Arrows Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Very much so. I wish I could press a button and become a mark again myself. So much more enjoyable, by far. And now to something different: does anyone here actually think Booker T is a good color commentator? It baffles me how poor the guy is at it. Maybe it would help if he tried speaking words clearly for a change. He's better than Stevie Ray. That's about the only positive I have for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Final Countdown Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Very much so. I wish I could press a button and become a mark again myself. So much more enjoyable, by far. And now to something different: does anyone here actually think Booker T is a good color commentator? It baffles me how poor the guy is at it. Maybe it would help if he tried speaking words clearly for a change. He's terrible. And unlike the poster just above me, I actually liked his brother better (on commentary, not in general.) Stevie Ray was so bad at color commentary that I got a kick out of listening to him. Booker is jut awful at it. Though I do find myself mentally referring to Danielson as "D-Bry" quite often... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akujy Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Very much so. I wish I could press a button and become a mark again myself. So much more enjoyable, by far. And now to something different: does anyone here actually think Booker T is a good color commentator? It baffles me how poor the guy is at it. Maybe it would help if he tried speaking words clearly for a change. So true. We would stop analyzing every single move and word, and so on. God those days were fun. Still love wrestling, but it was much more fun then. What? The 5x, 5x, 5x 5x,...WCW world champ, and you think he sucks??? Are you kidding? Of course he sucks! God how he sucks at it! He doesn't even suck to the point of being a guilty pleasure, wich is sad. He just...sucks and although i like him, (as a wrestler) i definitely could live wihout his nonsensical commentary! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astil Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Booker has good Bookerisms, but as for calling a match he is poor. Then again so is King. DAT SUPAHERO D-BRY IN MAH FAV FIVE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantabulous Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 You have as much fun watching wrestling or any TV show as you allow yourself. Whatever you learn about a show, as a mark or an informed fan, might affect your enjoyment, but being a mark does not automatically mean you enjoy wrestling more than a smart fan. Marks can analyze wrestling just as much as any smart fan, they just do so in a different way and from a different angle. Being a mark doesn't preclude someone from being analytical or even over analytical. The idea that marks have more fun or can enjoy things more is complete crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akujy Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 You have as much fun watching wrestling or any TV show as you allow yourself. Whatever you learn about a show, as a mark or an informed fan, might affect your enjoyment, but being a mark does not automatically mean you enjoy wrestling more than a smart fan. Marks can analyze wrestling just as much as any smart fan, they just do so in a different way and from a different angle. Being a mark doesn't preclude someone from being analytical or even over analytical. The idea that marks have more fun or can enjoy things more is complete crap. Very debatable. But each one with it's own opinion. And although you're not wrong, i think the other side is also true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyde Hill Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Yeah it's not so much the mark thing more the kid, not analyzing as much maybe some fantasizing. And the 14, when everything is at its coolest, thing. As a "smark" you have the control yourself "how" you enjoy the show, analyzing can come later, although it is hard at times like for me at ER with the obvious, for me, tells. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cappyboy Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Very much so. I wish I could press a button and become a mark again myself. So much more enjoyable, by far. Oh I know. Same here. That's one of the things that really drive me nuts about the E and at times TNA as well. That's one of the things that will make me hate a worker the quickest. When they put a guy out there and he kills the illusion of the story world. I don't care whose fault it is. Whether it's Creative's of the guy himself at fault. If somebody's reminding me it's "just a show" in the middle of a show, that's not entertaining me. This is why something like Mr. Anderson being most talented as a mimic annoys me so. While I'm remembering where he took this piece or that phrase or the other gesture from, it's distracting me from how he's trying to use them. The guy's essentially undermining the basis of the product by pulling me out of the story world and therefore failing at the entertainment he's meant to achieve. I would love to see a sports entertainment promotion that just let their people go out there and entertain without making them try so very hard at it. And now to something different: does anyone here actually think Booker T is a good color commentator? It baffles me how poor the guy is at it. Maybe it would help if he tried speaking words clearly for a change. No. And the sad thing is I would really like to. When Booker T does color, he reminds of Dusty Rhodes with the -isms. Like his "fave five" as compared to Dusty's "clubbering" and such. Dusty's colloquialisms really charmed me when he was commentating and I wish I could say the same of Booker. But he just doesn't enounciate well enough. He has good enough ideas and things to say when I can understand him. He just can't or won't articulate them properly. It's really annoying and sometimes it gets so bad you could lump this topic into what I was just saying above this about killing the illusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hive Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 The idea that marks have more fun or can enjoy things more is complete crap. Eh... no. It really isn't. Perhaps for you, but not for me. And not for many others as well, I bet. Why? Because you cannot control your brain; you cannot unlearn what you have learned. Sure, being a child automatically makes it easier to love wrestling without thinking too much about it. But back in ~2004 when I began watching wrestling again for the first time since my childhood (I was 22 in 2004), I was perfectly able to enjoy it as a 'mark' - almost as much as in the "good old days". I didn't know anything about "dirt sheets", I didn't go online for information, I didn't know terms like 'push' or 'book' or 'job' or what not. And it made the experience so much better for me. I rooted for the faces and hated on the heels (though I did not know those terms), more or less in spite of actual wrestling ability or background. Without this blissfull unenlightenment, I surely wouldn't have the absurd love for Randy Orton and Batista that I have today. Hell, I even somewhat liked Maven. I didn't care so much whether the in-ring performers ever heard of the term 'chain-wrestling' before or not, all I cared about was the story told in matches and angles. I knew, of course, that it was all 'fake' - but I truly felt that the guys in the main event were actually there because they were the best, because they deserved to be there. But after reading as much about what happens behind the scenes, I cannot enjoy wrestling like that anymore. I cannot help but analyze moves, promos, booking decisions, allignments, pushes, etc. when watching. Why? Because I cannnot get these inner workings out of my head again. Just like you won't enjoy a magic trick the same way once you learn how it's performed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackKnifed72 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 ...I knew, of course, that it was all 'fake' - but I truly felt that the guys in the main event were actually there because they were the best, because they deserved to be there.... Wait wha--- You mean Hulk Hogan didn't really slam 1500pd Andre the Giant in front of 9.3 million fans at WrestleMania 3?!? ...right...next you'll be saying there's no Santa... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtplaystew Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 You have as much fun watching wrestling or any TV show as you allow yourself. Whatever you learn about a show, as a mark or an informed fan, might affect your enjoyment, but being a mark does not automatically mean you enjoy wrestling more than a smart fan. Marks can analyze wrestling just as much as any smart fan, they just do so in a different way and from a different angle. Being a mark doesn't preclude someone from being analytical or even over analytical. The idea that marks have more fun or can enjoy things more is complete crap. In my humble opinion, the line between mark and "smart fan" as you put it is SO thin that very few people stand on one side or the other. For instance I don't see a single person who posts on this board as one or the other. I've seen people mark out over dumb crap, and I've seen people smark it up over dumb crap. But ultimately, you hit it right on the head. It's only as fun as you let it be. Now if certain things just don't appeal to you about wrestling, that's one thing. But allowing yourself to be entertained is a big part of wrestling as a form of entertainment in particular, especially in the adult wrestling fan. You know you, in general, aren't getting the highest quality acting and writing on TV. How much of that can you overlook and just enjoy it as a TV show? Also, once you've followed long enough and begin to understand the business a little bit, at what point does too much knowledge make the show unfun? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djthefunkchris Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 I don't know... Not trying to take sides but I think I actually enjoy it more, especially over time. I mean, it's nothing like it was for me in the 80's, but nothing is. However, the knowledge of "How" and "Why" and such makes it more enjoyable for me. It doesn't bother me when I can clearly see that the punch or kick missed, yet he knocked him down anyways, like it used to back in the day. I actually cringe at things that I used to enjoy... Like how bad a cut really is when they bleed, etc. Things that I couldn't wait for before. As I get older, I look at it how it's meant to look, like a TV sitcom, and I enjoy it as just that. Each character playing their role, each one doing what they are supposed to do. That's why I have a hard time getting behind this or that person being better in the ring. In my opinion, any one of those guys could look like a wrestling machine, if they booked them to work like one... unless they are just physically unable to do the moves. That's why I enjoy the high flying so much more now, then I did back then, because not just anyone can do those things. I understand that probably most of the smaller indie type shows will show you what people know, because they don't have the option of doing the match ahead of time, or planning it out perfectly. However, in TNA or WWE, I totally expect that whomever THEY want to be known as a heavy brawler, is going to be a heavy brawler, and whomever they want to look like a wrestling machince (someone going from move to move), will look like a wrestling machine, because that's their character. In other words, I believe it's totally possible for Randy Orton to do 20 or 30 wrestling holds in a match, and look fantasticly gifted as a technical wrestler, if that's how they wanted him to look.... Heck, he might be a whole lot better at it then the brawler type style they have him as now, but we would never know, because it doesn't fit the character he is portraying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantabulous Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 People know each and every single thing in movies is fake, there isn't a person outside of a vegetable who thinks they're real, and yet I don't hear many people bitching that they wished they could believe movies were real again because they had more fun watching them like that. I don't see movie threads littered with people bitching and moaning that they can't enjoy the great movie they just saw because they know it's all fake and they see things all the time that kill the illusion. You get as much enjoyment as you allow yourself. People do it all the time with other forms of entertainment they know going in are entirely predetermined and have that fact rammed into their heads with numerous TV shows and documentaries. You can do it with wrestling. Just switch your brain off. It should be very easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hive Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 People know each and every single thing in movies is fake, there isn't a person outside of a vegetable who thinks they're real, and yet I don't hear many people bitching that they wished they could believe movies were real again because they had more fun watching them like that. I don't see movie threads littered with people bitching and moaning that they can't enjoy the great movie they just saw because they know it's all fake and they see things all the time that kill the illusion. You get as much enjoyment as you allow yourself. People do it all the time with other forms of entertainment they know going in are entirely predetermined and have that fact rammed into their heads with numerous TV shows and documentaries. You can do it with wrestling. Just switch your brain off. It should be very easy. If you think it's strictly a matter of knowing whether it's fake or not, you simply don't get it. I've always known that wrestling was not a real sport, knowing whether it's fake or not is really not what seperates 'marks' from 'smarks'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Self Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Especially at live events, I enjoy wrestling much more when I'm actively supporting one guy over the other, as I would when watching football or mma. Not to say I don't have fun being analytical and appreciating the technique and dramatic flow of a match, but that act of cheering on 'your favourite' and wanting him to 'win' makes me feel like a kid again, and that in and of itself is fun. It's a shame I need a few drinks in me to get to that zone. My brain doesn't switch off very easily, especially when I see a botch or even a slight miscommunication in the ring that pulls me out of the mindset. I couldn't watch the recent live episode of 30 Rock, because I knew one little flub would pull me out of the zone, and I'd be rooting for the actors to remember their lines, instead of the characters in the story they're actually telling. Now I like wrestling more, and have more of an interest in the artform, but... I like getting into the 'mark' headspace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djthefunkchris Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 What it reminds me of, more then using a sports show as an example, is the long debates about comic-books, and who they should give better stories too, and who they should make the leader of this or that team, and who is smarter, faster, stronger, etc. That's what wrestling reminds me of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaysin Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 http://www.wwe.com/superstars/sting :eek: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hive Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 http://www.wwe.com/superstars/sting :eek: What the... What is this??? If they actually sign Sting, I will instantly turn into a SUPERMARK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaysin Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 What the... What is this??? If they actually sign Sting, I will instantly turn into a SUPERMARK. He got added to the alumni page. Sting's my all time favorite, so randomly seeing that was awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hive Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 He got added to the alumni page. Sting's my all time favorite, so randomly seeing that was awesome. So you got my hopes up for nothing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaysin Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 So you got my hopes up for nothing? Fairly sure that it's a new addition to the alumni page. So they could be planning something. I remember reading forever ago that they wanted to do a Best of Sting dvd, but Sting just signed a new contract with TNA semi recently, so I dunno what it could be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hive Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Fairly sure that it's a new addition to the alumni page. So they could be planning something. I remember reading forever ago that they wanted to do a Best of Sting dvd, but Sting just signed a new contract with TNA semi recently, so I dunno what it could be. Maybe Dixie didn't learn from letting Nash go. One can always hope. I'd love to see Sting on the biggest wrestling stage of them all, finally. And more importantly, he deserves it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeel1 Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 The issue with that is that Sting is not WWE Alumni... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaysin Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 The issue with that is that Sting is not WWE Alumni... I believe he's the only one on the alumni page who hasn't been in WWE at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackKnifed72 Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 The issue with that is that Sting is not WWE Alumni... Technically you are correct ...however the 'E owns complete rights to the entire WCW library...and Jm Crockett Promotions...and Bill Watts' Mid-South/UWF...so outside of his time in TNA, McMahon owns exclusive rebroadcast rights to most of Sting's career... perhaps... One can only hope Sting might make it to WrestleMania XXVIIII Probably not however Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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