A question that's been plaguing me...

[The Ultimate]

But before said question is asked, a little background needs to be said.

I walked in to my living room, and my family was watching Robocop. The current scene happened to involve Kurtwood Smith. Now, as I saw this, I couldn't help but think of a friend who always refers to Kurtwood Smith as "Red Foreman", the character he played in That 70's Show. A pet peeve of mine is calling actors by their character name. I think it must annoy people like Keanu Reeves when if he's just walking down the street, somebody says "Hey Neo" rather than "Hey Keanu". If I ever met one Kurtwood Smith, i'd definitely refer to him as "Kurtwood" or "Mr. Smith", rather than "Red" or perhaps "Clarence".

On the other hand...I feel that if I ever met a wrestler, I would refer to them by their character name. If I ever met Kane, I wouldn't just chum up next to him and say "How's it goin', Glen?". I would almost definitely call him "Kane". It's essentially the same thing as the paragraph above...so, it seems kind of...hypocritical for me to think like this.


Am I hypocritical? Or is this just two completely different things?

[Johnny]

Maybe the name Kurtwood Smith hasn't been beating into his head like Red Foreman. I forget some actors names and will revert to something everyone will know what I'm talking about. Like Big Lebowski or something.

[Milkman Norm]

The key difference is that wrestlers are still supposed to be semi- in character at all times. Even when they appear on late night tv to talk about their personal lives. When Paul Wight was on Conan talking about his wife and kid he didn't do it as Paul Wight, he did it as Big Show. So to some extent the character name has been expanded to allow the workers to talk about their actuall lives while not completely giving up the character

[Captain Wonderful]

milkmannorm said:

The key difference is that wrestlers are still supposed to be semi- in character at all times. Even when they appear on late night tv to talk about their personal lives. When Paul Wight was on Conan talking about his wife and kid he didn't do it as Paul Wight, he did it as Big Show. So to some extent the character name has been expanded to allow the workers to talk about their actuall lives while not completely giving up the character

I don't think it's about just "staying in character" at all. The thing with actors, unlike wrestlers, they don't break bones and bleed and sometimes even paralyze or kill themselves to be known for ONE role. Actors want to be known for everything they've done. It's the exact same principle; you wouldn't call an actor by one of his character's names because that's not who he's dedicating his life to being. You DO call a wrestler by his character's name because that IS who he's dedicating his life to being.

[Throwback]

to me the difference is when you see forest gump it's just tom hanks playing a part. or when you watch terminator, It's just one of Arnold's roles.

but when you see Ric Flair Preform that IS Ric Flair in the ring..

i know it sounds dumb but that's how I see it.

[@TenaciousBe]

survivalism said:

milkmannorm said:

The key difference is that wrestlers are still supposed to be semi- in character at all times. Even when they appear on late night tv to talk about their personal lives. When Paul Wight was on Conan talking about his wife and kid he didn't do it as Paul Wight, he did it as Big Show. So to some extent the character name has been expanded to allow the workers to talk about their actuall lives while not completely giving up the character

I don't think it's about just "staying in character" at all. The thing with actors, unlike wrestlers, they don't break bones and bleed and sometimes even paralyze or kill themselves to be known for ONE role. Actors want to be known for everything they've done. It's the exact same principle; you wouldn't call an actor by one of his character's names because that's not who he's dedicating his life to being. You DO call a wrestler by his character's name because that IS who he's dedicating his life to being.

So when you meet Mick Foley, what do you call him? Mick? Mankind? Cactus? Dude? This theory doesn't always apply.

Here's how I see it -- there IS no difference between the two scenarios in the original post. However, many wrestlers use their stage name as their nickname. Then again, many actors go by stage names as well.

Here's even more how I look at it -- I'll call any particular person whatever they wish to be called. I know that Scott Levy hates to be called by his real name by fans, so when I meet him, I call him Raven. Amy Dumas, while admittedly retired now, prefers to be called Amy than Lita. And all across the board, it's the same way. So I'll just call each wrestler whichever name they prefer.

[mcclanahan]

with celebrities they get everything in their name not their characters name, Tom Hanks won an Academy Award not Forrest Gump

wrestlers...are different...at one time they would have broken your arms for calling them by their real name rather than their stage name...and I for one can say I would do the same, unless you're a close friend you call me by my stage name not my birth name

[mcclanahan]

ibleedpurple said:

survivalism said:

I don't think it's about just "staying in character" at all. The thing with actors, unlike wrestlers, they don't break bones and bleed and sometimes even paralyze or kill themselves to be known for ONE role. Actors want to be known for everything they've done. It's the exact same principle; you wouldn't call an actor by one of his character's names because that's not who he's dedicating his life to being. You DO call a wrestler by his character's name because that IS who he's dedicating his life to being.

So when you meet Mick Foley, what do you call him? Mick? Mankind? Cactus? Dude? This theory doesn't always apply.

Here's how I see it -- there IS no difference between the two scenarios in the original post. However, many wrestlers use their stage name as their nickname. Then again, many actors go by stage names as well.

Here's even more how I look at it -- I'll call any particular person whatever they wish to be called. I know that Scott Levy hates to be called by his real name by fans, so when I meet him, I call him Raven. Amy Dumas, while admittedly retired now, prefers to be called Amy than Lita. And all across the board, it's the same way. So I'll just call each wrestler whichever name they prefer.

most wrestlers consider it an insult to call them by their birth name, it's flat out rude unless you are close friends with them

[Koda, Master Crunchyroller]

Well...I always refer to Tom Savini as Sex Machine, his character in From Dusk Till Dawn, but I have a reason for that. Sex Machine's crotch holstered revolver with twin barrels was awesome.

[markdown474]

Referring to a wrestler by his real name instead of his ring name will just make you sound like an annoying smart mark who thinks he's revealing something he's not supposed to know just to sound like a know-it-all.

Plus, I've heard wrestlers say in the past that more often than not they refer to each other by their ring names.