Your favorite sport sucks too, SUCKA!

The BBQ Pit
21

The only real quams I have with wrestling is the horrid cheesy acting and the “pulled out of my ass while sleeping” plots. They make a fair amount of money, couldn’t they hire someone with a bit more talent to write this?

I remember watching one time and seeing someone (I forget who) go into a room of snakes and the announcers goind wild.

What’s he doing in that room full of snakes?!

Why in the hell is there a room full of snakes in an auditorium? Why in the hell is there a camera man in a room full of snakes in an auditorium?

Just all too far-fetched for me to watch it anymore. Give me the good old days when I was eight and Paul Bearer would wail out “PppaaaaaaaaAAAaappaaaaAAa ChhaaaaAAaanngggoOOOoooo”.

22

For all the wrestling fans…

I started a thread for us

23

I promise not to tell you it is fake, but I’m still going to take into account that fact that you enjoy the glorification of mindless violence and even more mindless misogyny when evaluating you as a person. Professional wrestling is (mostly faked) violence without purpose. It boggle me that anybody would find that worthwhile.

While it may be very athletic, it is not a sport. The XFL, for all of its attempts at off-field entertainment remained unscripted sport that ultimately relied solely on the relative merits of the players.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t be able to watch wrestling, I just find it disturbing that you would want to.

24

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking about.

You haven’t seen the best comedy until you’ve seen the match between Mick Foley and Owen Hart, during which they intentionally performed pathetically to make Stone Cold break character.

25

Obfusciatrist

So do you feel boxing, martial arts or amateur wrestling fall into the same category?

Monster104

You saw that match? Man, I envy you. I read about it in Foley’s book and laughed my ass off. I can’t imagine how funny it would have been to watch.

26

err, not the entire OP. Just this part:

27

My friend has every wrestling match from the last 2 years, and many from about 10 years before that. When I told him I read Foley’s book, he said he had something to show me. It was that match; and yes, it’s fucking hilarious.

28

Not really. Boxing, martial arts competition, and amateur wrestling all have a purpose that professional wrestling do not: The display of skill and athleticism in a way to establish superiority.

Wrestling does not have that. Further, martial arts competition and amateur wrestling do not glorify violence. The goal is not to do damage to the other person (or to simulate damage) though that is accepted as a risk. Amateur wrestling is physical competition. Hitting someone with a folding chair is physical violence.

Ultimate fighting and boxing do come close in my opinion to the gratuitous violence of professional wrestling but still retain some shred of purpose (display and ranking of skill) that professional wrestling does not have.

And this doesn’t even address the misogyny of professional wrestling. As a child two things lead to my abandonment of professional wrestling: first was the increasing focus on outside-the-ring theatrics. That was always an element but the last time I saw a wrestling show (last year in a hotel room) not one match was wrestled to a conclusion without some external silliness. The second was the complete degradation of any woman involved. When I was a kid it was Elizabeth and (if I remember correctly) Randy Savage. Every time she appeared on screen I found myself embarrased at her humiliation. I understand that there is at least one woman wrestler now, but somehow I find myself doubting that the general treatment of women in professional wrestling has improved.
Just to clarify what I said originally. I do not consider enjoying professional wrestling to be a fatal character flaw. It is just one of many things that can effect my opinion. Many of my friends enjoy wrestling, I just can’t understand why.

29

Well my favorite sport is professional golf.

What? Oh, never mind…

[sub][sup]hey, you want to watch wrestling, that’s O.K. by me.[/sub][/sup]

30

There are female wrestlers, Lita and Molly Holly immediately come to mind, who actually wrestle and are not there merely as eye candy.

As for the eye candy girls, they knew what their role was going to be when they signed with the WWF. If they were offended so by their role, they shouldn’t have taken the job or should quit.

My .02

31

Ahem… Vale Tudo, UFC?

IT DOSENT MATTER WHAT YOU SAID ORIGINALLY!!!
sorry about that Obfus, I couldnt resist :wink:

32

Absolutely. They have every right to be doing what they want to do, but just because they choose to represent themselves as possessions means I should be ok with watching it?

Again, I’m not saying you shouldn’t watch it, or that they shouldn’t produce it. I just don’t understand why anybody would possibly find it enjoyable to watch.

It isn’t the focus on their sexuality that bothers me, it is the way they are treated as possessions of whichever wrestler they are attached to (I must admit that I am assuming this is still the case).
I do not know what Vale Tudo is. But I did mention UFC as coming very close to falling into the same category (for me) as professional wrestling, I was separating it out from more mainstream martial arts competition. But at least that maintains the purpose of evaluating skills through direct competition. It is a skill - pummelling to unconsiousness - that I don’t want to watch, but at least the competition is real so far as I know.

(And yes, I would watch professional wrestling before I would watch UFC, but I don’t put them into the same category)

33

Okay, as one of the few chicks in this area who watches wrestling (I haven’t seen Smackdown in a while, but I mainly watch it for the Rock anyways), I have to put in a couple of cents.

Sure, wrestling is fake. But you know what? Any one of those badass mofo’s can kick your ass with their ankles tied to their wrists. Stage combat is not easy, it takes immense trust and long months of dedicated training. Hey, the swordfighting in every production of Romeo and Juliet is fake too. I’ve done stage combat, and I do padded-weapons combat. There’s nothing quite like explaining to your doctor how you briefly dislocated a shoulder blocking a longsword thrust, or how you split your lip getting hit by a stray duct tape naginata.

Umm yeah, I had a point. Oh yes! Wrestling is both a sport and a soap opera. I personally like it more than boxing because it’s less focused on actually beating the hamsters out of someone and more focused on style and showmanship. (I know people think differently, don’t wanna get into a debate)

I mean, come on – The Rock. He is the most charismatic muscleguy I’ve ever seen. I’d take him over Schwarzenegger any day of the week. All he has to do is raise the People’s Eyebrow and and entire stadium full if people will be on their feet, cheering. Plus, who else can call someone a “hermy” on national TV?
Dragonblink
“I’m gonna take this keyboard, shine it up REAL NICE … turn it sideways …”

34

Good point Dragonblink.
Professional wrestling is more about showmanship. The appearence of causing injury, rather than trying to cause injury.

35

Hooray! I made a good point!

Does this mean I lose my Newbie crown?

36

That’s all I had to hear. You are now the proud recipient of Sealemon88’s Eternal Envy Award. Bitch. :slight_smile:
The thing is, ever since Vince decided to just come out and admit wrestling was fake a few years back, my enjoyment of it has increased. I was never really comfortable with wrestlers trying to keep kayfabe in the popular media.

37

Hate me now, Sealemon88…

I met him at a book signing in Chicago.
A few months down the road, when the WWF was in town, I saw him at the arena…

and he remembered me.

38

Just wanted to poke my head in and say “me too”.

I got to meet the Hardys when I worked for a radio station in North Carolina. Nicest, most down-to-earth guys you would ever wnat to hang with. What those boys do in the ring is amazing and takes tons of talent and training.

Mick Foley is a personal hero of mine. I loved both of his books, and what can you say about a man who can take bumps like that and can be such a great dad. Hell, I wish he were my dad.

I highly recommend a movie for all pro wrestling fans, and even more so for those who are critical of the “sport”. Its called Beyond the Mat and its the best damned documentary on wrasslin ever made bar none. Rent it - or buy it, I onw a copy and I watch it about once every couple of months.

I was happy to hear J.R. mention that Kurt Angle has a book coming out soon as well. I am very impressed by his work both in and out of the ring. It exites me that the WWF is finally putiing him over as a baby face. (Well sorta.)

Anyone know of any good wrasslin sites ? The best one I have found is http://www.prowrestlingtorch.com

If ya smeeeeelllllll what NM is . . . .

39

Or rather, it’s a combination of skills. Let’s list them, shall we?

Charisma: Not just anyone can get in front of a crowd and get thousands of people to chant their name, or boo the hell out of them depending on whether they’re a face or a heel. Although this could be seen as an innate thing, it’s something wrestlers can improve on if they work on it. Chris Benoit would be a good example of this, since he’s improved his micwork about 100% since arriving in the WWF.

Wrestling skill: This takes years and years of hard work, except if you’re Kurt Angle. Not that he doesn’t work hard, but the fact that he’s as good as he is after only 2 years never fails to amaze me. Then again, he had years of amateur experience before that, which I’m sure didn’t hurt.

And before some smartass comes along and makes some joke about amateurs not doing powerbombs and stuff like that, let me point out that you have to have a foundation to build upon before you can become a great wrestler. Amateurs have that foundation already, and don’t necessarily have to spend as much time learning basics in wrestling school.

And on the skill note, it’s a lot more important in Japan, where it’s generally treated as a real sport. People know it’s fake, of course, but pro wrestling in Japan is basically an attempt to make wrestling as realistic as possible while still making it exciting to watch. You can occasionally see that in the US, but it’s generally a little more over the top here.

Backstage maneuvering: The ability to get to a top spot and keep it, more or less. This is the only real competition in professional wrestling, but it’s almost as brutal as what goes on in the ring. Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan, and Triple H are good examples of people willing to stab “friends” in the back, convince promoters not to push people they don’t like, and generally be conniving dickheads in order to stay in the main event. If you wonder why they’d do this, it’s for ego and money. Main eventers get a bigger cut of the merchandising and larger salaries, so it’s in their best interest to hold on to a top spot any way they can. As for ego…well, if you got the reaction they did from the crowds, would you want to give it up?

Hmm, so it seems wrestling involves both skill and competition. Who’da thunk it?

40

NothingMan

YOU MET JEFF?
Can I please touch you? :slight_smile:

::takes deep breath in an attempt to calm down::
Beyond the Mat is a great film. I show it to non-believers as well.