When I read that my darling Glamazon was dating Adam Copeland my heart sank to the bottom of my chest. It was like a punch to the stomach. I told my wife the bad news and she just rolled her eyes. “David, grow up. Good for her!”
My wife knows I am not truly “in love” with the Glamazon. Sure I think Beth is beautiful but really I just love her character, her talent, and her persona. So why does it bother me when I hear she is dating someone? Because these reported romances are…real. I know, I’m nuts
As fans we like to think, “Hey, in another lifetime maybe I really could have been Mr. Glamazon!” Don’t believe me? Why do you think the Jonas Brothers wore those “chastity” rings for so long? ”I’m free and available” is good for business. The fantasy is fun.
Wrestlers are really unique in this sense. Basically we know actors are just acting. We know musicians are just singing. So actors and musicians don’t elicit the same raw emotion as wrestlers because fans are right in the arena experiencing the action first hand. Fans want to believe what they see. When AJ jumps into Kane’s arms the WWE wants the crowd to believe she is doing it to help CM Punk, her new fixation. But most people know Punk is really dating Lita. Hmm.
The problem for wrestlers is that they play characters on TV that “pretend” to be in other relationships. Doesn’t that hurt their storylines? Is the “romance” angle all but dead?
Truthfully, I don’t know. I think AJ’s recent work has been strong and she seems to be gaining popularity, but I think that’s because of her overall appeal. Her segments work because people like her, not necessarily because they believe she is romantically interested in Daniel Bryan. And last I heard Daniel Bryan was actually dating a Bella Twin.
What’s interesting is that social networking has completely changed celebrity. We have so much access to information, so much access to what people are really doing. Everybody’s got a camera phone. Celebrities really can’t keep relationships private anymore.
I’m one of those people that believes most wrestling fans are, in fact, on the Internet looking for wrestling news. For the longest time the WWE tried to pretend we didn’t exist. They told us that the majority of their fans weren’t online. But times have obviously changed because now every time I look up the WWE is telling me what is trending on Twitter. So now the WWE is embracing social networking and admitting that, yes, a large percentage of their fan base is online!
Technology has made storytelling so much more difficult. My favorite storyline growing up was the Mega-Powers fighting over Miss Elizabeth. My head would have exploded had I known that Randy and Liz were married in real life. There was something so enjoyable about seeing Hogan and Savage fight for her attention each week. Today that storyline isn’t possible, at least not as it was presented at the time.
So I’m not sure romantic storylines can work anymore unless they contain some elements of reality. Ironically Edge was involved in just such an angle. His relationship with Lita was pretty juicy drama. Now he is with Beth and truthfully I hope it works out. I want Beth to be happy. I actually think she and Edge make a great couple.
But that doesn’t mean I’m not jealous of him for “stealing” my girl.
– Mr. Glamazon
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