Are We All WRESTLING MARKS?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- Mark is a term not always used in the highest form when it comes to WRESTLING Fans. Now while most of us know that we are watching a simple show when we watch WWE RAW, there could be more to being a mark than simply not knowing that it's fake. I explore the origins of the term and see how the word Mark applies to us today. In addition, I take a look at the promoter/fan dynamic. Also, I reexamine some parts of wrestling history and question their validity. In the end, could it be that we're all a bunch of Marks? And if so, who says that's a bad thing?
I want you to get popular so bad
Your content is amazing man!
Keep up the good work
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'm very glad that there is someone out there who likes thinking about wrestling in this way other than me... really glad that I'm not the only one! Thank you again for all the support!
Indeed, a mark is a fan. Al Snow talks about this, as did Ric Drasin in his book. The old carny definition of a mark is extremely outdated as the work is all out in the open now. No one is trying to dupe anyone. The first "smart" wrestling book was written as far back as the late 1930's.
We’re all marks brother
Another vote for everybody being a mark
So if we're all marks and it might all actually be a work, including backstage shenanigans like the Plane Ride from Hell and stuff that we've all accepted as truth like the Montreal Screwjob... You're opening up a real can of worms here, questioning EVERYTHING like that. Was it a work when Nash and Hall went to WCW? I know they teased that and Vince McMahon sued them for pushing that angle, but was that all just part of the cover-up? Was there even a Monday Night War, or was it all just a ratings stunt planned by Vince McMahon and Ted Turner in a meeting that we'll never know about?
And does that mean that Chris Benoit and his wife and son might still be alive somewhere, in hiding, with their "deaths" serving as a "real life" justification for Vince McMahon to get out of a televised storyline that even he realized was a bad idea, as well as for the subsequent move to a more kid-focused TV-PG product that would coincide with Linda McMahon's attempt at a political career? I kinda wish I could believe this theory, so we could erase that horrible tragedy.
It would be nice to erase some tragedy, but yeah, why not question everything. While I don't think Benoit is a work, I do think we should question authority and be sure that the conclusions that we come to are our own and not just blindly accept what we're told
Just don't be a Smark & an Anti-Smark (it's toxic, full of complaints, & will alter your way of watching wrestling). Be a wrestling fan/mark & just enjoy wrestling. My friends & my family are causal fans/viewers though.
Unfortunately IWC/wrestling community is a super toxic place & you also see a lot of them on TH-cam as well. Smarks & Anti-smarks are the same people except they love different things & hate different things but they have the same identical attitude.
Also I don't like the term marks. I just like to call them wrestling fans & causal fans as it sounds nicer (*unless they're smarks & anti-smarks).
I know that wrestling fans these days are smart due to exposure of the internet but the problem is these people are very toxic & will complain everything every wrestling promotions do.
Both Smart marks and Anti-Smart marks annoy me.
The marks have made it to the ring there’s nothing to it. Jon moxley and Seth Rollins throw work punches like marks wrestling in their moms backyards.
I'm a literal Mark.
Woah, it's a mark within a mark! It's mark-ception!
Mind blow
If we are all Wrestling Marks, does it also make us marks for our favourite Film Franchises, Game Franchises, Soap Operas etc
Very good point
Yup
I take the overlong artsy film approach to this.
"Were you tricked, or were you not tricked? Did it really happen, or did it not?"
"It doesn't matter, and that's why the film ended before it told you."
That also sounds like the Rock approach by saying "it doesn't matter"
@@DaveKnowsWrestling I thought about rephrasing it but then thought nah leave it :)
Great video! You definitely deserve more subs and viewers! It's a great topic. I don't think it's a bad thing at all. Especially as we all know it's scripted, we all know they're characters, but we're still invested. We still get upset if our favourite wrestler doesn't win, we get sucked in to the kick out at 2, the brutal looking bumps etc. People keep saying suspension of disbelief is gone but is it?
In theater there's a fine line, you want everyone to feel like it's real at the time, but you don't want people feeling it's so real that they call the cops when we see Brock beating Orton into a pulp. Aesthetic belief is such an interesting concept on it's own to me. Thank you for the kind words and support! Glad you're part of the journey!
Also I like to call wrestling "it's scripted" & it's entertainment. Just like movies.
"Wrestling is fake" = some wrestlers, (for what ever reason) some smart fans are offended.
"Wrestling is real" = people make fun of you.
Script is a perfect word for me but wrestling is still fake in the eyes of people & still for "entertainment". If you want the most real/legit fights, go watch UFC/MMA, boxing.
Re: The Edge/Lita/Matt Hardy love triangle:
Matt Hardy admitted on his TH-cam channel that he and Lita were already on the outs when Edge came sniffing around. It wasn't until time went by that he understood that Edge did him a *huge* favor.
Even still, if it were me, I rather find a better way to break up
@@DaveKnowsWrestling For starters: no live sex in the ring.
Nice X-Files plug Dave....we're all marks for something or someone
Thanks and yeah seems that way
I don't know about me but you definitely are lol Really though I don't think I've ever spent a cent on wrestling anything? Everything was either a Christmas Birthday or just for whatever gift.
Then you sir are a thief
@@DaveKnowsWrestling Jealous Much?
No moocher... I am not
@@DaveKnowsWrestling Jealous person says what?
Pretty Deep Man... Haha I love it... We're all Mark's, let's embrace it...
Say it Loud! Mark and Proud
APPLYING WRESTLING CIRCUS LINGO TO OTHER FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT IS WERID
I always considered a mark more like a pro wrestling Otaku or hardcore fan
Interesting interpretation
Nope. Marks are anyone and everyone.
for Wrestling Otaku and other "hardcore wrestling" fans. 99% of these people are smarks & anti-smarks
At 1:11, I feel explains us all as a fan. No matter how smart we are of everything going on, we're still likely to fall in to the trap (the storyline being played out). To me, it's beautiful when I think of it after the fact, that I got caught up in it.
I must agree, that when you get sucked up into it and realize that after all you've seen, that they can still get ya.. that's the magic
Kind of makes you wonder about the Shawn Michaels Bret Hart backstage fight as well
I knew Psycho Sid's second rope big boot was totally work! His ankle broke a little fake for my liking!
I'm joking of course, I often thought about these kinds of things while watching wrestling for as long as I have, so it's nice to see other wrestling fans have the same ponderings as I do
Now see, Sid was doing a work... the only problem is the leg wasn't
I knew his leg went into business for itself!
I saw an Al Snow interview where he said the origin of mark came from the circus days where you would have people at the gate looking for attendees with money and they would put a mark of chalk or something on the person's clothes so the grifters would know who to target.
Interesting
a mark is a fan....
Ah, and a horse is a horse, of course, of course
Been way overdue 4 a rephrase. Difference between Mark & Smark?
The classic definition is that a Smark is a Smart Mark, someone who knows the industry is predetermined, but geeks out anyway
I do think we're all marks, I do think that a lot of what we're told by the promoters is false, a lot of what the dirt sheets and podcasts and TH-cam shows comment and report is probably a big load of bullshit fed to them by the companies.
However, there's nothing wrong with that as long as you're aware that it might be all fake and you don't take it all as undisputed truth.
If you just enjoy wrestling like any other show like Game of Thrones, like any Marvel movie, like a video-game or like anime that's perfectly fine and healthy.
I think you bring up a good point with podcasts and such
@@DaveKnowsWrestling I do think the promoters intentionally leak a lot of bullshit and reporters take it as true. Why should we trust people whose job description is precisely making people believe that something that's not real is real?
Always have been
And proud of it, that's pretty cool
This is a very fascinating argument. If what you are saying about all the leaked stories and incidents over the years then it carries the near genius implication that keyfabe is far from dead and that all this time it was reconfigured to keep the current generation of digital natives immersed in the world of wrestling...
And we may never know
I want wrestling to make me mark out; it's why I watch.
Yeah it's nice when it happens
But Dave you know
Brian pillman taught me all about marks
Brian Pillman taught a lot
I'm far from a mark
I'm a mark.
Said with pride, I like it
Lol, I love it when you argue with the captions in your videos. Good topic though. I don't necessarily think we are all marks now since we are actually getting something out of it, entertainment. If it was just a scam to steal our money without getting anything in return then I would say we are all marks but since now it is an exchange of monetary for entertainment it replaces the original definition of "mark."
Interesting outlook.. but is there a new definition for Mark?
I think that the word "Mark" can still retain it's original meaning (basically someone who is getting conned) but now since we are paying for entertainment we could just treat it like we would going to the movies or buying a video game, where we are just called "fans" and "consumers."
Maybe I'm overthinking it here but maybe that's part of where the term "smart mark" or "smark" came from. But I don't like using those terms very often.
This channel revitalised my interest in wrestling. Great learning about British wrestling, which I grew up watching: Saturday afternoon, ITV, then when they dropped it, on the Welsh language channel, S4C. Keep up the great work.
That is the kindest and best kind of compliment I could here. I understand the frustration that comes with being a fan at times, but it's still is a great, wonderful and one of a kind form of entertainment that can be very enjoyable. Thanks so much for the support
Dave Knows Wrestling 👍
Another shout out to KURT ANGLE, DAVE! MY MAN!
I am a big Kurt Angle fan
I always understood it that the carnival would have a contest between the strongman n the ringer, have the ringer win, n the townspeople would then pay for a shot at the strongman n a reward, with the strongman putting them down every time.
Well, I guess they'd have to let somebody win every now n then, or the con would be up pretty quickly.
Exactly, the specific nature of the cons can change, but you get the point