What exactly is a 'mark?'

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

I've been thinking about this for a while. In the IWC (and by the way, I really wish I had a better word for this group but I can't think of one at the moment), people always seem to refer to the casual crowd as "marks." They say it as if there is a defined line in the sand. As if you either are a mark or you aren't. My question, what exactly constitutes someone as a mark? Is it someone who only follows a wrestling company casually and doesn't look up reports about backstage on goings on the internet? Is it someone who believes wrestling is real? Shouldn't EVERY wrestling fan be considered a mark?

I mean after all, we all follow a sport that has predetermined results and yet we still criticize it and discuss it. We have a vested interest in wrestling in some way, shape, or form. We are happy when our favorites win and are upset when they lose. Wouldn't that make all of us marks since we honestly do care enough about something that is predetermined to discuss it in our free time? Keep in mind, I'm not trying to crap on people who call themselves smarks or say they aren't marks, I'm just trying to get some discussion going since I am honestly interested in this topic.

EDIT: When I say "IWC", I'm referring to people who do take the time to read dirt sheets, watch the indies and such, not just people who talk about wrestling on the internet.

[Zaq "That Guy" Buzzkill]

It's somebody who believes that Wrestling is real and not scripted, hence the phrase "marking out."

[Krimzon]

A mark is a person that promotors get to buy into what they're selling. We all are considered marks. There are just "smart" ones and, for lack of a better term, stupid ones.

[jadison]

I was just thinking about this. This is when i define someone as a mark: when they think the wrestlers skill level is congruent with their win-loss record. CM Punk can't beat Randy Orton, because Randy Orton is better than CM Punk. That's a mark, these days.

[The Line]

yeah, anyone willing to pay their hard earned money to go watch people fight in a pre-determined fight are technically marks, IMO, regardless of how much backstage knowledge they may possess.


EDIT: Keep in mind, being a mark isn't a bad thing. It's no different than spending money to go watch a movie or see a play.

[Beartato]

I personally use it to refer to the people who watch it how I used to watch it as a kid. When you're a kid it's fine, and of course it's part of why it's so awesome. But when you're someone's dad and you think things like "this guy could never beat this guy" as if it wasn't predetermined, I would say you're a mark.

The whole selling thing is also a factor, and it makes sense because marks buy the face's shirts. And they don't buy them thinking "I'm a fan of John Cena's performing and he's one of my favorites to watch," they think "I'm a fan of John Cena because he's the best and always wins."

People who just watch, know it's scripted, and pick their favorites regardless of win-loss record or alignment, but don't follow the online dirt sheets aren't marks to me. They're just...I dunno, fans? I think the people who follow all the backstage things are the smarks, and you don't have to be either one.

[BigJerichool222]

Us.

[Deleted]

A miserable little pile of --

No, that joke is lame. Also lame are those, "We're marks! We fall for everything!" posts like the one above.

[fw91]

I think it's when you realy love a charchter/wrestler regardless of factors such as ring skill, politics, backstage stories, mic skills, etc.

[Deleted]

When Tommy Wiseau gives a wrestling fan a joint, what do you get?

Oh, a high mark.

[jadison]

Dec 19, 2011 0:26:20 GMT -5 fw91 said:

I think it's when you realy love a charchter/wrestler regardless of factors such as ring skill, politics, backstage stories, mic skills, etc.

In this case, I am definitely an Ahmed Johnson mark.

[El Hijo del Havoc]

I just say I'm a wrestling fan. Simple and honest, instead of dividing up into useless classes (Mark, smark, smart mark, stupid mark, indie mark)
Not trying to be an anti-smark (Dammit), just find it easier to just call myself a big fan

[The Line]

Dec 19, 2011 0:31:34 GMT -5 El Hijo del Havoc said:

I just say I'm a wrestling fan. Simple and honest, instead of dividing up into useless classes (Mark, smark, smart mark, stupid mark, indie mark)
Not trying to be an anti-smark (Dammit), just find it easier to just call myself a big fan

this is pretty good, IMO. I feel the only reason terms such as "mark" exist in the IWC lexicon is only to put others down. It's used, often times, in such an elitist fashion.

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

Dec 19, 2011 0:31:34 GMT -5 El Hijo del Havoc said:

I just say I'm a wrestling fan. Simple and honest, instead of dividing up into useless classes (Mark, smark, smart mark, stupid mark, indie mark)
Not trying to be an anti-smark (Dammit), just find it easier to just call myself a big fan

I see it this way too. It just seems kinda pointless to classify yourself as something. If you are a fan, you're a fan.

[El Hijo del Havoc]

I just take it like any fandom (Star Wars, Star Trek, Simpsons, sports, etc.). There's people that like it, some people that obsess over it, but the one thing that matters is that we enjoy the hell out of it

[juvijuiceisloose]

A mark is a gullible person or a sucker. The term goes back to the carnies.

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

Dec 19, 2011 0:19:12 GMT -5 Krimzon said:

A mark is a person that promotors get to buy into what they're selling. We all are considered marks. There are just "smart" ones and, for lack of a better term, stupid ones.

So then what makes a fan "stupid"?

[jadison]

Dec 19, 2011 0:36:15 GMT -5 juvijuiceisloose said:

A mark is a gullible person or a sucker. The term goes back to the carnies.

The term has evolved though, because the only way to sell "marks" on a fight was for them to believe it is real. Now, nearly all pro wrestling fans know it's scripted, and it's still popular. The term "mark" has to evolve with that I think, or maybe just die altogether. I just use it for fans that, for example, didn't buy into CM Punk until he teamed with Triple H and Cena and started winning every match. The fans that don't really look past wins and losses. I guess there could be another term for that, but mark already exists and seems sufficient.

[Sc]

I believe it's someone who listens to what only WWE tells them. Their favorite wrestlers are the main event faces. They'll cheer the faces and boo the heels no matter what. For example, they wouldn't have cheered during CM Punk's first big promo this summer because he was still technically a heel. Another example would be they chanted ECW during the build up to One Night Stand (even though they never watched it and booed them during the Invasion) because it was the face group.

[Deleted]

The biggest marks are the wrestlers who will work for free in some Godforsaken indy flea market show, who think belts have intrinsic value, who will let someone bash them with light tubes in order to prove their toughness (doing it for a paycheck is different) and who paid a ton of money to some third rate never-was in order to receive poor training.