Corey_Lazarus 0 Report post Posted October 28, 2003 Or, more specifically, the reasons people react to certain matches/workers/angles. Any ideas to help out, guys? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Homeless Guy Spare Some Change Report post Posted October 28, 2003 are you actually needing information on a psychological perspective of why wrestling is widely followed? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steviekick 0 Report post Posted October 28, 2003 find one of the Jim Cornette shoot reviews...there's usually great detail. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Corey_Lazarus 0 Report post Posted October 28, 2003 I'm trying to either explain why certain matches have more heat than others, or explain ring psychology in-depth and why/how most wrestlers don't have much knowledge of it anymore. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Edwin MacPhisto 0 Report post Posted October 28, 2003 What level psych class is this? You're in high school, right? If it's just a high school psych class, you could probably get away with just talking about how promos and heelish actions during a feud are a sort of operant conditioning, where the observers get a personal investment and become conditioned to want a counterbalancing response, i.e. the face getting one up on the heel. You could also discuss how heel turns have really big effects on fans because of the cognitive dissonance created: we've been cheering Shawn Michaels as a super-cool babyface for years, and then he sends his friend Jannetty through a window, and we as viewers are torn between cheering and recognizing the fault he's actually committed. Your best bet is probably just to take a few general things like that and run with them. It wouldn't work in college seminars but it'll sure as hell be creative and solid for a high school course. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Boo_Bradley Report post Posted October 28, 2003 Geez, I don't even have sigs enabled here, cause i don't want anyone at college to know i like wrestling, and here you guys are doing papers on it. I wrote a report in Business Intro about Masterbation yesterday, though, so whatever... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nighthawk 0 Report post Posted October 29, 2003 You wrote a paper about masturbation and you can't even spell it? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest subliminal_animal Report post Posted October 29, 2003 He was close, though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Boo_Bradley Report post Posted October 29, 2003 School Paper > Message Board I didn't double check, please forgive Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted October 29, 2003 My old roommate did this really elaborate video presentation on Erectile Dysfunction to make the class feel uncomfortable. It was a fucking masterpiece. Powerpoint slides, diagrams..it was for a second or third year stats class, I believe. Definitely stick with basic broad wrasslin' concepts like good guys and bad guys, revenge, etc, and focus less on specific angles and shit, because that will read like the minutes from a Star Trek convention to your class and teacher. Uninteresting, and trivial. Focus on the crowd moreso than the ring. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Corey_Lazarus 0 Report post Posted October 29, 2003 Okay, I'll do it on heel and face. Could I possibly do it on why backyard wrestlers kill themselves for nothing? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted October 29, 2003 If you can do a powerpoint presentation, Show them various clips of wrestling using Pyschology and shit..It'll keep the class awake and shit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0 Report post Posted October 29, 2003 You could also do it on how the most popular wrestlers are those who the audience can relate too, while gimmicks are used to make people care about someone they don't particularly know about. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lord of The Curry 0 Report post Posted October 29, 2003 Are you sure you want to do this project, Laz? I tried a few years back to do a presentation about the pressure to use 'roids in wrestling and I almost put my class to sleep. Unless everybody in there is a wrestling fan, you're fucked. Then again, the teacher is the only one marking you and they have to pay attention (for the most part) so if you feel the need. On the subject of psychology, it's a touchy thing, mainly due to the fact that it means something different to every person. Try not to get into too much detail, ie. Puro Psych or you'll put everybody to sleep. Basic storylines or archtypes are a good and easy thing to explain. The best match you can probably use that would be easy to explain is Benoit vs Angle from WrestleMania 17, as it carries many paralells and uses solid storytelling. Canadian God vs American God Grizzled vet vs Hotshot Amateur Former World Champ vs The guy who should be champ The match itself would work well for you, as the storyline was "Benoit keeps one-upping Angle", which was shown in a lot of different ways. - Benoit beats Angle in the amateur showdown early in the match. Angle responds by snapping and throwing a cheap punch at Benoit. - Benoit succesfully locks on the crossface and gets a tapout, while Angles attempts at the anklelock fail. - Angle's moonsault misses, while Benoit hits the diving headbutt. - Finally, Angle goes to his trump card, the Angle Slam, which Benoit kicks out of. Angle then becomes a desperate man and cheats his way out of the match. Easy, right? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lord of The Curry 0 Report post Posted October 29, 2003 You could also do it on how the most popular wrestlers are those who the audience can relate too, while gimmicks are used to make people care about someone they don't particularly know about. People can relate to Brock Lesnar? Goldberg? HHH? The Rock? Kurt Angle? How do you figure? The only wrestler that the WWE every marketed as a "working man's" wrestler was Austin during the attitude era. Other then that, nobody has come along that the fans can truly relate to. I suppose you could use Benoit, but the WWE hasn't established it clearly. The only other one I could see you get some use out of is Zach Gowan, as he was marketed as a boy who's living his dream. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0 Report post Posted October 29, 2003 You could also do it on how the most popular wrestlers are those who the audience can relate too, while gimmicks are used to make people care about someone they don't particularly know about. People can relate to Brock Lesnar? Goldberg? HHH? The Rock? Kurt Angle? How do you figure? The only wrestler that the WWE every marketed as a "working man's" wrestler was Austin during the attitude era. Other then that, nobody has come along that the fans can truly relate to. I suppose you could use Benoit, but the WWE hasn't established it clearly. The only other one I could see you get some use out of is Zach Gowan, as he was marketed as a boy who's living his dream. They can relate to them more than The Hurricane. That's why gimmicks rarely get to ME staus now: they're not realistic. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lord of The Curry 0 Report post Posted October 30, 2003 Neither is Shane McMahon nearly murdering Kane with a truck, but the WWE seems to treat that like real life. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted October 30, 2003 You're getting WAY too into it. Use Hogan/Andre as your example. Everyone knows who Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant are, also, there's a higher chance that the people in your class watched wrestling when they were little kids, and might even remember it. Talk about what makes these guys the epittamy of good/evil in the eyes of the fans. Touch on the "gladiator" aspect of it, the appeal of physical violence, etc. Do NOT, under any circumstances get in-depth in terms of the wrestling business, or feuds and storylines. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
