On Thursday afternoon, wondering if I could get wifi in my car, I read something interesting while I was sitting there studying for my Speech 8 midterm while I was able to actually find a connection, and that was in the wrestling organization TNA Hulk Hogan has proposed that TNA will no longer be doing fake story lines and they will be in fact shifting to real story lines. I was kind of taken aback by this because for one, no one will buy and two it’s something that can’t be helped out by the fact that wrestling formality is and always will be what draws people to it for the sake that it’s like a soap opera. Let’s make an analogy here, if on one of my favorite TV shows, The West Wing, they made it known that the original main character, Sam Seaborn, who is played by Rob Lowe, was upset because his role on the show was dwindling and they made that real, it would feel strange and upsetting because I want to know about the character Sam Seaborn and not the actor who actually ended up feeling upset because his role was downgraded to a supporting role instead of a main one. For all intents and purposes, wrestling has always relied on several things to keep it alive which makes it simple and yet still exciting for “hardcore” wrestling fans to tune in. For example, I always joke with my brother Jesus about the oldest tricks in the book in wrestling and it still keeps us entertained, Some of the examples for this would be (but not limited to)
1. The idea of good vs. evil: There have always been two forces in the universe that triumph and that is good and evil, that is the basis for wrestling and it doesn’t get anymore simple than that just watch it and that’s what you get.
2. A battle for pride or “who’s better” series of matches between two competitors: One of the best examples of this is when way back when in the 1980’s Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair put on one of the best rivalries I’ve seen through matches that just wow’ed me when I viewed them on DVD because they were crisp and the psychology and storytelling put on by both men made me appreciate just how hard these guys have to work in order for the crowd to buy into what they were doing because they were not only working their asses off but they were also trying to show that wrestling can be a sport if it wanted to be.
3. The heel stable against the group of disgruntled babyfaces: I have mixed feelings about this one because it can be really good if executed correctly. The best example of how this may work is with the Hart Foundation in 1997 and the way it happened was awesome because for years Bret Hart was the beloved hero but he ended forming a heel stable because now things were a bit different and people wanted to cheer for the bad guys instead of the typical bland babyfaces. What ended up happening was you got Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Mick Foley, The Road Warriors, Dustin Rhodes, and others to form an alliance against this rugged group of individuals. What ended up happening was a U.S. against Canada and for everything for what it was worth it was and is one of my favorite times in wrestling because it showed what life demonstrates sometimes: ideals, righteousness, and the supremacy to see who is number one in the world matters to some.
4. The build up of the chase for the world title babyface: I like this one in part because some really good stories have come out of this one. Several examples include the Steve Austin rise to the top in 1998 when he was facing Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 14 and he ended up winning, another one is when Sting wrestled Hogan at Starrcade 1997 which was built up with a year’s worth of promos and what not, and another one of personal favorites is when Eddie Guerrero won the championship here in San Francisco from Brock Lesnar which was made even better by the fact that I was there live and I couldn’t have been prouder of one of the little guys that was a great wrestler and he had a great persona.
5. Building up something without the babyface even being on TV: I have seen this numerous times throughout my years of watching wrestling and it seems difficult to execute but once it’s done I feel proud to be a wrestling fan. The master of this is Chris Jericho who feuded with Dean Malenko over a title but in hindsight Malenko was off TV for several weeks which resulted in Jericho insulting him, his family, and even his famous 1000 holds moniker. Looking back even 2 years ago, he had one of my top 10 favorite feuds with Shawn Michaels in which he may have ended his career and for weeks he bragged about it which made the fans even more furious because they wanted to see their hero Shawn return and show Jericho that he was in fact not retired. Michaels did in fact return after being off TV and once he did the crowd just ate it up because he was back for revenge.
Looking at these, I realize wrestling would be impossible to actually have as being real with real storylines. The basis for wrestling is to have it be fake but these guys are athletes that are integrated with storylines that sometimes have real life implications. For example, we always root for the underdog in any situation which is something wrestling is excellent at because writers and agents want us to feel enthralled in what they do instead of actually seeing the bad guy come out on top all the time. I don’t want to know what goes on behind the scenes, it’s juicy and funny when it they talk about it on TV but too much is overkill and it just makes me think how they can allow these inside things onto a “wrestling” show. Anyway, wrestling will be and always will be using the same formula because without it not many new ideas can be come up with. Have a good afternoon everybody and here’s a demonstration of why I love wrestling( insane heat 101)
Just Another Day... 