saintpat
El Dandy
Release the hounds!!!
Posts: 7,664
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Post by saintpat on Dec 17, 2015 14:20:54 GMT -5
I haven't got that response in years, decades maybe.
Sometimes I do get bemused facial expressions like, "But you're not a slobbering neckbeard retard" (this is true, I am clean-shaven) and they don't get it, but they rarely say anything. Or maybe just, "Really, you like wrestling."
If I respond with anything other than "yeah," I usually just amuse myself with a long, passionate explanation about how it's an original American art form, it's grand theater with intricate storytelling and subtle subplots that play out over weeks and months, etc., etc., just to leave them scratching their heads.
But to tell the truth, in recent years I've had a lot more people who seem interested. I've taken a casual co-worker to a Smackdown taping (an extra ticket popped up when someone had to work), then got him into ROH by showing him a couple of YouTube matches and then took him to a show.
Now one of my best friends, who I know through work, who lives in Chicago (I'm in Alabama) knows I'm a fan and he used to watch a bit back in the 1990s when he was a kid, just the other day said, "OK, I've never been to a show. We're going to do that next year. Either you come up here or I'll come down that way. We have to do this, it's going to be awesome." He wants to go to a PPV, but not something as big as WM. So I'm hoping there's a PPV either in Chicago or Atlanta or New Orleans or Nashville or something and we can do that.
When I told people at work (and who I encounter through my profession) that I was going to WM30, the reaction was almost universally, "That's cool." And most of them asked me about it afterword and seemed genuinely interested.
Told an old girlfriend (now one of my best friends) that I keep in touch with that I was going to a show and she started telling me how when she was a kid (in Nashville) she lived near the fairgrounds and they got to know some of the local wrestlers and they would give them passes and she's probably been to 30 or 40 shows (local fed).
So I've found that more people seem to accept it now for some reason.
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Post by sdoyle7798 on Dec 17, 2015 14:26:05 GMT -5
Do they tell adults Santa Claus isn't real? Wait a minute... What are you trying to say here???  |
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Post by Hickster on Dec 17, 2015 14:39:03 GMT -5
If someone can't understand escapism and entertainment, kick them in the junk so hard that it does humanity a favor.
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agent817
Fry's dog Seymour
Doesn't Know Whose Ring It Is
Posts: 21,243
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Post by agent817 on Dec 17, 2015 15:10:15 GMT -5
Well, my younger cousin did this a year ago when I discussed wrestling with another cousin as he jumped right into the conversation. I gave him the argument that movies are fake also, but he tried to defend that by saying that movies are meant to entertain people, and I responded with "so is wrestling." He then tried to defend his argument by saying "Yeah, when you're a kid." I finally shut him up by saying that wrestling has fans of different ages.
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Malcolm
Grimlock
Wanted something done about the color of his ring.
Eternally Confused
Posts: 13,481
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Post by Malcolm on Dec 17, 2015 15:42:22 GMT -5
It's so they can prove how much "smarter" they are than wrestling fans.
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Post by MichaelMartini on Dec 17, 2015 17:22:57 GMT -5
Do they tell adults Santa Claus isn't real? Wait a minute... What are you trying to say here??? Swerve. He's your parents. |
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Glitch
King Koopa
Not Going To Die; Childs, we're goin' out to give Blair the test. If he tries to make it back here and we're not with him... burn him.
Watching you.
Posts: 12,717 
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Post by Glitch on Dec 17, 2015 19:06:19 GMT -5
They never seem to have a good come back to being told movies and tv shows are fake too.
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chazraps
Wade Wilson
Better have my money when I come-a collect!
Posts: 27,979
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Post by chazraps on Dec 17, 2015 19:16:38 GMT -5
I think people just hate the idea of being "lied to," and because of the carny mentality that wrestling's carried with it for years, no matter what some people will never accept a pre-determined athletic exhibition.
Same reason some people hate the Harlem Globetrotters. You can't deny they're legitimately some of the most impressive basketball players on the planet, but ultimately "it's fake."
These people would never have the same quarrel with going to see a play or a musical in a theater, but that's because in the thousands of years of history, the medium has always had the curtain and the stage to say "this isn't reality."
Wrestling's only be officially known as pre-determined since 1993 when Vince McMahon opted for the tax break by not claiming to be a "sports" institution.
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agent817
Fry's dog Seymour
Doesn't Know Whose Ring It Is
Posts: 21,243
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Post by agent817 on Dec 17, 2015 19:44:38 GMT -5
They never seem to have a good come back to being told movies and tv shows are fake too. My cousin tried, so in a way I have to hand it to him, but it was not a valid argument. I think people just hate the idea of being "lied to," and because of the carny mentality that wrestling's carried with it for years, no matter what some people will never accept a pre-determined athletic exhibition. Same reason some people hate the Harlem Globetrotters. You can't deny they're legitimately some of the most impressive basketball players on the planet, but ultimately "it's fake."These people would never have the same quarrel with going to see a play or a musical in a theater, but that's because in the thousands of years of history, the medium has always had the curtain and the stage to say "this isn't reality." Wrestling's only be officially known as pre-determined since 1993 when Vince McMahon opted for the tax break by not claiming to be a "sports" institution. Never try betting against the Harlem Globetrotters. As for your statement, I can see what you mean, but even people in the kayfabe era figured that it was predetermined. |
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Post by Frizzle Fry on Dec 17, 2015 19:51:10 GMT -5
I think the problem is that people dont know the diference between fake and staged. Wrestling is staged but not fake, these guys do all that amazing spots and high flying moves and holds and submissions, they take all the bumps without stunt mans or cgi.
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Post by toodarkmark on Dec 17, 2015 20:29:33 GMT -5
What everyone has said. I usually tell them that Seinfeld was fake too and you watch that, right?
I also compare it to Ballet, in that it is a performance that takes athleticism and dedication.
What really bothers me is when people don't believe that they get hurt, or that the blood is real. Since I went to wrestling school and had a few matches, and also played high school football, its an easy comparison to say that pro wrestling was 100s of times harder than football. I tell them about the injuries that I had, and then the type of injuries wrestlers have that get them hooked on pills and they die. And how many more wrestlers die than any other "athletes".
By then they regret saying anything because I've succeeded in making them feel like they just don't know enough about the subject to discuss it any further.
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Post by sdoyle7798 on Dec 17, 2015 21:03:54 GMT -5
Wait a minute... What are you trying to say here??? Swerve. He's your parents.  |
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Post by GuyOfOwnage on Dec 17, 2015 21:18:15 GMT -5
To me, professional wrestling has never been any different from any other form of entertainment out there. Movies, TV shows, YouTube, everything is manufactured for consumption by people who are bored by real life. It's all the same idea.
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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Dec 18, 2015 12:03:51 GMT -5
It's not worth engaging people who say this. I just say 'so?' They have no response to that, because you just don't care it's fake.
With 'real' sport fans I just use Manny/Floyd as an example why I watch wrestling.
Wrestling is designed to be entertaining. And yes, the way Floyd fights is genius in its way. Doesn't mean I wasn't bored for an hour of my f***ing life.
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Perfect Timing
Dennis Stamp
Sigs/Avatars cannot exceed 1MB
Posts: 4,869
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Post by Perfect Timing on Dec 18, 2015 13:52:14 GMT -5
Only time it annoyed me was when this douche who used to be friends with me in school and would borrow wrestling tapes from me and talk about it often then 5 years later he graduates from uni and suddenly thought he was the shit. I hadn't seen much of him and he was like in front of another friend "oh haha you're still watching that?...it's fake" with the most serious face. I was like "yeah but it's a escape from reality it's still fun" and he's thinking he's all grown up and manly now because he's a fan of UFC.
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Post by Macho Pichu on Dec 18, 2015 14:31:17 GMT -5
When someone say "you know it's fake, right?" All I respond with is "yes, I'm aware." Ranting about injuries being real and such only seems to make them think you think it's all real. There's no point explaining myself why I enjoy it or the accuracy of the word "fake." I'm aware that it's scripted, and I often leave it at that.
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lws
ALF
No. It's the children who are wrong.
Posts: 1,032
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Post by lws on Dec 18, 2015 18:54:58 GMT -5
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The Ichi
Patti Mayonnaise
AGGRESSIVE Executive Janitor of the Third Floor Manager's Bathroom
Posts: 37,299
Member is Online
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Post by The Ichi on Dec 19, 2015 13:55:35 GMT -5
A lot of you are making the crucial mistake of even bothering to come up with a comeback. That wont change their minds and just makes you look easily rattled.
I haven't been "this is fake'd" since I was still in school uniform, but if I did, my response would be "sure is". There's no engaging someone whose mind is already made up.
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Ultimo Gallos
Grimlock
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 14,418
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Dec 19, 2015 15:59:28 GMT -5
Why do fans care what non-fans think about wrestling?
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Post by AJ Smudgico on Dec 20, 2015 7:02:20 GMT -5
My favourite experience of this was buying FSM magazine and having a woman behind me in the queue announce "It's not really you know?" I explained it was really because I was physically holding the magazine and it wasn't a hologram. This only seemed to rile her more, leading to a tirade where she told me she wrestling was fake, and had her looking very pleased with herself. I then turned and commented on her choice of reading matter (Inside Soap magazine) and pointed out Eastenders wasn't actually a fly on the wall documentary.
I don't think I made a new friend that day
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