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Post by Magic knows Black Lives Matter on Nov 13, 2013 20:27:09 GMT -5
So, I watched Monday's Raw with some friends who have never seen wrestling before. As expected, they had plenty of questions about the show. As I was trying to answer their questions, I realized something. It is insanely hard to explain wrestling to someone who doesn't watch it. Not even just WWE, the concept of professional wrestling. It got to the point where I couldn't even answer some of their questions and just had to say, "it's complicated" because it would have taken way too long to explain otherwise.
Since I've watched it for so long and have accepted all its wackiness, I guess I sorta forgot just how absurd wrestling is to "normal" people.
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Blindkarevik
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Post by Blindkarevik on Nov 13, 2013 20:30:25 GMT -5
I had the hardest time explaining what I meant by saying what you see on-screen is a reflection of what happens backstage. They were like, "Oh, like, if they fight backstage they fight up front?" Was so tough trying to explain the idea of pushes, workrate, being "over" all that... I think at some point I just stopped trying to explain and just started agreeing with them to speed things up. They may have left more confused than they came in, but I have a feeling that would've happened even if I had thoroughly explained everything.
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Post by Hit Girl on Nov 13, 2013 20:31:28 GMT -5
It's complicated because WWE don't even know what they are anymore.
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Post by BayleyTiffyCodyCenaJudyHopps on Nov 13, 2013 20:36:39 GMT -5
I think one of the biggest mistakes we make as fans is pushing for wrestling as a whole to make sense.
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Post by Magic knows Black Lives Matter on Nov 13, 2013 20:37:15 GMT -5
I had the hardest time explaining what I meant by saying what you see on-screen is a reflection of what happens backstage. They were like, "Oh, like, if they fight backstage they fight up front?" Was so tough trying to explain the idea of pushes, workrate, being "over" all that... I think at some point I just stopped trying to explain and just started agreeing with them to speed things up. They may have left more confused than they came in, but I have a feeling that would've happened even if I had thoroughly explained everything. The question that got me was "so, can anybody run in at any point during the show if they're a wrestler?" I had so much trouble explaining it that I just said yes.
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Boo!
Dennis Stamp
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Post by Boo! on Nov 13, 2013 20:39:06 GMT -5
So, I watched Monday's Raw with some friends who have never seen wrestling before. As expected, they had plenty of questions about the show. As I was trying to answer their questions, I realized something. It is insanely hard to explain wrestling to someone who doesn't watch it. Not even just WWE, the concept of professional wrestling. It got to the point where I couldn't even answer some of their questions and just had to say, "it's complicated" because it would have taken way too long to explain otherwise. Since I've watched it for so long and have accepted all its wackiness, I guess I sorta forgot just how absurd wrestling is to "normal" people. "That guy doesn't like the other one" Have I missed something?
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Post by Hit Girl on Nov 13, 2013 20:39:15 GMT -5
I think one of the biggest mistakes we make as fans is pushing for wrestling as a whole to make sense. Wrestling can make sense WWE on the other hand, usually doesn't.
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Post by rnrk supports BLM on Nov 13, 2013 20:40:17 GMT -5
Soap operas get insanely convoluted too if you try to think about them too long.
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Post by Magic knows Black Lives Matter on Nov 13, 2013 20:40:57 GMT -5
So, I watched Monday's Raw with some friends who have never seen wrestling before. As expected, they had plenty of questions about the show. As I was trying to answer their questions, I realized something. It is insanely hard to explain wrestling to someone who doesn't watch it. Not even just WWE, the concept of professional wrestling. It got to the point where I couldn't even answer some of their questions and just had to say, "it's complicated" because it would have taken way too long to explain otherwise. Since I've watched it for so long and have accepted all its wackiness, I guess I sorta forgot just how absurd wrestling is to "normal" people. "That guy doesn't like the other one" Have I missed something? See, I thought it would be that easy but the people I was watching with questioned EVERYTHING. From the actual matches to the various backstage segments, they didn't get most of it and I had a lot of trouble explaining it.
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Post by Magic knows Black Lives Matter on Nov 13, 2013 20:42:44 GMT -5
Soap operas get insanely convoluted too if you try to think about them too long. Oh no doubt. I'm just saying that I forgot how hard it is to explain this stuff to someone who's never seen it.
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The Heenan Family
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Post by The Heenan Family on Nov 13, 2013 20:43:05 GMT -5
I ended up watching an episode of Smackdown about a year ago with some friends (a married couple) who never watch the product. They still don't watch wrestling but they were quite captivated by it that night. I remember there were comments about how the wrestlers noticeably pulled their punches, but they respected the athleticism. That or they were just completely taken by Randy Orton's thighs.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2013 20:43:40 GMT -5
I had the hardest time explaining what I meant by saying what you see on-screen is a reflection of what happens backstage. They were like, "Oh, like, if they fight backstage they fight up front?" Was so tough trying to explain the idea of pushes, workrate, being "over" all that... I think at some point I just stopped trying to explain and just started agreeing with them to speed things up. They may have left more confused than they came in, but I have a feeling that would've happened even if I had thoroughly explained everything. This is THE main thing non-fans don't understand. They think anyone who watches takes it at face value. Nothing wrong with doing that. But, there's so much to analyze, it's why I get into it and post here all the time. There's also the cheese factor. My friends are into SRS stuff like Walking Dead, they don't get the appeal wrestling has to me. I try to explain but it doesn't hit.
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Post by Magic knows Black Lives Matter on Nov 13, 2013 20:45:19 GMT -5
I had the hardest time explaining what I meant by saying what you see on-screen is a reflection of what happens backstage. They were like, "Oh, like, if they fight backstage they fight up front?" Was so tough trying to explain the idea of pushes, workrate, being "over" all that... I think at some point I just stopped trying to explain and just started agreeing with them to speed things up. They may have left more confused than they came in, but I have a feeling that would've happened even if I had thoroughly explained everything. This is THE main thing non-fans don't understand. They think anyone who watches takes it at face value. Nothing wrong with doing that. But, there's so much to analyze, it's why I get into it and post here all the time. There's also the cheese factor. My friends are into SRS stuff like Walking Dead, they don't get the appeal wrestling has to me. I try to explain but it doesn't hit. Exactly. They don't get that I actually analyze wrestling in the same way that people follow Dr. Who and shows like that. They just see "Dur Hur, half naked men fighting."
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Post by BayleyTiffyCodyCenaJudyHopps on Nov 13, 2013 20:46:38 GMT -5
Exactly. Hence what makes WWE so enjoyable a lot of the time.
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The Heenan Family
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Post by The Heenan Family on Nov 13, 2013 20:51:48 GMT -5
This is THE main thing non-fans don't understand. They think anyone who watches takes it at face value. Nothing wrong with doing that. But, there's so much to analyze, it's why I get into it and post here all the time. There's also the cheese factor. My friends are into SRS stuff like Walking Dead, they don't get the appeal wrestling has to me. I try to explain but it doesn't hit. Exactly. They don't get that I actually analyze wrestling in the same way that people follow Dr. Who and shows like that. They just see "Dur Hur, half naked men fighting." I honestly think MMA has helped get people over the half naked men thing. That and maybe the no shirts, shoes or belts rules of fight club. In this day and age, if you're gonna fight, you apparently have to be half naked. I'm just glad Big Dick Johnson isn't around anymore.
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Post by Magic knows Black Lives Matter on Nov 13, 2013 20:55:08 GMT -5
Exactly. They don't get that I actually analyze wrestling in the same way that people follow Dr. Who and shows like that. They just see "Dur Hur, half naked men fighting." I honestly think MMA has helped get people over the half naked men thing. That and maybe the no shirts, shoes or belts rules of fight club. In this day and age, if you're gonna fight, you apparently have to be half naked. I'm just glad Big Dick Johnson isn't around anymore. True but even then, they couldn't get past the fact that it's "fake fighting."
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The Heenan Family
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Post by The Heenan Family on Nov 13, 2013 21:05:22 GMT -5
Indeed. I bet it'd be easier to watch the Royal Rumble with someone not into wrestling. It doesn't rely as much on the fake punches and kicks but more on the stunt work and the idea of throwing someone over the top rope. Plus with all of the wrestlers involved in the match, there's bound to be a character in there that they could cheer for.
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Boo!
Dennis Stamp
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Post by Boo! on Nov 13, 2013 21:12:26 GMT -5
I still don't get what's complex. You can pick any show on TV and be there all day explaining the backstory to any one particular scene
"They're running away together because he slept with her sister and she found out got jealous and then had a lesbian affair with his then girlfiend who was secretly pregnant with her sons baby but miscarried and then fell in love with a doctor who is trying to kill the man she's running away with who unbenownst to her is actually planning to announce he's gay but worried his family might disinherit him if he admits it because his Mom once had another gay son the dad made them lose contact with and if the other one admits to be being gay he'll lose the oil inherritace that he was planning to open up a medical facility and employ the man that chased the cat that ate the rat that lived in the house that Jack built"
...nobody really wants to know that much detail if they're a casual observer but most soaps or drama series will have similar levels of background story. In wrestling you get two guys (or more) who have beef. Surely that for a casual observer is a fairly simple concept to understand?
You could not watch a wrestling show in years and tune in and within 8 seconds figure out "oh these two don't like each other"
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BigBadZ
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Post by BigBadZ on Nov 13, 2013 21:12:41 GMT -5
I honestly think MMA has helped get people over the half naked men thing. That and maybe the no shirts, shoes or belts rules of fight club. In this day and age, if you're gonna fight, you apparently have to be half naked. I'm just glad Big Dick Johnson isn't around anymore. True but even then, they couldn't get past the fact that it's "fake fighting." I have some friends of that opinion as well but after a good while explaining and showing some of the stuff, they get there is real pain involved. I ordered Royal Rumble and had a couple of friends over, one who had never watched before, and oddly enough, it was the Big Show vs Del Rio match that provided the proof for him. The spot where they were on the staging area and jumping to the floor displayed what I was trying to explain perfectly. When Big Show goes to chokeslam Del Rio off that thing, you can see them getting ready for it, which shows the "fake" part and then Del Rio goes through the table and the floor has no padding, which shows the "real" part. To his credit, he understood the Royal Rumble match rules and even picked up on who the main players were without much questioning. I suppose that's good job on the commentators for explaining things but I get very tired of hearing it over and over.
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Post by Hit Girl on Nov 13, 2013 21:15:43 GMT -5
Exactly. Hence what makes WWE so enjoyable a lot of the time. And frustrating a lot of the time.
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