Guest RenegadeX28 Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 I was thinking about this. Let's say that no wrestling insider sites, like 1Wrestling, TheMayhem, etc, never existed. There would be no news on how HHH is holding everyone down, or there would be no wrestling rumors. What would all of you think of the WWE then? Would you have the same thoughts about wrestling in general right now?
Guest Brian Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 There would still be some people subscribing to the Observer from back in the pre-internet days.
Guest Downhome Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 (This isn't anything specific about what's going on right now in WWE, but I just wanted to say this.) I would be a much happier Pro. Wrestling fan. I would still believe that anyone could win at any time. I would still believe that they were still worthy to be called hero's, I would still be able to mark out at EVERY move just like everyone else did back in the day. I would still believe that the 1-2-3 Kid just MIGHT win the Royal Rumble. I wouldn't KNOW who is going to win a match, just because he's injured legit. I would still believe that when someone really sells an injury, he's really hurt, and could really care. I could still believe in the underdogs. I could really hate the heels thinking that they are REALLY like that. I cold really be shocked when someone debuts, when someon turns, and when something "shocking" happens, and above all... ...I would still be a mark.
Guest Downhome Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 By the way, can you IMAGINE how all of us would have felt, had we had NO idea it was going on, when Vince McMahon's face appeared as soon as that infamous Nitro began? I don't know about you, but I just might have had a heart attack and died right there. Then the shots from RAW, then back to Nitro, etc... and THEN when Shane walked out... ...right there, I wanted to be a true mark more than ever. Had I not had any information about that happening, that would have been one of the most shocking thing ever in my life, and I'm sure it would have been for you people also.
Guest Kahran Ramsus Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 It wouldn't be much different than the old days, were we got everything on print instead of over the internet. I was never really a mark. My mother started training me to be a smark ever since I started watching in 1988 during the WWF Title vacancy.
Guest Downhome Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 It wouldn't be much different than the old days, were we got everything on print instead of over the internet. I was never really a mark. My mother started training me to be a smark ever since I started watching in 1988 during the WWF Title vacancy. Wow, I can't imagine that. All of you guys who are like that, really missed a lot, even if you don't think so.
Guest RavishingRickRudo Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 I probably wouldn't watch any more because nothing would interest me.
Guest Kahran Ramsus Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 If you want to be a mark again, it is quite easy. Just turn off the computer. Prior to last year, I had no internet access at my cottage for 4 months in the summer, and basically lived as a mark. I'm sort of a mark anyways, I just happen to mark out for Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle instead of RVD & HBK. I was always like that. From my first show at Age 7, my favourite wrestler was Ted Dibiase, before being replaced by Mr. Perfect when he arrived (who remains my favourite wrestler of all time). The smark side tends to come out when I'm pissed with the product, which is happening as we speak.
Guest Downhome Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 If you want to be a mark again, it is quite easy. Just turn off the computer. Prior to last year, I had no internet access at my cottage for 4 months in the summer, and basically lived as a mark. I'm sort of a mark anyways, I just happen to mark out for Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle instead of RVD & HBK. I was always like that. From my first show at Age 7, my favourite wrestler was Ted Dibiase, before being replaced by Mr. Perfect when he arrived (who remains my favourite wrestler of all time). The smark side tends to come out when I'm pissed with the product, which is happening as we speak. I hear ya, but I can't just turn off the computer now, I just can't do it. I have always been a Smark. I always loved Hulk Hogan and the such, but then again I always loved The Dibiase's, Perfect's, Steamboat's, Flair's, so on and so on. I will admit though... ...I marked for Brutus, I marked for Earthquake (especially his finisher!), I marked for Luger, I marked fo Hacksaw (ah hell, I'd still mark out for the poor guy if he showed up on WWE TV), and I marked for all of these other guys like this.
Guest RavishingRickRudo Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 Um, liking good wrestlers isn't a "smarkish" thing to do, it's what a wrestling fan does.
Guest DJ Jeff Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 The outcomes for matches wouldn't be so predictable. I know before I had access to the Internet, everything came as a shock. I'll even admit when someone got injured, even if it was part of the storyline, I thought it was real. Then, I got the Internet, and started reading up on all the rumors. That's when everything got so predictable.
Guest TheyCallMeMark Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 I'm glad I'm a smark... otherwise I'd just be an idiot. Now I'm just a geek, and I think I'm a geek anyway.
Guest RenegadeX28 Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 Yep, everything came as a shock for me. I remember when Austin returned at Backlash 2000, to help Rocky win, I never even knew that "smart marks' existed. I thought, "Austin ain't coming, it is almost the end of the PPV." If I was a smart mark, right away, the internet headline......... Austin confirmed to make appearance at Backlash "Austin is confirmed to make a short appearance at Backlash. Rumor has it that he will have something to do with the main event. If I read that, I would have missed one hell of a mark out moment. I REALLY HATED HHH. The entire year, HHH and Steph controlled the WWF, and screwed everyone. Rock was my favorite wrestler, and everytime he had the chance to win, HHH and his cronies would kill it. When Austin came, and made the Rock win, wow, what a rush! At the current pace I am going, I will never be able to enjoy WWE like that again.
Guest Kahran Ramsus Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 Isn't 2000 a little late to still be a mark?
Guest IDrinkRatsMilk Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 By the way, can you IMAGINE how all of us would have felt, had we had NO idea it was going on, when Vince McMahon's face appeared as soon as that infamous Nitro began? That happened to me. I did the most cartoonish double take and eye-rub. From time to time, if wrestling starts to bore me, I will just drop out of the internet wrestling scene for a while. It always works. Then when I come back to it, that's fun too, cause I get to hear about all this crazy backstage stuff I had no idea about.
Guest RenegadeX28 Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 That Nitro thing...........man, I would have been shocked! HELL HAS FROZEN OVER!! I was happy that day, because I got to see a little bit of RAW, since around that time, TNN was not here yet!
Guest treble charged Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 The thing is, the WWF buying WCW made legit news. It was in a whole bunch of newspapers over that weekend and that Monday, so, unless you don't read newspapers, you wouldn't even have to have gone on the Internet to get that news.
Guest IDrinkRatsMilk Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 Damn, I guess I was lucky that weekend. For whatever odd combination of events, I had no idea of the WCW purchase. The last thing I had heard on the matter was Linda McMahon saying they no interest in it. The same thing happened when Foley won the title, I usually watched Nitro, but for some reason I didn't see them give it away. And those two things are probably the most significant wrestling memories I have.
Guest RavishingRickRudo Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 I found wrestling MORE predictable as a "mark". As a "smark" you have to take things like Political affiliation, train of thought, past booking, etc. into consideration. It over-complicates things.
Guest dreamer420 Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 I was thinking about this. Let's say that no wrestling insider sites, like 1Wrestling, TheMayhem, etc, never existed. There would be no news on how HHH is holding everyone down, or there would be no wrestling rumors. What would all of you think of the WWE then? Would you have the same thoughts about wrestling in general right now? I haven't read much news about HHH holding people down on these sites. All that kind of stuff comes from boards like this one.
Guest jester Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 I think that we'd still be pretty annoyed with the product in general, even if we had no smark outlets. You don't need a dirt sheet to tell you that some hoss' punch-stomp-kick-clothesline offense is boring as hell, or that you want to see RVD at the top of the card, but he isn't there. You just wouldn't know all of the backstage reasons for it.
Guest creativename Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 One thing is for sure, I would still be a HHHater; and in fact, probably a lot bigger HHHater than I am. When I was litte and a complete mark, I hated Hogan more than anything in the world. I never heard rumors or anything like that, but just from watching the TV it was apparent his ego was out of control, and more importantly it was clear to me that he was holding the wrestlers that I really marked out for (Savage, Perfect, etc.) down. Though of course I wouldn't have known the terms then. It's just that it seemed like everything WWF was only to make Hogan look better. I always knew that he would win every match, and that he'd make his opponent look like sh*t. I know that if I was that young mark again, I wouldn't be able to stand everything revolving around HHH. Especially since I'm almost positive Jericho would be by favorite wrestler; HHH is like Hogan to Jericho's Savage, only much worse. As a smark, I can actually ignore HHH more than I could if I was a mark. I know it's not going to get any better, so I'm just like "whatever". If I was a mark, I'd have hope...and that hope would be constantly getting crushed. The fact is, it was that consant crushing of hope that made me stop watching WWF back in the day. I watched for years, until finally around '90 or so I just gave up on it. I stopped watching for 10 f*ckin' years because Hogan pissed me off so much. Ironically, Hogan was getting phased out of the WWF at the time, and would soon job to Undertaker, who was one of my favorites also. That would have been an all-time markout moment for me, if I had seen it.
Guest razazteca Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 Even back in the early days you could notice that it was worked, really it does not take a genius to notice that Hogan's offense was/is beyond believe hella lame. He would defend the belt maybe 3 times the year then disappear to make a movie, get the belt back in the easiest manner the second he returns, defend it once in 6 months then make another lame movie. sounds familiar? well history repeats itself.
Guest RenegadeX28 Posted December 15, 2002 Report Posted December 15, 2002 I was thinking about this. Let's say that no wrestling insider sites, like 1Wrestling, TheMayhem, etc, never existed. There would be no news on how HHH is holding everyone down, or there would be no wrestling rumors. What would all of you think of the WWE then? Would you have the same thoughts about wrestling in general right now? I haven't read much news about HHH holding people down on these sites. All that kind of stuff comes from boards like this one. That's where "ETC" comes in. I was too lazy to type in more sites......
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