The More You Know, The Less You Enjoy (Sometimes)

This is a blog post that is going to discuss all facets of pop culture, but the most prevalent example of my hypothesis applies to the world of professional wrestling.

This past Friday, on WWE Friday Night Smackdown (September 5th, 2025), AJ Lee made her return to wrestling after 10 years away. The crowd in Chicago went absolutely crazy, it was a great moment, and it is leading to a very exciting future of programming where her showing up alone will be enough to boost ratings and crowds to go wild.

But there's just one problem.

Since WWE Clash In Paris on August 31st, there were reports from various wrestling journalists and dirt sheets that AJ would be returning. That various talks and agreements came together. THEN, after Lee did make her return, reports came in that this wasn't a one off appearance. That this was a multi year, full time deal.

That's great! Right?

Well, professional wrestling is an incredibly unique form of entertainment. It is real, but fake. The characters are real people, sort of. The action is real but scripted and done to protect each other rather then actually hurt each other. It's a form that a lot of people, including myself, love. But there are times that I get annoyed with reports spoiling things. The likes of contracts ending and reporting where they are going to end up, with the debuts of people like Ricky Saints and Blake Monroe in NXT being spoiled before they were even gone from AEW. Or Jeff Cobb leaving NJPW and rushing to WWE to join the Bloodline. Or when returns are spoiled like Randy Orton when he came back from about 2 years from his back injury.

But you know what moments will last forever, perhaps for good and bad?

The moments that had no reports at all. Yeah, people speculated...but they were just speculation.

The return of Brock Lesnar. John Cena finally becoming a bad guy. Joe Hendry appearing in the Royal Rumble as TNA World Champion. As well as Hendry appearing at WrestleMania. Seth Rollins revealing his injury was faked to screw CM Punk at Summerslam. It has lead to great moments, but they would've been ruined if people knew that they were going to happen due to leaks or plans being revealed. If people spilled the beans.

Why do I ask about other forms of media with this? Well, it has to do with quite a lot of things.

If you are anything like me, this trailer annoys you in more ways then one.

Take the fact that the movie turned out to be a dissapointment from your mind. Just go back to when you first saw this trailer before the movie came out.

You knew what the story was going to be right?

Movie trailers today have made it almost MANDATORY to reveal a large chunk of the movie before they come out to the public. Massive story elements and beats as well as shocking twists. Other major examples that I would include in here are Captain American Civil War revealing both Spider-Man and Black Panther. Or Batman V Superman revealing Wonder Woman and Doomsday. Spider-Man No Way Home revealing all of the villains of the previous franchises. How To Train Your Dragon 2 revealing that Hiccup's mother is alive. Or Smurfs: The Lost Village spoiling the entire twist of there being other Smurfs.

I 100% understand that movies need to make money. That trailers and production have to show SOMETHING to bring fans in so that they make money. But do they really need to reveal so much? Expose so many of the surprises and twists that would make the movies worth watching anyways?

Film is a business that has long put profit over art. Wanting as many people to go to theatres and see the movie. They have to give them a reason to go. And MANY focus group tests and studies have been done where the average fan doesn't want to be surprised. They want to have things spoiled so they know what they are going in for.

So a movie that doesn't really show anything should fail right?

Well, not always.

Remember the Deadpool test footage that leaked? Unfinished CGI that basically turned out to be a scene from the movie? When that footage leaked, people were excited. You could've just annouced the movie was going to come out on a certain date and it would've made money. Movies have made money from reviews and word of mouth before, so why can't we return to that? Return to integrity and surprising audiences.

Make movies something that are shocking and keep people on the edges of their seats.

I am someone who LOVES documentaries, especially about the making of things like movies or video games. You know why that's different? Because it comes after. You watch someone's artwork, then see them talk about their decisions and ideas. What they intended with their message AFTER you have experienced it.

They reveal the twist after you have already seen it, so it's fine. It has no bearings on your enjoyment on it, and might even increase it. My point is solely that revealing things BEFORE the release should be avoided. Speculation is one thing and can often lead to more excitement and hype, but outright confirming or showing something is different. It makes it less exciting when the things just...turns out to be true or happen as you've already seen it.

I know that nobody would ever listen to this and change how they market or promote. Hollywood truly is a money business more then an art one. It has to pay people what they are worth, and I support that. But sacrificing art and what it has to say or reveal is a thing that shouldn't need to exist. Money will still come if you make people intrigued rather then just showing them exactly what they are going to get.

Something that I didn't really discuss so far is something that goes slightly off, but something that I think still works.

Music.

Billie Eilish had a great viewpoint on music that I agree with and wish more musicians would follow.

“Every single time an artist I love puts out a single without the context of the album, I’m just already prone to hating on it. I really don’t like when things are out of context. This album is like a family: I don’t want one little kid to be in the middle of the room alone.”

Singles are released so people are hooked and then go out to buy the full album. It's like a trailer for an album. But is it really worth it? Giving a taste of it to try and get people hooked in? Today, it doesn't even really matter as much with streaming being the dominant form of consumption for just about every form of media. And again, I understand that marketing and promotion is important for success, but it should still be something that keeps art the important focus and not left behind for the sake of money.

Art should be experienced going in blind as often as possible. Letting the art speak for itself with no outside forces or knowledge changing how you think about it. How you feel about it. It's why I never love when people recommend movies or shows or music for me. It has me going in with high expectations, which more often than not are not met. If I came across them organically and found them on my own? Going in with no idea of what they are about or going to be? I might enjoy them more. It's more a personal thing for me, but I feel like I am not alone.

Having as little knowledge as possible before experiencing a movie or album or show or wrestling event/moment just makes things that much more enjoyable. And I am currently working on reading less news or "leaks" or anything like that because I want to be surprised. I want to have no idea what I am seeing or watching until I am seeing or watching it myself with my own eyes and mind.