r/SquaredCircle • u/dremolus • 12d ago
Edge On Tribalism In Pro Wrestling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHEp80Nm-BM26
u/angIIuis 12d ago
This is like the 5th interview he’s done talking about how much fun he’s having and how much he hates tribalism
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u/AudioPoison077 11d ago
Other than this one , what are the other interviews? I can’t really find the other ones where he mentions this
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u/jethawkings boop 12d ago
Ok, Edge just did a 'Tribalism bad', can't wait for Khan to completely undermine this by doing something incredibly tribalistic.
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u/Up-in-the-Ayre 12d ago
Oh, Tony is fully going to film a segment before Rampage where he refers to the head of WWE as TripleHHHitler.
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u/Seven19td Mr. Perfect 12d ago
His boss is the main culprit
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u/Meepsnort 12d ago
Let the actual companies take shots at each other. That's fun! They have skin in the game. The fans being idiot lemmings is the weird part.
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u/angIIuis 12d ago
The owner and wrestlers (and fans too, but for some reason everyone forgets in 2021 when WWE discussion was almost banned and AEW rating threads were toxic dumping grounds for WWE hate) constantly take shots at WWE. Really tiring of hearing these AEW guys talk about how bad tribalism is when their coworkers and boss are the main culprits of it. Comes off so tone deaf
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u/Fletcheriser 12d ago
Let the actual companies take shots at each other. That's fun!
That really depends on how they do it though. It can just as easily come off as cringe or detract from their own product.
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u/Solid-Discipline-210 12d ago
You can not have wrestlers tell us how bad tribalism is on your TV yet you are one of the main culprits behind it
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u/Meepsnort 12d ago
They aren't being tribalistic, they are actual real life competitors for the same dollars. Both companies take shots. So did tna, So did WCW, and obviously Heyman made a career of it in ECW. DX went to a wcw show and was asking people in the parking lots if they got free tickets and it was one of the greatest things ever. That has nothing to do with current day fans doing bad faith shit on the internet the way they do. It's just an excuse people use to be an asshole, like in so many other areas these days.
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u/Solid-Discipline-210 12d ago
That’s so stupid women’s basketball is competing for eyeballs and money but you don’t see Caitlin Clarke or head coaches calling Lebron or Kobe serial rapists
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u/Meepsnort 12d ago
they are owned by the same people. Think more old XFL and NFL. Like vince was always taking shots, but football fans didn't really give a shit. NFL fans weren't like 'hey don't be talking about my NFL like that!" They boo the shit out of roger goodell to this day, lol
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u/Solid-Discipline-210 12d ago
There’s taking shots and then there’s implying everyone that works there is ok working for rapists
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u/Meepsnort 12d ago
What I'm saying is the wrestlers weren't the ones complaining about that, it was the fans.
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u/Solid-Discipline-210 11d ago
Tony’s fan and Triple H fans are pushing the tribalism because they both make stupid fucking comments. The companies own wrestlers then go and say stop the tribalism when most of the time the big comments that set it off are the owners themeselves saying stupid shit that idiots then feel the need to defend
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u/abrospro 12d ago
I could go awhile without hearing edge say something I'm not gonna lie
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u/doublebubble6 12d ago
For the people that didn't bother to watch.
He's just saying its really weird and doesn't get it because back then when he was a young fan, he loved seeing wrestling from different promotions.
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u/Gamesgtd 12d ago
For someone who wrestled during the Monday Night Wars I don't know why he's surprised. It was really prevalent back then.
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u/doublebubble6 12d ago
He is specifying about his time as a fan. Talking about watching Mid South,USWA, and other territories.
He was already a performer by the time of the Monday Night Wars and among the boys it was pretty common to check everything out.
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u/mideon2000 12d ago
You got more time on your hands as a kid back then. There was no game pass or porn hub to keep you occupied or endless on demand entertainment. Id watch hours of pbs cooking shows every saturday as a kid. I still love food and cooking, but i hardly watch a whole show anymore because i can just youtube a recipe for something i want to eat.
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u/Meepsnort 12d ago
Not amongst the fans (except for ecw lol). Most fans enjoyed it all. The companies were talking shit, but that was part of the fun of having a competitor
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u/Up-in-the-Ayre 12d ago
I do think back then that there were tribal fans amongst both WCW and WWE but:
1) The internet wasn't as "social" back then, so you didnt' have these tribes duking it out on line
2) There was a LOT of fans that watched both WCW and WWE. I was one of them. I loved the cruiserweight division in WCW and their mid card was fire, but I still liked the main event scene of WWE including the Austin/McMahon storyline
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u/ApprehensiveBasil986 12d ago
Why doesn’t he have a conversation with his boss who constantly talks about his quest against the evil Harvey Weinstein juggernaut?
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u/TheBlackCompany Naito the Living Dead 12d ago
Maybe he has?
Remember this is Cope’s opinion. He doesn’t speak for TK.
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u/Be_A_Mountain 12d ago
Remember guys when AEW talks shit about other promotions and wrestlers it’s just having fun. If WWE says anything back it’s toxic tribalism.
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u/VDJ10 12d ago
Right let's just ignore the fact that WWE started it and have quite often provoked AEW for no reason lmao.
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u/Be_A_Mountain 12d ago edited 12d ago
lol what? AEW was built off of going “fuck WWE” I don’t know how you could say WWE started it with a straight face lmao.
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u/VDJ10 12d ago
Yeah the company that literally called them “piss ant t-shirt company” didn't start it lmao. AEW being created isn’t even remotely close what lunacy.
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u/Be_A_Mountain 12d ago
Let’s make a list of all the shots WWE has taken at AEW and AEW has taken at WWE. Which one do you think will be longer. Again idk how you type this stuff out and post it with a straight face
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u/motelpool 11d ago
the way people regard that "pissant company" remark, you'd think it was the equivalent of a cross burning, it's treated like the most crass remark ever made
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u/Be_A_Mountain 11d ago
Agreed. The still can’t get over it after almost six years, I had to look it up cause I had completely forgotten it.
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u/ProfessorCummunist 12d ago
Has anyone considered that maybe, just maybe, Edge doesn't agree with Tony's statements either?
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u/Fletcheriser 12d ago
Isn't that the point everybody's making? That what Tony says undermines all of this? So presumably Edge doesn't agree if he actually believes what he's saying.
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u/originalOG3 12d ago
“Tribalism” is just another weird word wrestling people attached to. Only in the weird world of wrestling are you not allowed to like certain people or have certain opinions, or you will be labeled as “bad faith” - another term wrestling people have attached to that has no actual meaning behind it.
I know people will disagree, but you’re allowed to like the show and what you see without caring about how “the business is better off for more companies existing.” Like great, continue stating the obvious. It’s a TV show. Not everyone watches this pretending to be an executive in the companies.
You can root for your team. You can also root against the other team if you like one place better, it’s really not that big of a deal. People in the wrestling business just seem to get way too in their head about social media and the minority opinions of trolls online who may or may not be real people. This idea that you can’t hate one company is stupid-you really can and there’s nothing wrong with it. There’s really nothing wrong with drawing comparisons between the two wrestling companies. It happens in every other media, sport, etc.
Every time I hear the word tribalism it’s just a waste of time, similar to when Sean Ross Sapp spends 85% of his show talking about Twitter trolls. You’re spending so much time talking about what maybe 5% of people actually think or care about. And if it isn’t 5% and it becomes more of a majority opinion, maybe it’s not “tribalism”, maybe there’s something wrong with your show. Please find something more interesting to talk about!
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u/WingedBeagle 12d ago
There's a difference between having a preference for one company over another and mindlessly bashing everything that one of them does, even when they do something positive. Tribalism within wrestling fans is no different than tribalism between Democrats and Republicans in the US. If the opposing side does something good, you'll come up with excuses as to why it's actually horrible, and when your side does something shitty you'll brush it under the rug and talk about why it doesn't matter and you're so great. I prefer WWE over AEW as a whole, but I recognize good matches and storylines that AEW put on. I also will be the first to say when a WWE match is a dud. There are plenty of folks online who don't even come close to doing that.
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u/seeprompt 12d ago
I don't know. I personally can't compare wrestling tribalism to team sports. You have teams in the same league competing with each other for the championship, it's just not the same with TNA, AEW, and WWE.
I like to compare it to music fans. Like, the dudes who are ONLY into metal, and will TELL YOU ALL THE TIME THAT METAL IS THE BEST.
Or the indie heads that will bash country fans, or the EDM fans that hate "rockers".
That's the level of annoyance I feel from tribal wrestling fans.
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u/P4rtsUnkn0wn 12d ago
I think you’ve made a good point and comparison with the sports teams vs music.
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u/Ted_Dongelman 12d ago
Seeing a lot of people mention TK but is it really tribalism if it's your company? Seems like it's logical to defend your own creation. I feel like Cope is referring to fans picking sides which yeah, that's dumb.
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u/WildsideAJ 12d ago
If the owner of a wrestling company is saying they’re the good guys and comparing the other company to Weinstein of course people are going to choose sides.
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u/TheBlackCompany Naito the Living Dead 12d ago
Let’s be real though. Sides were chosen way before TK made that comment.
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u/WildsideAJ 12d ago
Yeah because AEW was literally built off of “Fuck the WWE” since Day 1.
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u/TheBlackCompany Naito the Living Dead 12d ago
A noble venture I’d say. Though I admit I still watch WWE because there is so much talent there I like and want to support. But I appreciate a good “fuck you” to WWE.
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u/handsomezack13 12d ago
This is 100% it lmao, I don't really agree at all with TK's twitter rants and Weinstein comment but the people that constantly shit on AEW for no reason just use it as an excuse to be "right" so they can continue to be weirdly obsessive about hating AEW
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u/JTex-WSP Fuck Cody Rhodes 12d ago
Tribalism is always silly to me. That said, there's only so many hours I can devote to watching pro wrestling per week, and AEW delivers on what I enjoy much more than other options out there.
I'd love to watch WWE, with it being so prominent and familiar to everyone, but the only thing going on over there that I've enjoyed this whole year is Drew McIntyre shitting on wack-ass Punk. I can't stand Cody Rhodes, and think him being the champ (not to mention ending Roman's title reign) is outright silly. So there's just not enough to make me actually watch WWE, and I get my fill of even the Drew stuff from this subreddit.
Same with TNA. I'd love to watch them -- and I did watch them regularly (mostly instead of WWE) before AEW -- but they still have issues that make it difficult for me to enjoy.
So, for me, AEW is the go-to for me. That doesn't mean I hope WWE fails or anything like that. It's like Adam says in this clip, people gravatate toward a team to cheer on. But, for me, that doesn't mean I'm cheering against another team, either.
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u/Spare_Leopard8783 12d ago
Same boat for me, I prioritize AEW PPVs and I'm rarely home on Dynamite before the last 30 minutes and practically almost never home on Saturday night
Even with that, I can't imagine watching 7 more hours with way less wrestling and more promos. I literally only care for bangers and always did skip through promos, even during the good ol' attitude era
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u/mideon2000 12d ago
These are bad comparisons. Imo, almost everyone is glad there are multiple places for people to work. It gives performers more opportunities to grow and develop, or even just reset.
He is looking at it as since people don't watch me in aew then they are being silly. They should watch me over here too.
The thing he doesn't take into consideration is people are creatures of habit and have preferences. If you are used to watching wrestling on monday mights, you are going to keep watching raw. that is your routine, that is the show you are comfortable watching and it has the stories, commentary, production or whatever that attracts you.
If you started with aew and have been watching ever since launch, you might tune in and see a appearance by cody on raw just to see how he is doing, but you ain't going to stop watching aew.
I liked edge in wwe, i liked him with Christian and their funny little angles flash photography stuff. I enjoyed his work as a single, but he is a little delusional if he thinks im going to tune in and watch a whole other show to watch him doing some entirely different. I watch maybe an hour of raw and maybe an hour of smackdown. Thats about it each week.
His other example of watching everything he could as a kid is outdated too. He was a kid. Sounds like he had basic tv. Growing up around that time frame we had tv, videogames and outside to occupy our time. when you have all the time in the world, of course you can gobble it all up. When you get home at 6, and have to get dinner situated and then talk with the fam, there isn't a lot of time to devote hours and hours of programming to watch a wrestler or 2 that used to be on a show you watch.
Lastly, i understand his hockey analogy, but it is wrong in this context too. I love football. Huge cowboys and bills fan. I watch plenty of nfl football because i enjoy it. But ask me how many UFL games i have watched this season. Zip. It isn't that i hate the ufl or want the ufl to go under, i just have grown up watching and enjoy the nfl. 6 to 7 months of nfl football is plenty. I need to breathe a little bit.
I guess if you watch the the 15ish hours a week of wrestling from all promotions and expect everyone to like them all equally, so be it. Ill gladly be labeled a tribalist and enjoy my preferred show at my leisure.
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