Post by driver8 on Jan 26, 2013 19:29:27 GMT -5
Apologies in advance for the rambling nature of this, but it's something I've been mulling over for a good while [largely thanks to the intelligent discussion on here, you lovely people 
]
I know it's become one of many wonderful memes, but how do you, as a fan of professional wrestling, feel about the maxim perhaps most clearly espoused by Triple H in that Tough Enough episode about "THIS BUSINESS"?
To compare him to his most recent opponent is to see entirely different paths through this business. Paul Levesque by all accounts grew up a wrestling fan, an NWA fanatic, a "student of the game." He was trained by a hall of famer, an old school wrestler of the highest order. He worked his way from lower mid-card mediocrity in WCW to running the WWE in less than fifteen years . Granted, he did this partly through copious amounts of attaching himself to the right people [Shawn Michaels, Stephanie McMahon], and partly through genuine talent, but nonetheless he is where he is. Paul has always put forward the idea of sacrificing for the wrestling business, and stayed with it through the 00s when the biggest draws of that era left. [Caveat being that said draws withdrew due to injury and other careers, the latter not really an option to our Chaperone/Blade Trinity alumnus].
Brock Lesnar, like other big draws like Bill Goldberg, never seemed to have the same deep-seated love for the business. The travel schedule and general lifestyle disagreed with him, and he was in and out of the WWE inside of two years. He went on to a highly successful MMA career, and has now returned on a special attraction basis. I'm not sure how much Brock has made relative to Paul, but the paths are markedly different. Brock got in, got what he could from the business, and got out. Paul stayed, climbed the ladder, became an even bigger part of it.
Does it matter, do you think, how much wrestlers really care for the business they compete in? Is it enough for them to put their bodies through the wringer, or does there also need to be a love for the business? On the one hand, one could argue that a business that treats its employees as independent contractors, without healthcare coverage , shouldn't expect loyalty from people, the vast majority of whom last a short time in it. On the other hand, aren't we always decrying models getting into wrestling just as a fame catapult, and insisting the company hire wrestlers with a love for the business instead?
So, intelligent people of this board, [if you've not given up on my waffling yet], how important is THIS BUSINESS, as a fan of it, and the men and women who compete in it? I think it's an interesting topic. Other opinions are available
]I know it's become one of many wonderful memes, but how do you, as a fan of professional wrestling, feel about the maxim perhaps most clearly espoused by Triple H in that Tough Enough episode about "THIS BUSINESS"?
To compare him to his most recent opponent is to see entirely different paths through this business. Paul Levesque by all accounts grew up a wrestling fan, an NWA fanatic, a "student of the game." He was trained by a hall of famer, an old school wrestler of the highest order. He worked his way from lower mid-card mediocrity in WCW to running the WWE in less than fifteen years . Granted, he did this partly through copious amounts of attaching himself to the right people [Shawn Michaels, Stephanie McMahon], and partly through genuine talent, but nonetheless he is where he is. Paul has always put forward the idea of sacrificing for the wrestling business, and stayed with it through the 00s when the biggest draws of that era left. [Caveat being that said draws withdrew due to injury and other careers, the latter not really an option to our Chaperone/Blade Trinity alumnus].
Brock Lesnar, like other big draws like Bill Goldberg, never seemed to have the same deep-seated love for the business. The travel schedule and general lifestyle disagreed with him, and he was in and out of the WWE inside of two years. He went on to a highly successful MMA career, and has now returned on a special attraction basis. I'm not sure how much Brock has made relative to Paul, but the paths are markedly different. Brock got in, got what he could from the business, and got out. Paul stayed, climbed the ladder, became an even bigger part of it.
Does it matter, do you think, how much wrestlers really care for the business they compete in? Is it enough for them to put their bodies through the wringer, or does there also need to be a love for the business? On the one hand, one could argue that a business that treats its employees as independent contractors, without healthcare coverage , shouldn't expect loyalty from people, the vast majority of whom last a short time in it. On the other hand, aren't we always decrying models getting into wrestling just as a fame catapult, and insisting the company hire wrestlers with a love for the business instead?
So, intelligent people of this board, [if you've not given up on my waffling yet], how important is THIS BUSINESS, as a fan of it, and the men and women who compete in it? I think it's an interesting topic. Other opinions are available
