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WWE

I love the WWE. As a company wow, they have so much imagination. Vince McMahon did it, he created the perfect company, a company based on his passion. He took this small dream and made it gigantic. Their slogan is “Then, Now, Forever” how fitting. The WWE has been around for generations, it has been popular culture for generations and has had many golden eras. From WCW to ECW to WWF to today’s WWE. It is immensely entertaining. The Kayfabe, the personas, the grand entrances, the music, the commentators – Jerry the King Lawler, Jim Ross, Tazz and Michael Cole, the catch-phrases, the promos, the gimmicks, the emotions they stir-up, the crowd and the talent in the ring. WWE is exciting! Everything is so structured and beautifully packaged. The storylines keep the spectators and audience emotionally attached and attuned. The personas give us an avenue to project our undesirable characteristics and feelings. This is so effective because everyone is repressed and we must not give in to our animal urges because society deems them undesirable and they can get you incarcerated. So, the next best thing in projecting those undesirable qualities is being a Randy Orton fan; a character who is sly, vindictive, sinister and two-faced, who claims to hear voices in his head telling him to do bad things and so he obliges. Randy Orton is unsportsmanlike, he injures his fellow competitors by kicking them in the head thus causing concussions and ending their careers. He once kicked the chairman of WWE Vince McMahon in the head and won the Royal Rumble the next day, guaranteeing himself a spot to headline WrestleMania. And so he was exempted from the repercussions of kicking the founder of the WWE in the head. These are the type of storylines that keep the fans engaged. WWE tackle morality, the subject of good and bad in their storylines and the wrestlers are exceptionally good in communicating this with the audience. Somebody like John Cena was exceptional on the mic. But they don’t just sell morality, they sometimes do unbelievable and the jaw-dropping. In the early 2000’s, Brock Lesnar superplexed The Big Show who weighed in at 500 pounds on the top rope, a move that dismantled the ring. The superplex was forceful and hard that the two wrestlers couldn’t compete anymore, medical assistance was dispatched to assist. We don’t know if WWE planned that or they were just as shocked as the rest of the world. What transpired was a freak of nature – it was like a natural disaster and the images are imprinted on every WWE fan. WWE can be spontaneous and chaos can roam out and throw everything on its head. However, much is controlled through the personas they have created for the wrestlers. They stage confrontations of two personas exhibiting a dislike for one another to garner hype and excitement to sell tickets and get an audience. One persona I loved was that of Eddie Guerrero billed as “Latino Heat”. His gimmick was that of “He lies, he cheats, he steals”, what this gimmick entailed is that he did everything and anything to win a wrestling match. Through this persona, Eddie was unethical and unsportsmanlike, he delivered low-blows to the opponents when the referee wasn’t looking, he hit opponents with foreign objects when the referee wasn’t looking, he raked and blinded opponents, he basically did everything that was morally unjust. Still, the fans loved him. He was one of the staples of the Smackdown brand when it started, along with wrestlers like “The Undertaker” “Brock Lesnar”, “Kurt Angle”, “JBL” and Rey Mysterio. What made Eddie Guerrero special was the fact that he could be a “fan favorite” and later play the “heel”, the heel is someone who everyone hates. Because of this rare ability he was the face of the Smackdown brand. Eddie Guerrero was supremely entertaining. He could captivate the crowd and make them laugh and he could make them boo their lungs out. He was a gem. RIP Eddie Guerrero. The WWE has its own world and they sell merchandise, make movies and generates millions through their trademark brands. They also have development hubs all around the world for aspiring and up and coming wrestlers. The talent they have on their rosters (Raw and Smackdown) are amazing. They are athletic and professional. They look like they love what they do. They are committed. They live the Kayfabe. You can see it on their faces, they are living their dreams. It is a beautiful billion dollar company. I love this company!

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Conform or not to conform

Conforming has its advantages for example if you are starting an online community, you have to understand the ecosystem and adapt to make it your own. You have to understand what works and what doesn’t to create a framework and structure for your newly formed community. When you have a structure and framework you can slowly add what’s different about you. Being different from the get go is not wise because you can get shunned and ignored, that’s not good for creating a self-sustaining brand. Different doesn’t necessarily mean good. You have to conform to a certain point because to conform entails to be emphatic and empathy makes you relateble and likeable. To conform is to understand and to be compassionate because you can mirror people’s mannerisms, tastes and conducts.

A perfect example of conforming to be different is with the Apple 2. When it was released it was just like a lot of computers in a lot of ways. It could run on any operating system, it could be modified to the users tastes and had multiple USB ports. Steve Jobs later changed everything about the Apple 2 with later products to reflect what Apple stood for, to be different, to have a rebellious spirit and to have taste. Apple needed to stand out from the rest of the market and set the benchmark. He closed off everything so Apple could run on its own operating system and reduced the multiple USB ports to just two ports for the modem and printer. The decision to close off Apple was the difference maker and is the reason Apple is the most valuable company in the world. Apple of course is vertically integrated today owning and controlling everything from operating systems to distribution. But they had to conform first. Not conforming makes you different and can provide an edge to inspire innovation that can make you successful, however it’s not always guaranteed. You need to be flexible enough to know how to fit in and then go out.

Warren Buffet is a perfect example of this. He lives far away from Wall Street to avoid the noise and clutter. He doesn’t follow the news. He is sheltered in Omaha. However when it suits him and his business interests, he can be attuned in and make decisions everyone else can’t see because of his different perspective. As opposed to news and loud untrustworthy bulletins, he has trusted sources from within Wall Street, that gives him the advantage. You conform to understand and then make your own way.

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