Would wrestling be better without the Internet?

[RedDwarfTechy]

Now I love the community we have here, I have made some great friends and started seeing wrestling in a more 'scientific' way. Before WWEF I didn't know what a 'bump' 'smark' 'botch' was. I knew the product was manufactured of course but I had no real idea the news/rumours the community had access to.

I've been thinking about this for a while, but figure I'd post it and see what you guys thought.

Did the internet ruin pro wrestling? Or at least lessen it's enjoyment?

We can find out about contracts/storylines/returns etc so easily nowadays (and they still manage to surprise us, good on them) which makes me wonder that if we didn't have access to that sort of info, the product would be more entertaining.

The best recent example I can think of is Aj Styles vs Cena @ Summerslam. It was a good match, it had a lot of great spots (another word i picked up after joining WWEF) but at the back of my mind, I was pretty sure AJ would win. Why? because Cena had commitments elsewhere and we knew that beforehand.

So even when Cena hit AA after AA, I knew AJ would kick out. It was more a matter of when and how AJ would win, than if AJ would win.

So, yeah, wondering what you guys think, have the internet and wrestling communities like us, kinda ruined wrestling?

 

[SmackChat-Luke]

Well now, wouldn't you know, I wrote an article about just this (Is it really advertising if I post the whole article here anyway? If yes, feel free to remove it and let me know to not do it again)

Admin note: Please don't post your entire articles. Keep it to links.


The problem with… – SmackChat

For all my bitching about the internet though, who else would I talk to about large, muscular, sweaty men throwing each other around a ring and pinning each other to the floor? My dad? Hell no.

 

[Stopspot]

Yes and no. Yes as in it would probably be easier to hide certain backstage aspects from the fans without the internet. And without social media it would be easier to create that mystique around the performers since fans would not have instant access to their personal lives.

But at the same time kayfabe was already well broken and forgotten well before the internet. And dirtsheets had existed for a long time as well.

But a lot of promotions have seen fantastic growth because of the internet. It opens up a lot more eyes to various products as well makes it easier for wrestlers to get their name out there and work promotions they otherwise might not

 

[Prince Bálor]

Yes and no. For all the reasons Stopspot said above.

 

[DK JAMES]

Been thinking about this for a while. I honestly hate spoilers and rumors more than anything, when it comes to wrestling, I love to be surprised and i love to pretend like I'm a kid watching again. Just as an example, when HHH pedigreed Seth Rollins and helped Owens win the title, I marked so damn hard because I was so surprised and it was so damn unexpected to me. If I would have known that was going to happen beforehand, it would have been very boring to me and just whatever.

I wouldn't say the internet ruined professional wrestling cause there are obviously ways to use the internet to discuss wrestling and avoid spoilers and such, but the internet definitely makes it hard to be genuinely surprised with wrestling. I manage to do it, but there are times where I'll see a thread here that has an obvious spoiler in the title and every time I go "fuck...if only I didn't look at the internet today" haha I don't know.

Some people like reading spoilers and like knowing what's going to happen, which I don't understand AT ALL, but it is what it is. Me personally, I try to avoid it all and pretend like i'm a kid without the ability to read spoilers on the internet. Wrestling is 50x more enjoyable for me when I don't know anything that's happening behind the scenes. But that's just me. Some might enjoy the opposite, so no, the internet has not ruined wrestling but it has made it harder to be surprised.

 

[Randy Borton]

Fo sure, yes. I enjoyed watching wrestling much more when I wasn't on the internet.

 

[C.M. Shaddix]

Both ways

 

[Gman003]

I've been saying this since I came back to the wrestling world.

I stopped watching sometime in 2005 (caught a few in 06).
When I was watching the Internet, while it was around and had gotten large, didn't hamper my viewing of the wwe. Maybe because I didnt know about spoilers or that they existed... idk.
But much like @DK James said, I love the element of surprise. Love it! Great example, again, is the HHH thing. That made me go 'Fuck yes!!!' And let me feel like a kid again. The element of surprise was there again!
Spoilers are EVERYWHERE and I fucking HATE them. Absolutely hate them.... it doesn't make it fun at all when you know what's going to happen. Many times you can guess what will happen, but not knowing for sure still keeps you guessing a bit.

When I first came back I wanted sooo bad to find a place to discuss wwe... I searched and found this little gem. A place to discuss with real fans....
I also joined a couple of Facebook groups and quickly realized that it's filled with negative fucks.
Nothing ever pleased them... Ever. I get the product wasn't too great up until a little earlier this year, around wrestlemania time. I remember people saying ohh it's wrestlemania season, it always gets good for a couple of weeks then dies down and settles into its routine again. Well it's been almost 6 months since mania and I think most people agree that it's got much much better overall. A nice influx of new faces, characters, styles... now the cruiserweights. It feels as if we're in a good place right now and I'm just enjoying the ride.

To me, the Internet has indeed ruined wrestling for the most part. The only silver lining is this place, a place to discuss wrestling with real fans who ate interested in the product and not just bash it to the ground.

 

[Gman003]

I've been saying this since I came back to the wrestling world.

I stopped watching sometime in 2005 (caught a few in 06).
When I was watching the Internet, while it was around and had gotten large, didn't hamper my viewing of the wwe. Maybe because I didnt know about spoilers or that they existed... idk.
But much like @DK James said, I love the element of surprise. Love it! Great example, again, is the HHH thing. That made me go 'Fuck yes!!!' And let me feel like a kid again. The element of surprise was there again!
Spoilers are EVERYWHERE and I fucking HATE them. Absolutely hate them.... it doesn't make it fun at all when you know what's going to happen. Many times you can guess what will happen, but not knowing for sure still keeps you guessing a bit.

When I first came back I wanted sooo bad to find a place to discuss wwe... I searched and found this little gem. A place to discuss with real fans....
I also joined a couple of Facebook groups and quickly realized that it's filled with negative fucks.
Nothing ever pleased them... Ever. I get the product wasn't too great up until a little earlier this year, around wrestlemania time. I remember people saying ohh it's wrestlemania season, it always gets good for a couple of weeks then dies down and settles into its routine again. Well it's been almost 6 months since mania and I think most people agree that it's got much much better overall. A nice influx of new faces, characters, styles... now the cruiserweights. It feels as if we're in a good place right now and I'm just enjoying the ride.

To me, the Internet has indeed ruined wrestling for the most part. The only silver lining is this place, a place to discuss wrestling with real fans who ate interested in the product and not just bash it to the ground.

 

[Gman003]

Sorry I posted that twice on accident. Now I can't find how to delete one...

 

[Swift]