CHICAGO SUN TIMES BADLY COVERS MANIA !!
- 04/04/2006 (9:12:37 am)
- Media Report
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from http://www.suntimes.com/output/entertainment/cst-ftr-wrestle04.htmlBruisers entertain the multitudes
April 4, 2006
BY LUCIO GUERRERO STAFF REPORTER
It's not every day that the Allstate Arena hosts an event that sees a guy named "Undertaker" cheered, a man named "Mankind" go through a table set ablaze, or two women in a lingerie pillow fight trying to rip each other's clothes off.
But, hey, it's not every day that Wrestlemania makes a stop in the Chicago area.
On Sunday, tens of thousands crowded into the Rosemont arena to watch World Wrestling Entertainment's biggest show of the year make its third stop in Chicago in its 22-year history. Fans lined up -- some waited more than five hours -- to witness this "once-in-a-lifetime" spectacle.
Combine that with the million or so people who paid $50 to watch it on pay-per-view -- and you have yourself a cultural phenomenon.
"I have been waiting for this for my whole life," said Chris Medin, 26, an avid wrestling fan from Joliet who spent more than $300 for a ticket to the event and then shelled out another $350 for a replica -- yes, replica -- championship belt. He got off cheap; tickets were selling for more than $5,000 online, and face value of ringside seats was close to $1,000.
Why is Medin such a fanatic?
"It's a male soap opera," he said.
Indeed, the wrestling has undergone a cultural shift from the days of smelly, dark arenas where overweight grapplers would battle it out in the ring. Now, the wrestlers are as much entertainers as they are athletes. And the shows are spectacular productions that include ear-numbing music, heart-stopping explosions and impeccably timed choreographed moves.
For fans, a good piledriver can be a thing of beauty. They can scream out their anger, chant out their frustrations or paint a sign to express themselves. Wrestler Kurt Angle, for example, knows exactly how one fan felt with a subtly painted banner that read: "Angle, you suck."
But the event is also a place where fans can bond -- come together to watch the end of a number of storylines that they follow every week on television. The audience included kids, parents, husbands and wives.
For Corey O'Neill and his wife, Kim, the event is a tradition. Last year, they spent their anniversary at Wrestlemania in Los Angeles. This year, they spent about $6,000 to take in all the Chicago area Wrestlemania events. "We wanted to have a ceremony that included giving each other belts," said Kim O'Neill, who traveled in from Kalamazoo, Mich. with her husband.
Others saw the event as a way to spend family time, despite the abundance of sex and violence.
"I can share with them stories about the wrestlers I watched when I was a kid, and we can have these new experiences together," said Gabrielle Ibarra, who brought his three children and wife with him. "I interact with them and if something comes on that is inappropriate, then I will go to the other room and make them switch the channel.
"But this is a good way to bond."
And if the kids can learn how to apply a sleeper hold, well, that could only come in handy later in life.
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Dr. Keith Lipinski
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Dr. Keith Lipinski
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