How much damage is Pro Wrestling doing to our culture?

[Crowley]

Misogyny:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikDXcfzA848

Racism:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-00zk_-EGKg

Why are people letting their kids watch this shit?

I used to watch it as a kid and watched some of it in college... but it's gotten out of control in the sleazy depictions of women and overtly racist depictions of minorities...

Isn't time for wrestling to grow up?

[Arrogantcur]

Haven't clicked on those links yet, but I watched WWE and WCW (ECW as well when they had a show on TNT) from 1997 to 2003. Even when I was still a big fan, whenever I'd see a little kid in the crowd I was thinking "Man, a kid that age shouldn't be watching this..." From the time I began watching and certainly around when I stopped, I considered it to be at least PG-13.

[Weetomuncher]

WWE has cleaned up their shows in the last few years.

If you compare a recent show to one from the 97-03 period you'll see that the violence, language and sexual element have all been heavily watered down.

TNA sometimes goes heavy on violence in some events but it isn't really controversial otherwise.

The smaller hardcore promotions sometimes go over the top but they generally have older fans and little, if any TV presence.

I have to admit that my number one problem with wrestling is the overuse of speech segments when I want to see wrestling.

WWE Raw normally opens with 20 minutes of buildup and interview segments. Why not start with an exciting match with wrestlers like Rey Mysterio and Shawn Michaels rather than an another boring spiel from Randy Boredom.

[Crowley]

I just checked Youtube for clips and it seems like the same Misogynistic and Racist bullshit is going on...

[MartinRedmond]

Wasn't there one chick who was super popular and refused to take her top off cause she knew there were kids in the audiance? Was it Sable? At least there's some people with some common sense there.

[Crowley]

Wasn't there one chick who was super popular and refused to take her top off cause she knew there were kids in the audiance? Was it Sable? At least there's some people with some common sense there.

according to Wiki:

Post-WWF career (1999–2001)

In June 1999, Rena Mero quit the WWF and filed a $110 million lawsuit against the company, citing allegations of sexual harassment and unsafe working conditions.[5][6][7] She claims to have filed the lawsuit after refusing to go topless.[2] During the course of the lawsuit, Vince McMahon counter-sued Rena over control of the stagename "Sable".[16] Mero reduced the amount she was seeking in damages, and they eventually settled out of court in August 1999.[5] Mero used her real name for her appearance in the September 1999 issue of Playboy.[2] She was the first woman in history to be given two Playboy covers in the same year.[1][2] After her WWF exit, she made an on-camera appearance as an audience member on World Championship Wrestling's Nitro.[17][18]

[Royal]

You forgot Homophobia and bad comedy.

If anything, Mainstream US Pro-Wrestling is the last of an archaic and obsolete system that no longer works, but is constantly on life support thanks to the continuous cash flow.

[Arrogantcur]

You forgot Homophobia and bad comedy.

Damn, anybody remember when Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo had this gimmick where they acted like they were lovers and eventually there was this marriage ceremony in the ring? The amount and volume of the booing taking place during that "wedding" was astonishing.

EDIT: I put "wedding" in quotes because it was revealed shortly after that they were faking the whole thing for some reason and weren't actually a couple at all.

[Hurricane]

Misogyny:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikDXcfzA848

Racism:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-00zk_-EGKg

Why are people letting their kids watch this shit?

I used to watch it as a kid and watched some of it in college... but it's gotten out of control in the sleazy depictions of women and overtly racist depictions of minorities...

Isn't time for wrestling to grow up?

That first video has nothing in it past 2002 and the second one has nothing on it past 1992.

Wrestling is not the same today as it was 7 or 17 years ago. WWE in particular have reduced the rating of all of their shows to TVPG and have done a great deal to clean up their programming for families. Most recently, renaming John Cena's finishing moves to be more family friendly.

[Royal]

That first video has nothing in it past 2002 and the second one has nothing on it past 1992.

Wrestling is not the same today as it was 7 or 17 years ago. WWE in particular have reduced the rating of all of their shows to TVPG and have done a great deal to clean up their programming for families. Most recently, renaming John Cena's finishing moves to be more family friendly.

Bullshit Mr. Han Man. It's just more worse and subtile.

[Royal]

Damn, anybody remember when Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo had this gimmick where they acted like they were lovers and eventually there was this marriage ceremony in the ring? The amount and volume of the booing taking place during that "wedding" was astonishing.

EDIT: I put "wedding" in quotes because it was revealed shortly after that they were faking the whole thing for some reason and weren't actually a couple at all.

I wouldn't chalk that one up to homophobia. That was more poorly planned and built to sate the whims of McMahon more then the fans.

The homophobia is more from the poor comedy styling of Paul Levesque.

[Hurricane]

Bullshit Mr. Han Man. It's just more worse and subtile.

How is it worse?

They've toned down the women.
They've toned down the violence.
There is little to no foul language including (as I mentioned) changing the names of Cena's finishers.
There's no racism (on tv.)

What about this is worse than what was shown in those clips from almost 10 years ago?

[shrike]

I don't GET wrestling... I mean, I'm unsure what is enticing about it, but there are tons of things that aren't GREAT culturally. There always will be...

[Sean Walsh]

Damn, anybody remember when Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo had this gimmick where they acted like they were lovers and eventually there was this marriage ceremony in the ring? The amount and volume of the booing taking place during that "wedding" was astonishing.

EDIT: I put "wedding" in quotes because it was revealed shortly after that they were faking the whole thing for some reason and weren't actually a couple at all.

And they got cheered for that reversal; that they were faking it just to get attention. Quite a lotta cheers, actually.

[Royal]

I don't GET wrestling... I mean, I'm unsure what is enticing about it, but there are tons of things that aren't GREAT culturally. There always will be...

It was a legit sport at the the time, but later on, due to such a large roster of athletes and how meticulously long the matches would get, they created a sort of kata format to get more people in and get more bang for the buck. McMahon never got this when he purchased the WWWF from his father and made over the top "Superstars". Nowadays, while they say there's wrestling in the WWE, there really isn't. Just a bunch of moves put together with no rhyme or reason based on only one type of wrestling, which by all accounts is obsolete, even to the founders standards.