Why don't more self proclaimed Nerds watch Wrestling?

[Haukur Isleifsson]

It just seems really fake and pretentious. Made to look really extreme and hard core when most of what they are doing is just for show. I would much rather watch UFC and other competitions that aim at efficiency and competence at the sport rather than some flashy show-fight.

 

[Bobby_D]

You're gettin a lot of flak it seems, so let me cheer you up:

I loves wrasslin'. My top five are

1) AJ Styles
2) Davey Richards
3) Samoa Joe
4) Austin Aries
5) CM Punk

as you can see...I'm a big ROH mark


Also, what this guy said...

I can't really speak much for my "nerd" status. I don't read comics aside from the Coheed and Cambria related ones, I don't watch anime, but I do play a ton of video games.

However, I love professional wrestling. I was raised on WCW, then of course the WWE after the buy-out. Nowadays, however, my focus is damn near completely on Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Both companies always seem to put on a great show every time, although 2009 was a pretty poor year for Ring of Honor.

Whenever someone asks me why I like wrestling (indie wrestling specifically), I always find it kind of hard to answer. The athleticism is certainly a big part of it. These guys go through hell sometimes, putting their lives on the line to entertain a few hundred to a couple thousand people a night, and still walk out under their own power.

I also love that fact that two guys can go out in that ring... take anywhere from 200 to 70,000 people in the palm of their hands, and tell a story and leave everyone's jaw on the floor by the end of it. I have watched Tyler Black VS Davey Richards from ROH's "Death Before Dishonor VIII" multiple times, and every time I watch it I'm dumbfounded by how amazing it is.

Speaking of story-driven... how about the upcoming ROH show "Best in the World 2011", huh? Davey Richards VS Eddie Edwards, former tag team partners, battling for the ROH world championship. I haven't been this excited for a wrestling match in a long, long time.

Just look at the hype video...


Goosebumps, every time.

Kind of off-topic but, I also love listening to and seeing wrestlers outside of the events. Like listening to Colt Cabana's "Art of Wrestling" podcasts. He talks to fellow wrestlers about how they fist got into wrestling, how they got their start, and they share funny stories from the road. Another example is the documentary "The Wrestling Road Diaries." Colt Cabana, Bryan Danielson, and Sal Rinauro documented like a week and a half of them just on the road. It's an amazing DVD, I recommend it to any wrestling fan.


Of course, we wrestling fans can't make everyone like wrestling. There will always be people who are indifferent to it and, of course, the people who flat-out hate it. The least we can do is try to at least show people that wrestling isn't the side-show attraction that it used to be.

all of it...from the Coheed comics to being super excited about Eddie vs Davey, as well as loving Colt Cabana's podcast. AlmostLikeLife just gets it, man...he gets it

 

[SadakoMoose]

It just seems really fake and pretentious. Made to look really extreme and hard core when most of what they are doing is just for show. I would much rather watch UFC and other competitions that aim at efficiency and competence at the sport rather than some flashy show-fight.

It's flashy, but damn is some of this stuff cool!

 

[Slash Dementia]

Eh, I never liked wrestling for the wrestler's personal taste. That or dressing up as game characters actually would make me want to watch it way less. It was okay in the 90's and early 2000's, but now it's just eh. Any wrestling is eh.

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

It just seems really fake and pretentious. Made to look really extreme and hard core when most of what they are doing is just for show. I would much rather watch UFC and other competitions that aim at efficiency and competence at the sport rather than some flashy show-fight.

So... you're telling me that nothing at all is dramatised in UFC? I sincerely doubt that.

And at any rate, I always thought part of the appeal of wrestling was that it was fake and pretentious, they don't call it a soap opera for men for nothing. I mean, if you have a man in a bright coloured glittering ten gallon hat and matching shiny shades going "OOHYEAH!", you should realise that you're in for something that doesn't take itself seriously.

 

[Haukur Isleifsson]

It just seems really fake and pretentious. Made to look really extreme and hard core when most of what they are doing is just for show. I would much rather watch UFC and other competitions that aim at efficiency and competence at the sport rather than some flashy show-fight.

It's flashy, but damn is some of this stuff cool!

Yeah. This one pretty much sums up what I "hate" about wrestling. I don't claim to be any expert on hand to hand combat or martial arts but it seems obvious to me that this "style" of fighting is grossly impractical and inefficient. Guess you could say that it is kind off immersion-breaking. You can't really care about a competition when you feel that the whole thing is just for show. I'm not saying the matches are necessarily fixed but when that both look like they are cooperating in a pre-choreographed routine rather than fighting each other... Well can't blame me for not giving a shit.

 

[Haukur Isleifsson]

It just seems really fake and pretentious. Made to look really extreme and hard core when most of what they are doing is just for show. I would much rather watch UFC and other competitions that aim at efficiency and competence at the sport rather than some flashy show-fight.

So... you're telling me that nothing at all is dramatised in UFC? I sincerely doubt that.

And at any rate, I always thought part of the appeal of wrestling was that it was fake and pretentious, they don't call it a soap opera for men for nothing. I mean, if you have a man in a bright coloured glittering ten gallon hat and matching shiny shades going "OOHYEAH!", you should realise that you're in for something that doesn't take itself seriously.

No I am not saying that it should take is self seriously. We have all sorts of venues for real fighting. I'm just explaining why I don't give a shit about wrestling. After only minimal involvement in real practical martial arts I just can't be bothered with watching something that feels so fake and pretentious. Hope that nobody holds that against me.

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

Oh not at all, I'm just pointing out that some people might enjoy wrestling because it's fake, and, well, silly.

That said, most real practical martial arts tournaments don't even get televised at all. You need to coat it in a paint of fake brutality like in UFC to get it sold to the masses, heh.

 

[Varya]

I dislike violence
I dislike macho culture
I dislike sports

Given these three conditions, is it hard to understand why I don't watch wrestling?

 

[SadakoMoose]

It just seems really fake and pretentious. Made to look really extreme and hard core when most of what they are doing is just for show. I would much rather watch UFC and other competitions that aim at efficiency and competence at the sport rather than some flashy show-fight.

It's flashy, but damn is some of this stuff cool!

Yeah. This one pretty much sums up what I "hate" about wrestling. I don't claim to be any expert on hand to hand combat or martial arts but it seems obvious to me that this "style" of fighting is grossly impractical and inefficient. Guess you could say that it is kind off immersion-breaking. You can't really care about a competition when you feel that the whole thing is just for show. I'm not saying the matches are necessarily fixed but when that both look like they are cooperating in a pre-choreographed routine rather than fighting each other... Well can't blame me for not giving a shit.

Well of course it's not meant to be like an actual fight. That's not the intention.
It's to entertain a crowd.
I understand your preference for more realistic sports, but just acknowledge the sheer level of effort and skill that pro wrestling requires.
Even then, could you find another word to use than hate?
In English, Hate is used when something has deeply offended you. How about just saying, 'dislike'?

 

[Haukur Isleifsson]

It just seems really fake and pretentious. Made to look really extreme and hard core when most of what they are doing is just for show. I would much rather watch UFC and other competitions that aim at efficiency and competence at the sport rather than some flashy show-fight.

It's flashy, but damn is some of this stuff cool!

Yeah. This one pretty much sums up what I "hate" about wrestling. I don't claim to be any expert on hand to hand combat or martial arts but it seems obvious to me that this "style" of fighting is grossly impractical and inefficient. Guess you could say that it is kind off immersion-breaking. You can't really care about a competition when you feel that the whole thing is just for show. I'm not saying the matches are necessarily fixed but when that both look like they are cooperating in a pre-choreographed routine rather than fighting each other... Well can't blame me for not giving a shit.

Well of course it's not meant to be like an actual fight. That's not the intention.
It's to entertain a crowd.
I understand your preference for more realistic sports, but just acknowledge the sheer level of effort and skill that pro wrestling requires.

Even then, could you find another word to use than hate?
In English, Hate is used when something has deeply offended you. How about just saying, 'dislike'?

Yeah I don't really hate it. That is why I put quotation marks around the word Hate. What really describes my attitude towards the sport would simply be "I don't give a shit". And well I respect it as much as that allows. Sure it must be really hard I can't really judge that.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

It just seems really fake and pretentious. Made to look really extreme and hard core when most of what they are doing is just for show. I would much rather watch UFC and other competitions that aim at efficiency and competence at the sport rather than some flashy show-fight.

It's flashy, but damn is some of this stuff cool!

It looks like a couple of gymnasts took an interpretive dance contest -- which is, incidentally, what I don't like about pro wrestling. I'll accept that it's an entertaining sport when its fans accept that it's interpretive dance.

Compare it to this:


or this:
or even this: Is it any wonder why people call pro wrestling on being fake?

And yes, the kind of grappling you see in a UFC match or a greco-roman wrestling match can be seen as homoerotic, but the ground is a place that real fights often end up -- it's why martial arts like Judo exist. Pro wrestling, on the other hand, is ballet without the women in tutus.

 

[SadakoMoose]

It just seems really fake and pretentious. Made to look really extreme and hard core when most of what they are doing is just for show. I would much rather watch UFC and other competitions that aim at efficiency and competence at the sport rather than some flashy show-fight.

It's flashy, but damn is some of this stuff cool!

It looks like a couple of gymnasts took an interpretive dance contest -- which is, incidentally, what I don't like about pro wrestling. I'll accept that it's an entertaining sport when its fans accept that it's interpretive dance.

Is it any wonder why people call pro wrestling on being fake?

And yes, the kind of grappling you see in a UFC match or a greco-roman wrestling match can be seen as homoerotic, but the ground is a place that real fights often end up -- it's why martial arts like Judo exist. Pro wrestling, on the other hand, is ballet without the women in tutus.

Well, a vast majority of pro wrestling fans know that it's not a legit competition.
We're not stupid.
Maybe, I picked the wrong video.
What you're seeing there with the dives, flips, and other aerial related things is indicative of the Lucha Libre style of pro wrestling, originating in Mexico.
Here's something a little harder:
Battlarts
Munenori Sawa vs Fujita Jr. Hayato

or, if you want to see how crazy things can really get:

 

[SadakoMoose]

Good showing from Pro Wrestling NOAH

 

[infohippie]

What? I saw this post title and just thought "What the hell?" It sounded so bizarre I just had to click on it and see if you were being serious.
As for why not - it's the same kind of entertainment as monster trucks and NASCAR, only even more redneck. It's not so much why not, as why the hell would we?

[sub]Now if you'll pardon me, I'm off to read some Chaucer while sipping pinot noir. Pip-pip, chaps![/sub]

 

[octafish]

I used to like wrestling, back when a face was a face and a heel was Nikolai Volkoff. The nineties really did kill wrestling for me. Too many steroids, everybody was a heel, no more George the Animal Steele. Nah they lost me a long time ago.

 

[SadakoMoose]

What? I saw this post title and just thought "What the hell?" It sounded so bizarre I just had to click on it and see if you were being serious.
As for why not - it's the same kind of entertainment as monster trucks and NASCAR, only even more redneck. It's not so much why not, as why the hell would we?

[sub]Now if you'll pardon me, I'm off to read some Chaucer while sipping pinot noir. Pip-pip, chaps![/sub]

Didja even read my first post?
And what do you mean, same "kind" of entertainment as NASCAR or Monster Trucks?
Pro Wrestling: Over 1 century old, and spread across all 7 continents. Invented in Europe, basically.
NASCAR: Less than a century old, exclusively American.
Monster Trucks: Less than 4 decades old
Seriously though, I post Jushin Liger and you think "Rednecks!"
I post Tiger Mask 1 (Satoru Sayama) vs Villano Tercero, having a match IN JAPAN.
and that SCREAMS redneck to you?
Read the op next time.

 

[SadakoMoose]

Eh...It's all fake, and knowing that puts me off of even wanting to try it.

Did that put you off of watching movies?
Please, just try any of the vids I've posted in the thread so far.
There's three just above you, and 2 vids on page 1, I think.

 

[infohippie]

What? I saw this post title and just thought "What the hell?" It sounded so bizarre I just had to click on it and see if you were being serious.
As for why not - it's the same kind of entertainment as monster trucks and NASCAR, only even more redneck. It's not so much why not, as why the hell would we?

[sub]Now if you'll pardon me, I'm off to read some Chaucer while sipping pinot noir. Pip-pip, chaps![/sub]

Didja even read my first post?
And what do you mean, same "kind" of entertainment as NASCAR or Monster Trucks?
Pro Wrestling: Over 1 century old, and spread across all 7 continents. Invented in Europe, basically.
NASCAR: Less than a century old, exclusively American.
Monster Trucks: Less than 4 decades old
Seriously though, I post Jushin Liger and you think "Rednecks!"
I post Tiger Mask 1 (Satoru Sayama) vs Villano Tercero, having a match IN JAPAN.
and that SCREAMS redneck to you?
Read the op next time.

Yeah, I'm sorry man, but it honestly does still scream "redneck" to me. I did read your post in full before commenting.
I do, however, apologise for offending you as that wasn't my intention, but... yeah. Pro wrestling. As redneck a sport as there ever was. In my opinion, anyway. That doesn't mean you're a redneck for enjoying it, we all have our interests that might not be shared by others. Hell, I'm a brony, after all and my housemate thinks I'm a freak for that.

 

[SadakoMoose]

What? I saw this post title and just thought "What the hell?" It sounded so bizarre I just had to click on it and see if you were being serious.
As for why not - it's the same kind of entertainment as monster trucks and NASCAR, only even more redneck. It's not so much why not, as why the hell would we?

[sub]Now if you'll pardon me, I'm off to read some Chaucer while sipping pinot noir. Pip-pip, chaps![/sub]

Didja even read my first post?
And what do you mean, same "kind" of entertainment as NASCAR or Monster Trucks?
Pro Wrestling: Over 1 century old, and spread across all 7 continents. Invented in Europe, basically.
NASCAR: Less than a century old, exclusively American.
Monster Trucks: Less than 4 decades old
Seriously though, I post Jushin Liger and you think "Rednecks!"
I post Tiger Mask 1 (Satoru Sayama) vs Villano Tercero, having a match IN JAPAN.
and that SCREAMS redneck to you?
Read the op next time.

Yeah, I'm sorry man, but it honestly does still scream "redneck" to me. I did read your post in full before commenting.
I do, however, apologise for offending you as that wasn't my intention, but... yeah. Pro wrestling. As redneck a sport as there ever was. In my opinion, anyway.

But what do you have to back up that opinion?
Even then, what about high school football? Muddin'? Out of season, unlicensed hunting?
That thing where you cover your arm in bait and use it to catch cat fish?
I'm still not seeing the redneck connection.
Not offended, just confused.