"smart" fans

[Guest]

I've had this on my mind for a long time...

 

I remember reading a review that Scott Keith posted when the nWo came in, and he said something to the effect of "the backstage BS has already begun" or whatever, and I found myself laughing out loud because of the fact that this guy has never even set foot into the WWF locker room, yet he seems to know what goes on. Well, I had the opportunity to speak to Rhyno at a car show about a month ago. He was extremely nice and after autographing a picture for me, he told me that he was going on break and asked if I wanted to hang out with him. So I went with him, sat down in the break room, and talked... I asked him about his injury, his goals, his opinions on certain storylines etc... and I also asked him about the typical Scott Keith insider. He laughed and said something like "we (wrestlers) love reading what these 'insiders' have to say because it usually gives us a good laugh. They think they know so much, when in reality they don't know shit. The only insiders that are legitimate are guys like Meltzer. The best thing to read though, are these message boards with all of these fans that do nothing but complain... complaining is one thing, but talking as if you know personally how things go backstage is another..."

 

Just thought I would share this story... and bruise a few egos

[Guest muzanisa]

I'm surprised he included Meltzer. The Observer is where you normally read about the locker room being in turmoil, and it has all the details about Hall being hung over etc.

This week or last it also said that all the wrestlers were being banned from production meetings to stop the leaks, so if it gets really shit we'll know why.

[Guest Anglesault]

Because I figured he would have gone on a ten minute tangant on how bad HHH and Friends are. Because Lord knows that would be good for his career.

[Guest toggle]

I think SK usually knows what he is talking about, and I don't really think you have to be an insider to make many of the observations he does. For example: Doesn't it seem odd that X-Pac is back in the main event suddenly? And why the heck was Steph featured much more than the freaking champion?

Still, people get carried away with the conspiracy theories. We know what is going on to some extent, but no one really knows everything about the backstage stuff, other than Vince McMahon himself. Heck, maybe not even him. I'd say the old "don't believe everything you read" rule applies nicely here.

[Guest Loss4Words]

Rhyno is also someone who has been pushed quite hard since his arrival. Let someone like Rob Van Dam or Chris Jericho talk to you one-on-one with the gloves off and I'm sure they'd have a lot more to say.

 

But seriously, the negativity of the online community is so overrated and the only reason it's an issue is because so many people are blind to everything without a WWF stamp on it. When all the WCW bashing was going on, how come it wasn't an issue then? EVERYONE was participating. This whole anti-smark thing didn't start until WCW went out of business and the WWF product started to suck. When that happened, some people pointed out flaws and others were shocked that someone would say something less than flattering about their precious WWF.

 

And if you really pay attention to the shows, it's not hard to figure out sometimes that things happen for political reasons. Reading the Observer doesn't enlighten me to that, it just confirms what I was wondering in the first place. When HHH goes over Chris Jericho 2,768 times in two years and all of the matches are relatively clean, it makes you wonder what's going on. Then you read in the Observer that HHH is badmouthing wrestlers at production meetings and such and it makes perfect sense.

 

The sheets aren't there to put the writing on the wall. They are there to fill in the blanks, though.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

gee i really thought rhyno would sit down and tell you every little detail about the backstage life in the wwf, tell you about how horrible it is too work there, and how HHH is the champ because he's banging the boss's daughter.

 

oh.wait. he wants to keep his job.

 

of course he won't tell you whether the vackstage is bad or not. And the response he had to the whole smark thing reads like a press release from the wwf, it's the standerd response from them.

[Guest]

::gee i really thought rhyno would sit down and tell you every little detail about the backstage life in the wwf, tell you about how horrible it is too work there, and how HHH is the champ because he's banging the boss's daughter.

 

oh.wait. he wants to keep his job.

 

of course he won't tell you whether the vackstage is bad or not. And the response he had to the whole smark thing reads like a press release from the wwf, it's the standerd response from them::

 

 

lol I find the last part of this the funniest of all... If he was just telling me what the WWF wanted to tell me, then why did he say when I asked him about the Alliance angle "that it sucked... and couldn't have been handled worse." ? Answer that one

 

When I asked him about the nWo... his response? something like "well, sure I'm frustrated because I know they will get the spot light... but here's the thing... my time is coming and I'm content to know that I just have to be patient. Besides, if the nWo is successful, it means more money for everyone."

 

He was very casual and did not seem programmed at all. And guess what? Most of the wrestler's backstage feel the same way. I've heard it from more than one in several interviews. The fact of the matter is, most of you guys have no fucking clue what goes on behind the curtains. Sure, no one denies that backstage politics exists. But to speak as if you're an expert on the subject matter is just plain annoying and that's what he was talking about. As for the argument on Jericho... sure, I dissagree with how the WWF handled his reign. But to use the argument that he never got a clean win, is just ignorant. Angle very seldomly got a clean win either when he was the champion the first time... infact, I can't remember a single time. Why? Because he was a sneaky, cowardly heel. Same with Jericho. He won by screwjob because it made the fans hate him THAT much more and want him to lose THAT much more. Sure, there is no excuse for putting Stephanie in front... and like I said, there's no denying that there is a limited degree of backstage politics and influence. All Ryno was saying, is that it gets really annoying reading BS from phony internet reporters that speak as if they are fucking members of the WWF locker room. And, no I don't really consider Keith a "phony" but the guy is getting really annoying. He complains about EVERYTHING, even the good stuff! The guy is getting to sound really bitter... like maybe he needs to get laid or something.

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

I have found that the average "smark" is desperate to believe that the backstage rumours they hear are true, because they believe that "knowing" stuff like that is what seperates them from the lowly "marks" they love to criticize.

[Guest Jericholic82]

I think we all need to calm down a bit. Our biggest complaints shouldd be about the quality of the tv shows and ppvs, not whos doing what backstage.  i know most wrestlers prob hate what happens sometimes but they are content with their jobs.  to put it in comparison: if a big popular actor is featured in a smaller role in a movie, we dont see movie message boards with people complaining about actors getting held back.

 

and the smarks will never be satisfied

remember they once were all hhh supporters complaining about austin holding him back and stuff like that really i think we all should grow up and stop complaining so much, it is just entertainment after all

honestly i wish i never went oenline and heard all of this crap cuz it made me enjoy wrestling less, since it doesnt matter who wins anymore, only if its a net favorite who does

 

it was simpler when i used to think stuff like "i want all the good guys to win all the time" yknow

 

and the reason all supposed smarks become work rate freaks without even knowin what it is is the fact that once we know its all staged we figure its their duty to work harder and impress us, and they never can impress or so it seems

 

man i dont even know anymore

[Guest Anglesault]

I have found that the average "smark" is desperate to believe that the backstage rumours they hear are true, because they believe that "knowing" stuff like that is what seperates them from the lowly "marks" they love to criticize.

I would probaly lean more towards the the idea that it can help us to understand why things are happening. I know not EVERY rumor is true, but alot of them fit into puzzles (Why Angle and Jericho were depushed) pretty well.

[Guest Mystery Eskimo]

Rhyno admitting that the Invasion failed proves nothing. The whole WWF would admit it did, and blame the WCW guys. HHH is probably going around telling everyone that it failed and how he would have made it better.

[Guest]

But... do you think HHH would have been better in Austin's spot and having Austin turn back face while HHH lead the alliance? Assuming he wasn't hurt of course.

[Guest griffinmills]

Really the only person getting worked up here is "thebigjig" who  was the first one to start swearing as well.  There is a lot of negativity on the internet.  This is just the way a big chunk of it is.  Look at rottentomatoes.com, would it be as big if it was "freshfruityreviews.com?"  

Scott writes a lot of negative WWF reviews but he also tries to do other stuff to lighten it up.  Mirror Universe rant, reviewing Stampede and Puroresu stuff lately.  He seemed to really like that stuff.

[Guest AM The Kid]

I dont understand people who come to a SMARK site to complain about SMARKS.

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

Ok.  I have had just about enough of this thread.  You don't come on a message board to attack the posters of said board.  This thread is closed until further notice.