When Did Being A Mark Become A Bad Thing?

[Ben-Phillips]

So, I'm back, with another topic that I truly do believe is one of the biggest problems with the wrestling industry today.

Since when has being a mark become such a bad thing?

Look at it this way. As "smarks," us "smart mark fans" do nothing but complain. "The wrong people are being pushed! The old guys are hogging the spotlight!" All we do it hype the guys who can do cool flips and shit, even if it doesn't have any true psychology. Now don't get me wrong, I'm as big of a fan for all the awesome flippy things as the next guy. But how come indy wrestling gets so much praise, while companies such as WWE and TNA get more criticism than praise?

I think as smarks, we're spoiled. Look at the 'marks'. They enjoy wrestling. They enjoy the product, they love what they see every week, and will continue to come back for more. As internet fans, we've become to think ahead of the game. We see someone get hit with a chair, and our minds are three months down the line with all these ideas on how to improve the storyline that hasn't even commenced yet.

Marks enjoy what they're watching, while we sit here and pick at the pros and cons, instead of enjoy what we all profess to love. Then we claim to love REAL wrestling, so we watch indies. Which is more comedic and of a sport, and I don't know about you guys... But I got into wrestling because I loved to be ENTERTAINED, I loved the characters, I loved the wrestling, but more importantly, I loved the show.

Now, we all worry about why Christian isn't on SmackDown tearing it up with the likes of CM Punk and all... Instead of worry about being entertained. I'm sure part of Christian wants to do it too, but he also must understand, this is entertainment, not a sport. He entertains people, and it's a job well done. We all got lost in the mix of knowing what will happen before it actually happens, that we've lost the reason why we watch wrestling to begin with.

If you love something, shouldn't you, ya know... Show love? Instead of constant resentment for everything you see?

I had more, but I'm running on near-to-no sleep, so I'll just end it here. Thoughts?

 

[RavensFlock1990]

I always laugh when I'm discussing wrestling with someone on a chat or forum and they say some shit like "shut up stupid mark" and such. Those kind of people have forgot that they are fans and actually believe they are running the company or something.

And the types of fans who hate on a wrestler like Batista or Cena and say how bad they are in the ring and how they are only for the kids and ruin wrestling but the moment they turn heel those same fans jump on ther nuts like suddenly just being a "bad guy" takes away from calling them a bad in-ring wrestler.

I've realized smarks are just abuncha heel marks that like to cry all the time and act like only their opinion matters and bash everyone who disagrees with them. That to me is alot worse than a kid mark who cheers for faces and boos heels. Atleast the mark is enjoying the product rather than bash others for having their own opinion.

I mark for any wrestler that entertains me. Right now Cena, Punk, Kofi and Miz are my favs. I just don't let virgin smarks ruin everything for me and I watch the product as a fan and not as a judge and when you do that ya can find that WWE is really alot better right now than some folks give it credit for.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Since when has being a mark become such a bad thing?

Look at it this way. As "smarks," us "smart mark fans" do nothing but complain. "The wrong people are being pushed! The old guys are hogging the spotlight!" All we do it hype the guys who can do cool flips and shit, even if it doesn't have any true psychology. Now don't get me wrong, I'm as big of a fan for all the awesome flippy things as the next guy. But how come indy wrestling gets so much praise, while companies such as WWE and TNA get more criticism than praise?

I've noticed this a lot too. People need to sit down and enjoy the product as a regular "fan" more often. They can be a mark for whoever they want, and that makes it more enjoyable. So does going into an episode of Raw/Smackdown/Impact with the attitude that something cool could happen this week. I have seen countless rants about how much both federations "suck" for reasons that are not valid. Things like what you already listed such as "so and so is not being pushed and I like him better!" or "Why do they push this guy so much he sucks".... and I've begun to try to just ignore those.

I think as smarks, we're spoiled. Look at the 'marks'. They enjoy wrestling. They enjoy the product, they love what they see every week, and will continue to come back for more. As internet fans, we've become to think ahead of the game. We see someone get hit with a chair, and our minds are three months down the line with all these ideas on how to improve the storyline that hasn't even commenced yet.

Yeah.... everyone is always trying to do the booking in their own minds and they forget that they are going to enjoy the product more as a regular mark rather than as a "smark". We also rely too much on internet rumors, which makes it ten times as hard for the federations to ever "surprise" the fans anymore because Wrestlezone, Rajah, or some other wrestling news page had already spoiled it for us.

Marks enjoy what they're watching, while we sit here and pick at the pros and cons, instead of enjoy what we all profess to love. Then we claim to love REAL wrestling, so we watch indies. Which is more comedic and of a sport, and I don't know about you guys... But I got into wrestling because I loved to be ENTERTAINED, I loved the characters, I loved the wrestling, but more importantly, I loved the show.

YES! We are on the same page here. I enjoy predicting the outcome of a feud as much as the next guy, but when fans keep trying to do the booking themselves, it has the potential to make them angry when TNA/WWE do it a way that they disagree with. People should sit back and enjoy the show more often.

Now, we all worry about why Christian isn't on SmackDown tearing it up with the likes of CM Punk and all... Instead of worry about being entertained. I'm sure part of Christian wants to do it too, but he also must understand, this is entertainment, not a sport. He entertains people, and it's a job well done. We all got lost in the mix of knowing what will happen before it actually happens, that we've lost the reason why we watch wrestling to begin with.

Yep pretty much.... this can be bad too because some fans might get so caught up with what they want to see, that if/when it finally happens it will not live up to their expectations. Wanting to see certain wrestlers in feuds for certain belts or on certain brands is great; that's part of being a fan; but this should be kept to a minimum so they will enjoy the product more.

If you love something, shouldn't you, ya know... Show love? Instead of constant resentment for everything you see?

I had more, but I'm running on near-to-no sleep, so I'll just end it here. Thoughts?

I agree. With nearly this entire post. Great thread, and I will be sure to add more of my thoughts after seeing what everyone else has to say.

 

[Schoolboy-Chris]

I think that the criticism of marks comes from people wanting to seem like they know more than they do about the product, and also just to be different. There is never going to be a situation where everyone can rejoice over something and just enjoy it, there is always going to be someone who breaks up the tranquility by saying something negative, even if it is unfounded. When I watch wrestling I try my hardest to turn off the critical part of my mind and remember that I am here because I love wrestling and want to enjoy it. There are of course frequent situations that merit criticism but the important thing is not to get carried away with this and end up in a permanently pessimistic place.

Since it is not really seen as cool (for the most part) in mainstream society these days to like wrestling people criticizing marks is their way of sending out a message of “yeah I like wrestling, but I’m not a loser like that guy.” I would be a much rather be a mark and maintain a pure enjoyment of wrestling than be overly critical and ruin my enjoyment of it. I refuse to see it as a bad thing because I don’t think it is, people need to be more open minded, and in places like here they have to remember that they are here for their supposed love of wrestling, same as everyone else.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

It's never been a bad thing. The reason you started liking wrestling was because you were a mark. You wanted to get some inside information, so you came to the internet. You then found some forums where people were talking about the stuff you were reading. And then you wanted to sound cool when you were talking about the stuff you were watching/reading...so you just criticized it all.

I've been trying to open the eyes of the smarks and help them realize that they are watching wrestling to be entertained. So...why not allow yourself to be entertained??

 

[X]

Well, technically, none of us are marks. Every one of us is aware of the fact that professional wrestling isn't "real", so that in itself disqualifies all of us from being a mark. Atleast that's what the term actually means.

It's never a bad thing to be a mark though, shit if I could still pretend wrestling was real, I'd probably enjoy it a hell of a lot more. As it is we "smarks" just aren't very entertained by much the WWE produces these days, and often times people will call someone who seems over-enthusiastic about the prouct a "mark" to insult them because of this. It's not a bad thing to be though.

I have seen some terrible marks in my time though. People who would tell you anything and everything was pure gold in a promotion. Shit, take the ROH and TNA crowds for example---they're the most annoying fucks on the face of the planet, chanting "THIS IS AWESOME" every time someone puts a headlock on or "YOU'VE STILL GOT IT!" when a sixty five year old man gets into the ring and throws a clothesline. Those are the kinds of "marks" I cannot stand. They're like fucking seagulls or sheep.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Well, if someone doesn't mind to be classified as a "Mark" because they still believe wrestling is real ... I guess more power to you. Quite frankly, I would be embarrassed at my age of 32 in believing wrestling is still real, but maybe that's just me.

Now, people are often referred to as "marks" for being blind fans over certain wrestlers or wrestling organizations. The only reason I somewhat thumb my nose up at these individuals is because I don't have respect for the actions of these people. I have more respect for people who can see things clearly and provide honest criticisms of things as it pertains to wrestling. Where as "marks" of this nature are completely biased because of their love of ..... whatever it is they are a mark for.

You could have a Jericho mark, for instance, go on and on and on about how much he loves Chris Jericho's wrestling, his mic skills, and everything else about the guy. But present an honest criticism of him, and his marks will have none of it. It's just completely obnoxious, because they aren't grounded in reality. Therefore, trying to have conversations with people like this is pointless. Yet when they go off spouting that he is "one of the greatest of all time" and blah, blah, blah, it is simply infuriating when you know it isn't true and that he can't be compared to the "Greatest of all Time".

And the same could be said of organizations and their CEO's like WWE and Vince McMahon, TNA and Dixie, ROH ....

So that is why I think it is somewhat degrading, because these individuals are not grounded in reality, drink the Kool-Aid, look through the rose-colored glasses, and are not prepared to acknowledge things that are real, because they feel some sort of misplaced loyalty that they have to ... for some reason ... protect that talent or organization ..... as if that person or company even gives a shit about you.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I've been trying to open the eyes of the smarks and help them realize that they are watching wrestling to be entertained. So...why not allow yourself to be entertained??

I've been trying to do the same thing for a while. Especially for Raw. It is hard for them to let themselves be entertained if they are just going to watch out of habit, and go into every episode with bad attitudes thinking that the matches will be boring or that this week's guest will suck.... If only there were an easy way to show them that they should be watching to be entertained and not to predict every step of the way how a federation will "die" because of how much it "sucks" yet they keep watching it.

 

[Dagger Dias]

You could have a Jericho mark, for instance, go on and on and on about how much he loves Chris Jericho's wrestling, his mic skills, and everything else about the guy. But present an honest criticism of him, and his marks will have none of it. It's just completely obnoxious, because they aren't grounded in reality. Therefore, trying to have conversations with people like this is pointless. Yet when they go off spouting that he is "one of the greatest of all time" and blah, blah, blah, it is simply infuriating when you know it isn't true and that he can't be compared to the "Greatest of all Time".

That makes sense from both points of view. These people are getting upset because someone is something about their "hero" that they believe is not true, although at the same time they might be defending them too much. Take me for example, I would be seen as a Cena mark because I consider him to be my hero and favorite wrestler. If someone says that his gimmick sucks or that he is boring.... sure it makes me upset, but then I remember that these people are entitled to their opinion, and thus am not as quick to make an argument out of it unless they said something that I found REALLY stupid or wrong. So, I actually think I agree with you on this one.

And the same could be said of organizations and their CEO's like WWE and Vince McMahon, TNA and Dixie, ROH ....

Yeah it can, and that is why I don't consider myself a "shareholder" by your definition. I defend things like the "Little People Court" only because they have not aired it. If it had aired and I thought it was dumb.... I'd be one of the first to respond in the Raw threads about how I disliked it and why. I give things a chance, then AFTER that is when I begin bashing.

 

[Alex]

And the types of fans who hate on a wrestler like Batista or Cena and say how bad they are in the ring and how they are only for the kids and ruin wrestling but the moment they turn heel those same fans jump on ther nuts like suddenly just being a "bad guy" takes away from calling them a bad in-ring wrestler..

Love this. It's true I love when people say 'Cena should be heel it would make him so more interesting, he's stale as a face' this doesn't take away from the fact he'll probably still be doing the same moves that agitated them in the first place

I mark for any wrestler that entertains me. Right now Cena, Punk, Kofi and Miz are my favs. I just don't let virgin smarks ruin everything for me and I watch the product as a fan and not as a judge and when you do that ya can find that WWE is really alot better right now than some folks give it credit for

I to mark out for who I like, whether that's their in ring ability or mic work I don't mind so long as I am entertained

 

[CardiffCam]

Well, it can get quite confusing. I loved being a mark, but i felt too far in to smarkiness to really mark out. So for i believe three weeks i watched TNA, without going near any wrestling website- not even wwe.com, or tnawrestling.com, and I've got to say I enjoyed it very much. Then I went back on, getting the feeling there would be nothing but bashing- and people were praising impact. So im not sure if it was the lack of internet spoiling ssurprises, or if it was just that the show quality was high those three weeks, but i enjoyed it. I might try doing the whole mark thing again, to see which contribnuted to my viewing better.

 

[Blade]

I think there's nothing wrong with being a mark at all. If I could erase everything I've learned about wrestling from this site and start over, I would. I never enjoyed wrestling as much as I did when I was younger, and didn't know how the wrestling business worked. That's when I was a huge fan, when I never knew what actually gonna happen first. Now I feel more like an analyst, making educated predictions about who will win, who's better than who, who's good for business. On the one hand, that helps me enjoy wrestling a little more. But it also takes a lot of enjoyment away from it. Innocence always makes life better.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with being a mark. If you can enjoy wrestling without being corrupted by the "smark" way of thinking, then lucky you. Those "smarks" just enjoy making marks feel shit because, quite simply, it's human nature to want to feel better than someone. And having that extra knowledge makes those smarks feel better than other people. It's ridiculous, but true.

I'll say it again, there's nothing wrong with being a mark. Marks made this industry just as much as smarks are ruining it.