Is it truly bad to be a mark?

Question

In the wrestling business, you're either a non-fan, a casual fan, a mark, or a smark. Plain and simple, it's just like the "unknowing" vs. "the 1337!!!~!~!"

But for some reason people hate the marks (the people that love the bad, or overpushed, wrestlers, just because they're pushed and are what the WWE wants you to like). Then they go around stating that they're smarks (smart marks) that know more than what they should, and love the undercard people.

My big question is this, why do we hate marks so much, when marks are what basically keep the companies afloat? If there weren't marks marking out for Jeff Hardy and his infinitely bad style, or John Cena and his "I'm a White Black Guy!" attitude... where would the WWE really be?

Is it truly bad to be a mark?

Answer 1

Okay, first and foremost let me say that we're all marks.  Even if you're a smart mark (or smark) you're still a mark unless you have a job within the industry.

Now to the initial subject at hand; is it bad to be a mark? (i.e.-the derrogatory internet-given slang term for a naive fan)  No.  Sometimes I wish I were still a mark.  The internet has made wrestling fans entirely too jaded.  It's like figuring out a magician's tricks, or finding a movie script online before the movie's publically released, it's just not as fun knowing quote/unquote "everything."  In a way, I think we're all still marks to a degree.  If you think about it, we still only know what Vince McMahon lets us know.  Even if we can call an entire card's results, there are still factors that can come into play and change everything.  Even now, I look around and read the Orton conspiracies, 6 month old rumors of a Sid Vicious return, and guesses on if Shawn Michaels wife really took a punch from Jericho and I think to myself that we're not thinking outside of the box, we've just moved into a bigger one that we've ultimately created for ourselves.  We're still marks.

In closing, I'd like to say that to criticize any wrestler's work when you're not a wrestler is quite jaded of us as well.  I don't consider Jeff Hardy a bad wrestler.  To my knowledge he's never hurt anyone inside the ring while executing a move, and he gives everything he has to put on a good show.  His style may look unorthodoxed, but I wouldnt' say he's a sloppy worker.

If fans didn't buy into Cena's (no pun intended) rap, and felt too jilted to watch Jeff Hardy wrestle, I think Vince would push someone else, someone with talent.  Wrestling isn't about pushing who you want to push, McMahon knows this.  Wrestling is about giving the target audience what it wants, and right now the target audience seems in favor of Jeff Hardy (I've never heard the man booed) and John Cena (it's a 50/50 split).  Plain and simple, if people quit watching wrestling with those two men headlining, the product would change.  Why?  Because we are the marks.  The term itself means target audience, not naive manchild.  As the marks, we should dictate what happens on television, and the majority of the time, we do.

Answer 2

It depends on how much you know about the wrestling business as a whole. People that think WWE and TNA  are the only promotions out there and think John Cena is the best of all time, ahead of Ric Flair, HBK, and Bret Hart are the bad marks. 3/4 of them dont even know what a mark is. But if you are like me and are familiar with international wrestlers and and indy promotions along with the major ones, then IMO  its okay. Like for japanese wrestling like Dragon Gate and NOAH, I am a big BxB Hulk and Masato Yoshino mark. I am a HUGE ROH mark. I truly believe that it is the greatest promotion in the world.  

Answer 3

Eh, if your not in the company, your pretty much a mark. But, why wouldn't you (or me) be, we all buy what they are selling for our own reasons.

Answer 4

no its not.. actually, i've been tagged as a bret hart mark for so many times, that i myself once asked the same question.. its just a matter of choice for me.. besides, everyone is entitled to our opinion.. we all have the prerogative to choose who we want to support regardless if he/she is an overrated yet overpushed wrestler.. the only problem with some people is that they find it difficult to accept that different individuals have varying opinions & if certain people doesn't share their views of someone or something, they label them with such tags as "marks" or "smarks".. whether marks or regular fans, everybody is an integral part of the whole business that without them, wwe will be nothing..

Answer 5

no its not.

marks are what makes and fuels the wrestling industry to live and go on.

if it wasnt for the marks, wrestling would not survive.

the marks are the ones who , in majority, are the ones who support the wwe and buy merchandise, tickets to shows, ppvs, etc.

smarts/smarks, are more likely to just watch raw, research stuff on the net to get behind the scenes info, and maybe just buy the huge ppv like mania.

marks are funny yes but what we must remember is that we were all once marks before we were smart. so let the marks have their fun- they are essential to the industry.