Louis should have asked Dr D Dave Schultz

If you're not a wrestling fan basically what happened is this: in wrestling they have what is known as 'kayfabe'. Everyone knows wrestling is staged but if you're in wrestling you aren't supposed to admit it. Rightly or wrongly, The Sarge thought he was defending kayfabe by putting Louis through the wringer. Kayfabe is all but dead in this modern internet age but was highly protected back in the day.

@Shazbut-he3ne

7 жыл бұрын

Interesting, thanks.

@Bjarku

7 жыл бұрын

How could anybody not know its fake though? Seriously, are there people older than like 8 years old who can't tell that none of the punches connect and that its way to over the top to be real?

@andy29081983

7 жыл бұрын

It's not a case of not knowing its fake, it's following the wrestlers code. It's an all but dead concept in the modern age but old timers still cling to it. You've also got to consider the high mortality rate in pro-wrestling and those who do survive are likely to have major health problems, so they take being told their fake as a major insult.

@abeedhal6519

7 жыл бұрын

but they are lol

@jackmerry2000

7 жыл бұрын

Bjarku he's saying that everyone knows it's fake but your not meant to openly admit it, Kayfabe is dead today but wrestling is a sport and entertainment, just like a tv show everyone knows it's fake but when you watch that program you lose your self in the moment, just like you do if your at an event or watching it at home.

Wish Louis would do a follow-up show and see where the Sarge is now and seeing as WCW went out of business a year or 2 after filming, sadly a lot of the wrestlers in this episode are no longer with us like Randy Savage, Roddy Piper & Pistol Pez Whatley

@lewisb85

2 жыл бұрын

sgt opened a wrestling school that was a continuation of the powerplant!

@madladsands4631

2 жыл бұрын

Bam Bam Bigelow and all RIP

@brianm2881

Жыл бұрын

Louis should rent a big warehouse for a week and call it the Investigation Station. Ostensibly, it would be an intensive boot camp for hopeful documentary journalists with Louis as the head trainer. He'd make the trainees 'work out' for most of the time there, which would be mainly making them say, "Go on..." in unison to a mannequin, using different vocal inflections, about a thousand times. Fuck knows how he'd get Sarge involved with this though. I've run out of imagination.

@jamescody183

8 ай бұрын

This was one episode to watch being in the sector, the way we understand contributors as interviewers, how sometimes contributers do get upset and having to be respectful of that. I think that heightened the episode for me.

@anonymousnobody326

5 ай бұрын

Hard Body Harrison, seen in the Power Plant, is serving life in prison without chance of parole for sex trafficking, and that’s a whole other documentary in itself.

As someone said on a podcast the wrestlers "won", they sent louis back with his tail between his legs after they put him through the training wringer. Sarge proved his point but unlike the likes of david schultz he didn't get physical with a journalist he just showed how hard the business was.

One of the most hilarious things I’ve ever watched

I remember Sarge kept saying “we are athletes” and Louis trying to reply that was not what he meant with that question. I’ve had the feeling that they felt a bit insecure of themselves. Funny enough on Sarge’s Wikipedia this was listed as a “controversy”. The other wrestler that he interview expressed his respect to Louis for going through the whole thing still.

@themodfather9382

3 жыл бұрын

It's not just that. They understand showbusiness, and they didn't want it to be cut up to show the wrong perspective. So the Sarge literally took over Louis Theroux's own show.

@patriceaqa288

2 жыл бұрын

E A the other wrestlers were NEVER nasty to Louis. Yet they understood the need to respect and protect their sport especially then when kayfabe was beginning to officially fall apart. Sarge has been described by multiple past/present wrestlers as a complete 'piece of shit' to use Batista (a legend's) words. sarge wasn't 'defending' the sport, he was openly humiliating someone on television.

@lewisb85

2 жыл бұрын

Sarge actually said in a shoot interview he was proud of Louis for going in to something where he was way out of his depth but actually trying. He said that some local journalists had gone to the powerplant and treated it like a massive joke. Louis actually put the effort in.

@brianm2881

Жыл бұрын

I think that was Pistol Pez's subtle way of saying, 'Please don't sue us'.

@lewisb85

Жыл бұрын

@@brianm2881 It was actually the closest they could do to show Theroux the realness of wrestling without beating him up. unfortunately this was around the time of "pro wrestling's greatest secrets" etc. In reality though at this point the powerplant was a shadow of its former self the Jody Hamilton, Ole Anderson and Mike Graham run school that produced DDP and Kevin Nash was replaced by sarge who according to dory funk jr he had to retrain every one of sarge's students who got to wwe because they were "unsafe" in the ring.

Batista said it best about Sarge - "He has the worst case of Napoleon complex that I've ever seen"

@lewisb85

2 жыл бұрын

Dory funk jr who was head trainer at the wwf academy the funkin dojo said he and tom prichard had to retrain many guys Sarge had trained because they were dangerous, happy to drop their opponent on their head etc.

@andrewburgemeister6684

2 жыл бұрын

@@lewisb85 like with any discipline, there’s great trainers and then there’s terrible ones with “old-school” mentality. You have to keep up with the times and new techniques of training to help your students succeed.

@lewisb85

Жыл бұрын

@@andrewburgemeister6684 Compare the resumes Dory funk jr- second generation wrestler, former nwa world and all japan world champion plus multiple tag titles, Tom Pritchard ex wwf tag champion and multiple nwa titles to sarge who was a jobber (putting it politely). like Al snow said you can be old school and work snug but still be safe ( he made that comment talking about his match with Bruiser Brody), I get the vibe the powerplant was a production line to restock the shelves. Only proper graduate was DDP because he wasn't trained by sarge he was trained by Jody Hamilton and Mike Graham at the original powerplant before sarge took over, makes you wonder if in some ways sarge was the problem.

@andrewburgemeister6684

Жыл бұрын

@@lewisb85 yeah, Sarge didn’t seem to be an inspiring trainer that would encourage a wrestler, regardless whether his whole act was a work or not, shouting at people and putting them down isn’t going to make them any good.

@lewisb85

Жыл бұрын

@@andrewburgemeister6684 Chael Sonnen trained at the powerplant for a summer during the sarge era, he said that sarge seemed obsessed with proving that pro wrestlers were legit athletes so he would have Chael doing squats and burpees etc to blow him up so that when it came to being in the ring with him sarge would have the upper hand. Looking back I'm guessing it was better off for chael that wcw went bust between him doing the try out and fundamentals class and when he was supposed to go back after college to do the advanced class, MMA was obviously more his thing. Although from Sarge's perspective he probably tells the story like he dominated one of the most dangerous men in the world.

"Watch full clip" just links to this video. :/

You can't really blame Sarge. He had no idea with whether he was allowed to break Kayfabe or not. Clearly nobody at the company gave him any details. If in doubt, stay in character. Especially if someone is asking behind-the-scenes stuff. He'd be risking his job to break kayfabe without the green light from the company.

Louis did zero research for his wrestling documentary. How did he think it would be a good idea lol

I wanna hear him talk about dean Puckett from that episode.

@brianm2881

Жыл бұрын

Wonder if Dean ever saw the episode.

@TheDirtysouth276

Жыл бұрын

@@brianm2881 oh most definitely. aiwf is still going strong after all these years.

After your visit to the WCW Power Plant, You see the business in a different light. I am glad to see a journalist has realized we are tough athletes. Remember the match: Dr. D David Schultz vs. John Stossel?

@gromitpesley

5 жыл бұрын

Donnie Brooke - Pro Wrestler / UFO Hunter What are you talking about? He asked if it was fake..... Which it is

@GEricG

4 жыл бұрын

@@gromitpesley he didn't actually say it was fake. He asked how the stories are planned and wasn't intending to offend.

I'm supprised he didn't bring up the nob head at the intro giving the middle finger like he's all that if he did thst to me and he said do you know who I am I'd just say no even if I do know who he is

@conorl1894

4 ай бұрын

Raven is the wrestler

Although Keyfabe is long dead in the wrestling world to describe it as fake is pretty insulting to the wrestlers themselves who risk a lot of trauma for there art. And that is what wrestling is (At lest wrestling performed by very skilled wresters) You have to leave some suspension of disbelief at the door and treat wrestling as a cross between a Fight and Theatre. To highlight some matches Cedric Alexander and Kota Ibushi at the Cruiserweight Classic, Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn at NXT Takeover Dallas. The athleticism is amazing, The crowd are roaring, yes the result is predetermined but so is the script for any movie and television show its all about how do you get to that ending in the most engaging way possible.

@bigbad123321

6 жыл бұрын

He never used the word fake though. What he asked was "To what extent do the wrestlers know what's going to happen" "How does it work" I think he was quite careful how he asked, but Sarge only heard what he wanted to hear

@Hugh_Morris

4 жыл бұрын

bigbad123321 no matter how he put it, he was implying that it was fake. As stupid as that is wrestlers, especially back in the day take it very seriously because of how much they hurt themselves for our entertainment, I’m not a wrestler but I can’t imagine it’s very nice being told what you do is fake when it takes such a toll. It’s predetermined, but the physical aspect is very real

Stephanie McMahon of WWE always stresses that wrestling is entertainment.

@GEricG

4 жыл бұрын

Sarge was a bit more old school than Stephanie is. Funny thing is that Sarge did the same thing to Batista when he tried out at the power plant

@roberttinsley8960

3 жыл бұрын

And that's why hardly anyone watches wwe anymore

@andrewburgemeister6684

2 жыл бұрын

That statement about wrestling being entertainment actually first came about from Vince McMahon in the 1997 promo he cut where he ushered in the company’s “Attitude Era”. In the promo he stated: “The WWF extends far beyond the strict confines of sports presentation into the wide-open environment of broad-based entertainment. We borrow from such program niches like soap operas like The Days Of Our Lives or music videos such as those on MTV, daytime talk shows like Jerry Springer and others, cartoons like The King Of The Hill on Fox, sitcoms like Seinfeld and other widely accepted forms of television entertainment. We at the WWF believe you the audience, are quite frankly tired of having your intelligence insulted.” So while this promo was bringing in a new and never before seen era in wrestling where the testosterone and envelopes were being pushed in order to attract new audiences, it was also basically WWE at the time bringing an end to kayfabe by admitting themselves that the product was not an actual legitimate sporting competition, but more an entertainment-based medium with athleticism and high-flying much like you would see at the circus. That’s where the term “sports entertainment” was coined from.

Yep. It’s threatening to state the obviously obvious.

No sarge was delusional about wrestlers being legit well some of them are from athletic backgrounds but not all of them

@lewisb85

Жыл бұрын

One of them in that room with louis also on a try out was Chael Sonnen, whatever happened to him.....

@dellwright1407

11 ай бұрын

@@lewisb85 wonder what he was doing with a bunch of pro-wrestlers? Seems an inauspicious start.

@lewisb85

11 ай бұрын

@@dellwright1407 Chael wanted to be a pro wrestler, the money for MMA back then was peanuts. He got fortunate however that he got into MMA during the upswing.

@haroldjoseph8296

8 күн бұрын

No you're fucking delusional

After all that, Louis still hasn’t bothered to understand wrestling. It’s not choreographed; it’s improvised. The top wrestlers are at the top because they can make the show look seamless. Lesser wrestlers often look unsure of themselves and their opponent.

@davidb4165

2 жыл бұрын

Not sure how true this is of recent. Modern day WWE, in the last 10 years at least, most performers aren't trained wrestlers and most of their matches are choreographed. The top wrestlers, the AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, John Cena, etc can improvise their matches but the rest follow a script. But at the time of filming Loui's documentary, sure, it was improvised by most.

The WCW power plant was a joke anyway. It never produced any real stars, aside from maybe Chuck Pulumbo, and was notorious for causing guys to quit because of injury and situations like Louis was in. And yes, Goldberg was taught here....does his career ending kick to Bret Hart say enough about his level of training?!

@lewisb85

Жыл бұрын

The powerplant then wasnt the same as the one formed by jody hamilton and mike graham, the original powerplant produced DDP and Kevin Nash.

Remember he was friends with Savile.

So that went well then? lol

It was the way he phrased his question he used the "f word" fake. Don't say that in front of a wrestler even now!!

@abeedhal6519

7 жыл бұрын

but it is obviously fake

@jammiiee

6 жыл бұрын

Or what lol? They'll fake punch me? Haha

@mrnaughtycat

6 жыл бұрын

I'm surprised he did t mention the nob head at the beginning who gave him the middle finger

@FIRSTLAST-xd6rn

5 жыл бұрын

You're wrong. Loius did not once say the word "fake" when he asked the question to Sarge

@anonymousnobody326

4 ай бұрын

Tell me you didn’t watch the documentary without telling me.

Louie is the straight man paired with interesting people. Without the interesting people, Louie is boring

You misinterpreted Sarge. He was attempting to get you to dig deep and fight past the pain. He wasn’t doing it to humiliate you, he was helping you achieve a stronger mindset. Through adversity you get stronger. Credit to you, you gave it a good go, but Sarge was your friend, not your enemy.

@karlwilzen

4 жыл бұрын

Wow. We got ourselves a mind reader over here!

@mattwenborn9124

4 жыл бұрын

Karl Wilzén - hi tough guy.

@karlwilzen

4 жыл бұрын

@@mattwenborn9124 :D

@cubinglab6332

3 жыл бұрын

@@mattwenborn9124 sarge screamed at him something about him asking stupid questions, watch the clip, it's revenge

@themodfather9382

3 жыл бұрын

@@cubinglab6332 You don't get it.

This isn't revenge.......this is normal wrestling grind.........."embrace the grind" because you are slowing down the class. It is nothing personal that why the sarge said the puking was nothing.....it is nothing........kids puke up and down the country wrestling.