Internet Backdraft/Professional Wrestling

• Any debate on whether Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair was the greatest wrestler of all time.
  • Stone Cold Steve Austin has crept into that debate as well, mostly on the strength of a comment made by Flair himself at his own Hall of Fame induction.
  • And fans of old-school or foreign wrestling might throw Lou Thesz, Rikidozan, and El Santo into the mix.
  • And the "pure wrestling" fans might throw Bret Hart's name in, as well. They used to throw in Chris Benoit, but... well... just see below.
• In any Professional Wrestling forum, the general subject of the Montreal Screwjob can generally be brought up with relative civility, but never mention whether you take Vince's side or Bret's side. You won't like the results.
• Another wrestling example is the Elephant in the Living Room: Steroids. Any mention of the S word is likely to touch off a long and bloody flamewar, not over whether they're being used (because it's simply generally accepted that they are, to one degree or another), but whether they're always harmful or can be helpful if used properly, whether Roid Rage is a real phenomenon, whether entertainment companies running a fake sport are obligated to, or even have a right to, screen for them, whether there are bigger problems (the two most common that become embroiled in this mess are painkiller abuse and concussions), etc.
  • Another Elephant in the Living Room: the "f" word. Fake. Mention either that wrestling is "fake," or that it isn't, but as long as you use that word you'll have more than enough flames to roast marshmallows over.
  • It's less steroids nowadays and more about drugs and pills. Accuse any wrestler of abusing either (or often both) and you'll have a raging inferno in no time.
• Also, the legacy of Chris Benoit is another sticking point among wrestling fans. Massive flame wars have been waged between fans who believe Benoit's murder of his wife and child invalidates anything he's ever done in the ring and everyone should burn their videos of Benoit's matches in a massive bonfire and pretend he never existed, and fans who think Benoit doing cool suplexes on TV invalidates his brutal murder of a woman and child and everyone should pretend that it never happened. Even those who decide on a reasonable medium between the two are still thrown by whether he should be inducted in the hall of fame, how his brains-state affected the situation, or how the WWE should address featuring him in future compilation videos.
  • And then you have the conspiracy theorists, who still claim someone else did the murders.
  • It's calmed down a lot in recent years, one can easily bring up the Benoit double-murder suicide in general discussion with civility mostly intact. Just don't take a hard-line side on the issue or all the ugliness will come back.
• It's not a wise idea to bring up Jeff Hardy anywhere in the IWC unless you are ready for the consequences. You'll get people who think he is a highly entertaining wrestler who is popular and puts forth energetic matches. Then along get the people who say he's a painted-up spot monkey who flips around with no technical skill or style. Then those two fight for a bit until someone comes in who says Jeff Hardy is a drug addict which invalidates everything he has ever accomplished. This has gotten infinitely worse since he won the WWE Championship because so many people have very extreme opinions on it. There are people that say he can't draw and his skills don't deserve titles, then you'll have people who say he's popular and entertaining thus he deserves a title. Then the "he's a drug addict" people come back into the picture and it's flame-war all over again.
  • Jeff's brother Matt Hardy is also a popular flame war topic, though for entirely different reasons. This stems from his conduct during the Lita / Edge debacle.
  • And now that Jeff's been arrested on drug-related charges, it's come down between people who support him and think he's innocent and people who think he had this coming for a long time and should go to jail.
• When it comes to the Wrestlecrap forums, start up a thread about Mickie James' weight issues, grab a GIF of Michael Jackson eating popcorn, and watch how far the thread goes long after the issue's been resolved.
  • And this is where the Double Standard kicks in at said forums; Michelle McCool has been derisively called "McRibs" due to the real-life weight issues she went through.
• Create a topic about Triple H or John Cena. Then, just sit there and watch.
  • Rey Mysterio, Jr. and his status as a Main Eventer is also another hot topic.
  • On a similar note, bring up the PG Era. You'll get enough nutcases to fill an insane asylum.
• If Over the Edge 1999 should have been continued after Owen Hart's death. There are those that say the event should have been cancelled after the tragedy out of respect and to help the locker room grieve. Then there are those that say this would have been logistically impossible to clear out an arena and explain to paying customers when they can collect a refund. The only thing both sides agree on is that it was a damn hard call for Vince McMahon to make.
• Do NOT Criticize CM Punk. Do NOT imply that a Smart Mark will make excuses for his behavior when they would NOT do it for someone else who did something similar (ie : Michael Cole). Just DON'T. You won't survive the next hour.
• The Undertaker's winning streak can cause some pretty massive debates on some wrestling forums. There are those that feel it should end because it results in a older star taking the spotlight away from the new blood on the roster, or that it could help push a new guy into superstardom, or simply because Taker just isn't used that much outside of Wresltemania anymore due to his injuries and that he should just step down and retire. Those that support it point out that the Streak matches are some of the, if THE biggest draws of the event, it's a testament to the man's legacy, and that if it was broken, no man or corporation could reliably handle the controversy and aftermath. THEN you've got the arguments about WHO should challenge the Streak. It just goes on, and on, and on... Just spare the thought of the guy who just that. You can image the reactions witnessed had.
• Either criticize or praise TNA in any way, shape or form. For bonus points, compare WWE and TNA to each other. That'll really cause some fireworks. The vast majority of wrestling fans, will quite possibly verbally assassinate TNA, to be honest, but TNA's few defenders are much louder, and will literally explode with far more flaming and profanity-laced nuclear explosion-sized screaming ranting and raving to more than make up for their smaller numbers. Much in the same way you can expect to deal with Twilight fans when criticizing Meyer's literary ability.
• Also, bring up CZW on either the Botchamania.com site, the forum, or any of Maffew's channels.
• Criticize John Cena where a WWE fan younger than 14 can see it. Prepare for butt-hurt. Conversely, praise him in a room full of smarks. That might be the only thing worse.
• Mention ECW anywhere at all, and then prepare yourself for the responses either way, after you clarify which ECW you meant. if it's classic ECW then either Vince ruined it, stole all of Heyman's ideas and ECW was the counter-culture re-invention of wrestling to shape the second golden age of the business that gave the mainstream world Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Jr. and put wrestling directly into the 90's hip grungy, socially relevant second coming OR it was always trash wrestling with blood, guts, trash can lids and drunken hacks that couldn't do anything aside from bleed. And if it the "new" ECW, it was either a revival of a brand that brought ECW in to the big time that created new stars and a fresh alternative to Raw and Smackdown, or it was Vince McMahon screwing Heyman over, spitting ECW in the face, and wringing the name out for a quick buck.
• On that note: Hardcore wrestling in general. Some feel that it's nothing more than glorified stuntmen hitting each other with random objects with no story to be told aside from exploitation for the crowd to gawk at. Mention being a fan of XPW, CZW, or IWA:Mid South then get ready to be lynched. Others think it's a great way for really brutal and personal feuds to be settled with some wrestlers squeezing incredible drama out of the hardcore style. In addition: be very careful how and where you use the term "garbage wrestling". Some take it as a term of endearment while others see it as a knock on the hardcore style of wrestling.
• Lately, another hot topic has been unprotected chair shots to the head during matches (where wrestlers intentionally do not raise their arms to absorb some of the blow). Even since the Chris Benoit tragedy and the revelation that Benoit had serious brain damage this has been just one big flamewar. One side believes they should be banned because of the dangers of head injury and brain damage. The other side believes that they are no more dangerous than any other move or bump in wrestling. This usually goes hand-in-hand with the criticisms of hardcore wrestling and the flame-wars they cause.
• Vince Russo used to get nuclear heat from internet fans. Some of it has died down over the years but you can still expect some Smarks to start foaming at the mouth if you bring up the Oklahoma character or David Arquette winning the WCW championship.