2016 Pro Wrestling Thread

Next up: Trips divorces Stefanie and takes an unconscious Carmella to a drive-thru wedding chapel in Vegas.

 

This is part of the WrestleMania experience that really goes unheralded and, to me, is a HUGE draw. Some of the nicest people I've ever met in my entire life have been complete strangers I interacted with at the two WrestleManias I attended.

By and large, this is still a niche sport and still a unique community and WrestleMania is, without question, the shining example of this. I would venture a guess (And this is just based on my experience) that something like 40-50% of the people who attend WrestleMania attend EVERY WrestleMania and comprise maybe half of the audience.

As such, a lot of these people that I've personally met use this week as their vacation week and travel from all over the world to experience this live. Because of this, there are very few casual fans making the journey and you'll encounter even less complete strangers that, in any other setting, would lead you to interacting with assholes based solely on the numbers.

If I was guessing, I would say the WrestleMania crowd consists of: 40-50% hardcore, world traveling fans that will attend every year, 25% hardcore fans fulfilling this experience in a bucket list "I want to go to WrestleMania one time" kind of way, 20% casual-hardcore fans who are only attending because they live in the area and 5% people who are outright casually attending it.

Because of this, the majority of the people you're experiencing in the host city are, by and large, fellow wrestling fans just as excited about the week as you are. This means that even if you don't know anyone standing in line at a CVS or at a local pub, if you're wearing a Kevin Owens shirt, you're probably going to get someone who is there who yells support in your direction and this creates an incredible community of people who you've never met but feel like you've known for a lifetime.

It's really something special. I've seen complete strangers tailgating together in a parking lot despite having never said a word to each other. When my buddy and I bought travel packages to Chicago for WM22, the WWE booked all the fans in the same hotels and on our first night in, we knew we were in for a treat when one person on a random level yelled out "WOOO!!!!" and the ENTIRE hotel of guests who were in the building started opening their doors and joining in.

It is, to me, one of the best parts of the weekend and one of the things I look most forward to.

Hell, it's why I don't even mind waiting in long lines for autographs or for gates to open or something. You can literally strike up a conversation with just about ANYONE near you and you'll find it to be a super positive, super fun time.

It's why I get the bug to get back so often. Yes, this trip is not a cheap one. But, man, this might be the ultimate experience as a fan of anything really. It's just an amazing time and well worth every penny ... even if the guy you hate ends up closing out the five-hour show holding the championship.

 

Great post, Schieza. It's the same reason I love the game day experience of college football. There are no strangers. All you have to do is get a good chant going, and everybody joins in.

There was a tweet sent out during the entrance fiasco at this year's Wrestlemania about a family giving up and going home "because of the heat, even though they spent $600 on tickets" that was obviously complete and utter bullshit.
First off, if you spend $600 on ANYTHING and simply give up and go home because the line is too long ... well, fuck you. I have absolutely no sympathy for you if you're that much of a pansy. Especially on a sunny 70-degree day.
Secondly, as your post attests, these are people waiting to get in who have traveled for this. Who make it a pilgrimage. Who would be more than willing to pass the time simply by starting a "Woooo!" or a "Let's go Cena/Cena sucks!" chant. These are people who have invested a week of their lives to being here. These are not people who bitch and complain to a great degree about being inconvenienced for an extra hour to get through security.

 

I really don't understand the whole entrance fiasco that happened honestly. When I went to WM29, my wife and I lined up about an hour and a half before the gates opened because, to be honest, I wanted to spend as much time on the ground level as I possibly could given how much money we spent.

From what I've heard, it seems like they had issues with wristbands and letting people on the floor and I'm just unsure why that would be. If it was an electronic issue, OK, close the area affected and send people to the other gates.

I've never been to AT&T Stadium but it's only 20% larger than other football stadiums that have hosted Mania, it REGULARLY hosts events of this magnitude and they have football crowds eight times a season. Not sure what went wrong but I'm glad it happened at this Mania and not one I'm attending lol

 

They said the Wi-Fi in the stadium was down, so they were unable to scan tickets, or maybe people who had the electronic tickets on their phones were unable to produce them. Like you said, it's not like this is the first time they've hosted an event that's going to fill the place. They've literally done it about a hundred times now. Seems like there should be some contingency plans in place. Or maybe the whole thing was overblown in the first place, and it was just a handful of whiners on social media not understanding the logistical complexities of getting 100,000 people into a stadium.

 

From what I understood, a big part was handing out the wristbands for the floor, which also included floor risers. I went through four checkpoints and wasn't on the floor, but I can only imagine the frustration.

My big takeaway: Why were the floor/floor riser wristbands not mailed with the tickets? My wristband for the bus was mailed with my tickets. It's just one more thing to put in the envelope. That could have saved a LOT of time.

 

Someone asked me on another forum I frequent (non-rasslin) to describe The Force Awakens in rasslin terms. My contribution to culture:

I liked the pacing of that main event handicap match. That kid Finn comes in, hits some high spots, but he gets beat down by Kylo, who's workin a great heel gimmick, then when Finn goes down, Rey comes in for the hot tag, gets the crowd to pop, and works that babyface comeback to get the crowd goin' apeshit. I tell ya, that Abrams kid knows how to book the territory.

 

They never, ever, ever give wristbands prior to the show in any sort of event like this.
If they did, people would just copy the wristbands, sell their expensive seat, buy a nosebleed ticket and make their way to the floor unchecked.
The problem is they outthought themselves. Both of the Manias I went to, I had floor tickets. They scanned your ticket and checked it upon reentry to the floor. Don't want to be stopped by security coming back to the floor? Don't leave in the first place. lol

 

I didn't realize those rubber/plastic wristband gimmicks could be bought online until I did a little research. I stand corrected.

 

Scott Hall’s son taken to hospital after taking a scary bump at NJPW Invasion Attack - Wrestling News

Scott Hall's kid in the hospital after a bad bump.

 

You also had an overreliance on old veterans such as Han and Chewie, who were brought back for a nostalgia pop. Chewie's still got it, but Han fell for Kylo's false face turn.

Still, it was an improvement from the previous booking, which saw Jar-Jar get a push despite his weak physique and shitty promo skills. Vader was booked strong as a heel, until his final face turn. But who was the idiot who jobbed out the Empire to the Ewoks?

 

Jar Jar Binks = Roman Reigns?