Over the last couple of episodes from @AEPodcast they have pointed something out that has got me thinking.
Now let's not get it twisted, these guys are genius. The whole format has got such a brilliant hook, niche....gimmick? Kevin, Billy and Adam take a step back to the beginnings of some the WWE's best years and tell the stories of the Attitude Era's PPVs and touch on the RAWs and I'm guessing Smackdowns to come. The trio from England and Ireland (maybe N.I, I'm not too sure? Sorry Kevin) are as funny as the idea of a pet coon, whipping a government mule until he's God damned broken in half!
Each episode is seamless with telling us how each PPV unfolded with a nice pace of comedy and, well, almost a play by play commentary.
I personally would like to ask Attitude Era Podcast if they would ever do a minute for minute full commentary, to say, Wrestlemania XV? I would love it and I hope other AEP supporters would love it too.
Showing posts with label pg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pg. Show all posts
21 Sept 2013
10 Jun 2013
Is WWE real?
As a wrestling fan you have, with out a doubt been told wrestling is fake.
I have been told that wrestling is fake fighting with fake blood, fake stories and I've even had someone tell me the ring is fake.
From here on in let's call these people Sheeple. That is what they are, right? Just a bunch of know it alls who want to ruin your fun. Sheeple for some reason will nonsensically spew their closed minded opinions for as long as you want to defend your own opinion.....They seem to have a lot of spare time and energy for this, so be careful if you want to take them on.
Now when I have some one telling me that I'm a childish fool for liking WWE or pro-wrestling I don't feel the need to justify my self, but I do feel the need to give them a few reasons to think about wrestling a little different. Not wanting to be a salesman, spokes person or ambassador but just giving a couple of facts that may make Sheeple look at it in a new way.
So that means WWE doesn't hurt, right? EGH-UGH! Of course it does, the men and women that entertain us fans on a weekly to nightly basis go through ridiculous amounts of physical abuse. The recent case of Edge having to hang up the boots and retire in such Hollywood story fashion was down to injury. The injury was not like a one off career killing moment but more of a breakdown after years of using his body to entertain us.
Edge is one of many wrestlers who have had to retire due to their bodies being one bad landing away from a drastic life altering injury from taking bump after bump, night after night for a good 300+ days a year plus travel.
OK, OK Sheeple I hear you! How could anyone possibly go night in night out getting beaten up for real all year long? Not even Mikey Whipwreck could really do it. Boxers and UFC fighters could really max out 2-3 big fights a year but our guys must be fake because they get up the next day and do it all again.
It's true our guys are entertainers, working for a entertainment company, but they take some serious damage. The history of pro-wrestling is littered with injury, from the "small" finger breaks, to the Sids of the ring going all jelly legged, to the Brets and Edges having to walk away for good.
Pro-wrestling is predetermined, the matches are called but the action takes its toll in a big way and as cliche as it may seem, the risks are very real.
Yes. Baby oil. My only answer to that is there is less now than in the 80's and 90's.
But the soap opera part does have some weight behind it in all fairness and truth. Just like I have already pointed out for the Sheeple, wrestling is pre-planned, predetermined, choreographed, scripted so can it not be soap?
I'm sorry to tell you sXe_Punker20-1's, CenationsGurl16's and WWEfanmaniac's but wrestling you watch is not a documentary. The stories, rivalries and feuds you see are written to make you think it could all be real because of the blurry line they create between fact and fiction, sometimes these lines get ripped to pieces with the likes of the Montreal Screw Job, Austin vs McMahon, Edge-Lita-Matt Hardy love affair all of which make art imitate life and life imitate art.
With todays vomit inducing batch of "reality" TV like Jersey Shore, Made in Chelsea and tripe like Wife-Swap it has become increasingly harder to seperate what's real and what's not on TV.
So WWE maybe scripted like a soap opera but can be as real as any reality show on TV today, if not more so due to the fact that the people performing these stories can some times have their very real lives played out on screen.
I have been told that wrestling is fake fighting with fake blood, fake stories and I've even had someone tell me the ring is fake.
From here on in let's call these people Sheeple. That is what they are, right? Just a bunch of know it alls who want to ruin your fun. Sheeple for some reason will nonsensically spew their closed minded opinions for as long as you want to defend your own opinion.....They seem to have a lot of spare time and energy for this, so be careful if you want to take them on.
Now when I have some one telling me that I'm a childish fool for liking WWE or pro-wrestling I don't feel the need to justify my self, but I do feel the need to give them a few reasons to think about wrestling a little different. Not wanting to be a salesman, spokes person or ambassador but just giving a couple of facts that may make Sheeple look at it in a new way.
It Doesn't Hurt
First and most prominent argument that people tend to go with is that the "fighting" is staged and choreographed. Yeah sure it is predetermined and spots are planned, even some the moves and throws you see may have very little if any impact. But can you imagine a WWE match where every punch, kick and throw is real? It's called MMA and I, for one, am not a huge fan of watching men completely knock the snot out of each other.So that means WWE doesn't hurt, right? EGH-UGH! Of course it does, the men and women that entertain us fans on a weekly to nightly basis go through ridiculous amounts of physical abuse. The recent case of Edge having to hang up the boots and retire in such Hollywood story fashion was down to injury. The injury was not like a one off career killing moment but more of a breakdown after years of using his body to entertain us.
Edge is one of many wrestlers who have had to retire due to their bodies being one bad landing away from a drastic life altering injury from taking bump after bump, night after night for a good 300+ days a year plus travel.
OK, OK Sheeple I hear you! How could anyone possibly go night in night out getting beaten up for real all year long? Not even Mikey Whipwreck could really do it. Boxers and UFC fighters could really max out 2-3 big fights a year but our guys must be fake because they get up the next day and do it all again.
It's true our guys are entertainers, working for a entertainment company, but they take some serious damage. The history of pro-wrestling is littered with injury, from the "small" finger breaks, to the Sids of the ring going all jelly legged, to the Brets and Edges having to walk away for good.
Pro-wrestling is predetermined, the matches are called but the action takes its toll in a big way and as cliche as it may seem, the risks are very real.
It's all soap opera with added baby oil
Yes. Baby oil. My only answer to that is there is less now than in the 80's and 90's.
But the soap opera part does have some weight behind it in all fairness and truth. Just like I have already pointed out for the Sheeple, wrestling is pre-planned, predetermined, choreographed, scripted so can it not be soap?
I'm sorry to tell you sXe_Punker20-1's, CenationsGurl16's and WWEfanmaniac's but wrestling you watch is not a documentary. The stories, rivalries and feuds you see are written to make you think it could all be real because of the blurry line they create between fact and fiction, sometimes these lines get ripped to pieces with the likes of the Montreal Screw Job, Austin vs McMahon, Edge-Lita-Matt Hardy love affair all of which make art imitate life and life imitate art.
With todays vomit inducing batch of "reality" TV like Jersey Shore, Made in Chelsea and tripe like Wife-Swap it has become increasingly harder to seperate what's real and what's not on TV.
So WWE maybe scripted like a soap opera but can be as real as any reality show on TV today, if not more so due to the fact that the people performing these stories can some times have their very real lives played out on screen.
Is It Real?
Even as a life long fan, I don't think I have the vocabulary or law school teachings to give an accurate conclusion for myself let alone the Sheeple of this world due to the often blurry line of reality that wrestling carries. Sure I can agree that a huge part of it is on paper before it hits our screens but such a huge compelling part is still kinda real.
Well maybe not as much as happy chappy here.
The fact that wrestling does have this blurry line I think leaves it open for us to make up our minds on its authenticity. I will still give Sheeple a gentle reminder of what these performers go through physically and some of what you see on its programming can be as close to life as any reality show out there.
One thing these Sheeple do need to learn is,
Even if wrestling is fake, it doesn't hurt for anyone to suspend their belief of reality to enjoy what they're watching. Just like most humans do when watching Eastenders, Days of Our Lives, House, Breaking Bad, Bridget Jones' Diary or Die Hard. Every now and again we just like to leave our real world and immerse ourselves in something we enjoy. It's just wrestling has more baby oil.
9 May 2013
Guest Article for The Wrestling Chronicle
I would like to thank Erik over at The Wrestling Chronicle for giving me the chance to write a guest article for the site.
The post is all about Kofi Kingston and the struggle he has getting through his glass ceiling with in the WWE.
I take a look at his first few years on the roster and go on to talk about a few of the problems he has run into icluding speedy pushes and slow dry patches. His career some what seems to picking up and dropping gears every other few months and I think a performer as talented as him should be used to his capabilities.
The full post can be read at http://www.thewrestlingchronicle.com/2013/05/wake-up-and-smell-kofi.html
If you are a young wrestling fan wanting to learn or an older fan who wants to hear some positive and constructive views follow Erik on Twitter @wrestlingchron , download the piledriver podcast and go and like The Wrestling Chronicle on Facebook.
The post is all about Kofi Kingston and the struggle he has getting through his glass ceiling with in the WWE.
I take a look at his first few years on the roster and go on to talk about a few of the problems he has run into icluding speedy pushes and slow dry patches. His career some what seems to picking up and dropping gears every other few months and I think a performer as talented as him should be used to his capabilities.
The full post can be read at http://www.thewrestlingchronicle.com/2013/05/wake-up-and-smell-kofi.html
If you are a young wrestling fan wanting to learn or an older fan who wants to hear some positive and constructive views follow Erik on Twitter @wrestlingchron , download the piledriver podcast and go and like The Wrestling Chronicle on Facebook.
Can WWE see me?
This week on Twitter I got involved in a conversation with @IfinRatedR and @VegasKustom about WWE ignoring its core fan base and investing too much time and effort in the younger fan base.
I'm 26 years old, I have been watching wrestling (mostly exclusively WWE) for the best part of 21-22 of these years and I was questioning do WWE care about people in the same bracket and older? Or are they focused solely on the CeNation Army munchkins?
Honestly, I feel it is both.
Unless you've just crawled out of the boiler room of you will know that WWE is PG. This simply means, of course it is directed at the young audience. Over the past several years WWE has changed from the blood soaking - boobie bouncing - weapon wielding - bird flipping - gritty - bonkers world it once was. It now prefers the family friendly - hand clappy - lady skipping - shiny glossy world.
This to me still doesn't prove that WWE has lost touch with the older bunch. Not even close.
Sure we can bang on all day about Cena running the place in Superman mode for the kids to cheer and adore, but we had Hogan doing the exact same thing! Sure the Hulkster only had two colours at the time but he still came out in the brightest yellow and reds, was all wholesome and all patriotic, put across messages of goodness and was cleaner than a DDP smile.
I'm 26 years old, I have been watching wrestling (mostly exclusively WWE) for the best part of 21-22 of these years and I was questioning do WWE care about people in the same bracket and older? Or are they focused solely on the CeNation Army munchkins?
Honestly, I feel it is both.
Unless you've just crawled out of the boiler room of you will know that WWE is PG. This simply means, of course it is directed at the young audience. Over the past several years WWE has changed from the blood soaking - boobie bouncing - weapon wielding - bird flipping - gritty - bonkers world it once was. It now prefers the family friendly - hand clappy - lady skipping - shiny glossy world.
This to me still doesn't prove that WWE has lost touch with the older bunch. Not even close.
Sure we can bang on all day about Cena running the place in Superman mode for the kids to cheer and adore, but we had Hogan doing the exact same thing! Sure the Hulkster only had two colours at the time but he still came out in the brightest yellow and reds, was all wholesome and all patriotic, put across messages of goodness and was cleaner than a DDP smile.
5 May 2013
Let's talk. Cena heel?
Being a wrestling fan you may of heard of a guy who has won championships, been on TV almost every week over the past 10 years, appears on least 11 out of 12 PPVs, gets mixed reviews from fans around the world and has worked as hard as anyone in the WWE today. In my opinion he's still not given the credit he deserves, the guy is a work horse and does whats asked of him, in what seems to be, every instance. You know exactly who I mean, but before you go saying "Ugh! Had enough of reading about this guy and what everyone thinks of him" don't worry. I'm not gonna bang on all day about Michael Cole, as the title suggests I'm here to talk about John Cena.
To be exact I wanna talk about the potential and idea of Cena turning heel. If you have ever been on twitter and seen anything about Cena on there, chances are it's about one of a few things;
1. Cena is WWEs god and can do no wrong and is the best of the best of the best of the bestest best!
2. Cena sucks and needs to be heel by next week or I'm tuning out
3. Cena sucks and needs to die.
Now point number 3 needs to stop. If you are wishing death upon a performer for doing their job, a job you would wear your own testicles as earrings to do, you are a shabby human being and need to do some thinking about your own life.
Points 1 and 2 have some real merrit to be discussed further.
Whether you like him or not, whether you buy into the character or not, there is no reason to totally discount the first two points.
To be exact I wanna talk about the potential and idea of Cena turning heel. If you have ever been on twitter and seen anything about Cena on there, chances are it's about one of a few things;
1. Cena is WWEs god and can do no wrong and is the best of the best of the best of the bestest best!
2. Cena sucks and needs to be heel by next week or I'm tuning out
3. Cena sucks and needs to die.
Now point number 3 needs to stop. If you are wishing death upon a performer for doing their job, a job you would wear your own testicles as earrings to do, you are a shabby human being and need to do some thinking about your own life.
Points 1 and 2 have some real merrit to be discussed further.
Whether you like him or not, whether you buy into the character or not, there is no reason to totally discount the first two points.
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