Jim Cornette / Mick Foley

[Evil Vito]

Originally Posted by Noid But if someone walked in on your watching some of that invisible grenade bullshit, you could at least say "But they're obviously not really fighting." To which an appropriate response is "...Then why are you fucking watching it?!?"

I don't see why that would be an appropriate response. There have been about 50,000 different movies and TV shows that have depicted fighting that wasn't really fighting. Wrestling is fake and scripted just like 95% of things you can watch on TV.

I remember people getting all butthurt a decade or so ago when the sports-entertainment branding got stronger and WWE self-described itself as an action soap opera. But it's the fucking truth and it is for all of wrestling. There are characters, storylines, and staged conflict. Whether it's presented as serious or funny - these elements are still there. It just so happens that the people involved are way, way more athletically gifted than the average actor.

Just about everybody I know watched wrestling in the late 90s/early 00s. Many lapsed away because they felt they "outgrew" it and they were a part of the "it's fake and gay" crowd. Trying to present the product as legitimate will never bring those people back because they've already figured out that Santa is not real.

But presenting wrestling in a more open way actually gives them and new fans the message that - hey guys - it's just like any other fucking TV show. Except in this TV show you're encouraged to participate, and that makes it unlike anything else you can watch.