A few weeks ago, I took a trip to the mall, and I didn’t really have anything in mind to buy. I simply just wanted to walk around. I went into a music and video store with the thought that I would just browse and not buy anything. About twenty minutes later, I walked out of the store having spent close to fifty bucks.
I know you are dying to know what I spent it on, so here’s the big revelation: I purchased the Wrestlemania 22 DVD set, as well as the WWE Wreckless Intent CD. In the end, I ended up purchasing two things I really didn’t plan on buying. While I have been really enjoying those two items, there are certain words that have been stuck in my head from that day. Believe it or not, they came from the cashier who checked my order out.
“You’re a wrestling fan, huh?”
It wasn’t that the comment offended me or anything. It was more about as soon as he said that, I looked at the total price on the screen, and realized I had just plopped down a good chunk of change on wrestling products. Is there anything wrong with this? Not necessarily, but in essence, it was an eye opening situation for me.
Before I go on anymore, let me give you this thought. Imagine if next year, the American NFL announces that the Superbowl will only be available via pay-per-view for fifty dollars. Could you even begin to imagine the national backlash? While I’m sure that many avid football fans would still find a way to get people together and split the price, many people would boycott it terribly. If a fan’s favorite team wasn’t in the game, they would deem the game unworthy of the price, and not purchase the event. Even if they did buy it, they would be discouraged from spending money on snacks or dinner, and thus ruining a lot of the fun that surrounds the game. Plus, think of the revenue that grocery stores and other food providers would lose because of that. Let’s also not forget to mention the loss of advertising opportunities companies like Budweiser would lose.
In the end, the NFL and its sponsors would probably lose money, as well as a lot of their faithful fans. Fans would turn on the NFL, and hope some sort of alternative would show up. And the fans that stayed loyal to the NFL would probably be shunned by many fellow football fans.
This same concept is why many look down on wrestling fans. We are branded as insane! Not just because of the fact we are wrestling fans, but because of the money that we consistently plop down on the hobby. If any of you reading this consistently order pay-per-view’s like I do, you know this adds up. In a month, you have the potential to spend close to a hundred bucks on pay-per-views if you bought every one that is available. To anyone else, this is ridiculous, and can you blame them for thinking that?
Now many will say that sports fans or fans of other outlets spend money on their hobby, just as wrestling fans do. This is true, as money and most hobbies go hand in hand. More often then not, a person with a hobby must spend money in order to keep the fun going. The difference is that most purchases of paraphernalia for other hobbies are investments. When a baseball fan throws down a few hundred dollars or more on baseball cards, he is making an investment that one day the worth will increase and allow him to cash in on the new value. Even sports jerseys, video sets, hats, and even bobble heads, are investments because they get used more than once and one day may be worth something. Yet when a wrestling fan orders a pay-per-view for forty dollars, something that lasts less than three hours, where’s the value? It can technically never be watched again, and most times we are set up to order the next event to see what we actually wanted to see. What happens then? We have to pay yet again to see how the feud we paid to see get resolved in the first place actually ends!
Insanity!
It’s not just pay-per-views. Think of the DVD’s many buy. These are at least better value than pay-per-views, but how often can you watch the same matches over and over? How about wrestling shirts? Can you really wear these to non-wrestling related events? Possibly, but many will brand you as a complete moron and not worth their time. So that’s another thirty dollars on something you may wear only a few times.
Yet, we still buy it all! And I’m just as guilty as the next guy. So, the next time you see yourself with a pay-per-view bill or impulse bought t-shirt, think about it. It certainly isn’t a crime to buy what you did, but think about how nuts a wrestling fan can be to plop down so much hard earned cash on wrestling stuff!
We may be a bit insane, but hey, this is why we’re wrestling fans in the first place! So everyone get out your old nWo shirts, your plastic title belts, and your Steven Austin hat. Put them on and wear them proudly. Get all the worth you can out of them! Watch and old DVD, and tell all those haters you got TWO WORDS FOR THEM!
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Thanks so much for reading! I picked a more laid back topic than usual this time, so I hope you enjoyed it. I must apologize to all my readers for my six week absence, and I appreciate all the e-mails asking where I was. This hopefully won’t happen again my friends.
Before I go, I just want to plug something. The Wrestling Crossfire, the popular radio show exclusive to TheWrestlingVoice.com, has gone daily! The best part is, you get to hear me on a show or two! Well, it’s the best part in my mind anyway. So join host Doug Nunnally as he goes over wrestling each and every day! What are you waiting for? Get clicking over to The Wrestling Crossfire!
Finally, all feedback to my column is much appreciated. If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me!
Email: [email protected]
AIM: Last Ride 417
Until next time, this has been From the Eye of the Dragon…
