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 About 2000 years ago the most popular form of entertainment in the Roman Empire involved people with alternative views on the official religion of Italy pitted in mortal combat against Lions, Tigers, Bears, Irish, and other assorted wild beasts of the field.
Every week the Roman coliseum would be filled to the rafters to watch these bloody contests. Recently,
the film 'Gladiator' personified this "lust for blood"... and the
commercial spots for the film ran during... you guessed it, televised wrestling bouts to the
sounds of Kid Rock. Now the Roman Empire fell two millenniums before Mr. McMahon ever strutted around a wrestling ring, talking about his grapefruits and having his employees put through tables, also to the music of Kid Rock, and the deafening sound of cheering fans. As Solomon, (a man wiser than Vince Russo, and Eric Bischoff put together), once said, "There is nothing new under the sun." With that in mind, is there any question why violence based entertainment is as popular as it is? Why professional wrestling though? It is less violent then ultimate fighting, and only slightly more staged then professional boxing. Currently, according to both the Neilsens and recent editions of Entertainment Weekly and Newsweek no less, it is far more popular then both. What is it about wrestling that has captured the imagination of the American people? Of course, being the expert in pro wrestling that I am, I think I may have a few suggestions. We as a civilized society often wonder about the popularity of professional wrestling. Well we aren’t alone, occasionally they too scratch their heads and are just as baffled as much of the populace. I had the opportunity to talk to Kimberly Page (the now ex-WCW star) about it recently, and she was so perplexed and intrigued by the topic that she is going to make it the subject of her PHD thesis when her career finally winds down. “We are cartoons of real life”, she explains, “and real people couldn’t and shouldn’t do the things we do in the ring.” In many ways she is right on the money. What these people do and say can occasionally fit nicely into the pages of the X-Men or the Justice League, or maybe even Friday night bowling in
Decater Illinois, but I digress. According to the owner (and reigning champion of the airwaves) of the WWF there is more to this connection between themselves and comic book reality then just
Kimberly's remarks. Vince McMahon has been with wrestling his entire life. He was there in the eighties when it reached, what was then believed to be, its height of popularity, and he is still at it. He characterizes the popularity of modern sports entertainment with these words, "We're storytellers. You can't just throw wrestlers out there to wrestle. That's not what an audience wants to see." But what does the audience want to see?
According to Eric Garguilo, my UNCUT writing counterpart and the host of a wrestling radio talk show in the Philadelphia market, "The first time I watched wrestling I was hooked," Eric laughs. "A 6' 10" giant named Big John Studd was pounding on a little 6' 0" tall Bob Backlund. Bob Backlund took a pounding second only to Rocky Balboa. Once Bob kicked out of the pin and clapped his hands for support, I remember a chill running down my spine. I never knew much about him. I was amazed at the intensity this man had. Bob Backlund came back from the dead and scored a pinfall. I had erupted into excitement as David had finally slayed Goliath. I was a geeky little kid sitting in front of the T.V. with my mouth wide open and my eyes staring off in utter amazement. Pro wrestling is a soap opera. The incredible thing about wrestling is there are only two real places to catch the soap. Unlike the 10 soap operas that may play on television daily, the rush from actually seeing Rocky beat Apollo Creed happens almost nightly. Whatever the case may be and whether it is today or next year, Rocky always gets his revenge." But is that what we want? An ongoing battle to send us to bed happy on Monday nights?
 Like John Byrne and Chris Clairmont of the comic book world, wrestling has created an alternative reality where the rules of polite society don’t always apply. Just like a kid who balls up his little fist and makes “snikt” noises, as he pretends to be the X-Men hero “Wolverine”, we
can't help but occasionally indulge ourselves and let our imaginations go with the fantasy the WWF and WCW provide us with. I don’t know a guy, (though most would die before admitting it), that hasn’t done the DX crotch chop when no one is looking. Even our professional athletes in legitimate sports take a few cues from the world of wrestling. The DX chop became an epidemic in the NFL, as did Diamond Dallas Page's Diamond Cutter gesture... and more then a few athletes have been caught with Austin 3:16 shirts under their pads. My pal Eric continues, "Haven't you ever wanted to give your boss the finger? Haven't you ever wanted to steal your friend's girlfriend or boyfriend? Haven't you ever wanted to just pay somebody off and get it done and over with? Haven't you just ever wanted to get in someone's face and tell them exactly what you think? Haven't you ever wanted to make your enemy's life miserable? My point is that a lot of people live vicariously through their heroes. When Steve Austin punches out Vince McMahon, the fans are not going nuts for Steve Austin. They are going crazy because Austin is popping his boss in the mouth. Pro Wrestling is a huge release. As a fan, you
really do get to check all of your inhibitions at the door."
And therein lies the addictive rub... we love to let off steam and we don't care who knows about it. Wrestling is that "guilty pleasure" we can all somehow relate to as it strikes a universal chord. Maybe that is part of the key to this, beyond the obvious sociological issues, and the possible corruption of our youth. Life is often a frustrating thing. If you are familiar with the comic strip, 'Dilbert', or the TV Show based on it, then you have been acquainted with his co-worker, Alice, and her fist of death. Due to the angst caused by the incompetence and general evil of her bosses, and life in general, her fist of death is something that is usually barely under her control. If left unchecked the fist would rip out various internal organs from the annoying people around her, and place them outside her cubicle as an example to the rest of the world. Of course polite society frowns on such acts. Ripping out the innards of an annoying person will either land you an adjoining cell to Robert Downey Jr. or on the Jerry Springer show. That depends heavily on your political and financial situations. The world of professional wrestling is a caricature of real life.
Much like contemporary America, you have the all-too corrupt political types, weasels, backstabbers, deceit, sex, and all the other bad stuff those right-wing Republicans from the Bible belt frown upon. The difference between Mr. McMahon smiling for the cameras and lying his tail off, and soon to be ex-President Clinton giving us his rather creative versions of the truth, is that we watch Clinton and want to put one of our Doc Martins through the television set when his speech is completed. We know we've been had, and that he, as most politicians, will get away with it. When Mr. McMahon insults our sensibilities with his rhetoric, we can chuckle to ourselves knowing that a choke slam, or a 3-D through a table is coming up in his near future. In wrestling there is a certain emotional release many of us feel when we get to actually watch the bad guy lose. Hunter Hearst
Helmsley was never beaten by a good stout discussion, or a grand jury inquiry. When "The Game" gets his comeuppance, it is in the form of a savage beating at the hands of one of the
industry's good guys or babyfaces if you will. We actually get to watch justice being done right before our very eyes. Of course, the
villain, or heel, will be back the next week scheming and scamming, but that is the balance that has been created in this little alternate universe known as pro wrestling. Good and Evil in equal parts. You can't have one without the other, and the audience gets the pleasure of watching the bad guys get it right in the chops at least half of the time. Of course that is not the only reason we watch. Professional wrestling caters to most of our most base appetites in a way that would make Larry Flynt stand up and cheer.
Have you ever talked to your friends about an acquaintances torrid love affair with the
mail boy? Have you ever watched Entertainment Tonight and found yourself lusting after Courtney Love, or Mel Gibson, (your lusting habits will depend heavily on your general sexual orientation. Those of you who are a tad confused may find both very appealing). Most of us have slowed down at a the scene of a horrible car wreck, muttering to our friends how horrible this is, while secretly trying to get a glimpse of the victims. These are the appetites that much of the sports entertainment field caters to. If they were just there to satisfy our bloodlust, they would be nothing more than a clone to ultimate fighting... and as interesting to watch as a coat of fresh paint. The modern product of sports entertainment combines the type of writing that has sent countless stay at home mom's rushing for a cigarette after an episode of 'The Young and The Restless', with the type of athleticism that you don't often see outside of the NFL. To this they add a cast filled with transcendentally beautiful people, with an occasional freak of nature thrown in just for contrast. This caters to all of our darker traits. Gossip, lust, and the type of unnamed curious tendencies that cause us to travel across the country to see the bones of the elephant man, or contribute to making people like P.T. Barnum into legends. Vince McMahon has shamelessly and openly created a product that appeals to our base emotions. This is not a crime. He has never hidden this fact or backed away from it. When given the standard complaint about how he is corrupting America's youth, he simply puts the responsibility back where it belongs, and asks why parents let their children watch this type of programming.
 Personally, I love pro wrestling and every dark tendency within me it entertains. Unlike much the programming out there, it doesn't pretend to be something it's not. It doesn't send mixed messages. It doesn't even pretend to real the way it used to in the 80s, or like boxing does today. Wrestling simply entertains... period. Many love it, some hate it, and still others want to remove it like a bad stain from our society. There are states that are trying to regulate it, and parent groups trying to ban it. Various networks have their shorts in knots over the ratings it takes from their flagship programs, and others are just ranting sour grapes because they can't compete. For whatever reason you watch wrestling, that little voice inside of you that cheers when
Triple H gives Mankind a pedigree on a bed of tacks is just as essential as the voice that reminds you that it's
all a big fantasy. People can debate for an eternity as to why this is
so popular, but it might be as simple as this... professional wrestling is...
well, cool. Will it be cool two years from now? Probably. But then, does it matter? No.
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