WWE Marks: Is Markism Benefiting or Plaguing Pro Wrestling?

We know them, we love them, even some of us dream to be them. Each pro wrestling fan has adopted a favorite wrestler over time.

Whether it’s their ability inside a ring or their promos, we’ve all been WOWed by a pro wrestler at some point. Our favoritism gets to a point where we become marks.

A mark is a hardcore fan that tends to defend, praise or complain about the certain wrestler’s position.

Almost nine times out of ten, marks criticize others in favor of their Superstar.  A perfect example of this would be Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock.

A few months ago, Austin was placed as the No. 1 talker in WWE history.

This sparked a debate among members of the IWC who felt Rock was the best at cutting promos.

Many Rock fans underrated Austin in favor of Rock.

Markism.

In the end, can we really blame fans for expressing their markism?

While this is an interesting debate, marks create a number of things that benefit the IWC.

Debate

What pro wrestling fan can look past a good debate? As stated above, The Rock and Austin’s placing on an opinionated list created an intense debate among the IWC. Fans of both men flocked to the comment section to voice their opinions on the subject.

Besides Austin/Rock, the 2/21/11 article also created an infamous debate among the IWC. Numerous dirt sheets warned us that Sting was still with TNA and that it was Undertaker.

Most ignored the facts and decided we were going to have a dream match at Mania.

RAW proved us wrong.

That’s the beautiful thing about pro wrestling, healthy debates.

Viewership

The WWE money train runs on the viewership of us fans. If WWE places the wrestler in a position to gain the exposure and fan base, the fans will flock to the support their guy.

The IWC’s individual would be John Morrison. From his flashy move set to his not-so-great mic skills, Morrison is a trending topic among the IWC.

His spots at the last several PPVs have highlighted each show.  They create an excitement that leaves us asking “what is John Morrison going to do next?”

We flock to the TV screens every week and unwittingly know it’s exactly what WWE wants.

The Position of the Superstar

Whether we like to admit it or not, our favoritism towards WWE Superstars plays a prominent role in their position.  Like I’ve stated above, popularity can’t be ignored in pro wrestling. In 2001, the WWE began running the Invasion angle.

Original plans called for the WCW Superstars to play face while WWF played heel. The WWE tested this in a title match between Booker T and Buff Bagwell.

The fans didn’t respond well to the match and boos were synonymous with the WCW wrestlers. Fans didn’t take guys invading their company lightly.

This brings me to another point.

Heel or face, when a WWE Superstar’s popularity surges, he’ll be used more prominently on programming.  The Rock, John Cena, Jeff Hardy and SCSA are perfect examples of this formula.

In the not so distant future, you’ll see the role change of these popular Superstars: The Miz, CM Punk and Kofi Kingston.

So I think it’s safe to say that you hold the fate of a Superstar in your hands.

So once again I ask myself the question does markism benefit or plague pro wrestling? We should learn to love marks and the arguments they bring to IWC.

I am not saying that we have to like all the wrestlers; liking/disliking is our personal choice, but let’s excuse some marks and treat their opinions as we would our own if they’re substantial.

Let’s not forget the fact that we’ve all been marks at some point.