Being a Wrestling smart

[David]

That's true, and there's a fair few Japanese wrestlers who appear on ROH too. Kenta etc always put on good matches.

 

[Retox]

That's true, and there's a fair few Japanese wrestlers who appear on ROH too. Kenta etc always put on good matches.

I'm a Muta & Mitsuharu Misawa mark.

 

[Loony BoB]

I will agree that when WCW closed up, the desire for me to watch the shows decreased rapidly. It would be great if there was some genuine competition to WWE, enough so that there would be a need for Vince to really up his game once more.

Need more (and better) stables, to be honest.

 

[Retox]

I will agree that when WCW closed up, the desire for me to watch the shows decreased rapidly. It would be great if there was some genuine competition to WWE, enough so that there would be a need for Vince to really up his game once more.

Need more (and better) stables, to be honest.

Hopefully NWA can stand up. So close yet so far, And with Jarrett out of it for a while a new star could be born.

 

[GotSpin]

Its TNA.

NWA was before wCw i think

 

[Perm]

Wrestling used to be good, guys like Stone Cold, the Rock and Triple H were great to watch. Now there is far too many people, different divisions and brands and the talking and backstage is done way too much. Pretty silly now, which is a shame because it was great to watch back in the day.

 

[Buddhmaster]

Its TNA.

NWA was before wCw i think

It's called NWA Total Non-stop Action. Their heavyweight title is the original NWA Heavyweight Title.

 

[Pratters]

Gotta respect the wrestlers who put their bodies on the line day in and day out. It is like theatre, only, it hurts far more. Not any less skilled mind you.

 

[sledger]

Gotta respect the wrestlers who put their bodies on the line day in and day out. It is like theatre, only, it hurts far more. Not any less skilled mind you.

The skills needed to an extent are obviously vastly different, but yes, a great deal of them I hold a massive amount of respect for. Quick read through the earlier posts in the thread has me lolling at the ignorance and stupidity of certain individuals.

 

[sledger]

Now I know there are alot of wrestling fans on CW and I wouldn't go into the WWE thread and mouth off because that's rude and I wouldn't want someone doing that in say the AFL thread. But dead set, wrestling is the stupidist thing ever. I can't stand it and it is the epitomy of the excess of idiotic America. Worst thing to come out of the US since Osama Bin Laden.

Now I know there are going to be alot of people, some who I respect are going fight to defend this dire display (not a sport ffs, get a grip) but I just can't stay silent any longer. It is the worst thing ever IMO. I have a few classmates, who I grew up with, they have the combined IQ of 45 and they love this, that is fine, they also laugh at the word 'boogers'. What troubles me is that there are people on the smarter side of things that are actually fans.

Back at it's peak in popularity back in the late 90's I was hoping people would have a laugh and it would go away, but it still hasn't. This utter rubbish continues to clog up space on Fox 8. People continue to justify its existance. And if it was just a bunch of rednecks, the same people who go on Jerry Springer about having *** with dolphins I wouldn't care. But as can be seen from the people who are going to subsequently have a go at me, there are some non-retards who watch this. And not just watch it, follow it religiously like its a sport. It's not a sport ffs. The wrestlers arent athletes and it really bugs me how people try and validate this bull****. It's insane.

(Btw I have no problem with people who watch it as lets say any TV show, as a work of fiction)

Bring on the backlash.

:rollseyes:

 

[duffer]

Heh, this is some dig by Pratters.

As for the topic. Pro wrestling when done well can be extremely compelling, entertaining and at it's true best, artistic. For me Bret embodied all of the above and guys like Eddie, Owen Hart, Curt Henning, Chris Jericho and Mick Foley are all examples of this as well.

Problem for me these days are that the product itself isn't aimed at me at all and I'm completely disgusted by the utter ****s who run the industry. The PG rating and the content being aimed at kids just offers me nothing entertainment wise, and there is a far less emphasis on proper in ring action. They just tend to oscillate between two horrible extremes (too childish or too low brow) neither of which I can watch.

Even when they do put two talented wrestlers in the ring at the same time they only give them a few minutes and the hierachy and decision making in the pushes they give are completely horrific for mine. Booking wise it's been a case of one step forward and two steps back over the past few years. I just don't see the improvements.

Although it's apples to oranges I'd rather watch real fight sports(boxing and MMA) than pro wrestling these days which is a shame because I really used to enjoy it for so long when it was done well. I do read the WWE thread from time to time because they have good posters but I struggle to watch a RAW or Smackdown because you have to sit through about 110 minutes of crap to get 10 or so good minutes of entertainment.

As for someone calling ROH the "real stuff" or whatever was said earlier, it's a bit of a laugh. It's far more watchable from a pro wrestling stand point, but say it to any collegiate level wrestler or follower and watch the horror on their face.

 

[sledger]

Heh, this is some dig by Pratters.

As for the topic. Pro wrestling when done well can be extremely compelling, entertaining and at it's true best, artistic. For me Bret embodied all of the above and guys like Eddie, Owen Hart, Curt Henning, Chris Jericho and Mick Foley are all examples of this as well.

Problem for me these days are that the product itself isn't aimed at me at all and I'm completely disgusted by the utter ****s who run the industry. The PG rating and the content being aimed at kids just offers me nothing entertainment wise, and there is a far less emphasis on proper in ring action. They just tend to oscillate between two horrible extremes (too childish or too low brow) neither of which I can watch.

Even when they do put two talented wrestlers in the ring at the same time they only give them a few minutes and the hierachy and decision making in the pushes they give are completely horrific for mine. Booking wise it's been a case of one step forward and two steps back over the past few years. I just don't see the improvements.

Although it's apples to oranges I'd rather watch real fight sports(boxing and MMA) than pro wrestling these days which is a shame because I really used to enjoy it for so long when it was done well. I do read the WWE thread from time to time because they have good posters but I struggle to watch a RAW or Smackdown because you have to sit through about 110 minutes of crap to get 10 or so good minutes of entertainment.

As for someone calling ROH the "real stuff" or whatever was said earlier, it's a bit of a laugh. It's far more watchable from a pro wrestling stand point, but say it to any collegiate level wrestler or follower and watch the horror on their face.

This more or less sums up my thoughts tbh. Though I still on the odd occasion still sit through an episode of RAW or Smackdown, I just more often than not can't be bothered because I know how a lot of it will end up. Generally these day's I'll watch the segments involving Jericho or any other of the guys I genuinely enjoy watching like Punk or Morrison or the Miz, and then just fast forward through the rest.

 

[pasag]

:rollseyes:

 

[Uppercut]

What's a wrestling smart?

 

[Agent TBY]

What's a wrestling smart?

Also known as a "smark", a wrestling smart is someone who knows that the stuff he's watching is all pre-booked, and instead tries to analyze the quality of the storylines and matches on the show.

And that makes half the posts in this thread utterly pointless, and downright stupid.

 

[sledger]

from wiki;

"a portmanteau of "smart mark", a phrase coined by Internet wrestling fans to describe a fan who enjoys pro wrestling despite or because they know that it is staged, as well as generally knowing the "ins-and-outs" of the company and knowing many things about the industry or wrestlers collected by sources and are posted online. "Smarks" are generally looked down on by wrestlers as well as other wrestling fans for supposed inability to suspend their disbelief. Smarks may also be criticized for believing they know more than they do in reality about the workings of the wrestling industry"

 

[GIMH]

Would never ever ever call myself a wrestling smart. Love wrestling and have in-depth drunken chats with my mates about it, not in a 'mark' style, yet can't stand the trend amongst smarks to sit and criticise every second of the action whilst continuing to watch every show religiously. Some of the most moronic people in the world watch wrestling, this is true, but you don't have to believe it's real to enjoy watching and wonder what will happen next. At the end of the day, it's entertainment.

 

[Pratters]

I don't know if I am a wrestling smart or not. I do like to analyze who is a good wrestler and who isn't a lot. I don't read a lot of online news though as I get shows delayed and don't want spoilers generally. I do love analyzing wrestling a lot though. There was a game called EWR I think (Extreme Warfare Revenge, I might be wrong), where you booked shows and stuff. Was really neat. Might start playing that again if I can find it.

 

[GIMH]

TEW I think you're thinking of, it's gun

If you prefer Raw to Smackdown you're definitely not a wrestling smart, I don't mean that in a patronising way or anything bytw

 

[sledger]

I don't know if I am a wrestling smart or not. I do like to analyze who is a good wrestler and who isn't a lot. I don't read a lot of online news though as I get shows delayed and don't want spoilers generally. I do love analyzing wrestling a lot though. There was a game called EWR I think (Extreme Warfare Revenge, I might be wrong), where you booked shows and stuff. Was really neat. Might start playing that again if I can find it.

That was an awesome game, but you can get TEW 2005 for free now, which is much more in depth and awesome.

I don't know whether I would class myself as a Smart or not. I really like nothing else than seeing two technically proficient wrestlers like Benoit, Angle, Jericho etc...put on a match, but yet this is not the extent of my enjoyment. I love the mark out moments, I love the drama and theatre of it all. Despite the fact that I have quite an in depth knowledge of how the whole thing works, I can still suspend the belief and enjoy it on a lower level, if that makes sense. Sure, it can be as corny as hell, but it's no more scripted and fake than the majority of things you see on TV, and I can't think of many things I have watched on TV (certainly those that were not sport related) that have evoked such an emotive response in myself. Even though I know that the whole thing is "fake", two examples that stand out in my mind in recent times that have really animated me, were Chris Jericho climbing the ladder in the MITB ladder match at WM24 (I literally jumped up out of my chair and was shouting at the TV "come on, grab it you jackass!") and when Jericho again won the World Title in the scramble match last year sometime. Similarly the HBK/Undertaker match at WM earlier in the year had me up out of my seat applauding the amazing show. In this regard, it makes a very unique form of entertainment, for which on some level, I will always remain a fan.