BellaOnline Forums Sports Wrestling wrestlers and acting

I hope Boogeyman and the Spirit Squad aren't just turned up versions of the real people. Although one of the guys on the SS is a cheerleading instructor - or was anyway.

Undretaker is essentially a lot of his gimmick. He is a combo of the bad a$$ (which is VERY him) and the strange character he plays now. He is not staying in character, it is his character to a large degree.

Eugene is absolutely NOTHING like his character and neither is Simon Dean. Rico was a Las Vegas cop and a hero but he played a gay stylist. Nothing like who he was. I knew him and he found it all funny to play that character.

Some DO take their characters seriously and, after being that person so much, start to become like that character. That can be dangerous.

I think more now, the guys can separate the character from the real person. In the old days, you had to be in character all the time even at home. You couldn't travel with your "enemies" and you had better be ready to be whoever your character was if someone saw you in a grocery store.

Now, fans are smarter and know that, for instance...Eugene isn't really developmentally disabled. They wouldn't freak if they saw Nick Dinsmore acting and looking normal. Same with Kane. When he is out, he is just a big guy in a dress shirt. He doesn't go around acting like Kane. And no one is shocked by that.

But back in the day, I truly believe some guys lived their characters and it ultimately hurt them in many ways.

I am definitely a mark. I enjoy watching wrestling and have for many...many years. I get wrapped up in storylines and in ring action and forget about it being predetermined and choreographed.

My first hint when I was younger that it was fake or that the characters weren't really enemies was when Hacksaw Duggan was feuding with the Iron Shiek and were traveling together and were pulled over by the police for speeding I believe and some significant amount of Cocaine was found in the car. I say found in the car because I don't remember who had it so I won't speculate.

In an interview Duggan was asked why he was traveling with the Shiek if they were supposed to be hated enemies and he responded by saying that the Shiek missed his ride and Duggan offered him one so he wouldn't miss the card.

At the time, I thought that was feasible but know better now. They were in New York and believe they were traveling to a card in Duggan's hometown of Glens Falls where his father was also a police chief there for many years.

If you ever get to Glens Falls New York, check out one of Hacksaw's favorite haunts in Dirty John's Hot Dogs.

But I digress.

Being a mark is fun and for some a way of life.

Oh yeah I forgot a couple of things.

Like 7 I was a mark for Joey's speech and even typed my post as I was watching it. I was rooting for him the whole way until I realized that he was saying all of this stuff on WWE tv and he was going to work for a company still owned by the WWE so it kind of lost its impact.

Would have been better if he was saying this stuff outside of the WWE and not going to continue to work for the company. But that is how easy it is to be a mark

As far as crossovers into movies, the Rock has done a pretty good job but my fave is Roddy Piper. "They Live" is a really good movie.

"I'm here to chew bubble gum and kick [censored] and I'm all out of bubble gum." is one of my all time favorite movie lines.

I would have to say that he and the Rock have done the best in starring movie roles. Was never impressed by Hogan. I think he was trying too hard to be the next Schwarzenneggar or Rambo.

You know, I still can't get over the Spirit Squad being in the WWE. I thought they were just a one time gimmick. But they really are wrestlers???

You would not believe it! That was when the penny dropped for me too. After that incident I saw things in a whole new light. Of course, it took a while to completely wise up.

We had a wrestling hotline and smart rag in Australia called PileDriver that I used to call and read. Helped me a lot, and a great read.

Tikus

Hey Tikuls,

Those insiders programs and dirt sheets are pretty interesting to read, but in a way I wish that I never investigated them, or decided to even become a professiuonal wrestler. I will tell you why. I have known for years the results of matches are predetermined. I have known wrestlers are friends and don't have the deep hate they show on tv for their opponents. But now that I stuck my nose in to the inner workings of the business, I kinda feel cheated in a way. It lost a lot of it's magic. I wish with all my heart that kayfabe was a honored principal that was guarded with the upmost intensity. I kinda felt like when I did when I found out there was no Santa Claus. Then when I decided to become a professional wrestler and started to go to school, it further exasperated the problem because I learned even more that put the magic way in the past for me. Kind of like being a huge fan of magic tricks, but after the tricks are performed, the magician tells you how it is done. You know there is no such thing as magic, so when you see the magician make a penny disapear from his hand and reappear in yours, you are amazed and in utter awe, but when he shows you that he secretly put it in your hand in such a way you didn't feel it before he had you close your fist to prevent him from doing any funny business. I don't know, now I know the tricks. I hope the energy from the crowd, and the thrill of performing will sustain me as a replacement, but oh what I wouldn't give to have wrestling be magic for me once again!

~Chris <img src="/images/graemlins/king.gif" alt="" />

Yeah Chris, I couldn't agree more. Still, I found that after a couple of years of it getting stale for me; I've found a bit of renewed interest again. The downside is that I find myself abit overly critical of the stuff presented.
An example is the Boogeyman Gimmick, and even Abyss. I just cannot get into it. It's kinda like someone telling me a lie and I know they are, but they still expect me to swallow it.

Like you I wish with all my heart I could 'mark' out more often. I'd like to thank Hogan and The Rock for their WM match of awhile back to reinvigorate my enthusiasm somewhat.

Plus TNA, Their highspots have me "Wow", "Omigod" (sorry for the blasphamy), etc.

I've also found alot of joy in the "behind the scenes", hence my interest with this forum. I try not to overindulge in wrestling though. You know what the say about tooo much of a good thing?

For me it's still an escapism, and to be quite honest, on some levels I'm very glad the Violence is not as real as it could be.

Tikus

They are all trained wrestlers, most are products of OVW, WWE's training and farm federation. A couple of them can really work well too. Watch some of their moves. They know what they are doing. They are green (rookies) of course but once this lame gimmick is over they will break out and at least two will be really good in the ring.

Tikus,

Yeah, I see you know what I mean. What happens to me a lot of the time is that I find myself watching a wrestling match, and I am looking at the way they are working. I say to myself, oh, he didn't follow through with that move, or, wow, they really pulled that one off. All of this happens at the expense of following the story they are telling in the ring. I wish I could watch as a fan most of the time, and not as someone looking to rip something off and putting it in my own repetoir of manuevers.

~Chris <img src="/images/graemlins/king.gif" alt="" />

*sniff* There's no Santa Claus?