Huffy Flounce

So back to my very original point. Why do you, an intelligent man, give a shit about this kind of show-wrestling?

It entertains me. Plus the WWE Network is one of the most technologically innovative things to hit television since cable, so I'm all for supporting a good cause.

To expand a little, I do still remain just endlessly impressed with some of the physical spots those guys pull off. It makes no difference to me who wins or loses the matches. It's always fun when I can't predict the winner, of course, but it's far from the most important aspect of the shows.

Bananarama's Bouncy Bits wrote:So back to my very original point. Why do you, an intelligent man, give a shit about this kind of show-wrestling?

Why do you, an intelligent man, give a shit about a fictional vigilante crime fighter with psychological issues?

It's still real to me, dammit?

Jack hit the nail on the head there Mal. Said vigilante crime fighter is never anything more than a gripping yarn to me in whatever medium. The audiences of the wrestling shows when they interview the crowds, the cast iron conviction of those involved in the reality of the situation, the importance of the 'storylines'. It's probably just a cultural thing.

UK wrestling was exactly the same (Big Daddy vs Giant Haystacks etc), I am not saying it's any better or being snobby. UK wrestling pretty much died out though.

That may well be, but that doesn't mean that pro wrestling appeals to only those people who believe it's real. Just because Adam realizes that it's all a big show with predetermined outcomes doesn't mean he can't enjoy it just like any other form of entertainment with a plot.

I used to watch Dragonball Z - that was basically an animated version of this exact thing, i.e., a bunch of fights coated with a thin layer of story. At least in pro wrestling the fights don't get dragged out for weeks.

I s'pose. I just never thought a Bats film actually mattered. But when you see that crowd, oh my, it matters! You are right though. It's all just pantomime. Some on celluloid, some on a canvas ring.

I guess a lot of it comes from the docs I have seen like the Brett Hart one, the Louis Theroux one etc where even the actors seem convinced it's all absolutely real and maintain it's not in any way fake.

I haven't seen any of the documentaries, but I assume that what they were talking about was the physical aspect of it. Nobody's head is really getting stomped on or slammed against a table, but those guys definitely have to endure some pretty painful stuff.

Not that I'm a wrestling fan at all, but I can see how it's physically demanding.

The Hulk Hogan "leg drop" is the single most devastating weapon in the world.

Hey Mal? Wanna be my lawyer?

Couldn't have said any of that better myself.

Granted, the physical spots are entertaining, as I said, but the storylines can certainly have their entertainment value as well. It's in the same camp as settling in to watch a film for a couple hours in my book.

Just, y'know, with tables and chairs used a bit more frequently.

As far as watching in person, I've only done that once. Everyone there, aside from maybe the kids, was perfectly well aware that the winners of the matches were well established by the time we filed in. Doesn't make it any less fun to let yourself escape reality for a few hours and cheer for the good guys and boo the bad ones.

I've played plenty of Dungeons and Dragons. It would be silly of me, keeping this in mind, to mock wrestling fans for any perceived lameness.

In this week's wrestling news, it's a dark, dark week for the business. TNA Impact Wrestling was cancelled by Spike TV, meaning one of two things:

1) They're about to be purchased by Spike TV/Viacom, which would be great for the industry
2) They're about to go completely out of business, which would be awful for the industry.

In addition, the WWE has their quarterly financial call coming either on Thursday or Friday of this week, and it's widely expected to be bad. Millions of dollars more in cuts are expected to be coming, pending the total number of WWE Network subscribers. (I believe they're wanting there to be somewhere around 900,000 at this point. They won't hit that.)

I cannot get over how damn good this guy is on the mic. Just....damn. If I'm ever half as good at anything as Bray Wyatt is at talking, I'll be doing okay in my life.

I think maybe you and I aren't hearing the same thing when we listen to Bray Wyatt.

It would seem that to be the case. To each their own, I reckon.

Wait! Serious question! Does he seem less unique to you than he does to me because you actually know Alabamans similar to him?

Nah. He's just saying stuff I've heard a lot of people say (in Fight Club, in rap, et cetera), and he's doing it in that generic backwoodsy "motivational speaker" way.

Fair enough. When you compare him against the baseline of other pro wrestlers though, he's one of the all time greats.

I prefer the utter goofiness in the promos of folks like Rowdy Roddy, Randy "Macho Man" Poffo, Lanny "The Genius" Poffo, Sgt. Slaughter, Bob Backlund, and the (Ultimate) Warrior.

I also like Jake the Snake's Sam Elliott-like approach.

Ha! I *loved* Bob Backlund back when he was "running for president" in 1996. Bray Wyatt gets very frequently compared to Jake the Snake, weirdly enough.

Here's another guy I could watch talk all day. So damn good.

Stone Cold Steve Austin says he was better than Hulk Hogan. Wrestling world collectively says "duh."

http://nypost.com/2014/08/09/stone-cold ... ulk-hogan/

I don't know much about pro wrestling, but I always thought Steve Austin was kind of dull, especially compared to Hogan and his larger-than-life personality.

The thing about Hogan as the world's most popular wrestler that I've never really understood is that...the guy can't wrestle. Never could. Personality wise, there's definitely an argument to be had, but in terms of just wrestling, it's really not even close.

I've never understood the massive popularity of Hogan the character, quite frankly. I have a hunch Goiter will be here soon to explain to me how the Hulkster got so very very over.

Let's say Terry Bollea was the most popular WWF wrestler, and let's say Steve was the most popular WWE wrestler. Austin's not somebody who was big when I was watching with anything approaching interest. He was big five or six years later (when I was in high school), and he continued to be big while I was in undergrad. He was beloved of my stepbrother and the rest of the the Larry the Cable Guy crowd. His shtick felt pretty limited to me. It didn't seem to me to extend too far beyond an I'm-a-gruff-beer-swilling-rebel-and-nobody-bosses-me-around act. Granted, I didn't dive all that deep into his character. There could have been a lot there that I never saw.

He was definitely a wish fulfillment figure for a lot of rednecks. He really appealed to teens in the Deep South. The dude behind the dude seemed thoughtful and not all that much like the character. This may speak to his skill as a performer. I think I remember him saying he got the "Stone Cold" from his wife, who was British, and who once told him to drink his tea before it went "stone cold." (I'm sure Adam can correct and/or flesh out the details on this one.)

From what I can tell, he was also a solid wrestler, though I think his later career was beset with injuries. That would explain why he morphed into one of those tough guy punchers who threw and was thrown less and less.

Why was Hogan so popular despite being a middling wrestler? The way it has been explained to me, wrestling talent began to take a backseat to big personalities and tall dudes. There were some average-sized, acrobatic holdovers with some talent like Snuka and Steamboat who were still working in the mid-eighties, and there were also legacies like the Poffos who clearly knew their way around the ring. Most of the rest were all loud, trash-talking giants.

Maybe the post-Pumping Iron popularity of bodybuilding had something to do with this shift. I'm not sure. Maybe it has to do with bodybuilders graduating from flex contests to action cinema. Whatever the case, it seemed like wrestling went the Way of Hulkamania around the same time action stars started having Arnold builds. Hogan and professional wrestling were featured in Rocky III. Once you've made it to a Rocky movie, you're no longer small potatoes.

Hogan and other WWF stars also had a presence in the Saturday morning cartoon market with CBS's Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling. It had Brad Garrett, of all people, voicing the Hogan character. Bollea did the intro and bumper segments, but I don't think he ever voiced the cartoon version of himself. I knew the cartoon before I knew of modern professional wrestling. I *did* know professional wrestling was a thing, thanks to Bugs Bunny cartoons like "Bunny Hugged."

Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling is one of the cartoons my grandmother recorded to VHS tape and mailed me while I was living in Germany. I think I've mentioned before that the one TV network tie we had to the states, AFN (the American Forces Network), either wasn't airing wrestling while we were overseas or my mother and stepfather just weren't watching it when it would come on. (I think the former is the case. My mother would turn the television on in the morning and leave it on until bedtime. She still does this. Jubbers can attest to this.)

Did Steve Austin have his own cartoon? I know he was on Dilbert at one point, but that's not quite the same. Isn't having your own cartoon truly the test of popularity? If something that's not already a cartoon gets big enough, it gets a cartoon. If Austin had gotten his own cartoon, it would be a tougher call. (I'm joking here, but only sort of.)

I guess you could always ask if wrestling would be the beast it is today if Bollea had never taken the world by storm, but that leads to a bunch of fruitless What-if?-ing