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Post by kyromax on Dec 19, 2011 2:16:07 GMT -5
EVERYONE of this forum.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2011 2:22:25 GMT -5
Personally I stick to "mark" as an actual insult. Casual fans aren't marks to me. A kid cheering Cena isn't a mark to me. A family watching the show doesn't consist of marks to me. I don't have a name for ordinary fans...they're just ordinary fans.
The mark to me is the actual gullible person. Marks are the ones that spread the story about Ultimate Warrior dying and believed it. Marks are the ones that tell you 14 different people have been Kane. Marks are the 40 year old people that get so mad at heels they throw drinks at them.
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Post by Alex Shelley on Dec 19, 2011 3:52:32 GMT -5
I dunno, whatever I think a mark is, I extend that definition to include myself because I am so a mark.
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Lila
El Dandy
Slip N Slide World Champion 1997
Posts: 8,905
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Post by Lila on Dec 19, 2011 4:22:50 GMT -5
It doesn't matter to me; a fan is a fan. I always thought 'Mark' and 'Smark' were terrible terms to call fans.
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The Sam
El Dandy
The Brainiest Sam of all
Posts: 8,423
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Post by The Sam on Dec 19, 2011 5:57:45 GMT -5
A mark is a fan. And a smark is a paradox.
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Mozenrath
FANatic
Foppery and Whim
Speedy Speed Boy
Posts: 121,256
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Post by Mozenrath on Dec 19, 2011 6:59:13 GMT -5
I dunno, whatever I think a mark is, I extend that definition to include myself because I am so a mark. I dunno, I always figured you for more of a Tobey.
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Post by Evilution E5150 on Dec 19, 2011 7:09:52 GMT -5
has anyone made a look in the mirror joke yet?
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Post by Djm Doesn't Find You Funny on Dec 19, 2011 9:31:14 GMT -5
Judging by this thread, no one knows what it is.
IMO, it's a term used by carnies and self-loathing wrestling fans to try and feel better about themselves.
Every last one of us: fan, performer, promoter "buys into" pro wrestling.
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Post by Azrael from Outerspace on Dec 19, 2011 9:49:13 GMT -5
Judging by this thread, no one knows what it is. IMO, it's a term used by carnies and self-loathing wrestling fans to try and feel better about themselves. Every last one of us: fan, performer, promoter "buys into" pro wrestling. Well when trying to apply it to wrestling context only it gets convoluted. A mark is a term used by hustlers to signify when a victim is around. Smart marks do exist as anybody who knows the tricks to the game is smart to it, but they'll still buy into the con just because they think they know how to win. Success depends on the hustlers ability vs the marks actual knowledge. I don't think the term works anymore for wrestling in the classical sense. But using it as a term that simply means passionate fan works for me even if it goes against my love of using the language properly.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2011 9:50:55 GMT -5
"Mark" is a carnie term for someone who is swindled and buys into your act. These days, the only people I would consider "marks" are the ones who believe wrestling is 100% real. There aren't many of that type left. 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. Oh geez, 1000x this. The funniest thing is that, while there are a lot of friendly, intelligent, down-to-earth small-time indy guys, I find the ones that you mentioned are the ones to throw the term "marks" around in a derogatory manner toward their audience the most often. These are the 19 year-old kids who think of themselves as grizzled veterans on par with Harley Race.
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Post by Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! on Dec 19, 2011 12:15:16 GMT -5
to me, the textbook modern definition of a mark is a wrestler being in an inviolably high position on the card and still holding people down to appease their own ego because god forbid they ever lose a completely staged fight. or a wrestler lower on the card working for peanuts when they could make more money on the indies just because "hey I'm on TV". or a promoter who feels the need to thumb their nose at their own fanbase via twitter hissy-fit about how "dumb" their viewers are. or the afforementioned poorly-trained, out of shape guys working in heavy metal t-shirts and jean shorts breaking light tubes over eachother's backs in front of like 10 people at some rinky-dink high school gym because they think it makes them look tough.
seriously, the only marks left in the industry, IMO are the wrestlers themselves, or at least some of them.
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thirteen3
Dennis Stamp
posted with a broken freakin neck keyboard
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Post by thirteen3 on Dec 19, 2011 12:29:16 GMT -5
Wrestlers thmesleves are the biggest marks of them all. Paying hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars to learn how to fall from a carny, and then most likely never become famous and possibly wind with nagging injuries for the rest of your life.
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Post by baronmordo on Dec 19, 2011 14:13:21 GMT -5
Fan of wrestling=mark. You enjoy this stuff? You're a mark.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2011 15:31:33 GMT -5
to me, the textbook modern definition of a mark is a wrestler being in an inviolably high position on the card and still holding people down to appease their own ego because god forbid they ever lose a completely staged fight. or a wrestler lower on the card working for peanuts when they could make more money on the indies just because "hey I'm on TV". or a promoter who feels the need to thumb their nose at their own fanbase via twitter hissy-fit about how "dumb" their viewers are. or the afforementioned poorly-trained, out of shape guys working in heavy metal t-shirts and jean shorts breaking light tubes over eachother's backs in front of like 10 people at some rinky-dink high school gym because they think it makes them look tough. seriously, the only marks left in the industry, IMO are the wrestlers themselves, or at least some of them. Incredibly well-put.
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Post by Alex Shelley on Dec 19, 2011 15:53:59 GMT -5
I dunno, whatever I think a mark is, I extend that definition to include myself because I am so a mark. I dunno, I always figured you for more of a Tobey. I think I'm more of a Jay, really.
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Post by Handsome Halfbreed on Dec 19, 2011 18:23:33 GMT -5
Completely agree with the sentiment that the biggest marks are the wrestlers who are marks for themselves.
As for fans.... sure anyone who watches wrestling is a mark period! But I do get very disappointed when I learn that a coworker also watches wrestling only to find out that our wrestling conversations do not go any farther than... "Michael Cole.... I hate his guts!" or "Did you see that part when Diesel hit Triple H with the sledgehammer... BOOM!". And it is a huge disappointment because I long to have the discussions we have. The whole thing reminds me of that scene in Planet of the Apes when Taylor learns that Landon had been lobotomized....
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2011 19:36:42 GMT -5
"Mark" isn't just a carny term. It's a term used by any sort of con or hustler to describe someone that only exists(to a con or hustler)to be separated from their money. A drunken tourist at Mardi Gras waving around wads of money is an easy mark for a variety of cons, for instance.
I think the following was an attempt to define a mark for the business: "a mark is a wrestler being in an inviolably high position on the card and still holding people down to appease their own ego because god forbid they ever lose a completely staged fight." That is the opposite of a mark for the wrestling business. Guys like Nash, Hall, Hogan, HHH, etc. weren't holding people down, and grasping to their main event spots because they truly believed they were tough guys that should never lose a pre-ordained fight. They were doing that because being in that spot on the card is guaranteed big money. And keeping others from getting there means less people you have to share it with.
A mark for the business is someone like Benoit who destroys their body on the midcard in an attempt to put on great matches, or reach wrestling immortality, or whatever.
But essentially, a mark is anyone who spends their money on wrestling in any way, shape, or form. I haven't regularly followed a wrestling promotion since 2003, but since I still buy the occasional dvd collection, or go to a ROH show whenever they come around, I am technically a mark.
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Post by Apricots And A Pear Tree on Dec 19, 2011 20:04:36 GMT -5
A mark is what wrestlers call each other when they want to insult each other.
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ICBM
King Koopa
Didn't know we did status updates here now
Posts: 12,288
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Post by ICBM on Dec 19, 2011 20:20:48 GMT -5
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Post by celticjobber on Dec 19, 2011 20:26:44 GMT -5
To me, a mark is a person who watches wrestling and accepts what they see, never questions the reality of anything (or whether or not it makes sense), and never goes online to read about wrestling aside from WWE's official website on ocassion. Most wrestling fans I know IRL are "marks".
And "Marking out" is when you're so engrossed by what's happening that you harken back to the days before you were smartened up and just enjoy the product for what it is. Sometime recently, people started thinking of "marking out" as insult, but to me it's anything but.
If WWE had good shows consistently, we'd all be marking out.
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