Line of thinking from a mark.....

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

Ok does anyone remember your line of thinking as mark? I always wondered what everyone thought as a mark and how if we can remember that we can prove some mistakes WWE makes. I remember one of them i had as a mark was for guys that no sell.

Everytime I saw a guy that would no sell I would think "You can't hurt him!" so whenever someone up and coming wrestled them I would pass them off as a jobber who would get squashed because "You can't hurt that guy!" And most of the time I was right.

Anyone else think of a line of thinking you had as a mark that proved some shitty things on TV?

[Guest razazteca]

cheering for a wrestler will prevent the Sleeper from being effective because if its loud in the arena then the guy will not fall asleep.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

I used to have a mental picture of something similar to health bars in a fighting video game at the top of the screen or something. And as the match went on the bars would go lower... And lower...

 

Mick Foley could defy health bar physics, though, fighting on well after a "FINISH HIM" sized bump.

 

Also, McMahon/Austin in the cage saw Vince defied the health bar system as well. If a match went on 5 more minutes longer than I expected it to finish, it suddently became a Good Match and I was on the edge of my seat. Because, back then, I gave a shit about midcarder feuds and the like.

[Guest Mazelmavin]

About the cheering for the face in a hold (or any "face in peril" situation):

 

If the wrestlers are good, it does matter. In a good match with good workers, they should feed off the crowd. The face is in danger, the face gets the crowd behind him, the face makes a comeback (or fails).

 

I have seen matches where the crowd cheers and cheers, but nothing happens. When the face finally takes over, the crowd doesn't give a shit anymore. All because the wrestlers involved could not improvise and deviate from there carefully scripted match.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

I used to think that Hulk Hogan was overrated.

 

Now I realize I was being generous.

[Guest MaxPower27]

I used to believe that Tatanka was a real talent, and was really undefeated, until that BASTARD Ludvig Borga pinned him with one finger. I was depressed for the rest of the day.

[Guest The Superstar]

I was almost in tears when HHH turned on X-Pac at Wrestlemania XV.

 

"But DX just got back together! This isn't right!! Why?!?!?"

[Guest wwF1587]

I almost broke my foot when shane screwed austin at the survivor series 98... i was seriously pissed.. ahh good times....

[Guest Respect The 'Taker]

I loved Bret for turning on the USA simply 'cause i didn't like American's.

 

...what do you mean he didn't mean it?

[Guest Downhome]

How about listing your current ages also?

 

I'm 22, and I haven't been a "mark" since 1995 or so, somewhere around there. I was "unmarked" before the widespread exposure to the business, so ya know. I never believed some of the things you guys are saying, but I did at one time think it was a true unscripted competition at one time.

[Guest The Superstar]

Well, I'm 15, and I started watching wrestling in 1998 (when I was around 10). I was a mark until 2000...

 

I started watching full RAWs the day after KOTR 98. I remember Shamrock winning the King of Kings match against Owen and HHH, and thinking "Shamrock is the true King! He is unstoppable!!"

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

Well I'm 18 and have been watching wrestling since about 1990. I've was leaning away from markishness in 97 and was pretty much full blown smark by 99.

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

I'm 16 and I've been somewhat of a smark since I first really watched wrestling like I do now in October '97. I thought most of the old guys in WCW were boring as hell (except for Piper...I will ALWAYS mark for Piper), the cruisers the highlight of the show, and I knew Austin was going to be HUUUUUUUGE.

 

Been a full-blown smark since October '99 when I got the 'net.

[Guest CanadianChick]

I was a mark for a long time actually...I turned smark around 2000 and I've been watching wrestling since about Wrestlemania X I think but I didn't really watch that much until Wrestlemania XII, so there you go.

[Guest MaxPower27]

I'm 19, and have been watching since around 'Mania VI. I got SMRT when I was about 12 or 13.

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

Well guys I don't really mean what you thought as a mark but what I mean is things they do they do in the ring that made you think something as a mark that just proved how shitty said thing was. Like the no selling thing. To a mark it ruins any credibility of those challenging them and makes them look like the toughest guy out there.

Hell I used to think Ahmed Johnson could easily win the world title because "He was big and mean and you can't hurt him!" same thing with Farooq. And when UT challenged Rock for the IC title I was like "UT's going to be IC champion! No way Rock can beat him! Rocky isn't as good as UT! UT's the best! You can't hurt him!"

[Guest EternallyLazy]

I'm 20 and I've been watching wrestling since about 1987, although my clearest memory is the Hogan/Savage build to WrestleMania 5. I even remember watching the SNME when Savage turned on Hogan... ahhhh, good times.

 

I was the typical kid wrestling mark. I cheered the faces and I booed the heels. The only heel I cheered was Ravishing Rick Rude, because I met the man at a small "bomb scare" event which was advertised for a week, and I was one of about 35 people that attended.

 

Anyway, I started to "smarten" up to wrestling a little after 1990. My parents broke the news to me about wrestling being "fake" and it was like they were telling me Santa Claus didn't exist. I was crushed... and pissed, because I argued with them about it for hours. Infact, I don't think I believed them until a week later when I stumbled across a video called "secrets of Pro wrestling" (this was LONG before the NBC special a few years ago) at my local video rental store. I rented it... and it was actually an entertaining tape from what I remember. They exposed how wrestlers work including basic bumps and shit like that. The men, like the NBC special, wore masks, but the tape revolved around exposing the actual ways a match are put together instead of the behind the scenes stuff (bookers, plants etc.)

 

I knew then that wrestling wasn't what I once thought it was... but I was still somewhat of a mark. Just slightly more educated. I stopped watching wrestling in 92 because of several reasons... Hogan left WWF, mom took cable away, and WCCW wasn't being shown anymore on local television. From then on, I took the "wrestling is fake" attitude, and when the wrestling boom hit again in 97, I remember being annoyed at all of the new "wrestling geeks" wondering the halls of the high school, flashing gang like hand signals and wearing nWo shirts. It wasn't until 1999 when I started to check this wrestling stuff out, including discovering the wonders of "smarkism" on the internet

[Guest EternallyLazy]

Well guys I don't really mean what you thought as a mark but what I mean is things they do they do in the ring that made you think something as a mark that just proved how shitty said thing was. Like the no selling thing. To a mark it ruins any credibility of those challenging them and makes them look like the toughest guy out there.

Hell I used to think Ahmed Johnson could easily win the world title because "He was big and mean and you can't hurt him!" same thing with Farooq. And when UT challenged Rock for the IC title I was like "UT's going to be IC champion! No way Rock can beat him! Rocky isn't as good as UT! UT's the best! You can't hurt him!"

I hate it when the announcers refuse to put over someone's accomplishments... typically with heels. Like how JR always took a "he's a gold medalist? Who cares?!" attitude with Angle... because marks hear that and they end up thinking the exact same thing

[Guest Angle-plex]

I was never really 100% mark. I used to always hate Bret Hart even when he was a face. I liked Austin when he was a heel. I used to like Taker a lot too.

 

I remember seeing Dr. Issack Yankem and thought he was cool. I also liked Ahmed Johnson.

[Guest candie45]

I started the process of becoming 'smark' when we got the internet in 99. I first went on the Jericho message board (that thing went to hell) and started learning more about the business. Then, I found the Rajah message boards and became a smark. That board also sucks now.

 

I remember when I was a mark my very first favorite was the Undertaker. I didn't get the big deal about Austin during his huge face run either. I loved DX and Kane. (I know, I had good taste, right?)

 

I didn't even start out liking wrestling by watching it. My brothers used to watch it all the time and I'd want to be a tag along and watch when I was younger. I was fascinated by it... by it was always on past my bedtime and my mom would have to pry me away from the TV. She also didn't like it when I watched ECW with my brother because she said it was too violent. But anyway, I was kind of a smark in the beginning even though I was like 9 because I loved the wrestling part of it. I didn't even know there were like storylines and stuff until I really got into it. I just played wrestling nintendo games with my bro and stuff, enjoying the wrestling aspect and I became a mark when I started getting watching the storylines.

[Guest razazteca]

I used to think that Hulk Hogan was overrated.

 

Now I realize I was being generous.

so true just look at the times when the heel was controlling the match then out of nowhere the HULK UP starts the 5 Moves of Doom for the pin

 

Hogan vs Slaughter pissed me off big time....cheesy patroitic BS heat

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

I'm 22 and started watching wrestling in 1988, but was never really a true mark. I certainly knew it was fake, even before I started watching. I still pretty much act the same way now, although most of you don't see it because I am usually in full-blown smark mode when I come to this board. I didn't know alot until 1997 when I got the internet, but I heard about enough stuff.

 

The only work I ever truly believed was the Shawn Michaels collapse on RAW against Owen Hart. That was shocking at the time.

 

I didn't care about Hogan at all until the Warrior feud, when I wanted him to job the title. Then I didn't care about him until Royal Rumble 1992 when I completely turned on him (Sid was my favourite wrestler at the time) and have hated him ever since.

 

While watching Wrestlemania VII, I left after Dibiase/Virgil because I had seen everything I wanted to. As far as I was concerned at the time, Warrior/Savage was the main event.

 

I liked Jake Roberts for the longest time, and my mother thought it was strange when I felt Warrior & Savage had it coming during Snake's heel run. The Cobra attack was the best thing I had ever seen in the WWF at the time (I was 11), even though I didn't mind Savage.

 

My favourite wrestlers tend to be all over the map, but it should tell you that I wasn't a normal mark. This is WWF only.

 

1988 - Ted Dibiase, Jake Roberts, Randy Savage, Fabulous Rougeaus

MOST HATED: Ken Patera

 

1989 - Mr. Perfect, Rougeaus, Brainbusters, Rick Rude, Ted Dibiase (until he injured Jake in the summer), Randy Savage, Jake Roberts

MOST HATED: Red Rooster

 

1990 - Mr. Perfect, Rick Rude, Jake Roberts, Power & Glory

MOST HATED: Tito Santana

 

1991 - Mr. Perfect, Power & Glory, Ted Dibiase, Mountie, Jake Roberts, Ric Flair

MOST HATED: Tito Santana

 

1992 - Sid, Jake Roberts, Ric Flair, Mountie, Repo Man, Money Inc

MOST HATED: Hulk Hogan

 

1993 - Mr. Perfect, Money Inc, Quebecers

MOST HATED: Hulk Hogan

 

1994 - Jeff Jarrett, Owen Hart, IRS

MOST HATED: Lex Luger

 

1995 - Jeff Jarrett, Shawn Michaels (the only time I ever really liked him), Owen Hart

MOST HATED: Razor Ramon

 

1996 - Steve Austin, Owen Hart

MOST HATED: Jake Roberts (He sold out)

 

1997 - Steve Austin, Bret Hart, Owen Hart, British Bulldog, Brian Pillman

MOST HATED: Shawn Michaels

 

1998 - I quit watching after Pillman's death, because I simply hated the way the storylines were heading. The only year in history that I liked WCW more than the WWF. I never really liked the WWF until after Russo left, but I was at least watching again by Royal Rumble 1999.

 

1999 - The Rock, Chris Jericho, Jeff Jarrett, Owen Hart

MOST HATED: Steve Austin or DX (I can't pick, although I tolerated HHH & Gunn after they left the group)

 

2000 - Radicalz, Kurt Angle, HHH, Edge & Christian

MOST HATED: Godfather

 

2001 - Benoit, Angle, Austin (post-heel turn), Lance Storm, Edge & Christian, Booker T

MOST HATED: Austin (pre-heel turn) & Undertaker

 

2002 - Benoit, Angle, Eddy, Chavo, Mattitude

MOST HATED: nWo

[Guest Jack Tunney]

I was a "smart mark" but not in the way we know it. A good example is that I knew the Repo Man was Smash as soon as I saw him.

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

I was a "smart mark" but not in the way we know it. A good example is that I knew the Repo Man was Smash as soon as I saw him.

I think everybody knew that. And that Undertaker was "Mean" Mark Callous.

[Guest LooseCannon]

Back in the late 80's, early 90's, I'd hate it when wrestlers would do a move off the top rope, because the guy on the mat would move most of the time. I really bought into that announcer line about them being "high risk" maneuvers and so often thought that wrestlers who did these moves were stupid.

[Guest Will Scarlet]

I am 21 and started watching wrestling at some point in the mid-80s. I started my road to smarkdom around 94ish when I called a wrestling hotline that would often mention things like Meltzer and Keller. I still find it funny when the guy on the hotline said that WCW would come back to squash the WWF after the WWF finally beat WCW in the ratings after like 82 weeks.

 

I remember hating the the hot tag format as a mark. I always wondered why the one guy just doesn't dump his partner because the partner is getting beat up all the time. The partner just always looked weak if he played the "Ricky Morton" role too much. Though, I always loved it when Scott Steiner played the role because he would always come back and get the pin.

 

To this day, late 1993 WCW is still one of my favourite periods in wrestling history. I was so mad when Hogan was signed to WCW because I felt that the period from Clash when Shockmaster debuted to the Ric Flair-Hogan match was one of my personal favourites.

 

I remember being a huge Shockmaster fan, and was quite depressed when he vanished off the face of WCW. I remember when I saw him debut, I was like "OMG~! TYPHOON~!"

 

I also remember saying that Stevie Ray, Marty Jannetty, and Jim Neidhart were going to become the big stars of their teams, while Booker, Michaels, and Bret Hart were going to be going nowhere.

 

The only heels I ever cheered as a mark were Rick Rude, Terra Ryzing, and Steve Austin(WCW version.) I should actually be happy that Ryzing is now one of the biggest stars in the WWE, and is getting the push I always wanted him to have. Too bad I cannot stand him now.

 

Oh yeah, and I actually liked the Blue Chipper Rocky Maivia. I guess because I saw him on USWA as "Flex Kavana." I always cheered for guys I saw in indies who became big stars. Other notable examples would be Chris Jericho, Lance Storm, and the Headbangers.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

I guess I'm the exception to the rule. When I first started watching ('88) my dad explained, "It was fake." This got me interested in the actual business, and I began to look for subtle hints to the faeness, like a guy a magic show. I've been a smark for a LONG LONG time, even though I wasn't on the net till 97.

 

Here's one line of reasoning from a mark I met on AIM:

 

"HHH is da best because even though it's fake, it's based on real events, like on Tough Enough"

 

WTF? Is THIS who the WWE is courting?

[Guest Respect The 'Taker]

I used to like Taker a lot too.

*sigh* Join the club...

 

And Corey is only fuckin' 16???? I could of SWORN you were 26 easy...

 

UYI - Is wrong...again

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

UYI, I actually get that a lot. Why is it? Is it because I can type English, or because I actually know my shit usually?

[Guest Respect The 'Taker]

More that you know your shit, you seem very experienced in a lot of life related issues, and i thought that would be due to your slightly older age.

 

Oh well, Saturnmark told me i appeared WAY older than 18 too..so eh...