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| LIVES ARE WORTH MORE THAN DOLLARS September 5, 2007 OK. I haven’t written in a long time, but a local wrestling promoter posted something on a message board in a response of the studies on the brain of Chris Benoit: “There is so much pressure to be more hardcore and more extreme, where will it end? When someone actually dies in the ring because of it? If we as promoters refuse to give the audience what they want to see, which is on TV weekly, we will not last long at all.” It will end when the promoters, booker, and wrestlers make it stop. My major beef with the statement that was made is it appears that regardless of the dangers, the promoter feels he must give it to them because they want it. Are those wrestler’s lives that meaningless? If the fans don’t care about the wrestlers, then why should the wrestlers care about giving their lives in exchange for a small pay day between their day job? Since the success of ECW as an alternative to WCW and the WWF back in the 1990s, hardcore, or extreme, wrestling has been popular, but it also is more of a cult favorite than a mainstream desire. The demographic promoters of this style of wrestling are attracting are males, mostly single, between the ages of 18 and 24. The more successful promoters on the local level have been the ones catering to family audiences, whereas parents know they can safely take their children to a fun-filled night of harmless old school style of wrestling. You can argue that young people are more likely to spend a few bucks looking for some Saturday night entertainment, but it is also a given that those fans are more likely to find something new to do with their time and money. Families are more prone to find something and stick with it. Looking back at recent years and local promotions, the more highly attended shows in recent years occurred in Carrollton and Columbus. Shows elsewhere have done poorly, or simply hit a plateau and leveled off. Carrollton and Columbus were promoting old school wrestling, and in all the shows I attended for GCW and WWO during the period of 2004-06, I saw crowds averaging 300. The more recent All-Star Wrestling promoting in Carrollton drew 500 and then 700 for their two shows to date. Everywhere else I have gone, they were lucky to draw 100, if that. At the old school shows I have attended, I can remember only a handful of “chair shots” combined, and about twice that, people juiced. At the more hardcore shows, I have seen more weaponry and blood than I care to remember. The danger aspect of extreme wrestling is only really now becoming clear. Yet wrestlers from prior to the 1990s seem to have a longer life, and are in no way, shape, or form, looking or feeling nearly as bad as guys half, or sometimes more, their age. Promoters should be waking up to the realization that it has to stop, and they have all the power to control it. Re-educate the fans. Change the fan base. Watch the attendance grow, notice the money adding up, and most importantly, note that wrestlers are likely to grow old to enjoy their children and grandchildren. |