Are You A: Sports Entertainment or Wrestling Fan?

[Account Terminated]

Definitely is a difference.

I'm a fan of both, although I lean more towards wrestling than I do sports entertainment. When I was younger, I bought more into characters, charisma and stories. Now, stick two guys in the ring and if they can go, I'm invested.

I watched NJPW and the second match of the night had one of the best sequences in a match I had seen in a long time. Watching ROH, PWG and paying attention to local promotions here in Montreal, I've learned to love the art of wrestling.

 

[ColePens]

It's kind of a really cool poll here because I notice why I typically argue against some of the people who voted for the wrestling. Neck and neck here.

 

[Paris in Flames]

Great story telling can turn a 4 star match into a 5 star match. A ****** storyline can turn a 5 star match into a 4 star match.

So...really....I think they're a yin/yang situation.

 

[Morozov]

I'm a bit surprised by the results so far because this forum is very WWE centric.

Though I have noticed an increasing shift in that, or maybe it's because many WWE threads I don't bother clicking on nowadays so it feels like that because I often only read the threads about the other stuff. But it definitely feels like there's increasing talk of particularly Japanese stuff.

The differentiation I look at is rather than "sports entertainment vs wrestling" it's "WWE fan vs wrestling fan". A number of people are simply fans of WWE, all they'll watch is WWE, all they want to watch is WWE, and they'll stick to WWE through pretty much whatever. To them WWE=wrestling, there is nothing else. A large part of that is because people are brought up on WWE, it's pretty ingrained in society, though it's becoming less so. They don't care who Bryan Danielson is, but they'll love Daniel Bryan once he gets there. Then you have your people who are wrestling fans, they'll watch all sorts of other things, WWE is merely one part of the wrestling smorgasboard. Some of them won't watch WWE at all, some of them will watch it every week.

Some have now started to crossover from WWE fans to wrestling fans because they've become so underwhelmed with the current product.

I'm not saying either are the right or wrong stance to have, because there isn't a right or wrong in that situation but that is the differentiation to me. The "WWE fans" are going to care more about the story, the theatrics because that's what WWE is. The "wrestling fans" are going to care more about the wrestling because that's where the focus is elsewhere.

Some people on here gush over for example Omega, some couldn't care less about him but would like him the moment he arrived in WWE if he did. It isn't necessarily that the WWE fans wouldn't appreciate what he is doing now if they took the time to watch, but he isn't in WWE so they don't really care.

 

[Acallabeth]

Not sure how anyone can seriously say "wrestling". In vacuum, 2 guys slowly faking a wrestling match under some weird rules isn't anything attractive, it's the "sports entertainment" component that makes it an interesting show.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

I'm a bit surprised by the results so far because this forum is very WWE centric.

Though I have noticed an increasing shift in that, or maybe it's because many WWE threads I don't bother clicking on nowadays so it feels like that because I often only read the threads about the other stuff. But it definitely feels like there's increasing talk of particularly Japanese stuff.

The differentiation I look at is rather than "sports entertainment vs wrestling" it's "WWE fan vs wrestling fan". A number of people are simply fans of WWE, all they'll watch is WWE, all they want to watch is WWE, and they'll stick to WWE through pretty much whatever. To them WWE=wrestling, there is nothing else. A large part of that is because people are brought up on WWE, it's pretty ingrained in society, though it's becoming less so. They don't care who Bryan Danielson is, but they'll love Daniel Bryan once he gets there. Then you have your people who are wrestling fans, they'll watch all sorts of other things, WWE is merely one part of the wrestling smorgasboard. Some of them won't watch WWE at all, some of them will watch it every week.

Some have now started to crossover from WWE fans to wrestling fans because they've become so underwhelmed with the current product.

I'm not saying either are the right or wrong stance to have, because there isn't a right or wrong in that situation but that is the differentiation to me. The "WWE fans" are going to care more about the story, the theatrics because that's what WWE is. The "wrestling fans" are going to care more about the wrestling because that's where the focus is elsewhere.

Some people on here gush over for example Omega, some couldn't care less about him but would like him the moment he arrived in WWE if he did. It isn't necessarily that the WWE fans wouldn't appreciate what he is doing now if they took the time to watch, but he isn't in WWE so they don't really care.

Oh there's definitely been a shift. It's why I felt the need to open the non-WWE wrestling discussion thread.

And Omega

 

[Morozov]

Not sure how anyone can seriously say "wrestling". In vacuum, 2 guys slowly faking a wrestling match under some weird rules isn't anything attractive, it's the "sports entertainment" component that makes it an interesting show.

I've had multiple instances where friends who have "grown out of wrestling" have come round when I've been watching a show and been like whoa what is this and been engaged in just watching an awesome match.

To some the skill and athleticism is "attractive" and as soon as you suspend disbelief the fake aspect goes out the window. I find that suspension of disbelief much easier when the matches aren't wrapped in some cheesy storyline that is easy to pick apart.

Different strokes. Take this cruserweight card that they're meant to be doing. There's not going to be much storyline to build to that if it's just some one off special show with guys who aren't even regularly on the roster, but you can be sure a lot of people are going to find it interesting and entertaining.

 

[Fa Ci La]

Not sure how anyone can seriously say "wrestling". In vacuum, 2 guys slowly faking a wrestling match under some weird rules isn't anything attractive, it's the "sports entertainment" component that makes it an interesting show.

counter-point: flippy **** is awesome

 

[SladeWilson23]

If you gave me these two options......

1. High quality wrestling matches without any kind of storytelling
2. Lots of heated drama with only so-so quality matches

I'd probably choose option 2.

I love watching The Walking Dead. But what hooked me to the show wasn't the special effects or the acting, it was just the story itself and the premise of the show. The CGI is pretty bad in some parts, and the acting is a tad bit over the top.

 

[Shoalzie]

It's an odd poll. Hasn't pro wrestling been more than just "wrestling"? Pro wrestling has the storylines and promos to hype up or enhance an upcoming match. When was it not part of "wrestling"?

Sports entertainment is just a sanitized or corporate term for what wrestling has become. Nobody with a brain will confuse pro wrestling with Olympic style wrestling in terms of the form and the fact that it's a real event with real people. Some of the bumps might be real but the wrestling action is a delicate dance of moves that are supposed to look real and dangerous and show off the ability of each guy.

Think about what it would take for wrestling to be real. You'd have to beat a guy down bad enough to be able to keep their shoulders down for 3 seconds or put a legit submission hold where a guy would tap out from the pain.

The promos and hype-up segments could still have elements of reality. However, guys playing a character like The Undertaker...he isn't The Undertaker when he goes home. Now that social media takes away the element of a guy going away for a while and training to return...do we really want to see a guy named Mark training to be able to perform as The Undertaker?

Why MMA can steal away some pro wrestling fans is if they allow their hype to mirror pro wrestling and they have the element of real action and violence. Certain guys in the UFC who are good on the mic and have skills in the cage and make them compelling figures. Or you'd have to be such a great performer in the cage that we can ignore that they lack charisma or personality.

So much of what makes fights compelling is if you get the idea of someone who talks so much is either going to get their comeuppance or they back up the talk and win. Sheamus is a dull Irish pro wrestling character. Conor McGregor is an over-the-top mouthy heel of an MMA fighter but is a far more intriguing character because his talk might be a bit exaggerated because a lot of it is for the cameras but I'd get more excited for his next fight because I can't get excited about a scripted match involving a wrestling character named Sheamus.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Even when wrestling was still wrestling and kayfabe was real they still had story lines and reasons to fight. I don't like this reasoning that story lines are the problem. There's got to be a reason for guys to fight.

Story lines and promos are a core part of traditional wrestling, I don't know why people are so ready to divorce them from each other.