Pro Wrestling (champion, legends, Bucks, schedule)

[jambo101]

Usually i tape Raw and Smackdown as i dont have time to sit through 2-3 hours of show much of which is commercials.I've noticed that i usually fast forward through the actual wrestling as well as mostly its nothing i havent seen over and over for 40yrs,these days its the crazy story lines that interest me..

[LeisureMan]

I'm the opposite.

I pretty much skip the chatter and watch the actual wrestling. I like to see the moves and look for serious bumps, plus this way I get this crap over with in about 30 minutes or usually less.

[jambo101]

Much as i like the WWE i find Raw and Smackdown getting a bit stale (OK a lot stale)in the story line Department, and although AJ is nice to look at her new role as general manager is a step in the wrong direction IMO, Lesnar may provide a good segment but the rest is just the same old every week..i can think of at least half a dozen wrestlers who have somewhat run their course and cant see what more they can contribute..
Cena
Del Rio
Swaggart
Rhodes
Ziegler
Miz
In fact even if they did bring in new faces they would still be boring,i think the whole WWE format needs to be changed but i have no idea how they'd do that, maybe with Lesnar they could up the bar and somehow integrate the wrestling with a UFC type event, perhaps taking the professional play fighting aspect out of the wrestling and put more real fighting into it with story lines.

[LeisureMan]

The Miz is the worst-bar none. Ever listen to the crowd when he's in the ring-particularly on offense? Dead silence.
John Cena is right up there, too. I'm beyond tired of his SuperCena act, and how he really comes off as an arrogant douche who can't be beaten, all the while talking and acting like a high school jock.
I never got the deal with Alberto Del Rio. He's bland as all get out, and really comes across like he's doing everything imaginable to keep the impact to his body at it's absolute minimum. Makes for boring "action".
Jack Swagger never caught on. You can't sell legit NCAA tough guy to a crowd that you force feed "entertainment" to.
Out of the guys you listed, Dolph Ziggler and Cody Rhodes are the two guys with massive upside and potential. Ziggler is about to break into the top tier and be a bonafide main eventer for years. Rhodes is about 2 years or less away from that. I really like what those two guys bring to the table, and look forward to years of action from them.

[LargeKingCat]

Originally Posted by jambo101

I'm 65 and i still enjoy the spectacle , most of my friends say" its fake" which immediately tells me they dont get it and i usually respond by saying well StarTrek is fake and i enjoy that .

I agree. My usual response to someone saying "it's fake" Is either "Don't have you have anything more profound to offer than that?" or "Yeah so is everything else"

I got this great discussion going on about PW in one of my college psychology classes once. Amazing how many people starting analyzing it for it's melodrama and statement of society values. I always said that I could watch a one hour PW show and then tell you every issues that is going on in society........But we had a few people that did not want to join in hte discussion, said "it's fake" and did not want to get into the esoteric how and why beneath it.

I have some friends who are indy wrestlers (RASSLERS as I call them lovingly) They are some of the most genuine and friendliest people I know. Nothing fake about that.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by LargeKingCat

I agree. My usual response to someone saying "it's fake" Is either "Don't have you have anything more profound to offer than that?" or "Yeah so is everything else"

That will always be the DUMBEST argument against pro wrestling anyone could ever come up with.

Seriously, I don't get that....

[jambo101]

People who say its fake usually dont watch wrestling,i think the wrestlers are usually in great shape and very athletic in most aspects of the shows they put on,What these guys do is akin to professional play fighting,its a show and they play their parts well, if these guys actually did what they are pretending to do they'd all be in the hospital after one night.

[LargeKingCat]

I had this argument over and over and over with this guy at work. He insisted that the TV be turned on Monday night hockey and some of us insisted that it be on monday nite rasslin. Now why otherwise educated people needed a TV on at work, and how others felt about us turning on the TV in the meeting room and congregating there on company time etc probably was not too professional

ANyway

His argument was "wrestlings fake"
Mine was "who cares?"
His was "Well when the hockey players get into fights it is real"

Mine as "Precisely why I don't like hockey anymore. There is nothing admirable about trying to end someone's career, trying to injure someone so that they cannot pursue the game they love or make money to provide for their familes......wrestlers are not out to hurt each other"

His was "Well wrestlers do get hurt"
Mine was "not intentionally"

This coud go on and on for hours

The fact is, some of us ike this kind of melodramatic entertainment, some of us don't.

I have worked out in the gym with some professional wrestlers. Their routine and resluts are most impressive, and there is nothing easy about the workouts they do. The time and effort they put into developing their characters, learning how to design and execute a match and how to perform to the crowd is notable, many who pursue this hae a sports background as well.

It does cater to a "trailer park" mentality, and the majority of the fans have traditionally ben lower income perons, although in recent years the massive marketing towards children and famiies means that more middle-income fans will show up to see the live shows than in years past. I know people who are more educated than myself who enjoy it for what it is: entertainment.
As long as it is entertaining, Americans will spend money on it.

[Bondurant]

Del Rio is, in my opinion, one of the few shining sports in the former WWF (CM Punk and Bryan Danielson being the others).

I get my pro wrestling kicks watching New Japan and All Japan matches from the late 70s to early 90s on YouTube. Stan Hansen is the man!

[LeisureMan]

I'm not a big fan of the Japanese stuff, but I can watch it.

Del Rio is like a vacuum, to me. It's like he's still under a mask back in Mexico and doesn't feel like he needs to work on his body language. I'm sure he's much better live without the cameras, though.