  Sparty06 Member Username: Sparty06 Post Number: 6 Registered: 03-2007 |
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04 /04/arts/television/04mania.ht ml?pagewanted=1 Flashy Wrestling Shows Grab the World by the Neck and Flex By SETH SCHIESEL DETROIT, April 3 — Quick, name the biggest events in global pop culture during the last week. College basketball’s Final Four? Hoops makes for nice water-cooler talk in the United States, but do you think Florida vs. Ohio State was news in Japan? Hardly. And the start of the baseball season gets Americans excited, but did thousands of Europeans fly over to watch the Rockies play the Diamondbacks? Uh, no. Meanwhile, the eyes and wallets of millions around the world were fixed on this unglamorous city for what is becoming a star-studded entertainment happening: WrestleMania. On Sunday 80,103 people from 24 countries and 50 states packed the cavernous Ford Field stadium here while the program was delivered via satellite to 110 countries. Two decades after stars like Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter propelled professional wrestling from the dank beer halls of its infancy onto screens around the globe, this smorgasbord of hairspray, cleavage and monster body slams remains as popular as ever, even if it usually escapes the notice of coastal tastemakers. In recent years World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., the company based in Stamford, Conn., that dominates the pastime, has turned pro wrestling into a sort of modern-day Chautauqua, a perpetual traveling roadshow that crisscrosses the nation while broadcasting from packed arenas 52 weeks a year. Every year more than two million fans pass through W.W.E. turnstiles worldwide. Every week, wrestling shows attract more than 15 million television viewers, making them a fixture among the top-rated cable programs. Yet WrestleMania remains the pinnacle. An annual event that began at Madison Square Garden in 1985, WrestleMania is now an almost weeklong celebration of everything wrestling, from a black-tie induction into the W.W.E. Hall of Fame to Aretha Franklin singing “America the Beautiful” before the final night’s matches. No wrestler is a true star until performing at WrestleMania (yes, the fights are scripted), and any true fan must make the pilgrimage at least once. Here are some voices and scenes from a profoundly American event that now speaks to a global audience. Wednesday, March 28 The final round of hype begins not in Detroit but at the Trump World Tower in Midtown Manhattan, where thousands of fans mob the atrium, hanging off at least four levels of escalators to watch a noon “press conference” at which no questions are taken. The big twist at WrestleMania 23 is that Donald Trump will face off against Vince McMahon, the W.W.E. chairman, via proxies in Detroit in a “Hair vs. Hair” match, which means the winner shaves the head of the loser. Mr. Trump’s champion is Bobby Lashley, an affable former all-American in (real) wrestling. Mr. McMahon is represented by Umaga, a wild-haired Samoan with tattoos covering his face. Mr. Lashley’s slogan is “I’m living my dream.” Umaga alternately growls and bellows incoherently over a pounding soundtrack of tribal drums. There is no confusion about who the good guy is. That night, in a bar in the Greektown neighborhood of Detroit, Ray Paige, 51, a local lawyer, explains why even in the town that produced Joe Louis and Thomas Hearns, wrestling has become more popular than boxing. “They have marketed the product better in terms of providing a morality-based story line,” Mr. Paige says. “Kids like good guys, and wrestling provides them. Boxing doesn’t.” Thursday, March 29 Around 6 p.m. hundreds of fans throng the sidewalk for blocks down the street from the Gem Theater in Detroit. THQ, a big video game publisher, is holding the Superstar Challenge to promote its SmackDown vs. Raw game franchise, which has sold more than 30 million copies since 2000. The doors won’t open for another hour, but fans hoping to watch wrestlers play the video game started lining up around 2 p.m. Fourth in line is Jon Palmar, a tall, thin 18-year-old with a spiky haircut who is soon to graduate from high school in Miami. As an early graduation present, his family paid $750 for a seventh-row ticket to WrestleMania, and he has personally paid a scalper $100 for a ticket with a face value of $18 to this THQ event. “It’s the combination of the athleticism, the showmanship and the stories that just hooks you,” he says. “And I want to become a wrestler myself. You know, some steroids and I’ll be able to do it.” Is he serious about the steroids? “To accomplish my dreams I’m willing to do whatever it takes,” he says. Inside, an up-and-coming wrestling star called C. M. Punk has “Drug Free” tattooed across his fingers. “Wrestlers, even more so than athletes in the N.F.L., the N.B.A. or baseball, we’re closer to being superheroes to a lot of people, especially kids,” he says. “Look at me: I’m covered in tattoos, and you might not think just by appearance I’m a good role model. But I don’t do drugs, I’m straight, I abstain from all that stuff, and it’s the perfect ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover,’ and I think a lot of people can relate to that.” Friday, March 30 The W.W.E. has rented the Fox Theater, a 1920s movie palace, for the world premiere of “The Condemned,” an action-adventure film starring the hulking wrestler known as Stone Cold Steve Austin. Before it starts, Nigel Doughty, 26, an accountant from Manchester, England, explains why he and a friend each paid $1,400 for a platinum WrestleMania travel package. “For a wrestling fan this is the World Cup, the Super Bowl, the World Series all in one,” he says. “We had to save up for 18 months to be able to get here, but from the first day I started watching years ago I was like, ‘One day I’ll make it to WrestleMania,’ so this is a lifelong dream come true.” What makes wrestling so compelling? “As a kid watching wrestling it’s about the costumes and colors,” he says, “but as you get older it becomes about the story lines and the characters. It really is a soap opera for men.” Saturday, March 31 It is shortly after noon at Midday Madness 3, a chance for fans to get autographs and have their pictures taken with W.W.E. stars. In the line that winds through a hotel lobby, Jackie Fairbairn and Rebecca Richards, both 22, stand out in their “Aussie WWE Divas” T-shirts. These women from Sydney, Australia, are accompanied by other members of their international fan crew, Tim Wood, 23, of Nottingham, England, and Kim Mattson, 24, who works at an investment firm in Norwalk, Conn. “I met Tim at WrestleMania 21 in Los Angeles, and we met the Australian girls at WrestleMania 22 last year in Chicago,” Ms. Mattson says. Now they stay in touch through e-mail messages and get together at least once a year. “Meeting these guys is more important than the actual show now,” Mr. Wood says. “It’s like a social occasion with friends from all over the world.” And like the Deadheads who followed the Grateful Dead, the crew is hitting the road after WrestleMania. “We’re going to ‘Raw’ in Dayton, Ohio, on Monday, and then we’ll be in Fort Wayne on Tuesday for ‘SmackDown,’ and then we’ll be back in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on April 9 for ‘Raw,’ ” Ms. Mattson explains, referring to various W.W.E. series. “Really the show never stops.” Sunday, April 1 The big night is finally here. An hour before doors open, thousands crowd the stadium loading dock, hoping for a glimpse of the stars. Inside, the physical production puts even the biggest rock concerts to shame. A stage and proscenium the height of a small office tower loom over the west end of the stadium, feeding a runway to the ring in the center of the floor. Randall Godfrey, 33, middle linebacker for the San Diego Chargers, is sitting just a few rows from the ring. “Wrestling is definitely more punishing than playing football,” he says. “I mean, we wear pads. They don’t. Football is hard, but it can’t compare to the physical punishment these guys take in the ring.” Before the hair showdown, the biggest match is a heavyweight title fight between Batista and the Undertaker, an immense, legendary figure who has a 14-0 record at WrestleMania. From the very last row of the very highest tier of the stadium, each wrestler is the size of a fingernail held at arm’s length. But John Berkeypile Jr., 13, from Jackson, Mich., barely glances at the huge video screens by the stage. Standing on his chair, his eyes glued to the Lilliputian figures in the ring, he delivers a running commentary as he cheers on “ ’Taker.” “ ’Taker’s doing a little old-school, coming off the ropes,” cries John Jr., who is at WrestleMania with his father. “Here comes the leg drop, now trying a choke-slam, but Batista gets out of it. Uh-oh, here comes another leg drop!” The Undertaker ends up defending his WrestleMania record as he pile-drives Batista on his head. And then, to the surprise of few, Mr. Lashley defeats the ogrelike Umaga in the hair match. Mr. McMahon hams up his defeat, cringing and wailing suitably as Mr. Trump shaves his head. Stone Cold Steve Austin is the guest referee. In keeping with his slogan — “Arrive. Raise hell. Leave.” — he decks Mr. Trump on his way out, just because. After all, it’s WrestleMania. On Monday World Wrestling Entertainment presents “Raw” at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Conn.; on Tuesday it presents “SmackDown” and “ECW” at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, R.I. |
