The politcs of pro wrestling

Politics are more of a work than pro wrestling, and they are more profitable, too.

It goes without saying that when there is a puppet master, or booker to pull the strings in sports entertainment, very similar to any other aspect of life, nepotism and politics will play a role. The American political landscape over the past several years has resembled a Royal Rumble or a dumpster fire at various points, depending on your perspective. Five or six years ago, Lavie Margolin sent me a copy of his book, "Trumpamania" to review for this column. It was a nonpartisan look at the WWE Celebrity Wing Hall of Famer's history with Vince McMahon and how the narrative of pro wrestling was weaved into much of his political jargon. The book is a solid pick up for those that don't know the details behind the early dealings Vince had with Trump, and more specifically how the WWE was rewarded for its loyalty to him when Linda McMahon was granted a seat in his cabinet. Those pages had nothing ground-break, but again, worth the read for those that don't know how the association began in the 80s. 

It goes without saying that there are similarities between professional wrestling and American politics, because they are essentially based on the same thing, the ability to use human psychology to elicit an emotion with the goal to draw money. Within their respective narratives, sports entertainment casts a hero and a villain, and if the heel triumphs, what does that mean for the fate of the wrestling championship? In the very same way, politicians, especially the vast majority that are masters of the double talk, will paint their opponents in the most vile light possible, if the other side wins, the fate of the country is doomed. Pro wrestling fans must flock to the box office to support their hero to victory so that the foreign menace doesn't take the title away from the baby face, and supporters of a political party must donate to ensure the stability of the country. Isn't it ironic that the end game in both scenarios is how much money is brought in?

Even more ironic is that political campaigns take in hundreds of millions of dollars and somehow after election season is over, there's never a surplus of cash or a refund offered to those that donated for money that wasn't used after all the campaign costs were tabulated. There's never enough cash for what they need to run a campaign, but we're going to vote for one of these parties to run the country?

I follow politics, not because I have a vested interest in the outcome, but rather because I enjoy history and it's always interesting to see how key decisions impact the direction of the country or society as a whole. When it comes to the current political landscape, I use the late, legendary George Carlin theory, "when you're born, you get a ticket to the sideshow, but when you're born in American, you get a front row seat." Perhaps, it's because I've followed pro wrestling for as long as I can remember or that I've worked in the business on the local level in Pittsburgh as an announcer almost half my life, but I'm too skeptical to get emotionally invested in the ham-handed tactics used in American politics today. I've never bought a yard sign, a bumper sticker, a silly hat, or a t-shirt for a politician.

Still, the narrative of left vs. right and "the nation is at stake" has more or less consumed every facet of American life, especially within the past few years. If anyone wanted to save the tress, I'm sure a few rain forest were sacrificed for the amount of junk mail I've seen on an almost daily basis to promote a candidate. Because an extremely obtuse flyer in the mail is truly going to sway someone's vote, right?

With the shared traits that both genres have, it's not totally shocking that there was some crossover, but I have to say, I'm still  a little surprised how much pro wrestling is tipping its toe in the political waters. The simple reason is this, it's not good business to potentially sour half the audience, especially based on outside factors. When TKO management are calculating those big box office receipts for the latest pay-per-view, they don't care how many conservatives or how many liberals bought tickets, it's just about the cash. Sure, it's well-known that the WWE as a corporate commodity leans right, mostly because of Vince's well-known friendship with Trump, and Linda McMahon's two failed runs for Senate on the Republican ticket. However, the company hasn't publicly endorsed a political or let too much of it influence the on-screen product. Fans could still follow the WWE without a blatant dose of political drek.

As mentioned, the gap between the two is closing, as more of the pro wrestling industry sees an influx of political cannon fodder. Of course, we saw Hulk Hogan parade around on stage at the Republican National Convention like a clown and tear his shirt off at the age of 71, while proclaiming Trump to be his "hero." Stuff like that just makes me shake my head, not because of the political party associated, but because similar to many other aspects of the political landscape, it's low brow and embarrassing. However, make no mistake about it, Hogan was smart enough to see how lucrative the political game can be, and aligning himself with Trump just happened to coincide with the release of his "Real American Beer" so I think this is less of Hulk jumping into the political discourse and more of him being a shameless self promoter, which should surprise nobody.

It's almost as if just being involved in the political game can make someone millions of dollars, isn't it?

Alex Isenstadt of Politco reported that Donald Trump will be a guest on The Undertaker's podcast this week, which was another somewhat surprising tidbit, as The Undertaker is still very much involved with the WWE in an ambassador role with meet and greets for those expensive priority packages to major pay-per-views, and his one man show that often takes place in cities that hosts those major WWE events. It makes you wonder if or when there would be a tipping point where political leanings impact the audience's decision to support certain projects?

In truth, Trump does pro wrestling for politics, he embraces the role of a heel,and we all know that some fans loved to cheer the bad guys even in the kayfabe era. Sure, Trump uses scare tactics and rambles worse than The Ultimate Warrior in a promo after a night on the town in the 80s, but the guy works the crowd just like a sports entertainer. How often has it been said that perception is reality in pro wrestling? That's how you make a character believable and thus connect with the audience. It's no coincidence that Trump's rallies resemble pro wrestling crowds, he works them on the mic and allows them to response for the interaction to create the perception that he wants for his campaign. Trump gets on the mic and creates "bad guys" for his supports to rally against, and in many ways, as irresponsible as it might be, it works for his base. On the other side of the coin, his politician opponents can portray him as the big bag wolf, and a person will accept the version that that want to believe is true.

Kayfabe isn't gone yet.

Similar to anything else, I think the vast majority of this riffraff will fade from the pro wrestling landscape after the election is over, but it's fascinating to see the parallels between the two topics. The Rock spoke out against Trump during the insurrection attempt on January 6th, but that didn't stop Wrestlemania 40 for being one of the most lucrative events in WWE history when he was in the main event. Dave Bautista recently lambasted Trump during a talk show appearence, but his films are still going to do well at the box office. Trump's appearence on The Undertaker's podcast is probably nothing more than an attempt to secure a few more votes from the insecure "bro" demographic that associate machismo with loud engines and verbal drek that they couldn't possibly back up. Harley Race never had to tell anyone how tough he was.

It should be noted, and this goes for any political candidate that just because The Undertaker has Trump on his podcast, that doesn't mean that the real-life Mark Calaway with the absolute worst of the GOP stereotypes. It's important to note that he has a BSK tattoo as a sign of friendship with The Godfather, Yokozuna, and Savio Vega so it would be unfair to assuming the worst just based on Trump as a guest of his podcast.

Finally, too often the current political discourse resembles a softball team, everyone wants to pick a side, and someone with absolutely no knowledge or experience on the subject matter thinks that access to a Facebook page makes them qualified to offer an opinion. Make no mistake about it, one of the gifts that America offers is the right to express an opinion, but at the same time, that doesn't automatically mean that every opinion has value. Some yo-yo wearing a tin foil hat in North Dakota might think that the New World Order wasn't just a faction in the 90s, and will post that view publicly without any reasoning behind it. Unfortunately, I'm not going to win anyone over with my thoughts the dumpster fire of election season. No, the Mexicans aren't automatically bad people. No, the wall isn't going to get built even in the next four years. No, groceries shouldn't be this expensive and it continues to be ridiculous that nothing was done about it, Yes, people should be able to live their own lives privately and make their own decisions. Yes, Jeff Bezo should pay his fair share of taxes. Yes, the majority of the politicians are shady.