WWF's Attitude Era as Deconstructionist Wrestling

[malelesbian]

what was the austin vs mcmahon story? a solid no nonsense working class lad against the cruel boss in a suit? i didn't have sky so i could only watch wrestling when it was on channel 4 or when my mate over the road would agree to tape it for me

Your summary is basically accurate. At the climax, Austin sprays McMahon with a beer hose, and then becomes CEO of the company briefly and dumps bullshit in McMahon's office.

What's worth noting though is that basically nothing on American TV at the time was so explicitly anti-corporate.

 

[shakahislop]

That same judgement would then apply to all WWE, thus it would be pointless to revive any part of WWE's history.

yes probably it would be pointless

 

[Mr. Tea]

Dunno if I'm reading this correctly, but the guy who thinks "phallic culture" is a) a thing and b) really bad is also a WWE superfan?

Or is the idea that it's great precisely because it's ridiculous, a self-parody, whatever?

 

[Slothrop]

There was a Vittles piece a while back pitching Salt Bae / Nusr-et as instigating the "Attitude Era of restaurants". The full thing is subscriber only but this is basically the crux:

When Stone Cold Steve Austin gave his instantly memeable ‘Austin 3:16’ speech in 1996, he kicked off what was to become known as The Attitude Era of WWF, the golden age of modern wrestling. The speech, which includes the immortal line, “Talk about your Psalms, talk about John 3:16... Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!”, became a selling point for the new regime. The storylines were ratcheted up, but the whole franchise relied on the same things being repeated again and again: Stone Cold would use the Austin 3:16 line, The Rock would call someone a jabroni, the same moves would happen over and over. The wrestlers essentially became the first real-life memes.

When critics try to pan Salt Bae they do not realise that he is a wrestler in a city of boxers. When they say that his steak isn’t as good as *insert steakhouse here*, or criticise his sourcing, or complain that gold leaf tastes like nothing, they sound like the nerds who would watch The Rock People’s Elbowing a pantsless Vince McMahon and conspiratorially whisper “it’s fake, you know”. Salt Bae knows precisely what his audience wants and is giving it to them many times over – the drama of his entrance, the pause to allow everyone to whip out their phones, the ‘Wow’ growled after a burger is cut in two.

 

[Slothrop]

There's also an observation on the undeniable comedy genius of charging £50 for a cappuccino while offering free Turkish Tea, but that's drifting off topic.

 

[malelesbian]

yes probably it would be pointless

Then I'll just revive Dusty vs Flair instead! That was an NWA feud! Muhahahaha

Dunno if I'm reading this correctly, but the guy who thinks "phallic culture" is a) a thing and b) really bad is also a WWE superfan?

Or is the idea that it's great precisely because it's ridiculous, a self-parody, whatever?

First off, Chyna is probably the closest we got to an anti-phallic wrestler in the WWE up until Asuka came out, but she's another story. In wrestling, toxic masculinity is the exception rather than the rule, but there are exceptions.

Second, I am no WWE superfan. I grew up watching Smackdown, but since I rediscovered wrestling as an adult, WWE rates low on my list of good wrestling promotions. I like NWA territory wrestling and Joshi, Japanese women's wrestling. NWA wrestling had a ton of sexism, yes, but even then there would be some progressive angles. Again, Dusty Rhodes delves into feminist elements in his interactions with Baby Doll. And Joshi is anti-phallic culture par excellence.

But I'm postmodernist, so I like wrestling both as an ironic self-parody and a serious artform. It's hyperreal, both real and fake at the same time.

 

[Mr. Tea]

Then I'll just revive Dusty vs Flair instead! That was an NWA feud! Muhahahaha


First off, Chyna is probably the closest we got to an anti-phallic wrestler in the WWE up until Asuka came out, but she's another story. In wrestling, toxic masculinity is the exception rather than the rule, but there are exceptions.

Second, I am no WWE superfan. I grew up watching Smackdown, but since I rediscovered wrestling as an adult, WWE rates low on my list of good wrestling promotions. I like NWA territory wrestling and Joshi, Japanese women's wrestling. NWA wrestling had a ton of sexism, yes, but even then there would be some progressive angles. Again, Dusty Rhodes delves into feminist elements in his interactions with Baby Doll. And Joshi is anti-phallic culture par excellence.

But I'm postmodernist, so I like wrestling both as an ironic self-parody and a serious artform. It's hyperreal, both real and fake at the same time.

OK, this is actually a nuanced position that I can see some merit in.

(BTW, I know nothing about pro-wrestling, or entertainment wrestling, or wrestling theatre, or whatever you call the phenomenon in general, so I was using 'WWE' as a synecdoche for the whole thing, rather than to refer to the WWE brand/franchise in particular.)