World Wrestling Entertainment Chairman Vince McMahon has taken center stage at his own event. He lies bruised and bloodied on a wooden table in the middle of the ring, the upper-half of his body covered by a metal garbage can.
Shawn Michaels, better known as “The Heartbreak Kid,” stands atop a giant ladder and surveys the scene. Looking down as cameras flash and fans scream, he prepares for full contact. The crowd goes insane as Michaels fires off a classic crotch chop in McMahon’s direction before crashing into him with a flying elbow. Barely even taking time to recover from the dive, Michaels swats away medical workers who try to enter the ring and nails his boss with a super-kick to the face, winning the match.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages – this is Wrestlemania.
On April 2 WWE returned to Chicago for WrestleMania 22, the 22nd-annual pay-per-view event regarded among fans as the Super Bowl of professional wrestling. The spectacle sold out within minutes, and ticket prices reached more than $1,000 on the Internet. On event day, fans lined up outside Allstate Arena as early as 10 a.m. to be a part of the self-proclaimed “showcase of the immortals.”
Doug Stuerenberg, a Northwestern graduate and ticket holder, came at noon for the Fan Axxess tour. Stuerenberg, Medill ’05, has been an active fan and follower of pro wrestling for his entire life.
“I’ve stuck with wrestling through its ups and its downs,” he says. “No matter what, it’s entertainment, and it’s really good entertainment.”
But in recent years, this “good entertainment” has undergone some significant changes. The revamped WWE is a departure from the old “attitude” days of the World Wrestling Federation. WWE currently encompasses talent from its defunct former competitors, World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling.
WWE is extremely character-centric. Over the past years, many faces have come and gone from the ring. Wrestlers like Brock Lesnar have had moments in the spotlight, only to move on with life completely. The absence of fan favorites like The Rock, someone embedded in the backbone of wrestling, has made the entertainment difficult for some fans. The drama behind the actual matches is also constantly changing. Good wrestlers become bad guys overnight, only to become good again later down the road.
WrestleMania 22 was a statement to the changes within the sports entertainment industry. Even to the apathetic observer, the energy surging through the crowd was undeniable. The roster boasted a mix of new and old talent catering to all types of fans. Fresh faces looking to make a name for themselves stood side-by-side with veteran grapplers and their former wrestling competitors.
Some of the veteran faces at WrestleMania had new spins: Mankind now goes by his real name, Mick Foley; Kane is unmasked; and Mark Henry is no longer the lovable “Sexual Chocolate.”
Other wrestlers looked like they had never changed. At almost 60 years old, Ric Flair is the same “Nature Boy” he was in his youth. After going through different incarnations, the Undertaker also remains the same deadman that he was more than a decade ago. He continued his undefeated streak this year, making his WrestleMania record 14-0. Watching Shawn Michaels perform was a flashback to the headlining Heartbreak Kid of an early generation.
Newer talent like Mickie James gave the crowd a new obsession. Fans latched onto her unpredictable, almost psychotic, persona and cheered as she triumphed over WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus. The worm-eating Boogeyman and his antics are also slowly settling in as unique fan favorites. There is a very simple formula for new talent to succeed in the WWE – break the mold.
But even with all the WWE changes, fans have not forgotten the past. “ECW” chants broke out in the crowd as former headliner Rob Van Dam claimed victory in his six-man ladder match.
Even some wrestlers hold on to the “glory days.” Crossover wrestlers have kept elements of their past personas intact; Booker T’s entrance music hasn’t changed since his days in WCW’s Harlem Heat. Classic crotch chops given by Triple H and Shawn Michaels pay homage to the days of D-Generation X and everyone’s favorite two-liner, “Suck It!”
The WWE’s Hall of Fame also pays tribute to past heroes. This year’s inductees included fan favorites Mean Gene Oakerlund, Bret Hart and the late Eddie Guerrero. In the highest form of tribute, underdog Rey Mysterio dedicated his World Heavyweight Championship win in honor of Guerrero, who died last year.
Still, some fans wonder if the WWE has changed wrestling too much.
Medill senior Alex Freedman thinks it has. He stopped watching wrestling several years ago.
“I still feel this is entertainment. It just doesn’t entertain me anymore,” Freedman says.
Freedman says he stopped watching because of changes in the storylines as well as time constraints.
“When I was a fan storylines weren’t that big,” Freedman says. “It was more about the feuds. As things became more complicated I started to lose interest and eventually stopped watching. I just didn’t have the time anymore.”
Communication junior Adi Shankar agrees with Freedman. Shankar is a follower, but also sometimes finds difficulty sitting through the storyline of WWE broadcast.
“I just can’t stand certain things,” he says.
While Shankar doesn’t watch wrestling religiously, he still follows it and remains familiar with its workings.
“I know a lot about this industry and understand the business behind how things work,” he says. “I respect it as an entertainment business.”
Freedman, Shankar and Stuerenberg all agreed that the acquisition of WCW and the integration of a new roster killed prior story line cohesion. There was also no more competition. Moreover, gimmicks became necessary to retain a fan base.
Many of these gimmicks were formulaic and targeted to a younger audience. For example, Vince McMahon has always integrated himself within the actual storylines, using his own corporate motives as a persona.
“The McMahon-Stone Cold Steve Austin feud was cool back in the day, ” Shankar says, “but the same concept has been repeated so many times with different wrestlers. It’s just complicated.”
Despite the entertainment value, it is difficult for an adult to visualize someone beating the life out of their boss and getting away with it in the real world.
Shankar also shared his opinion on current champion John Cena.
“He used to be fresh and innovative,” Shankar says, “but then he tried to be the typical good guy and became watered-down and predictable.”
This one of the negative effects of wrestling gimmicks. At Wrestlemania, Cena received a somber mix of cheers and boos after winning the main event.
While Stuerenberg has no intention to stop watching wrestling, he expressed similar views on the formulaic nature and less-than-believable storylines.
“It’s one thing to entertain, but another to insult someone’s intelligence,” he says. “There are usually a few segments each week that make someone embarrassed to be a fan.”
Freedman also mentioned how some of the unique matches had become repetitive.
“One good thing was the extreme stuff they used to do,” Freedman says. “Hardcore matches and Bra & Panty matches – that stuff makes you appreciate what these everyone goes through. Now it seems like they do that all the time just for ratings.”
While some of these gimmicks may seem over the top, they exist for one reason: to entertain. According to the WWE’s website, WrestleMania 22 grossed $2.5 million in ticket sales, making it the highest-grossing one-day event in the history of the Allstate Arena. Despite gripes with the writing or characters, the WWE still manages to create a completely immersive experience for any fan.
“If I’m ever watching WWE and my friends sit down, they end up watching even if they’re not fans,” Stuerenberg says.
“It’s that addictive.”
The addictive nature of the WWE is largely due to these often-criticized, over-the-top gimmicks. While most WrestleMania bouts were one-on-one, other matches were more of a specialty for the crowd. While The Undertaker and Mark Henry engaged each other in a Casket Match, Edge and Mick Foley beat the life out of each other in a hardcore match involving everything from flaming tables and thumbtacks to a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. Judging by the deafening roar of the crowd, the current fans can’t get enough of this kind of action. The moves might be repetitive, but they still sell.
But some fans still long for the old days.
While Freedman thinks warmly of the entertainment value of the once-great WWF, he does not feel the same way about the WWE generation.
“The gimmicks just don’t do it for me like they once did,” he says.
The WWE has had declining viewership for years. General Nielsen ratings for WWE Monday Night Raw peaked in 1999 at 8.1. Ratings leveled at 4.4 in 2005 and hold a current high of 4.5 for 2006. By comparison, Tuesday’s episode of American Idol earned a 19.2 rating. Much of this fall in ratings is due to the falling interest of viewers back at the peak, who are now college students. People are not watching as actively in college, and many college-age fans can get turned off by the storylines obviously intended for younger audiences.
But WrestleMania is evidence that no matter what the ratings are, some people will always care about wrestling. More than 17,155 people from 16 countries and 43 states attended, and millions of viewers watched from more than 90 countries. Just as the old generation of wrestlers stands with the new, veteran fans hold the same admiration for the industry as the newcomers. While the dramatic storylines and gimmicks might alienate some fans, the sport is still alive and kicking. Though it was not shown on camera, Triple H and Mick Foley each received standing ovations from the crowd, despite losing their respective matches.
In the end, the continuing success of WrestleMania is a statement to the accomplishments of the wrestling industry. Characters may come and go, but the value of the wrestling seems to endure. To the fans, at least, WrestleMania will always remain the showcase of the immortals.
Weinberg junior Rishi Chitkara is a PLAY writer. He can be reached at [email protected].
Click here to see a slideshow of pictures from WrestleMania 22.
