Shining a Spotlight 02.25.10: Baggage

Posted by Michael Weyer on 02.25.2010

Looking at how the baggage wrestlers have, and the ones we often put on them, influence how fans see them.




The Winter Olympics have produced a couple of compelling storylines but one of the biggest has to be Bode Miller. Long regarded by peers as one of the greatest skiers alive but without the Olympic medals to prove it, Miller became infamous four years ago when, at the 2006 Games, he spent his nights partying and paid for it with a horrible series of runs. This year has been much different as Miller has scored bronze, silver and gold, paying off on his potential. He appears much more responsible than he was four years ago, able to take the pressures better. Best of all, is that, as a cartoon in my local paper best put it, he's now able to leave behind all that baggage of four years ago and move on, more appreciated than before.

It got me to thinking on how this attitude can happen a lot in sports, great athletes overwhelmed by baggage, both professional and personal. In wrestling, a business that mixes both lives a lot, it can be pretty tricky. It's gotten even tricker in modern times as the Internet has made it easier to get at info on what guys do which often leads to some bad ideas on guys that's not always fair. Everyone has baggage but it's harder for men in such a public light who get scrutinized so often to handle it. In some cases, it can take away from in-ring accomplishments but in others, it can enhance your respect for the performer, showing the interesting dynamics of wrestling.
　

Celebrity Baggage

So many times in sports you'll have men whose on-field accomplishments are overshadowed by various issues. Bill Bucker was a damn good first baseman but will always be remembered for that one error in the 1986 World Series (and for those who go "hey, it's been twenty years and they've won two championships, they're over it", trust me, I've been to Boston and that man's name is still vilified). Ty Cobb would probably be revered for his amazing ball playing career if not for the fact he was a bigoted, violent, overbearing bastard who pretty much everyone hated. And today, Tiger Woods' legacy as one of the greatest golfers ever is threatened with being crushed by the media blitz over his infidelity.

It's not always that way. Michael Jordan has had accusations of gambling but that's not enough to overshadow his standing as the greatest basketball player ever. Ditto for Kobe Bryant and his infelidty issues. You'll still have guys standing up for Mark McGwire and others who took steriods. And the attention for Mike Tyson in popular culture lately makes it easy to forget the man went to prison for assaulting a woman. It's harder to put some things aside to appreciate a man for what he does at his job.




Entertainers have the same issues with slews of performers who have pasts of self-destructive behavior. Robert Downey Jr., Mickey Rourke and Drew Barrymore are three examples of actors able to overcome those and rise in stardom and awards and you can appreciate them more because of the struggles they went through. On the other hand, you have folks who are seemingly nice on camera but have some bad reputations (Mel Gibson springs easily to mind) and whose personal stuff overwhelms their acting ability (Sean Penn's temper and arrogance). That we only see these people via either overly prepared interviews or tabloid stories makes it harder to judge reality vs. perception.

Everyone has baggage, things they're not proud of, things they want to keep personal and that's their right. However, the tabloid culture of today has pushed sports figures much larger for their personal stuff. If Babe Ruth were playing today, he'd be keeping tabloids busy single-handedly with his drinking, fighting and sleeping around but back in the day, he had the press corp wrapped around his finger to keep it quiet. It's different today with all the ways information can get out and the way it can be presented. More than once, we've seen men painted into corners by the media, often unfairly to the point where it's harder to appreciate them for their athletic skills. With wrestling…that's an even bigger problem.
　

Blurring the Lines

In one of his books, James Guttman made a telling remark that you can barely trust actual news sources these days, yet wrestling fans are so quick to instantly believe anything they see on the Internet from a third-person source. Time and again, stuff that's been accepted as absolute fact by the IWC has been proven either untrue or overly exaggerated. My favorite example is how for years it was stated that Eric Bischoff came up with the Team Challenge Series and was booking the AWA but that's been proven false. Guttman himself has learned from his radio show that a lot of fan perceptions about the business are a lot different when you look closer.

A common theme I've read from guys who do wrestling radio shows is how so often, the workers they admire the most come off as absolute self-centered jerks while the guys who have the worse reputations are the most friendly. Kevin Nash is trashed for his self-centered booking that helped wreck WCW but comes off as a nice and funny guy in person so you can see why promoters like him. Hogan is a master minipulator who in interviews can also seem like a nice guy and the fact fans still go nuts for him in the ring shows why he keeps getting his pushes.

Oftentimes, fans can get too wrapped up in the past exploits of some workers while others get a slide. Ric Flair, in his ‘80's prime, was just as much a spotlight-hogging backstage politician as Hogan was but fans forget that because of his great matches and charisma. Shawn Michaels still gets heat for his ‘90's behavior where Shawn himself has acknowledged as him being an asshole into drugs. However, in many ways, Shawn stands redeemed as being able to still put on fantastic matches over a decade after getting a steel pole in his back and fans do respect that. Steve Austin has had several personal issues but still gets wide acclaim and respect from fans willing to forget that.




However, others are more infamous for what they do outside the ring than in it. JBL may have proven himself as a heel champion and good commentator but still folks letting him have it for the "Nazi bit" over five years ago. The Von Erichs' achievements as great workers who put World Class on the map big-time have been overshadowed by the drug use and deaths that got more press. It's a shame too many remember Owen Hart by his death and not his life as an amazing worker. And then, of course, there's Chris Benoit. Benoit is a different case though, as it's one thing to be known for drugs or abuse and another thing altogether to kill your family before committing suicide. I know people make the statement of Benoit to "separate the man from the performer" but given how so much of his brain damage was due to his taking wrestling so seriously, it's still hard his past stuff for me knowing what he'd become.

Again, that past work can influence the way you see guys in the ring. Dusty Rhodes might be more enjoyable if you didn't know his self-serving booking in Jim Crockett while Dynamite Kid's brilliance is able to make you forget how brutal a bastard the man was. In some cases, it can enhance things. For example, I can appreciate watching Eddie Guerrero's post-2002 stuff as I know how the man struggled to put his life back together after falling so hard into addictions. Likewise, while I'm not a huge Jeff Hardy fan, I can appreciate his work as well given his problems. It's an interesting dynamic, as long as you have the right mind-set for it.


Fandom and Perception

Of course, that depends on the type of fan you are. Once again, the vast majority of fans you see on TV aren't tuned into the Internet all the time and don't always know the full stories behind guys. My newphews don't know about the Lita/Edge affair or Randy Orton's tales of being a jerk backstage, they judge by what they see on TV. That's a reason Hogan still gets those monster pops whenever he arrives, fans don't care about his ego or real-life troubles, they appeciate the star he's always been. You can actually argue that those fans are the type wrestling promoters want as the old days of kayfabe had them judged by the ring, not their real lives they always protected.

It's always important to keep in mind that wrestlers, by their very nature, are always working the audience, even when it seems they're not. It's like movie stars on best behavior for talk shows, they still keep up the act all the time and thus you'll have guys who may be jerks coming off nicely. Look at Tiger Woods. Did he ever strike you as a guy who'd not only cheat on his wife but have a litany of affairs that makes Charlie Sheen look like a monk? Hell, Benoit was considered an absolute role model for all fans but since his death, it's come out he could be a brutal type of guy and obsessive behind the scenes.




A lot of guys know this dynamic and use it. Vince McMahon is a master of keeping people off balance as even his own family often doesn't know where Vince ends and "Mr. McMahon" begins. As William Regal once put it, "if he played Vince McMahon himself, we'd be off the air." You'll hear guys talk of Vince as a horrible scumbag but others will then point out surprising charity from him and respect for his smarts. Vince knows people will be against him and judge him and maybe mixing these attutides helps in his business, puts folks off balance and makes them easier to deal with. Kurt Angle probably put it best, that no one will ever be able to write the definitive biography of Vince because the man will never let his guard down enough for the real personality to show through. Hogan and Flair can be much the same way, able to seem more calm off-camera but often clearly still putting on an act.

It's quite rare that a guy will be exactly what he seems on and off camera. Jim Cornette pops into mind if you've heard his various video rants and Bret Hart can be the same (for good and bad). But for most wrestlers, you can't get rid of that baggage from either your in-ring character or out-of-the-ring exploits and that will weigh on them. Some of that could be blamed on fans who just won't let go of things that happened years ago. I'll read guys moaning about how HHH booked himself to be the center of everything in 2003, ignoring how the guy's done a good job putting people over since and still a big star. It's mostly the IWC that holds onto these old grudges as the fans in the arena are able to let it go a bit more, a lesson quite a few could listen to.


Summation

As I said, everyone has baggage, wrestlers have to weild it in a more public light. Many are able to balance what happens outside well, whether it's bad press or rumors like Hogan, Flair and Vince or drugs like Shawn, Guerrero or Jeff Hardy. Others can still be haunted by stuff that happened to them years ago and fans won't let it go. It's important to remember how there's still a line between what we see on camera and what really goes on and so many wrestlers will tread it easily to influence fans. That baggage can be overwhelming and too often overshadow the performer but every now and then, you can appreciate a man more for his struggles. However the case, it shows again how judging wrestling is a lot more complicated than it seems and something too few take the time to truly think on.


For this week, the spotlight is off.