WWE Ethnography: Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is the largest and most popular professional wrestling company in the world. WWE programming introduces story-driven sports matches with predetermined outcomes and fighting maneuvers that are worked, all promoted as legitimate bouts. During this entertaining talk, Tomer will present an ethnographic analysis of the cultural phenomenon that is WWE. He will take apart this phenomenon from the point of view of a hardcore WWE fan and introduce key aspects of professional wrestling. Through video and images, Tomer will demonstrate what is ethnography and how it can explain the social life of humans and express a credible reality.

Transcript

2. WWE ETHNOGRAPHY LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE! @tsharon
3. THE STUDY OF GROUPS AND PEOPLE AS THEY GO ABOUT THEIR DAILY LIVES
4. A WAY TO UNDERSTAND AND DESCRIBE SOCIAL WORLDS
5. A WAY TO DESCRIBE THE ESSENCE OF A SOCIAL PHENOMENON @tsharon
6. HOW? WHO? WHEN? WHAT? WHERE? WHICH? WHY?
7. REPORT
8. WINNING THAT ELUSIVE BUY-IN FOR UX RESEARCH TOMER SHARON | GOOGLE | @tsharon ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY WWE
9. WHAT IS THE #1 THING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WWE?
11. Founded in 1952
12. 320 shows per year
13. 35,000,000 worldwide weekly TV viewers
14. 150 countries
16. 1981 admitted it’s scripted
17. IF ETHNOGRAPHY IS THE SCIENCE OF CONTECTUALIZATION, LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!
18. READY TO RUMBLE 8 FACETS OF WWE
19. THE ENTRANCE
20. THE INTRODUCTION OF A WWE PERFORMER INTO THE ARENA
21. A COMBINATION OF MUSIC, LIGHTING, PYROTECHNICS, SIGNATURE GESTURES, AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
22. SET THE STAGE. INTIMIDATE OPPONENT. ENRAGE/ EXCITE THE AUDIENCE.
23. WHAT IS THE MOST FAMOUS WWE ENTRANCE?
25. THE STORYLINE
26. TWO GUYS IN SPANDEX BEATING EACH OTHER
27. RESPECT REVENGE BELTS
28. WWE IS SOAP OPERA FOR MEN @tsharon
29. THE STORYLINE IS EXPRESSED THROUGH PROMOS, TWEETS, INTERVIEWS, & INTERFERENCES
30. BUILD-UP MATCHES. CREATE INTEREST. MAKE THE AUDIENCE CARE.
31. STORYLINE: PROGRAM/FEUD IN-MATCH OVER DECADES
42. SPOTS & PATTERNS
43. PATTERNS ARE COMMON ELEMENTS. SPOTS ARE PREDEFINED, PRACTICED MOVES
44. ROLE OF PATTERNS DEVELOP THE WAY MATCHES ARE PUT TOGETHER
45. ROLE OF SPOTS PEAK POINT OF A MATCH TO GET CROWD REACTION
46. FALSE FINISH
47. ROLE OF A FALSE FINISH CREATE SUSPENSE
48. THE TURN
49. GOOD GUY TURNS BAD, OR VICE VERSA
50. ROLE OF TURN SHOCK, AWE, TWIST IN THE PLOT
51. OCASIONALLY, THE AUDIENCE, NOT WWE, TURNS A PERFORMER
52. CATCHPHRASE
53. 1. CAN YOU SMELL WHAT THE ROCK IS COOKING 2. THAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE BECAUSE THE ROCK SAID SO 3. I’M THE ROCK AND I’M AWESOME
54. ROLE OF A CATCHPHRASE ENGAGE, IDENTIFY, ENTERTAIN
55. JOHN CENA
57. HE NEVER GIVES UP
58. YOU CAN’T SEE HIM
59. HE IS THE LEADER OF CENATION
60. HE ALMOST NEVER LOSES
61. HE IS A CASH COW
62. HE WILL NEVER TURN BAD
63. HE IS THE FACE OF WWE FOR 10 YEARS NOW
64. WOMEN LOVE HIM
65. KIDS LOVE HIM
66. TROOPS LOVE HIM
67. GUYS HATE HIS GUTS
69. THEY CALL HIM ‘SUPER CENA’
71. WWE UNIVERSE
72. WWE FANS IN ARENAS, HOME, SOCIAL MEDIA
73. HARDCORE, CASUAL, KIDS, TROOPS, WRESTLING CITIES
74. ROLE OF UNIVERSE CHEER GOOD GUYS BOO BAD GUYS ENGAGE ON SOCIAL MEDIA BUY MERCHENDISE BUY PAY-PER-VIEWS SUBSCRIBE TO WWE NETWORK
75. #YESmovement
76. A WAY TO DESCRIBE THE ESSENCE OF A SOCIAL PHENOMENON
77. WINNING THAT ELUSIVE BUY-IN FOR UX RESEARCH TOMER SHARON | GOOGLE | @tsharon ENTRANCE STORYLINE SPOTS & PATTERNS FALSE FINISHES TURN CATCHPHRASE JOHN CENA UNIVERSE
80. THINKING ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT, WEBSITE, APP, OR SERVICE…
81. WHAT IS THE SOCIAL WORLD YOU TRY TO UNDERSTAND? @tsharon
82. HOW DO DAILY LIVES OF YOUR USERS LOOK LIKE?
83. WHAT IS THE PHENOMENON YOU ARE INTERESTED IN?
84. WHAT ARE ITS FACETS, THEIR ROLES AND MEANING?
85. DO YOU KNOW?
86. ARE YOU SURE?
87. DO YOU CARE?
88. I GOT TWO WORDS FOR YA THANK YOU @tsharon Google.com/+itsourresearch Facebook.com/itsourresearch