WWF Wrestlemania

It's an incredibly unhealthy and dangerous lifestyle. Apart from the injuries themselves there's the steroids they all take (but pretend they don't) to get massive, the painkillers, and then any recreational substances on top...

 

But why can't you enjoy something which is "staged"? Movies aren't real either btw.

I don't follow it too closely, as I'm not particularly a fan of modern wrestling myself either, but I can understand how seeing one of your childhood heroes making a reappearance completely out of the blue, could cause you to have a euphoric reaction like what happened at the weekend. Probably moreso than the "limbs" some football supporters demonstrate because their side have gone 3-0 up in a cup game vs Woking.

And I'm not sure what you're getting at with the money, but it's a multi billion dollar industry.

 

People like it, Brilliant, I'd never tell the kids it's staged/ fixed, my point is I find it odd that adults get so vented and angry when they know it's rigged, each to there own as they say

 

I was lucky enough to grow up with it when Hogan, Warrior, Andre, Macho Man and all that crowd were around. And then the transition from PG to the attitude era which was something else. Early noughties I checked out, mainly due to a lack of time and relationships, work and whatever.

I’ve not really seen much of it since, and I know it reverted to PG audiences. But I do love to watch the old stuff, plus the great documentaries about it and I’ve seen a lot of clips here and there of the current era, such as this past weekend.

I loved it as a lad and well into my late teens.

 

Ob that I think it's because while it is fake or whatever word you choose to describe it it's also real in terms of wrestlers lives. So if in a movie the good guys defeat the bad guys at the end then it's all good and everyone is happy, if the bad guys win everyone is shocked I guess but still happy because they've seen a good movie and that's it, no consequences.

If a wrestler who you like wins (ok, is given) a championship then that really can be life changing for them because it means much more money for them abd a huge change to their lifestyle. If it's a non-title match it still has consequences because it can mean someone is getting rated higher so again more money, more airtime, more matches etc.
So while yes it's completely fixed, someone is still making the decision of who to win and they're doing it based on crowd reactions and who is chosen to get those wins and titles can change their lives or change the wrestling you'll see for the entire year to come if not longer.

An example is Cody Rhodes, made his WWE debut 17 years ago and was always impressive but never quite got the main event status or had a title. In recent years he's built himself up to have a huge following and this weekend was finally given ('won') the main WWE title. Took 17 years but meant he had finally made it as the top guy in the company. Yeah it's fake but it will have meant the world to him that the company chose him as the best, that the fans wanted him as the best etc, the fans have followed him for 17 years and see it as a reward and earned because frankly it has been earned just not in a true sporting sense.

I personally couldn't care less who wins, I don't really watch it much anymore, but I get why people do because unlike TV shows or movies the characters are people too and the outcome of matches does actually have consequences for lives and careers and long term implications for what you're going to watch in coming weeks and months too.

 

I went to the theatre last weekend. There was a particularly shocking part of the show and people gasped. Idiots. Don’t they know it’s not real?

I went to a comedy show a few months ago and people laughed. Idiots. Don’t they know the stories are just made up to get laughs?

I went to a movie last night and it had a sad ending and people cried. Idiots. Don’t they know it’s scripted?

 

Looking back the hulk Hogan, macho man, warrior stuff was absolutely awful but at the time I believed every second of it.

 

I think you've missed the point of it though. The entertainment is the soap opera drama of it, and the scripted nature, rather than who wins and loses. It's not like boxing, where there's a contest and someone wins and someone loses. It's the story element to it too. I fell out with it when it went through its PG era, so I get why it's not for everyone, but at the same time, if you just take it for what it is, entertainment, it's clear to see why even adults can enjoy it.

It's no different to watching a film, going to see a band, going to the theatre etc.

 

I couldn't believe it when I discovered that playing Mario64 isn't actually controlling a real life Italian plumber.

Absolutely disgusting, I wrote a strongly worded letter of complaint to Nintendo and never played again.

 

It's not "rigged" it pre determined. It's essentially a show. Look how worked up adults get by TV shows.

 

You can lose some serious time on YouTube watching Macho Man interviews!
Cream of the crop.

 

You certainly live your life to the full

 

Look at the schedule the main champion has tweeted. In the space of just three weeks he has....

10 shows
2 continents
5 countries

It takes a special kind of person to cope with this kinda thing all year round.

 

Pure panto in those days, looking back. All about the muscles and gimmicks rather than the athleticism/skills.

But as a 9, 10-year-old kid or whatever I was back then, hearing the Warrior music or Hogan's, it was great. Had all the toys, action figures too. Was fortunate to have Sky so all my mates would watch at our house. Great times. Not sure we should have been superplexing each other off the bunk beds, but hey ho.

 

I got into it in 97-98, which was our Premier league season of course. And it was the early days of the so called Attitude era..
Austin v Mcmahon the boss, Taker v Kane, Ken Shamrock as King of the Ring etc.

 

I have very clear memories of someone setting up a "ring" on the local field which was 4 traffic cones and some yellow and black striped tape round them for the ropes. I must have been about 6 or 7 and some of the boys were what seemed at the time to be much older, maybe up to 12/13. I vividly remember being the recipient of more than one tombstone pile-driver which seemed perfectly safe at the time but looking back it may not have passed 2024 health and safety.

I think I've still got a copy of hul hogans greatest matches on VHS in the loft somewhere. Had the famous wrestlemania 3 match against Andre the giant on it. That match summed up 80s wrestling, 12 minute match, 3 minutes of it were a bear hug. Cheesy and over the top but I loved it.

It's crap compared to now but at the time there was nothing better. Gladiators on steroids

 

I wasn't a fan then, but after seeing it on vid/dvd, I think Summerslam '92 was brilliant. Because it was an absolute sell out at our very own Wembley stadium, and it sounded like an amazing atmosphere.
Just look at the Takers entrance that night, for his match against Kamala. It's weird but still strangely addictive lol, seeing as it was at Wembley after all, and especially with Bobby Heenan's comments.

 

In fairness Andre was in very poor health by that point in his life and was struggling to move freely.
Despite all the criticism saying the opposite Hogan was a very accomplished and athletic wrestler in early days.
I've seen many interviews with him where he basically says he stumbled across the magic formula where he could get the crowd popping without really having to do much. Telling a story in the ring and taking the crowd on the journey.