Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2018-07-31/Humour

Humour

It's all the same

ANI and Wrestling

Portrait Photograph of masked wrestler without a shirt, wearing black armbands that blend into background
Would you let this guy with no arms date your daughter (or son, for that matter)?
Photograph of Hulk Hogan tearing off his flamboyant costume and exposing his chest
He tried Hollywood but it didn't work out.
Photograph of two female wrestlers grappling each other
Getting ready for the Olympics in 2022.
Photograph of two women wrestling and covered in mud
"I'm sick and tired of your split infinitives!"

I'm not the only one who has seen a synergistic connection between WikiProject Professional wrestling and ANI. Discussion has already progressed from a very simple idea all the way to the merging of these two very active areas of the English Wikipedia. This new PW–ANI WikiProject has been recently created to streamline the creation of content and consensus that is common between these topic areas. Basically, the topic that binds these active areas of editing together is exciting and filled with orchestrated productions created for entertainment. One does not have to spend much time finding the sublime similarities between the two. Both involve the "suspension of disbelief or willing suspension of disbelief [which] has been defined as a willingness to suspend one's critical faculties and believe something surreal; sacrifice of realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment."


From a recent discussion of pro-wrestling:

Your inability to comprehend the meaning of my "half-serious" proposal is, ironically, emblematic of the very reasons that editing in topic areas such as pro "wrestling" and snooker and beauty pageants needs special restrictions. EEng 1:59 a.m., 18 June 2018 (UTC), Monday (1 month, 13 days ago)
Let's face the real facts here: Galatz is a member of WikiProject Professional wrestling and doesn't like EEng expressing his opinions about the value of the encyclopedia covering that sport spectacle, given the number of disputatious editors involved in writing about it and the noticeboard complaints it generates. Beyond My Ken (talk) 2:19 a.m., 18 June 2018 (UTC), Monday (1 month, 13 days ago)
Next you'll be telling us pro wrestling isn't real. EEng 3:35 a.m., 18 June 2018 (UTC), Monday (1 month, 13 days ago)
As someone who works in the performing arts, one has to appreciate the amount of time and effort that goes into conceiving, staging, choreographing, and rehearsing these shows -- about 15 minutes of appreciation should be sufficient. I still like the line from one of The Thin Man films, where someone tells Nick that he's going to see a great wrestling bout, and Nick replies "Why? Were you at the rehearsal?" Beyond My Ken (talk) 5:25 a.m., 18 June 2018 (UTC), Monday (1 month, 13 days ago)[1]

Let us compare these two segments of the English Wikipedia along with the 'real' sport of amateur wrestling and a previous version of Mud wrestling:


Topic descriptions WikiProject Professional wrestling Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents Amateur wrestling Mudwrestling
Use of mysterious and sometimes ridiculous names Yes Yes No No
Incorporates the use of flimsy tables and chairs Yes No No no, but water is necessary
A high school competitive sport No likely Yes not yet
A competitive sport No Yes Yes Yes
Women participants Yes and it boosts ticket sales 9.8% of the time Yes actually dominate the sport
Pageviews/day 2,209 3,310 104 27
Prone to hyperbole Yes major rhetorical device No not yet
Weight requirements No Using bold font lends weight to the discussion Yes Chubby women are not as popular as non-chubby women
Olympic sport No Working on it Yes not yet
Get paid Yes No No probably
Page watchers 252 7,423 48 <30

See also

References