The One
07-14-2004, 05:04 AM
Emotional involvment. It is an odd thing. Many people do not understand pro wrestling. The matches are scripted, the titles are given to who the owner thinks deserves them, and the moves they do should kill each other. When you break it down, it really is quite silly that grown adults, young people, and even little children get so into somethat that ultimatly is...well...fake. And please spare me the "These guys fell real pain when they hit the mat" speall. Trust me I know that their bodies take in pain...but in the end everything is done as their told to do it.
So why do we get so emotional over things of this nature. Recently Randy Orton "lost" the Intercontinental Title. This has sent half the board into a state of depression not seen since the 1930's. But does this change anything about Randy Orton? Is he somehow now less or more then he was going in. No, the only difference is he dosn't walk to the ring with a oversived gold belt anymore.
So why does this upset us so? I beleive that we all grow an emotional involvment in what happens on those screnes. I can not recall the last time everyone here was happy about something (Hell even Kidman and London winning the titles got some of us to complain about it comming out of left feild.) We, the internet fans, in all of our self given glory about knowledge of the "real" world of wrestling are, at the core of it all...marks. Admit it. Maybe you are not a mark of who the WWE tells us is the number one good guy, but your a mark or someone in the WWE. We conect with these men as story tellers. Everyone has a different way of telling a story. Case and point. Bret Hart is arguably the best ring technician in the world. When he steps through the ropes he almost floats through it as if the laws of nature no longer apply to him. He can captivate millions by moves that he chooses to do...or not do. By choices he makes in the ring. Now some of us (myself included) cream their pants over a match when great ring technicians (like Hart, Benoit, Angle, Storm, etc.) get in there and do their thing for 10, 20, maybe even 60 (:D) minutes. Others of us, maybe not so much on here, but certainly out there...scream for a man who stands at 7'0. Can he defy logic with his moves in the ring, no, infact 9 time out of 10 he confirms it that a big guy is hard to knock down and only does slow movement. And then there are guys who get into the ring, and maybe they don't do all the right moves, and maybe they don't "look the part" but they captivater us by telling a story through the way they act. Commonly refered to as Ring Psychology. Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, and Raven (like how I threw him in there ;)) among others, all seems to capture the people not by the wrestling moves they do, but rather by their interaction with the crowd. This gives the people a sense of direct involvment with the action.
But again it is all staged, the winners are pre chosen, so why do we care who wins? Why is there crys for blood everytime Jericho has to put someone over? Why do we curse Vince when Bradshaw slumps his way to another victory? The reason is we care. Like watching Rudy take to the feild for Notre Dame in the movie, we get chills. I know when Giant sided with the nWo I damn near broke my TV, when Foley retired (for the first time :shifty: ) tears came out of my eyes, I stood up and screamed "TAP! TAP! TAP!" watching WrestleMania XX in my own living room. You grow to have an emotional attachment to those who you like.
The reason for me talking about this is I have seen in the past few days comments about how men like Bret Hart, Ric Flair, Randy Orton, Lance Storm, Shawn Michaels, and many others...well...suck. Granted these comments do not all come from the same person...I am sure 80% of us have ill feelings towards one of the wrestlers I just listed.
I guess what I am trying to say is, if you hate one of these men, love one of these men, or anything in between...Good for you. We all have our reasons to cheer or boo any particular wrestler we choose. If you think Ric Flair is the most boring wrestler ever...that is your perogitive. If you secertly enjoy JBL matches and are glad hes the Champ...well that's up to you. If you want to get mad, literally MAD over what happened 7 years ago (we all know what I am talking about) then thank god wrestling has found you. Because the biggest problem that the World of Wrestling has, is finding people who get emotionally involved with the product. Because to enjoy wrestling is fine and dandy...to LOVE it (through the good the bad and the ugly) is a wonderful thing.
I personally love it, I will continue to mark out over great technical matches, I will continue to scream when I get charged up, and I will continue to debate a certain screw job until I am blue in the face. Because this is Pro Wrestling. And I love it. And I hope you do too.
So why do we get so emotional over things of this nature. Recently Randy Orton "lost" the Intercontinental Title. This has sent half the board into a state of depression not seen since the 1930's. But does this change anything about Randy Orton? Is he somehow now less or more then he was going in. No, the only difference is he dosn't walk to the ring with a oversived gold belt anymore.
So why does this upset us so? I beleive that we all grow an emotional involvment in what happens on those screnes. I can not recall the last time everyone here was happy about something (Hell even Kidman and London winning the titles got some of us to complain about it comming out of left feild.) We, the internet fans, in all of our self given glory about knowledge of the "real" world of wrestling are, at the core of it all...marks. Admit it. Maybe you are not a mark of who the WWE tells us is the number one good guy, but your a mark or someone in the WWE. We conect with these men as story tellers. Everyone has a different way of telling a story. Case and point. Bret Hart is arguably the best ring technician in the world. When he steps through the ropes he almost floats through it as if the laws of nature no longer apply to him. He can captivate millions by moves that he chooses to do...or not do. By choices he makes in the ring. Now some of us (myself included) cream their pants over a match when great ring technicians (like Hart, Benoit, Angle, Storm, etc.) get in there and do their thing for 10, 20, maybe even 60 (:D) minutes. Others of us, maybe not so much on here, but certainly out there...scream for a man who stands at 7'0. Can he defy logic with his moves in the ring, no, infact 9 time out of 10 he confirms it that a big guy is hard to knock down and only does slow movement. And then there are guys who get into the ring, and maybe they don't do all the right moves, and maybe they don't "look the part" but they captivater us by telling a story through the way they act. Commonly refered to as Ring Psychology. Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, and Raven (like how I threw him in there ;)) among others, all seems to capture the people not by the wrestling moves they do, but rather by their interaction with the crowd. This gives the people a sense of direct involvment with the action.
But again it is all staged, the winners are pre chosen, so why do we care who wins? Why is there crys for blood everytime Jericho has to put someone over? Why do we curse Vince when Bradshaw slumps his way to another victory? The reason is we care. Like watching Rudy take to the feild for Notre Dame in the movie, we get chills. I know when Giant sided with the nWo I damn near broke my TV, when Foley retired (for the first time :shifty: ) tears came out of my eyes, I stood up and screamed "TAP! TAP! TAP!" watching WrestleMania XX in my own living room. You grow to have an emotional attachment to those who you like.
The reason for me talking about this is I have seen in the past few days comments about how men like Bret Hart, Ric Flair, Randy Orton, Lance Storm, Shawn Michaels, and many others...well...suck. Granted these comments do not all come from the same person...I am sure 80% of us have ill feelings towards one of the wrestlers I just listed.
I guess what I am trying to say is, if you hate one of these men, love one of these men, or anything in between...Good for you. We all have our reasons to cheer or boo any particular wrestler we choose. If you think Ric Flair is the most boring wrestler ever...that is your perogitive. If you secertly enjoy JBL matches and are glad hes the Champ...well that's up to you. If you want to get mad, literally MAD over what happened 7 years ago (we all know what I am talking about) then thank god wrestling has found you. Because the biggest problem that the World of Wrestling has, is finding people who get emotionally involved with the product. Because to enjoy wrestling is fine and dandy...to LOVE it (through the good the bad and the ugly) is a wonderful thing.
I personally love it, I will continue to mark out over great technical matches, I will continue to scream when I get charged up, and I will continue to debate a certain screw job until I am blue in the face. Because this is Pro Wrestling. And I love it. And I hope you do too.