Interactions with other wrestling fans

[DavidB6937]

Ah yes, let's have an issue with fans with autism, but being an utter cunt is just fine. Cool.

[WyattSheepMask]

I knew this wouldn’t end well

[Chris B]

Fuck right off with that anti-autism 4chan bullshit.

[tiger_rick]

Just hit report, he's crying for attention.

[JLM]

I only post about wrestling on this discussion forum full of wrestling geeks when my laptop is resting upon the boobies of a bevy of bodacious babes. I thought that was the case for everyone here.

Attempts to distance oneself from geeky fandoms and to create some kind of geek hierarchy are as ever-present in every fandom as the oddball fans themselves. One of the reasons I stepped away from this place for a bit was the obsessive windmilling at imaginary "DEM WANZ" who didn't seem to post here but everyone seemed very upset about. I'm glad that has mostly died down as it's pretty tedious stuff. We all float down here. Wrestling's a weird hobby, don't worry about it. 

I had an unexpected interaction with a guy at work when I was doing some training with him. Asked him what he'd been doing with himself during lockdown and he mentioned he had a WWE Network subscription and watched AEW. I told him I watched quite a bit of NXT and was a fan of The Revival and I hoped they'd do well in AEW as they were my favourite tag team at the time. He said "don't you mean The Young Bucks". 

I said what I meant motherfucker. I said something nice about The Young Bucks anyway and we had a pleasant chat. He didn't smell or touch me inappropriately. Or appropriately. I think I might just want to be touched. 

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by JLM

[DavidB6937]

Having grown up on stuff like wrestling, Star Trek etc I've never been 'cool' nor did I ever have any desire to be so. I've always been pretty happy with just being me.

The various scenes/fandoms are quite interesting though, and you learn that really it's just the same as anything else in life - you get some decent folk, some slightly odd ones and some absolute cunts.

You do get your fair share of people who clearly haven't had many friendships or social interactions but the older I get the more I think about how difficult that must be, and that I was lucky to find a few similar people quite early in my life. Not everyone has that luck. And the Internet really helped that over the years too. I've felt like I can be myself online far more, not have to worry about social situations which I hate, and make friendships for life without the awkwardness.

So yeah I'm not the kinda person to put myself out there in person really but if someone does interact with me I do try to be polite and all that. It's a tough world and sometimes people just look for the tiniest little glimpse of a similarity or common bond in order to strike up a conversation. I can see why they need that.

[Devon Malcolm]

8 hours ago, JohnKringler said:

Nah, I just hate wrestling fans with long finger nails, autism and bad hygiene. Which sadly makes up the entire fanbase. I'm off to be a Rugby fan. 

[BomberPat]

When I worked in a garage, my manager was a wrestling fan. I bumped into him the other weekend, and he's exactly the same now.

He has this habit of every time he thinks he's said something funny or "controversial" pretending to turn around and walk off, only to just turn back and continue the conversation. A mate pointed it out to me that he thinks he's just done a promo and is doing an epic "mic drop" moment, and ever since I can't stop noticing it. His whole phrasing when he's trying to tell a joke or an anecdote is pure wrestling promo.

At the garage, normally I'd work the morning shift and he'd show up to take over from me, but on Mondays I did the closing shift. Practically every week I'd turn up on Monday to find that he'd plotted out months worth of storylines for what he wanted to happen in WWE. They were always awful, and always relied on one of three things:

• Calling someone up from developmental/hiring someone from ROH and immediately placing them in a main event storyline where they were better and cooler than whoever the top babyfaces were at the time.
• Having someone who had worked developmental or the indies but was now on the main roster drop their gimmick and do a "shoot promo" denouncing their gimmick and "getting serious", reverting to their previous character
• All the second and third generation wrestlers clubbing together to form a stable. I remember this last one particularly around the time Jesse and Festus were a thing, because he combined this with the previous point and thought that Jesse would get really over by announcing that he was really the son of Terry Gordy. He would not accept my argument that nobody would know who Terry Gordy was, or why that would matter.

 

Aside from the ideas always being rubbish, they were obviously always constructed to allow him to show off how much he knew first and foremost. It was a chore listening to them all the time. 

[Joe Blog]

1 hour ago, BomberPat said:

He has this habit of every time he thinks he's said something funny or "controversial" pretending to turn around and walk off, only to just turn back and continue the conversation.

This is fantastic. What a colossal tit he sounds.  

[The King of Old School]

2 hours ago, BomberPat said:

He has this habit of every time he thinks he's said something funny or "controversial" pretending to turn around and walk off, only to just turn back and continue the conversation.

I think I would turn around and walk off if I ever got saddles with this guy.

Sounds a monumental bore.

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

Probably the best place to post this, but the gist of the conversation on another forum (stemming from a thread about Punks return)

"I am right aren't I? Professional wrestling is like UK pantomime but the characters are all on steroids...?"

 

Then a reply from someone else 

"

I'll say this; wrestling no longer tries to present itself as legitimate sport. The World of Sport era of trying to say its legit is long gone. The audience are in on the act as well. Wrestling is pantomime if you look in the places you want it to be pantomime. It can be dark, it can be reflective. It's why it's so amazing and why so many love it so much. The best three ring circus there ever was.

I used to be a huge fan back in the 90s but drifted. My passion for it however has morphed now from a source of entertainment through to professional admiration. When people dismiss it as being a load of fake crap it really bothers me. I've been fortunate enough to do quite a bit of work with the WWE's UK brand and my new role sees me carrying that on with their larger brands in future. I've had the chance to see both sides up close and its made me quite defensive when I hear throwaway criticism.

To start with, these aren't just actors. They're a combination of actors, live performers, athletes and stuntmen/women. To be a good wrestler they MUST be all those things. They work insanely hard over long hours to perfect their craft. They'll need to remember interview scripts and time them to perfection, before performing dangerous stunts that could go wrong and cause serious injury. The backstage area at a taping often resembles a triage, with guys bleeding, nursing a dislocation or broken bone, or often just strolling round with huge welts on their body from being slapped around. I defy anyone to walk behind that curtain and still think it's 'fake'. It's brutal.

Then you've got the set up. They're a tremendously professional organisation who go into every imaginable detail to create an immersive experience that people of all ages can enjoy. There's so many guys behind the scenes all absolutely dedicated to delivering a world class show each time, clearly all passionate. Yeah it's corny on the surface at times, but dig a little deeper and it deserves a huge amount of respect at all levels. Combine all the tough elements of delivering a sports show with the challenges of a theatre production then do it live with 50 leading roles instead of 5 and you're in the right ball park."

 

Good discussion going on