Having only recently caught the movie The Wrestler on DVD, I was thinking about the relationship between television and pro wrestling. Since the inception of the boob tube, professional wrestling has appeared on television. At first it was an inexpensive way to fill the hours, usually for several hours per week. Then, it became much bigger than that and is now one of the biggest ratings draws on cable television. So, why doesn't the television media or blogs such as ours cover it more (except for when it intersects with other television shows such as The View)?First, wrestling has its own cult following with a myriad of websites and news sources that cover it exclusively. Anything done on a television website would seem redundant. Secondly, despite the ratings, mainstream television has never taken wrestling seriously. Wrestling is a carnival atmosphere that blurs the line between fantasy and reality and is difficult to treat with dignity and respect for those who don't understand it.
So, I ask of you: do you think more television websites should cover wrestling?















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
5-03-2009 @ 6:33PM
Andrew said...
I'm a fan, and I don't mind that the only coverage it gets is from exclusively pro wrestling websites. Most of the time it is covered in mainstream blogs/news sites it's from a holier-than-thou vantage point anyway.
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5-03-2009 @ 6:44PM
White Rabbit said...
It'd be cool but I don't need to see a post and have the comment field just be full of anti-wrestling trolls.
Same as what Andrew said, as well
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5-03-2009 @ 6:57PM
bigassbear said...
I'm gonna agree with Andrew. When any site other than a wrestling news site attempts to cover wrestling it always comes across that they are looking down on it. I would say that if you guys have a fan on staff go for it. If not leave it to the "pros".
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5-03-2009 @ 7:32PM
Zach said...
Hey, I think under certain circumstances yes, but there is over 8 hours of wrestling per week that can be covered. A bit much if you ask me. I'd love to give the site a column per week though about pro wrestling though. Been a fan for a long time and figure I can put together a fun article every week about random goings on that would be entertaining for those not hardcore into pro wrestling.
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5-03-2009 @ 7:47PM
Max said...
No.
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5-03-2009 @ 7:59PM
Andrew said...
That's quite a well-thought out argument.
5-03-2009 @ 8:11PM
Rob Stevens said...
Pro Wrestling is scripted, serialized entertainment, just like a lot of other programs. So if you don't cover it, it's only because you don't like it. The "other websites cover it exclusively" argument doesn't hold water ... there are tons of sites devoted to shows like LOST and whatnot.
The fact is, most people object to wrestling because it's a "fake sport", rather than embracing it for what it is ... a scripted live action show. It's been called a "soap opera for men," and that's not far from the truth, although there are plenty of women fans as well. But TV Squad doesn't cover soaps either, so maybe that's where the line in the coverage is?
I used to be a big fan when I was a kid, and a young adult, but not as much any more. I respect these guys for their willingness to sacrifice their bodies for our entertainment. I wish so many of them weren't dying young, or didn't end up nearly destitute (there are terribly few wrestlers from the 80's and 90's that aren't broke), but I suppose the industry attracts people looking more for fame than fortune.
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5-04-2009 @ 7:02AM
Anthony said...
The reason wrestling is criticised for being a "fake sport" is because they continually claim that it is real and not scripted. If they admitted that it was scripted entertainment, then the same people might not like it, but they won't be so critical, and will treat it the same as any other shows they don't like.
5-04-2009 @ 12:50PM
Andrew said...
@Anthony, WTF are you talking about? They haven't pretended it was "real" since the 80s.
5-03-2009 @ 9:00PM
Miles said...
I think it should be covered. The hardest part will be to condense hours of programming to a few paragraphs while not missing the best parts. I used to watch wrestling more in the late 90s early 00s, but gave up. If i could find a casual site to cover things that I might like, maybe i'd think about watching every now and then. Good Luck.
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5-03-2009 @ 10:02PM
DaveD said...
Oh. GOD NO.
First we had this "filler" crap with streams from other places like Hulu and YouTobe....
Just for links. Period. After all, like Joel so easily said - it's a business baby.
Now you actually want to know if we want posts (sorry, can't do this thing where "blog" is a verb) on wrestling? Let's put this shit to bed right now. Chronologically.
"Having only recently caught the movie The Wrestler on DVD, I was thinking about the relationship between television and pro wrestling."
There is none. Seriously. None.
"Since the inception of the boob tube, professional wrestling has appeared on television."
Actually no. Television in the 1950s has very little of this crap. In the 1960s? Almost none. But - you wouldn't have any clue about that. Right? That's not the crowd this blog cares about at all.
Anymore.
"At first it was an inexpensive way to fill the hours, usually for several hours per week. Then, it became much bigger than that and is now one of the biggest ratings draws on cable television."
Actually no.
At first it was a CHEAP way to fill late hours - and Saturday mornings. For a COUPLE of hours each week. Barely. And nowadays it's barely a ratings draw on a single CABLE channel.
Prove me wrong. Please. Links preferably.
"So, why doesn't the television media or blogs such as ours cover it more (except for when it intersects with other television shows such as The View)?"
Because you *used to* be about coverage of episodic television shows. Anymore? You're about link filler. You've kept - actually grown - the number of regular posters the last 1-2 years. Funny thing - you dropped the number of shows you actually review.
That's a shame. Or is it shame on you?
"So, I ask of you: do you think more television websites should cover wrestling?"
Wait. This is how you end your post? Let's have a bit of context.
Bob Sassone is basically linking to YouTube. Three times a day. Hulu is probably paying you all some kind of kickback too.
"So, why doesn't... blogs such as ours cover it more"
Sorry for being blunt. It's words like this that make me wonder if you aren't just fishing for more crap to fill this site with.
Unsubscribed. As of now. Over the last month I found myself understanding that reading just about every single post here worthwhile - at least a year ago - is no time better spent elsewhere.
Pro wrestling. A good fit. On what used to be a *sincere* TV review blog.
Ah, nevermind. Goodbye.
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5-03-2009 @ 11:55PM
Andrew said...
Bye.
5-04-2009 @ 1:39AM
royce said...
" And nowadays it's barely a ratings draw on a single CABLE channel.
Prove me wrong. Please. Links preferably."
cable top 20 for the week ending april 26. check out the first 2 listings.
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/04/28/wwe-raw-nfl-draft-and-yankees-red-sox-lead-weekly-cable-viewing/17595#more-17595
5-04-2009 @ 5:47PM
steve sundberg said...
You're out of you league, DavidD:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_wrestling_in_the_United_States#Television_era_.281950s_to_1970s.29
Note: The article has citations, so the details are made-up. Important info to retain: THREE major TV networks (CBS, NBC, Dumont) carried wrestling telecasts during the week.
In the early '50s, there were two big stars on TV: Milton Berle, and Gorgeous George.
5-04-2009 @ 5:50PM
steve sundberg said...
Ack! Should read: "... has citations so ISN'T made-up." It's Monday.
5-03-2009 @ 10:57PM
dY said...
Ha ha ha
You used "sincere" and "tv" in the same sentence.
Your counter for "inexpensive" was its most common synonym (cheap, in caps no less).
You called for others to refute with proof after providing none of your own.
Are you a real person, or just some hipster who's in it for the ironic laughter?
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5-03-2009 @ 11:47PM
Ryan Rider said...
Of course wrestling and television have a huge relationship and today it is stonger than ever with wrestling being amongst the highest rated shows on USA, WGN, SpikeTV, MyNetwork, HDNet, as well as The Score, RDS, and Fight Network in Canada. It should definitely get more coverage on TV sites.
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5-04-2009 @ 12:23AM
Bubbameister33 said...
Austin 3:16 says I just whooped you ass!!! Classic.
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5-04-2009 @ 12:23AM
Brett Alan said...
Well, DaveD saying "prove me wrong" and then saying he's not going to read here anymore is a little weird (hint, Dave, in case you do read this: you don't have to read *every* post, or for that matter anything you're not interested in). But in the interest of accuracy, professional wrestling was HUGE on 50s TV. "In fact, the two most popular sports on television in the 1950s were professional wrestling and roller derby." -- Handbook of Sports and Media, p.122. http://books.google.com/books?id=_Y-EnxFwH9YC&pg=PA122&lpg=PA122&dq=%22professional+wrestling%22+%22early+television&source=bl&ots=K5v7gf_hqf&sig=2NJUnvZqr3sQMpZmn6Z1FuogBCo&hl=en&ei=a2z-SdOSB9TJtgf53oWjDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10
I'm a professional wrestling fan, although I don't watch it as much as I used to. I do think it's well covered elsewhere, but if there's someone at TV Squad with a fresh perspective, I'm all for it. Really, I don't see any reason to mind them covering anything, even if I'm not interested. It's not like the site is going to run out of room.
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5-07-2009 @ 2:23PM
One Man Clique said...
With reference to the links between television and wrestling: "There is none. Seriously. None."
Wrestling first appeared on television screens in 1939. While baseball was the first sport to be shown on an American screen, viewers complained that the players seemed to be nothing more than dots. Wrestling, however, was much easier to shoot (for obvious reasons) and took up a place in the schedule to this day. [Ringside a History of Pro Wrestling, Beekman, S. p. 81]
For a theoretical link between the nature of the Carnivalesque (with a capital Bakhtinian capital C) may I suggest Fiske's 'Television Culture' [p. 243]. He makes rather a convincing argument that pro-wrestling is part of a much wider cultural fashion that also includes MTV, televised sports and other 'low brow' entertainment.
Basically, now you just look like a bit of an idiot who doesn't know what he is talking about.
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