WWE RAW Results (05/12/08) Jim Ross welcomes us to the Joe Louis Arena as we go into the show with the lights out in the arena. The lights come back on and William Regal is in the ring...
THE STRAIGHTSHOT- Failure to Communicate (By "The Straightshooter" Greg Andrews)
In days gone by, there was a time when athletes were largely admired for the contributions they made to their respective sport. Perhaps this was due to a different attitude in this country, one where professionals weren't put so high on a pedestal they were destined to fall a long way at the slightest indescretion.
Lost in those times was the willingness to share thoughts on techniques and tactics used to compete in a player's particular arena of expertise. Once upon a time, knowledge of the nuiances of the game took precedent over the nuiances of an illicit affair or murder investigation.
In this age of players becoming infamous for what they do off the field and having their 'people' spin their transgressions off as far less destructive than they really are, a wall has developed between player and fan due largely to distrust on both sides.
We've become more interested in seeing what someone does wrong and while there are scores of athletes, politicians, actors and just everyday mortals all too happy to oblige, those that go about their business in the correct fashion are unable to share what they know with as general public. For many, it is no longer about the game, it is about who will be next to embarass themselves and their profession.
For professional wrestling, easily the least respected 'sport' of any, the stigma of low brow, cretanious savages staging simulated violence hampers any ability to portray the positive aspects of the business.
However, pro wrestling is also the one remaining athletic entity in which there are just as many fans thirsting for the nuiances as there are starving for controversy.
You would suppose that since the curtain has been pulled back on pro wrestling and all the secrets exposed, that information on the devices used to succeed as a wrestler would be commonplace. Instead, as in other sports, too much attention is focused on DUI's, affairs and other nonsense that only serves to strengthen the stereotype of wrestling as the lowest form of entertainment.
Like anything else, wrestling is an art. Perhaps wrestling is a lower form of entertainment, but it isn't one that anyone can master. For every Ric Flair, there are dozens of washouts we barely recall.
Unfortunately, unless you enroll in wrestling school or have some connection to a wrestler themselves, it's a rare occasion when a discussion about the game is ever heard.
Not too long ago, I heard a radio interview with Randy Orton. I was amazed to hear Orton speaking of things we never hear wrestler's discuss in public. Nothing said brought the world to a halt, no information revealed melted anyone's mind. Instead, what was heard was an all too far and few between discussion of the game, done by someone who obviously had become a student of it.
The standard wrestling interview consists of the interviewer, usually a starstruck fan, tossing out softball questions and playing word association as another golden opportunity to allow true conversation to take place is missed.
I have yet to read one interview with Mick Foley, Raven or even Ric Flair that ever gave us the impression that these men too were students of the game.
I understand that for many fans, just the chance to be speaking with one of their heroes makes their year, but beyond hearing their name spoken by an idol, what else can be taken from the conversation?
RF Video, who have been providing 'shoot' interviews for years, seems to have made the decision long ago that all the fans want to hear about is the backstage altercations, the taudry details of raunchy nights around the globe and what is was like working for Vince McMahon.
Often, I watch these interviews and I study the look on the faces of the interviewee. I once watched a Bobby Heenan interview, where several times he took it upon himself to explain what gets over in the business, only to be met by a disinterested, "yeahhh" and a quick follow up question about how Eric Bischoff treated people backstage.
The irony is WCW took the same attitude towards Bobby whenever he suggested something to them. Look where they are now.
Maybe I'm in the minority on this, but for me, stories of how people act backstage isn't as interesting as hearing thoughts the ingredients needed to capture a crowds interest, told by those that knew the recipe.
I believe that if the wrestling 'journalists' around the Internet would stop pandering to their guests and would stop auditioning to be working alongside them, we'd see more relaxed discussion about the game, rather than the juvenile behavior that goes on.
Until we stop deifying athletes, only to tear them down and start talking to them as skilled craftsman with lessons to teach us, the disconnect between wrestler and fan will get bigger.
In a professional where it is all about fan reaction, lack of communication keeps it from truly being what we want it to be.
