I'm stealing this topic from the Live Journal of my good friend Shawn Morgan :) ...
Read this...
http://www.silvervision.co.uk/cgi-bin/silvervision.storefront/40892b11000931c0273f0a0103010511/Product/View/flairiv
(all quotes from the interview need to understand the following discussion are copy and pasted below)
There has been a lot of talk lately about KAYFABE, and the internet, and marks, etc. etc. etc. And this interview gives us these issues from the perspective of the best wrestler of all time... Ric Flair. I'm gonna do this commentary like I used to, and reply to quotes that he made in the interview...
"Well fans who use terms like that [ie. heel and face] I have no respect for, because they're not wrestlers. That's a wrestlers terminology. See that's inside talk - I don't like outsiders using inside talk - I have no respect for it whatsoever. Everybody wants to think that they're a wrestler... You know fans want to talk to us using our terminology and it's a lot of our guys faults, cos they want to talk to the fans and get their opinions."
Alright. I cannot even begin to disagree with ANYTHING that Flair says about the wrestling business. I wholeheartedly agree with everything he is saying. However, with that being said, I stand before you a hypocrite. I'm writing about what Flair hates (ie. wrestlers talking to marks using wrestling terminology)in a live journal that fans read about the life of a pro wrestler away from wrestling. I use "smart" terms on this journal. I talk about my matches. I talk to the fans. However, I feel that I have to justify myself based on Flair's words. I feel like a scolded child that has to make excuses.
Let's get to the heart of the matter by looking at another quote...
"We have a lot of people who think that the end result of what we do lives and breathes on what the Internet thinks is right. I mean that would be like me trying to write an article on Mercedes Benz. Do I like four doors? Yeah, but do I really know anything about it? No. I wouldn't know anything about the design of a Mercedes Benz from the inside. I could use the terminology but I wouldn't know anything about it."
Exactly. Awesome analogy. I constantly hear marks using "my" terms when they analyze my matches and it gets me hot because these marks think they actually KNOW what they are talking about. Like Flair says, just because you use the terms, doesn't mean you know what you are talking about. Thus, my use of the terms is SOMEWHAT justified. I can use the terms because I know the business. The marks don't. They, hear people like me use the term, then they use it themselves. Thus, like Flair said, it is somewhat my fault for them using these term in front of the marks. I'm basically "killing the business." There I go again. :)
But where do we go from here? Can we really go back to saying "good guy" vs. "bad guy" if all the marks already know the terms "heel" and "face"? Unlikely. However, this does not justify my behaviour. This does not justify what I'm doing right now ... writing on the net about kayfabe to marks. I still feel I need to justify myself ...
"Change of subject I know but going back to that Internet thing before. I think a good example of people giving advice it would be like a doctor going home and getting medical advice from random people who have posted something on the net. You know, our guys are the worst for it - they tell the fans what's going to happen. Some of the Wrestlers are marks, you know, they're catering for the guys on the Internet! "Please say I'm good, say something good about me. I'll tell you anything you want to know" they have fans they will cater too, just so they say, "You were great !" That's was why it was so successful in the past and why we had riots in stadiums, cos people didn't know. Now we have guys tell the fans what's happening the week before and they're like "don't tell anybody I told you just say that I'm really good" (laughs) It's a shame-it kills me. And if the fans are honest with themselves they wouldn't want to know either. It used to be riotous, people were so wound up!! They couldn't punch it in on the Internet and find out what's going on."
Again, I have to agree. I always say that I wish I worked in a time when KAYFABE was alive and kicking. When a riot could be started. However, I feel that today ... this isn't out of our grasps. The Hacker almost started a riot in NSP. I myself have almost got in physical confrontations with fans at shows. It still almost happens. However, a lot of that has to do with alcohol rather than kayfabe. :)
But back to my justification ... Flair says, "Now we have guys tell the fans what's happening the week before and they're like "don't tell anybody I told you just say that I'm really good" (laughs) It's a shame-it kills me."
My rebuttal is this. My internet commentaris have got me work. I have received numerous emails from promoters across the country (and the US) interested in my wrestling character TOTALLY based on my commentaries. And once these promoters get a hold of my tape, they are just as impressed with my wrestling ability in the ring as they are from my knowledge about it put forth on the computer screen. I have got bookings because of what I post on the internet. In today's wrestling business (which is OVER-POPULATED with wrestlers) you need something that makes you stand out as a performer. If I want work, I send out tapes. And I wrestle to the best of my abilities on every show because you don't know who could be watching. However, I can't send tapes out to everyone. Not everyone that I would like to watch me, can watch me. However, I can generate interest in my "product" using the web. If I can generate marks interests, I can generate promoter interest. And sometimes, I do both at the same time (i.e. a promoter that is a mark) :)
I must admit however, that this wasn't my intent when I started doing online commentaries. I just wanted to write about wrestling because I had just became a wrestler, and I wanted to know what the fans thought. I think that's natural. We ARE doing this for the fans, so caring what they think is natural. However, one must take heed to Flair's advice, and not base your career on fan's opinions. You shoudn't break kayfabe just so the fans will like you. I see it happen all the time in the indies. I won't name names, but it happens.
I don't write commentaries so I will be over with the fans. I have actually written commentaries about my dislike for particular fans. I write commentaries because I enjoy it. I am an English major remember. :)
So what do I do if what I'm doing is shunned by the greatest wrestler of all time? My idol? Flair says, "You know, our guys are the worst for it - they tell the fans what's going to happen. Some of the Wrestlers are marks, you know, they're catering for the guys on the Internet!"
I think what I can do is NOT do this. I will NOT tell the fans what's going to happen. I have never done this before, and never will do this in the future. Sometimes I know who I'm going to wrestle on an event ... however, I specifically don't tell the marks unless the promoter does. Sometimes the promoter doesn't care if I tell them, however, if it isn't posted on the card, I don't say anything. I don't know why. I just don't like giving the marks an inside scoop I guess. :)
"Some of the Wrestlers are marks, you know, they're catering for the guys on the Internet!"
Am I dong this? Am I catering to the marks on the internet? Yes and no. I am simply writing on the internet about wrestling ... if the fans like that ... then I guess that's catering. Well... no it's not. It's a buffet. I simply cook the food and if you want it, you can eat it. But it's self serve. I'm not bringing it to you, you can come get it yourself. I personally don't think of myself as a wrestler that caters to the "mark". Most marks like NWA-TNA. I hate it. Most marks like Brock Lesnar. I hate him. Most marks like spot-fests ... I hate them. I consider myself a wrestler that caters to the average fan that just wants to come out to a show and be entertained. That's what I do. I take pride in my work when someone who doesn't even like wrestling watches my match and goes home to tell their uncle that they say a cocky prick in yellow weens piss a lot of people off at a wrestling show.
Once at a show, I had a guy come up to me and say, "I normally don't like wrestling. But what you did out there ... I liked it." Now that's a compliment. To keep a non-wrestling fan entertained by wrestling is a skill. I like to think I have that skill. (Oh ya, in "worker terms" I would be called a "self-mark" - I am, and I'm proud of it!)
How to conclude this extremely long commentary that's time should have been spent studying for exams rather than writing it? That's a tough one because I can't disagree with Ric Flair. I DON'T disagree with Ric Flair. Mainly, all I can say is that after reading Flair's comments, it has made me second guess what I do on this live journal. If you're not a part of the solution, you're part of the problem. Isn't that what they say? Well... one of my goals is to bring credability back to wrestling and to make wrestling what it once was. I'm not striving for that goal by breaking kayfabe on the net. However, the paradox is ... I also want to get booked and get my name out there. The net has helped me do that.
What to do... what to do? I don't know. I guess I'll just go watch my Ultimate Ric Flair DVD Collection.
Completely yours,
Cody