Over the years I had dipped in and out of watching the wrestling on TV, mainly the WWE brand. Over the last few years I haven't really bothered with it but recently I have got back into it and I am hooked again. It feels like it's heading in a new direction now that the old boss has stepped back.
I first got into watching the wrestling when I used to catch bits on the TV when I was in my late teens. They called it the Attitude Era where it got a bit edgy and more aimed towards adults and that is what reeled me in. It was the time of The Undertaker, D-X, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock who now goes by Dwayne Johnson, the actor who sometimes still appears on the WWE.
I know lots of people say what's the point in watching wrestling, it's fake. So? Yes it's scripted but so is a Marvel movie, Eastenders or even The Simpsons. It might be scripted with the writers knowing the winners of a match before anyone gets in the ring but the wrestlers are amazing performers and put on a show like no other!
Not all the outcomes and moments in wresting are scripted. People saying things that they really shouldn't, matches not ending like they should and of course there are injuries which happen. I remember not long after I started watching the wrestling and staying up really late to watch the monthly pay-per-views a wrestler died in the ring. Owen Hart. He was being lowered down to the ring from the rafters and fell. The show carried on and there was an amazing tribute show to him the next evening when all rivalries and storylines were forgotten about.
It's not just about the physicality of the sport it's also about the storytelling. WWE is like a never ending soap opera with plot twists, betrayals and epic showdowns which usually happen once a month at a premium live event! I sometimes forget that it isn't real like when wrestlers get so passionate about things. Recently there was a big match, someone won the a title and was so real, there were tears, other wrestlers came to the ring to celebrate it was real in that moment!
There are some amazing characters, from iconic legends to up and coming rookies. I have found myself cheering for one person one week and the next hating them when they have turned on their friends or beaten someone that I really like. What I am really like now is the ladies who are wrestling. In the late 90's the female wrestlers were treated as objects, they were there as eye candy but now I dare say some of them could go toe to toe with some of the men and beat them easily. They are all shapes and sizes and some are people that young girls can look up to, I am not saying all as some of their characters are just wrong'uns. hehehe
Over the last 6 months or so since I have been watching again there has been a big shift in what is shown on TV. One of the main people in charge (Triple H) used to be a wrestler and seems to "get it" more than the previous CEO. Things seem more relaxed which seems to make better TV. The scripted bits are less scripted. Just the other week one guy was talking to another and he ended up just breaking down laughing forgetting what he was going to say. There was a live event in France over the weekend and in my years of watching the Wrestling I have seen/heard nothing like it. The crowd were amazing, singing along to everyone's entrance song. There was such an atmosphere. I feel like I have started watching again at such a special time.
Apparently in January, next year, Netflix will be showing one of the WWE's weekly shows. Monday Night Raw. My thinking is that if Netflix is paying for that it's going to end up paying for more if people watch! I know I will be!
Have you ever watched the wrestling?
I've never watched WWE but clips I have seen make it seem like quite a performance.
ReplyDeleteI saw some TV wrestling when I was growing up, but it never really hooked me. My nephew is a huge wrestingling fan and knows all the players. Enjoy the wrestling - sounds like you need Netflix too.
ReplyDeleteI never watched WWE, but I think you are right, why does it matter that is staged? As you said, all the movies are like that.
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