It's just so nice to see shows where there isn't serious jackassery going on in the crowd. It's so refreshing and it actually reminds me of why I watched in the first place. And ::gasps:: these maligned hicks seem to have a great appreciation for what's going on than a lot of these east coasters that show up to stuff.

I'm one of them, so you're welcome.

I've noticed the Deathvallydriver types turn their noses up at the southern fans and consider them marks but do marks actually go to indy wrestling?

Part of the joy of being a fan is realizing that we are all marks. If you spend money on wrestling then you are a mark.

Marks - spend money and enjoy themselves.

Smarks - spend money to be miserable.

Actually, if you read their reviews they don't feel that way. Especially because a lot of the posters are from the South.

I will say this though. NOTHING can fuck with the Southern fans from the 80's. You gotta love fans who want to stab wrestlers, throw urine at them, and black women who literally come to the shows and but voodoo spells on wrestlers.

I would disagree with that in some ways. Maybe in the majority your right, but I would consider myself a smark and I always manage to enjoy things about wrestling.

See, I like in ring. That's the most important thing to me in wrestling. If you guys saw me watching All Japan 90's, you'd see a 25 year old man jumping around like an 8 year old during a Hulk Hogan entrance in 1986.

Plus, WMD you know I share the love of some 80's NWA wrestling. It doesn't get much better than Dusty gettin spiked in the eye, Rock N Rolls vs. Midnights, Tully doing ANYTHING, or Magmun's bad ass mullet.

Both of those are just generalizations, and I guess everyone is a smark now. I mean, does anyone think it's real? I don't care what it is, but if wrestling or anything else causes you as much anguish as some people make out, just watch something else. Period.

I think there's a large segment of smarks that have lost sight of why they became a fan in the first place. Watt's once said he doesn't care about the smark crowd because when you give them what they want they'll just find something else to complain about. It seems to be a localized thing. New York, New Jersey and California tend to have a lot of these types. Not surprising though since it fits with the mentality of a lot of people in those areas.

I think in a lot of ways that companies like ECW and Ring of Honor have encouraged this kind of behavior. It was kind of ok from ECW fans but they bred the current generation of fan that's trying to be a mix between a Japanese and ECW crowd. There's a certain segment of that, GreenLanternFan, who come to shows not to watch wrestling but to show how smart they are and how much they appreciate wrestling, etc.

I get the vibe from some of these guys that they're too good for cheering and booing heels.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. A lot of indy matches get hurt by their crowds. There will be some great action going on and some stupid chant starts up. JAPW crowds are the worst as they just seem to pick out a flaw of one wrestler and chant that all match.

I definately agree with points made by both of you guys.

I'll use this as an example.

As most of you know I frequently go to IWC shows here in Pittsburgh. I've gotten friendly over the years with promotor Norm Conners and he's a hell of a guy. There was even a time where he found out I couldn't make it to a show because of a lack of funds and even hooked up a free ticket for me to come check out a show. He's really an awesome guy and even BETTER for a wrestling promotor. I know one of the reasons why though is because he digs me and my buddies at the shows. We boo and cheer and have a good ass time. I talk to the wrestlers and what not after the show and they don't hold a grudge and obviously we know that we don't legit hate them. But I know they really dig the fact that the show seems to be a lot of fun for the fans. Plus, I do things another way too. Depending on the match I root for guys that the crowd are rooting against depending on who they are. One example would be when Daniels fought Joe and Daniels was clearly the face in the match. Everyone cheered for Daniels, but me and my buddies would go nuts when Joe would bust some kicks out amungst other things. Joe definately used it to his advantage and even gave a few nods to us (like we were the away fans at a sporting event). THIS is what I'm talking about. Watching wrestling for me on TV is more an analization of the actual matches. Kind of like when a athlete watches game film. But when you go to an event it's a totally different thing. It's almost something that brings the inner child out of me. I love it and it's part of the reason why I still love wrestling today.

I'm still of the idea that if you pay your money, you can do whatever you want to have a good time. Sure, the chants can be goofy and annoying, but no more than the "Let's go Ricky, let's go!" chants I heard in every match growing up. I don't always stick to the heel/ face thing either. For instance, I always mark hard for Chris Hamrick regardless of which he's playing. Sometimes he'll tell me to shut the f' up, at which point I just mark harder.

Like I said, as long as it stays fun, it's all good.

True, and damn if Hamrick isn't one funny motherfucker in person. You ever have the pleasure WMD?

Yeah, I've talked to him several times, and he is genuinely one of the funniest people I've ever met. Plus, he doesn't censor himself at all. He'll talk about coke, nasty hookers, anything. He's stolen abut 75% of the shows that I've ever been too.

EXACTLY. One time at an IWC show when Tracy Smothers no showed he gets on the house mic and goes...." Tracy couldn't make it, because he had an injury or he missed his flight, or he's bangin a rat or something".

CLASSIC.

I grew tired of the chanting because when you sit at a show you can see fans who aren't paying attention to the ring action at all. They're sitting there waiting for a chance to start some chant.

Especially when it's the "lets go (insert wrestler here), lets go (insert wrestler he's facing here)" chant.

The other thing I like about the southern feds is they book better. Part of what turned me off to Ring of Honor was too much fan service in the booking. Things like Punk winning the title are for something for the fans to crow about. There are a lot of angles and storylines that don't end logically there. They also try to cram too many good matchups onto cards so something like Danielson/Cide is totally played out and they never really put a good storyline behind it. Part of why Joe's reign was so good was because he was beating everyone no matter what. You shouldn't give the fans what they want, you should give them what they need.

I agree to an extent. Real Southern booking is strictly for attendance. That way they can build to something and keep people paying to see the "attraction". But in a fed like ROH they really can't do that, because it'll frustrate their fanbase and they'll move on. They way you explained them booking Joe was actually the perfect way for ROH to be booked. I'm not saying that every champion should be booked that way, but it seems like Dragon is the second guy to get that "joe" booking in ROH and I find that refreshing.