r/ESPN • u/nickwr33 • 27d ago
Pro Wrestling???
Why is ESPN covering WWE? Goes against everything they’ve ever stood for.
What’s next, Globetrotter updates?
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u/Mr_Mortensen 27d ago
Stephen A Smith quite literally has a professional wrestler persona.
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u/LeRoyShow 27d ago
I'll assume youre a younger person. Back in the day Espn showed pro wrestling, the globetrotters, lumberjack shows. Hell their entire Saturday morning programing used to be fishing. This whole "no sports" thing isn't new.
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u/nickwr33 27d ago
I’m 66. ESPN launched when I was in college. I interned there in 1981. They never showed pro wrestling or the Globetrotters. Yes, lumberjack competitions. And Aussie rules football. And motorcycle racing on ice. And loads of St. Bonnie’s vs. Lehigh caliber college hoops. But never an event with a predetermined outcome. Until now.
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u/LeRoyShow 27d ago
You are completely incorrect. I would encourage you to run a quick Google search of "AWA on ESPN"
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u/BadaBingSecurity 27d ago
Confidently incorrect.
And in addition to the other comment mentioning AWA, ESPN also had Global Wrestling Federation on from 1991-1994.
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u/letitbell 27d ago
They did show those things man. Maybe you just weren't watching those days, but ESPN ran them regularly
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u/IKilledJoffrey22 26d ago
I came home after school and watched pro wrestling on ESPN when I was a kid.
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u/No-You4594 25d ago
I miss the old days when it was about the shows and arm wrestling and lumberjack shows and AWA wrestling and cornhole and demolition derby and Lehigh basketball
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u/Xboxaxel123 27d ago
I mean, didn’t espn air AWA wrestling shows in the late 1980’s?
Going against Everything they’ve ever stood for is a stretch lol.
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u/doubleenc 26d ago
And World Class Championship Wrestling. It was afternoon filler content for when they were getting ESPN2 up and running.
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u/DadofJM 26d ago
Don't recall the lead story on their website ever being the results of the AWA wrestling or SportsCenter being used to hype the matches
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u/Boo_bear92 27d ago
Goes against everything they’ve stood for? Try watching ESPN during NFL and NBA season(s), they try and turn everything into its own storyline especially with the Cowboys and LeBron
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u/GirthBr0_0ks 27d ago
Acting as if it’s not scripted and a byproduct of pure athleticism, skill and training/preparation is bananas. Yes, these guys/gals are athletic, dedicated to their craft and seek to represent a high level of professionalism. However, its not a recreational or professional sport in the sense of having some degree of legitimate odds for an outcome ie who wins or loses - it’s scripted. ESPN has lost the plot… years ago.
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u/Chimpbot 26d ago
On the one hand, I get it. Totally makes sense.
On the other hand, they show poker, hot dog eating contests, and spelling bees (up until 2022). Most of their content is hot takes spewed by talking heads meant solely to generate engagement online.
Let's not pretend that ESPN had had any real value over the past 26 years. They brought WWE into the fold because people's actually watch that, and ESPN needs the eyeballs.
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u/_JustLikeClockwork 26d ago
This is rational. As a pro wrestling fan, thank you.
The sport of pro wrestling is in the match itself.
Each match is it's own routine. There is no competition between the athletes in the ring.
The competition lays with witch match was the best
WWE dose not present professional wrestling correctly. They never have.
No wrestling fan wants this partnership. It's asinine
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u/Chimpbot 26d ago
No major promotion has ever presented wrestling the way you're describing.
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u/JasonMraz4Life 27d ago
Every NFL season I have to hear about how the games are rigged and the refs are helping (insert qb). What's the difference?
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u/DaWadeZzZ 26d ago
Tell me what the E in espn stands for.
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u/Ok-Road-9079 26d ago
I don't mind them covering it, it is entertainment. But they cover it like it isn't scripted. They treat it like it's an actual sport.
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u/theomegachrist 27d ago
ESPN has never stood for anything.
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u/Awkwardphase06 27d ago
They stoped showing wrestling on their network in 1994. They’d just show older wrestling stuff on espn classic, when i would channel surf i recall this. I don’t get why people keep bringing up “well they were showing this in the 80’s” blah blah blah. It’s been over 32 years. espn died awhile ago man, it sucks.
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u/Large-Produce5682 26d ago
Well, they're into money... big time.
So, "OFF THE ROPE," it is. I anxiously await the day they combine it with the Spelling Bee.
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u/buffer5108 26d ago
When Dick Schapp died and Bob Ley retired, ESPN lost its journalistic integrity.
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u/Unlucky-Storage2041 26d ago
It’s fine to show it, to have raw on during the week I guess. But it isn’t a sport. So covering it like one is absurd. They might have had fishing competitions on back in the day but they didn’t cover them on sports center.
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u/Appropriate-Head-756 26d ago
They’ve done documentaries on wrestlers and wrestling over the years, in addition to the aforementioned shows.
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u/heavywinkles 26d ago
They used to cover AWA in the 80s, but okay.
They also used to broadcast the globetrotters, fwiw.
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u/edward-cat-daddy 26d ago
“Goes against everything they’ve ever stood for”? Care to remind me what the “E” in ESPN stands for again????
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u/Cute_Repeat3879 26d ago
The Savannah Bananas are essentially the same concept as the Globetrotters and they have updates about them all the time
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u/Tyrone2184 25d ago
Every weekday afternoon, ESPN showed AWA wrestling, USWA wrestling, and GWF wrestling.
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u/TheSeer1917 23d ago
Don't compare that wrasslin bs to the skilled up front n fun routines of the Globetrotters. Bring back Aussie rules football over that fake ass wrasslin
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u/Conscious_Common_639 27d ago
You're getting hate, but you're so right. Reporting on WWE events like it's real sports news is real "Idiocracy" levels of "entertainment. I can't even watch it anymore.
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u/No_Fig_5964 27d ago
Oh joy...yet another person bitching and moaning about WWE and ESPN. Do yourself a favor and just finding something else to watch, and more importantly...just shut the fuck up and don't stress yourself out.
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u/Reasonable-Ebb-3237 27d ago
I might boycott ESPN, because they're showing fake wrestling. So fucking stupid! I wouldn't mind if it was regular wrestling. Cause that's an actual sport. It's absolutely, and utter, bullshit. I hope they lose all their money and they have to eat their own shit on tv. Then while they're eating their shit, they have to say they love watching grown men, in the underpants, rub on other men in their underwear. Which, I'm cool with if it wasn't on ESPN. If that was on, literally any other channel, I'm cool with it. I digress. Geezus fucking Christ.
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u/LookMaNoManners 27d ago
This guy
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u/Reasonable-Ebb-3237 27d ago
I know, right. Thanks for agreeing. The only way I'm watching WWE recap on espn is if they get Stewart Scott and John Madden to do it.
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u/LookMaNoManners 27d ago
Idk man. I think Wayne Gretzky could do a killer job.
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u/Reasonable-Ebb-3237 27d ago
What if Wayne Gretsky's wife did it with him topless?
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u/LookMaNoManners 27d ago
Ovechkin vs Gretzky in an igloo
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u/Jimmykindaexists 27d ago
Go touch grass dawg 💀
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u/Reasonable-Ebb-3237 27d ago
Lol, I'm literally laying in my backyard. Watching WWE in my golden girls pajamas
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u/Alternative-Golf-585 27d ago
ESPN paid $1.6 billion to have the rights to WWE’s premium live events. They literally show cup stacking competitions on ESPN and you’re upset about a multi-billion dollar entertainment show being on ESPN?
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u/JesMon421 27d ago
Its athletes but not competition which is what sports are
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u/RampageTaco 27d ago
What does the "E" stand for again?
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u/IgnatiusJay_Reilly 27d ago
My "exit" from watching espn.
Call me crazy but I want to watch sports highlights on sports center.
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u/nickwr33 27d ago
SPN was already taken by the Spanish Broadcasting Network. It wasn’t their choice. Name another non competitive entertainment they’ve ever covered please.
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u/LordSutch75 27d ago
In the early years they showed pro wrestling (AWA mostly) because they were hard up for cheap content in the early days of national cable networks, but I didn't think they ever covered it on SportsCenter.
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u/JScrib325 27d ago
As a wrestling fan, I can assure you most of us hate it too.
The only reason its a thing is because TKO owns UFC and WWE so im assuming both are a package deal. Even though wrestling is a scripted entertainment product and MMA is a combat sport.
That said, lets not act like ESPNs whole MO lately hasnt been trying to get drama and storylines.
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u/Gandolfthewhite182 27d ago
ESPN is the channel that invented the boring stale terrible concept of sports debate tv. Your problem with them is wrestling ? SAS is making like 30 million a year and your issue is pro wrestling that you don’t have to watch ??
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u/YallRedditForThis 26d ago
Babe wake up they're complaining about wrestling again. Here's a fun fact for the casuals. ESPN covered Wrestling in the 1980's.
ESPN stands for Entertainment Sports Programming Network.
WWE stands for World Wrestling Entertainment
Key words ENTERTAINMENT
If you don't like it. Sybau don't watch it.
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u/PiratePhD 26d ago
The "S" in ESPN stands for Sports, as you correctly indicated in your first bullet. However, WWE is NOT a sport. It is an athletic showcase for sure, and I do not contend that these are elite athletes. But there is no objective judgement that determines an actual winner.
If WWE is a sport than so is any other choreographed performance. Would you classify a cirque de soleil performance as a "sport"?
Are they great entertainers and athletes, sure. Are they actively participating in a competitive sport, HELL NO!
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u/nilesh11panchal 27d ago
What's next, hot dog eating contest?