Wrestling: Its just a phase

**dablackguy** · 04-18-2009, 10:58 AM

I think we're looking at the first of what will be an emerging breed.

What I'm referring to is the trend of wrestlers who started out in 'the business' and then moved on to their "future endeavors" Pun intended, I guess.

In the last few years, we've had Lesnar, Black Lesnar, The Rock and SCSA to some degree leave the business as to pursue a career in some other field. That's 4 top guys or were to be top guys that up and left for something better. And I can't see why more guys won't be doing it.

From a credibility standpoint, its an easy choice. To begin with, the public's idea of wrestling is shit. People still look at it as a carnie 'sport'. Rather than hear about how tough a lot of these guys are or how athletic you need to be to perform like they do; you only hear about how 'fake' or 'stupid' it is. Rather than give people "male soap opera-like" storylines, Vince would rather feed us cheesy, unrealistic storylines. What's worse, Vince degreades these guys even further by calling them entertainers. If I were a wrestler, I'd be pissed to be put on the same level as someone like Dane Cook or some actor. To not be discussed as a great athlete is silly. You hear about how a lot of these guys start as football players and I think a good percentage of them could go back and do that, but I don't think most football player could just jump into a ring and be athletic enough to wrestle. Really, its not like anyone can just jump into the ring and do this without killing themselves or their opponent. As a wrestler, your status as opposed to other pro athletes is in the toilet. Why wouldn't you go to a field where respect was more abundant?

From a financial standpoint, its not really even close. The Rock makes more money shooting 2 movies a year than he probably could ever hope to make in WWE. Not that everyone could attain that status, but to play a couple of parts in a movie per year would have to be more rewarding financially. Lesnar is the exception to some degree as he stood to make like 5 ml per year with vince and wanted respect instead. I think this will be a growing trend.

Healthwise, its a no brainer. I don't think I need to explain why.

I guess the main point is I expect to see more and more guys getting into wrestling for a couple of years and leaving to do other stuff like MMA or moviemaking. (Shitty WWE films not included) I thnk we should enjoy what we have; this is a dying breed to true devoted wrestlers. The guys that make it out will be the best of the best, the ones that don't will be regarded as never good enough. This will in turn hurt the prduct.

Discuss

**Steveviscious89** · 04-18-2009, 02:54 PM

You are exactly correct I'm afraid. In fact history can even prove this one. The same exact thing happened with Hulk Hogan and whole Rocky III incident that almost had him out of the business forever. Money and a revamped product brought him back him though. He still continued to do movies, although most of them were not that good. Again, he probably would have retired altogether had WCW not had so much freakin money to bring him and nearly everyone else in with him. People can say TNA is doing the same thing WCW did, but they forget that it's really about the money. The individuals who jumped ship to TNA did it for the sake of wrestling, not the money, because TNA is not Ted Turner.

Speaking of which, TNA's tactics to bring in new fans will probably not work because everything they have done so far is just more of the same. The only way to really fix the business is with money and somehow revamping things, although everyone appears to stumped on how to do it. I wouldn't expect many posters here to discuss this because most of them are among those who will ignore someone when they have the brains to admit that wrestling has low credibilty right now.

**thedamndest** · 04-18-2009, 03:11 PM

If the guy drops a long term wrestling career to take a risk in Hollywood for the sake of making a few movies that don't do very well, it's money in the short term, but doesn't have any long term earning power because after a string of bombs no studio is going to want him back. Obviously there are a lot of unknowns in any given scenario, but I think the Rock is more the exception to the rule than the new fad.

**Sovereigntywillpr** · 04-18-2009, 08:16 PM

I can see why new guys get so much guff now, I've been paying attention to the number of posts(edit)...

I agree that the rock is more of an exception. The Rock is not always mentioned as former wrestler EVERYTIME he's promoted now and they're actually starting to refer to him as a serious(B-movie or co-star serious I suppose) In fact they even call him Dwayne "nothing" Johnson and not the rock.

Every other wrestler would just get promoted as the wrestler they are and people will get sick of wrestlers in movies, they will even mock they're credibility despite good acting because like someone said above, "it's seen as a carnie sport".

As for other sports, not many people can make it in MMA and get good money. These guys were also (at least a good portion of them) college football players who never maid it to the NFL, so don't expect them to become football players after they became wrestlers (Lesnar tried and didn't make the cut)

**Triple Naitch** · 04-18-2009, 08:27 PM

Meh, for every Rock and Brock who head towards future endeavors, there are people like Triple H and John Cena who stick around no matter how big they get.

**Krimzon7** · 04-19-2009, 12:48 AM

rigth. For every Rundown that's been shot, we have a No Holds Barred. I don't think people who get into wrestling see it as a 'phase' as much as they see the window to make the millions in movies as a phase. What if the Rock tried making movies and Bombed (like that Blade 3 fiasco, or the Undertakers' shot a film success)? Don't you think we'd still be enjoying the Brama Bull? For that matter, it's funny how the people who give Rocky so much shit are the ones who've tried to go down his path and failed.

**McLegend** · 04-19-2009, 02:46 AM

Yeah lifers in wrestling are a dying breed.

I would even bet Orton and Cena won't be in wrestling 10 years from now. Mostly it's because wrestlers today are smarter with their money then they were back then. They can afford to look outside of wrestling for other revenue streams.

**FourFifty** · 04-19-2009, 02:53 AM

I believe it's only a small percentage that will make it to hollywood. While Cena might make the occasional bomb, and there are rumors of Triple H wanting to play Thor, for the most part hollywood wants actors. Sometimes wrestlers work out just fine. Sometimes they work out better than real actors who'll take crappy roles just for the sake of getting their name out there. I'm sure John Cena in 12 Rounds and The Marine would have sucked even more if they had some no name actor.

And as it pertains to wrestlers going to MMA, they already have some background in some form of legit fighting.

04-18-2009, 10:58 AM	#1
dablackguy Tacos! Posts: 795	Wrestling: Its just a phase I think we're looking at the first of what will be an emerging breed. What I'm referring to is the trend of wrestlers who started out in 'the business' and then moved on to their "future endeavors" Pun intended, I guess. In the last few years, we've had Lesnar, Black Lesnar, The Rock and SCSA to some degree leave the business as to pursue a career in some other field. That's 4 top guys or were to be top guys that up and left for something better. And I can't see why more guys won't be doing it. From a credibility standpoint, its an easy choice. To begin with, the public's idea of wrestling is shit. People still look at it as a carnie 'sport'. Rather than hear about how tough a lot of these guys are or how athletic you need to be to perform like they do; you only hear about how 'fake' or 'stupid' it is. Rather than give people "male soap opera-like" storylines, Vince would rather feed us cheesy, unrealistic storylines. What's worse, Vince degreades these guys even further by calling them entertainers. If I were a wrestler, I'd be pissed to be put on the same level as someone like Dane Cook or some actor. To not be discussed as a great athlete is silly. You hear about how a lot of these guys start as football players and I think a good percentage of them could go back and do that, but I don't think most football player could just jump into a ring and be athletic enough to wrestle. Really, its not like anyone can just jump into the ring and do this without killing themselves or their opponent. As a wrestler, your status as opposed to other pro athletes is in the toilet. Why wouldn't you go to a field where respect was more abundant? From a financial standpoint, its not really even close. The Rock makes more money shooting 2 movies a year than he probably could ever hope to make in WWE. Not that everyone could attain that status, but to play a couple of parts in a movie per year would have to be more rewarding financially. Lesnar is the exception to some degree as he stood to make like 5 ml per year with vince and wanted respect instead. I think this will be a growing trend. Healthwise, its a no brainer. I don't think I need to explain why. I guess the main point is I expect to see more and more guys getting into wrestling for a couple of years and leaving to do other stuff like MMA or moviemaking. (Shitty WWE films not included) I thnk we should enjoy what we have; this is a dying breed to true devoted wrestlers. The guys that make it out will be the best of the best, the ones that don't will be regarded as never good enough. This will in turn hurt the prduct. Discuss

04-18-2009, 02:54 PM	#2
Steveviscious89 We Want Sting! Posts: 358	You are exactly correct I'm afraid. In fact history can even prove this one. The same exact thing happened with Hulk Hogan and whole Rocky III incident that almost had him out of the business forever. Money and a revamped product brought him back him though. He still continued to do movies, although most of them were not that good. Again, he probably would have retired altogether had WCW not had so much freakin money to bring him and nearly everyone else in with him. People can say TNA is doing the same thing WCW did, but they forget that it's really about the money. The individuals who jumped ship to TNA did it for the sake of wrestling, not the money, because TNA is not Ted Turner. Speaking of which, TNA's tactics to bring in new fans will probably not work because everything they have done so far is just more of the same. The only way to really fix the business is with money and somehow revamping things, although everyone appears to stumped on how to do it. I wouldn't expect many posters here to discuss this because most of them are among those who will ignore someone when they have the brains to admit that wrestling has low credibilty right now.

04-18-2009, 03:11 PM	#3
thedamndest A Property of Matter Posts: 25,543	If the guy drops a long term wrestling career to take a risk in Hollywood for the sake of making a few movies that don't do very well, it's money in the short term, but doesn't have any long term earning power because after a string of bombs no studio is going to want him back. Obviously there are a lot of unknowns in any given scenario, but I think the Rock is more the exception to the rule than the new fad.

04-18-2009, 08:16 PM	#4
Sovereigntywillpr Member Posts: 465	I can see why new guys get so much guff now, I've been paying attention to the number of posts(edit)... I agree that the rock is more of an exception. The Rock is not always mentioned as former wrestler EVERYTIME he's promoted now and they're actually starting to refer to him as a serious(B-movie or co-star serious I suppose) In fact they even call him Dwayne "nothing" Johnson and not the rock. Every other wrestler would just get promoted as the wrestler they are and people will get sick of wrestlers in movies, they will even mock they're credibility despite good acting because like someone said above, "it's seen as a carnie sport". As for other sports, not many people can make it in MMA and get good money. These guys were also (at least a good portion of them) college football players who never maid it to the NFL, so don't expect them to become football players after they became wrestlers (Lesnar tried and didn't make the cut)

04-18-2009, 08:27 PM	#5
Triple Naitch Formerly Fausto Carmona Posts: 16,875	Meh, for every Rock and Brock who head towards future endeavors, there are people like Triple H and John Cena who stick around no matter how big they get.

04-19-2009, 12:48 AM	#6
Krimzon7 King of the Ring Posts: 8,848	rigth. For every Rundown that's been shot, we have a No Holds Barred. I don't think people who get into wrestling see it as a 'phase' as much as they see the window to make the millions in movies as a phase. What if the Rock tried making movies and Bombed (like that Blade 3 fiasco, or the Undertakers' shot a film success)? Don't you think we'd still be enjoying the Brama Bull? For that matter, it's funny how the people who give Rocky so much shit are the ones who've tried to go down his path and failed.

04-19-2009, 02:46 AM	#7
McLegend Temporary Posts: 15,590	Yeah lifers in wrestling are a dying breed. I would even bet Orton and Cena won't be in wrestling 10 years from now. Mostly it's because wrestlers today are smarter with their money then they were back then. They can afford to look outside of wrestling for other revenue streams.

04-19-2009, 02:53 AM	#8
FourFifty As over as Crystal Pepsi Posts: 21,639	I believe it's only a small percentage that will make it to hollywood. While Cena might make the occasional bomb, and there are rumors of Triple H wanting to play Thor, for the most part hollywood wants actors. Sometimes wrestlers work out just fine. Sometimes they work out better than real actors who'll take crappy roles just for the sake of getting their name out there. I'm sure John Cena in 12 Rounds and The Marine would have sucked even more if they had some no name actor. And as it pertains to wrestlers going to MMA, they already have some background in some form of legit fighting.