The manipulator or the manipulated?
By Scott Keith on May 16, 2023
When it comes to the creative arts, I'm of the mind that artists should adhere to the philosophy of “don't give the people what they want; make the people want what you give them.” To what extent is that approach truly viable in wrestling? Ideally, promoters
would want to get fans to rally behind the people they wanted to push in the first place, but how much harder is that in a business where there's practically instant feedback – in terms of both crowd reactions and box office – to your efforts? A related question
is if a course correction in response to fan reaction is successful, is there a slightly bitter taste in the promoter's mouths, that ever-so-subtle tang of failure that they couldn't induce the audience to back their chosen horse and had to give in to the
mass?
Obviously, this all applies more to bygone days of wrestling and not so much the modern-day “the brand is the draw” mentality.
You have to be the manipulator and show those stupid mark fans that you're smarter than them. That's the only way to draw money. If Vince McMahon just went out and had Hulk Hogan win the World title from Iron Sheik on his first try, the run would have been a flop. You need to make the fans really want it first.
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