ASPECTOS E IMPACTOS IDENTIFICADOS

By embracing participatory behaviors beyond simple consumption, the narrative audience exerted unprecedented influence over the production of wrestling narrative. The fans exerted enough pressure on the implied authors of WWE Creative that they successfully initiated a change in the narrative. Thus, the fans blurred the distinction between producer and consumer. WWE used narrative audience address to maintain sole control over its narrative from the Kayfabe Era, through the Entertainment Era, and into the Reality Era. However, by addressing the narrative audience as smart fans and characters within the diegetic storyworld capable of judgment and agentic influence, WWE opened the door to the fans participating in the co- production of wrestling narrative.

One can argue that fans have always exerted pressure on WWE creative choices by what they choose to spend money on. WWE have historically dropped angles and feuds when fans expressed little to no interest in the program. If the angle didn’t “draw” money, the company

42 _{Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter, February 3, 2014. WWE had to change some plans for the big} event due to CM Punk abruptly walking out on the company following the Royal Rumble. But by most accounts, even with Punk leaving, the main event was supposed to stay the same and Daniel Bryan was not in line for a push to the main event.

would go in another direction. In those cases, it was the lack of action in the form of

consumption/purchasing that dictated WWE’s creative choices. In the case of the Daniel Bryan storyline, however, the fans exerted pressure by acting out. In a sense, the angle was a good “draw” because fans were coming to shows for the angle and spending money to do so. However, the fans who were purchasing tickets were also the ones “hijacking” the shows. Meltzer argued that WWE changed the Orton-Batista main event because they feared the reaction from fans at the show would make the product and the company look bad, not because they feared the event would draw less money.43 Thus, the fans in this time found an active

method of influencing the creative production process even as they engaged in consumption practices that redounded to the benefit of WWE.

WWE eventually relented to fan pressure and pushed Bryan to the main event of

WrestleMania XXX. On the February 28 edition of SmackDown!, Batista turned heel by

responding to the fans’ boos. Batista claimed he did not return to be liked and told the crowd he would win the title at WrestleMania without their support. Meltzer argues that as soon as Batista turned heel, the obvious direction for the main event at WrestleMania would be to insert a face character, most likely Daniel Bryan, into the match so that fans have someone to cheer.44 Indeed, after the “Occupy RAW!” segment, WWE built the hype for WrestleMania XXX around Daniel Bryan and the fan support that elevated him to the main event. At WrestleMania XXX, Daniel Bryan defeated Triple H cleanly in the middle of the ring in the opening match, which lasted over 25 minutes.45 After the match, Triple H attacked Bryan with a steel chair to further the idea

43 _{Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter, April 14, 2014.}

44 _{Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter, March 11, 2014.}

45 _{The match got attention as a contender for “Match of the Year” for many wrestling fan websites, including the} Wrestling Observer.

that Bryan would get “screwed” out of the title yet again. But Bryan showed up for the main event match against Batista and Randy Orton and eventually pinned Batista to win the WWE World Heavyweight Title. The biggest show of the year went off the air with Daniel Bryan celebrating in a sea of fans chanting “Yes!” repeatedly. By exerting pressure on WWE Creative through participatory behaviors, the fans were able to alter the narrative storyline of the biggest show of the year. The audience effectively blurred the distinction between consumer and producer, becoming co-creators of narrative content by influencing the creative direction of the authors of WWE narratives.

WWE managed to turn the Daniel Bryan storyline from a public embarrassment into a critical success. WrestleMania XXX received positive reviews from fans and wrestling news sources. Meltzer called it one of the best WrestleManias of all time, due almost entirely to the Daniel Bryan storyline.46 _{Meltzer rated both Bryan’s matches over four stars, the two highest}

quality ratings on the show. The following night on RAW, Daniel Bryan opened the show with an address to the fans. In a moment of surrealism, the fans chanted “You deserve it!” for close to a minute with Bryan just standing in the ring holding the title belts. The chant exemplified the Reality Era’s blending of performer and character in that the fans were invested into the

character Daniel Bryan’s ascent to the title but also showed appreciation for the performer Bryan Danielson’s accomplishment of finally being recognized as the top wrestler in the biggest

wrestling promotion in the world. This moment blended the production (Bryan Danielson as a worker) with the narrative (Daniel Bryan as a narrator character). Bryan then told the audience that they deserve this because it is the “power of the fans” that beat the authority. Thus, Bryan acknowledged that fans let their own voice be heard by banding together and participating actively in the co-production of the wrestling narrative.

While fans exerted more influence over the creative direction of the narrative storylines in WWE during this period than in any previous era, WWE did not necessarily “lose” its power in the process. Foucault argued that power should not be seen as a thing one wields over another, but as, “a more-or-less organized, hierarchical, coordinated cluster of relations”47 _{Indeed, WWE,}

while acquiescing to the fans’ desires in the lead up to WrestleMania, nonetheless benefitted from the positive reception to the show and the mainstream exposure the Bryan storyline gave them. The disruptive behaviors of the fans exposes the limits of WWE’s ability to control fans and the narrative direction of its product in the face of such participatory behaviors. But, the case study also exposes the limits of such movements to work contra the interests of the dominant discourse. In staging the “Occupy RAW” segment, WWE used the “Yes!” chant as a floating signifier, which Laclau defines as signifiers that are suspended and reused by alternative equivalential fronts.48 _{In this case, WWE used the “Yes!” chant, along with the visual of}

supporters in unison pointing their fingers to the sky, within their own narrative to increase sales. The “Che-style” t-shirts worn by every member involved in the “Occupy RAW” crowd of people associated merchandise with the pseudo-populist movement, thereby circumscribing the power the fans wielded.

Further, the long term status of Daniel Bryan calls into question the true power of the consumers in meaningfully changing long-term directions in WWE. The fans were able to sway WWE Creative into changing plans for a major show. These changes altered the narrative landscape for a few months. However, just one month after his big win at WrestleMania, Daniel Bryan announced that he needed major surgery on his neck and would be out of action for a

47 _{Michel Foucault, Knowledge/Power: Selected Interviews and Other Essays, ed. Colin Gordon (New York:} Pantheon Books, 1980), 119.

significant amount of time.49 Daniel Bryan never returned to the main event picture and, on February 8, 2016 he announced his retirement due to lingering health issues stemming from suffering multiple concussions throughout his career. Bryan did not become the next face of the company in the long term narrative. Thus, WWE assuaged fan protests by temporarily giving the fans what they wanted in terms of narrative direction, but only in small doses. This case study further illustrates the difficulty for fans in making meaningful change. WWE, as producers, allowed the “Yes! Movement” to gain leverage in support of Daniel Bryan, but, without a key figure around which to rally, the movement lost steam as casual fans and hardcore fans had less reason to unite against a common foe.