Krow
02-02-2004, 05:39 PM
For a while now, I've been tossing an idea around in my head, and it concerns the whole internet "smark" community. I like coming around and getting the inside info on things and stuff, sure, but at the same time, I look back at some of the stuff that's happened in the past year or so and ask myself, "What would that have been like if I hadn't heard about it a week before?" I wonder how differently I'd be reacting to the 'Taker promos that're being offered up now if I hadn't read that he's (apparently) returning to the original gimmick, or a variation of it, a month ago when the plan was spit out to the masses and passed around the various websites and forums.
This isn't a knock to TPWW or anywhere else. I just wonder if I'd be a little more interested in what's going to happen tonight on RAW if I didn't know the layouts of angles and storylines and what's going to happen for the next few months. Sure, some of it would likely be predictable even to a bonafide mark, but at the same time, I doubt I'd have really expected to see Benoit show up on RAW last Monday if I hadn't read the rumor that he was probably switching shows. And while I still almost fell out of my seat when I heard the bell toll after Kane's match last week, I wonder exactly how much more of a reaction I'd have given, again, if I hadn't read about the entire plot online.
Now, I know it sounds like I'm saying eat out of Vince's grubby palm and be none the wiser, but part of me really misses the old days of not knowing for sure who was going to walk out on top every night and if things were going to work out all right for the uber-face. While most of that good guy/bad guy dichotomy has been lost since the Era of (m)Attitude came around, with the faces starting to take on more heelish styles (i.e. Stone Cold and D-X), I still wish I could root for people like Booker T or RVD when they take on Triple H and have a sliver of hope, however false, that they just might come out on top. I wish I could get into it like I did to the HBK-HHH match on RAW a month ago for every match. Even though I could somewhat predict what would happen back then with some matches and events, since there's a sort of formula for developing a good angle, there was still the aura, the mystique, you could say, of not knowing for sure.
While a lot of the problems now reside in the booking staff and the purported "stroke" people like Triple H and HBK have in the backstage scene, there are still good matches on RAW and SmackDown! (though the latter I don't catch as often due to the fact that it comes on at 11:00 PM here rather than 8-9ish most other places in the U.S.). A lot of angles and gimmicks have had potential, but they've either flopped due to sorry booking or just a complete lack of interest by the fans (which may be related to the first part). I wonder sometimes how I'd have reacted to the whole "turning Kane back into a monster" and subsequent unmasking/heel turn if I hadn't read about it online. Would I have thought differently?
Anyway, that was a really long, probably useless intro to my suggestion. I know none of us can really go back to the naïvete or innocence of being a mark, in part or in full. But maybe, just maybe, it would be fun to go back and watch the WWE without knowing what's going to happen. Instead of reading that, say, Triple H is going to flat out bury (opponent) in their title match and sighing as they build up momentum, only to have it cut down suddenly by a half-assed kick to the stomach and a equally unconvincing Pedigree, we could watch with interest. Maybe not necessarily on the edge of our seats, but anxious to see if that Five-Star Frog Splash would be the one that put him out, or if that Crossface was going to hold long enough to make him tap (here's hoping...).
So, what I'm proposing is that, once in a while, maybe take a week or two, maybe a month or so, away from the wrestling forum, away from the news and rumors, and just watch the shows. I'm not calling for a mass exodus or anything, because that's not my intent. I'd probably piss off Triple A if I called for that. I'm just saying, like Coleridge once did, commit to a "willing suspension of disbelief" for the moment. Support Mattitude! Live for the moment. Or something. Pretend like you don't know Triple H is going to either squash or otherwise kill the heat of whoever he's in the ring against. Don't think that Kane's monster revival is being completely downtrodden through shitty writing. Poo your pants a little when the Undertaker's bells ring. Go "GOOOOLDBERG! GOOOOLDBERG!" when the gong and war drums start up.
:shifty:
Okay, maybe not the last part, but you get the idea. See if it strikes something and maybe rekindles a flailing interest in WWE programming. If not, then at least you know you're not mistaken in offering criticism, even if it goes unheeded. Stop being a Monday morning quarterback and enjoy the game while it plays.
Just try it. It may be hard at first, since stuff at least up to WrestleMania's pretty much common knowledge here, but maybe after that, give it a week or two and see if it works.
Anyway, I hope this didn't sound like I was up on my soapbox or anything. Just a random spewing of thoughts not-so-carefully organized into a few paragraphs. Praise me, flame me, whatever. If you've gotten this far, you've read it, and that's what I was going for.
This isn't a knock to TPWW or anywhere else. I just wonder if I'd be a little more interested in what's going to happen tonight on RAW if I didn't know the layouts of angles and storylines and what's going to happen for the next few months. Sure, some of it would likely be predictable even to a bonafide mark, but at the same time, I doubt I'd have really expected to see Benoit show up on RAW last Monday if I hadn't read the rumor that he was probably switching shows. And while I still almost fell out of my seat when I heard the bell toll after Kane's match last week, I wonder exactly how much more of a reaction I'd have given, again, if I hadn't read about the entire plot online.
Now, I know it sounds like I'm saying eat out of Vince's grubby palm and be none the wiser, but part of me really misses the old days of not knowing for sure who was going to walk out on top every night and if things were going to work out all right for the uber-face. While most of that good guy/bad guy dichotomy has been lost since the Era of (m)Attitude came around, with the faces starting to take on more heelish styles (i.e. Stone Cold and D-X), I still wish I could root for people like Booker T or RVD when they take on Triple H and have a sliver of hope, however false, that they just might come out on top. I wish I could get into it like I did to the HBK-HHH match on RAW a month ago for every match. Even though I could somewhat predict what would happen back then with some matches and events, since there's a sort of formula for developing a good angle, there was still the aura, the mystique, you could say, of not knowing for sure.
While a lot of the problems now reside in the booking staff and the purported "stroke" people like Triple H and HBK have in the backstage scene, there are still good matches on RAW and SmackDown! (though the latter I don't catch as often due to the fact that it comes on at 11:00 PM here rather than 8-9ish most other places in the U.S.). A lot of angles and gimmicks have had potential, but they've either flopped due to sorry booking or just a complete lack of interest by the fans (which may be related to the first part). I wonder sometimes how I'd have reacted to the whole "turning Kane back into a monster" and subsequent unmasking/heel turn if I hadn't read about it online. Would I have thought differently?
Anyway, that was a really long, probably useless intro to my suggestion. I know none of us can really go back to the naïvete or innocence of being a mark, in part or in full. But maybe, just maybe, it would be fun to go back and watch the WWE without knowing what's going to happen. Instead of reading that, say, Triple H is going to flat out bury (opponent) in their title match and sighing as they build up momentum, only to have it cut down suddenly by a half-assed kick to the stomach and a equally unconvincing Pedigree, we could watch with interest. Maybe not necessarily on the edge of our seats, but anxious to see if that Five-Star Frog Splash would be the one that put him out, or if that Crossface was going to hold long enough to make him tap (here's hoping...).
So, what I'm proposing is that, once in a while, maybe take a week or two, maybe a month or so, away from the wrestling forum, away from the news and rumors, and just watch the shows. I'm not calling for a mass exodus or anything, because that's not my intent. I'd probably piss off Triple A if I called for that. I'm just saying, like Coleridge once did, commit to a "willing suspension of disbelief" for the moment. Support Mattitude! Live for the moment. Or something. Pretend like you don't know Triple H is going to either squash or otherwise kill the heat of whoever he's in the ring against. Don't think that Kane's monster revival is being completely downtrodden through shitty writing. Poo your pants a little when the Undertaker's bells ring. Go "GOOOOLDBERG! GOOOOLDBERG!" when the gong and war drums start up.
:shifty:
Okay, maybe not the last part, but you get the idea. See if it strikes something and maybe rekindles a flailing interest in WWE programming. If not, then at least you know you're not mistaken in offering criticism, even if it goes unheeded. Stop being a Monday morning quarterback and enjoy the game while it plays.
Just try it. It may be hard at first, since stuff at least up to WrestleMania's pretty much common knowledge here, but maybe after that, give it a week or two and see if it works.
Anyway, I hope this didn't sound like I was up on my soapbox or anything. Just a random spewing of thoughts not-so-carefully organized into a few paragraphs. Praise me, flame me, whatever. If you've gotten this far, you've read it, and that's what I was going for.