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Zoom: Pop Culture in Focus

-Pro wrestling phenomenon explained for the ignorant
-WCW fans stand by Goldberg

Pro wrestling phenomenon explained for the ignorant

by Jeff Little

For those of us born at the tail end of Generation X, pro-wrestling and the WWF in particular was an integral part of our childhood. Countless Saturday mornings were spent in front of the television watching the exploits of our behemoth heroes. Hulk Hogan personified goodness and virtue by telling all his little Hulkamaniacs to, "say their prayers and eat their vitamins." Then he would run down to the ring to beat the Iron Sheik's ass and protect America from those crazy A-rabs.

Those heady, carefree days of 80s pro wrestling gave many youths a cornocopia of heroes to root for and an equal number of heels to jeer. In one corner was Randy Savage, a tall, athletic good guy, who with his "wife" Elizabeth in his corner, would take on nasties such as the Honky Tonk Man or Bad News Brown. Life was simple, and while some guys would switch from good to bad and back again in the time it took to pin some no name jobber, everybody knew who was the good guy and ultimately who to root for.

The WWF rose to prominence in the early 80s when Vince McMahon Jr. bought a small regional wrestling organization from his father. In a short time, through cable television and a young wrestler named Terry Boulder, later to be dubbed Hulk Hogan, the WWF soon became the preeminent wrestling league in the country. In 1985, Wrestlemania I featured matches with Cindy Lauper officiated by Muhammad Ali. Suddenly the WWF was one of the most popular sports in America, with ringside seats harder to come by then a Tyson title match. By 1987 93,000 people, the largest indoor audience ever, crowded the Pontiac Silverdome to witness the now legendary match between Hulk and Andre the Giant.

However the next few years saw a steady decline in wrestling's popularity and the quality of the stories and characters. In 1992 two doctors alleged that 90 percent of the league was abusing steroids. While owner McMahon denied the allegations, he did admit in court that wrestling was not a sport, and that the matches were staged.

This admission soon birthed the term sports-entertainment, with which the WWF prefaces many of its claims, such as being the best, "sports-entertainment league in the business." This new title also pushed the struggling sports network into a new direction. In order to compete with its rival sports-entertainment league the WCW, owned by Ted Turner, the WWF started skimping on the wrestling and adding more story lines. These story lines became progressively more mature and more graphic in order to gain an older audience.

Much like western movies in the late sixties, which shifted from good guys versus bad guys to the anti-heros of movies like "The Wild Bunch," the WWF eliminated all its good guys. This was also a reaction to the WCW's move to buy most of the WWF's heroes, including Hogan and Macho Man. Instead, the WWF now sports ex-porn stars, goths who drink blood and a pimp who is accompanied to the ring by a bevy of local ho's. Yet no one in professional wrestling even approaches its biggest of the bad ass anti-heroes: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

Austin's rise to prominence was a long time in the making. He had bounced around different leagues, in tag teams and as a loner, before coming to the WWF. Dressed in nothing but sparse black trunks and black boots, Austin was in danger of falling by the wayside until he found a gimmick. His gimmick is simple: don't respect authority and drink a lot of beer and curse. "Stone Cold" even garnered a catchphrase - the omnipresent Austin 3:16, when he mocked the bible quoting Jake "the Snake" Roberts, by bellowing, "Talk about your psalms, talk about your John 3:16. Austin 3:16 says I just whupped your ass."

Austin has become a superstar by appealing to the WWF's largest demographic: post-adolescent males who don't respect authority and drink lots of beer and curse. The chrome-domed behemoth appeals to many fans who sympathize with his plight. They see themselves just like Steve, as a hard working stiff who gets screwed by his boss, but perseveres and guzzles an ice cold beer after the work is done.

Because of this Austin is rivaled in popularity by only one other wrestler, who many feel is nothing but the WCW's way of stealing some "Stone Cold" thunder.

To the untrained eye, Goldberg looks a helluva lot like Austin. Big, burly and bald, sporting a goatee akin to his doppelganger "Stone Cold," Goldberg's rise to the top of the WCW has been downright meteoric compared to his counterpart in the WWF. Conversely, the WCW has utilized an opposite strategy than the WWF in manufacturing their superstar. Goldberg is an undefeated good guy. Meanwhile they have also played up the fact that their champ just happens to be a Jew who can kick a lot of ass in the blink of an eye.

Wrestling purists tend to dislike both Austin and Goldberg, feeling they have no ability and just rely on gimmicks, mimicry, and the directions both leagues are pursuing to attract fans. The WCW has pneumatic dancers wearing next to nothing, the WWF has pneumatic wrestlers wearing next to nothing. And while Ted Turner doesn't allow the shock antics to be so much a part of the WCW, both leagues focus a large chunk of time on developing story lines and on backstage politics. A recent study by Indiana University showed that only about 37 percent of network time is devoted to actual grappling.

Nevertheless, wrestling's popularity seems to be increasing exponentially. Every day you see more Austin 3:16 tee shirts and more people shouting "Suck It" in imitation of a WWF clan known as Degeration X The reason for this is simple: marketing. Both leagues have gauged the market and deliver what their audience wants. People don't want the good versus bad of a decade ago. Instead we like our heroes with a hint of malice, a little bit of bastard just below the surface. And if this is combined with an evil boss, some swearing and some silicone-enhanced amazons, the product just can't fail.

Everyone knows wrestling is fake. We all knew that before it was admitted in a court of law. But what difference does this make? We flock to ER and Ally McBeal knowing they're not real. And for those people who say that just because it's not real, it's not dangerous, I ask: Do you want a 350 pound man falling on you? It doesn't matter how many times a move is rehearsed, falling on concrete or getting hit by a folding chair is still gonna hurt.

Wrestling satiates our id easily and cheaply. Ask a majority of spectators at a hockey game how many want to see a game and how many want to see a fight. Ask any number of NASCAR fans how many want to see a ten car pileup. While there will always be sports purists, there are going to be a significant number of people who want to see people inflict pain. Wrestling scores fans by stripping away everything but that which appeals to our most base instincts and delivering what the people really want.

Say it's all shameless promotion. Say it's exploitative, violent or crude. However, you can't accuse the leagues of bad business. If you give the people a product and they swallow everything and ask for more, who's to blame?


WCW fans stand by Goldberg

by Kevin McShane

Wrestling purists may hate him; the WWF may mock him; but for my 'rasslin dollar, there's no topping Bill Goldberg, the WCW phenomenon. And while I will admit that Goldberg's look is derived from "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, there is something original to this bald-headed former champion.

Steve Austin is like a redneck Superman - a beer-swilling, trash-talking, middle-finger-waving �ber-mensch. Goldberg, on the other hand, is more like Batman - a silent, grim, determined dark knight. Unlike most other pro wrestlers, Goldberg shies away from the camera - rarely, if ever, talking trash about his opponents. Goldberg's determined attitude is contained in his simple catch phrase: "Who's Next?" Before a match, Goldberg will stare down his opponent with an almost feral glare before pouncing upon his prey. Plus Goldberg, without a doubt, has the coolest entrance of any pro wrestler in the business: he stands motionless on the ramp as two roman candles engulf him in a shower of white hot sparks. He emerges from this torrent and sets of huge pyrotechnics with his mighty roar as he makes his way down the aisle. Now THAT'S showmanship! I realize to say that Goldberg brings a touch of class to pro wrestling is a lot like saying silk sheets bring a touch of class to a porno, but I find it appealing that Goldberg doesn't cater to the lowest common demoninator like his WWF counterpart.

Goldberg put $100,000 of his own money on the line in a challenge to Austin on last Friday's Tonight Show. Austin will respond by wrestling Gillberg, a bald, skinny parody of the WCW star, next week on WWF RAW. Will the fabled Goldberg/Austin bout ever take place? Probably not. Will the world end as a result? Probably not. Will fanboys like me stop ranting about unimportant topics like which professional wrestler is better? Probably not. Arguements like this are what make professional wrestling so damn amusing. It's all a matter of personal style. And to me, Goldberg is, and will always be "Da' Man."

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Copyright © 1998, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 127, Number 15, February 26, 1999

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