How to Watch Pro Wrestling: Removing Brand Loyalty from the Equation

By Matthew Klink (@klinkmatt)

How to Watch Pro Wrestling: Beginner

For the novice, it is simple. Sit back and enjoy the pageantry and the pomp and circumstance first. Then enjoy the acrobatics, synchronization, style, and skill of the in-ring performance art. Finally, allow dedicated thespians to make you laugh, cry, scream, and fill you with rage with two simple things: a microphone and your attention.

Novices: Get to work! Go to YouTube and search pro wrestling. Come back and finish this article in five years.

How to Watch Pro Wrestling: Advanced

***First thing first: self-awareness. Since this is a Matt Klink article it is fair to point out that my viewing habits lean towards the WWE. But like all good bloggers, I need not practice what I preach! I need clicks to my website. I do believe I live the spirit of what I am about to argue. ***

We need to stop being loyal to wrestling brands. The wrestling brand does not represent your favorite wrestler. The wrestling brand does not represent you.

Your favorite wrestling brand exists because it is a (seemingly) worthwhile investment for the millionaires/billionaires investing in it (and even though I am primarily speaking to larger brands, the 'thousandaires' are also guilty of abusing performers on the indie scene).

Be loyal to the performers. Be faithful to their health. Be dedicated to their opportunity to collect some cash for their talents. Be loyal because like any good friend I have that gets fired from a job (even if they might have deserved it), you support that friend, and you tell that company to 'F-Off!'"

That is a small taste of how to watch Pro Wrestling. It takes a lot of patience, lack of long-term memory, fading short term memory, (again) self-awareness, sense of humor, and a critical eye. But it all starts with erasing the stigma that wrestling brands need to compete for your loyalty. Forget the brands and support the performers because brand loyalty is exhausting.

Brand Loyalty is Everywhere

First, what is Brand Loyalty?

It is more than supporting a brand by buying a t-shirt or watching a Pay-Per-View. But those steps move you along the path of becoming brand loyal. Watch and do whatever you please, but brand loyalty can cloud your judgment. But let's further define what Brand loyalty is by diving into a few examples of how it clouds your judgment.

Brand loyalty is grabbing a Reese's Cup over a bag of Skittles. It is hanging a Ford Motor Company sign in your garage. It's tattooing your favorite sports team on your buttocks. It’s being happy when Marvel or D.C. films find success or failure. It's feeling happy that Microsoft purchased Bethesda. It's feeling sad as a person who preordered PlayStation 5 because you might not be able to play the game series you love so much: Elder Scrolls. The list goes on.

(I can never decide what is more toxic: the console wars, Marvel vs. D.C., or pro wrestling brand loyalty.)

So when we say Brand Loyalty is clouding your judgment, we can go back to the Ford Motor Company sign hanging in your garage. In no world, home, dimension, or timeline is that a good-looking piece of artwork. It’s ugly, it adds no value to your home, and if I see a Ford Sign being used as wall art, I think less of you. So why hang it? Brand loyalty.

We also participate in brand loyalty subconsciously. We do it for Instagram followers. We do it because it's cool. We do it to be different. We'll conform to fit in. We'll work to be the ‘non-conforming’ individual. And on some rare occasions, we'll be loyal to quality or taste (even if it isn't truly a quality product). There are more reasons, but let's move on.

Does Brand Loyalty benefit us? Outside of loyalty rewards programs that benefit the consumer a tiny bit (one more footlong from Subway and I can get free pickles on my next sandwich!), brand loyalty benefits and supports one party. And I'm sorry… it's not the consumer.

***And for any future employer reading this who is judging my potential for a brand management position: I don't support anything I am saying. Your brand is the best, and I can manage it to the peak of Mt. Undying Loyalty, currently defended by Apple.***

(And Of course, this is an example of ME saving my own brand's face, should this article come up in an interview.)

And if you think you're doing the right thing by supporting one phone company over another because of a donation they are going to make to a charity you've never heard of, know this: They aren’t making that donation because they think LIKE YOU. It’s because they know how YOU THINK.

After a lengthy discussion involving a SWOT analysis, growth-share matrix, market availability, financial availability, and more, it was determined that there are enough people who think just like you that will support the brand because of their decision to donate to insert random charity.

And if you’re choosing between two brands and one donates to a cause you believe in, don’t feel bad for picking that brand. You should make sure your money is benefitting you in the best way possible. I just want you to know that these companies will do the research to find the charity that will align with your interests and therefore, will appear to be a better company to trust. So pick that company, but leave the compliments of their decision to yourself.

And I think this has a lot to do with my next point.

Cognitive Dissonance in Marketing

Brand loyalty creates fans of products that will live and die with individual companies. They will fight tooth and nail to defend their favorite brand if they need to. But why? Why fight? Why create all this social media hate just because you think your choices are better, more righteous, or of sound mind?

Well… it's another philosophy behind brand marketing that rarely is proud to show its ugly face. But it exists before, during, and after the purchase decision. It's taking advantage of human nature. More specifically, our human nature to justify our previous way of thinking rather than listening and adjusting.

I am speaking of cognitive dissonance. We can simplify Cognitive dissonance in marketing to wanting to be perceived favorably. An easy example would be the salesperson for a new washing machine punctuating their sales pitch with this devilish ditty: "only an idiot would walk away from this deal."

Are you the idiot? Or are you going to show this washing machine salesperson that you know a great deal when you see it?

Social Media with the Assist in Cognitive Dissonance

Today, a salesperson is not the only person engaging in cognitive dissonance marketing practices. It is us. Me! Right now! As I type! I am pitching an idea to you that I believe in. I am hoping you’ll relate to this idea and then subscribe to our podcast.

But it’s not just bloggers and content creators. It is also everyone on social media. Every ‘like’. Every ‘retweet’. Every ‘comment’. It is all done to justify and support an idea, product, journey, strategy, you may or may not be aware you are loyal.

So, let us say you buy that washing machine I just mentioned, and now you are ready to tell everyone on Twitter how smart you are for making this deal. And guess what. Bill (a made-up human) sees your tweet, and they subscribe to Washing Machine Weekly (a made-up magazine). The magazine devoted to all things Washing Machines. Bill lets you know that this Washing Machine is chock full of problems, and the company isn't reliable in fixing those issues. You got bamboozled by the salesperson! Oh no!

If you're like me, you sweat. You panic a little bit. Your heart starts pumping with some fear and a twinge of anger. You just spent $800 on the top of the line washing machine at Home Depot. You work a low wage job, which makes this machine your one big purchase this summer. Your salesperson described all of these reasons why it was more important to spend a little extra on your washing machine now, including it saves you money later. Was he lying? Bill could not possibly know more than a Home Depot salesperson.

Do you talk to Bill on Twitter and try to figure out what his experience is to provide you this type of information? No!

You run to L.G.'s website (sorry L.G.) and look up all the benefits of owning this washer. Everything is right there. It will save you hundreds of dollars over the life of the machine. It is going to protect the environment. It is going to give you more free time because of the load capacity. Boom! Highlight. Copy. Paste. Take that, Bill.

Bill's response: "That's not true. Washing Machine Monthly gave it 1-star and said it breaks after one month."

You: Starts searching for another online reviewer who likes the L.G. product, because ‘SCREW BILL! He’s a moron!” You follow that up by blocking Bill because he made you sad.

So, who is guilty here of falling prey to a marketing tactic? That is right! Both individuals. The character we are playing could have done more research. Instead, they ignore someone's experience with this washing machine (albeit, hearing of the incident from Bill and not researching the topic themself) and choosing to believe the brand propaganda online (or anything else for that matter) to justify their purchase.

Bill is also a victim. He subscribes to a magazine that COULD be published through a subsidiary of WHIRLPOOL! Another washing machine brand. I just made this up, but Bill is under the spell of this magazine because he bought it and subscribed to it. Why would they lie to me? Why would I need to research if Washing Machine Weekly is doing honest reviews of washing machines? Well…because the bills must get paid somehow. Even though this washing machine example is wholly fabricated, you could change a few names and words and turn this into a wrestling debate. Throw in a 'WWE,' a 'Dave Meltzer' instead of the magazine, and away we go!

And Bill is also responding to this great deal because he was under the impression that Washing Machine Weekly was a trusted source. He is in no way attempting to assist us online. He needs to let everyone know that he is a subscriber to Washing Machine Weekly and knows best. Even though Bill will never prove Washing Machine Weekly is correct, he must defend this source because he is the one invested knee-deep into its content. No one wants to know they wasted money, but arguably a close second on that list: no one wants to think they wasted their time.

Both parties are equally duped. Both parties could be right or wrong. Both parties are not going to learn anything (especially that piece of shit Bill. He thinks getting blocked justifies him being the excrement of poopoo he is. I fucking hate Bill. Ugh…sorry for the profanity.)

I have been involved in similar situations and on either side of the debate (so, yes, I've been that piece of garbage, Bill). It's not right. It was a waste of time.

And maybe I am here to help you!

I do recognize that I am telling you “this is the way to think on this subject”. So…since I subscribe to this way of thinking…I need everyone else to fall in line with me! Similar to Bill subscribing to that magazine.

For those I might save from wasted brand allegiance, my allegiance to ‘my argument’ would be a reasonable argument against me. At least in the sense that I am a hypocrite. I completely accept that to be a fact. So maybe loyalty isn't the ‘bad thing’, because we need to fight for our ideas and opinions to force change. Perhaps the argument is ending loyalty to corporations and instead, be loyal to human beings.

Just Stop Pledging Yourself to a Brand

So are you still digging your heels in on your favorite brand of wrestling?

Seriously… what are you? Two?

I'm kidding. But come on. Brand loyalty is so ridiculous, limiting, and (again) exhausting. And supporting these brands causes more arguments. More fighting. More bullying. More clickbait (See! This was not clickbait after all. Good for you for making it this far!)

You lose control when you submit to a brand. As I said before, whether you are aware or not, your judgment is clouded, and many negatives can surface once this clouded judgment let's certain things slide.

Brand loyalty in wrestling has caused but is not limited to the following: Ratings to become a topic of conversation every Thursday. Nakamura and AJ Styles WrestleMania match to end in a nut punch. Matt Hardy almost killing himself to cement his legacy for hardcore stunts. An entire gender to be ignored during the Wrestle Kingdom events.

When we are too loyal, we cannot affect change in this industry for the better. If there is a shite business practice going on in your favorite brand, you will more than likely give it a pass or hope someone else speaks upon it. Or even worse, you will argue it's okay and even (*vomiting just thinking about it*) justify it.

What I hope is that you don't feel attacked. What is essential to gather from my plea ‘to be less brand loyal’ is that you can watch any brand of wrestling. And yes, I even want you to enjoy it! But more importantly, I want you to be critical of everything you watch. Why?

Selfishly, we will get a better product. When we're loyal, we hand out free passes for lazy content. If we stop giving the brand we are devoted to a free pass; they can't turn in crappy content.

More altruistically, we will benefit the wrestling community that has seen more than its fair share of (literal) casualties for this business. They need healthcare. Post career assistance. More money. And management that can make room to care for something besides their wallet. When they see that we demand their performers to get treated better, eventually, they'll have to change.

If we take a step back to the charity example we discussed earlier, it is absolutely true that large corporations were not expected to make sizable donations to charities. But because we (as a society) decided to give our money to companies that were willing to make those donations, it was deemed a necessary tactic for a business to survive.

Therefore, if you change your viewing habits to skew towards the company that is making more human decisions (I say ‘more’ because we can’t expect to get everything we want, but we can expect to get more of what we want) the other companies will see this and will fall in line.

Pro Wrestlers Need Your Support

A very fair argument is that each of these pro wrestlers is also the owner of a brand. Their name is a brand. Their face is a brand. Their logos are (obviously) brands. So why support them? Is it not the same problem we see from the companies? They do not give us a percentage of their earnings for following them on social media!

I am sure Drew McIntyre would owe me some stipend for all the love I have thrown his way the last couple of years, but I would never take it! While Vince has taken a bump here or there, nothing compares to the daily strain the likes of McIntyre, Bayley, Asuka, Shida, Moxley, Naito, Moose, & Purrazzo go through. These gals and guys deserve your undying loyalty because they have already put everything on the line for you. And those are just the champions—the highest-paid on the roster. Do not forget about the lowest-paid wrestler who has to hope they have saved enough cash to survive…BUT DESPITE THE CASH FLOW DEFICIENCY, THEY DO IT ANYWAY!

So how do I watch pro wrestling? By loving those performers in the ring and realizing bad character development is not 100% their fault. By realizing the lousy match-ending decisions are rarely their fault. Accepting a wrestler being overbooked (like a Roman Reigns) is not something YOU would never shy away from (knowing how tough it is to get a favorable booking) so I would never blame the performer.

Get pissed at the guys running the whole thing, because we know that writers are trying to get new ideas through the pipeline all the time, but SOMEONE says no.

And when a pro wrestler puts himself in danger, get mad at the business for making him believe that's what it takes to get over. The wrestler needs to know that it's not necessary to go to that length.

And to timestamp this article, if a wrestler takes a bump, headfirst, into concrete…it should NEVER be his decision to keep wrestling. Never.

And saying you should support the performers does not mean that every wrestler is given a free pass. Some performers are not good at pro wrestling. Nasty bumps and injuries inflicted upon other wrestlers because of inadequate training or low skill should not be tolerated. Bad wrestlers are bad wrestlers. Bad wrestlers are unsafe for good wrestlers.

You also shouldn't expect a wrestler who can't deliver an excellent promo to be given title shots just because they have been wrestling for a while. There should be some level of standard we hold our entertainers to. Let’s be real for a second. It’s bad TV and there are pizza ads that need viewers.

There are also companies that do give more prominent opportunities to performers who can’t deliver a great promo. If you don’t mind that, choose that program. Just remember, if you allow that type of decision-making not to bother you, the brand will continue to make similar decisions. And for the folks who recognize bad storytelling, they will switch to another option. And because of the bad storytelling and lost viewers, that program may fail.

All of these are management decisions. Either keeping someone in the ring or taking them out. When they go wrong, you should get upset that the wrestler is still being put in situations where they could hurt someone else. Or it would help if you got upset when someone who cannot complete a promo is set in a prominent position. Keep the right people in the right spots. The right place for a lousy performer is in development or if they ARE super talented in the ring provide them with a supporting mouthpiece, like a manager. That company that makes the extra investment to keep a top performer is going to get more viewers. 

Life without Brandy Loyalty

When we untether the bonds of brand loyalty, we can explore and learn at a more incredible pace. We aren't stuck eating the same foods. We aren’t driving the same cars—overspending on the same clothes and shoes. We open ourselves up to a world of possibilities.

The older I get, the more I realize that everything is a brand, and even when we try our hardest, we're going to be loyal to something and fight for it. So if you're ready to tap away at your keyboard to let me know all of the hypocrisy in my message…believe me…I know. But maybe we can work at simplifying and decluttering the less essential things in life: like the television we watch.

Just think of all the time you'll have when you're not worrying about Dave Meltzer's ratings for your favorite match. Or if Bryan Alvarez has posted the Wednesday Night War ratings. Or arguing with someone because they like something you disagree with.

Ultimately, these things add up to removing the most toxic parts of social media. And this shouldn't be looked at as a 'snowflake asking everyone to stop being so mean.' It's me pointing out that you are being misled by an entity that needs your money.

When you have that realization, the domino effect should be you realize that you never needed the WWE or AEW or Impact to make a ton of money. You and a lot of wrestling fans exist. There will be other options if any one of them fails. I promise.

Great businesses that live in an industry with high demand do not fail. So, if the WWE had to close shop, it wouldn't be because they put the best wrestling product on television. It would be because they failed you. You, the wrestling fan.

To get better options (options that support the performers AND possibilities that keep the fans in mind, who spend hard-earned cash and small traces of free time consuming it), we need to stop letting brand loyalty cloud our judgment and obscure our thought process.

Demand better for the performers who put it all on the line. Demand more for the money you spend. Demand more the time you lose. Demand more because…well…screw these billionaires!

P.S. All of this works for politics too.

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