What attracts males to wrestling television?

What? I thought Law & Order was always followed by more Law & Order. ;-)

Well I know it’s not exactly the same thing that attracts people to action & violence, because I am not attracted to wrestling. Actually I was once for about 5 minutes when I first saw it as a kid and it looked really violent and had blood and crazy people savagely attacking each other in out-of-control ways. Then my dad pointed out it was staged and how insanely dumb it got, and I lost essentially all interest… in wrestling. I still enjoy games and fiction about action and violence, but not when it’s really dumb and/or unrealistic, and most staged wrestling is about as dumb and unrealistic (to my way of thinking) as it gets.

@zaku: hehe, it IS always followed by more, which is why I was annoyed with the wrestling! Lol

So what do you like in your games and fiction? What draws you to that genre and makes it good?

That’s a great question. One view is I’m interested in people taking extraordinary action to accomplish things in difficult situations. Clever, daring, imaginative actions that make a difference. My favorite Homeric hero is Odysseus (a warrior who overcomes seemingly hopeless situations mainly by using cunning plans that make sense), and I’m bored by Heracles (who defeats everything by being the strongest – like wrestlers).

Limiting it to action and violence in games and fiction, I like settings, stories, and actions that are accurate, detailed, and make sense to some degree. When something doesn’t convince me, I lose interest.

So my favorite games with combat tend to simulate it in realistic detail, and offer situations where I can use my understanding of the situation to come up with inventive plans that work for reasons that make sense and would work in the same actual situation. By contrast, staged wrestlers and their fighting techniques look silly and don’t make sense to me.

I like action films which at least make sense and remain somewhat believable – watching spectacular action that blatantly ignores physics and logic is just painful to me.

is it weird that I really like wrestling?? I know its staged and everything but I get really into it…

up to you , i dont like that,

watching people get that crap get kicked out of them. Jk. If I ever watch it, which is extremely rare because I never really watch tv even. It is because of the horrible acting, it makes me laugh. We are talking wwe, wcw, ecw, wwf stuff right?

In this male’s case, skin, spandex, and muscles. Not necessarily in that order.

I second cwilbur.

Squirbel,

I’ve always looked at wrestling as a man’s way to sub consciously explore emotional connection, similarly to its alter-ego: the soap opera.

Remember that wrestling, like the WWF, is full of backstories rich with drama, romance and intrigue. While cliched, they still serve that side of a man that is normally too vulnerable for his threshhold of comfort but with the help of action and violence as his cover, the average male can indulge in the fantasies of these “stars” and their lives.

Hehe, thanks Riser!

It always seemed like a male soap opera…

it is a male soap opera =) Just like Riser said, its covered by action and violence.

It’s interesting though how perfectly WWF has designed characters that I don’t identify with, admire, envy, or relate to in any way.

* Focus fighting ability on size and muscle: check.
* Wear insanely stupid-looking underwear-gone-wrong costumes: check.
* Fight for no reason: check.
* Fight in stupid nonsensical ways: check.
* Yell and scream in ways that make no sense: check.
* Act like babies about nothing: check.
* Have stupid stage names: check.
* Fight fake scripted fights: check.
* Have announcers comment in spectacularly stupid ways as if it’s all fascinating and real: check.
* Et cetera ad nauseam: check.

They’re all childish bully types who look ridiculous and deserve to have the crap beaten out of them until they stop behaving that way and/or at least learn to fight in a way that makes some sense. What kind of men actually relate to it? The only ones I’ve noticed have been geeky types who seem fascinated by how weird it is or something, like comic book superhero fans. I assume that it’s also a “redneck” thing (the kind of people who think giant trucks are cool and not just tasteless and obnoxious).

@ Zaku – just because you don’t like it doesnt mean that you have to ruin it for the people who do.

With all due respect Zaku I think the latter portion of your statement borders on stereotypical selective blindness.

It’s true, rednecks and comic book geeks represent a vast number of wrestling fans however I am not a redneck or indulge in comics yet find the social study of wrestling truly enlightening and morbidly entertaining. The practices depicted in telecasts, like the WWF, are only a staged and scripted cry from the famous games of Ancient Greece illustrating how society, in so many ways, rarely evolves from the framework laid out thousands of years ago. New venues are now in place to experience them – i.e. television and the internet, but the inherent need and desire for the same kind of confusingly barbaric structure is still in place – in the form of spandex and barbed wire.

To place a group into a closed minded stereotype only promotes the same selective ignorance most of Western culture attributes toward Christianity and the church’s opinion on homosexuality.

In closing I would like to say I have immense respect for your views, Zaku. You have always conveyed your thoughts in such a fashion that I am never disappointed when I read your answers. Thank you for your wonderful contributions to this marvelous site.

Highest Regards,

Daniel Riser

@vanelokz – Sorry, I didn’t realize I had that power, and it wasn’t my intention. I just really don’t get how the appeal of WWF works for anyone, and was expressing how it seems to me for purposes of self-expression and exploring the question, not to upset anyone or start an argument. As long as I’m not being forced to watch it, and no brutes come trying to intimidate me personally, I can and do leave it alone.

@Riser – Well yes, the latter part of my statement was entrenched in stereotypical blindness – as is my view of the wrestling phenomenon. My understanding of the appreciation for it is stuck at that level. I don’t mean to argue with people here, and I didn’t think I was – I was just trying to explain my reaction to such things. I think part of the misconception is that wrestling is a combative/argument kind of thing, and so in trying to relate, my warrior side replies, and that’s sort of what it has to say (and I was having fun indulging in my own form of trash talk, I guess).
And as I mentioned, it’s not that I’m opposed to enjoying violent spectacles, it’s just that wrestling really isn’t my style. I am interested in actual ancient gladiatorial combat, and I enjoy NFL football, many “good” war/action/adventure films, and MXC (Japanese people in slapstick wacky obstacle courses). I’m a (realism snob and) game geek. I am also really interested in how people can be interested in WWF-style stuff – and ya sorry, it probably wasn’t the best way to figure that out, to label them and seemingly put them down.
Oh, and thanks for the acknowledgment – I greatly appreciate your posts, too.

Zaku,

MXC is the reason I breath and human Tetris is a close second.

Aha, common ground in MXC! 8-D

I’ll have to google human Tetris tomorrow. Closest I know is “Bring Out Your Dead Tetris” from the Monty Python & the Holy Grail game.

I am a huge fan of it

Its just really cool

Could it be the same thing that attracts men to NASCAR?
When you’ve seen one WWF wrestling match you’ve seen them all.
When you’ve seen the first lap of a NASCAR race, you’ve seen them all.
I do neither.