The Crowd Effect - Vol. 1 Ed. 14
Oct 20, 2020 9:31 pm
World Builders' Guild Newsletter
Monday night. April 8, 2013.
Fans stretch to the rafters in the now-shuttered Meadowlands Arena (formerly the Izod Center).
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Alberto del Rio clutches his exposed knee near the turnbuckle. It's a battle wound from his successful title defense against Jack Swagger that ended moments ago.
The crowd simmers in the post-fight atmosphere while medics prod the hobbled warrior.
Announcers barely draw a breath before the PA system reignites with a familiar riff.
The crowd explodes.
Dolph Ziggler, flanked by his two lackeys, stomps down the entrance ramp. You can barely hear the TV team over the roar. He's swinging a dented green briefcase. His ticket to ride the championship train is about to get punched.
It's widely regarded as one of the biggest crowd "pops" in wrestling history (see for yourself).
The short match that follows is punctuated by chants, oooohs, and 3-counts that rival any to this day. Ziggler climbs the turnbuckle and hoists the title.
The response is transcendent.
Professional wrestling in 2020 is hobbling around like poor Alberto del Rio on April 8th, 2013.
Not because of the quality of the product, however. You might argue that we're enjoying a new Golden Age of Wrestling. Fans cheer a handful of top-tier organizations featuring the most refined athletes seen in decades. There's finally a challenger to Vince McMahon's weeknight wrestling monopoly.
In short: business is booming. That's why 2020 is such a challenge to the momentum of an industry on a new accent.
If you haven't watched the above clip, I encourage you to do so.
Good. Now, imagine that same sequence without the crowd.
Many performers' worst nightmare. (Photo by Pedro Bariak on Unsplash)
That's our current predicament.
It's like a Broadway play without an audience. Nobody to laugh, nobody to cry. No dramatic murmuring. No outrageous boos.
Professional wrestling traces it roots back to the carnival days of centuries past. Traveling sideshows featured "strongmen" who would challenge local athletes to in-ring competitions. These bouts were often rigged; staged with a "jobber" who showed up to lose and collect a small wage.
You see, it's always been about the interaction between the performer and the audience. It's a live-action hero's journey set to the beat of a thousand body slams. People pay to be transported to a world of outlandish feats between caricatures of combat. They invest in the emotion of it all.
That is to say, they are an integral part of the experience. They transmit energy back onto the stage. This positive feedback loop is why we enjoy indelible moments like Ziggler's entrance.
It's why the current stay on public events renders things like sports and professional wrestling nearly unwatchable.
This isn't a lesson on pandemic response. It's not a case for breaking rules or causing undue harm to the public.
It's a challenge to you World Builders.
When a slice of your world's magic is snuffed out, can you mix up a new alchemy that keeps the excitement alive?
Sharpening the Toolkit
- "It's like you're living your worst nightmare." All Elite Wrestling's Matt Jackson on performing without a crowd.
- Denis Villeneuve's modern Dune epic delay to 2021 may be the best thing that could have happened to it.
- Will Wright on his time after Maxis and his special relationship with Nintendo's world-building legend Shigeru Miyamoto.
To future worlds,
Matt Ventre
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