Usually, there are those interests and activities which define us. For me, one of those happens to be wrestling. I like to think that wrestling is just like everything else on TV: pure entertainment that just happens to be as compelling or even more compelling than some TV shows. I can say that I have learned from wrestling that it is just like anything. We know what’s gonna happen but we want to see how the story ends. The good vs evil aspect of it is balanced well enough so that we hate the bad guy for his terrible misdeeds and we cheer the good guy for all his heroic actions. There is also the aspect of how cool and unreal some of these stories can seem when unraveling on TV or Pay Per View. This can come in the form of the actual wrestling matches or the interviews/promos they cut in the ring. I believe there are about 10 or so things that I have learned from wrestling and some of these may not seem obvious but to me they have developed my understanding of how wrestling works and what gets me hyped up to watch an in ring product. These have been essential in how I have come to appreciate and come to become a fan as would anybody that has come across a hobby or something they like. So, here I list my top ten list of things learned from wrestling.
10. Promos or interviews make the feud much more awesome if done right
A good promo consists of a clear and consistent message as well as addressing the issue that is currently at hand. Ric Flair, one of the best at this, really knocked it out of the park when it came to this as he made his opponents seem much more tougher and legit than any regular wrestler would have been. One of my favorite feuds of all time, Ric Flair VS. Ricky Steamboat, was done correctly because of how Flair would essentially complement Steamboat’s skills as well as putting the idea in people’s heads that either guy could win. The story behind the matches they would have was that one guy was a family guy (Steamboat) and Flair was the player with all the women, cars, and gold that any guy would envy. This was done brilliantly as each guy would talk the talk but they would also walk the walk. If there is one thing that is essential in interviews, it is the fact that the tone also has to be right. Flair, with most of his interviews, would be over the top but he did it with such diligence that he made you believe what he was saying was true. I can say that Steamboat wasn’t the best at cutting an interview but back when you were able to create the image of what you wanted to say it was possible to get across your point. Each guy would be serious but that was the point behind each promo. It was to build to a big feud and blow it off at some point. If there was no talking the wrestling in the ring would seem dull and unimportant. With talking, we come to understand if we want to invest with person’s character and which guy would really win (or in some cases we believe either guy could win). Simply put, if you talk people into the building, you’ve done your job.
9. Pro Wrestling is fake but the injuries and time spent away from home are not
If there is one thing I don’t understand, it’s the idea that pro wrestling is fake. For one, pro wrestling is fake but mostly due to the combination of acting, laid out matches, and lines that are memorized. However, the hits, bumps, the traveling, the crappy hotels, the bad food, the not being home, missing birthdays, holidays, and all that good stuff is not fake. I can’t imagine having to go through all that as well as being under constant pressure to perform almost 3-5 times a week. It would be almost like you are living out of a suitcase hanging around people you may or may not like. I have often heard the phrase that you end up having a road family and then there’s your family. It would be difficult to understand how wrestlers end up getting immersed in that lifestyle of living on the road as well as missing the comfort of your own home. There is also nothing like the good old injury that happens to hamper a wrestler that puts his body on the line 300+ days a year. I have no idea what it’s like to separate a shoulder, dislocate my elbow, tear my pectoral muscle, break my neck, tear my groin, or even go through an ACL tear which are a few injuries that wrestlers have had over the years. What is also interesting is that just like any other TV show, they have to be in front of an audience and satisfy them instead of satisfying there own family. Yes, pro wrestling is fake but these days what isn’t fake on TV? News is compiled to get us to think a certain way (death and blood in the area), reality TV (fake fights), and your regular TV drama or comedy (so and so has to hide a secret from there son or daughter). It is all a matter of opinion is my point so for me pro wrestling is fake in a sense but the majority of it is not.
8. Not saying much can mean as much as saying a whole lot
A majority of the time, we all say what is on our minds but other times we can read so much into facial expressions and body language. The body language and facial expressions done when a guy is upset, upbeat, vindictive, or caught between a rock and a hard place causes some sort of reaction. I remember one of the few times that this did work was when one of the best of all time, Eddie Guerrero, had just traded going from good guy to bad guy he waited a few minutes before he spoke. He waited for the reaction before anything else and he had the crowd right in the palm of his hand. It was slow and methodical but the way he looked caused a reaction that invigorated fans so much that you couldn’t help but to boo the guy. We can’t connect with a guy on TV that has just turned on his best friend( in Eddie’s case) and we just want to know why he did it. The reason may seem obvious in our own heads but the way characters and emotions are drawn up make it difficult to understand that person’s reasoning. Another guy I can think that did this the right way was Barry Windham back in 1992. He was teaming up with his tag team partner, Dustin Rhodes, and all of a sudden he just attacked the guy during the match and walked away from him. He didn’t say much but the wole point of him turning was that he felt was weak and holding him down. I feel sometimes in life we could use a little bit of this. What I mean is that our explanations should be simple and not so much so that we confuse ourselves and others around us. That is something wrestling has brought full circle for me. That facial reaction and the tone we set can mean a whole lot more when we do it right and we want to get our point across.
7. Being edgy and innovative brings about opportunities
Wrestling has always gone in weird cycles that define a certain generations. Back in the 80’s when it was booming, we had a lot of different territories with a different group of wrestlers. You had your places with flamboyant entrances and good wrestlers (WCCW, AWA, Mid-south) but you also had your places where you could have a decent to great wrestling match with some money to back it up. We as fans are spoiled sometimes because we’ve had that period where it was really cool to be a wrestling fan and there were the times where it was bad to be a wrestling fan. I can remember growing up thinking that wrestling was the cool thing to watch and follow. I saw the two rival companies going at each other playing a game of top this. As soon as certain characters and TV angles were getting good, everybody was all of a sudden was a wrestling fan. I can’t really say what it was like in the 80’s to be a wrestling fan, but in the mid to late 90’s it sure was a lot of fun. It was the cool thing to talk about at school because your friends liked it and so did you. I compare it now to reality TV before it got big and blew up. There was pregnancy storylines, beer trucks, monster trucks, limos, authority figures with a big mouth, kidnappings, beatdowns, and a lot of other random happenings. I credit much of this to the fact that TV was becoming a lot more edgy and violent. It was basically a defining point for our generation because we just wanted violence and craved for it. There weren’t 1000 channels like there are now and certainly there weren’t these gripping TV dramas like there are today. The options are endless now and wrestling was one of the first avenues that broke the barrier of being just a little different. I am the type of person that clings towards something that is different. If you asked me why I started the fake pro wrestling stuff I would say because it can be innovative and gripping TV. I can see the effort and pacing that TV writers on regular shows go through and it is the same thing with pro wrestling. You have to meet deadlines most likely but you also have to be able to keep a larger portion of your TV audience. Wrestling is near and dear to my heart and I can say that I will probably never stop watching. It may backfire on wrestling one day that there are so many other things to watch on TV now that it is easier to switch the channel. The world is a bigger place now and there are of course much more creative thinkers than there were before so cheers for TV becoming bigger.
6. Managers can make a guy’s character mean a whole lot
There was always something so cool about a guy having a manager and that manager kind of leading his guy towards the ring to cheer him on. It is almost like having a coach by your side and he is there to lead to victory. One of the best of all time, Bobby Heenan, was so great at this because he was so good at getting a crowd to hate him as well as laugh at him when he got what was coming to him. He would also make his guys that he was leading to the ring mean something. He wouldn’t put them down or call them stupid but he would make you believe that he was gonna win 100 percent. That is what makes a character mean so much when a manager is there. There is that element of surprise as well as the idea that the guy just might win and he will no go down without a fight. If the guy doesn’t talk, the manager will make the character seem legit and have the never say die attitude. It is also important that most bad guys have to have managers because the big monster bad guys don’t have to say a whole lot and if the manager is there to say most of the talking then that guy has done his job. I wish one day that managers can come back but I can only hope as wrestling is a solo business and a lot of money is to be made.
Well, this is the end of part one and in the next few days I’ll be putting up part 2 so stay tuned for that and so much more in the top 10 series.
Just Another Day... 