In 1986 Hulk Hogan was the defacto ruler of the wrestling industry.\u00a0 He was every promoter\u2019s dream; a massive physical specimen with magnetic charisma, great mic skills and a marketable gimmick.\u00a0 His appeal was broad.\u00a0 Men liked him because he was patriotic and tough. Women liked him because he was charming.\u00a0 Most of all, children liked him because he was heroic, brave and rarely lost.\u00a0 His bombastic persona worked, because he fulfilled the fans ideas of what a good guy \u201cshould\u201d be.\u00a0 When he would burst forth from the curtain, \u201cReal American\u201d blasting over the PA system, the crowd would come unhinged. Though there was probably a small fraction of the audience that disliked \u201cThe Hulkster\u201d, his support was so strong it was filibuster-proof. This was no fad.\u00a0 Hulkamania lasted for over a decade.<\/p>\n
Now leap forward with me 26 years.\u00a0 It\u2019s 2012.\u00a0 There is a new baby face sitting atop the main event card.\u00a0 He\u2019s not the champion at the moment, but he has carried the belt nearly a dozen times in the last 7 years.\u00a0 He is also a hulking beast of a man, with an easy smile, a quick wit and lots of merchandise.\u00a0 Like Hogan, he is patriotic, handsome and brave.\u00a0 He sports slogans of positivity, like \u201cnever give up\u201d and \u201crise above hate\u201d.\u00a0 When he sprints down the entrance ramp, his music blasting loud, the crowd goes nuts…kind of.<\/p>\n
Unlike Hogan, John Cena\u2019s crowd reactions are violently polarized.\u00a0 Chants of \u201cLet\u2019s go Cena\u201d are met with equally enthusiastic chants of \u201cCena sucks\u201d.\u00a0 If it were 1986, this type of crowd response would be unthinkable.\u00a0 How could the top face in the company fail to garner even a simple majority of support?\u00a0 What took place in the intervening years, that the very definition of goodness (as defined by the wrestling world) is received with partial and sometimes overwhelming hostility?<\/p>\n
The Attitude Era, that\u2019s what.<\/p>\n
1985-1995 was the Golden Era of pro wrestling, and it\u2019s narrative was decisively Modernist.\u00a0 The wrestling universe was populated with clearly defined types of stars; good and evil.\u00a0 The story arcs were clear cut, the resolution was moralistic, and the crowd knew exactly what their role was.\u00a0 They cheered for the baby faces, booed the heels, and it was as simple as that.<\/p>\n
In many ways, it mirrored the postwar American culture of the 1940s and 50s.\u00a0 Americans perceived Western culture to be the embodiment of sacrosanct goodness.\u00a0 Other religions, philosophies or forms of government, particularly communism was thought of as completely, and utterly evil without any bit of merit.\u00a0 Capitalism was right, beef was healthy, and Jesus was Lord.<\/p>\n
The period of wrestling from 1996-2006, conversely, was deeply Postmodern in it\u2019s philosophical approach.\u00a0 The Attitude Era, as it came to be known, was as grey as the Golden Era was black-and-white.\u00a0 Every tradition and value from the Modernist period was turned upside down and dumped into a blender.\u00a0 What came out was a nebulous hodgepodge of characters and story lines, where good and bad blurred into the fickle whims of the audience.\u00a0 In many ways, the character archetypes were shattered; face and heel were both, at times, prone to cheating, cussing and powerbombing women, while also having moments of great resolve, loyalty, and honor.<\/p>\n
This period in wrestling closely resembles the cultural awakenings of the 1960s and 70s in America.\u00a0 Those postwar values, so sacred to the generation before, were dissected, altered and sometimes outright discarded.\u00a0 The revolution of thought created a diverse and ambiguous culture.\u00a0 From the ashes of Modernism arose a new declaration of values, impressionistic in it\u2019s presentation.<\/p>\n
Which brings me back to John Cena.\u00a0 Whatever this period of wrestling ends up being defined as, he will be remembered as it\u2019s figurehead.\u00a0 WWE appears to be attempting to return to the Modernist leanings of the Golden Era.\u00a0 While trying to reconnect with a younger viewer demographic, WWE is creating characters using a more rigid formula of baby face and heel.\u00a0 The narrative is more simplistic and stark in it\u2019s moral implications.\u00a0 But are the WWE\u2019s efforts at returning to it\u2019s Modernist roots working?\u00a0 In some ways, yes.\u00a0 WWE has become a TV PG program and is still able to maintain it\u2019s fiscal credibility (though this year has been less than inspiring from a ratings perspective).\u00a0 But if the face of your company is the barometer of success, a return to Modernism is impossible because John Cena will never be more than half over.<\/p>\n
The reason is, once a culture has experienced Postmodernism, it can never truly return to its former perspective.\u00a0 Modernism is predicated on accepted naivete and embraced conformity.\u00a0 Once you have opened the collective conscious to critical evaluation of established values and diverse opinion, there is simply no going back.\u00a0 The current period is a strange hybrid of both philosophical ideas, and in order for Cena (or anyone) to have sustained, overwhelming support as a baby face, he would have to hold to a set of principles the audience found inspiring, while also having the depth of character to be constantly reinventing himself.\u00a0 This is an incredible task for anyone, which is why Cena is in the position of being the polarizing standard-bearer of a transitional epoch of wrestling culture.\u00a0 He will be remembered as the greatest \u201cgood guy\u201d from a generation that, unlike the Golden Era, didn\u2019t worship them, but, unlike the Attitude Era, didn\u2019t hate them either.\u00a0 He will be remembered, as the man who was perpetually half over.\u00a0 But maybe in this generation, that\u2019s all you can hope for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In 1986 Hulk Hogan was the defacto ruler of the wrestling industry.\u00a0 He was every promoter\u2019s dream; a massive physical specimen with magnetic charisma, great mic skills and a marketable gimmick.\u00a0 His appeal was broad.\u00a0 Men liked him because he … Continue reading