2. He Once Yodelled His Way To The Ring...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KPhPhptjK8&feature=kp The world of WWE is a strange, strange place. Although it has unparalleled access to the finest wrestling talent on earth, the company rarely showcases its best technical wrestlers at the top of its cards. WWE is an organization that puts the Entertainment part right after the Wrestling bit in its name. Of course, we proper fans understand that pro wrestling IS entertainment, but still, one feels that WWE is of the opinion that simply being a serious, dedicated athlete probably isnt enough to draw big money. They are 100% correct in that estimation. WWE is the land of gimmicks, the more distinctive the better. And, despite what old timers may say, wrestling has always been like this to some extent. Maybe the gimmicks are more OTT now, but they always existed in one form or another. If Im wrong, may Dusty Rhodes father turn up at my door and knock me out with a lead pipe. Waddaya mean Dusty actually is a plumbers son? ...Uh oh. Daniel Bryan packs stadiums because he appeals to a broad spectrum of fans, from know-it-all smarks like us, to regular guys who just like the whole Yes! thing. In a recent interview, Cesaro compared the wrestlers of his childhood to living comic book heroes coming to life, which is pretty accurate, really. The point is that to be a top draw in wrestling, you need to have a gimmick. Kurt Angle was/is a superlative wrestler, but he still played an exaggerated character on TV; the same is true for Bret Hitman Hart, Eddie Guerrero and literally everybody else youve ever heard of. So, as WWE struggled to find a way to market Cesaro to their audience, they decided to make him yodel. Quite why they thought that yodelling would get over with the fans (or anyone, for that matter) is simply beyond me. They tried it, it didnt work and thankfully, they quickly (and quietly) gave up on it. No more yodelling on WWE programming, please.
Chris Quicksilver
Contributor
I am a professional author and lifelong comic books/pro wrestling fan. I also work as a journalist as well as writing comic books (I also draw), screenplays, stage plays, songs and prose fiction.
I don't generally read or reply to comments here on What Culture (too many trolls!), but if you follow my Twitter (@heyquicksilver), I'll talk to you all day long!
If you are interested in reading more of my stuff, you can find it on http://quicksilverstories.weebly.com/ (my personal site, which has other wrestling/comics/pop culture stuff on it).
I also write for FLiCK http://www.flickonline.co.uk/flicktion, which is the best place to read my fiction work.
Oh yeah - I'm about to become a Dad for the first time, so if my stuff seems more sentimental than usual - blame it on that!
Finally, I sincerely appreciate every single read I get. So if you're reading this, thank you, you've made me feel like Shakespeare for a day! (see what I mean?)
Latcho Drom,
- CQ
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