When I first agreed to do this review, I had it all planned out. I was going to take my little note book out at the ICW Super Show and write the matches in order, give you the highlights with what I had hoped was a little cheerfully witty sidebar commentary. Frankly, I still could. I could re-spin the night with anecdotes on Dan Maff raising Boriqua pride another notch, or impress you with tales of ROH’s own Mia Yim’s surprise appearance with the South Side Players Club as valet, that culminated in a fantastic flip dive into the crowd—and her later being carried away on a bracing board, or even scare you with Robbie E’s fist pump challenge to the reigning “Hip Swivel Towel Champion” Maximus Sexpower (OK yes I know me even hinting at what that was like was likely enough to scare you. . .sorry). Perhaps I could tickle your funny bone with recounts of the perils of indy wrestling when things DON’T go as plan, and the NASCAR pit crew like synchronization of ICW staff to get the ring to stay up right, or announcer Larry Legend to keep an impatient New York crowd at bay when said ring refused to be bowed into submission.
Yep, I could type up all that. You, my dear reader would laugh, perhaps berate my usage of your vs you’re and lack of spelling and grammatical prowess. But then you would click another link and my review of last night would go forgotten like so many other wrestling blogger reviews that clog up the internet about everything from the best types of tag team matches to Choose: Randy Orton or John Cena (and let’s be honest isn’t that LAST one sorta like six in one hand half dozen in the other metaphor?)
See that is the funny thing about being a wrestling fan, we forget a lot of the things that made us start watching wrestling in the first place. Oh don’t get me wrong, most people don’t forget their favorite wrestlers, or matches that stood out in their mind. I suppose a better explanation is we become more apathetic to the CRAFT of wrestling. You watch so much so often, that you really and truly forget the work, effort, skill, and flat out athletic mental acumen even the most average wrestler puts out into the ring.
Last night, I was remind of the effort and the ability wrestling takes. The main event of the ICW show last night was Amazing Red Vs Low Ki. Now I am not going to go into a marky soliloquy about how great a talent both of these guys are (and trust me I am a huge Amazing Red fan so I could seriously do a soliloquy on him and his greatness some justice, but you have the internet so you can do that research on your own). I would instead like to for a change address the lassitude and apathy of not just the ICW fans I sat with last night, but wrestling fans in general.
Red and Low-Ki are without a doubt some dynamite ring workers and both men have signature styles that nearly tip the borderline of insanity. It is…if you are a fan of either what you’ve sorta come to expect. A match with the big build, the death-defying high spots, culminating usually to big epic finish. Last night however, both men went back to the pure physical competition of wrestling. Hand -to- hand combat that had Red and Ki both trying to gain and maintain a superior position. Brutal kicks delivered with precision. Ruthless throws, locks, and grappling. There were noticeably few high spots, instead there was only the art of two passionate professionals who are masters at what they do. Last night it was about the battle. The stuff that you lose on nationally syndicated television programs that think 40 minutes worth talking is more entertaining than actual wrestling craft. Now you would think WRESTLING fans would be over joyed right? I mean aren’t these same fans that complain on message boards, forums, Facebook, Twitter, etc.–That wrestling has lost it sports side, that it is a shadow of its former self. Blog on Tumblr and WordPress that wrestling has lost it’s roots, that it is nothing but flash, high spots, and soap opera? Take to the social media and its instant accessibility to anyone living to personally complain to wrestlers themselves whenever a move is not done “just so”?
You’re probably nodding now thinking YES, of course I want that, we all want that! Well, I do begin to suspect that maybe a lie now. Actually to quote a former WWE released wrestler, I think,
“Sometimes it’s the fans that shoot themselves in the foot. [They] don’t know what they want. Even when we give them what they ask for they don’t have recognition enough to see it or appreciate it. If the product is bad it’s not cause we’re not doing our jobs as wrestlers it’s because they expect too much of what real wrestling is not.”
The crowd I saw last night at ICW did not behave as though they appreciated a single damn thing that was sweated out in that ring. Now obviously indy crowds are slightly rowdier and more jaded than the casual house show attendee of WWE or TNA. But last nights crowd gave a level of disrespect, disinterest, and incongruousness that’s best reserved for children with ADD and AHD turned lose in a library with glass shelves at midday. Inappropriate chants (I’m not even gonna repeat some of them cause most are unworthy of repeating), disrespectful lack of proper applause, and even the children in attendance (small kids who should still be in awe of this kind of stuff), were acting like they would rather have been anywhere but a wrestling show.
I was kind of shocked. . .I mean were was the gratitude? I mean I get you paid money to see this but even the most expensive indy ticket price contains more of what most fans “claim” they want to see, then the twice as expensive WWE (were you already know you are going to get a 2 hour show that contains almost over an hour of talking and dramedy segments with 4 minute “match breaks”. Even the main event now can be timed to 15 minute or less (which pales in comparison to the 30 minutes of the puroresu like stuff that Amazing Red and Low Ki put them selves through).
So fans. . . if you don’t want wrestling and you don’t want entertainment—what hell do you want? Or matter fact maybe we should as fans just shut up with all the complaining and be grateful for what it is.
