BC General Chat Thread

[spoonitnow]

Is Hulk Hogan still alive? hahaha. WWE is not very popular around here. Is considered just for kids.
I know that in America WWE has lots of fans. Just for curiosity (i don't know ANYTHING about that subject), can you tell me why? Having boxing matchs, MMA fights...etc.... why do people enjoy WWE? Is there something i'm missing??

To give a quick recap of the Hulk Hogan situation, his best friend and best friend's wife tricked him into being recorded on video in a sex tape type of situation. Gawker (an online media company) released the tape online, and Hulk Hogan is currently suing them for $100 million. Someone at Gawker then released sealed court documents that includes transcripts of what was said in the tape, and it included a lot of comments that could be taken as incredibly racist. He's taking a lot of crap over it to say the least.

Regarding professional wrestling, when it's done correctly, it's very entertaining and invokes a lot of emotion. It's much like going to see a movie or loving a television show like Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones. WWE in particular does not do it very well for a variety of reasons, but most of their money is made on merchandising now. This is why they are so focused on PG storylines and content because that's where the money is with merchandising.

To give an example: When you go to see a movie, you don't sit and think something like, "That car exploding was so fake and set up to be a stunt," if you want to enjoy it. It's just a show like anything else, and it has its own rules and guidelines like any other fantasy universe.

If you look at the history of professional wrestling in Europe and North America, you had carnies go around and have open challenges to anyone in the crowd of these towns they would go to. This is basically where catch wrestling came from (consider Josh Barnett, Gene LeBell, others). These men had to be able to dispatch random "tough guys" quickly because they were putting their lives on the line to make a living. They eventually figured out that fixing fights and running it like a scam artist type of situation manipulating the crowd allowed them to make a lot more money from bets on the fights while simultaneously keeping their chances of being seriously injured minimal. This is a part of why it was so important to "protect the business" by having good guys and bad guys not seen together in public, etc., for such a long time. That situation slowly evolved into the caricature of professional wrestling that exists today in the form of the WWE over decades.

One more thing I want to point out is that the WWE style of professional wrestling is much different than just about anywhere else in the world. It's much more PG, the storylines and plots are much more shallow (and often make no sense), and the in-ring action is designed primarily to keep the performers as healthy as possible for as long as possible (less action with worse workers a lot of the time). The emotional element just isn't there because of this and the fact that until the past year or two, they haven't really brought in much new talent for the better part of a decade, and people get tired of seeing the same old people over and over. This is why John Cena gets booed incredibly heavily even though he's the company's top good guy.

[Rambam77]

I see you are from NC, I grew up in Goldsboro, NC. I sure do miss being down there when winter time comes around.

[spoonitnow]

I see you are from NC, I grew up in Goldsboro, NC. I sure do miss being down there when winter time comes around.

I've been down that way a few times, and I used to live in Raleigh.

Do you ever play any live games?

I don't have any around to play that I trust. The closest casino that has live games is like a six hour drive to West Virginia lol. A lot of games around here get raided because the local sheriffs have a hard-on for publicity.

[MarinaD]

Regarding professional wrestling, when it's done correctly, it's very entertaining and invokes a lot of emotion. It's much like going to see a movie or loving a television show like Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones. WWE in particular does not do it very well for a variety of reasons, but most of their money is made on merchandising now. This is why they are so focused on PG storylines and content because that's where the money is with merchandising.

To give an example: When you go to see a movie, you don't sit and think something like, "That car exploding was so fake and set up to be a stunt," if you want to enjoy it. It's just a show like anything else, and it has its own rules and guidelines like any other fantasy universe.

If you look at the history of professional wrestling in Europe and North America, you had carnies go around and have open challenges to anyone in the crowd of these towns they would go to. This is basically where catch wrestling came from (consider Josh Barnett, Gene LeBell, others). These men had to be able to dispatch random "tough guys" quickly because they were putting their lives on the line to make a living. They eventually figured out that fixing fights and running it like a scam artist type of situation manipulating the crowd allowed them to make a lot more money from bets on the fights while simultaneously keeping their chances of being seriously injured minimal. This is a part of why it was so important to "protect the business" by having good guys and bad guys not seen together in public, etc., for such a long time. That situation slowly evolved into the caricature of professional wrestling that exists today in the form of the WWE over decades.

One more thing I want to point out is that the WWE style of professional wrestling is much different than just about anywhere else in the world. It's much more PG, the storylines and plots are much more shallow (and often make no sense), and the in-ring action is designed primarily to keep the performers as healthy as possible for as long as possible (less action with worse workers a lot of the time). The emotional element just isn't there because of this and the fact that until the past year or two, they haven't really brought in much new talent for the better part of a decade, and people get tired of seeing the same old people over and over. This is why John Cena gets booed incredibly heavily even though he's the company's top good guy.

Yeah i understand what you're saying, but i guess is just a cultural thing, because for me is still like going to see a fake car racing instead of a real one. But again...i think is just a cultural thing and that's why i don't get it.
We love soccer around here, and that's not the case in the USA for example. Bullfighting is very popular in Spain and i cannot even start to understand why.

But what we can try to understand is music for example!
How about we all post a youtube video with representative or cool (doesn't necessary have to be old) music or popular artists where we are from?

[spoonitnow]

Yeah i understand what you're saying, but i guess is just a cultural thing, because for me is still like going to see a fake car racing instead of a real one. But again...i think is just a cultural thing and that's why i don't get it.
We love soccer around here, and that's not the case in the USA for example. Bullfighting is very popular in Spain and i cannot even start to understand why.

But what we can try to understand is music for example!
How about we all post a youtube video with representative or cool (doesn't necessary have to be old) music or popular artists where we are from?

[MarinaD]

Loved it! is this southern music? Is it country, bluegrass, folk...or what?
I like the somewhat dark tone overall, instead of the classic banjo thing.
Is this from North Carolina?

[spoonitnow]

Loved it! is this southern music? Is it country, bluegrass, folk...or what?
I like the somewhat dark tone overall, instead of the classic banjo thing.
Is this from North Carolina?

This particular song is country, though it's more reflective of what country used to be. Here's a quick bit from Wikipedia:

Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), better known as Hank Williams, Jr. and Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of Southern rock, blues, and traditional country. He is the son of legendary country music singer Hank Williams and the father of Hank Williams III, Holly Williams, Hilary Williams, Samuel Williams, and Katie Williams.

Williams began his career by following in his famed father's footsteps, singing his father's songs and imitating his father's style. Williams's own style slowly evolved as he struggled to find his own voice and place within the country music industry. This trend was interrupted by a near-fatal fall off the side of Ajax Peak in Montana on August 8, 1975.[2][3] After an extended recovery, he challenged the country music establishment with a blend of country, rock, and blues. Williams enjoyed much success in the 1980s, from which he earned considerable recognition and popularity both inside and outside the country music industry.

As a multi-instrumentalist, Williams's repertoire of skills include guitar, bass guitar, upright bass, steel guitar, banjo, dobro, piano, keyboards, harmonica, fiddle, and drums.[1]

From 1989 until October 2011,[4] a version of his song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" was used as the opening for broadcasts of Monday Night Football.[5]

[Pursu7it]

But it is more about the text and the meaning of the song.