Term paper help... kind of :)

[WeeMan]

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[Comradebot]

I say... find a way to tie in Sgt. Slaughter to the Gulf War! Or... not. Give me some time, I might come up with a solid connection.

[mjdgoldeneye]

Just use the P.E.R.S.I.A. system... It stands for politics, economy, religion, social, intellectual, and artistic. Some may be impossible, but a few should be easy. How does wrestling relate to the U.S. in each category?

[Prophet]

If I was to do this, I'd go with the parallels. How wrestling has imitated key incidents in the history of America. Cite Boris Zhukov, and Nikolai Volkoff, and how it ran during the time of the Cold War with Russia. Sgt. Slaughter teaming with General Adnan, during the first Gulf War. There's a few instances where wrestling has drawn from the events of the time, and used it for storylines.

[Comradebot]

[QUOTE=mjdgoldeneye;523461]Just use the P.E.R.S.I.A. system... It stands for politics, economy, religion, social, intellectual, and artistic. Some may be impossible, but a few should be easy. How does wrestling relate to the U.S. in each category?[/QUOTE] P-Real Life Politics and Backstage Politics E-Thuganomics vs. Regeanomics R-Christianity, the Real Life Ministry of Darkness S-Immigration and why Essa Rios didn't learn English I-Intelligence, Intensity, and Integrity: Keys to Being a True American Hero A-Professional Wrestling: A True American Artform

[WeeMan]

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[machinesxe]

You could also connect the early start of wrestling to the great depression. I mean with the great depression people would use some of their last dollars to get some short amusment(IE amusment parks) even if it made them come up short else where b/c at least they got their minds of the real problems. You can go from there.

[Grudge]

Muhammad assan and mark copani's character would be a good example. How because america was sensative after 9/11 copani is not working in the industry any more. You could show how wrestling does reflect the history of america in the sense of sgt slaughter and all the other characters model to pander to an audience that is sensative to those topics at that time. So it reflects history in the sense that it reflects our culture. And you shouldn't have to dig too deep to find the strong sense of nationalism behind wrestling. Honestly though I'm not sure how strong a paper it would be because if anything wrestling (just like any other medium) reflects society and society reacts to current events that end up being historic. But I applaud the effort and hope that something I said helps. Good luck man :)

[WeeMan]

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[infinitywpi]

Also, given that wrestling is frequently seen as something the 'common man' enjoys, possibly contrasting with the fact it's run and made by very uncommon men?

[Wallbanger]

You can also, rather than trying to cast wrestling as social metaphor, look at the economic side of things, how the business evolved as it grew and consolidated, and how wrestling's 'product' changed as demographics changed. You can look at how competition impacts presentation and marketing, and how technology has changed wrestling's business model.

[CQI13]

You could also grab important moments in US History and show how some of them have been used in wrestling (9/11, Gulf War) or social issues (Right to Censor). However, where you'd be able to get articles to back you up might be a little dodgy. I would personally go with what MJ said though about the PERSIA system. And actually, I think most of them are easy. Politics = Sgt Slaughter, Muhammed Hassan, the evil Russians Economics = what was mentioned earlier about the Great Depression, how business can seem cyclical Religion = This could be a stretch, but for the most part they deal with the occult as being "bad" Or Kane being UT's "evil" brother. Social = This could go either way, with social aspects affecting wrestling (see RTC, social commentary skits, recent celebrity involvement in WMs, the Presidential hopefuls appearing on RAW) or wrestling during the Attitude/Monday Night Wars era and how that shaped a sector of society (nWo shirts, DX shirt, crotch chop, etc...) Intellectual = In this one, I'm at a loss. Art = How it's scripted, but not fake.

[wilts]

Wrestling in US History? Thats a tough 1 mate. Personally, if I had to do that I would go down the lines that everyone else seems to be suggesting of recent wars, and how Wrestling characters have helped to unite people, through hatred of Sgt Slaughter, hatred of Hassan, or support for Hulk Hogan in his feud with Slaughter and therefore standing up for the states. Could you work with the typical 'American Dream' that we here oh so much about? Talk about guys like Shawn Michaels who give the public hope because he acheived his dream, etc. etc. etc. Personally I think you have chosen a tough subject, especially as there is a good chance that the people grading it won't have a clue about Wrestling, except for probably Hogan and The Rock. Anyway, good luck with it, and keep us posted on what you do with it. EDIT: Or on second thought, how about racial issues? Use people such as Rocky Johnson and talk about how he debuted in 1964, only a year after the infamous Martin Luther King Jr. speech. Became relatively popular towards the end of official racial segregation in the states. The work towards modern guys such as The Rock, and the Nation of Domination. and of course, tie it in with the story of the moment in President-elect Obama. And include Tony Atlas, and how he was the first person to pin the all american hero 'The Immortal' Hulk Hogan.

[Sons of Kohral]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this one: Relate the death of the territorial system to the rise of the "Corporation" era in America. i.e. When WWF started rising to power is when we really see big companies taking off and "legally monopolizing" their respective industries. A great example would be Microsoft as it almost directly correlates to the rise of the WWF(E). Edit: The race thing that wilts brought up is also a good topic. There are a lot of direction you can take this paper. Just remember, take ONE and run with it. No need in jumping around, as I'm sure you know you could end up writing a whole book covering every aspect of American wrestling.

[WeeMan]

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[wilts]

[QUOTE=WeeMan;523927]Some awesome suggestions here, but as I said, I want to have as many opinions and options as possible... So if anyone has any more ideas, share them please![/QUOTE] What have your ideas been so far? Share them with us and we might be able to develop them a bit.

[CQI13]

His ideas have been the ones we have provided in this thread (or I gather as much). It would be good if he told us which one he would like so that we may spend more time developing them as you mentioned wilts.

[Astil]

You should have a thesis to start with, obviously. Something that makes someone who doesn't give a rat's ass about wrestling reason to drive through the paper, while still being pertinent to the subject matter at hand. Here's how I might handle it: Professional wrestling is a term that means many things to many people. To some it is a source of great pride, the way they fed there families. To others it is a laughing stock, or worse a mockery. It holds many layers, and while looking at the surface gives you a clear picture, digging deeper gives you a completely different picture. American history is a term that means many things to many people. To some it is a source of great pride, the way they built up there lives. To others it is a laughing stock, or worse a mockery. A story told to hide what is really going on behind the scenes. [B]History holds many layers, and digging deeper can find you a different truth. In this way American History and Professional Wrestling are the same.[/B] I bolded the thesis.

[cappyboy]

I see this thread and two words come to my mind. CARNIVAL ERA I don't know how well you know that period. But comparing and contrasting how professional wrestling was run then and now and how those styles reflect their times. I doubt for instance many folks outside wrestling student/MMA circles know about Farmer Burns and how his training regimen is still marketed today 100 years later. Or how Jim Londos basically introduced characterization to the sport. Follow key champions through history and show how wrestling figures like Burns and Bobo Brazil and Hulkamania era Hogan mirror the spirit of their times.

[WeeMan]

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[CQI13]

[url]http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/010/822kakvr.asp[/url] -- That gives a brief explanation of wrestling from a historical context. Old though, from '99. Find something in wrestling history (from when you started, before, after) that grabs your attention, and see if there's a historical reason as to why it was done. Hassan & 9/11 come to mind. A brief explanation: [url]http://wiki.ytmnd.com/Muhammad_Hassan[/url] And this shameful display by WWE at the Royal Rumble: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT32JLIQq_M[/url]

[Grudge]

The only thing I could really say is that in pro wrestling there is and always will be a very strong sense of nationalism. Characters are normally pitched with a "nationality". For example: william regal is the embodyment of england/great britan, Assan represented the muslim world of the middle east, Lance Storm sported his strong canadian roots as did Bret Hart, Latino Heat, Kurt Angle and Hulk Hogan stood for America. The list could really go on and on, and further back you even have characters for the different regions of the US ala Jerry Lawler. Oh I forgot to mention the French thing with rene dupree and such back when america was going to war with iraq and there was some tension there. Vince used this to his advantage to create a french nationalist heel stable. I couldn't give you a link between the american revolution and the attitude era, but I can say that wrestling is reflection of the people and what they react to. And peoples reactions are inspired by history.

[wilts]

[QUOTE=WeeMan;523971]I'm actually a fan of wrestling since 1995, so 13 years... I'm 19, so I've started pretty early. What's more, I'm a wrestlemaniac, so even though I'm pretty young I know a lot of historic stuff, wrestling has no mysteries for me... ... US History does, though. That's why I'm asking - being from Poland and not having too much experience with writing about the USA [well, not on that level, high school and middle school doesn't prepare us here for college AT ALL] is what makes it hard for me. It'd be perfect for me if I could use some more stuff from the era I was totally in wrestling [so, 1995 - now] but I'm open for earlier times, because I know a lot about it, having seen some classic shows, reading tons of results, essays, and stuff... As I said in my opening post, the problem for me is connecting wrestling with US history. I know it might sound easy for someone who's from the USA, and has learned all about the history from day one, but for me there are many things that I know nothing about... That's why I'm asking for help, knowing that You guys are always nice and helpful :) As I said, this Tuesday I'm supposed to give my teacher the topic, only the topic of my term paper. Then I'll have it accepted [hopefully] and start writing... If I'll need help with that, I'll be sure to ask You guys too :) But the wrestling part is much easier for me, the history part is my problem. Keep those suggestions coming, brothers :][/QUOTE] If you don't know what effect wrestling has had in American history, then why write about wrestling? Why not go down the route of economics, the great depression, immigration or something where there are far more resources available for study, and will generally be far better known by the examiner than wrestling....

[Grudge]

[QUOTE=wilts;523981]If you don't know what effect wrestling has had in American history, then why write about wrestling? Why not go down the route of economics, the great depression, immigration or something where there are far more resources available for study, and will generally be far better known by the examiner than wrestling....[/QUOTE] My more pessamistic side is with wilts on this, I said earlier I thought it would be difficult. The ONLY thing I think wrestling has done that will be considered as any part of american history is the whole steroids thing. But then you have a paper about steroids and not about wrestling. So if you are trying to find a "direct" connection, I honestly don't think your going to find it. But like I said that's my pessamistic side. I am curious to know what this paper is suppose to be on though. Are you suppose to find something that reflects american history? Hey you could compare the lousiana purchase to the WCW :P

[WeeMan]

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