
The story of pro wrestling is the story of American capitalism - smacktoward
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/08/money-in-the-bank/
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ChikkaChiChi
The story of the WWE and some of the larger-than-life people that made it
famous is simply fascinating.

In particular, the story of Andre the Giant is one of my favorites:

[http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1930105-remembering-
andre...](http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1930105-remembering-andre-the-
giants-larger-than-life-career-and-complexities)

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simbas
There is this interesting movie from Québec filmmaker Pierre Falardeau about
wrestling in french-canadian society

[http://www.vitheque.com/Fichetitre/tabid/190/language/fr-
CA/...](http://www.vitheque.com/Fichetitre/tabid/190/language/fr-
CA/Default.aspx?id=228)

~~~
smacktoward
For a U.S. perspective, there's also _Beyond the Mat_ , a very good
documentary on American pro wrestling and the physical and mental toll it
takes on the wrestlers themselves:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_the_Mat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_the_Mat)

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ChuckFrank
Did anyone notice that the photo that accompanies the piece is by Stanley
Kubrick from a publicly available Library of Congress photo.

That's a nice touch.

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geogra4
Jacobin is a fantastic magazine with great long form articles. Very happy to
see this re-posted here.

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rayiner
The quote about "The Wrestler" is really powerful:

> Both Randy and Cassidy live on the fringes of society: they are employed in
> sectors which are regularly mocked and derided, and their personal lives,
> much like their physical bodies, are ravaged by scars … They have no means
> of income, no means of survival, nothing to sell but their bodies and the
> labour these bodies can produce. And so they sell them, for decades, and
> when their bodies are exhausted they are left in poverty.

Makes me think about all the times I've heard people say that we should
legalize prostitution, or selling organs, or getting money for adoptions, etc.

~~~
afafsd
If you work for decent money for decades and you retire into poverty, you have
no-one to blame but yourself.

~~~
pokpokpok
and your parents/education for not teaching you money management skills.

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lowellgoss
I think about WWE every day. The concept of getting over feels incredibly
pertinent to launching a product.

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lotsofmangos
So, does this mean American capitalism eventually gets beaten by a panda?

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astrodust
China does seem destined to return to its historical position as the most
productive, largest market on the planet.

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eru
Most productive? Per head Europe (especially) England had been more productive
than China for some historical time.

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astrodust
This is post-industrialization where England tore ahead of the pack pretty
quickly and managed to push a relatively tiny country not just ahead of their
European competitors, but also ahead of giants like India and China.

As China industrializes, and they'll have to, they'll push ahead of everyone.
Their domestic market is too huge.

~~~
eru
The higher productivity started before the industrial revolution.

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bigbossman
Sign up for the WWE Network. It's only $9.99!

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4r10r5
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfXHqKnHBXc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfXHqKnHBXc)

pro wrestling is too stronk!

