WWE vs UFC: The Missing Piece

WWE vs. UFC, some statistics....

More men watch UFC than WWE, 74.6% to 62.8%
More women watch WWE than UFC, 37.2% to 25.4%
A greater percentage of UFC's audience is Gen Y(18-29) & Gen X(30-44) than WWE, 36.5% & 37.1% to 29.1% & 35.8%
WWE's audience skews older than UFC's (a greater percentage of fans in the 45-64 & 65+ demographics than UFC)
A greater percentage of UFC's fans have attended/graduated from college or completed post-graduate work/degree
Of the 318.9 million people in the United States, 3.7% or 11.7 million are avid WWE fans compared to 5.1% or 16.3 million avid UFC fans.
According to WWE's investor's presentation on their corporate website, the largest percentage of their audience is 50+ years of age (37%) with 19% of their audience ages 2-17.

If you were going to summarize what you just read, you would draw the conclusion that UFC is a more testosterone-driven REAL SPORT that appeals primarily to YOUNG MEN. While WWE, or pro wrestling, is a COSMETIC ATHLETIC DRAMA that appeals to a MORE DIVERSE AUDIENCE.

The personalities and reputations of the people involved are dramatically different. UFC is made of up of ATHLETES. There are very few athletes who do or say anything controversial while carrying out their athletic endeavors. Even the more brash, demonstrative talkers like Chael Sonnen or Conor McGregor don't do much more than puff out their chests like boys in a high school hallway fight when it comes right down to it.

The only controversy that surrounds UFC are the things that take place outside of the performance arena: the PED scandals and Jon Jones' recent legal troubles as examples. Other than that, it's very easy to embrace an ATHLETE because when it comes time to market and promote a UFC event, you know what you're getting: a well-produced, sporting event in which athletes behave themselves by getting in the cage and fighting. It's the final scene of any beloved sports movie: legitimate athletes making the necessary sacrifices in order to achieve their goals. And many of these men and women are Olympians, All-Americans, or national heroes. People who are easy for the public to embrace.

In this way, UFC has virtually erased its auspicious beginnings when it was seen as barbaric and a bloodsport. It has polished its star to the point where it has become something that the public has not only accepted, but embraced.

By contrast, WWE is made up of PERFORMERS. There's a reason more pro wrestlers try ACTING than PROFESSIONAL SPORTS. When a UFC live event starts, you know what to expect: all of the talking is over, and the athletes are going to shut their mouths and compete. In a live WWE event however, you have NO IDEA what to expect. How many shows air live on TV? Not very many. And those that do typically do not have a very long run time and usually follow a very structured format. And almost never do the people responsible for the content of the show become part of the show. WWE Raw is a loosely-formatted three-hour live show that is never rehearsed and the people responsible for the content of the show are regularly part of the show. Do you see the difference?

Any live show is going to be inherently more risky for advertisers than a scripted show. But the risk involved with a WWE live product has to be considered greater by virtue of the nature of the product itself. One of the selling points of UFC is human interest. Fans are encouraged to get to know the athletes, view their story, and connect with them on social media. There are few boundaries when it comes to fan access in UFC. WWE, and wrestling in general, is still a business that is shrouded in mystery. Because the wrestlers are PLAYING A ROLE, there are often aspects of the performers' lives that THEY PURPOSELY DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT and will do their best NOT TO MENTION or even TRY TO COVER UP.

Pro wrestling, like UFC, has very auspicious roots. But whereas UFC has been able to shed its early less-favorable reputation, wrestling still maintains that cloud of suspicion that has hung over it since its creation. Pro wrestling has always fought the battle for legitimacy: whether it was trying to pass itself off as a legitimate sport in its early days, or trying to pass itself off as a legitimate big player in entertainment today. And the struggle is centered around the very nature of the business itself. Pro wrestling is and always has been A WORK. Wrestlers are carnival workers trying to get you to spend a dollar on the sideshow exhibit. They're trying to SELL the audience on an ILLUSION. It should go without saying that the UFC is completely different. A UFC fighter can endear himself to his audience by simply BEING HIMSELF. In most cases, a pro wrestler is trying to endear himself to his audience by being SOMEONE ELSE. This very fact alone immediately creates obstacles to fan interaction and therefore, fan investment. WWE is not going to put together a video package on Bray Wyatt's journey to the “big time” and encourage its fans to get to know him. Because that doesn't help to SELL THE ILLUSION. It actually achieves the OPPOSITE. Windham Lawrence Rotunda (Bray Wyatt's real name) might have a very compelling personal story that fans might really enjoy, but the nature of pro wrestling is in direct opposition to WWE sharing that story with its fans.

In this way, pro wrestling finds itself in a unique situation in entertainment. For whatever reason, fans of Breaking Bad can interact with Bryan Cranston at a live event or on social media, and are completely accepting of the fact that they are not interacting with Walter White, Cranston's character on the show. However, fans are less tolerant of the same type of interaction with pro wrestlers. The reason can only be wrestling's insistence on and success at SELLING THE ILLUSION that fans are so much more invested in these characters. For instance, fans are reminded every week when they watch Game of Thrones that they are watching Emilia Clarke PLAYING THE CHARACTER of Daenerys Targaryen. WWE has NEVER told its audience Dolph Ziggler's real name. But if every week during Raw's opening sequence fans read “Starring Nick Nemeth as Dolph Ziggler” this perception might change. While something so simple could help improve fan interaction, would it also SPOIL THE ILLUSION? It doesn't seem to affect the popularity of these other shows. And if pro wrestling is really just another form of entertainment, why not simply follow suit?

It almost seems silly that a million-dollar company like WWE would be failing at expanding its portfolio for no reason other than a misguided determination to hang onto its archaic carny methods of doing business, but right now wrestling seems truly STUCK. While WWE has succeeded in polishing its product to the point of having overdone it, pro wrestling remains a sort of bastard in the entertainment industry. It's not likely that they will try to appeal to the coveted 18-34 year-old demographic by reverting to more risque storylines like they did in the 90s. But if the goal is to be accepted and be invited to sit at the “big kids' table” SOMETHING needs to change. WWE has often set the trends for the wrestling business and for a company so willing to drop certain traditions in the past, it seems odd that it would be one of those very traditions that has them so hung up. It's time to pull the curtain all the way back so to speak, and finally become an open book for the welfare of the entire industry. Right now, they're on the fence and the impression is that they're scared to abandon their “secret society” mentality. But hiding in the shadows has not helped them to achieve their goals. The performers deserve to be recognized as stars and not just nameless, faceless acts in ring leaderVince McMahon's circus. A new level of respectability needs to be achieved not only in the way wrestling presents its product, but in the way it does business with not just the public, but with its performers as well.

Perhaps that is what truly has Vince McMahon afraid. Right now he still wields the power of Oz. But to acknowledge that World Wrestling Entertainment is not merely his genius operation but also the result of the hard work and talent of dozens of highly trained professionals, he's reduced to merely a clever “wizard” with no true magic. Why would a man whose only goal in business has ever been success purposely prevent himself from it? The adage rings true: the only time a man doesn't want money, is when he wants something else. Wrestling fans all wondered why Vince didn't capitalize on the money that could have been made from the WCW Invasion angle or from the resurrection of ECW. Why indeed? It's not hard to piece together the truth and realize that Vince McMahon was after something else: the complete and utter burial of the two brands that dared to challenge him. Even at the expense of making himself more money. If that was true then, is it really a stretch to think that Vince McMahon, who has always had the final say and ultimate control over his product, might purposely be preventing the ONE THING that could help him to achieve his goal of mainstream acceptance of “sports entertainment” for no reason other than it would result in too much leverage for the performers not just in his company, but throughout the professional wrestling industry? Again, its not hard to piece to together.

Handsome Dan Lopez is the host of Handsome Dan's Final Say which you can listen to at wlwstudios.com. Follow him on Twitter @DansLastWord.

PULL UP A CHAIR

This post was inspired by a rather gruesome picture circulating on the internet of a "wrestler" with a replica of the Grand Canyon on top of his head thanks to a chair shot he received during a "wrestling match." In case you haven't seen it, here's a link to the Ring Wars Wrestling Facebook page where you can view it BUT BE WARNED, THE PHOTO IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART! It makes me a little nauseous and I'm a wrestling fan of thirty years who has seen a lot.

Anyhow, I figured this was as good a time as any to once again express my disdain for everything that is ECW and hardcore wrestling. I mention ECW specifically because it's the organization that really popularized hardcore wrestling in the United States. Sure, it was around for a long time before ECW was even conceived, in places like Puerto Rico and Memphis, but Extreme Championship Wrestling really took hardcore & high-spot wrestling "mainstream." And professional wrestling has never recovered.

Remember Chris Nowinski? Me neither. Truth is, I wasn't watching wrestling when he started making a push in the WWF in 2002 and 2003. He retired from wrestling at the age of 24 after suffering symptoms of post-concussion syndrome for over a year. After that he devoted himself to raising awareness about the dangers of concussions in contact sports, primarily football, but in wrestling as well.

My question is, since when do wrestlers get concussions? I realize there is a lot of high-impact involved in pro wrestling, especially these days, but when I was growing up, you never heard talk of concussions in wrestling. I'm sure it probably happened, but even when you read biographies of wrestlers who worked in that era or prior, you don't see it mentioned much from them either.

Sure, there was plenty of bloodletting from guys cutting themselves. You read about shoulder, arm, knee, leg, hip, back, and neck injuries. But talk about concussions is sparse. It isn't until the 90's when you start hearing that word become commonplace in discussions about injuries sustained in the ring.

Coincidentally, that's when "raising the bar" became the trendy thing to do. If Twitter had been around then, you probably would've had good ol' JR telling you to use #raisethebar during an episode of Monday Night Raw. But who spearheaded this revolution in which taking unprotected chair shots and integrating more kicks to the head and more high-impact moves that made it harder to protect yourself and your opponent the norm in professional wrestling?

That would be this guy.

I actually think it's hard to say that Paul Heyman is solely responsible. After all, the wrestlers who worked for him were all grown men (with the exception of Mass Transit that is) who chose to participate in this much more dangerous form of entertainment. And the fans certainly have to hold some accountability themselves as well, for relishing in these types of performances. And if it had stopped with them, then I would have a lot less to say about this subject.

The problem is it didn't stop with ECW. ECW closed its doors for good in April 2001. Fourteen years ago(WWE's revival of the brand doesn't count). And yet to this day there are still independent promotions that are trying to build off of that legacy. Wrestlers on every level are dropping like flies due to injury from moves that entered the mainstream of professional wrestling in that damn bingo hall in Philadelphia. Granted, the style of wrestling seen today was going to eventually become the norm anyway thanks to the "hybrid" style that wrestlers developed from working in several different places like Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Japan.

But for all of this flash and all of this risk, what's the true reward? What type of legacy are men like Daniel Bryan really building for themselves? Or how about Sami Zayn or Adrian Neville? Fans today still have great regard for legends of the past like Hulk Hogan, Randy "Macho Man" Savage, The Ultimate Warrior, and Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Did anyone of them take unprotected chair shots? Did any of them dive through the ropes to the arena floor? Will the people who are taking such risks today, either in WWE or for an independent promotion, be remembered in the same way as these legends? If it wasn't the risks they were taking, what was it about these performers that we all remember so fondly?

It was the way they captivated our hearts and our imaginations without resorting to such cheap tricks. I realize they all had their vices, but frankly any idiot can take a chair shot. In fact, if a bunch of out-of-shape hillbillies want to beat the shit out of each other strictly for the amusement of other out-of-shape hillbillies I say more power to them. Next time do the universe a favor and put a little more Oomph! behind that chair shot and finish the job!

But for those who truly have the talent and ability to perform and entertain, I regret that risk will always be part of the job. Thankfully, World Wrestling Entertainment has cracked down on the level of violence it allows. It just isn't necessary in order to tell a story in the ring. Now if only all wrestling promotions, WWE included, can be convinced that it's not so much WHAT takes place during their shows, but WHY. Then perhaps we can enjoy watching our favorites perform a little longer and in ways that will stick with us, not for the random sort of chaos and activity that causes a car wreck to stick with you, but for the sort of creativity, nuance, and ability to tap into the human emotion that cause our favorite stories to forever be etched in our subconscious minds, and bring a smile to our face when we recall them consciously.

Think about those moments that you will never forget and what made them so memorable. Certainly the action is tied to those memories. After all, it's professional wrestling. But I dare say the reason you hold onto those memories goes deeper than that. And that's the greatness of professional wrestling that I'm afraid too often is being substituted for with high spots. And there's not a promotion on ANY level that isn't guilty of this!

So rather than pulling up a chair to split another man's skull with, how about you take a seat and watch the pros of the past do more with glance than you could with a 450 splash?

I'm Handsome Dan, and you just read the last word.

["Handsome" Dan Lopez is a regular contributor to Ring Wars Facebook Page. Follow him on Twitter, @DansLastWord]