1.) I agree. I had to stop watching wrestling a while ago because I was too saddened by the constant news of childhood hero's dying or worse. I probably won't watch anymore, or at least not for a long while. With that being said, let's not blame everything on Vince... he might ignore the problem, which is in-excuseable, but nobody rams the juice into their arms forceably. If they are going to crack down on Vince they need to clean up all the other sports as well though.
Also wrestling counts for a whole lot more than you think. Mind you NOTHING is worth a life, but you can ask anyone in the united states who Rick Flair or Hulk Hogan is and they'll know. Heck most of your top-tier wrestlers are internationally known. The press tends to make a big deal about the addiction to drugs and wrestling, but that is just the end result. The performers get that way due to their primary addiction... the international fame that comes with being a pro-wrestler.
2.)They make a big deal out of it for several reasons. The primary reason is, like it or not, the so-called "fake" sport is more popular than most real ones. The last Wrestlemania was the most purchased ppv, in the history of ppv, on the entire planet! ESPN talking about this issue ensures they'll get an instant ratings boost, unlike most of the stupid sports they cover like curling, which could put a hyper-active 6-year-old to sleep.
Secondly, fans and employees of "real sports" hate wrestling due to extreme jealousy or mis-understanding. You can have a moderatly successful sports career, retire, and unless you are one of the greatest in the history of your sport, nobody will remember you 10 years later. If you are a wrestler with a decent gimmick that happens to make it on tv, you can earn top-tier sports star money and you are remembered by even casual wresting fans forever.
Finally, like it or not, wrestling is a real sport. It's an athletic display of artistry with wrestlers in competition for applause which eventually leads to bigger matches, more recognition, and a bigger cash bonus (such as the huge bonuses given for headlining wrestlemania). Of course the script is written long in advance and all the matches are fixed, but then again when Scott Hamilton dresses up as a Gangster for the olympics and skates around shooting paper targets with his finger, nobody accuses him of being a fake because the targets already have holes in them.
It's a routine, just like skating or gymnastics, only instead of snooty judges that get it wrong, the fans are the judge. And this is where the opinions diverge, some people, especially fans of legitimate sports can't get over the fact that there aren't any finite scores for them to track nor are there any mind-numbingly dull stats worth tracking. That is exactly why wrestling is so beloved though.... I can say the Undertaker is the best, and another person can say Rick Flair is the best and we are BOTH right. Depending upon how you examine a wrestlers career you can make differet determinations as to their worth.
And I know some will disagree, but I submit to them that perhaps they don't know the true definition of the word sport.
Taken from Google Define (which I *think* gets it's definitions from websters)
Definitions of sport on the Web:
an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition
the occupation of athletes who compete for pay
(I omitted the rest because they relate to science and other stuff which doesn't apply here)
So pro wrestling requires physical exertion and competition and as I've went into above they do compete for pay. Pro wrestling, like it or not, meets the two defined requirements to be a sport. So even if you don't agree with my opinion of it, technically, it's still a sport, even if not by your standards, so it has every right to be on espn. (And at one point pro-wrestling matches from lesser-known promotions were shown on espn.)
With that in mind, ESPN like most "legitimate" news sources (is there such a thing anymore when idiots like Paris Hilton are always in the news?) has a horrible double-standard with wrestling, vince's in particular. When they are doing something positive (like Mick's books, the countless charity donations, ect), it's a silly fake sport and should be ignored or worse, made fun of. When something bad happens, they immediately pretend to give a rat's ass about all the wrestlers and treat it as seriously as any football or baseball scandal. Which is silly, since as I said at one point (back around 1999 when wrestling was bigger than sliced bread) they frikkin aired the stuff on their own network!
Before you read this wrong and this starts some sort of "wrestling is dumb" flame war note that I'm completely agreeing with you for the most part... they need to crack down and it's messed up the way ESPN and the rest of the media are treating the issue.
The thing is though wrestling is indeed a sport, even if only technically so by some people's standards, so it has every right to be on espn and has been on the channel at certain points. It's wrong the way they exploit it for their own gain and don't give it any respect though.
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Topic: WWE and the Media (Read 1436 times)
