Layin' the Smackdown, Part I

Most of you who know me are aware of the fact that I am a fan of professional wrestling. I grew up with it in the WWF era of Hulk Hogan/Randy Savage/Million Dollar Man, before it was referred to as "sports entertainment," and before it began to cater to the infamous "lowest common denominator." I remember various occasions watching Monday Night Raw and later WCW Monday Nitro with my dad, and being absolutely fascinated with the action, the spectacle, and the characters that came out of it. They were real-life superheroes, and though I knew even back then that it was more "entertainment" than "sport," it was still fun to get caught up in it all and lost in the real-life fantasy world which is pro wrestling. I vaguely remember cheering for Goldberg as he fought the nefarious Hollywood Hulk Hogan for the heavyweight title, booing the nWo even though they were the coolest group of bad guys ever, and feeling goosebumps rise every time Ric Flair had a microphone anywhere near him. Shoot, Youtube has been one of the greatest inventions ever for a wrestling fan such as myself because it allows an instant connection to those old memories.

I recently had the opportunity to revisit this in person as WWE (having "gotten the F out" several years ago) came to Phoenix for a taping of their ECW and Smackdown shows. Though technically the "second-tier" shows, both shows pack a lot of action into them and aren't quite as character-driven as Monday Night Raw is, so I figured that I'd have a good time. Plus, I'd heard rumors that one of their top stars (Jeff Hardy) was set to go on a personal hiatus, and that this would be his last match for some time. So after work, I sprinted out the door from work at 6pm and broke a few speed limits to get to the US Airways Center in time.

Now, I've been to a few WWE events in the past, mostly in smaller arenas, and they've always managed to sell out the lowest levels fairly quickly, so I've typically ended up in the upper or middle decks. Going by myself gives me the advantage of not needing to get a pair of seats, allowing me to get lower-row seats than I otherwise would. Since Brittany was at Enrichment Night at church, and had no desire to go even if she'd been off, I hoped that my usual box office strategy of asking "What's the best single seat you have left?" would work out for me. Back at Gwinett Arena in 2005, it landed me a balcony seat in the middle section on the far side of the camera - with no one in front of me and a decently-smart fan in the seat next to me, it was a good experience (by "smart," though, I don't mean "intelligent;" more on that later). So I got to the box office and asked the same question: "What's the best single seat you've got?"

The ticket guy checked his computer, then said these magic words: "First row floor OK?"

First row? Floor? Seriously? How much? Wait - forget that - don't care. I'll take it!

In hindsight, I probably should have at least thought about it before buying. Who am I kidding?

I sprinted to the floor just in time to catch the opening pyrotechnics for ECW. The atmosphere was electric as the show started up - this was going to be fun!

For those unfamiliar with modern professional wrestling - or those that just don't care, which is fine, by the way - let me provide some context for clarification as you keep reading. The biggest professional wrestling company these days is World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) - this company used to be called the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), but after losing a decade-long legal battle with the World Wildlife Foundation over the initials WWF, they were legally forced to change their name, thereby having to "Get the F out!" as their slogan touted that year. WWE runs original programming four nights a week: Monday Night Raw, which is live on Monday (imagine that); ECW (short for "Extreme Championship Wrestling," which was a lower-budget competitor that WWE bought out at the beginning of the decade), which airs live on Tuesday; WWE Superstars, which is recorded on Tuesdays after ECW and airs on Thursday; and finally Smackdown, which is also recorded on Tuesday and airs on Friday. Each show has a different roster of wrestlers, follows individual storylines and are treated as different "brands" with one parent company.

In addition to the television tapings, each live event generally has a few extra, non-televised matches at the end to make sure the crowd goes home happy. Since the product is very often story-driven, the bad guys occasionally have to win at the end of the broadcasts to further the plot line. This does not make for a happy crowd, especially when said crowd is full of "marks" (more on that later). So, to end the night on a positive note for the paying crowd, a special match is usually put together with at least one top good guy and one top bad guy, but more often teams of both. This allows fans to see what they want to see: the heels getting their collective butts handed to them by the faces, thereby ending on a high note and sending the crowd home pumped.

A few quick definitions before I move on so that the rest of this story makes sense:

Face/Babyface: good guy - the wrestler the crowd is meant to cheer for.

Heel: the villain or bad guy. The crowd is supposed to boo these characters.

Pop: refers to a loud, sudden, positive reaction from the crowd, typically cheers and/or applause.

Heat: negative crowd reaction. Can refer to boos, chants, or apathy in bad situations.

"Get/Be Over" with the crowd: a storyline or character's ability to captivate or draw in the crowd. Generally measured by ability to draw a pop or heat.

Mark: a fan with a deep emotional attachment and more willing to suspend disbelief. Generally not informed as to the real-life goings-on and behind-the-scenes facts in the wrestling world. (in terms of con jobs or sting operations, the mark is the target of a scheme)

"Smart" fan: enjoys the product, but less likely to suspend disbelief and more likely to read wrestling web sites and other sources of background information and real-life reasons for what happens in the world of wrestling (example: a wrestler is removed from TV for a while due to "injury," but the real reason is a failed drug test). Even these fans will revert to marks in certain situations - referred to as "marking out." You'll hear that last one frequently, as I did it a lot that night.

Now that you've got some background, it's time for me to go to bed, but rest assured that this story is far from over. I had a blast, and I hope to adequately convey that in Part II shortly.