Having been pretty much a lifelong fan of the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment, I have really always enjoyed the product put out to us by Vince McMahon and his huge company. Of course, like any fan of entertainment, I find myself criticizing certain aspects of that product from time to time. Whereas I am more than entitled to do so as I actually do invest a lot of time, energy and money into the commodity – I sometimes do become disheartened with a lot of my fellow professional wrestling fans. There seems to be a large, LARGE majority of grap followers who feel the need to bash everything which happens in WWE, TNA, ROH and even promotions further afield such as AJPW, NJPW etc. What I want to study here is, where did this “smart fan” attitude come from and why do people feel 'cool' just by slagging off everything in the wrestling world?

A good example of these beasts known as “ smart fans” are those who would meet any given wrestler and immediately launch into a tirade of 'facts' in an effort to impress this man or women and show that they really know what goes on behind the curtain. I've said it more than a million times and I'll say it again – until you actually get backstage on a regular basis at a wrestling event, you do not really know. Of course, with the advent of the internet and the climate of the grappling world as it is, we do know SOME things. The most obvious of these some things would be that wrestling combat is pre-determined and the main aim is to entertain while causing the least real physical damage to one another as is possible. I'd say that almost every fan of our mat-based scuffles knows this and if they don't, they soon will when they grow up a little. This is where the line gets blurry however. Whereas the vast majority of us know that it's choreographed, we'd also all agree that it is immensely good fun to get 'lost' in the action and suspend your disbelief for a few hours. This is surely the beauty of watching entertainment such as pro wrestling. Can you imagine a large mass of film fans flocking to cinemas to see the next Narnia movie before shredding it to pieces for 'obviously being scripted..'?

Now don't get me wrong. In my opinion, there is absolutely nothing at all wrong with having a healthy interest in what actually does go on backstage in wrestling companies. I myself have been a regular buyer of magazines in the UK such as Powerslam (in which our own Mr. Guttman is now very much a part of. PLUG! PLUG! BUY IT! BUY IT!) which look past the pretence that these feuds, storylines and matches are completely real and instead delve into interviewing the men and women you see on television and giving in-depth analysis on everything from events to careers. I enjoy reading each and every month about what such superstars as Jerry Lynn, Bret Hart and Rob Van Dam think about their own careers as well as the product which is WWE TV. There is nothing wrong with having this curiosity, I just wish that a lot of wrestling fans wouldn't take themselves too seriously.

New WWE Champion and all-round superman John Cena would be another great exemplar to take a look at. When he first broke onto the scene, he was likened by many as showing a lot of the same attributes as a certain Steve “Sting” Borden upon his breakout in early 90's WCW. Within 2 years, there was no doubt about it in fans minds – this guy was going straight to the top and had the potential (with his bad boy rap gimmick) to be the most successful 'anti-hero' character since “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. His mic skills were great and he wasn't too shabby inside the ring. The man looked the part and had a character which a lot of young men and women could latch onto and follow. Soon enough, the WWE audience were getting frustrated. Why wasn't Cena in the main events when he was clearly awesome they cried! Everyone wanted John at the top of the cards, closing out shows in World title matches. Vince McMahon, listening to his audience, thrust the leader of the 'Chain Gang' into the limelight and gave him the WWE Championship (in 2005 at Wrestlemania 21 with a victory over JBL). A funny thing happened not long after this famous win for Mr. Cena, the crowds of WWE seemed to take a disliking to him and this is where the now customary “Let's boo Cena” at every show came about.

This has long been something which, quite frankly, has pissed this writer off. It's a classic case of “we, as fans, know better than the people in charge”. Whether or not this is true is really not the issue here. My problem is that many people clamored for Cena to be given the belt and then decided he wasn't good enough to wear it when he did win it. Still, years on from this, the boo's ring out for no particular reason. It really does show just how fickle wrestling fans can be at times. Sometimes I wonder if the man turned heel, would be be cheered?

The John Cena example really leads to believe that there are many amongst our ranks who really used to enjoy pro wrestling but now don't like it so much and for some reason just decide to boo everything in sight. They complain that the guys in the mid-card, such as M.V.P, John Morrison etc should be main-eventing and the dudes at the top of the card should be pushed aside. I'm not convinced at all that if this were to happen, it would make them happy. Sure, I'm of the view that it would be nice to see some new guys pushed upwards and made into stars but let's not forget that McMahon is no mug whatsoever. Given time and patience, the John Morrison's and M.V.P's of this world can get into the spotlight. What would stop these so called “smart fans” from crapping all over this eventuality? Absolutely nothing. I just wish there were more people who seemed to just ENJOY watching this rather unique entertainment with a smile on their faces. There's a difference between having an opinion and just being crass.

I expect around 70,000,000 emails telling me I am a loser and I'll be disappointed if I don't get at least 60,000,000! Go on, gimme your best shot. jamiekennedy@live.com Until next week however, TAKE IT HOME!