He surveyed Arizona viewers who paid to watch the most powerful heavyweights on the planet wrestle, as measured by box office weight and ink-stained muscles. Then the boulder began to curse. As with so much public rhetoric these days, attacking his opponents isn’t enough. He must also insult the people.
“Jushi did some research and this is what he found. This is a fact. This is a fact. The number one city in the United States for cocaine and methamphetamine use is Phoenix, Arizona,” Jushi told a reporter. The roaring crowd seemed to revel in the insult. Only then did he launch a savage attack on his WrestleMania opponents.
Is Dwayne Johnson’s statement true? Or just an engine of intense trash talk? The bottom line: As long as the entertainment value is turned up to 11 and WWE gets more fans to watch and pay for its signature event, WrestleMania, this weekend in Philadelphia, does anyone really care?
Along the blurred lines where sports, entertainment and politics intertwine, the ethos of bad guys has never looked better. Say what you want. you want. The public eats it. Somehow, the gimmicky world of professional wrestling has been in the middle of it all for decades.
Outside the ring, Superman’s spandex has been swapped for Clark Kent glasses and a leather jacket, as Dwayne Johnson carefully cultivates his good guy persona to promote his movies, his tequila brand, and his men’s care line , his rugby league – business interests, but not the bottom line. No need to call your competitors a bunch of “roody-poo candy-asses.” But under the indoor lights of weekly live television, Johnson knew the storyline was shaped by his Hollywood style.
“I think everyone wants to be a good guy, a good girl. Everyone wants to be loved, cheered on, and seen as a hero, and that’s fine and natural,” he said. “But, I’ve felt throughout my career, that rare air is when you get a chance to grab it by the throat, you don’t let it go. That’s the opportunity to be a big bad guy.”
WrestleMania and its cultural appeal
The Rock will be one of two nights at the annual WrestleMania event in Philadelphia this weekend, with more than 70,000 fans expected to fill NFL Stadium, home of the Eagles, each night.
Banners of your favorite wrestler, or the one you love to hate, have covered the city’s street poles. Philadelphia is awash with wrestling conventions, autograph signings, independent wrestling shows, podcast tapings, 2K24 gaming tournaments, and all the other hallmarks of what makes the industry a mainstream cultural phenomenon.
From the beginning, WrestleMania was destined to be different.
Mr. T and Muhammad Ali helped pack Madison Square Garden in 1985, and “The God Show” quickly transformed a night of wrestling usually held only in smoke-filled arenas into Super Bowl entertainment. As WrestleMania approaches its 40th anniversary, it has never been bigger, even as the creative mind of Vince McMahon became a pariah and was fired from the company following sexual abuse lawsuits.
Yes, McMahon and Donald Trump even feuded during a “Battle of the Billionaires” match at WrestleMania 2007.
“Donald Trump kind of represents the American spirit,” McMahon said in 2007. “He’s larger than life, and that’s really what WWE is.”
Maybe wrestling does represent who we are as a country. But even if you’re still wrinkling your nose like you smell curdled milk at the thought of anyone liking the smell of wrestling, chances are you’ve still heard of The Rock and Hulk Hogan. Andre the Giant and John Cena. You’ve become Slim Jim because Randy Savage ordered you to do so, or go “Woo!” Hockey games like Ric Flair. Dave Bautista won the WrestleMania Championship before Defending the Galaxy.
“Look at the way it was marketed in the ’80s, Vince McMahon really changed the industry forever,” said author Brad Balukjian, whose new book about the WrestleMania stars of the 1980s of. “He had action figures, cartoons, sheets and lunch boxes. In a way, he transformed these people into Batman and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the ’80s.”
Reveling in commonly accepted falsifications
Fans have been in it for a long time and embraced it. It was a mutual agreement that even paying customers could play their part in the four-sided ring show. So they cheered. They booed. Despite all evidence to the contrary, they openly admitted that every move was a legitimate sports move, just like any move found during a weeknight ball game.
Wrestling has long pretended to be high and mighty. Comedian Andy Kaufman gasped when he was slapped by wrestler Jerry Lawler. late night show with david letterman. But the curtain has long been drawn.Johnson and WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns appeared on Wednesday tonight show There was nothing artificial about their final promo before WrestleMania.
Former WWE star Dave Schultz slapped 20/20 Journalists in the 1980s called wrestling fake. Now ESPN, Competitor, sports illustrated and CBS Sports have dedicated pages covering storylines and behind-the-scenes news, where the real drama is more likely to be found. Wrestling news is taken as seriously as any other sport.
But is it really so? A sport, that is.
Discuss definitions all you want.Wrestling – the forerunner of reality television and all television programming real housewives – Not going anywhere. Its biggest fans tend to be athletes who want to emulate their superstars.
This week, Joel Embiid is set to reveal that he suffered from depression due to injuries that cost him two months of his NBA career. But before the Philadelphia 76ers big man could reveal himself, he donned a WWE T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan of the wrestling company’s roughest faction, De Generation X: “Suck It.”
For pro wrestling, the momentum is there. WWE Weekly TV Shows raw The company will move to Netflix next year as part of a massive streaming deal worth more than $5 billion. That’s a huge amount of cash that even “Millionaire” Ted DiBiase would be jealous of.
So please continue. Laughing at wrestling. Or let go, turn a blind eye to the machinations, and embrace Hucamania and the ensuing craziness of the global sports landscape. Because it’s not leaving the building anytime soon.
Take John Kruk, the retired Phillies star and team broadcaster. You’d think baseball’s pinnacle would be a must-see for him every year. But as he recently told wrestler Kofi Kingston on television, if pro wrestling comes to the city, other priorities will prevail.
“If this was a World Series, if the Phillies weren’t in it and wrestling was going on,” Crook said, “I’d be watching the wrestling.”
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