Do you ever feel bad watching wrestling?

orestes

I was having a conversation with a friend recently where wrestling came up somehow and I mentioned that I watch, and since she has never even watched a match before we ended up having that conversation that I'm sure we've all had where we try to explain why I watch and enjoy something that is so completely absurd to people who aren't fans.

She wasn't being patronising or anything, she just knew nothing about it (had never heard of Hulk Hogan, I sh!t you not) and was asking questions, but the more questions she asked and the more I answered the more absurd the whole thing seemed to her (again, I'm sure we've all had that conversation before too). The whole subject of it being dangerous came up (no worries there, she understood that although it's "fake" it takes a hell of a lot of physical fitness to do it and injuries can easily happen like in any physical activity and the stuff that goes on can be pretty dangerous and accidents happen).

It was when we got to the subject of the disproportionately high amount of people in the industry who die young that she got a bit confused, so I tried to explain that the lifestyle that comes with being a pro wrestler (constantly on the road, drug abuse, etc) seems to lead to a lot of people in the industry dying early (whether it does or not isn't the point of this thread, just that you understand the idea, not that you agree with it) and that's when she asked me how I could enjoy something that I know is so dirty behind the scenes and asked me do I not feel guilty watching it knowing that it might have contributed so massively to so many people dying for what is, when you get down to it, simply my entertainment.

So it got me wondering, does anybody ever feel kinda bad or guilty for watching wrestling knowing how dirty the industry can be? I'm not talking about accidents (Owen), injuries (Droz), singular extreme cases (Benoit) or wrestlers that happened to die young of natural causes, I mean the general murky side of the business that appears to lead to the wrestling tragedy stories that we all know too well and hear about too often - for example, what happened to Droz was a tragic accident but in my opinion it can't be attributed to the wrestling industry even though it happened in a wrestling ring, while the story of the Dynamite Kid is a wrestling tragedy story. Do you think that The Wrestler should serve as a warning of what the industry can do to people, or should we focus on the unfortunate reality that all forms of entertainment have tragedy stories and a lot of people do get out of the wrestling world with no fuss and hassle and go on to lead perfectly normal lives?

I'm not sure where I stand on it to be honest. I do believe that without a doubt being in the industry has directly led a lot of people down tragic paths, and although it's easy to say they should have gotten out before it got too far (eg: like Edge did), I don't believe it's that simple in all cases for someone to just walk away for whatever reason, but should the industry be blamed for that or should each individual be held accountable for their own choices? If someone keeps on going because they feel they have no other choice and something awful happens, is that worse than the same thing happening to somebody who just likes being famous? If a wrestlers heart explodes because of years of steroid abuse is that Vinces fault for creating a situation where bigger is better or the wrestlers fault for sticking the juice in his veins? Or does sh!t just happen and I'm overthinking this?

So, TL:DR - do you ever feel bad for watching wrestling when it seems to mess up so many of the people in the business, or do you have a clean conscience since they can walk away from the life if they choose to?

sockmo

I felt completely ashamed to be a wresting fan when I saw the Louis Thereoux documentary when he went training with WCW and they totally hazed him...it was really sickening to see all these jacked up westling jocks completely bullying and abusing the best documentary host of all time..

then again it was WCW in the 90's.

sockmo

Here is the link to said video. Be warned this documentary may make you feel like complete **** for being a wrestling fan, Even Randy Savege comes across as a total prick.

Hematocyte

^^ That doc really comes across as a bunch of jocks over-compensating because they're now essentially in the theatrical field rather than out playing real sports (which is what I imagine the many of them had envisioned doing when they were young).

smellmepower

Old school mentality of not liking outsiders knowing the inner workings of the business.Probably thought Theroux was making another 'secrets of wrestling revealed' or a show that rips the piss out of pro wrestling too.

And no I don't feel bad about watching wrestling,same way I don't feel bad if a movie star or a singer is a coke head/heroin addict or whatever.Comes down to a personal choice,and people who make those bad personal choices use wrestling as an easy excuse to absolve them of their sins.

Angron

Nah, never really saw a reason to. I don't feel silly or anything for still playing pokemon, I enjoy it, and it works the same way for wrestling.

gnfnrhead

Not even once. The fact that pretty much every guy around my age and up has watched at some point helps too. I don't care if they no longer watch, I still do and I still enjoy it. I don't get why people watch Cricket for example, but they do. They enjoy it, just like I enjoy wrestling.

I'm 26 this year and like Angron, still play Pokemon games. I still watch the Anime too.

Doctor DooM

I gave up on watching wrestling for that very reason.

So many horrible stories, read through many different mediums, about how nasty the whole business is.

Benoit was the last straw for me, wrestling may or may not be responsible in some way for what happened, but it was the tipping point. I still have a great affection for PW, but I spend my energies on other things.

I also am not a person to let "the norm" define what I do. I'm a competitive Streetfighter player. Just for me I hit some form of mental limit of how much crap I heard about behind closed doors.

Mick Murdock

It's a choice. Nobody was ever forced into wrestling or to drink or take drugs.

Do something else if you can't handle it.

Tramps Like Us

sockmo wrote: »

Here is the link to said video. Be warned this documentary may make you feel like complete **** for being a wrestling fan, Even Randy Savege comes across as a total prick.

Jesus Batista wasn't lying when he said Sarge is a world class prick with a serious Napoleon complex

Moneymaker

I feel embarrassed sometimes when a particularly dumb angle is on.

Bad? Never.

Max Power1

Having never seen that documentary, I must saw that was a very interesting insight into the attitudes of different sides of the wrestling business

Deadlie

You could feel bad watching anything, though.

Horse Racing can be cruel when a horse breaks a leg, a massive percentage of American Footballers are penniless less than 5 years after retiring, for every premier league footballer, there's 100 uneducated failed cases.

At least with Cena, the WWE are very clearly making people happy. That Make A Wish stuff could mean more than we'll ever know to those kids. Daniel Bryan is also a decent role model. sure bad stuff happens behind the scenes, but that's a global problem at the top tier of anything.

krudler

I enjoy the production and spectacle side of it but I definitely think there should be an off season or required breaks for healing up or avoiding depending on painkillers, there's a really seedy side to wrestling as a whole, I've never agreed with this "show must go on" mentality, if a soccer player is panned out with a concussion in the middle of the field they don't play the game around him. Wrestling isn't a competitive sport but even if something like say a stage actor or Cirque De Soleil performer was seriously injured during a performance nobody would expect them to carry on, yet in wrestling they are.

Concannon7

Max Power1 wrote: »

Having never seen that documentary, I must saw that was a very interesting insight into the attitudes of different sides of the wrestling business

Those attitudes seem to be changing thankfully. Triple H did an interview the other day where he talked openly about creative and storylines. The days of wrestlers getting insulted when asked a very fair question on how the matches are worked out are more or less gone. The WWE seem to understand that it's more important to have the media on your side and don't treat them with the same mistrust as decades gone. For a non fan that whole part of the documentary on WCW would completely turn you off wrestling and as a fan was embarrassing to watch.

jaykhunter

Sometimes (well, most of the time) wrestling is a bit of an embarrassment, in terms of characters, storylines, acting etc, but I absolutely love it, and the few RAWs/PPVs per year that are brilliant make up for the 90% dross we sit through. It's also the most interesting little bubble in the world, where the backstage is just as, if not more so, interesting than what happens on-screen.