Not all these rules work hard and fast for everyone. Every wrestler is a different person, with a different career and a different take on the business and what constitutes good online manners. If you know a little about the person youre trying to engage with, then youll probably know enough to gauge how they might react to you. Calling Mick Foley Mankind would be silly - hes just as well known under his real name. However, probably only people who worked with him in his WCW or ECW days still call him Cactus: thats not you, so that might easily be considered over-familiar. Similarly, just because Cody Runnels is resolutely old school and under his Cody Rhodes persona wont admit that he and Stardust are the same guy, doesnt mean that Dustin Runnels feels the same way about Goldust. Hes performed out-of-character interviews where hes discussed the gimmick. However, if you bump into him and hes wearing the face paint, err on the side of caution. Oh, and just a tip - don't ever call Taz' radio show 'a podcast'. He will flip out and (metaphorically speaking) suplex you off the Internet. Fundamentally though: try not to take it too seriously if they get snappy with you or even block you on Twitter or Instagram. People have bad days, and can easily misunderstand simple questions - and sometimes theyre just playing the heel, maintaining a level of kayfabe and legitimately trying to be the bad guy. You dont know any of them in real life, so dont let it get to you. Thats good advice for most kinds of online interaction, really.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
