How the internet ruins wrestling.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

PWTorch.com Guest Editorial

Michael Berman, Westford, Mass.

PWTorch.com reader

 

Wrestling is fake. There is no denying that. Granted the injuries can be real, the deaths are more than real, but all and all the concept of pro-wrestling is entertainment. Well why is it that this is the only form of entertainment that 30-65 percent of an audience doesn't like but continues to watch?

 

What am I talking about? I am talking about you, yes, you reading this column right now. Those who have watched shows like Raw and Smackdown and say that the shows suck or say that they are stupid but continue to watch it. Are you mad yet? I am insulting you and your "freedom of speech" you must be saying, if you don't like what we say don't read it. Well here lies the problem. I am not writing this for me. I am writing this for them, the marks, the fans who don't have the understanding of the business as say you or I.

 

These are the fans that type in wrestling on a search engine and come across websites, due to my journalistic integrity I will not slam websites but we all know whom I am referring to. Once these fans sift through the "Naked pics of Trish Stratus," they come across the "reputable" websites who give a legitimate take on wrestling in the world today.

 

So what is my point, my point is that people write their views and feelings, negative or positive about say for example the WWE. They write what stinks about it, what needs to change about it, how much the writers stink. Well you know what, maybe it does suck. What I want to know, and I am sure there are people out there like me who want to know, what would you do? If the shows are so boring and lame how would you fix it. If your going to trash the booking tell us what you would do. That is all I ask.

 

So this leads me to my subject. The internet ruined the wrestling industry because it is so one-sided and jaded. People say that, for example, Chris Beniot should be the champion. Well let me tell you something. If he should be champion, then so should a guy like Lance Storm. Do you want to know the difference between them and Kurt Angle? Kurt Angle has mic skills and wrestling talent. The days of someone just being a "grappler" is dead. Granted Storm and Beniot are both very talented but they are not "championship material" in the WWE today. Why is Triple H still champ? Why is Kevin Nash pushed despite his lack of moves? Because they have the charisma. They know how to market themselves to get the butts in the seats.

 

Granted it's not 1998 anymore, we don't have the element of completion that we had before. But it's still the whole gimmick that gets a guy over whether face or heel not just how well he can put on a Sharpshooter. Now to play devil's advocate I will give the example of Sting. He said absolutely nothing from 1996-1997 but why was he over? Because the storyline was a booker's dream. He had mystique and would come down from the rafters or just stay up there with his bat and point and say absolutely nothing. His program was against an entire gang, which is why he didn't have to speak, which is why when he said "LA MAMA CITA" after his "win" at Starcade '97, it was almost humorous.

 

In closing, I would like to say that I want feedback. I would LOVE feedback. I want to know why I am a "fan boy" or a "smart" or even god forbid a "mark." Because you know what, I would rather be a mark and enjoy what is supposed to be entertainment than be bitter and complain about every little thing in this business. I wish I never discovered the internet "dirt sheets." I wish none of you did either because maybe if these didn't exist than maybe just maybe you could enjoy something that you enjoyed as a child or as a teenager, but you know the difference, you would be not a critic, but a fan!

 

 

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I was going to reply with my usual statement about how Vince McMahon ruined wrestling by:

 

1. Focusing on "stars" instead of "talent" because it's far easier to put a good match together then to find the next Rock. If only we could go back in time and educate the fans differently.

 

2. Admitting wrestling was predetermined and then not changing any of the booking to reflect the fact that everyone knows that. Seriously...in this post "Vince came on live TV and exposed the business" world...how did Katie Vick ever happen? One guy kills and rapes a girl and now we will fake punch and fake kick each other to a predetermined conclusion!

 

The wrestling fans are split in two parts. Marks and Smarks. It seems impossible to cater to both. Smarks aren't going to get off the net...so "in theory" the only answer is to educate the marks and run your business differently.

 

I wish I could find the clip of Vince opening RAW and explaining that we fans are too smart for "good guys" and "bad guys" and that we're tired of having our intelligence insulted. That would be in my sig right now.

 

 

 

Anyway...I was too lazy to do all that...so instead I'll say this:

 

 

Well...I guess he told you.

[Guest Steviekick]

His argument about why Storm/Benoit will never be champion has one HUGE hole in it. Even to a mark, a wrestler who has a much wider moveset will ALWAYS appear to be better than someone with a limited one. It's up to the booking and commentaters to promote/push them as a viable title contender. Back in my mark days and from watching wrestling with other marks, we'd always be into guys who did all kinds of different moves, as opposed to just hitting them with your knee. Back in the early 90s I always thought that Ricky Steamboat was the bomb diggity in WCW because his matches had so much more to them than Sting or Luger.

[Guest Random Hero]

Nash knows how to get butts on seats? Then why's he been holding back all these years.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

Bad wrestling and back stage politics have hurt wrestling more then the internet.

[KTID 0]

I wish I could find the clip of Vince opening RAW and explaining that we fans are too smart for "good guys" and "bad guys" and that we're tired of having our intelligence insulted. That would be in my sig right now.

 

 

"This is a conscious effort on our part to open the creative envelope, so to speak, to entertain you in a more contemporary way. We in the WWF think you, the audience, are, quite frankly, tired of having your intelligence insulted. We also think you're tired of the same old simplistic theory of 'good guys versus bad guys'. Therefore, we've embarked upon an innovative, contemporary campaign that is more invigorating and extemporaneous than before." - Vince McMahon delivers his 'New Direction' speech, Raw, December 1997.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

THANK YOU!!!!!

[Guest Super Pissed Smark]

Doesn't the Torch print something along these lines every few weeks? Glad the marks are enjoying themselves, filling the arenas and setting records in buy rates every month. Go team!

[Guest Eagan469]

Let's invite this guy to the board. Knock some sense into him...

[Guest Anglesault]

So, basically, we should like the shows and find them entertaining because we're supposed to.

[Guest Super Pissed Smark]

Being a complete fucking idiot, I re-read that again and I can't figure out what the hell the guy's point is. He wants us to be critical in constructive ways, not just bitching but making suggestions, (which would actually encompass the content of most threads on this and every other smark board and site on the web, so I don't know what he's on about there). Then, not three paragraphs later, he doesn't want us to bitch, critique or make any suggestions, he just wants us to shut up and watch, like we did when we were a child, a six-year-old perhaps, who, in his little universe, won't think Test sucks. Great. Thanks for writing that. I hope Wade didn't pay for it.

 

And he doesn't see any difference between Chris Benoit and Lance Storm? Dumb-ass.

[Guest Eagan469]

I found some dirt on Michael Berman!

 

Usenet name: MottolaVersion2

E-Mail: [email protected]

AIM: MottolaVersion2

 

All of his Usenet posts:

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=mottolav...&sa=G&scoring=d

 

^ read those posts - the man's a hypocrite

[Guest Eagan469]

also, he's a hypocrite who likes to copy and paste news from *dirt* sites

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

People who "just want to be a mark again" make me laugh...

[Guest The Old Me]

I found some dirt on Michael Berman!

 

Usenet name: MottolaVersion2

E-Mail: [email protected]

AIM: MottolaVersion2

 

All of his Usenet posts:

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=mottolav...&sa=G&scoring=d

 

^ read those posts - the man's a hypocrite

Smarks UNITE! Put this guy on your AIM and flame him. J/K.

 

I liked the Nash comment, about putting asses in the seats. Douchebag.

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

Why is Triple H still champ? Why is Kevin Nash pushed despite his lack of moves? Because they have the charisma. They know how to market themselves to get the butts in the seats.

 

So that's why Nash has been booed despite being a face and why Nash is one of the if not THE lowest drawing champs in WWF history?

 

HHH hasn't exactly been setting the ratings on fire either.

 

I wish I never discovered the internet "dirt sheets." I wish none of you did either because maybe if these didn't exist than maybe just maybe you could enjoy something that you enjoyed as a child or as a teenager, but you know the difference, you would be not a critic, but a fan!

 

So as a mark we're supposed to find Necrophilia and Al Wilson entertaining?

[Guest wrestlingbs]

This is one of the most idiotic things I've read on the net.

 

Ok, not really, I've seen worse.

 

But come on. He REALLY comes off as a whiny bitch at the end. 'Oh no, I wish I never found out wrestling was fake! Oh no, why is the world so cruel?' DEAL WITH IT, PANSY! If you like the WWE, then like it. If you hate the WWE, then hate it. But don't write a letter to a wrestling website complaining that all the internet wrestling fans should act like children and not have an opinion. It's not like everybody thinks Benoit should be champ or Nash sucks, and even if they do why do you care? It's their opinion, and if the WWE is such the great company you say it is they shouldn't be affected.

 

You know, I want to know why PWtorch put this up. This isn't even a clear argument and doesn't really have a point. It's just some guy randomly attacking generalities in the IWC.

[Guest Eagan469]

I invited Michael Berman to post in this thread - just so he gets a chance to defend his statements.

[Guest The Old Me]

Please Michael, come here. We'll have to move it to NHB of course.

[SpikeFayeJettEdBebop 0]

HAHAHAHA,This is so funny....But seriously who ever told you guys wrestling was fake? Triple H will never loose because he is the strongest...not any other silly reasons that you guys think of.......

[Guest Dangerous A]

Bad wrestling and back stage politics have hurt wrestling more then the internet.

Actually, bad writing and storylines have hurt it even worse than the bad in ring and politics.

[Guest saturnmark4life]

There is a decent argument that if you didn't take it so seriously, you might enjoy it more. I know lots of casual fans who jokingly say 'Triple H always wins cos he's the best!' just cos they know it's all silly really and they're just playing along. I don't disagree with any criticisms against this guy, though.

[Guest CanadianChick]

So he is complaining about the internet and dirtsheets on one of the big 'news' sites? That's, um,wow. What a hypocrite.

[Guest Eagan469]

So he is complaining about the internet and dirtsheets on one of the big 'news' sites? That's, um,wow. What a hypocrite.

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=mottolav...&sa=G&scoring=d

[Guest The Hamburglar]

My, the smell of decomposing beaten horse corpse certainly does reek on a grand scale. Its up to Crime and Punishment levels.

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

Just sitting back and enjoying the crap isn't going to help the WWE change at all. The more people that shun the crap that WWE is putting out the better.

[Guest The Grand Pubah of 1620]

I could care less about the mans credibility, but he made some good points. Some of the things he said I have said here before. With about the same reaction.

[Guest bob_barron]

Like what points? You probably get the same reaction because this guy's points are asinine.

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

So I'm supposed to keep my mouth shut and enjoy it even though it's crap?

 

I don't make it crap no matter how I feel about it. The writers do.

 

How are we wrong when even members of WWE and other wrestlers think things are bad?

[Guest The Grand Pubah of 1620]

Like what points? You probably get the same reaction because this guy's points are asinine.

Here you go,

 

So this leads me to my subject. The internet ruined the wrestling industry because it is so one-sided and jaded. People say that, for example, Chris Beniot should be the champion. Well let me tell you something. If he should be champion, then so should a guy like Lance Storm. Do you want to know the difference between them and Kurt Angle? Kurt Angle has mic skills and wrestling talent. The days of someone just being a "grappler" is dead. Granted Storm and Beniot are both very talented but they are not "championship material" in the WWE today. Why is Triple H still champ? Why is Kevin Nash pushed despite his lack of moves? Because they have the charisma. They know how to market themselves to get the butts in the seats.

 

Now the shit before this about not saying the writer's suck is totally wrong. That's who's really to blame here. But what I quoted is 100% correct. Most, and I do say most, people here are to worried about the wrestling aspect. Well, I say go wact some amature matches then. This is Pro Wrestling and if you can work a mic, then the bookers will make sure you work a decent match. But there does have to be a pretty good balance between the two.

[Guest Anglesault]

Like what points? You probably get the same reaction because this guy's points are asinine.

Here you go,

 

So this leads me to my subject. The internet ruined the wrestling industry because it is so one-sided and jaded. People say that, for example, Chris Beniot should be the champion. Well let me tell you something. If he should be champion, then so should a guy like Lance Storm. Do you want to know the difference between them and Kurt Angle? Kurt Angle has mic skills and wrestling talent. The days of someone just being a "grappler" is dead. Granted Storm and Beniot are both very talented but they are not "championship material" in the WWE today. Why is Triple H still champ? Why is Kevin Nash pushed despite his lack of moves? Because they have the charisma. They know how to market themselves to get the butts in the seats.

 

Now the shit before this about not saying the writer's suck is totally wrong. That's who's really to blame here. But what I quoted is 100% correct.

So, Kevin Nash, the worst drawing WWF champ ever is a huge draw?

 

Er..