Can u smell what i'm cookin'? (WWE in General)

Member Name: mmmbuffy

Product:	WWE in General
Date:	30/07/01 (86 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The Rock, The Hardy Boyz, Pure entertainment

Disadvantages: Let, Me, Think... none

What does one think of when they hear those three letters WWF? Well, for loads of people I know it's 'oh its all fake' or 'WWF, that's really sad'. Why? For most guys it contains three of the four things a man needs: sports, entertainment, and women (for those who ain?t sure, beer is the fourth).

For me wrestling is just as good as most programs that most people watch. It has better story lines than programs such as Eastenders, or Coronation Street, it has more action than a Brazilian football match, and more laughs than The Simpsons? it is just pure entertainment. But what is it that makes it just so good to watch? Well, lets get into that.

The WWF has two main weekly shows, Raw is War and Smackdown!, performed every Monday and Thursday in the states, shown every Friday and Saturday on Sky Sports. This is quite a demanding work load don't you think, these guys have to perform week in and week out, this includes holidays such as Christmas and Thanks Giving, I have to say that this commands a great deal of respect. And as if that wasn't enough they also have pay-per views every month, two of which are performed right here in the UK. Could you imagine performing on a Saturday in the UK, and then performing that following Monday in the states? wow, that is quite impressive.

One thing that makes the WWF stand out from the crowd is the characters that light up your TV when you watch them, but before I get into that I would like to clear up the stereotype that most wrestlers are dumb jocks. To list a few that have a college degree are Albert, The Rock, Ivory, Chyna, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, and Mick Foley. That's right, Mick Foley, I didn't believe it either, but its true. For those of you who don't know who Mick Foley is, let me fill you in. Mick Foley is the all time hardcore legend, the stuff he did was unrivalled, currently retired he still makes appearances on WWF shows. To list some of the th
ings he?s done he used to be in explosion matches, that's right, they'd put mines (obviously not real ones that kill) in the ring, and when you landed on them, BANG!, he's been in fire matches, and oh yeah, lets not forget he used to jump off his house onto a bed mattress (which aren?t all that good for landing on). And yes, he does actually have a college degree. But that's not all of the superstars that have a degree, Trish Stratus was going to become a doctor, Spike Dudley graduated from Skidmore College with a degree in English Literature, Kurt Angle has a degree in geography. I think that is proof that they all aren?t stupid, no matter how dumb their character is. Enough of that though, back to why the WWF's characters are the best around. We'll start off with The Rock, The Rock is the 'peoples champ', the people really do love him. Since joining the WWF he has gone from being a 'babyface' (good guy), to being a 'heel' (bad guy), to being a cocky good guy who is also a heel. The people love The Rock, no matter how much he skits them, which he does a lot, they love him, his line 'if ya smelllllll, what The Rock is cookin' is probably the best line in sports, let alone sports entertainment.

Another WWF superstar, the first of them to reach the greatest hieghts of sports entertainment, is Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin started off in rival company WCW as Stunning Steve Austin, and this is another reason why the WWF is far superior, WCW didn't use Austin's ability to its full. Only after he was sacked from WCW, and went to the WWF did he become a real superstar, don't get me wrong, I don't mean that he was bad and became good when he entered the WWF, he was always good, just the WWF used him better. Austin was the first wrestler to adopt the WWF's 'attitude', he became the beer-swelling, trash-talking, foul-mouthed SOB that he is, or was should I say. Austin's merchan
dise, in particular the Austin 3:16 shirts have sold better than anything in sports entertainment.

I would also like to make reference to the women's division in the WWF. For the guys, you got some mighty fine women in the WWF, for the women, you got some inspirational women to admire. Some people who don't watch wrestling may think that women wrestling isn't very good, and to tell the truth the technique of most of the women wrestlers isn't exactly mind blowing, but the women's division is being revolutionised. Wrestlers such as Joanie Laurer (Chyna) and Amy Dumas (Lita) have helped to change the view of women wrestlers. Chyna became famous being butler to HHH in the days of D-X, not only that she is of unbelievable size, she is stringer than some of the men in the WWF. Lita is famous for different reasons, she shot to fame accompanying the high flying Hardy Boyz, and her own high flying ways. There are lots of women who look at Lita and see her as an inspiration.

The WWF is mainly at the heights that it is today thanks to its 'attitude', personified by Stone Cold Steve Austin. The WWF were losing the ratings battle with WCW, this was mainly because WCW owners were very rich, resulting in them being able to offer better contract to WWF superstars, and so effectively buying the WWF's top talent. There was one incident that comes to mind with Bret 'the hitman' Hart, he was the WWF champion, and he had just signed a lucrative deal with WCW. He was fighting Shawn Micheals, who he hated (and I mean hated, in real life, personally), and Shawn put him in a sharpshooter, Bret's finishing move, and Vince McMahon came down and told the bell announcer to ring the bell, even though Bret never tapped out, this wasn't choreographed, and Bret was 'screwed'. This shows how desperate the WWF were at that time. They needed something to draw the ratings back, and so the era of 'attitude' was born. Gone
were the days of good guy, bad guy rivalries, in come the days of rebellious characters doing what they wanted to do. As it turned out, this idea worked, extremely well, and the WWF is now the most dominating force in sports entertainment, and rival companies began to fall. WCW managed to hold on, but ECW, well they just could not compete. It could be said that the WWF's 'attitude' has been took from ECW. ECW really were one of the most entertaining companies, this is because the ECW believed in putting on a show at any price, such as a scaffolding match in which the winner was the one left standing on the scaffolding. If you look at ECW you can see similarities between the attitude of their roster and the WWF's 'attitude'.

The WWF is a real family business. Its been in the McMahon family for generations, and the family is really worked into the story lines. For example, currently Vince and his wife Linda are getting a divorce, Vince and his son Shane are feuding as Shane just bought the competition, WCW, and even now, Vince and his daughter Stephanie are feuding as she has just bought another rival company, ECW.

As far as the family fighting is concerned, no one wants to see that kind of thing with any family (I just gotta say that I do realise that it is all choreographed and plotted), but with the McMahon's, you've just got to love it. With WCW and ECW wrestlers beatin' on the WWF superstars, interfering with matches, and just causing madness, you've got to take your hat off to the writers, they are true geniuses. For those who don't know, let me explain why this is such a great story line. ECW have been gone for a while, you could say that this is because the WWF bought all of their best, wrestlers such as Tazz, Raven, the Dudley Boyz, Tajiri, Rhyno, and so on. The owner of the former organisation, Paul Heyman, is currently a commentator for the WWF, although now he is back with ECW feuding with the W
WF. The once great WCW, who once won more ratings from Raw is War on Mondays found themselves changing owners faster than Stan Collymore can find new clubs. This meant that the business suffered and the WWF found itself getting the ratings back, causing WCW to nearly go out of business. This invited Vince McMahon to swoop in and buy the competition, meaning that the WWF would be the undisputed king of sports entertainment. However, before Vince could use his God sized check book, his son Shane swooped in and bought the company from right beneath Vince's nose. Now, this is where it gets good, Vince pays for all of the network companies not to show WCW, so this leaves new owner Shane in a pickle, he knows that is his guys cant get on TV and perform, then they'll walk. So, Shane kills two birds with one stone, he gets his guys on TV, and gets under his dads skin by having his guys 'invade' the WWF and interfere in matches. So, the WWF superstars get together to sort WCW out, and they guard every entrance to every arena they got to, all in aid of preventing WCW 'piggy-backing' off their success. However, they still manage to get in, and how do they do this? Paul Heyman gives them information on how to get in. Then Vince is given an even bigger head ache when he discovers WCW and ECW have combined against him, and if that wasn't enough, his 'billion dollar princess' is the new owner of ECW. This is why the writers MUST be given a lot of credit, and is also why the WWF is just so good.

As if the WWF aren't rich enough. In October 1999, the WWF shocked the financial world when they went public on the NASDAQ. And then a year later they did it again, on October 25th the WWF announced that they will begin trading stock on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). I'm pretty sure that this will mean more money for the WWF.

To address the issue of wrestling being 'fake'. There are two ways in which this term affec
ts wrestling. The first, sure, wrestling is fake, the matches are pre-determined, they are also choreographed, and yes, there are story lines, and yes, wrestlers who hate each other in front of the camera are probably best friends backstage. The second, no, wrestling is not fake, the ring may be padded, but the moves are real, the submissions are real the punches do connect. If it was fake then there would be no injuries, but there are, and not just minor ones, Steve Austin broke his neck a little over a year ago, HHH recently tore his quadricep muscles, Chris Benoit recently ruptured a disk in his neck. Could you imagine being on the receiving end of a super plex (suplex of the top rope), there is no way that it wouldn't hurt.

I would also like to mention how great the superstars are as athletes and as entertainers. As I mentioned, HHH and Chris Benoit have recently been injured, these injuries occurred in a match, and yet these guys still managed to get up and perform the rest of the match, and if you ask me, this commands a great deal of respect. I don't think I could see myself rupturing a disk in my neck and then carry on with the match. And oh, before any cynics can say that the injuries are fake, well, no, they're not. HHH and Benoit both have had surgery, and the WWF have shown replays showing the injuries occurring. You could easily see how Spike Dudley broke his leg.

IF you don't like wrestling and haven't seen it before, just watch it for a couple of weeks, get to learn the characters and you'll find yourself hooked, like me. Everyone should watch it, the chances are you will become a fan before long, I remember I didn't like it at first, but now I can't get enough. So please, for me people, watch it. Wait, no, I don't mean that, here, I mean watch the WWF, WCW is boring, if you want entertainment, watch the WWF.




In referance to one comment, i would like to point out that i do
know that the WWF bought WCW, i was refering to the current story line in play - the invasion.

Summary: