Monday, September 29, 2014
Wild man
Wild man is an interesting tale told throughout Professional Wrestling. All other matches, that I know of, have been human on human and the match is usually fixed before it even begins. However, you can't always fix a match with a bear. Even trained animals do things out of character sometimes. Maybe that's what gave fame to Wildman. His matches were seen as being more unpredictable and adventurous. If it was me, I don't think I would want to see a man wrestle a bear. It seems like the odds of the guy getting hurt would be too great for me to want to watch. Maybe that's why some people paid to see the show. It's like NASCAR, to me. All of my friends who like NASCAR, and that's a VERY small percentage, say that they like watching the cars go around and around for the chance of a wreck. It seems only human to watch horrific accidents, for some odd reason. Maybe that's what people were hoping for when the bought tickets to see the Wild Man
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2 comments:
It's interesting...to what degree did people want to see someone get mauled by a bear? I get the sense from some of the drunks ready to fight the bear depicted in the story that there were probably plenty of them who were attracted by the possibility that there could be bedlam. But I get the sense that even more came out of what I've often heard described in response to carnival impresario P.T. Barnum--They knew what they were going to see sounded too impossible to be true, and they came not to see someone mauled but rather to marvel at how it was done. How could someone wrestle a bear and come out alive? It's that wink and a nod...You know it's a show, you're aware you're suspending disbelief, but damn...how do you fake fighting a bear?
I don't really remember the crowd's reaction, but I bet they weren't very happy when Ginger refused to work and just rolled over on the mat. They were probably more angry and/or disappointed than relieved, which is funny. They should have been happy that no one was hurt, but they wanted to see... what? Someone seriously injured? Someone die? If I were the Wildman, I would be afraid to put a bear in the ring again after the Accident, especially with just some random hillbilly who thinks he has what it takes to beat a bear. What if something DID happen in the ring-- if a local boy died facing a bear? The spectators would not be satisfied, they would be appalled and outraged! They would probably demand that the animal be put down. What is it that they want, then? Just some blood? Just someone passing out? Just a little violence? It's a fine line to walk, and it's a line I wouldn't want to be near.
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