Is this a valid benchmark for a superstar??

The point of this article is to determine if the following is a valid bench mark for a great wrestler.

Let me set the scene, I live with a load of mates and we are all big wrestling fans and have been for many years, we all gather round with some of our other mates who are fans and watch wrestling. WWE and TNA (well actually we stopped watching WWE full time about 6 months ago).

We have one friend however who hates wrestling, I mean he really despises it and just cannot see anything good about it and he is really stubborn in changing his opinion.. This guy has recently moved in with us and has essentially been forced to watch alot of wrestling and over time he is slightly beginning to understand what we see in it and the finer points of what goes into a wrestling show.

Don’t get me wrong he still firmly thinks wrestling is rubbish and that pretty much everyone on the show sucks. HOWEVER...

Recently he has decided that he thinks Mr. Anderson is amazing, and now he will actually watch TNA with us out of choice if he knows Anderson will have a match or a promo. He loves his promos and character that much that it intrigues him into wanting to see him in a match even though this guy hates wrestling.

As odd as this seems is this validation that Mr. Anderson is an amazing character who is so accessible that even people who hate wrestling can actually cheer this character on?. I imagine that similarly Stone Cold captivated even the staunchest anti wrestling fans.

What do you think?? And do any of you have stories of hugely anti wrestling mates actually finding something small within the product they could enjoy??

I suppose it would be a valid benchmark if it was more than one person that Anderson managed to attract. As an (unrealistic perhaps) example someone like Khali could attract one person for the freak show appeal that he provides. Therefore I'd say the measure of a true superstar is if he can attract large numbers of people like your mate, and get them to tune in week in, week out.

As for stories, well, I remember back in 1996 when I was watching the replay of Wrestlemania 12 - this time I had a school holiday, on most occasions I'd be 'off sick' from school the day after a pay per view - both my older sisters came into the living room and started ripping into me for watching wrestling. They gave it absolute pelters "It's fake! It's fake!" blah blah blah. Anyway, they stayed to watch it, most likely because they thought they could annoy me into leaving and they'd get the TV all to themselves - that's right kids, only ONE television in the household at that time!

It got time for the main event, and they showed the usual hype package prior to the match (Shawn and his 'boyhood dream' mostly) and I saw my sisters looking a bit more intently at the screen. By the time the match was coming to a conclusion nearly 1 hour later, they were both jumping up and down yelling with excitement as Bret and Shawn traded blows. They were screaming at Shawn not to give up as he was held in the Sharpshooter for what seemed like an eternity. They were devastated when they thought the Hitman had retained the WWF title. And they were ecstatic when HBK superkicked his way to the championship. Honestly, both of my sisters were crying as Michaels was presented with the belt. "Aww, it all paid off for him! All his hard work! I'm so happy for him!" "Aww look, he's crying! That's so sweet!" Of course afterwards they went back to slagging me off for liking wrestling, trying to cover up. But I knew the truth!

So yeah, I've seen that even the staunchest critics can be won over by wrestling, even if it's only briefly.

I think there are many shows on tv that given half the chance people can find something to like about it. I believe this is proof when it comes to wrestling. I'm sure if your friend was a little more open minded there would be other wrestlers he would find entertaining. Anderson is a charismatic guy no doubt, but he isn't the only one. It seems like its cool to hate wrestling and I think a lot of people mock it and its fans because for many it is socially acceptable. If people just stopped viewing wrestling with some of the prejudice they approach it with then I'm sure they would be able to appreciate it even if they never fully become a fan of it.

I believe Anderson would probably draw a lot more if TNA were better at marketing themselves; unfortunately TNA's PPV buyrates have not been good these past few years and they really need to remedy that. But I don't believe wrestling can draw the crowds like it once did. Not even if the Rock or Stone Cold started wrestling again would they consistently draw the PPV buyrates they did in the Attitude Era.