Posts Tagged “Monday Night Raw”
By Larry Oscar
Ever notice how election years really bring out the worst in the political clowns. For some strange reason politicians can really stir up the emotions in people. The entire scene reminds me of professional wrestling.
Not that there is anything wrong with professional wrestling mind you. After all a lot of good marketing ideas come from professional wrestling. There is always something in it for everybody. About 20 years ago I was watching TV and flipping through the channels when I landed on a show called Monday Night Raw. It was something to see. It was produced by what is known today as World Wrestling Entertainment, the WWE.
Back then it was known as the World Wrestling Federation, WWF. When I happened upon the show they were selling cans of “Whoop Ass” that contained a T-shirt that read “Austin 3:16” for $50 dollars a can. And just in case you didn’t have a place to sit, watch the show, and drink your beer, they had a plastic blow up chair on sale for $60.
Then this wrestler by the name of Stone Cold Steve Austin came out and trash talked Vince McMahon, the WWF owner, for about 20 minutes. When Vince had all he could stand he strutted down the ramp and climbed into the ring to confront his nemesis. After a few words were exchanged the microphone was dropped and Vince was on the receiving end of a “Stone Cold Stunner”.
This left him floundering on the mat like fish out of water. Then Stone Cold Steve Austin grabbed the microphone trash talked Vince to his face, and stomped out of the ring. The crowd went wild. The cameras scanned the crowd, which had completely packed a huge stadium with standing room only. There were young boys and girls, old men and women, and every age, race, and nationality of American society.
In the short time span of 30 minutes the WWF had united a highly diverse crowd of Americans and had them cheering on their feet. The people had homemade signs they were waving that supported their favorite wrestler. And not a single face in the crowd was protesting.
No, instead they were all smiling and having the time of their lives. I have been a fan of pro wrestling ever since. It has to be one of the best action packed trash talking soap operas around. I think pro wrestling is a model of marketing unparalleled since the days of Ron Popeil with his Veg-O-Matic and Pocket Fisherman.
You just have to marvel at how Americans respond to different things, and some people just have a gift for inspiration and entertainment that hits home with the American people. You can’t say that this year’s political scene has been much different than pro wrestling.
And I for one hope it continues to liven us up. We need a good laugh. For the past eight years we have had nothing but a stagnant economy, world religious turmoil, wars, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, terrorism attacks, and those fat butted Kardashians to put up with.
We deserve a good knock down drag out of an election. Maybe they could throw in a good law suit to spice things up like they did in 2000. What ever happened to David Boies and his hanging chad? They could put old Bill Clinton back in the spotlight. Maybe dress him up in drag and let him go after the transgender vote. Lord knows Hillary is as boring as a sack of hail damaged lard.
Nothing like a presidential election to make our enemies shake in their turbans and burkas. But don’t take any of this too seriously folks. After all, nothing could be any worse than what we have had for the past eight years. So just sit back and enjoy the show.
And, just in the nick of time, Budweiser has come out with a series of strangely flavored light beers. Now it just doesn’t get any better than that!
Larry Oscar is a graduate from the University of Tulsa and holds a degree in electrical engineering. He is retired and lives with his wife on a lake in Oklahoma where he brews his own beer, sails, and is a member of numerous clubs and organizations.