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Post by Clash, Never a Meter Maid on Aug 9, 2007 12:42:58 GMT -5
Over the years, I've encountered some smarks who felt that the way for the wrestling industry to grow is if it made itself less lowbrow and attempted to convey more meaning in its shows.
This has always made me scratch my head, because as much as I adore it, I have never seen wrestling (as in the athletic displays separate from sports entertainment, or "good wrestling") as something aside from two guys in trunks who fake-hurt each other to achieve their goals- or as anything of great cultural relevance, for that matter.
In my eyes it's always been something like Picasso's Guernica at the top, then down to a great, acclaimed novel along the lines of 1984, then down to a classical music piece, then down to a great pop album like Highway 61 Revisited, then down to Stanley Kubrick's 2001, then down to a great but somewhat crass TV series like Fawlty Towers, then finally...Flair/Steamboat.
Now, just because I have trouble understanding that mentality doesn't mean that I don't want to understand it. So has there ever been a wrestling match that made you actually think?
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Brain Of F'n J
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Post by Brain Of F'n J on Aug 9, 2007 12:45:26 GMT -5
So has there ever been a wrestling match that made you actually think? Undertaker/Mankind, Hell In A Cell. It made me think that audience expectations are getting too high, and that I would NEVER ask a performer to endanger himself in such a way for the benefit of my entertainment. It honestly made me question the humanity of fans. Jed Shaffer ~Maybe his anti-hardcore promo was right after all. |
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Aug 9, 2007 12:53:08 GMT -5
So has there ever been a wrestling match that made you actually think? Undertaker/Mankind, Hell In A Cell. It made me think that audience expectations are getting too high, and that I would NEVER ask a performer to endanger himself in such a way for the benefit of my entertainment. It honestly made me question the humanity of fans. Jed Shaffer ~Maybe his anti-hardcore promo was right after all. Then there was Rock/Mankind I Quit, which was absolutely insane. Matches have made me think before, but sometimes, I feel like the point is for us to forget there's a predetermined winner, and feel like a kid again. A kid who is watching two guys get punched in the face. |
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jobber2thestars
Hank Scorpio
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Post by jobber2thestars on Aug 9, 2007 13:16:48 GMT -5
The Rock vs. Manking, "I Quit" match, was absolutely brutal. My parents wanted me to stop watching wrestling after they saw that.
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Post by Arthur Digby Stamp on Aug 9, 2007 13:26:21 GMT -5
I'll admit to not being the most sophisticated guy around, but I have to say that to me, art isn't about thinking so much as feeling. I think that's why I love wrestling so much, because of those moments of sheer emotion.
All my favorite movies are capable of getting some kind of emotion out of me, and wrestling is no different. I love those moments where the 4th wall is broken and the curtain is pulled back a little bit, and you see them as people, and not just larger-then-life personalities.
Randy Orton winning the World Heavyweight Title from Chris Benoit at Summerslam 04 was a perfect example of that. Regardless of how people may feel about him and his out of the ring behavior, you could just see in his eyes how much that moment meant to him as a person. His lifelong dream had come true, and anybody watching had the privledge of seeing it. Seeing that live as it happened was as moving to me as any movie or song could ever be, simply because it was so real. We'll never be able to see Beethoven's face as he wrote the 5th symphony, or Michelangelo when he completed the statue of David, or Francis Ford Coppola when he completed The Godfather. But I have seen Mick Foley win the WWF Championship, and anyone who saw that knew that his life's work had been acheived. And while that may not mean anything to most people, it meant a lot to me.
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G2
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Post by G2 on Aug 9, 2007 13:33:00 GMT -5
I'll admit to not being the most sophisticated guy around, but I have to say that to me, art isn't about thinking so much as feeling. I think that's why I love wrestling so much, because of those moments of sheer emotion. All my favorite movies are capable of getting some kind of emotion out of me, and wrestling is no different. I love those moments where the 4th wall is broken and the curtain is pulled back a little bit, and you see them as people, and not just larger-then-life personalities. Randy Orton winning the World Heavyweight Title from Chris Benoit at Summerslam 04 was a perfect example of that. Regardless of how people may feel about him and his out of the ring behavior, you could just see in his eyes how much that moment meant to him as a person. His lifelong dream had come true, and anybody watching had the privledge of seeing it. Seeing that live as it happened was as moving to me as any movie or song could ever be, simply because it was so real. We'll never be able to see Beethoven's face as he wrote the 5th symphony, or Michelangelo when he completed the statue of David, or Francis Ford Coppola when he completed The Godfather. But I have seen Mick Foley win the WWF Championship, and anyone who saw that knew that his life's work had been acheived. And while that may not mean anything to most people, it meant a lot to me. That post was very sophisticated in my eyes mate and I agree with everything you said too. Wrestling is about feeling, if you think about it too much then it does spoil the enjoyment somewhat. Maybe ignorance really is bliss? |
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Post by skillz on Aug 9, 2007 14:53:35 GMT -5
So has there ever been a wrestling match that made you actually think? Undertaker/Mankind, Hell In A Cell. It made me think that audience expectations are getting too high, and that I would NEVER ask a performer to endanger himself in such a way for the benefit of my entertainment. It honestly made me question the humanity of fans. Jed Shaffer ~Maybe his anti-hardcore promo was right after all. That match also turned me off. The reason why I love wrestlers like Rock, Hogan, Jake, Savage, etc, is because they could make me care about them without doing too much in the ring. Then Mick Foley comes along and flirts with suicide just to get a reaction from the crowd. It made me feel bad for the state of wrestling and its fans, and also made me question Foley's sanity all at the same time. |
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W?Y
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Post by W?Y on Aug 9, 2007 16:03:43 GMT -5
For me, a slow-paced, scientific wrestling match gets me thinking, because it's the pace of the match that dictates to me the speed that my mind should be in. If I'm watching a Lucha match, my mind should prepare for fast stuff and should pay attention, wheras a slower match would allow me to relax, listen to the commentary and take in every aspect of the match (what holds a wrestler uses, their approach, etc.). A match involving Bryan Danielson, James Gibson or Austin Aries sometimes does this for me.
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