Wrestler’s You’re Surprised Are/Aren’t Known by Non-Fans

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Like when I heard a few older female librarians recognize Randy Orton when someone returned some kind of WWE related book.

[thegatewaydrug]

Jan 19, 2020 9:54:45 GMT -5 KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! said:

Like when I heard a few older female librarians recognize Randy Orton when someone returned some kind of WWE related book.

But I bet those same librarians had never heard of Leva Bates!

Surely we've reached the tipping point of the younger general public only knowing the Rock as a movie star, right?

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Jan 19, 2020 11:44:18 GMT -5 thegatewaydrug said:

Jan 19, 2020 9:54:45 GMT -5 KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! said:

Like when I heard a few older female librarians recognize Randy Orton when someone returned some kind of WWE related book.

But I bet those same librarians had never heard of Leva Bates!

Surely we've reached the tipping point of the younger general public only knowing the Rock as a movie star, right?

My girlfriends is from Myanmar so growing up she didn't have that much exposure to Western media. So before 2010 or so she only knows so much about American pop culture (though she surprises me sometimes). Anyway, she had no idea The Rock was a wrestler.

[Bo Rida]

I'm always surprised by people never having heard of The Undertaker.

My long standing theory is charchters with strong silhouettes stand out to people that haven't even seen their media. eg Darth Vader, Batman, Mickey Mouse etc. So he should fit.

Then there's his longevity and prominent role in two boom periods.

His lack of crossover appeal is probably a large part of the reason but I'd still thought he should qualify for vague awareness.

[arrogantmodel]

I think the most well known will always be:

Flair, Andre, Hogan, Savage, Austin, and Rock. With maybe Cena starting to get there with his movies.

In high school, I was in a record shop, and the two workers were talking, and one says to me, "Hey, kid. You know who Hacksaw Jim Duggan is?" I said, "Sure." And he points to his coworker and goes, "This guy doesn't!" lol.

Also in high school, my buddy and I were hanging out with these two girls. The one girl's little brother had an Ultimate Warrior wrestling buddy left out downstairs. One girl and I go into another room to make out. I hear my buddy and the other girl talking:

Girl: What is this thing?

Buddy: A wrestling buddy pillow.

Girl: Who is it?

Buddy: You don't know who the Ultimate Warrior is?!?!

He was so genuinely surprised. I couldn't stop laughing, and my girl got annoyed with me. 😂

[Venti]

Some people don't know that The Rock was a wrestler. Makes you wonder where they think he got his nickname from.

Honestly, wrestling was such a big part of my childhood and family that I used to be mind blown that there were people who grew up without it. I felt like they were missing out on so much lol.

Like my gf didn't know who Stone Cold or The Undertaker were, which was so weird to me.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

I’m surprised Ric Flair is so well known by rappers.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Jan 19, 2020 19:32:39 GMT -5 OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 said:

I’m surprised Ric Flair is so well known by rappers.

Not really

The way he talked and the way he dressed, his words influenced people 

[Joe Neglia]

Jan 19, 2020 17:26:22 GMT -5 Bo Rida said:

I'm always surprised by people never having heard of The Undertaker.

My long standing theory is charchters with strong silhouettes stand out to people that haven't even seen their media. eg Darth Vader, Batman, Mickey Mouse etc. So he should fit.

Then there's his longevity and prominent role in two boom periods.

His lack of crossover appeal is probably a large part of the reason but I'd still thought he should qualify for vague awareness.

UT never left the wrestling bubble for it to happen. His decision to never break character for decades hindered him a lot in that regard. He wasn't doing commercials plugging non-wrestling related items, or showing up as Top Henchman in big action movies (Hogan's movies don't count - they're still in the bubble). He only had one tag line, so people didn't/don't have much to choose from him to be casually quotable.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Jan 19, 2020 20:53:25 GMT -5 Joe Neglia said:

Jan 19, 2020 17:26:22 GMT -5 Bo Rida said:

I'm always surprised by people never having heard of The Undertaker.

My long standing theory is charchters with strong silhouettes stand out to people that haven't even seen their media. eg Darth Vader, Batman, Mickey Mouse etc. So he should fit.

Then there's his longevity and prominent role in two boom periods.

His lack of crossover appeal is probably a large part of the reason but I'd still thought he should qualify for vague awareness.

UT never left the wrestling bubble for it to happen. His decision to never break character for decades hindered him a lot in that regard. He wasn't doing commercials plugging non-wrestling related items, or showing up as Top Henchman in big action movies (Hogan's movies don't count - they're still in the bubble). He only had one tag line, so people didn't/don't have much to choose from him to be casually quotable.

He sadly isn’t that markeatable, the guy once appeared in Jimmy Kimmel Live and it was cringe inducing.

[The Thread Barbi]

Sorry to veer off-topic, but regarding the Rock, it's funny how some girls I know used to say "Ugh" when they saw him wrestling (it's a big dumb wrestler, yo!) and now think he's hot as hell now that he's a movie star.

Strange.

["Cane Dewey" Johnson]

I once overheard a conversation between two people who had mixed up John Cena and Michael Cera. That is the only time in all my years of (waning) wrestling fandom that I've heard Cena's name mentioned in conversation by non-wrestling fans.

[arrogantmodel]

Jan 20, 2020 0:38:00 GMT -5 "Cane Dewey" Johnson said:

I once overheard a conversation between two people who had mixed up John Cena and Michael Cera. That is the only time in all my years of (waning) wrestling fandom that I've heard Cena's name mentioned in conversation by non-wrestling fans.

Besides one letter different in their last names, Cena looks like Cera on the Super Soldier Serum.

Say that five times fast!

[Dub H]

Jan 19, 2020 20:39:55 GMT -5 Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) said:

Jan 19, 2020 19:32:39 GMT -5 OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 said:

I’m surprised Ric Flair is so well known by rappers.

Not really

The way he talked and the way he dressed, his words influenced people 

He didnt say it isnt a surprise or nothinf alike.,just that he was surprised. And same here

As someone not into the scene very much,just some more main stream stuff. I was also very surprised he was such a big deal.Hindsight 20 20 it made sense.

[Deleted]

Wrestling is still pretty niche.

It’s like that in all of pop culture, there’s fictional characters, musicians, actors and sports stars. That to a lot of people in that fandom would think are household names, but the average joe would no idea.

[Mozenrath]

Jan 20, 2020 3:45:27 GMT -5 @uppitynerd said:

Wrestling is still pretty niche.

It’s like that in all of pop culture, there’s fictional characters, musicians, actors and sports stars. That to a lot of people in that fandom would think are household names, but the average joe would no idea.

At the same time, wrestling fans sometimes vastly overstate wrestling's obscurity. Like, people will swear up and down sometimes that people don't know who John Cena is, despite him being at award shows, in successful films and shows, commercials, on Buzzfeed, several memes, etc. Like, either as a result of their own being stuck in the bubble, or some kind of need to believe Cena's a nboody, they let themselves believe something just comically wrong at this point.

That said, definitely not every wrestler has crossed over. Cena and Batista are much more well known to non-wrestling fans than some of their contemporaries like a Booker T, who was and remains a name in wrestling, but hasn't really done a lot a non-fan is going to know.

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Jan 19, 2020 17:26:22 GMT -5 Bo Rida said:

I'm always surprised by people never having heard of The Undertaker.

My long standing theory is charchters with strong silhouettes stand out to people that haven't even seen their media. eg Darth Vader, Batman, Mickey Mouse etc. So he should fit.

Then there's his longevity and prominent role in two boom periods.

His lack of crossover appeal is probably a large part of the reason but I'd still thought he should qualify for vague awareness.

I remember back in the early 2000s Jon Stewart on the Daily Show was having a civil discussion with someone the crowd was expecting him to tear into. At one point he then said something like, “Come on people this isn’t the WWF, I’m not going to hit him with a steel chair like I’m Stone Cold Steve Austin and he’s The Undertaker.”

Stewart is of course a fan, but I was a little surprised to hear The Undertaker name dropped in such an obvious wrestling reference. Outside of that I can’t really remember Undertaker ever getting name dropped in non-wrestling specific media.

[Malibu Stacy]

We revived the network to get hype for tomorrow, Kevin Nash shows up when I go for a drink of water. I'm repeating "It's Kevin Nash!" while running into my dad. "Who the devil is Kevin Nash?"

[Citizen Snips Has Left]

I've always wondered how many people watch Seinfeld reruns and are baffled by the Killer Kowalski and George "The Animal" Steele references. Granted, they both fit into "obvious/amusing wrestling names" category but those are fairly deep cuts for such a popular show.

[mrtumoursmisery]

Jan 19, 2020 17:26:22 GMT -5 Bo Rida said:

My long standing theory is charchters with strong silhouettes stand out to people that haven't even seen their media. eg Darth Vader, Batman, Mickey Mouse etc.

You named three of the most iconic characters of all time. I don't think their silhouettes are the primary reason why everyone has heard of them. Undertaker is an extremely far cry from any of those characters. Even if your silhouette theory was true, people would have to watch wrestling first in order to become familiar with Taker's image. He doesn't really appear anywhere else.