Has it finally happened?
Am I an âentertainmentâ writer?
Oh, joy.
As WWE goes all PG on us, we now have to contend with the death of the term âsports entertainment,â two words that have always been the bane of longtime pro wrestling fansâ respective existences. Fast forward to today. Wrestlers are no longer âsuperstarsâ or âsports entertainers.â Theyâre just entertainers.
Remember what I wrote yesterday? About changing the face of pro wrestling? Well, this is the equivalent to wiping out the face of pro wrestling. Or spitting in the face of pro wrestling. No âpro.â No âwrestling.â No âsports.â Just âentertainment.â
So, if an announcer inadvertently says âwrestlerâ or âsport,â is he beaten about the head and neck with jazz hands? Can they say âtrunksâ or âsinglet?â Or is it âwardrobeâ or a âcostume?â
Holy crap! I guess championship belts are now truly props.
I understand the ebb and flow of the wrestling business. I understand that as the industry has grown, it has to mature and adapt to the whims of the fickle fans, network executives and product manufacturers. Things change. Pro wrestling became sports entertainment. The World Wrestling Federation became World Wrestling Entertainment. I get it.
If all they are trying to do is dodge a few percentage points of taxes, I find it offensive and an affront to every hard working PRO WRESTLER out there. Calling it merely âentertainmentâ is a white flag to the naysayers that naysay ad nauseum about how wrestling is NOT a sport. Tell that to the numerous athletes who bust their ass night after night. Wait, not athletes.
Entertainers.
With that in mind, I close with new lyrics to tune of the classic âThatâs Entertainment.â
The boss with his pants falling down but Iâll pass on the kiss to his ass
Or the ring where Lillian will sing.
That’s entertainment!
The lights on the guys in their tights or the bride with her Edge on the side,
So the face can expose the disgrace.
That’s entertainment!
The plot is not hot, never teeming with sex,
No crotch chops by forty-ish men in DX.
It canât be TV-14, where a car kills Vinnie Mac
Or a diva with a big rack.
The guy who is thrown out of work by the boss,
Who is thrown for a loss by the test that shows heâs a big mess.
No longer a sport, the ring is a world of entertainment!
