Nate DaMac
Fuck erbody but me
It seems that one of the most frequent complaints from professional wrestling fans today is the lack of realism. Whether it's the unrealistic story-lines, the unbelievable characters, or the actual affects from a wrestling move, they all seem determined that realism is what's going to make the product today as good as it was when they were younger. I call bullshit.
When you were younger, suspending your disbelief came naturally to you. Most of us watched a lot of cartoons when we we're younger, Santa Claus flew all around the world and gave presents to everyone in one night, and of course, wrestling was real fighting. Then, at a certain age, cynicism kicks in and you get to a point where you understand the confines of reality. I still remember being about 9 years old and asking my Grandpa, "Why does he run back to him when he throws him into the ropes?" I still haven't gotten an answer.
At that point, I had been watching wrestling for 3 years and I had never had that question. I didn't care, I just wanted to see my guy beat up the other guy. I watched The Undertaker Leg Drop somebody for a 2 count one day and watched Hulk Hogan beat the best guys in the world with the same move a week later and think nothing of it. Then I started watching it with my dad and he, being the cynical asshole that he was, pretty much thrashed the whole idea of wrestling to me. Every time anyone did something that looked painful, he'd be right there to explain how they do it whether I asked him or not. Discovering internet dirt sheets didn't help. I found a whole world of people who felt how I did and just sat around bitch about it all the time.
Why did we keep watching it? Because we liked it when we were younger and we want it to be that real again. But what was so real about it? When I was younger, the Attitude Era was all the rage. We had a dead guy and his fully burnt brother who could summon fire and lighting in closed arenas, we had a guy who would repeatedly assault his boss with no ramifications, and we had a guy who would literally just use a simple elbow drop after bouncing off the ropes on either side of the ring to beat top level stars. Totally realistic, right?
Realizing the unrealistic aspects of professional wrestling, as well as the unrealistic aspects of movies, TV shows, etc. is a product of aging. We say we want a more realistic product, but at the end of the day, we're watching a show where in an athletic competition, if one man flings another wrestler into the ring ropes halfway across the ring, he will always bounce off the ropes and come running right back to them. As long as we can accept that, we really have nothing else to complain about.
When you were younger, suspending your disbelief came naturally to you. Most of us watched a lot of cartoons when we we're younger, Santa Claus flew all around the world and gave presents to everyone in one night, and of course, wrestling was real fighting. Then, at a certain age, cynicism kicks in and you get to a point where you understand the confines of reality. I still remember being about 9 years old and asking my Grandpa, "Why does he run back to him when he throws him into the ropes?" I still haven't gotten an answer.
At that point, I had been watching wrestling for 3 years and I had never had that question. I didn't care, I just wanted to see my guy beat up the other guy. I watched The Undertaker Leg Drop somebody for a 2 count one day and watched Hulk Hogan beat the best guys in the world with the same move a week later and think nothing of it. Then I started watching it with my dad and he, being the cynical asshole that he was, pretty much thrashed the whole idea of wrestling to me. Every time anyone did something that looked painful, he'd be right there to explain how they do it whether I asked him or not. Discovering internet dirt sheets didn't help. I found a whole world of people who felt how I did and just sat around bitch about it all the time.
Why did we keep watching it? Because we liked it when we were younger and we want it to be that real again. But what was so real about it? When I was younger, the Attitude Era was all the rage. We had a dead guy and his fully burnt brother who could summon fire and lighting in closed arenas, we had a guy who would repeatedly assault his boss with no ramifications, and we had a guy who would literally just use a simple elbow drop after bouncing off the ropes on either side of the ring to beat top level stars. Totally realistic, right?
Realizing the unrealistic aspects of professional wrestling, as well as the unrealistic aspects of movies, TV shows, etc. is a product of aging. We say we want a more realistic product, but at the end of the day, we're watching a show where in an athletic competition, if one man flings another wrestler into the ring ropes halfway across the ring, he will always bounce off the ropes and come running right back to them. As long as we can accept that, we really have nothing else to complain about.