Popular Culture Review Vol. 11, No. 1, February 2000 | Page 54

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Popular Culture Review

While the central opposition between “babyfaces” and “heels” remains con
ceptually clear, each bout proposes its own version of dangerous disorder in the
moral universe. Disgruntled Team Corporate wrestlers or would-be champion WWF
wrestlers often stage shouting matches with Mr. McMahon over contracts and bro
ken promises. Each match provides the scope for the all-important negotiation and
redefinition of the moral order in what may be termed ironic amorality.
The corporate-sponsored “anti-corporate” appeal of professional wrestling is
also staged in the WCW. The WCW has spawned a purportedly breakaway faction
called the New World Order (NWO). The NWO is led by Hollywood Hogan (for
merly Hulk Hogan) against real life corporate nemesis Ted Turner. The NWO tries
to recruit independent wrestlers to its files in order to fight against Ted Turner’s
nebulous acolytes.

Mental Atrophy and Hypersexuality
An examination into the audiences of any professional wrestling match will
show that they are overwhelmingly lower middle-class male teens. Some Team
Corporate wrestlers and prominent corporate evil figures often refer to their audi
ence as “trailer trash scum.” Nevertheless, the WWF/WCW have embarked upon
well planned marketing efforts to both deepen and widen the demographic range
o f its audience. In many matches, one can increasingly see young teens accompa
nied by their mothers. The success of this strategy has been in sidestepping contro
versial themes that could alienate old and new fans. In addition to the anti-corporatist message in WWF matches, the new WWF/WCW marketing strategy is inter
laced with specific political messages regarding ethnicity and gender.
In earlier studies of the politics of professional wrestling, ethnicity was a cen
tral identifier for villains in the sport (Mondak 1989, Birrell and Turowetz, 1979).
In the 1990s, though, one clearly noticeable theme is the absence of racial content
in wrestling matches. This absence is implicitly evident by the singular ethnic
homogeneity of its athletes. There are very few African-American, Asian-Ameri
can or explicitly ethnic wrestlers. One exception has been the growing presence of
Latino wrestlers primarily in the WCW.
As part of its marketing efforts, t