SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Sometimes following reality is overwhelming. The news is full of terrible headlines no matter where you live, no matter what you believe. Some of this chaos hits really close to home with Torch HQ in Minnesota.
Times like this remind me why pro wrestling can help us cope. Arts and entertainment serve the world as an escape. Sometimes the brain needs to switch off, and for me, there’s no better escape than over-the-top characters creating a reason to watch a story of them competing. Whether a sicko who likes a fast-paced video game style, or you were a fan of characters with supernatural abilities, you can immerse yourself into it.
Mostly Self-Contained
With few exceptions, pop culture doesn’t invade wrestling; rather, it is its own pop culture. There are cosplay homages, short commentary statements, or a celebrity coming on, but unless the story is too big to ignore, you can watch wrestling shows with no additional context needed other than wrestling and the wrestlers themselves.
This is wise for multiple reasons. One being the obvious. The biggest stories can polarize an audience and you risk alienating up to 50 percent of your viewers, depending on how far you take an angle. There’s a reason Paul Levesque isn’t shown side-by-side with the president on flagship shows and a reason the angles where Sgt. Slaughter and Muhammad Hassan as sympathizers were unsuccessful.
Wrestling also benefits from most angles being timeless. Good vs. Evil. Jealousy. Misunderstandings. Greed. Angles with a fake President Clinton don’t stand the same test of time. The reason wrestling lasts the test of time is the timelessness. Any child can discover Hulk Hogan or John Cena and enjoy it in a different way than going back to watch Michael Jordan in his prime. Involving too many current events would lose that aspect and go down the path of “not aging well.”
It gives us something to argue about
Sometimes people have opinions. When someone disregards your opinion, it can stir up aggressive feelings that you want to discuss. If you can just help this total stranger on the internet see what you see, you’ll be at peace with the world. Inevitably, it turns into an argument. Both get worked up, telling each other that they don’t know the first thing about how the wrestling industry works.
It’s not what I’d call healthy, but it doesn’t really hurt anyone. I don’t condone name calling or demeaning others with words, but the other person does at least have the blocking option. It’s mostly Internet nerds arguing, and some of it can be healthy to spread ideas and learn to defend them. It doesn’t turn into violence. And it’s arguing about decisions made in a form of entertainment. Basically…
It doesn’t really matter
When my day sucks at work, I have to go back the next day and hope for better. If things get better, your mindset can turn around. If they get worse, it can take you down a path of unhappiness with your work. If you believe strongly in a political movement and they lose, there are actual stakes. Everything on the news we have to face, has stakes, and is not easy to watch.
If wrestling sucked when you watched it, there’s another week for redemption. To say it doesn’t matter is perhaps too broad, as the wrestling industry employs not only the big companies on TV, but internationally and on the independents. You don’t want a collapsing of an industry, but it can shift and change without great impact. If WWE stops being what you enjoy, you have an unending number of options to fill that time.
When I watch wrestling, I don’t have to think about the national economy or what’s happening to my neighbors for that moment. And it’s okay. You’re allowed this mental break.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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We Have a Voice
When the crowd doesn’t like something, there is a way they’ve shown to react to change the trajectory of their business. Bryan Danielson winning the main event at WrestleMania XXX, turning Steve Austin into a babyface, Cody getting his main event spot at the loss of The Rock not getting that match he wanted, Roman Reigns being pushed as a happy babyface are all times that the crowd changed plans.
This gives merit to the arguments not always being a bad thing. We don’t get all that strong of a voice on most things. Celebrate what we do have! Keep it to your voice. Don’t throw stuff and make it dangerous, and by all means, don’t jump a rail to make your voice heard.
The Heroes Win
Not every time, but the phrase “Finish the Story” was built on this. Wrestling at its core is a story of hope. Hope that your favorite can win, make the comeback over unfair odds, and that the guy you can’t stand gets what he’s got coming. Wrestlers like The Miz and JBL don’t always get their flowers during their careers. They’re the fall guys. They are there to agitate you in a way that sets up a hero to take them down. These characters are so important when we have feelings of aggression and anger to take it out on someone who welcomes it. The bad people don’t necessarily get to keep the power. A good heel gets theirs and when the time is right, leave smiles on faces.
Do you live in Colorado? You’re invited to Nerdstalgia’s Grand Opening Party on Saturday Jan. 24, featuring talent from Battleground Pro Wrestling.
(Griffin is a lifelong fan of wrestling, superheroes, and rebellious music of all forms. He is the owner of Nerdstalgia, and you can shop online, learn about visiting the store in Colorado Springs, or catch him at a comic con in the Rocky Mountain area by going to http://nerdstalgia.shop.)
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