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Yesterday, I was listening to Bully and Dave on Busted Open Radio talk about spoilers and rumors as they relate to pro wrestling. The question they posed was, “do you like reading spoilers about your favorite wrestlers or possible appearances?” My answer to that is a resounding NO!
Dirt Sheets/Spoilers are bad for business
The reason I don’t like to read this type of information is two-fold. One, as Bully put it several weeks ago, and as I think I’ve stated before, I like my wrestling to surprise me.
My husband and I talk often about the fact that at this point in our lives, there are very few things that can be actual surprises. Finding out the gender of a child: surprise. Being thrown a party: possibly a surprise. I can’t think of too many more things. So, for me, the idea of knowing who might be a surprise entrant for the Royal Rumble ahead of time spoils the whole idea of what the intention is supposed to be. If you were meant to know who was coming out ahead of time, you’d know. And if you are meant to be surprised by that person, why would you cheat yourself out of that reaction?
So what’s so bad about not being surprised?
Second, you could possibly ruin the natural reaction you would have of being surprised by having early knowledge of it, and “expecting” it. For example, if you knew ahead of time that Daniel Bryan could be a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble, then would you have “popped” just a little bit less knowing that? I think you would. But to be actually surprised by that would have been a priceless reaction.
Good to be informed, but not at the expense of the show
The discussion yesterday was in regards to Jericho showing up at a New Japan show and attacking Naito. According to news reports from all different sources (Mirror ,CBS Sports) it was being reported that Chris was in Japan. From this, a lot of people concluded that Jericho would be showing up to do just what he did, and possibly, ruined it for some fans. The biggest issue with this information was that it wasn’t like you had to go out and seek out the information. It was reported on national news outlets front pages! Now, I know there are some times when fans want to know about goings-on in the world of wrestling.
So when do you want to know?
News and events, or when my husband looks up Vegas odds is partly understandable. Though, in my mind, this is still spoiling things to a point. Allowing expectations of who the winner will be or who entrants will be to be known ahead of time would ruin some reactions for me. And, it might even give me a sense of, “oh, I knew that,” even if you never really truly know. You feel that you have an idea of what will happen based on the knowledge of these “experts.” I will admit though, even if the odds are based on statistical probabilities for a pre-determined ending, it is still interesting to know that they exist.
In my mind, looking up rumors and other information to have a sense of pre-match knowledge or to “spoil” it for others is just wrong. I will always, however, condone guessing when it comes to wrestling. For example, who’s going to come out and save John Cena at WrestleMania? “I bet it’s the Rock.” (The Rock’s music drops). You’re welcome.
