Maybe I'm over reacting but I don't think there has been a worse time for public perception of pro wrestling. What do you think? Hogan's new show marks an all time low in my opinion. Is it really that bad of a time for pro wrestling or am I kidding myself thinking it was ever any better?
I think you are over reacting to Hogan's show, but at the same time, I agree that perception is bad. It is also the fault of the wrestling industry for being so bad. I'm reading this book right now;
Honestly, it is really hard to get behind pro wrestling after reading it. It was hard before, but it makes it even worse. Really, best wrestling book I've probably ever seen. There are no punches pulled in this bad boy, hell, if you were watching Raw on Monday and heard Vince's strange rant about how wreslting fans are 'Americana' and how people have no right to criticize the industry -- it was his public rebuttal to said book.
Randazzo is really raising some eyebrows, big time.
To be fair its better than it was almost a year ago (was it Night of Champions Benoit missed?), surely that was the worst time for public perception ever? Every man and his dog were crawling out of the woodwork to try to bury it. Since then WWE (which lets face it is the general publics perception of wrestling) seem to be well back on track.
I think the show's a joke, but the industry doesn't need help with the "public perception." Fans like it, non-fans ridicule it. The numbers shift from time to time, but since Vinnie admitted to it all being scripted, its just how its been.
So far the line up for that show sounds awesome, come on Frank Stallone! and everyone knows the show will be bad that the reason to tune in. Just like The MTV wrestling show, it was horrible but i tuned in just to see how they would mess it up again. and Just like ECW now i watched just to see what stupid thing Mike Adamle will say. WWE and TNA are not in my book, a place to tune in to watch great wrestling. its the place to tune in and laugh at how stupid the storys have got.
[quote][cite] PWX_Dave:[/cite]Maybe I'm over reacting but I don't think there has been a worse time for public perception of pro wrestling. What do you think? Hogan's new show marks an all time low in my opinion. Is it really that bad of a time for pro wrestling or am I kidding myself thinking it was ever any better?[/quote]
If you think this is the lowest thing that Hogan ever did in his life...you're wayyyy off the mark. The worst thing Hogan did is this. A man's life is destroyed because of his stupid ass spoiled rich son & Hulk Hogan & his son are discussing how to make money off this horrible tragedy. You can't get lower than this. Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk1TEfLeTKs
This is the victim: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psVMHChcuxY
Disgusting!!! I have no respect for Hogan or is damn family. Terrible. Can't get lower than this.
I haven't watched WWE or TNA in a little while and it is mostly because they aren't focusing on decent wrestling. If the story lines were good(Attitude era...cough cough), then I could overlook the crappy wrestling. There is no "story" being told in the match any more. There used to be drama in a well done match. Right now, all they display is hype, and all they deliver is disappointment. The guys who can sell a match are being put on the back burner for the guys who look like genetic freaks.
I miss watching wrestling, but there isn't anything on that really gets me going right now. I have started buying the Mick Foley, ECW, and Ric Flair DVDs to see quality matches. As it stands right now, I find places online that stream the shows so I can just skip to the WWE or TNA matches that sounded good from the internet reports.
I'm reading Ring of Hell right now (literally), and it's pretty stark in its portrayal of the wrestling industry. The writer is a terrible writer however. He implants his opinion in nearly every paragraph, instead of presenting evidence and letting the reader create an opinion, and his grammar and spelling is awful. On the back cover, my most hated spelling error: "[...], and then hung himself[...]" Why do I hate that? "Hung" is used in reference to objects and ideas (hung jury), whereas "hanged" is used for people. It's really sad when a published book misses stuff like that.
Overall, on Chapter 2, I like the stories he presents about stuff that happened with Benoit or other people in the industry, but it's hard to take any of it seriously because he adds so many harsh, childish, and unnecessary attacks throughout. Yes, no one will ever validate Benoit's murder, but there is no need to continually attack him and call every wrestler ever sick, suicidal, sociopaths. I actually Youtubed a match with Dynamite Kid from this book, and I can see what he's talking about.
Well, everyone knows wrestling's not legitimate and Dustin Diamond's been involved in the wrestling industry before. Also, in England we have a show called Faking It and one of the show's had a Ballet dancer faking it as a pro wrestler and it was a great show. We also had Celebrity Wrestling (which was like a piss poor celebrity gladiators starring z-listers and D'Lo Brown, Joe Legend and Roddy Piper)...that was shit. I'm looking forward to Hogans show though. Tough Enough but with celebs getting injured. Might actually get non-wrestling fans interest due to the celebs as well as wrestling fan interest.
As for the public perception of wrestling...who cares. The public only really has a perception of WWE not really of wrestling and WWE is full of drug taking, low class angles and surgically enhanced whores. The perception is basically the truth. That being said, people who don't like wrestling don't watch it so who really cares what they think about it. People in the UK who don't like it still say "As if you like that, it's fake!"....who cares? Not me.
[This was typed in a kind of train-of-thought manner whilst at work - sorry if it is rambling or incoherent]
[quote][cite] EricJ1186:[/cite]I'm reading Ring of Hell right now (literally), and it's pretty stark in its portrayal of the wrestling industry. The writer is a terrible writer however. He implants his opinion in nearly every paragraph, instead of presenting evidence and letting the reader create an opinion, and his grammar and spelling is awful. On the back cover, my most hated spelling error: "[...], and then hung himself[...]" Why do I hate that? "Hung" is used in reference to objects and ideas (hung jury), whereas "hanged" is used for people. It's really sad when a published book misses stuff like that.
Overall, on Chapter 2, I like the stories he presents about stuff that happened with Benoit or other people in the industry, but it's hard to take any of it seriously because he adds so many harsh, childish, and unnecessary attacks throughout. Yes, no one will ever validate Benoit's murder, but there is no need to continually attack him and call every wrestler ever sick, suicidal, sociopaths. I actually Youtubed a match with Dynamite Kid from this book, and I can see what he's talking about.[/quote]
For what it's worth, his publisher sent the wrong copy to press and he doesn't want to raise a big stink about it and possibly hinder the chances of publishing more books through them (he is pitching a Vince bio next). I think the informal, arrogant and bleak approach works for this, as, well, Benoit and the ilk *were* marks. This isn't supposed to be an objective, from all views look into Benoit's life, this is a 350 page argument that the sick, sadistic, addict-riddled pro wrestling industry took Benoit's already fragile emotional state and helped propel him into a world of addiction and self-mutilation, then, ultimately murder.
It isn't supposed to read like a true crime book, instead it is a giant opinion piece on why pro wrestling is crazy. From the reaction I've seen, with menial wrestlers and people from the industry getting up-in-arms and "butthurt" over this book, I think it made a pretty good statement. When Vince has to take an aside on Raw to condemn people for condemning or criticizing the industry, his company, his employees or even his fans, you know this has picked at a pretty nasty scab and made it bleed, even a little bit again.
But that is just me. I barely watch or care about wrestling anymore, it is just too much for me. It is too ridiculous, it is too filthy, so reading this is just a reaffirmation of what I don't watch anymore.
I've been looking for Ring of Fire in stores here but with no luck. Never heard of it until Spunk pointed it out, actually.
It's funny how many of us are getting our wrestling entertainment more and more from books and video games than actual televised wrestling. Sign of the times or are we all just getting old?
I just think televised wrestling has gotten stale. Remember 2003 when Heyman ran smackdown? It was a great show every week, now its just sad. Last year after the Benoit incident they actually started having good wrestling on wwe tv(remember the punk and nitro series?) but it only lasted like 3 months. I wish I could see ROH and Noah all the time they're still good to watch.
I actually disagree at the minute, WWE's PPV's this year have been outstanding compared to preceding years. Rumble, NWO, Mania and One Night Stand have all been well worth watching, Raws been decent in spells and ECW's a decent one hour show. I can't say I watch Smackdown but then that 3 hours a week that I can happily watch. It helps though that its on at daft o'clock at night in the UK though, I stick a tape in for ECW and Raw (and a new Classics show that I haven't seen yet, could be good) and then watch at my leisure through the week.
Add to this the fact that TNA has been relatively focused recently I'm getting quite a wrestling fix at present.
I'm very fortunate in that I get regular RoH and Noah on tv in addition to classic Memphis and St. Loius. For some reason I really enjoy Noah the most even though I honestly have no idea who 90% of the wrestlers are. Something about the way the whole package is presented is just fun to watch.
I think my favorite form of wrestling entertainment for the last few years has been documentaries followed closely by games.
I think the show might strike a chord with the mainstream fans but for me being a die hard fan, I think the show is a bad idea. It paints an even worse picture for the industry not to mention make the real wrestlers look bad, it's trying to say any average joe can pick it up and be a wrestler. The biz is tough. Bret Harts books is a fantastic book and gives you a good idea on the life of a pro wrestler on the outside.
But I'll probably watch the first episode just to see how much it'll stink. . I heard David Arquette is gonna be on the show...(rumor though).
Classic Memphis wrestling is a blast to watch. I love that old tv studio setting. We used to get Memphis Wrestling circa 2001 or so as well as Ohio Valley Wrestling. That was also fun to watch and I wish we still got it although Jimmy Hart's schtick can get a little grating after a while.
I haven't read the Ring of Fire book yet but going by what I've heard I think it's a bit like throwing the baby out with the bath water to base your feelings of pro wrestling as a whole on the negative aspects of the industry. I liken it to the music industry. Easily as rancid as the pro wrestling industry but I wouldn't stop listening to Van Halen because he's an unfaithful alcoholic. Nor would I stop enjoying every artist on a particular record label because the management abused and emotional tortured some of it's roster. I think Benoit and his actions scarred a lot of us and we're looking for a reason to justify abandoning pro wrestling. But as sick and hurtful as his life situation may have been at various points he was faced with choices and he alone is responsible for them. I don't believe you can totally blame a drug dealer for enabling an addict. An addict without drugs is still an addict waiting to use. Benoit didn't need wrestling to have the demons he fostered. But I haven't read the book and I concede that there may be a perspective I'm not aware of.
I'm glad you mentioned the tv studio, it's one of my favorite things about Memphis wrestling. I'd love to see it recreated in PWX one day. They also had great managers (Jimmy Hart, Downtown Bruno) and great heels that scared the living crap out of me as a kid: the Moondogs, Sheepherders, Kamala, Lord Humongous, Master of Pain, Soultaker, etc.
A good facsimile of the Jim Crockett Promotions WCW show studio with the Road Warriors (or a reasonable ripoff therein) would totally rawk. Yes, I said "rawk". Complete with Gordon Solie ripoff deadpanning his play-by-play with all the expertise of the best, but with all the emotion of a doorstop. He REALLY needed a good color guy back then to bounce off of...but that's just me.
I am sick to death of televised wrestling right now. It's so idiotic, I cannot see how it can create new fans.
There are a few rays of hope out there, but until old school guys like Dusty Rhodes and Jim Cornette get back into the creative side of the game, it's going to be pretty downhill.
I think the WWE needs to do one of it's house cleanings and bring in new writers. That always seems to help revitalize things.