TNA's Smark Wrestling Community (IWC)

TNA Roster Get Your Own! | View SlideshowThe Internet Wrestling Community (often abbreviated to IWC) is a group of people on the Internet who write articles and commentaries on professional wrestling. The IWC focuses mainly on the "behind the scenes" issues and real life stories as opposed to the scripted content that is seen on TV.The IWC developed mainly during the Monday Night Wars. Some of the popular web sites during this time (aside from 1Wrestling.com) included OhMyGod.Simplenet.com, TheSmarks.com, and WrestleCrap.com.Despite a current downturn in the ratings for wrestling on television, the IWC is still very active.The IWC's primary impact on the business, outside of mere exposure, is similar to the effect of the Internet on any other aspect of modern life: such as bringing together individuals and groups of people to discuss their mutual interests. The Internet also allows inside information and rumours to spread quickly throughout the fanbase, and these effects can be seen on weekly television.The IWC usually criticise and resent too much gimmick and not enough wrestling usually coming from WWE. Some members of the business take issue with the IWC's high volume of criticism and "armchair booking", since few members of the IWC are believed to have practical experience with professional wrestling.A common subject of discussion amongst the IWC is wrestlers workrate versus sports entertainment, alleging that the non-wrestling aspects of WWE programming has resulted in recent television ratings decline. This thinking is consistent with the average IWC member's preference for solid in-ring action over excessive talking and backstage skits hence the rise of TNA and Independent Promotions.Despite this debate, some of the highest-drawing, most popular superstars in the last twenty years, including Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and The Rock were never as well-known for their wrestling ability as their charisma. Fans tuned in for their storylines, colorful characters and stables (such as D-Generation X and the New World Order (nWo), rather than to see absolutely authentic, technique-driven wrestling matches. This is most obvious when segments like the WWE Diva Search (typically bashed by the IWC for containing no wrestling at all) receive high ratings for their segments during the show.Wrestlers like Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Samoa Joe and A.J Styles are held by the IWC as great wrestlers but workers such as John Cena, Chris Masters and Batista among others are recognised as mediocre performers.Vince McMahon has, in the past, been very vocal about his hatered for the IWC, to the point of having many World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstars refer to members of the IWC in a derogatory fashion (e.g. "12 year old nerds behind their computers". However, with the advent of events like Taboo Tuesday and "Cyber Sunday" McMahon has begun to embrace Internet-based interaction.