Bad fans

This is not the blog I had written to be posted tonight.  I had written a preview of SHIMMER this weekend.  That will get posted later this week.  But, after the events of today on Twitter, I wrote a new one.  

Every time the Female Fight Season comes around, I am constantly reminded of how bad some “fans” are.  I’m dedicating this blog to them.  Maybe you will recognize yourself as one of these bad fans or someone that you know.  If you find yourself relating to one of these, it might be time to re-evaluate how you show your interest in the sport.  For the sake of anonymity, I am going to refer to the bad fans as men, but some of my experiences are based on women. 

The Perv

We all know this guy.  He is the one making lewd comments or inappropriate jokes.  I have sat next to many Pervs at the various live events, I am sure we all have.  Understanding that some female wrestlers play up the sexy side of their character with provocative ring attire and sultry ring entrances, is it so hard to keep your gross comments to yourself?  Why can’t you comment on the electric chair drop instead of asking the offensive wrestler to not drop her so hard so she doesn’t hurt her pretty face?  This is the guy that usually is the only one to laugh at his own jokes.  He is the one to snap pics as the women get in the ring so he has a camera full of butt shots.  You are gross and you make me want to switch seats. Where to be on the lookout for The Perv: Live Events, Forums, and Social Media

Mr. Moneybags

This is the guy that feels a sense of entitlement to a wrestling promotion because he USED to give them money.  Maybe he bought merch from them or maybe he was a financial backer in helping to cover cost of some of the talent.  But guess what….you aren’t anymore.  So, cut the crap and stop ragging on EVERYTHING a promotion does.  It is incredibly annoying.  I can tell that you are very knowledgeable about wrestling, but it is hard to take you seriously when half of what comes out of your mouth is a dig.  The world would be a much better place if you would start to ignore the promotion that ticked you off and focus on the ones that you like.  Just because a promotion isn’t going in the direction that you prefer, doesn’t mean that it isn’t a place for women to get their name out there and start creating a fan base.   Where to be on the lookout for Mr. Moneybags: Forums and Social Media

Mr. Know-it-All

I have to be careful to not fall into this one.  Women’s wrestling is such a niche market, that it isn’t hard to be the most knowledgeable in your circle.  But there is a big difference in being the most knowledgeable and being a know-it-all that doesn’t know what he is talking about.  There are TONS of websites that report the results of mainstream and independent wrestling shows.  There are also numerous sites that report behind the scene news.  Make sure your news source is reputable if you plan to pass the information along.  We all played the game of telephone growing up.  It would be a shame if the actual story was of a wrestler firing her manager, but story you read and retold was that a wrester was fired from a company because she was sleeping with half of the male roster.  Another problem with this fan, since he is very knowledgeable about wrestling, he feels like his is the only right now.  Forget all of the people who attend the shows and  buy the merch.  He is the only one with a correct opinion.  Where to be on the lookout for Mr. Know-it-All: Live Events, Forums, and Social Media

Mr. If-It-Isn’t-WWE-It-Isn’t-Good-Enough

He can talk about how each match on every Wrestlemania, Summerslam, and Unforgiven went.  He can discuss, in detail, how good the roster was in 1997 and 2006.  But mention someone like Mercedes Martinez or Madison Eagles and he doesn’t have a clue.  He says it costs too much money to follow independent wrestling.  When you ask him about looking it up on youtube….his response is that it was more important to watch Santina Marella win the 25-Diva Battle Royal on Wrestlemania XXV for the 18^th time.  Mainstream wrestling has had a lot of really good women’s matches and it is really easy to watch and follow the ‘E.  But there is so much more out there that you would enjoy if you would just try.  Where to be on the lookout for Mr. If-It-Isn’t-WWE-It-Isn’t-Good-Enough: Forums and Social Media

Mr. Friend-of-a-Wrestler

This person is either going to be your best wrestilng fan friend or the one you despise the most.   It isn’t uncommon for this person to have the inside track on what is going on, but this person is also typically a bandwagon joiner and egotistical blogger.  Since he is friends with wrestlers, he must be better than all of us simple fans.   And goodness, you better believe he knows more about how a match should be booked than most….in some case, more than the actual booker.  One experience I had with this type of fan was at a live event.  One of his favorite wrestlers took the loss to a newcomer to the promotion.  His favorite doesn’t have the best W-L record, so he is already bitter.  But when this lose happened, he blew a gasket.  The trash talking on Twitter started and it was RIDICULOUS.  This type of fan also gets VERY bent out of shape if a wrestler picks a name that even remotely resembles an established wrestler.  Now, I’m not talking about the Jessie Kay/Jessie McKay type of resemblance.  This fan would throw a fit if a wrestler decided to use the name Cat Cruise. He would say there is already a Cat Power and already a Melanie Cruise.  Google the name you want to pick.  Yes, because googling Cat Cruise is going to return a page that tells the new wrestler that her name MIGHT get confused with 2 separate women.  Where to be on the lookout for Mr. Friend-of-a-Wrestler: EVERY live event, Forums, and Social Media.

The purpose of this blog isn’t completely to bash these fans.  It is more of a way to highlight that we have things we need to work out.  If you see yourself in one of these fan types, it might be good to try to reign yourself in a little.  Maybe back off on all of the cat calls to the women in spandex.  Maybe don’t flaunt that you are besties with 16 wrestlers quite so much.  Most of all, try to be positive about the fact that we are all fans of the same sport.  We are very small in numbers, so there is no need to be shady and ugly about it.