Rediscovering the Fun of Wrestling – A Trip To Summerslam

Rediscovering the Fun of Wrestling – A Trip To Summerslam

I use this blog to talk about any form of entertainment I deem worthy to write about. Usually I will discuss movies, televison, and books; but sometimes other forms of entertainment will come along and I decide that they just need to be written about.  With that said, yesterday I went down to Staples Center to watch WWE’s 2014 Summerslam.  I am no longer a casual viewer of wrestling, in fact the last time I watched anything in this forum was 3 years ago when I went to my last Summerslam. Outside of attending these 2 live events my knowledge of this world all lies within my time as an avid viewer from my early childhood to the early 2000’s. I grew up watching the WWE with my father and brothers as we all cheered for our favorites (my brothers and I will always have a soft spot for the Repo Man) and were devastated when they lost.  We live in a world where we all know wrestling is fake in terms of its outcome but as children no one knew better. I do not remember why I stopped watching, it may be due to going off to college- I just did not have time to spare to watch 3+ hours of television on wrestling anymore and I just never picked up on it again. I wonder sometimes though if the WWE still has the ability to deliver the type of shows I remember. The type that involved throwing grown men off steel cages, being shocked when Hulk Hogan turned heel, or having a character’s catch phrase just unite a crowd because “Stone Cold Said So”. As a man in television ratings I know the WWE is still popular but my question was- is it good? What I found out Sunday was that while the WWE may not be able to deliver 100% the goods I think it is capable of,  it can still get very close.

Let me begin with what I think the WWE is doing that is very wrong and needs to be fixed before they lose people. At the start of the show last night the crowd went wild with a surprise appearance of the Hulk Hogan. This man is legendary and his popularity exists way beyond the realm of wrestling. Why was he here, everyone wondered; would this man be involved in a match in some way? Would Hulk Hogan maybe be the special guest referee in a flag match between America and Russia? The answers to these questions were a resounding “No”. As it turns out Hulk Hogan was there to just spread the word that the WWE Network was only $9.99 a month. This information was something everyone in the audience already knew so I am not sure who he was pitching this.  On top of that Hulk Hogan never even entered the ring. He just walked out, pitched the network, and went away. This was a very much wasted opportunity for the company. For a company to be so successful it always boggles my mind when such poor decisions are made.  

Let me get to what I think really impressed me now.  I knew absolutely nothing going into last night except that Chris Jericho was going to wrestle. Chris Jericho, for those who do not know, has been in the game for 15 years and was at the top when I was still watching. He is one of the few people I still know  and am amazed their bodies allow them to take this type of damage for so long. Remember the outcomes are fake, but not the physical damage the guys sustain. The producers of the show did a great job setting up every match with the right amount of clips to even engage someone who never watches wrestling into the match they are about to see.  This concept really worked and made the show that much more fun. 

Outside of set-ups, the WWE knows just how to deliver the fun and is never afraid to go for it. In the course of 3 hours I watched Stephanie McMahon (one of the owners of WWE) get manhandled in the ring, to fights that left the ring and went right into the audience, to hearing the Russian national anthem as the is flag was raised.  To me, one of the greater moments that prove the WWE still has 'It' was the flag match. This was a contest between All American Jack Swagger vs. Russian and Vladimir Putin lover Rusev.  Whoever won this match would get to see their countries flag raised in their honor. This was old school WWE, harking back to the days when one of the biggest villains around was the Iron Sheik.  Creating a Russian wrestler is just a stroke of genius. Here is a guy that instantly will unite any crowd against him and get your blood pumping. That’s the point of entertainment. A even bigger stroke of genius by the WWE was to have the Russian win. Never in a million years did I think the WWE would let the Russian win, especially with what is actually going on in the real world. Yet, now they have set up future stories with this character and when his eventual demise comes, the fans will be that much happier. That type of long form planning is what keeps a company successful that has been around for decades.

The second biggest surprise of the show was that John Cena (the man all over cereal boxes and USA promos) lost his championship belt to a hulk of a man by the name of Brock Lesner. I know from my friends and from his short feud with the Rock that Cena is in fact not well liked by adults but adored  by kids. This is quite obvious when hearing all the kids in the stadium scream “Let’s Go Cena” which is replied to with adults yelling “Cena Sucks”. It is not the fact that Cena lost that caught me off guard, but how it went down. The match lasted about 20 minutes and for 20 minutes I watched Brock Lesener just throw Cena around the ring. This was a one sided contest the minute the bell rung.  This is surprising for a couple of reasons: I was sure with such domination taking place that Cena was going to win in the end somehow, and that Cena played such a good company man allowing himself to look very week. The fact that Cena lost shows that the WWE always likes to keep its fans guessing. This match also showed me the passion that this company can have on so many. All the anti-Cena fans were screaming with such joy when he lost while all his young fans had faces of utter disbelief. It truly looked to me like  they just heard Santa Claus is not real.  The ability of any form of entertainment whether it be books, movies, or  television is for its viewers to buy into what it is trying to sell and be entertained, that is something the WWE does so well. I forgot after so long what it's like being around other wrestling fans rooting for something that we all know is fake but couldn't care less.

Some people will continue to write of wrestling as trashy, fake and not worth consideration. What wrestling truly is though, when done right like last night, is expert story telling. Is it any different rooting for Brock Lesner to beat John Cena then it is to root for “The Guardians of The Galaxy”? I assume everyone knows a talking raccoon and tree are not real. Also, wrestling today is all around us whether people like to admit or not. We have the Rock starring in action movies, John Cena constantly appears in television, and now everyone’s favorite new literal good guy Drax is played by former wrestler Batista.  Wrestling may not be art, but it's damn fun entertainment.