I’m a Mark, He’s a Mark, She’s a Mark, We’re all Marks!

A mark is defined by Wiki as “a person who enjoys professional wrestling as if it were unstaged.” Urban Dictionary goes a bit deeper defining a mark as “A fan of wrestling who- Does not, or chooses not to, follow the backstage politics of the actual sport; prefers to believe in the characters and angles they watch unfold on television as “real”, unaware of how choreographed and pre-arranged it is; prefers to cheer for specific wrestlers even if the general consensus by the Internet majority is that they suck balls; or a total dumbass redneck member of the audience who needs to stop living in 1998 and learn the days of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock are long dead.”

All these definitions, except maybe the last one, are all suitable examples of how to describe a wrestling mark. However, I’ve always felt (I’m sure you have too) that defining a wrestling mark goes much deeper then these definitions. I mean they don’t even take into consideration a smark! Or smart, whatever you individually prefer. It’s maddening, but it really got me thinking, what the fuck is a mark? Am I a mark for even writing this article and having the balls to discuss this topic? Perhaps. Does that make you a mark for reading this article? You never know. So for the sake of discussion (and the fact that I am on an hour an half delayed train home from NYC--- the match between The Joan and NJ Transit will be taking place in the near future) I want to discuss some different classifications and perhaps get you guys (you know the readers) involved in the talk as well.

Before college, I watched wrestling from a completely “fan” perspective. I knew nothing of the inner workings of wrestlers, storylines, or federations. I wasn’t so naïve that I felt everything happening on television was real life, but that is basically the viewpoint I watched wrestling from.I was the typical fan the WWE loves to market too. Build characters, to tell stories, to sell merchandise, and throw in some wrestling in between. I’m not afraid to admit it, perhaps a bit embarrassed, but don’t hold it against me I was young! Looking back and taking the definitions of a mark into account, I suppose I could have fallen into a mark category. (If you even consider this type of fan a mark in the first place.)

Once I got to college, I started to broaden my wrestling knowledge. I learned about places like OVW, ROH, FCW, and that New Jersey has hundreds of independent federations. I started watching matches with other wrestling fans (and a lot of independent wrestlers) and I quickly became knowledgeable of the inner workings. I learned terms like sell, bump, kayfabe, among numerous others. Watching wrestling from this advantage point I developed a deeper appreciation for actual wrestling. Instead of cheering for characters I enjoyed, I really started paying attention to how wrestlers actually performed, their move-set, how they sell, and their abilities on the microphone. For instance, JBL as a heel circa 2006, I could not stand him. Looking back now with my deeper appreciation of wrestling, I realize how freaking genius JBL was as a heel in the late 2000’s.

Without my new found appreciation for wrestling I probably would not have danced to Fandango’s theme, marked out (pun totally intended) for Dolph Ziggler when he won the World Title, or continue to get goosebumps whenever The Shields music hits. Not because I am uberly in love with The Shields theme, but because I am uberly in love with the wrestlers of The Shield and the endless amount of potential they bring to WWE programming (Except Roman, but that is a discussion for another time). I enjoy going to local independent shows, perhaps catching a CZW or DragonGate Internet Paper-View here and there, and of course I love indulging in my new obsession fantasy wrestling.

But does my deeper knowledge and appreciation of professional wrestling thrust me even more so into a mark classification? I mean, I guess I sound a little markish not being a worker and discussing things like workers, selling, and breaking kayfabe. However, if I was a mark previously for being completely oblivious to the wrestling world outside the major corporations, doesn’t that mean I should get an upgrade for becoming more knowledgeable? A super-mark perhaps? That sounds a lot more appealing and less derogatory.

After all, isn’t being a mark a bad thing? No one wants to be called a mark. When wrestling fans refer to others as marks, I really feel like they are trying to slap that person in the face. Make them feel bad for the way they are cheering or reacting to a show.

Wrestlemania weekend my friends and I went to the PWS Super Show in Metuchen. John Morrison wrestled Jushin Liger, a wrestling dream match and we sat in the front row! As excepted Morrison and Liger got into a lot of technical wrestling, with multiple submission holds and reversals early. Liger had this “twitch” whenever Morrison put him in a hold, he would slap the mat, maybe once or twice. Being the totally over-the-top, we have gone to way too many independent and backyard shows in our lives fans, anytime Liger hit the mat my friends and I would flip shit, “Ref!! He tapped!!! He tapped!!” All good clean fun in my personal opinion, we knew full well he was not tapping, just a little heckling at a wrestling show. Wouldn’t you know, after our comments we hear from behind us “He’s not tapping you marks!”

Now, as you can imagine, we promptly beat the shit out of said fan, got kicked out of the show, and I am no longer welcome in the Metuchen Sports Complex. I mean come on dude, he called me, ME, a mark!

Alright, I kid, we didn’t beat the guy up. Instead we continued to do enjoy the show, cheer how we damn well pleased, and let the guy make his comments about us. We couldn’t have cared less what he had to say because in all of our personal opinions, calling out people for being a mark at a show, is like raising a big arrow sign pointing down that says “A mark sits here”. Of course this is only our personal opinions, but I usually find that with marks, it is normally the pot calling the kettle black.

 I can think of numerous other forms of wrestling marks. You have the ROH (or insert any independent federation name here) marks who wear all their favorite indy federations gear to every show they go to and believe it is the only true form of wrestling in the world. You have the heel wrestler marks, aka people who only cheer the bad guys.  You have the wrestler, wrestling marks that refer to WWE/TNA talent by their God given names. “Did you see Phillip’s (CM Punk) match last night?” You may think you are too cool for school, but you sound like an idiot FYI.

There are probably, defiantly, hundreds of other variations and definitions for marks. It is such a widely used, yet so misunderstood, wrestling term almost to the point of trendy.  I’ve come to the realization that when it comes to professional wrestling, fans, promoters, wrestlers, we are all marks. We are all fans of the wrestling business. Some of us understand the inner workings more than others. There are also fans that choose to remain oblivious to behind the scenes happenings and that is perfectly fine as well.

So my question/discussion challenge to you, my faithful readers (you made it all the way to the end of this blog post so you are defiantly faithful), do you agree with me? Are all wrestling fans marks? Do you have your own definition for a mark? Please, please contribute let me know what you think. I am no way in a position of authority to define such a widely used wrestling term, but together maybe we can make a little sense of it all.