Well hello there.

Welcome to the blog archive of Nerdverses, formally known as Perspectives of the Common Fan.

Here you will find my archived blogs from 2008 until early 2015 before I ventured off to build a new brand called Nereverses. Starting in May of 2016 you'll find all my blogs related to Nerdverses over at www.nerdverses.com. Thank you to all who was a part of my early adventure and I welcome anyone to join me for the next chapter. Enjoy!

-Jimmy

Saturday, June 5, 2010

He died again?

Wrestling is always full of crazy antics and insane storytelling. Many to this day make no sense and make us scratch our head. From people dying, giving birth to hands, and cars exploding, to the lack of police enforcement that exists in the squared circle. This causes many eyes to open and many questions are asked. Recently, the Undertaker just had a "funeral" on Smackdown last week and Kane gave a heartfelt speech regarding his "fallen brother". Really? Are they really playing off that he's dead... Again? My head hurts the more I think about it.

Recently I think wrestling in general (Even TNA to an extent) has had decent storytelling. I mean, it's wrestling, I'm not looking for an Academy Award winning film here. But overall I've been entertained and didn't ask a ton of questions. But with any "death" storyline, I do start a ask myself a few questions.

For example, with how WWE is a PG product, parents are obviously watching with their kids. How do they explain a death-related storyline to their kids? I'm not going to harp here and say how it's bad for kids, but I do wonder how I would react if my future kid, if he or she goes crazy like I did and enjoys this stuff of course, asked a question about how the Undertaker died. Or for that matter, why he's living again a few months later when he comes back. Picky? Sure, but it's something I'm sure others would think about themselves if they were in that situation.

Kane had a good acting performance in this latest Undertaker death. What's amusing is that again, it's happened before and this probably won't be the last time. It's difficult to put ourselves in the mind of an 8 year old watching on a weekly basis. Maybe there would be laughter, or maybe some questions. I think my direction to resolve those questions would be somewhat jokingly, depending on the age of the child in question. Wrestling is what it is.

The pros from these type of angles is that it causes a bit of chatter that waves through fans, whether it's positive or negative. What isn't so baffling about angles like this are that they definitely create a bit of intrigue and they give somewhat forgotten talent like Kane a purpose. It puts them in a bit of a spotlight. This also gives a purpose to setup an angle for the Undertaker's return. But once again it brings up the question of HOW can this be explained to younger fans? We all know kayfabe is pretty much dead, if not entirely dead. Is it treated as a joke? As in, it's just what wrestling does? Or is it something that should be treated more seriously? As a parent those would just be one of many things to ponder, but personally if I were in that situation, I again, wouldn't stress to much. It IS just wrestling after all.

Wrestling many times gets a pass on certain subjects, yet to over-use angles such as someone dying or having a live funeral on a wrestling show comes off a bit... Out of place. Granted there are outs, such as Vince McMahon coming out after the tragedies of the Benoit family. I'm sure in the case of the Undertaker and Kane, it'll be worked out and not thought of down the line as a historical point in wrestling storytelling. Yet I believe that something wrestling has lacked recently is originality. It's a shame, but as I'm sure many realize by now, wrestling has forever changed, and even despite the negatives it's still entertaining. At least for this Common Fan.

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