IWC if you prefer) will ALWAYS see the product in a negative light because they romanticize the past. Always have, always will.
Yes, the storylines are lame and full of holes and often make no sense, yes, people with potential are left out in favor of politicians, yes, certain stars on top are beyond stale. But that's the way it has always been. And when a change does come, people will soon glamour for the old status quo again when Cena tore the house down.
At least that's how I see it.
Thoughts?
Remember the good old days? When Austin and the Rock were raising hell and the program was raunchy and Attitude and everyone loved it and the WWF presented just an awesome product all around?
Because I don't.
Here is what I do remember:
I remember people being sick of Stone Cold dealing out stunners night after night after night. People being sick of the mighty Rock winning against everybody, even against 5 or 6 DX guys in a handicap match and using the same old catchphrases over and over and over and over. I remember people being sick of Triple H. Fans saying that making Mankind champion was the dumbest move the WWF could have ever made.
People complaining that the storylines were idiotic - Val Venis getting, well, circumcised by Yakuzzas, Mae Young giving birth to a hand, Undertaker and Paul Bearer trying to literally murder Steve Austin. People complaining that DX was just tasteless and unfunny and disrespectful towards the business.
People complaining that there were no more real wrestling matches like in the old days and instead an overabundance of talking, chairshots, run-ins and gimmick matches.
Listening to the Internet fans back then you got a clear impression: the product sucked.
Pre-Attitude the Internet fanbase wasn't really there, but I bet the story would have been exactly the same. Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Diesel - they all would have been considered lame compared to the good old days when Hulkamania was still running wild, just like during the 80s there would have been a lot of voices of people being sick and tired of Hulk Hogan.
And these days? Everyone is condemning the current product because the storylines are bad, the characters are lame and everyone is sick and tired of Super Cena. Everything sucks, ESPECIALLY when compared to the awesome Attitude Era.
Why is that?
One factor is that we simply loved wrestling more when we were kids.
We didn't question or overthink the purpose of storylines and characters as much. We didn't watch as self-proclaimed critics judging whether two guys were having a quality match - we were really rooting for one guy to defeat the other. When was the last time you wondered "Who would win?" rather than "Who SHOULD win?"?
We didn't go "Oh no, Undertaker defeats Kamala AGAIN? The WWE is totally burying Kamala." Neither did we go "Sheesh, that match was just awful." (Well, maybe a little, but not to the extend we would today.) Instead we were just happy that our beloved grave digger had collected one more soul. Now as older, more jaded fans we don't get the same rush from watching these silly scenarios, so a voice in the back of our head insists that back then everything was better. In reality when I go back and watch some stuff from the time around when I became a wrestling fan (not just the highlights - some average shows or matches) I can't help but often feel slightly embarrassed... (I mean, come on, the Repo Man???)
A couple years back when Shawn and Triple H destroyed the Spirit Squad week in and week out all I was thinking was they were totally burying those young guys. SO WHAT? Why did I spend my time watching wrestling playing critic when I could just be a fan? Had I been 9 years old again I would have loved it! That was the whole point! Wrestling is not just about building new stars, it is, for a large part, about making the audience happy - and 90+% of the audience is simply not concerned with the future of the product, they want to enjoy the presence. Many long term fans (myself obviously included) tend to forget about that.
Now, I'm NOT saying that todays's product is just as good as it was back then (tired of Cena myself and the ratings from now and then speak a very clear language). My point is the online fans (or the IWC if you prefer) will ALWAYS see the product in a negative light because they romanticize the past. Always have, always will.
Yes, the storylines are lame and full of holes and often make no sense, yes, people with potential are left out in favor of politicians, yes, certain stars on top are beyond stale. But that's the way it has always been. And when a change does come, people will soon glamour for the old status quo again when Cena tore the house down.
At least that's how I see it.
Thoughts?