Wrestling Rumblings #6
March 13, 2009
By: Jose Marrero of WrestleView.com
I have to start this column this week by first thanking all the great readers who are reading this. Whether you like me or you don?t; I appreciate the time and energy that is wasted in just clicking the link to read this column. Fact is while I may know more about the business and the people involved with it than some of you I am not better than you. I?m nothing more than you I am just a guy who has been extremely lucky for the last 4+ years to be able to write for great fans and establish a rapport with them. At the end of the day I think I speak for all of us here at Wrestleview when I say we are just passionate fans. With that being said I have observed things lately that have sort of bothered me both as a professional and as a fan and well you?ll be surprised to hear this but it’s not with WWE, TNA , ROH or the indies it’s actually with you?the fans. You are reading ?Wrestling Rumblings?.
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It’s funny how we are in the year 2009 and the business is pretty much wide open and exposed for us in a way like never before and yet there are more and more fans out there who are?well for lack of a better word morons. You know the kind the fans who think they are going to jump in a match for the save only to get the living daylights kicked out of them. It would seem lately they don?t just limit themselves to the arena but parking lots and other areas as well. ?We have seen the incident with Chris Jericho on Youtube a few weeks ago and let me just say that was something somewhat scary to watch only because I can imagine what that experience must have been like f rom Chris Jericho’s end. Can you imagine what it must feel like to be mobbed by fans in an uncontrolled environment and some of those fans can?t distinguish fiction f rom reality? Of course I wish I can say that the Jericho incident was an isolate one but it’s not how many times as of the last few months have we heard of overzealous fans trying to attack Randy Orton? It also was not that long ago where Austin Aries had it out with a fan right here in NYC and for those who think that it’s just the mainstream events I have seen independent shows where fans tend to get too carried away. Now there are some old timers that would say back in the day that if you didn?t have someone trying to attack you than you weren?t doing your job right but times are different now. Times should be different now and as much as we demand f rom the wrestlers shouldn?t they be just as demanding when it comes to us as fans?
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I wish I could say that was the extent of my bitching but it gets worse because in some weird way I sort of can tolerate that kind of behavior to a certain extent truth of the matter is I tend to get more disgusted at those who would claim to be ?wrestling media?. Truth of the matter is unless you get paid for this you?re not ?wrestling media? I don?t care how many blogs/columns/posts you put up or how many internet radio shows you appear on. You above all else because you present yourself as being more than fans should show more respect to the business you cover. I think one thing everyone out there who wants to be on the internet and wants to be on podcasts? needs to remember is that there is a reason they are on the internet and not working in the front office of WWE or wrestlers themselves and that is because they can?t do what wrestlers can do. What do you know about who can ?work? and who is really ?over? and what not? Most of these people?quite honestly they don?t know anything and yet they will present themselves to you as experts and cloud your opinion. It’s not right and it’s a disservice to the industry they claim to be fans of. Truth of the matter is that while some of these ?journalists? and ?radio show hosts? will criticize a guy like Vladmir Koslov and The Great Khali the fact of the matter is you can?t do any better. Quite honestly speaking they are there for a reason. Am I saying you have to be a fan of everyone? Of course not lord knows in private I say worser things than I hear some of these guys say over the air or in there columns but that’s just it I do that in private. As cheesy as this sounds every guy who steps in the ring is literally putting it all on the line every time he does so and well you have to respect that. To go on a podcast and say someone is the ?drizzling shits? when you have no idea how to take a bump is reprehensible. You don?t listen to ESPN and hear sportscasters refer to athletes in such a rude manner because to get to that level you have to give them a certain amount of respect. You don?t hear movie critics refer to movie stars that way for the same reason. I am sure I am going to get emails f rom some of you who may think I am overreacting to this and well I would say that is because you read these columns and maybe don?t take them all that seriously but what about the people that do? I think one of the reasons today’s fan has a hard time being entertained is because you have too many armchair quarterbacks on the internet criticizing things they knew nothing about. I?m not sure if I would have been able to be a fan for over 2 decades if the internet was around in 1986.
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I still wish I could say it ends there but again it really does not. There are still some of us in the ?wrestling media? who probably don?t do any of the above things I mentioned but just don?t know how to represent themselves. I heard an interview with Paul London done about a week ago and one of the questions that this ?radio show host? asked Paul was ?Do you prefer Dutch paper or a bong?? are you freaking kidding me? I have to say wrestlers are unlike any other celebrity in that many will let their fans get close to them and even go out of their way to embrace them after all how many movie stars do you see do Podcasts? Not too many so it really annoys me when you have a ?host? who is supposed to be ‘smart? and he is really an idiot. Hey I understand the thrill of meeting and talking to a wrestler you like. I have done it enough over the years and I still get star struck but at the same time I remember that whether I am on the radio or writing this column I have to be as professional as possible. I?m not going to make up some silly radio gimmick for myself cause well wrestlers work gimmicks and I am not a wrestler. I am not going to try to work angles with guys like someone (I know who but I am going to give him the respect and not say his name here if you know who I am referring to that’s great) who wanted to work a angle with New Jack and was drunk and wanted to call him the N word. That’s disgusting and just plain wrong and while I actually have had a chance to converse with this individual and know that he is sorry for it at the time he should?ve been more professional for someone who gave up his time without having to. You know I have had the opportunity to speak with New Jack in the past and well after speaking with him I can say that while he is 100% what you see on TV he is also one of the most respectful guys out there if he gets that in return. You don?t get drunk and go on the radio and say ?Hey New Jack I am going to work an angle and call you the N word? that’s just plain wrong. As smart as some of you are that do these things I hope you realize you are the biggest marks of all.
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Let me just say this much in closing and I will wrap this week up. I love this business, I have friends and family in this business and no I am not saying that the business is above criticism because lord knows I do that each and every week right here in this column but what I am saying is that there is a right way and a wrong way to do things and well some of the things I have detailed here are the wrong way. To those of you that are true fans of this industry let’s do it the right way and to those of you that would be my ?colleagues? represent yourself and the rest of us well because if you act like a schmuck and look like a schmuck guess what? You?re a schmuck and I am not no schmuck and don?t want one representing me and I am pretty sure that after reading this many will agree with me and not want you representing them either.
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That’s it for this week. Love me or hate me I am here and I am listening so if you have something to say shoot me an email at wrestlingrumblings@hotmail.com or you can actually hit me up on the myspace at www.myspace.com/wrestlingrumbling and well that’s it for this week next week we will be back to actual wrestling and as always I will try to do better until then I am out.