The Christmas presents are bought, the booze has been well stocked and the Saracen has been found in Birmingham pickled up to his eyeballs in Christmas cheer! I sit here and write this tenet with my Kidneys whinging and my liver slowly drowning in its own tears.
But less about my Christmas celebrations and back onto the topic at hand, which this week is partly about Graphic Design. Yes, that’s Graphic Design.
So what does Mr Saracen know about Graphic Design then? Well I do have a piece of paper that qualifies me to be one, plus I have been working with several wrestling companies, small business and one solicitors firms, helping them with both their web sites and their written media.
However, as with wrestling, just because you know a lot about a subject doesn’t mean you know everything. I have recently been researching how I can best suit the wrestling community with my abilities and have looked at and listened to some of the people who have been in wrestling for years.
I have found that some really like Ice cream to the importance of knowing your audience and I think this is where a lot of “Modern” wrestling companies fall down. Now before I set you off on your crusade, you have to understand that this is from an entirely design point of view. It is not designed to attack anyone.
Firstly there is the product, which is Pro wrestling, it is what the people come to see, it is what the people want to go home thinking was great. From an advertising point of view the audience want professional wrestling and they really don’t care who gives it to them.
It is a fundamental flaw that federations make is that Joe Public really gives a shit about them over the product they provide, and in the end quite arrogant. Joe public watch WWE on the telly and they want to see cheap WWE when they go out, nothing more, nothing less.
Even with WWE advertising they keep their WWE logo small and the product in full view. I look at posters for wrestling, It is an interest of mine to see how other people advertise themselves and I find in most cases that the federation’s name is bigger than the “professional wrestling”.
Under the three second rule, which is what you have to sell an idea to someone, they will usually pass it up because they read the largest print first, they read a federation’s name and they think “Who are they?” and walk on by. They see professional wrestling; they immediately know the product and will gain interest if they like wrestling.
It is simple stuff and it took me a while to learn that too, perhaps because I didn’t want to see it. Some people mock our older generation wrestlers, but they have a lot to give people and they are a precious resource and should be respected.
Nice to hear about fellow wrestlers trying their best to get wrestling back on the map with appearing on Ready Steady Cook. I know the wrestlers in particular, but amazingly I haven’t actually seen the show they were on yet. I know it’s had mixed response from the “community” but my response is bang on for trying guys. All the people who have spoken to me about it, who are not wrestling fans said it was one of the best shows RSC has done and that was only when they found out I was a wrestler. Once again we come back to the importance of the opinion of Joe Public.
Today was my last day of training before the New Year and I will be twiddling my thumbs for 2 weeks eager to get back to training. Some might know that KSW mainly focuses on the training of wrestlers more than it does on bringing a show out every month, but that has enabled a lot of wrestlers to begin the first steps into an independent career. I have been given an ideal role model to study and I will take on board what this wrestler has to teach me about his style and what makes a good wrestling match.
The matches I have seen so far have been really, really amazing, it’s had me at the edge of my seat, even though at my stage of development I tend to be over analytical about the technique rather than appreciate the match for its overall quality.
Who is this wrestler? Dusty Rhodes of course! I first saw him when I bought the Ric Flair Collection and watched that wonderful NWA championship match between them. I like his talking style and I am keen to try incorporate his style into my own persona.
I’ve found that I have moved away from the Undertaker, who was my original inspirer when I first started, in fact being the Undertaker is fun for a while, but then it gets boring, and you can then understand why he went through the American bad ass phase.
Here I am talking about American wrestlers in a UK wrestling column, but like Mr Sibley touched on a few weeks back, UK wrestling is intrinsically linked with US wrestling now. The era of Big Daddy has gone, yet in its own way, it has not died when we watch WWE, the same principles apply.
I enjoyed reading the interview with Adam Ryland though, I mention him because at one of the many social functions I go to in my superstar lifestyle, his name was mentioned when we began talking about wrestling, quite a few people know him personally.
The one thing I am sad to hear is all the abuse he received about his work and his personal decisions he made about them. I have found that with human nature, especially in the world of wrestling communities, some people on the Internet think that you owe them. What exactly he owes them for is something that I have never figured out. You give them something they want more or they will sit there and slag you off, safe in anonymity, hardly remembering that you have given them a gift in the first place.
A lot of wrestlers from Ric Flair to any low paid worker can be abused on the net by mindless morons who think they know wrestling, usually people who are “mates” with a wrestler, and that automatically qualifies them as an authority in the business.
They have a right to their opinions though, so there is nothing you can do to stop them, just ignore them. I know I made the mistake a while back in trying to fight back and it’s really not worth it.
One of my close friend wrestlers spoke to me the other day about having people unjustly criticising him and others and how it sometimes makes them want to quit. I think it affects every wrestler at some point, but I told him what cheers me up usually, I am a nobody in the world of wrestling and people who attack me are just attacking a nobody. That seems a pretty stupid thing to do.
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, especially all the workers I have had the pleasure of sharing a dressing room with.
I will be back next week for my end of year tenet.
All the best and keep safe,
Saracen