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The Jewel in the Trash
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 After years of black cultural hegemony in white suburbia, the kids of middle America are suddenly hauling ass out of the ghetto and getting hip to a bizarre phenomenon: an explosion in home-made white culture. Whether it be Springer over Oprah or the ebullience of Eminem over the sleaziness of Snoop, the embrace of redneck culture is clear to see. The transformation of pursuits like stock car racing and country music from southern belles to corporate whores have lead many to point to the same conclusion that culturally at least, white is the new black. Delving through this white trash it is the reinvention of the World Wrestling Federation, itself a principal instigator of redneck's assault on the mainstream, that offers both the most compelling and repulsive look at the recent changes within American society…
The blissfully twisted world of WWF "Attitude" has today achieved damn near ubiquity in the homes of Middle America, with an eclectic soap opera of anti-heroes, blood soaked violence and more T+A than a David Hasselhoff wet dream. But the story behind how a wholesome family-orientated product of "heroes" and "villains" became the bane of conservative America can be found in the mutation of wrestling into "Sports Entertainment", an era which offers a distinctive interpretation of the changes that have taken place within American society over the past ten years. 1996. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, redneck culture's very own "Maharishi" is crowned "King Of The Ring" defeating old-skool favourite and at that time born-again Christian, Jake "The Snake" Roberts in the final. Austin's blistering coronation is scribed firmly into WWF folklore. Literally spitting blood, he tells the then jeering fans to "piss off" and in homage to his opponent's bible bashing, Austin unleashes "Sports Entertainment" and a few million in T-shirt sales: "You bash your bible son and talk about John 3:16, Austin 3:16 says I just whupped your ass." WWF "Attitude" had just been dragged kicking and screaming into an unsuspecting world. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's appeal surprised everyone. He was a textbook "baddie" or "heel": unsportsmanly, heathen and rude. He encapsulated everything the WWF's past discourse had cultivated its fans to dislike, yet his anti-establishment stance struck a chord with the principally white teenage male demographic. In an America seized by political-correctness Austin was unique. Like many of Redneck culture's leading lights, he was white, he was very pissed off and most importantly he wasn't going to keep quiet anymore. At the time of Austin's ascendance the WWF was in desperate need of rehabilitation. Struggling to shrug off a steroid scandal which had engulfed the highest echelons of the industry, lagging behind in the ratings to Ted Turner's rival organisation WCW (for the first time in its history) and a product way beyond its sell by date.
However, it was clear that although times had changed the WWF had not. It continued to peddle the same moral dichotomy of 'heroes' vs. 'villains' and so that ideas so captivating a decade earlier had lost all their former resonance to the point of self-parody. The audience lost patience with the dated product and viewing figures hit rock bottom. The costumes and gimmicks had all the glamour of a drag queen in the throes of midlife crisis. Events like the fall of the Iron Curtain had been the equivalent of a global political, social and economic earthquake; even WWF programming did not escape its reverberations. The collapse of communism in the east and the subsequent loss of the USA's ideological polar opposite spelt the end of the All-American hero as we knew it. The enemy was gone and as the WWF eventually found out you can't have heroes without enemies. Other aspects of American society had also changed and wrestling was playing catch up. Society had become less moralistic and more exposed to sex and violence: in short US society had developed more "Attitude". Most parts of the entertainment industry (most notably hip-hop and Hollywood) were reflecting/inflecting these changes straight onto the WWF's principle demographic of young white suburbia. WWF capo and principal architect Vince MacMahon was forced to instigate a pragmatic series of changes that took "balls the size of grapefruits" (MacMahon's words, not mine) which culminated in the "WWF Attitude" or "Sports Entertainment" era. "Sports entertainment" differs starkly from its eighties predecessor. The anti establishment actions and catchphrases of the favourites of today like The Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin would have perhaps earnt them a living on the other side of the fence during the eighties era, as heels. Its hard to imagine The Rock's "pseudo-aristocratic demeanour, his lexicon of invented catchphrases, his insistence on speaking in the third person, his almost fascistic invocation of 'the people'" (Andrew O'Hehir, salon.com) being received with anything but bemusement as little as five years ago. Though the WWF "Attitude" and earlier "heroes" & "villains" eras are distinctive products of their time they have achieved similarly astonishing levels of popularity for the same reason: they offer instant hit escapism, a quick trip out of the psychological larceny that is white suburbia. However, though you would expect wrestling's popularity to heighten during periods of economic hardship the exact opposite seems to be the case: both of the WWF's success periods (the mid 80's and the present) have come during times of unparalleled prosperity amongst middle class Americans. The political similarities don't end there. The above eras are clearly distinctive because they epitomise the world of the WWF at its most popular: a microcosm of America's social, political and cultural circumstances at that time. When you look at it like that the WWF is truly the jewel in the trash of Redneck culture.
Relevant Links
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The mid nineties saw the WWF continue to flog its formula of "heroes" vs. "villains" and gargantuan glamour that had brought so much success during the federations eighties heyday. The success of the federation's eighties creations could be attributed to their role as stereotypically gross but telling manifestations of eighties America. This spirit is encapsulated in the rampant patriotism of that bulging bastion of Americana, Hulk Hogan and his dastardly 'red' opponents: Nikolai Volkoff, The Iron Sheik and Gulf War turncoat Sgt. Slaughter. Reaching new heights of political incorrectness, the WWF provided an opportunity for us to watch the US (literally) put the boots to the "Commies" in a kind of laymen's cold war. Needless to say, this "heroes" and "villains" formula was the basis for some of the WWF's biggest money-spinners.