"If you smellllalalalaooooh, what The Rock is cooking". "Gimme a HELL YEAH". "You can't see me". "Rest in Peaaccceeee". "You've got....No chance in hell!!!". "Hulkamania is runnin wild, brother".
The above sentences are vintage dialogues of different World Wrestling Entertainment (ya, i believe its a better name than WWF) superstars. The wrestling industry has a been a massive part of the teenage years of most of today's generation. It encompassed all that we believed in. It stood for the brash, no-nonsense, arrogant little snots that a lot of us always aspired to be. It was, and still is a kid's dream. Thus the common notion that wrestling is a thing of the past. An activity that is acceptable and tolerated when you're a little kid, cause frankly, life isn't like that. You cant break rules, whack people and raise hell all the time you want. You have to be a civilized member of the society that we have to live in. Thus the perception that once you're old enough, watching such stuff doesnt make sense. This may be seen as a perfectly viable argument. But it pays to analyze both sides of the coin.
Wrestling is an art form. Its a form of entertainment which tells a story. It is not "men fighting in tights" as people have so grossly and unjustly termed it. It is similar to other art forms like music, cinema or writing. It takes the viewer through an emotional journey. Dont tell me that even the staunchest anti-wrestling fan will not be amused by the promos given by The Rock? These promos alone sold millions of pay-per-view buys. Don't tell me even the most non-violent person alive cannot admire the athleticism and dedication of a star performer like Shawn Michaels? His series of matches over the years have set the bar for all sorts of sports entertainment. And dont tell me that when Stone Cold Steve Austin yelled "Gimme a HELL YEAH", not everyone did? That was what defined the power of wrestling. Cause it took viewers to alternate worlds, alternate states of consciousness, which is what any great art form should do. A common mistake is that the cornerstone of wrestling entertainment is physical confrontation. It is actually a compelling storyline which leads to a physical confrontation. Only if there is a reason to emotionally invest in the product will watching wrestling be popular. Wrestling connects to people in lots of ways. The average man imagines his boss as the wrestler getting his butt kicked. The little teenager imagines himself as the next daredevil like Jeff hardy to do acrobatics. The old man, battered and bruised by the mental stress and strain caused to him by LIFE, just imagines all the people who have done him wrong as people who's butt he's always wanted to kick. Wrestling gives him that satisfaction. Arent empathy and living vicariously the main reasons why music, films and novels came to into existence. Its all ENTERTAINMENT. Which is what people turn to after a stressful day.
Romantic songs, comedy films, action flicks and inspirational writing. All art forms. Another similarity among them - All fiction. Fake. Hocum. Full of Crap. Nonsense to make money. But why do we associate ourselves with and appreciate them. Cause they take us to "altered states of consicousness". Cause they make us feel things. Cause they make us realize what we CAN FEEL if we are in a certain state, not what we DO FEEL. My biggest frustration is that people say wrestling is "fake" and thus criticize it. So what? Even movies and stories are fake. Do we argue with George Lucas when he mentions "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..."? No we accept that it all is fake. But are we enjoying the story? Damn yes. Hell, most times artists dont even mention that their creations are set in some other world. Then why this bigotry towards wrestling?? Why the unnecessary questioning of its reality? Why the devaluing of its companies and performers?? These double standards are glaringly evident to me.
The wrestling business is a highly profitable one. Cause wrestling promotions, wrestlers and the media work very hard to develop a product that is appealing to the target audience. The storylines have lots of sensibilities and references to current developments. Of course, a lot of them are bad, predictable stories. But yeah, even the movie biz has a majority of flops (at least bollywood :p) and most writers are copycats too. So this makes it similar, not as people view, opposite, to other art forms. The principle of using violence to solve conflict is a highly debatable one, but i think even movies and novels have highly controversial themes. Its just that some minds are open enough to accept that its entertainment, not reality and others actually try to apply the Four Noble Truths designed by Buddha to a wrestling feud. These are the actual "stupid kids". As far as the issue of wrestlers dying due to steroid and drug abuse, thats a topic for a separate post itself. But i will say this. Every profession has its pros and cons. Even a fireman can die. He too willingly puts himself in danger. Its completely his choice. Does that mean no one becomes a fireman??
I am a self-confessed massive wrestling fan. I believe it is a great way to tell a story and it should be acknowledged as one, no matter if it is appreciated or criticized. In fact wrestling does not mean WWE, there are a hundred other wrestling promotions and companies. It is highly, highly popular and is a multi-billion dollar industry. And its popularity is spread throughout the world. Right from the USA to Germany and from Australia to Japan. Speaking of Japan, i have a theory that the Japanese are the authority on the most compelling art forms. Be it games, sports, music or movies, the Japanese can tell a emotionally moving art form from a highly bland one. And guess what, wrestling is most popular not in the USA, but in Japan. I have added some links here of some wrestling fan sites, hoping some of you will check them out and see for yourself what wrestling really is.
www.prowrestling.net
www.pwtorch.com
Now in the undying wrestling words - "Thats the bottom line cause Stone Cold says so".
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