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AUGUST WRESTLING DISCUSSION THREAD

RIPPA

By RIPPA
in The PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING

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piranesi

piranesi

Posted
Posted

Hell a few of the indy guys I know think having a "shoot" job makes you a mark.  I heard a guy being given hell because he couldn't take bookings on Sunday evenings because he worked a factory job that actually, you know, payed his bills and fed his kids.  This wasn't just joking around either, they were seriously laying into the guy about how he was a mark for putting that ahead of wrestling a match.

 

He's a mark for his family.

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RandomAct

RandomAct

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I've never gotten a ton of heat for my regular job getting in the way, but I HAVE gotten heat for choosing important life events like weddings or what have you.  It doesn't happen much anymore, simple because most people that know me, know that I give no fucks.  Fortunately, most of the circle I run with do not have that mentality, because they themselves are trying to make a living.  Oddly enough, it's more young guys in the business that I meet that think this way.

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JRGoldman

JRGoldman

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I've never gotten a ton of heat for my regular job getting in the way, but I HAVE gotten heat for choosing important life events like weddings or what have you.  It doesn't happen much anymore, simple because most people that know me, know that I give no fucks.  Fortunately, most of the circle I run with do not have that mentality, because they themselves are trying to make a living.  Oddly enough, it's more young guys in the business that I meet that think this way.

 

 

I think it makes sense that young guys would put wrestling first and be snotty about it. When you are young, you still believe that if you want it more than anyone else, that is all that matters. Also, as you get older, other things about life inevitably start to matter more. 

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RandomAct

RandomAct

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Exactly.  The kids still have their head up their ass.  Shit, I used to as well.  Real life always wins out though.  Some people can't understand that, unless you are in WWE, TNA or working a major Japanese promotion, pro wrestling is not real life.  If you can't pay your light bill with it, it's not real life.

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piranesi

piranesi

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Exactly.  The kids still have their head up their ass.  Shit, I used to as well.  Real life always wins out though.  Some people can't understand that, unless you are in WWE, TNA or working a major Japanese promotion, pro wrestling is not real life.  If you can't pay your light bill with it, it's not real life.

 

Now you're a mark for electric light.  Pathetic.

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JRGoldman

JRGoldman

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So I was with my seven year old nephew the other day and we were watching random youtube clips. I put on the famous clip of Harley Race offering 25k to eliminate Ric Flair from wrestling, and his response was "That man's voice makes my body hurt". 

 

Harley Race fucking rules. 

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DreamBroken

DreamBroken

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I think my favorite version of Hulk Hogan is "over the hill, not what he used to be, but can recapture 1985-level performance on some nights" Hogan from 2002.
 
Loved that run as well. Hogan & Edge winning the tag titles was one of my favorite moments of 02, super fun tag that was.
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SovietShooter

SovietShooter

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I think I give more of a shit what one half of the Road Warriors & Stan fucking Hansen think than jobber-ass Karl Anderson.

 

 

Well to be fair, I don't go to BBQs with Hansen or Animal.  

But I think that you hit the point square on the head - the gaijin of the '10s are not the gaijin of the '80s. 

 

I don't know when the Ribera jacket became the big "thing" amongst the gaijin, but it was a status symbol, not something that one "earned".  Back then, the Japanese promotions were huge money laundering fronts for the yakuza, and it was important for the wrestlers to be seen with the high ranking yakuza, and for the yakuza to be seen with them.  This led to the infamous "Sponsor Dinners" at various restaurants, one of which was Ribera.  The gaijin got the jackets because they were provided by the steakhouse at the behest of the yakuza.  When you only had two major companies, it was a helluva lot harder to get a jacket, and when you did, it meant something. 

 

But, back in the '90s when you started having indy groups pop up in Japan, you started having more foreigners going over, and you had jackets handed out left and right.  These days, you actually have indy groups in Japan that will book gaijin as long as they pay their own way over - and these guys all go to Ribera to get the jacket, because they want the same status.  But it isn't the same. 

 

So yeah, Karl Anderson isn't Stan Hansen.  But he also isn't wearing the fucking jacket and acting like he is. 

 

 

Hell a few of the indy guys I know think having a "shoot" job makes you a mark.  I heard a guy being given hell because he couldn't take bookings on Sunday evenings because he worked a factory job that actually, you know, payed his bills and fed his kids.  This wasn't just joking around either, they were seriously laying into the guy about how he was a mark for putting that ahead of wrestling a match.

 

 

I've talked about this on the old board before, but there are multiple point of views here, and going too far in any direction makes the philosophy seem ridiculous. 

 

The scorn against a "shoot job" comes from the idea that unless 100% of your income comes from wrestling, then you are not a pro wrestler.  This is rooted in the idea that you cannot call yourself a "professional" unless you make your living from wrestling.  THIS concept has been bastardized, where guys just lowered their standards of living, because they weren't able to make enough money.  This is why you have guys that live in their parent's basements (or that shack up with the "Rat-o-the-week") mocking the guys that have jobs outside of the business - because they "live off wrestling" and the guy with a real job just cannot manage to do it. 

 

On the other side of things, an overwhelming problem in the business is that there are too many wrestlers, and not enough professionals.  Wrestling is supposed to be fun, because it is just guys going out there and entertaining folks.  To get into wrestling you have to love it, and you have to want to be good at it.  However, at some point you have to realize that it is a business, and that it takes some level of commitment.  Yes, there is no guarantee of success if you throw yourself 100% into wrestling (or anything else for that matter).  However, you cannot argue that there isn't a significant time commitment required.  It isn't any different than if you play football at a Division 1 school, or you play the oboe at Julliard.  What you get out of it is directionally proportional to what you put into it.  At some point you have to focus time and energy into what you are practicing, and you have to take it seriously.  It doesn't mean you cannot have fun doing it, but you have to make an actual commitment.

 

So honestly, there needs to be a happy medium, and priorities need to be determined.  If your dream is to make a living as a professional wrestler, then maybe don't have a wife & kids that you need to support?  If you want to advance your career as a professional wrestler, you may not be able to advance your 9-5 career.  You can either spend your nights in the gym training, or you can go out drinking with your buddies.  It is all about priorities and choices.  Hell no you cannot give a guy shit for choosing to put food on his family's table rather than working a match.  At the same time, you cannot expect a booker/matchmaker/promoter to constantly deal with a guy that calls-off/no-shows/cannot make towns.  You just cannot have your cake and eat it too.  You have to make choices. 

 

Personally - I did a lot of things that, if I had to do it all over, maybe I wouldn't do them exactly the same way.  Yes, I missed weddings/birthdays/anniversaries/gradations because I had a booking - but I knew it was my choice, and that if I wanted to be a success, that missing those things were the price.  The guys in the WWE don't get a Monday night off because it was their wife's birthday.  NBA players aren't allowed to miss a game because it is Christmas.  Guys working at Target don't get off the day after Thanksgiving.  I viewed wrestling as a job, and that the sacrifices I made were investments in my career.  I didn't know how things were gonna turn out for me, but I just felt that I had to go as "all-in" as I could, while also living to make it to the next town.  Everything took a backseat to my passion - wrestling. 

 

Did it all work out for me in the end?  No, of course not.  I was divorced once, and lost another good woman over the business. I am 35 with no kids.  I have arthritis in my shoulders and neck.  I have a ton of scars. I do not have a lot of close friends, because I sacrificed time with people that were important to me to make a town.  I've lived out of my car, and I've mooched off of family & friends when I couldn't pay bills (and totally didn't deserve it).  I have no retirement fund, and a ton of student loan debt.  But I am glad that I made my choices, and I understand that what I have now is because of what I did then.  Some guys don't get that. 

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Phantom Lord

Phantom Lord

Posted
Posted

I always thought the Ribera jacket was just something you could buy at a gift shop. The way you see these jackets, you'd think Ribera was the size of Outback.

 

So the Hulk Hogan movie. I have a feeling it will be a lot like the John Gotti movie that Jr. Gotti keeps trying to make. Hogan will have complete control over the script and it will be in development for the next 20 years. I can totally see Hogan pulling a Howard Stern and playing himself which would make the movie even more awesome when it's a 75 year old wheelchair bound Hogan who's latest back surgery failed because he did a match and shattered his hip going for the big boot.

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cool arrow

cool arrow

Posted
Posted

So the Hulk Hogan movie. I have a feeling it will be a lot like the John Gotti movie that Jr. Gotti keeps trying to make. Hogan will have complete control over the script and it will be in development for the next 20 years. I can totally see Hogan pulling a Howard Stern and playing himself which would make the movie even more awesome when it's a 75 year old wheelchair bound Hogan who's latest back surgery failed because he did a match and shattered his hip going for the big boot walking to the ring.

 

Yeah, that's more like it.

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Peck

Peck

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@RealTerryFunkEnough twitter, gotta pack. Checklist: 35 shirts, bandana, 1 pair of speedo underwear, airline drink vouchers, and 1 plastic bag for Flair.

 

That Tweet alone just bought a ticket Sunday.

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Stuttsy

Stuttsy

Posted
Posted

To be fair, real life fucking blows and should be undermined as much as possible. Doesn't mean I'm not gonna pay my bills. Bout only because lights and internet help me in undermining reality. 

 

I like the way this man thinks.

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Patrick B.

Patrick B.

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Posted

To be fair, real life fucking blows and should be undermined as much as possible. Doesn't mean I'm not gonna pay my bills. But only because lights and internet help me in undermining reality. 

 

Hear, hear.

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