I don't understand the Smark hate. It's impossible to not be a smark in this day in age. By definition, anyone who knows that wrestling is a work is a smark.
>I don't understand the Smark hate
When you think you know everything inside the wrestling business, when you don't know jack shit except what you read on LE DIRTSHEETS, what's there not to be annoyed by?
>>1172531
That's just being a pretentious shit.
There's different types of smarks.
There's the reddit smark AKA the smarks wrestlers refer to when they say they hate smarks
>I chant alternate gimmick names at wrestlers
>Let me write paragraphs about my ebin wrestling knowledge
>I claim to know the business
>Melzter is god
>I read dirtsheets
etc
Then there's a normal smark, a wrestling fan who knows it is fake but appreciates it for what it is.
>>1172537
That's what most smarks are though. Fucking guys like Cesaro is cheered all the time but he isn't a fucking draw because no one buys his shit, and they complain about why he isn't getting a big push
>>1172539
>reddit smark
why does it always have to fucking reddit?
like I get why people hate reddit and I understand that it's a shitty place where shitty things come from but fuck, do you realise how associateing them to things you dislike gives them power over you?
>>1172544
tbqh is shouldn't be merch sales that determine who your top guy is.
>>1172549
Because /r/squaredcircle is where they congregate. which is on reddit
>>1172553
>tbqh is shouldn't be merch sales that determine who your top guy is.
Yes, it should. At the end of the day wwe is a business and money is all that matters.
>>1172557
and that is why the fatter indie darling advanced rather than the charismaless indie darling. Based Fatass got over and moves merch and is almost always in the top or 2nd row in the store.
Im sure Memearo will become a two time US champ though. I do like him
>>1172565
>Based Fatass got over and moves merch and is almost always in the top or 2nd row in the store.
Exactly, also why Aj styles has a chance of getting the wwe title, because he sold out all his fucking gloves
>>1172575
Besides /woo/
Not reallty
>>1172575
>so tell me, is Roman the top guy because he sells merch, or does he sell merch because wwe made him the top guy?
He does good enough sales merch ( this doesn't mean he outsells guys like john or even based fatass) and hand picked by vince to be the next top guy.
>>1172557
You were complaining in your first post about people that think they know everything.
Looks like you were complaining about yourself.
>>1172582
Cagesideseats? Wrestlingforum.com? Lots of youtube channels? etc, etc, etc?
>>1172585
Look at a cesaro sign section picture almost literally none has one of his shirt on.
>>1172585
Wtf are you talking about? What is business all about then? not making a profit?
>>1172603
how exactly is ignoring crowd reactions and basing all booking decisions on who sells the most shit a good business decision?
>>1172617
>how exactly is ignoring crowd reactions and basing all booking decisions on who sells the most shit a good business decision?
You have to be trolling right?
>>1172623
no, I'm pretty sure that's a legit question.
>>1172630
ONE IS MAKING YOU MONEY, WHILE THE OTHER ISN'T
>>1172507
It depends on the breed of smark. As in, there are different levels if that makes sense.
Some are just pure wrestling fans and stick to indie promotions because a huge emphasis on entertainment isn't their cup of tea.
Some take the dirt sheets as gospel. Sit in their echo chambers of complaining, and unironically think guys like Ziggler and Cesaro should be top of the mountain because of "workrate."
And some are a lot like how most of us here are. I like to call it being a silver lining smark. We know WWE is shit, we know it's not going to get better, we've lost hope but don't waste breath with pointless whining. But we all have a handful of things, usually a specific talent, that always keeps us tuning in.
More often than not, it's the middle brand of smark that gets and deserves the most heat.
>>1172557
Then Finn is THE top guy in WWE.
>>1172645
>Then Finn is THE top guy in WWE.
he is the top guy of NXT right now
>>1172642
>making money at the cost of unhappy fans
yes, cause this totally won't backfire eventually.
>>1172668
Fucking christ, are you acting autistic on purpose for me to give you (You's) ?
>>1172668
WWE fans have a really...really bad habit of bitching non stop but still tuning in week after week. It's why things will never change, because they don't have to.
But it's gotten so bad in the last year and a half that those same people are actually following through with their threats to change the channel for good. They've been losing viewers slowly but surely.
I guess it speaks volumes at how vapid the product has become now that the "I'm done watching, see you next week" meme doesn't hold up anymore. I myself haven't watched in what seems like ages.
>>1172677
No. I'm saying booking based on merch sales is fucking retarded and eventually going to cause a fucking loss of returns because the fans are gonna get fucking pissed off that the guy their cheering for isn't getting the proper push because "lolhedon'tsellshirts"
that is what I'm fucking saying.
>>1172689
lmao
i hope you never start a business then. because you will literally fail, if you think listening to fans is more important than listening to the fans WHO are actually making you money
>>1172720
it should be a combination of both not one or the other.
>>1172740
it is a combination of both but you're forgetting vince still has the end of things. Do you really think vince wanted to push daniel bryan? No, it was because the fan was behind him and he an actual draw
>>1172544
You're putting the cart before the horse there, retard. WWE booking has spent years screaming at us that Cesaro is a geek and we shouldn't care about him. What did you expect to happen?
People who love the product (in literally one aspect): Marks; see also: Marking out over the return of a superstar, usually an old one from their childhood.
People who hate the product (again, literally in one aspect): Smark
The issue with wrestling fans or the "IWC" as it were (doesn't it bug you when there are wrestling fans on the internet that talk about the IWC as if they exist outside of it? especially those shithead writers at B/R?) is that the terms of "mark" and "smark" are used as insults. That's why there is hate. People can label themselves as anti-smarks, but what they're really just saying is: "Fuck you for having a different opinion."
Now yes, it gets tiring that people are always bitching, but I say if you listen to what the criticism is about instead of just hearing it, you may realize that the product itself as a whole is severely lacking, especially compared to the previous two eras, whom most of the fanbase is comprised of. It's that whole concept of hearing and not listening that makes Vince McMahon out of touch and has idiots eating his shit.
It's funny that Punk was the guy who really opened up the conversation of how badly WWE needs to fix the way it books and pushes certain people, because everyone hates that guy. But there's a natural resistance to change, not just from those unwilling to adapt but those who are afraid of failing. If you bring up how the crowd helped changed their minds for WM 30, people will deflect it to "Daniel Bryan sucks" and continue to lament that we are hopeless to do anything even though we are if we could stop fighting each other. I genuinely don't think many people realize that wrestling would've faded to obscurity like in the 60s and 70s if so many of us didn't stick around from our childhood.
Sometimes I seriously question why people would defend WWE or say it's hopeless and then ridicule those who are dissatisfied and then I remember that they are lashing out because they are too afraid to take a stand.
>>1172781
That's why he was paired with heyman?
you fucking stupid retard
>>1172557
"But shouldn't they be trying to make money with everyone? Not just one guy?" - CM Punk
Know why the Attitude Era was great? We had several guys hovering around the top of the card going after the belt and sometimes got a guy like Mick Foley out of nowhere.
>>1172557
But merch is decided by who they make the top guy, the merch does not make the top guy.
John Cena sells the most merch because they intentionally sell more Cena merch than any other star. Reigns will also move merch because they will but the wings of others to make sure the stalls are stocked five Reigns shirts for every one Cesaro shirt.
>>1172792
Not to mention, the WWE treated the other belts with respect and prestige instead of throwing it at the IWC flavor of the month to satiate them. If you think you are powerless as a consumer then you don't know as much about business as you like to think you do.
>>1172571
Ambrose moves a shitton of merch but he just got squashed by Lesnar. Cautionary tale that the issue isn't actually about who is selling the most, it's that the guy who marketing execs THINK will sell the most that gets the push. That's why it's very possible to force WWE's hand to change.
>>1172792
for some reason AJ styles having a chance to win the wwe belt isn't a push
>>1172796
>stead of throwing it at the IWC flavor of the month to satiate them.
That's why based fat ass wasn't just the IC champion for the past few months?
>John Cena sells the most merch because they intentionally sell more Cena merch than any other star. Reigns will also move merch because they will but the wings of others to make sure the stalls are stocked five Reigns shirts for every one Cesaro shirt.
How do you know this?
Aaaawwww Puuuuuuleeease!!! Would you shut the fuck up with that shit?!
>>1172810
I'm not the guy who did the John Cena shirt comments and you know AJ Styles is going back to midcard after this. This is Vince's way of hooking the smarks.
>>1172812
No we aren't going to ignore it because you're the jackass that says "hurrrrrrr don't watch it then durrrrr". Okay well the ratings are dropping. "HURRRRRRRRRR WHY DOES THAT MATTER DURRRRRRRRRRRR"
Nice circular argument, are you a WWE social media intern?
>>1172819
> AJ Styles is going back to midcard after this. This is Vince's way of hooking the smarks.
Nah, vince still likes realism in wrestling. A guy small like aj doesn't really look like a wwe champion, but you're forgetting balor club can actually help him win the belt
>>1172825
lmao but they really don't matter.
You really think anyone can top wwe's ratings?
>all these faggots in this thread who got triggered by the based SmarkBusters
lmao get a fucking grip.
>>1172832
>he thinks the Balor Club will come out and help him win
>AJ
>helped by BALOR Club
Hook, line, and sinker, smark. Hook, line, and sinker.
>>1172843
lmao but they really do.
again, let me try just one more time to explain this for your one track mind: if you complain that wrestling fans should stop watching to send a message and the ratings are dropping, MAYBE it's because those wrestling fans are not watching anymore. You keep trying to apply the concept to a different argument when confronted and that doesn't speak well for your emotional stress capabilities.
>>1172852
No one is watching your shit show. Reported.
>>1172857
>anyone who disagrees with me must be a shill
Like I said before, get a fucking grip.
>>1172854
>>he thinks the Balor Club will come out and help him win
>AJ
>helped by BALOR Club
Damn, it's like he wasn't in the same group as him or something.
>lmao but they really do.
why would wwe care about the ratings when LU, and TNA barely reaches 100k viewers lmao
>: if you complain that wrestling fans should stop watching to send a message and the ratings are dropping, MAYBE it's because those wrestling fans are not watching anymore. You keep trying to apply the concept to a different argument when confronted and that doesn't speak well for your emotional stress capabilities.
Yes, i know it's like they grew up and stop watching wrestling or something. i mean if the other wrestling promotions are so good how come the ratings for those shows are so bad?
>>1172854
> he thinks they are going to be called le balor club
El oh el
>>1172507
>I don't understand the Smark hate
It's contrarianism
Nothing more or less. The actual posters closest to what the dreaded "internet fans" were like are the guys who now complain about "smarks" at every fucking turn.
It's their special club and everyone else is a "smark" for liking wrestling wrong. Even the fucking crowds at events for having the gall to not be silent
>>1172507
It's just edgetards flipping to a ln opposite polar position, pay it no attention. Wrestling scene (wwe) has just got so slow and predictable that we have to create our own man-drama on msgboards to keep ourselves going until they dripfeed us something interesting again
>>1172880
>he thinks it'll be called Bullet Club
>>1172872
>why would wwe care about the ratings when LU, and TNA barely reaches 100k viewers lmao
Holy shit, you might be the dumbest fucker on /asp/ yet
>>1172788
And then Heyman was booked to do nothing but talk about BARACK LLLESNARRR, making Cesaro look even more like a geek.
Ya retard.
>>1172843
>[ratings] really don't matter
Aren't ratings kind of the basis of the vast majority of revenue a wrestling company like WWE can generate?
Every person who stops watching RAW on TV is not only one less person WWE can sell to advertisers, but also one less person potentially buying merch, buying tickets, or buying the Network.
>>1172539
The only example of a mark in this post is:
>Then there's a normal smark, a wrestling fan who knows it is fake but appreciates it for what it is.
Just because you use the term smark for the other examples doesn't mean that you're using the term correctly.
>>1172544
Liking a wrestler and not buying ugly merchandise are two entirely different things.
