The Utilitarian Monster That is the WWE The utilitarian view states that any action can be judged by its contribution to the greater good rather than the person performing that action. To put it more simply, the best moral action is the one that provides a positive outcome for the greatest amount of people. We see this theory applied to smaller extents all around us. This is even evident in different forms of pop culture. For example, in the music industry, a more talented singer may be passed over by talent scouts for someone who isn’t as good at singing, but has “the looks” instead, because these talent scouts understand that to satisfy the listening crowd (the greater good), they need to sell the product of a good looking, talented-enough musician. There are plenty of industries and companies who can be said to be guilty of this utilitarian style, but possibly none more so than the multi-billion dollar sports entertainment giant called World Wrestling Entertainment, affectionately known as the WWE. Now, what is usually the first thing to happen when a professional wrestling fan brings up the subject of WWE? You’ll get some jerk trying to discourage you by making some snarky remark like, “You know all that crap is fake, right?” Yes, 99 percent of fans are aware the results are fixed, and those performers aren’t legitimately out there trying to hurt each other. However, that’s not to say that these people aren’t “real” athletes performing “real stunts” to gain the attention of a worldwide audience. That’s also not to say that these men and women don’t work their butts of their entire lives for a world that’s “fake.” There are entertainers who certainly work harder than others, just as there are some who maybe aren’t as talented in-ring, but have such an interesting gimmick that they reap the benefits as if they actually worked as hard as some of the other performers. Among wrestling fans and within the wrestling industry itself, there is a word that is tossed around a lot: Push. A “push” is when the company really gets behind a wrestler and promotes them along with their matches to gain popularity for that wrestler among the fans. The goal is to get that wrestler “over” with the fans, meaning that the fans finally have embraced this performer, whether they are getting cheered because they are a face (good guy) or booed because they are a heel (bad guy). Unfortunately, the WWE does not always reward the hardest-working or most talented wrestlers in their locker rooms with theses pushes, because they as a company are more intrigued by putting out a money-making product with silly gimmicks than putting on entertaining matches. Today, there are generally two “crowds” that frequently watch professional wrestling. There is a younger crowd that absolutely loves the gimmicks and the WWE’s current top guy, John Cena. And then there is everybody else, who doesn’t just want to root for the “good guys” but actually enjoy seeing entertaining matches with climaxes and surprises with a little less storyline. These fans are also the same ones begging for a “push” for the talented, hard-working wrestlers. Unfortunately today, it’s that younger crowd today that far outnumbers the older wrestling fans. Although disgruntled, these fans can understand and appreciate exactly why WWE chooses the superstars (“Superstars” is the term WWE chooses to identify their performers as, instead of “Professional Wrestlers”) with catchy gimmicks to push. The dollars that these
