Click here to subscribe today or Login.
By MARK FITZHENRY markf@leader.net
Sunday, January 30, 2000 Page: 1A
The nation will get its first glimpse of First Union Arena tomorrow
night. Live from Wilkes-Barre, broadcast across the country on cable
television, it’s World Championship Wrestling.
It’s a sign of the times.
Or maybe it’s a sign of the apocalypse.
Regardless, pro wrestling never has been so popular.
Jesse Ventura is a governor and Ric Flair wants to be. Mick Foley and
Dwayne Johnson – aka Mankind and The Rock – have penned No. 1 bestsellers. The
World Wrestling Federation sells stock on NASDAQ and has produced two platinum
CDs of entrance themes. Performers are guests on late night shows, sitcoms,
action shows, even “The View.”
Anyone with basic cable – that’s 80 percent of this market – can see pro
wrestling every night except Tuesday. On Monday, 13 percent of all people who
watched television between 9 and 10 p.m. tuned in to WCW’s “Monday Nitro”
and the business’ most popular program, the WWF’s “Raw Is War.”
Local stations, including cable, show 17 hours of original pro wrestling
programs a week. For the February sweeps period, WSWB Channel 38 has added
Extreme Championship Wrestling’s “Hardcore TV” to end a four-hour pro
wrestling block to run Saturdays from 8 p.m. to midnight.
Tomorrow, local viewers can catch a glimpse of Ted Turner’s WCW, which is
struggling against chief rival WWF but still has one of cable TV’s most
popular shows. “Nitro” broadcasts live at the arena on TNT from 8-10 p.m.
Curious adults who haven’t watched since childhood are in for a surprise.
Pro wrestling’s popularity has coincided with emphasis on soap-opera
storylines, sex appeal, course language and violence. Headlocks don’t cut it
anymore; today’s offense includes tables, metal chairs and stop signs.
Fans say they enjoy the plot twists, theatrics, well-endowed women and
over-the-top characters that include a pimp, porn star, mobsters and
Backstreet Boys wannabes. Consider it an ensemble drama with no reruns.
However, a nationally respected TV critic says the genre’s popularity
affirms the dumbing-down of America.
“These are times when lowbrow, no-brain, even no-brow entertainment
flourishes. Hence wrestling,” Tom Shales wrote in Monday’s Washington Post.
“Our magnificent technological advances have zoomed us forward into a new
primitive Neaderthal state of gruntings, groanings, clobberings and
head-butts.”
Robert Tuttle, a sociology professor at Wilkes University, said Shales’
assessment is broad. But he adds: “You can parallel (pro wrestling) to
watching Jerry Springer. Put them on a stage, they fight and people watch.”
Indeed they do. Since the summer of 1996, either “Nitro” or “Raw” has
been cable TV’s most-watched show almost every week, with “Raw” winning the
ratings battle for well more than a year. (“Nitro,” normally a top-five
program, is struggling and was ranked 11th in cable last week.)
Virtually every week, the most popular programs on USA Network, TNT, The
Nashville Network and UPN are pro wrestling shows. That’s part of the reason
WSWB is going with four hours of pro wrestling Saturday night, including a
repeat of “WWF Smackdown!” from UPN’s Thursday lineup.
Plus, Saturday night’s TV audience is largely male, said Mike Yanuzzi,
general manager of WOLF Channel 56 who also oversees programming for WSWB.
“A lot of advertisers are trying to reach the male demographic,” Yanuzzi
said. “It’s a tough demographic to reach, but wrestling does reach it. And it
reaches teens.”
Oh yes, the teens. An assistant manager at KB Toys in the Wyoming Valley
Mall said pro wrestlers probably are the top-selling action figures, gobbled
up mostly by young teens.
Even though their shows contain adult themes, pro wrestling companies have
produced a large array of toys including action figures, water bottles,
talking dolls, and play accessories including a wheelbarrow, coffin and
trashcan.
“They’re always coming out with new stuff, which keeps it popular,” said
Corey Phillips, manager of the Toys R Us in Wilkes-Barre.
Debbie Millard’s four children, ages 7 to 12, have more than 100 action
figures in their Larksville home. All four dressed as pro wrestlers for
Halloween. Even Millard is into the act, as owner of numerous beanies and an
Undertaker action figure.
Vito Perugino, 10, likes Stone Cold Steve Austin because of “how he uses
foul language and smashes beer all the time.”
Vito’s father, Mark, of West Wyoming says he often tells Vito pro wrestling
is staged and should not be mimicked. Ditto Millard, who said she also makes
the children watch news shows that document how pro wrestling is acted out.
Indeed, pro wrestling companies have become forthright about admitting
matches are staged. You might remember in the 1980s when David Schultz smacked
ABC reporter John Stossel in the ear and screamed, “You call that fake?”
Times have changed. One of 1999’s most talked-about stories was that two
television writers jumped from the WWF to WCW.
Some say the willingness to be accepted as show rather than sport has added
viewers. Rich Gray, 18, of Wilkes-Barre declared that the WWF’s performers are
“amazing actors.” That prompted his friend, Amanda Poepperling of
Mountaintop, to say, “They should have WWF Emmys.”
The Internet has capitalized on this approach. A Yahoo search for “pro
wrestling news” yielded 160 sites that discuss storylines, wrestlers’
contracts and rumors.
Thus, pro wrestling’s appeal is greater and wider than ever, even if
critics question its methods.
“With the increased violence and increased sexual nature, that’s not a
very good combination there,” Tuttle said. “Hopefully the parents have the
responsibility. The industry is going to do whatever sells.”
Call Fitzhenry at 829-7218.