Saturday, May 17, 2008
Holy crap.
I had no idea that professional wrasslin' had such a huge history and lexicon, nor that it had enough fans who could type and connect to the internet, enough... and I can't say this with a straight enough face ...pro wrestling scholars (gawd, I laughed just typing that,) if you will, in order to give it a huge section of Wikipedia. The entries have an awful sort of trainwreck fascination to them.
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12 comments:
Why not? There are historians who make entire careers out of studying gladiators, and pro wrestlers today are bigger than any gladiator ever was.
I don't quite understand the relevance of rasslin' in the post-1993 world, where you can tune in weekly on cable to watch men with real training get into a real cage and really fight until there is an actual winner according to consistent rules, but to each his own.
Still, there's a lot of movement back-and-forth between pro wrestling and "real" MMA, kickboxing and grappling organizations, especially in Japan. There are a lot of guys out there trained in the stagecraft of pro wrestling who will also dominate serious opponents.
Thanks for a huge belly laugh. Clicking around, as one is wont to do on Wikipedia, I came across this in the article on Andre the Giant: Screenwriter and author William Goldman once said that André loved going out for dinner, but regardless of who extended the invitation, he would always pay for the meal. One time, when one of his friends slipped away to give his credit card to the maître d', the friend felt himself being lifted off the ground, carried back to the table, and deposited back in his chair "like a little boy". Concluding, Goldman added that the friend in question was Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Now, it may be apocryphal, but it's damn funny to imagine. :D
I've always thought of pro-wrestling as the male equalivent of the soap opera.
The problem with MMA is the same with boxing, being legit doesn't necessarily make it entertaining.
Andre was cool. Ever see the TV show where they interview him, and he's speaking quite casually about how it takes a liter or two of vodka to get a *mild* buzz on.
Later on in the show they talked about him getting an operation and having to call in a veterinarian or 2 to get a second and third opinion about how much aneasthetic to use. The human anestologists (sp?) didn't know what to do with him.
As to Arnold, he's a big man, but he not actually that big. 6'2" 220lbs at his competive size if I recall. So big, but not enormous.
I discovered those Wikipedia links some time last month, and wandered through them for 20 minutes or so.
I then felt shame, and looked over my shoulder a little guiltily to make sure that no one in the empty room had seen me look that crap up. I felt like I had just spent a long session looking at over-the-top, badly-lighted porn.
Here's a fun pro wrestling factoid for you. Greg Boyington, yes Pappy himself, was a pro wrestling referee for several years starting just a few years after returning from the Pacific.
Baa Baa Baa
The odd thing is that I have several friends who are among the most intelligent and educated people I know who happen to be wrasslin fans. They get a kick out of watching it.
I don't suppose it's any sillier than any other hobby.
BryanP
Ahem. There are those of us -- perfectly well-educated and moderately well-adjusted -- who watch wrasslin' for buffed-out men. Plus, one of my college buds is a wrestler, so...
Do you mean to say that you are not a wrestling fan?
Have you ever tried it?
Back in the early 80's, I worked security at pro wrestling events, mostly making sure drunk fans did not climb into the ring and breaking up the inevitable fights.
I also worked in the "bad guy well" - the arena doors to the bad guys' locker room. They'd occasionally step out to see how the match in progress was going and I got to chat some with them. They were all really nice guys out of the ring.
A friend worked ringside one match when Andre wrestled. Andre stepped into the ring over the top rope. My friend said his foot was the size of toolbox.
Ahem. There are those of us -- perfectly well-educated and moderately well-adjusted -- who watch wrasslin' for buffed-out men.
Ugh, those guys? Yucky. Muscle is hot, but it looks a lot better on men with normal, lean builds. (At least it does to me, and to all of my girlfriends, as far as I've ever heard.)
But yes, to each her own...! :-)
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