Money In Their Bank

I wrote this at 6.30 am on the morning of the “Money in the Bank” pay-per-view.

18-07-2011 – Money In Their Bank

A pet peeve of mine with online wrestling fans is the frequent argument about whether or not a storyline, match or character  “draws money”. These arguments are usually backed up by decontextualized statistics and sprinkled with amateur sociology. It's a pet peeve because, whether a wrestler, an angle or a match draws money is only important to the company offering the product. All the audience should care about, is whether they are entertained or not. A smart mark is still a mark, so know your role and shut yer mouths.

Ever since CM Punk cut THAT promo a few weeks ago, I’ve seen an obscene number of online discussions and “debates” on whether or not the angle will “draw money” and whether or not CM Punk “connects” with “key demographics”. Who cares? Unless you have access to WWE’s accounts, there is no possible way you will ever know. All you can know is whether or not you are being entertained by CM Punk’s performance and whether or not the angle has captured your imagination. I’ve read so many comments along the lines of “While I found these segments entertaining, I’m not so sure if the rest of the audience will understand it.” This is then followed by some random ratings statistics and some comment about “drawing money”. It entertains, if you are entertained. It draws money if YOU pay for it.

I’ve often wondered why modern wrestling fans care so much about the “draw” of a match. Most fans of fringe sub/counter - cultures, such as punk rock, heavy metal or comic books resent popular opinion. In fact, mainstream acceptance is seen as “selling out” and perverting the purity of the product. Why are wrestling fans different?

One reason could be that because professional wrestling exists in the intersection of sport and performance, a lot of wrestling fans are predominantly sports fans and don’t think in terms of “performance” or “art” or “theatre” (and bless them for that). Numbers are important to sports fans. TV Ratings, merchandise sales and pay per view buys are a seemingly objective gauge in a sport where wins and losses don’t really matter. For the armchair booker, these figures are ammunition for their hyper textual dialogues of no consequence. Unless you have the breakdown sheets for those numbers AND the know how to interpret them, those numbers are utterly abstract statistics and totally meaningless.

If someone tells you the quality of a movie is judged by it’s box office gross, then that person is a moron. Lady GaGa draws more money than Frank Zappa ever did but she is to music what a castrati is to fertility. Sales can only tell you about a product’s popularity, and popularity only matters to the insecure. Modern society is largely based around making people feel insecure about everything and then selling a product to temporarily numb the insecurity. The idea of promoting a product with goofy pitches about chart numbers, best seller lists and box offices is designed to make the consumer feel they are joining a big popular club by consuming a certain cultural artifact. They (whoever THEY are) are not selling a product as much as they’re selling solidarity.

If you’re a wrestling fan over the age of about twelve, chances are someone, somewhere, at some point in time has tried to insult you about it. There are such human beings as “closet wrestling fans”, who hide their interest because they fear they will be humiliated by being outed as a pro-wrestling fan. That insecurity leads to a fixation with wrestling being / becoming socially acceptable through mainstream popularity and visibility.

World Wrestling Entertainment are very aware of this audience, and it seems that their television shows are produced by people who are, likewise, ashamed of the medium / genre.  This probably explains the rationale behind the company removing words like “wrestling” (It’s “SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT) and “wrestler” (They’re “SUPERSTARS”) from broadcasts, merchandise and promotional material. It’s also the reasoning behind all those cheesy “Did You Know?” graphics featuring statistics showing how many people watch the show, how many people are in attendance, or how many countries the show is broadcast in. While the goal is to display and instill public pride for their product, the campaign hasn’t really worked.

Since WWE has become more and more corporate and “brand” orientated, my interest in the product has waned to almost non-existent levels and likewise I hear similar comments from my friends. Why has WWE’s marketing, for us, backfired? In my opinion, those graphics and especially that inane terminology feels like an embarrassed cry for mainstream attention. There are few things more unattractive or unappealing than someone begging for something. If they get it, it’s out of pity or charity. Go figure the mainstream media only want to cover professional wrestling when there has been a tragedy.

I want professional wrestling to be more widely accepted because, to me, a great wrestling match, with a great angle, is the finest form of poetic storytelling possible. I wish more people saw it that way, but few give it the chance. I believe fans want wrestling to be popular but only on it’s own terms, and essentially that’s what CM Punk’s character is struggling with the WWE brass over. That’s one small component of why I feel he resonates with the audience, because fans, such as myself, are struggling with the same thing.  Whether it’s a shoot or a work, it feels real because the sentiment is real to us. 

The CM Punk storyline has captured my imagination and that’s the first time a wrestler or a wrestling storyline has done that since the relaunch of ECW. Unfortunately World Wrestling Entertainment has a recent history of setting up a hot angle and then disappointing me with the pay off.  I’m buying the “Money in the Bank” pay-per view today and it’s the first time I’ve bought a non-Big Four WWE pay per view since “WWECW One Night Stand 06”. So yes, this angle has drawn money, my money, and I’m just hoping it doesn’t let me down.

Scraping away mental crust at 6.30am…

/JB