Just out of boredom, I figured I'd start a thread here about one of my childhood obsessions.
I was born just a bit too late to fully experience the WWF boom of the 80s; I discovered wrestling as Hulk Hogan and his ilk were being phased out and Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels were being phased in. Of course this was due to the steroid scandals occurring at that time, but I didn't know this back then. A local video store carried lots of old WWF videos, so I often rented them to get a taste of those salad days of Hulkamania. I loved it all, with the match between Hogan and Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania III (still possibly the most famous match in the history of the business) particularly sticking out for me. I also had a thing for the high-flying stars like Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, and Jimmy Snuka. I knew nothing about the inner workings of wrestling other than the fact that it was worked (industry lingo meaning "fixed"), and I was perfectly happy with that.
I spent much of 1992 and '93 in this mode, also watching WCW once I discovered that. Sting was a favorite of mine from that company, along with 2 Cold Scorpio (the first time I saw his 450 splash, I nearly screamed like a little girl out of amazement), Vader (just an absolute monster, far more athletic than the WWF's big fat guys), and Cactus Jack (the degree of violence in his matches was like nothing I had ever seen at that time). Sometime in late '93, I fell out of the habit of watching it (probably after realizing that god damn did wrestling suck in '93), and remained a non-fan for quite a long time.
Fast-forward to early 1998. I had been hearing a lot about the fact that the WWF had signed Mike Tyson to appear at Wrestlemania that year. Additionally, my brother had started watching again and had been telling me about this supposedly awesome character named Stone Cold Steve Austin. Now, I had watched wrestling VERY occasionally over the past couple years, so I knew who Austin was. But I didn't know that his style had drastically changed since I had last seen him, that his interviews and matches were about as far from Hulkamania as anything could be. So, on my brother's word, I had started watching again, and was impressed with what I saw. The entire WWF had undergone a major change, placing emphasis on violence and swearing and sex and general edginess. For the teenager that I was at the time, it was perfect.
Also, I began to follow wrestling via the internet, something which I obviously didn't have during the earlier days. This opened my eyes to a whole new world, as I learned in detail how the matches were planned out and executed and how angles (storylines) were written. I became aware of all of the various "insider" lingo through the internet, as well as the history of the business and the real lives of the people involved. And so, I went from a "mark" (common fan) to a "smart mark" (still a fan, but a knowledgeable one).
This may sound unusual, but you have to realize that the wrestling business itself generally covered up its history and/or lied to our faces about just about anything (be it attendance figures, the pre-wrestling careers of certain wrestlers, or any number of other things). Not everything on the internet is reliable, obviously, but it was and still is almost the only place where one can find any true information.
I can post more of my story later if anyone cares (though there isn't a whole lot left). If you want, feel free to post any thoughts you have on this strange little business we love so much...of course, wrestling games are a welcome part of this thread (Wrestlefest = pwnage, just so you all know)
Before I go, here's a simple WWF trivia question:
Who won the first Royal Rumble? Hint: He was one of the most popular wrestlers to never win a championship belt in his WWF career, although at one point he did hold the ever-meaningless title of "King of the WWF".
Later everyone,
Josh.
but then you take my 75 perchance chance of winning, if we was to go one-on-one, and then add 66 and two-thirds ch...percents...i got a 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at sacrifice
