Corkscrewed
07-30-2006, 08:44 PM
I'm sure there have been a few threads about this book before, but I dont' want to dig them up.
Anyway, the other day I checked Wrestlecrap: The Very Worst of Wrestling out from my local library, since I remembered hearing about this book before and I enjoy reading.
Long story short, this is definitely a hilarious book that chronocles a bunch of crap over the years. A great nostalgia read for me, especially since it remind me of characters I'd forgotten over the years. Plus, the behind the scenes look was pretty informative.
Anyway, as I read through this book, however, I started realizing that over the past two decades, things really haven't changed that much in terms of pro wrestling. The fact is that most of it is crap.
Now, recently, I've taken to criticizing the writers for failing to come up with intriguing ideas as well as booking things that make no sense, mostly because these writers have no wrestling business experience.
I might be wrong in that. Maybe it's just that they're stupid, period, or maybe it really is Vince's fault. All of it.
Because the main message I get, from the book at least, is that Vince (and Russo and Bischoff and WCW's bookers) have had a long history of throwing random ideas at the wall and seeing which one of them stuck. This was sort of news to me. Maybe because during the late 80s and through most of the 90s, I was merely a mark, but I had always been under the impression that things weren't as bad back then as they are now. And now, as I read this and think about it, maybe they were pretty crappy back then as well.
We often criticize the writers for starting feuds that don't make sense. For making angles that don't make sense, and then dropping them without explanation. We complain about wrestlers being held back, egos getting into the way, horrendous gimmicks being concocted. But you know what? This has been going on ever since the WWF started! (yes, this was news to me)
In retrospect, it's like the WWF was absolutely lucky to get Hogan and Austin to save them and guide them through two golden ages. Without them, we might not even exist as wrestling fans today, because we may not have even heard of pro-wrestling.
It's pretty evident to see why the WWE is struggling today. Vince is convinced that he knows what wrestling fans want, so he books what he wants and assumes fans will like it. When they don't (more often than not), he finds petty excuses and reasons to blame it on anyone other than himself and the people he's friends with. The irony, of course, is that the man who put wrestling on the map has in turn hurt wrestling by ignoring what the fans want, because he thinks that what he wants is what they want, when the opposite tends to be true. Factor into this the backstage politics and you have a recipe for disaster.
But apparently, this has happened numerous times before. Vince Russo and his manic booking in WCW, of course, was the exact same thing. The nWo angle became the same thing after its popularity wore off, with the members being shoved down people's throats and absolutely zero threat being made. The circus gimmics of the late 80s and 90s represent a similar item. Vince felt that over the top was the way to go, so they just tried idea after idea without actually thinking of it.
It would be great if Vince would actually take feedback from the fans and give them what they want, but most of the time, he doesn't. He gives them what he THINKS they want, which is really nothing more than what he wants. The result is we get things shoved down our throats, boring storylines, and a general disenchanged feeling of total apathy.
And then, every once in a while, something golden happens, and everything clicks, and we fall in love with the sport all over again. But if you think about it, that's only happened twice over the past two years:
1. Hulkamania in the '80s
2. The Attitude Era of Austin and DX
That's it.
So we often talk about how wrestling is in a "down cycle" and we'll have great ratings soon, but we've been saying that since 2001. To me, I the cycle is more than just a few years long. It's more like ten years, or even more. Frankly, we may not see another sustained upswing in the WWE for another half decade!
In the meantime, we'll see recycled ideas and storylines and desperate attempts at short term ratings gains, and very little long term thought of building up characters, allowing the people to decide what they want, and constructing fluid, intelligent storylines that connect with the fans.
The way I see it now, Vince's legacy will be one of a manic wizard who concocted tons of potion in his lifetime which helped bring overall benefit to his domain because a few of them produced valiant knights. But for every success, there were a hundred failures. So whenever he dies, he may very well be remembered as the man who did as much to help wrestling as he did to hurt it.
Anyway, that's my little (well, not so little) brainsplurge. I think the main point was that all the crap that we as smarks complain about these days is really nothing new, and stuff like this has been going on for decades. Maybe not news to you, but it was a revelation to me. :)
Anyway, the other day I checked Wrestlecrap: The Very Worst of Wrestling out from my local library, since I remembered hearing about this book before and I enjoy reading.
Long story short, this is definitely a hilarious book that chronocles a bunch of crap over the years. A great nostalgia read for me, especially since it remind me of characters I'd forgotten over the years. Plus, the behind the scenes look was pretty informative.
Anyway, as I read through this book, however, I started realizing that over the past two decades, things really haven't changed that much in terms of pro wrestling. The fact is that most of it is crap.
Now, recently, I've taken to criticizing the writers for failing to come up with intriguing ideas as well as booking things that make no sense, mostly because these writers have no wrestling business experience.
I might be wrong in that. Maybe it's just that they're stupid, period, or maybe it really is Vince's fault. All of it.
Because the main message I get, from the book at least, is that Vince (and Russo and Bischoff and WCW's bookers) have had a long history of throwing random ideas at the wall and seeing which one of them stuck. This was sort of news to me. Maybe because during the late 80s and through most of the 90s, I was merely a mark, but I had always been under the impression that things weren't as bad back then as they are now. And now, as I read this and think about it, maybe they were pretty crappy back then as well.
We often criticize the writers for starting feuds that don't make sense. For making angles that don't make sense, and then dropping them without explanation. We complain about wrestlers being held back, egos getting into the way, horrendous gimmicks being concocted. But you know what? This has been going on ever since the WWF started! (yes, this was news to me)
In retrospect, it's like the WWF was absolutely lucky to get Hogan and Austin to save them and guide them through two golden ages. Without them, we might not even exist as wrestling fans today, because we may not have even heard of pro-wrestling.
It's pretty evident to see why the WWE is struggling today. Vince is convinced that he knows what wrestling fans want, so he books what he wants and assumes fans will like it. When they don't (more often than not), he finds petty excuses and reasons to blame it on anyone other than himself and the people he's friends with. The irony, of course, is that the man who put wrestling on the map has in turn hurt wrestling by ignoring what the fans want, because he thinks that what he wants is what they want, when the opposite tends to be true. Factor into this the backstage politics and you have a recipe for disaster.
But apparently, this has happened numerous times before. Vince Russo and his manic booking in WCW, of course, was the exact same thing. The nWo angle became the same thing after its popularity wore off, with the members being shoved down people's throats and absolutely zero threat being made. The circus gimmics of the late 80s and 90s represent a similar item. Vince felt that over the top was the way to go, so they just tried idea after idea without actually thinking of it.
It would be great if Vince would actually take feedback from the fans and give them what they want, but most of the time, he doesn't. He gives them what he THINKS they want, which is really nothing more than what he wants. The result is we get things shoved down our throats, boring storylines, and a general disenchanged feeling of total apathy.
And then, every once in a while, something golden happens, and everything clicks, and we fall in love with the sport all over again. But if you think about it, that's only happened twice over the past two years:
1. Hulkamania in the '80s
2. The Attitude Era of Austin and DX
That's it.
So we often talk about how wrestling is in a "down cycle" and we'll have great ratings soon, but we've been saying that since 2001. To me, I the cycle is more than just a few years long. It's more like ten years, or even more. Frankly, we may not see another sustained upswing in the WWE for another half decade!
In the meantime, we'll see recycled ideas and storylines and desperate attempts at short term ratings gains, and very little long term thought of building up characters, allowing the people to decide what they want, and constructing fluid, intelligent storylines that connect with the fans.
The way I see it now, Vince's legacy will be one of a manic wizard who concocted tons of potion in his lifetime which helped bring overall benefit to his domain because a few of them produced valiant knights. But for every success, there were a hundred failures. So whenever he dies, he may very well be remembered as the man who did as much to help wrestling as he did to hurt it.
Anyway, that's my little (well, not so little) brainsplurge. I think the main point was that all the crap that we as smarks complain about these days is really nothing new, and stuff like this has been going on for decades. Maybe not news to you, but it was a revelation to me. :)