The Curious Case of Shelton Benjamin: The IWC and Sports Entertainment
A couple of days ago I created a slide show called "Five Wrestlers Who should not be pushed or given a world title." I figured it would be controversial, but I could not imagine the response it would get, both positive and negative. The article can be found here:
The No. 1, and most commented on, wrestler was Shelton Benjamin. Some people agreed with my critique of Benjamin and others thought I was committing blasphemy.
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There is a greater debate at hand here. The debate is, what's more important: Wrestling or Sports Entertainment?
The answer is: Sports Entertainment
I'm not saying any guy who can act or talk should be given a world championship. No I don't think David Arquette or Vince Russo should be champion. Those are extreme examples of people who can't wrestle being given world titles.
Many self-proclaimed "real wrestling fans" will thumb their nose at this concept. They will fiercely argue that anyone who disagrees with them is a little kid who doesn't appreciate the sophisticated things that they do.
They will talk endlessly about this great independent promotion that mainstream wrestling fans haven't heard of and insist it will one day replace the WWE.
The fact is, if not for sports entertainment, soap opera's and young fans, there wouldn't be any wrestling. You might have a few promotions here and there, but it is the demand of the mainstream, those who want to be entertained, that keeps it going.
Shelton Benjamin is a very talented athlete. Some of the comments I received in my other article implied that I didn't realize that.
Being a talented athlete can get you a place on the roster, but being a talented athlete isn't enough to be a world champion.
You must keep people watching the main events and get people to buy pay per views. No one will spend 50 dollars on a card headlined by someone who isn't the least bit interesting.
What's more likely to garner interest? A Shelton Benjamin/Lance Storm encounter, or a Vince McMahon/Stone Cold Steve Austin encounter? Clearly the second one, yet many people still erroneously believe that pure wrestling ability is more important than sports entertainment.
Every now and then you get guys like Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, and Shawn Michaels. Guys who are extremely talented sports entertainers and great wrestlers. But that is rare, and if it comes down to one or the other, the sports entertainer will always win.
The Internet Wrestling Community makes up a small percentage of the people who watch the sport. They hate John Cena and Batista, and they weren't too fond of The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin back in the day.
I remember in the year 2000, the most successful year in the history of the WWE, many people wanted to see Perry Saturn, Chris Benoit to go over Triple H and The Rock.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that would have been a disaster.
Wrestling, like everything else you see on TV, is a ratings-driven business. If people don't like what they see, they can quickly change the channel and may not tune back into your program ever again.
For some people in the IWC, doing what is good for ratings is considered selling out, if not evil. They literally think it is immoral having Hornswoggle get more TV time than other wrestlers (though I agree he should not be going over Chavo).
They act as if pure wrestling is altruistic and sports entertainment is something bad.
But in the end, whether you like it or not, it all comes down to business. Shelton Benjamin as a world champion is not good for business.
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