Do you think that pro wrestling would be better without the internet, why or why not?

Well, I don't think the "Internet" itself has ruined wrestling. It's all these spoiler sites and rumors/predictions which is almost impossible to avoid by certain reasons.

The Internet can be reached back as far as the 1960's, which means the internet was around through the whole Attitude Era, Golden Era and even further back. Spoiler sites on the other hands, is a new invention which has been popularized the last couple of years.

I personally think that the internet has helped the Pro Wrestling business. It's been an important factor for Globalization and advertisement in other countries outside the U.S. It's a place where people from all over the world, can connect with eachother and share their common interest; Wrestling, whether it's Pro Wrestling or any other form of it.

Internet has been a central factor for people to expand their wrestling knowledge further, and create a community where everyone(sex, age, location) can meet new people and just have a good time. If the internet was not around, we wouldn't have this exceptional opportunity. Let's say you're a fan of Pro Wrestling, but none of your friends likes it, maybe you're even embarrassed to tell them that you like it. The Internet is a solution for people with that problem. On the internet you can discuss things you may not have the chance to discuss in real life, with fellow human beings with same interests and passion.

Although what really has ruined the unpredictability Pro Wrestling once had, is all these spoilers, rumors and predictions. This is what truly ruins the fun of it. The amount of spoiler sites is endless, and it's almost impossible to avoid it. Although, it's all about personal preferences. Some people love spoilers, so I can't speak for everyone. But, if we look at some of the positive sides with spoilers, we get the chance to explore things we'd normally wouldn't. Just as u said, backstage interviews, never-seen fotages and things they try to avoid us from seeing and knowing.

I also think the internet has brought out some of the inner troll in us all. It's easier to rant and complain over the internet, than doing it in real life. How simple isn't it to just log onto your computer and start complaining about all the terrible decisions that specific promotion makes, complaing about the current ratings in WWE, John Cena's superman abilities, blah blah blah. The internet has definitely made it easier to complain for wrestling fans. It's almost easier to complain than it is to find something positive. This could have something to do with the anonymity and the fact that it's all virtual.

Do you think pro wrestling would be better, without the internet?

To some extent, yes, but not wholeheartedly, no. As for the unpredictability, Pro Wrestling would probably be more interesting and less predictable without the internet. On the other hand, without it, we wouldn't have the opportunity to meet fellow fans and discuss Pro Wrestling with people all over the world. So, I guess i'm both against the internet, but at the same time I appreciate some of the possibilities it brings.

I also think the Internet, in this case the "IWC" has helpe Pro Wrestling, because it gives the different Pro Wrestling promotions a chance to see what fans think about their product. Let's take WWE for instance. If they're curious about what the fans though of their PPV, they can just find any wrestling site on the internet and read comments and questions from users all over the world. It gives them a chance to make their product more suitable for their fans. It gives them a chance to improve their product even further. They can use the internet as guidelines for their product. Basically, it's easier for them to know what the fans want. The internet is like a communicating source between two parts, the fans and the company. So, I guess it gives the fans a feeling of affilation and participation.

Cheers, interesting question ;) hope that helped!

Internet Pro Wrestling

Hell yeah!!

I remember 1995, internet wasn't such a big thing. My family had a computer (its a fossil now) and there was no such thing as these spoilers. Nobody ever knew what would come up next, then BOOM, all of a sudden these spoilers popping up in the internet here and there. They ruined the element of surprise for many, many wrestling fans not just in the U.S. but around the world as well. Now that we even have internet on our phones these days we can look at them basically anywhere and anytime. Its not really the spoilers that ruin the surprise of the show, its the people dumb enough to read the spoilers and tell everyone else. For example, if I don't like reading spoilers but I read them anyways I'll tell everyone else and it'll ruin the fun for them too. Its not the internet that actually ruined wrestling, more the wrestling fans that ruined wrestling itself. To answer your question, yes, wrestling would be slightly better without internet. It would help more if we got rid of the spoiler readers/spreaders too.

Yeah it would since WWE SmackDown is mostly taped all the time and after it has been taped, the spoilers are leaked to internet sites such as Lords of Pain.Net. In my opinion, it ruins the fun and exciting leading into the show. Spoilers for SmackDown are usually posted into this question as the "headline" rather than in the additional details box. Whenever something huge occurs on a SmackDown or TNA Impact episode about a championship title change, some peope read the spoiler and post it on a site thus ruining that portion of the show for the people who dislike spoilers. Some people read spoilers and rumors to see if the show is worth watching. Professional Wrestling from the 1990s and earlier, had zero to no spoilers. I think another reason why people post wrestling rumors and spoilers on websites like this one is because their motivation is making people upset after some people may have wanted to watch the show to be surprised rather than not knowing what will happen. I remember watching a SmackDown episode back in 2004 and everytime I watched an episode, I would always be pumped up and excited because everything to me was almost unpredictable. But now whenever I watch a SmackDown episode after someone posted a spoiler, I feel that the show was predictable. To end this on a shorter note, I think that spoilers and rumors are downgrading Professional Wrestling.

Yes, I agree with you so much. I think the internet is the reason people can't enjoy wrestling.

Example 1. Most people provably did not complain about Cena, or the fact that WWE was PG until every one was talking about it and other people just jumped on the boat and went along with it.

Example 2. The internet return websites ruin every thing. Like I have accidentally read spoilers on who are going to return when, and it made there return not so amusing, because I already knew what was going to happen like I had De Ja Vu or something.

Example 3. When the internet tells what is going to happen at a paperview or on this coming episode, people knows what is going to happen, so stuff like Cascet matches, Steel Cage matches, are all ruined.

Example 4. When pretapped shows are put on the internet with results before the show, people read the results, and knows what is going to happen before the night of the show. Then when they see it on the night of the show, they know what is going to happen, and they talk through it, or tell some one else and ruin the show for them.

Example 5. I think that is why PG sucks. Not the fact that it is not extreme but because PG are read on the internet and is expected, plus with the regular results, the show is going to suck. Plus PG 13/14 was not on the internet during its days. So that also made it less predictable because noone could tell you what was going to happen. You just had to watch and see what was going to happen for your self.

Spoilers

I like that I can discuss with people about wrestling since i dont know many people into wrestling and i like finding out about the backstage gossip and all the politics and real life feuds but the spoilers are annoying

The IWC has certainly had a big factor in how the average fan view's the product (whether that product be TNA, WWE, ROH, etc) today. I know I can't speak for those who have watched it for 15 - 20 years (or even more) because I've only been watching since about 99 ish. But the opinions that many "fans" have compiled for every single factor of wrestling at the moment has caused the average fan to look into the product too much. And, because of that, we are abliged to conform to other people's opinions and therefore we are forced to like or dislike the product accordingly. Thanks to the internet, I miss exactly what others miss about wrestling, like sneaking up early to watch a taped PPV and being mad when your favourite wrestler loses, etc.

Back when it was fun, who really cared about how bad a wrestler was in-ring? Does anybody remember the Rock vs. Bossman and Bull Buchanan in a Cage match? Nobody cared how bad the other two were in-ring, everyone just wanted the Rock to win 'coz he was the good boy and the odds were stacked against him. If that happened today the internet "smarts" will go "-**, terrible match, I don't know why they bother" but back when no-one cared about the actual quality of the match, everyone would shout "YAY, ROCK WON". It's nowhere near as fun anymore, because the fun gets drained by these people who call themselves reporters, like that Dave Meltzer, everyone gets excited about his star ratings and no matter how good a PPV can be he will pull out all the bad points and all his loyal readers will agree and start off a massive chain that will go on and on until everyone on the Internet agrees.

I think today, the wrestling business has to cater to the internet in many ways because it has become such a big part of the industry, whether anyone wants to admit it or not. It's been proven that WWE and TNA can still swerve the internet at times and keep spoilers unknown, but they just have to go that extra mile and work harder to do it. Sadly, the days of when wrestling was presented as a legit sport are gone, in part because of the internet and in part because of Vince McMahon telling us its scripted

So to answer, pro wrestling would be better without the internet. Somewhat, in general the internet has ruined the element of surprise and shock and the world of pro wrestling, and the thing that really grinds my gears is that people expect WWE and TNA to be unpredictable, but when most people read spoilers and plans for the future, now does that make any sense no it does not, but I do not blame it all of fans, because wrestling companies should have there information secure because it seems that people that work for the companies or an inside source leaks the information, blame it on the internet and the internet wrestling community.

With out spoilers YES! defenetly. Spoilers ruin the show, if your going to read spoilers why do you even watch why not just read the review after the show and everything else. It doesn't make sense. Plus it would be fun to be able to bet on matches. The reason that isn't legal anymore is because of spoilers.

Without the internet all together I don't think so. We need the internet for some things lol, plus I don't mind reading some things about how some of the wrestlers don't get along backstage or some idiot named Jeff gets too high and falls off the steps when making his entrance. As far as spoilers go though? No, it's stupid and spoilers should be illegal.

Wrestling would deffinitely be better without spoilers!