Wrestling - It's supposed to be fun right?

[SmattyG]

I started watching wrestling when I was five years old. Last week I turned 42. Guess you could say I'm hooked.

When I was five it was fun to watch the good guys beat the bad guys. And it was fun to watch the larger than life characters on my TV screen each week. Guys like Andre The Giant, Bulldog Brower and Ox Baker.

Fast forward 37 years. Sure, with the rise of the internet we know the ins and outs, and kayfabe has long been dead. We've seen hundreds of wrestlers good and bad pass through WWF/E, WCW, ECW, ROH and TNA among others.

But it's still fun right? Sure, some of the creative writing is paper thin, and good V bad guys doesn't really work since the Attitude Era. But why tune in then? Why watch every week?

Because it's supposed to be fun. If you watch Raw, Smackdown, NXT, Superstars, Main Event, Vintage Collection, Impact and Xplosion every week, that's 12 hours per week. (That's what we get here in Australia). Sure I DVR all of that coz no 42yo has a spare 12 hours per week lol. But I have a spare maybe 3-4 hours per week. Why choose wrestling?

Coz Antonio Cesaro picking up Brodus Clay for the Neutralizer was amazing. Coz Team Hell No are laugh out loud funny. Coz Tyson Kidd, Trent Barreta, Christopher Daniels, Austin Aries are freaking amazing to watch.

Coz Sandow is a classic heel. And so is Wade Barrett. Coz I've been watching Big Show for 15 years and have emotional investment in him doing well (not storyline, just being a success). Coz I have emotional investment in the product - no matter how shitty it may be some weeks.

Coz of CM Punk. Coz of Kurt Angle. And coz I'd rather watch Kassius Ohno V Richie Steamboat than any AFL match here in Oz any day of the damn week.

Coz it's FUN.

I get that it's not always perfect. I get that some characters are developed badly. I get the Cena hate, but I get the Cena love. Same for Del Rio, Ziggler, Miz and Sheamus. I get that out of 12 hours per week, some of it is going to suck.

But out of that 12 hours, at the very least 3-4 hours is good. Sometimes very good.

If it's all crap, why the hell are we still watching?

After all, it's supposed to be fun, right?

 

[Just Do It]

Some people make wrestling unenjoyable for themselves. In the same way people endlessly nit pick films because the misery makes them happy.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Some people make wrestling unenjoyable for themselves. In the same way people endlessly nit pick films because the misery makes them happy.

That's pretty much the main problem a lot of fans, mostly internet fans, have with wrestling.

Today just as in the days of our youths, there are always going to be wrestlers or segments or angles take place that some of us just aren't going to enjoy. Nothing wrong with that at all. However, some internet fans will take their dislike of something and stretch it out to such a degree that it encompasses the entire product.

I've said it lots of times that the IWC is filled with a lot of armchair bookers that see themselves as being more intelligent than everyone else. They believe that what they personally want to see should be played out on wrestling programming EXACTLY how they feel it should. And since that never happens, they'll bash the entire show. An entire show could be great but if one thing goes down that they don't like, they'll let that one thing drag the entire show down for them. Maybe a match didn't end how they wanted it to, maybe a guy who they like dropped a title to someone they don't like, maybe an angle they don't like continues to run, maybe a guy is getting a push that they think doesn't deserve it, etc.

If you want to sit around and nit pick at pro wrestling, then you're going to find something to complain about. Everything is like that whether it's sports, movies, television shows, music, etc. There are things going on in both WWE and TNA that I don't like, but if I like the majority of what's going on, then I'm entertained. That's ultimately what I care about more than anything else. I wanna be entertained and I want wrestling to be fun. If someone is so legitimately turned off by the product as a whole, it might be better to just stop watching it altogether.

Wrestling can still be fun because not very much has changed overall as far as how things work. The internet has dripped away the veil of wrestling in a way that's revealed many of the inner workings. If the internet was around 25 years ago, there'd still be just as many complaints then as there are now. Hogan would get every bit as much hate as John Cena, internet fans would be pissed if guys they like weren't being used the way they think they should, guys who had titles or were getting pushes shouldn't get them, promo segments would be criticized, etc. Wrestling isn't perfect and it never has been, nor will it ever be. There's a LOT of fun to be had much of the time if you let yourself have it.

 

[BrockSamson]

I still enjoy it. Although I can be one of the people that enjoys bitching, it's still fun for me. Like anything in life, it's what you make of it. Even if you aren't stoked about the current product, theres always videos.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

I think wrestling or "sports-entertainment" is still AMAZINGLY FUN! & your right thats what it is supposed to be.

My biggest complaint or problem today is that it seems like sometimes the writing & creative staff takes advantage of this & sacrafices logical booking and/or good storytelling for some kind of "fun" like crowd reactions or a not-so insane swerve like Maddox inside the Cell.

And it seems like this is almost exclusive to Smackdown or the other "B-shows". In which the writing or creative teams seem to lack all creativity & either act like they forgot last weeks booking or rely so much on the previous week that it feels like a replay or things just become too repetative.

But I think WWE is AWESOME right now. If they would put a little more emphasis on the "B-shows" & the midcarders, which in turn will boost PPV's & the product as a whole, I think come the rumble WWE could be hitting a very nice stride & could be even more fun & awesome.

 

[HBsam31]

I still think wrestling is fun at the age of 32. Of course there are things that I don't like, but I do not let that ruin the overall product for me. People in general I believe look for things to complain about in any situation they are in. I am a restaurant chef and I see people come into the restaurant like they are on a mission. Almost with a chip on their shoulder. In that case of course they are going to find something wrong with their experience no matter how good the meal is. I for one think fans of anything just need to relax a little bit. It is almost as if people have lost the ability to just enjoy something. It seems that they are not satisfied unless they get to complain about something. I am guilty of it myself even at times. Not everything is going to be perfect. Most of us love our husbands or wives, and we don't always like them all the time. Life is full of imperfections, but i don't believe it should ruin the overall experience. If I don't like a match or a segment on one of the wrestling shows usually there are two or three more that make up for it. I love wrestling and I will always try to look at the good over the bad.

 

[Slash-LN]

I think wrestling is more fun when there are people to share it with. I like watching it with people who don't come online and read everything or with my nephews. Both groups get into it and it makes me get into it more. Most of my friends that watched don't watch anymore and the ones that do watch have only been watching for a year or two. They didn't get to go through the late '80s up until now like I did.
I do have one friend who has been watching for a long time and during a TNA ppv we were texting back and forth on what we thought of the matches and stuff. That got me more into it.
I guess it's just not as "fun" to watch alone. I know people are like that with movies and concerts and stuff though.

 

[Spinebreaker]

It's like anything people care about.

I love movies, but it's not gonna stop me slagging off 90% of them... You can enjoy something, and criticise it at the same time...

 

[The Boss]

As long as HOLLYWOOD HULK HOGAN is involved it's still fun! Hate to think of what it will be like when he's gone. No, NO, NO! I refuse to think about it.

 

[King Patrick Star]

I enjoy Professional Sports Wrestling Entertainment. I have since 1989. You know what else I enjoyed since 1989, women. Now, I don’t like everything women do. As a matter of fact, I probably don’t like half the things women do. I still enjoy women though. Similar to the subject at hand.

There are a few things I love about PSWE. The first and foremost aspect I love the most are the Championships Titles and Championship Belts. You may thing they are the same, but they are technically not. Ever since I started watching WWE TV, there has always been one WWE Championship Title, but there have been about 10 different WWE Championship Belts. Stuff like that interests me.

Another part of this I love are Stables. 4 Horsemen, New World Order, D-Generation X, Evolution, the Main Event Mafia and every Stable in-between. I loved the hierarchy of it all. You have a Main Eventer, Mid-Carder, and Tag Team, maybe sometimes a Valet, but not necessary.

You know what’s missing right now in the World of Professional Sports Wrestling Entertainment?? New Belts and New Stables I actually enjoy. Jeff Hardy’s Belt and 3MB, just like the fans at Bash At The Beach 1996…they can all stick it brother!! I’ll still be watching though, just in case the New D-Generation X World Order shows up on Raw and takes all of the Championships.

 

[itssoeasy123]

Yes, it's suppose to be fun and enjoyable.

It's not serious, it's not a sport, it's not real, everything shouldn't be a shoot or be real. It's fake, it's fun, and it's entertaining.

 

[DirtyD79]

Yes it's supposed to be fun, but when something is not entertaining it's not fun. I'm sorry but no, I'm not gonna clap like a trained seal when I'm being served shit.