Fae
@Fae

Would pro wrestling still be a thing in a communist utopia?


vogon
@vogon

a thing my friend @ietyler likes to say is that pro wrestling is america's only profitable performance art, and I keep that one around in my back pocket for whenever I need to think about wrestling

in short I think people would still want to tell stories in the medium of pro wrestling -- there's still an appeal to big meaty men slapping meat and the campiest, most caricatured storytelling in the world -- but obviously a lot of the particulars would be unrecognizable; The Business as an entity that interacts with in-ring storytelling is a huge part of pro wrestling under capitalism and the structure of that would shift dramatically

it's fun to imagine a world where the last bastion of private enterprise is fake entities that get propped up in kayfabe as a plot point


belarius
@belarius

"I can't believe what we're seeing here tonight folks! Jackson has destroyed The Ploughshare with his signature move, Facts And Logic!"


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in reply to @Fae's post:

I think the set up and storytelling of pro wrestling is so universal that you could do it under any type of society. It is theater.
Under a more ecological society you might have less, you know, wasteful uses of pyrotechnics and stuff, but I'm sure alternatives could be found.

in reply to @vogon's post:

I also suspect there would be a general trend away from the american heavyweight style of pro wrestling as people stopped open-secretly using performance-enhancing drugs to get huge to stand out among a crowd of prospects, and the overall pace of the "sport" would need to adapt to people no longer having to work hurt at pain of being dropped from their contract, which would be unambiguously good for wrestling and wrestlers

I think that wouldn't even require a communist utopia, just unions! I can't really think of any industries where workers would choose, uncoerced, to use up their bodies in the short term, destroying any hope of either longevity in their career or long-term quality of life, for the benefit of managers whose bodies aren't on the line.

absolutely! they've tried to unionize in the past as well, even, but had the drive busted by their fellow employees who thought they had the star power to escape being exploited by the management.

idk that the statement “pro wrestling is america’s only profitable performance art” is true. drag is huuuge. maybe only ru Paul’s drag race, but that still counts if WWE and other such leagues count for wrestling. your average local pro wrestling outfit is definitely not making a lot of money.