WWWF ............

[Big Daddy]

I have to give my thoughts here. First of all, I am a big wrestling fan, although I am not happy about the direction the WWF has been going recently. I am involved in a local independent league, and these kids bust their butts to try and give the best performance they can. They have to pay $3000 just to attend training camp, work out all the time, attend training camp 2-3 times a week, while working a full time job in the real world. They also pay their own expenses to and from the shows, which can be anywhere from a few miles away up to 300 miles away. They do this all for a whopping paycheck of $20-$50, depending if you are an early match wrestler or a main eventer. As you can see, they do it, not for the money, but for the love of the sport and the chance to perform and entertain in front of small crowds of generally 200-400 people. I also have a great amount of respect for a lot of the old-time wrestlers. I am good friends with a lot of them, and they gave up their bodies in their wrestling days in order to give the best performances possible. Now they are paying for it. Guys like Mad Dog Vachon, who probably has broken every bone in his body at some time, including his back, Barron Von Rashke, who can hardly walk now, I can go on and on, but my point is, these guys just loved performing, and they didn't do it for the money either. They were not paid much at all back then. I don't like to use the word "fake", but yes, the matches are scripted. You cannot "fake" so of the hits these guys take in the ring. They can pull some punches back, but, unless everything goes perfectly, and they never do, mistakes happen, hits become real, and people get hurt.
I guess I have rambled on enough. I always enjoyed wrestling when I was younger, but I never appreciated the effort it took by these guys until I became involved myself. I have a whole new respect for the entertainers.

 

[Neemer]

I'm not a fan and quite frankly, it's probably some of the stupidest chit on cable television. I know it's fake, and I know that you wrestling fans know it's fake. That's the depressing part about it. I'd feel much better about society in general if you fellas actually thought it was real. It would at least give ya a reason to watch it!

And don't think for a minute that the so called wrestling organizations around the globe, didn't try to hide the fact that it WAS fake. Remember the face lock Mr. Hogan put Richard Belzer in? Remember John Stossel gettin' bitched slap by Dr. D when he asked if wrestling was fake? Jerry Lawler had been known to rough up a few people when he was asked the dreaded question.

The wrestling organization realized that people weren't as stupid as they once thought, so they started coining their profession as entertainment. I just find it really sad that there are people out there in the universe that can be entertained by a bunch of steroid using bafoons who couldn't cut it in the sports arena and weren't smart enough to make it on daytime soaps.

I guess the thing that I really can't stand is looking out in the crowd and watching a six year old kid flipping off one of the villians for the night. Most of these youngsters with buzzed haircuts are sitting next to parents that act more childish than their damn children! Maybe I'm just an old foggie, but if our country's future is gonna be dependent on this class of IQ deprived rednecks, then maybe an early death wouldn't be as bad as I once thought....

 

[Nick Douglas]

Gator,

I gotta say 30. If you look at Shane's height while he was climbing it, no way was it eight of nine times as tall as he was. As far as a better stunt... Foley's two dives in '98 had more impact visually and drew more money and there are a ton of bumps like Pitbull off the dumptruck or Grimes/New Jack off scaffolding that hurt more. Sickest to me was probably Cactus off the ladder onto barbed wire in that death match with Funk in '95.

Jack,

katts was right, the "ignorant" comment is in reference to how smart non-fans think they are making little jokes about it being fake as if wrestling fans don't know that. And if you measure intelligence by not being a Survivor-watching, Major party-voting, People magazine-reading sheep who needs their thoughts and views on society spoon-fed to them by the media, then, yes, hardcore wrestling fans are more intelligent on average than non-fans.

Senior Capper,

You are damned right, most hardcore wrestling fans are either dimwits or freaks. Can't deny that. Wrestling wallows in the gutter of the entertainment industry so it makes sense that it attracts both the rebellious and ignorant.

BigDaddy,

Amen to that. Let me know what indy you are involved with. I know this probably doesn't apply to it but what you described sounds like most of the scams guys put on separating a buncha wannabe marks from their money by "training" them and making them work for peanuts. I am not saying this about yours but I have just heard that same story before from a lot of guys who were taken.

Neemer,

You ain't lying that wrestlers and promoters used to "protect the business" when people questioned its legitimacy. They are a bunch of con men, I can't deny that. But even during the time of the incidents with Dave Schulz and Hogan, all (or at least a gigantic percentage of) fans knew it wasn't on the level. You are also exactly right that wrestlers calling it "entertainment" is pathetic. That is a WWF thing more than a wrestling thing, though. "Entertainers" is what strippers and porn stars call themselves, i.e. someone who is embarassed by what they do. You are also right about the kids in the audience and their parents. That is some sad stuff. The thing you are NOT right about, though, is that wrestlers are washed up athletes or actors. First of all, most of them can't act a damn and never wanted to be actors. There are a few wrestlers who played college football or something like that but if you look at the real stars nowadays most of them have been wrestling fans their entire lives and they are living their dream by wrestling.

Look, I am not trying to convince any non-fans to watch because it is totally an acquired taste. The WWF is low brow entertainment without a doubt. The only thing that ticks me off is when people have to shoot their mouths off about a subject and rip it because they have watched it a couple of times or heard a couple stories about it. Watch the WWF every week, watch Mexican wrestling on Galavision, rent Japanese wrestling television shows and read the Wrestling Observer, and then tell me how stupid it is and how much of an idiot I am for spending so much time on it.

 

[marine]

gawd bless america for that!
Its good to see a solid debate/differing opinion without
A) the threat of violence passed on to each other
B) no references to someone's mother and how few teeth she has
C) or how many french fries someone is short of a happy meal.

But I still gotta say that I cant get over how vigilant people are (not just on the forum, but everywhere) about the subject of wrestling being fake. We know it is! The sad part is that yesterday someone was complaining to me how fake wrestling was while we watched it. Of course, this person kept trying to get "Friends" on the tv because that was a REAL show.


Oh and all you Soprano fans.... that show is fake too! HA!

 

[Senor Capper]

Tony says "watch what you say" Marine or you may end up like Pussy.......in the bottom of the blue!!!

 

[Big Daddy]

Nick, check out our web site at
www.allamericanwrestling.com

 

[Nick Douglas]

No crap, Eau Claire!? I grew up in Milwaukee and I will probably be going back there for the first week of July. I dunno if I will make the long drive to Eau Claire, but if I am up that way when you guys have a show I would definitely check it out.

 

[MadJack]

nice site, BD. very nice!!

 

[Big Daddy]

Thanks, Jack.

 

[Mr. Promises Delivered]

Originally posted by Neemer:
I'm not a fan and quite frankly, it's probably some of the stupidest chit on cable television. I know it's fake, and I know that you wrestling fans know it's fake. That's the depressing part about it. I'd feel much better about society in general if you fellas actually thought it was real. It would at least give ya a reason to watch it!

And don't think for a minute that the so called wrestling organizations around the globe, didn't try to hide the fact that it WAS fake. Remember the face lock Mr. Hogan put Richard Belzer in? Remember John Stossel gettin' bitched slap by Dr. D when he asked if wrestling was fake? Jerry Lawler had been known to rough up a few people when he was asked the dreaded question.

The wrestling organization realized that people weren't as stupid as they once thought, so they started coining their profession as entertainment. I just find it really sad that there are people out there in the universe that can be entertained by a bunch of steroid using bafoons who couldn't cut it in the sports arena and weren't smart enough to make it on daytime soaps.

I guess the thing that I really can't stand is looking out in the crowd and watching a six year old kid flipping off one of the villians for the night. Most of these youngsters with buzzed haircuts are sitting next to parents that act more childish than their damn children! Maybe I'm just an old foggie, but if our country's future is gonna be dependent on this class of IQ deprived rednecks, then maybe an early death wouldn't be as bad as I once thought....