Ring Crew Commentaries: Rise Above Ignorance

By Dubya

About a month ago, I made a comment on my Facebook about rumours of Undertaker vs. Triple III at Wrestlemania 28.  As a long-time Undertaker fan (he’s the reason I became a wrestling fan) and long-time Triple H cynic (since 2001.  I recall around 2000 trying to make excuses for his physique and saying maybe he didn’t use steroids), it’s pretty clear why I wouldn’t want to see this match again.  There’s no real purpose.  Especially since the WWE has had such trouble getting new stars over into the public eye and one program against the Undertaker in the twilight of his career would raise their image.  A complaint like this should be pretty common.

I soon received a reply from former Ring Crew Show member Potter who commented, “For a guy that claims to love wrestling you sure do hate it.”  I’ll get to this comment in a moment.  I soon pointed out all of the ways I support pro wrestling, which should have been obvious, before being told by Potter that if I don’t like the WWE, I should ignore it.  He then complained about me ranting about it all of the time on Facebook and I would be much happier if I was like him and just watched the best of Ricky Steamboat and Curt Hennig DVDs by WWE.  I responded that I knew how to solve his issue and un-friended from Facebook.

Now, of course this is a pretty harsh decision.  Facebook is now our social system for acceptance and communication and to “un-friend” someone from Facebook, even when I barely communicate with them as it is, is like telling someone that they no longer deserve to be in my Social Network.  I’m exiling them from my online life.  Yes, this hyperbole has purpose.  The reason why I did this wasn’t because Potter complaining about my complaints is stupid when I work on the Ring Crew Show, I write columns, I have a journalism background and anyone who knows me knows I’m always been the opinionated type who likes to look at the good AND bad in everything (This is the Ring Crew Show fans getting to know Dubya a little better), it was his original comment.

 

“For a guy that claims to love wrestling you sure do hate it.”

I’ve heard this before and it’s probably the most insulting thing you could say to someone who is willing to give a shit about this hobby.  I didn’t spend hours upon hours volunteering for local wrestling promotions because I hate wrestling.  I don’t spend three hours a week (when I can) dissecting the wrestling business with the Ring Crew Show because I hate wrestling.  And because it needs to be said as obviously as possible, I don’t complain about the WWE because I hate wrestling. 

In anything in society, things cannot get better without feedback.  Feedback, both positive and negative, is a basic part of human interaction, and this includes the Social Network of the Internet.  I point out what is wrong with the wrestling business in hopes that it improves, in hopes that these things can be noticed so we can appreciate what it does right and what it could do right more.  If I just disconnected myself completely to something I didn’t like, that means I don’t care about it that much.  It doesn't matter if WWE isn't reading my comments.  I bitch because I care.  Wasn’t that the point of the CM Punk angle back in the summer?  Punk expressed his problems with the product, the fans supported him to say, “We agree” and now the product is supposedly changing?  Should Punk have just quit?

The other part of this I don’t like is that complaining about the WWE, pointing out the inconsistencies and criticizing bad decisions means one does not like wrestling.  The attitude that the WWE is wrestling is one of the reasons the business is in such bad shape.  When people stop liking the WWE, they stop watching wrestling entirely instead of trying a different company.  That sort of attitude is akin to saying, “Dude, if you don’t like Nickelback, you must hate rock music” or “Man, stop hating on Transformers 3.  Clearly you must not like cinema”.  It’s a destructive attitude that immediately halts any profits that could be made by the business as a whole and what creates MMA fans out of people who might have watched PWG or a local company to get their love of wrestling back.  If WWE is your end all/be all of professional wrestling (which is a scary thought for a company that changed its name to just “WWE” so it didn’t have to have the word wrestling in its name anymore), you’re limiting yourself and ensuring that the guys who bust their ass in front of locals have that much less of an opportunity to make a living.

The WWE is not wrestling.  Call of Duty is not videogames.  Fox News is not journalism.  I do not say this as just a, “I’m comparing the worst possible examples to their genre” but I’m trying to make it clear that it is not the entire genre.  Limiting yourself is ignorance, and that’s exactly what Potter’s opinion was.  Pure ignorance.  It’s that sort of attitude I hope we at the Ring Crew Show hope to work out of our listeners in 2012.  It’s cool to enjoy the WWE, TNA, ROH or any other company, but to exclusively watch them and ignore every other wrestling promotion is, “I only shop at Wal-Mart because of the low prices” ignorance. 

Having an opinion about professional wrestling, positive or negative, is a good thing.  Express yourself.  If you like something, say it.  If you don’t like something, say it.  Never limit yourself out of fear of what someone might feel.  This industry is in a recession and the only way it’ll ever get out is if people support the wrestling business.  The best way to support is to tell it when to look in the mirror. 

“If we win here we will win everywhere. The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for and I hate very much to leave it.”

- Ernest Hemingway, “For Whom the Bell Tolls”

Posted in: Dubya,John Cena,Potter,Ring Crew Commentaries,Undertaker,Wrestling,WWE