Anti-Smark

Scott – This subject has been discussed from time to time on the blog, but I’d like to get your take on it: how exactly did this whole "anti-smark" mentality that is currently infiltrating the internet come about? Do you think it’s a psychological reaction to the Benoit tragedy, or is there another cause? I’ve been around the so-called "IWC" for quite some time now (fifteen years), and even though there were always been those who questioned Meltzer’s journalistic credibility or had differing opinions about what makes for a good match, I’ve never seen this kind of vehemence, disdain and outright hostility towards certain targets until the last few years or so. Is it just anonymity of the internet that makes people so emboldened and devoid of common decency and respect? And I don’t think it’s mere trolling, although there are those who fit into that category. Rather, it feels more like a wholesale rejection of anything that even remotely "smarkish". Your thoughts?

It’s probably just the usual “reject the status quo” thing that happens when people decide what’s cool and what’s not.  I haven’t noticed a whole lot of it myself, but then I live in a pretty insulated bubble on the internet anyway.  I still reject the notion that there’s any kind of coherent “internet wrestling community” in the first place, though, given how divided and downright hateful most viewpoints are.