: True, wrestling is BS and people like it. That's what makes it so good, it has nothing to hide, it is a threatical event. The best thing about wrestling is that it takes the piss out of most serious giant sport leagues. Man, actually the city I live in is the capital of fine cheap parking lot wrestling leugues.Gosh, it's refreshing to hear from someone who doesn't get hung up on wrestling's stupidity and can judge it on its BS entertainment value. If a woman enters the room when wrestling is on television, she will usually say something like, "This is so fake; why do you waste your time watching this crap?". Often, these same women see nothing wrong with watching three hours of fake melodrama unfold on their favorite soap operas--er, daytime dramas.
The "real" sports leagues in North America have a lot going for them. Taxpayers are building new palacial arenas for their local teams. So many of today's great players are the ones our grandchildren will be talking about. Records keep falling--creatine supplements notwithstanding. You can't go anyplace where people congregate without seeing someone wearing officially licensed team jerseys, jackets, caps, and the like. Indeed, the 1990's should be the golden age of professional sports in North America, if there could ever be such a thing. Why is this not the case? Simple: Greed, as you pointed out earlier.
Specifically, none of the "real" sports leagues have the werewithall to fix the inequetity between large market teams and the small market teams. Hence, the small market teams become nothing more than training camps for new recruits, who will gain skills and experience for a few seasons, then jump to whichever large market team that offers the most money. Today's fans don't have the patience to develop a team made up of new recruits when it's so much simpler to buy a team of free agent veterans. This leads to team dynasties being formed, which is incredibly boring. The small markets are in constant danger of losing their teams to other cities. Where does all this corruting money come from? No big surprise here either: television.
Consider that media magnate Ted Turner has been using the Atlanta Braves baseball team as a centerpiece for his television empire for years. That team will always have money to give in to free agent demands. Their minor league farm system stinks, but so what? They don't need to develop young talent since veteran talent is always for sale around the league.
Ice hockey is thought to be a Canadian sport, but how many Canadian hockey teams have been moved south to the US? (I don't know the number offhand.) This is to fill in geographic gaps in the US and make hockey more valuable to American television networks. I'm pretty sure it was the team from Winnipeg that moved to Phoenix, Arizona. I'm told that Winnipeg is a land where one is never more than a few blocks from an ice rink, while the desert state of Arizona has a total of THREE ice rinks, including the venue where the team plays! This team must have landed in a place where the fans don't even understand the fundamentals of the game (That's called the puck, kids), all to have a fan base in a large television market.
Wrestling has several advantages....
1) Wrestling has no off-season, which would serve to lose fan interest.
2) There are no dynasties. There are several championship titles, and they are constantly being passed from one wrestler to the next.
3) While a popular, well-conditioned wrestler can enjoy a career of more than two decades, new wrestling talent is relatively easy to develop. This solves problems when veterans switch wrestling leagues or quit. It isn't necessary for one wrestling league to cannibalize another.
4) Media exposure isn't an issue with wrestling. After all, the "real" sports media doesn't even pay attention. Most of their money comes from ticket sales when touring.
When the "real" sports leagues' teams begin to fold, wrestling exhibitions will continue to sell out every arena in every city on tour. If you can stand the fakery, a ridiculously violent magic show will unfold.
Does A Hockey Game Begin With A "Puck-Off"?,
Hugh Morris
None.
