Amen Stupidmoniker, I think all of us want wrestling back. I think that's why everybody is so frustrated. I think this editorial says it all: http://www.pwtorch.com/artman/publish/article_1263.shtml I love Bobby "The "Brain", always one of my favorite and personally I feel the best manager ever. But don't expect to see Bobby again. He has throat cancer, and while he caught it early and is doing very well it kind of screwed up his speech a bit. He has trouble pronouncing some words, though that might clear up eventually, he said once he recovers he can broadcast again. But Bobby won't be returning to the WWF, while he is on good terms with Vince he doesn't like the what the WWF has become. In fact Paul Bearer aka Percy Pringle retired earlier this week and he was disgusted with the RAW angle. Bobby even said in an interviewed I listened to that he thinks wrestling is dead because everybody knows all the "tricks" of wrestling and the fans aren't buying into wrestling they way they did in the 80s, the WWF's last true hot period outside of the Austin run. I agree with him, wrestling has lost its innocence, and without competition the WWF/E is never going to reclaim its edge.
I have maintained for a while that Vince killed wrestling when he destroyed kayfabe. I do like the more realistic characters instead of the cartoonish ones...but you could have had that without destroying the illusion. If this product dies...Vince will have nobody to blame but himself.
Did wcw do it first? Vince was on the ropes for a long time, and he would have done anything to get off of them.
It was all Vince. Back in 1996 when he did it, Vince had just gotten out of indictment for trafficking in steroids and cocaine. Then the athletic commissions of the various states told Vince that his boys were going to be subject to steroid testing. Vince OBVIOUSLY didn't want this so he asked them..."What if this isn't actually a sporting event, but more like an exhibition?" Many of the athletic commissions told Vince that in that case they would no longer be under the auspices of the athletic commission. Vince then went public that wrestling is not an athletic competition. He did it in order to save his own ass. 100 years of tradition down the toilet so Vince could save his ass. And now we're stuck with the crap the WWE is passing off as a wrestling show. I'm pissed.
I think WCW had more cartoonish ****. Remember the Doungoun (sp) of doom? Guys like the Yeti, and all them guys. That was dumb. And I hate Hulk Hogan. I thought he was stupid.
Since I don't know how old you are it is hard for me to know when you started watching wrestling. In the 80s the WWF had guys that looked like they jumped right out of the pages of a comic book. Repo Man...The Mountie...Ultimate Warrior...etc etc etc.
I just can't believe you guys have managed 12 pages of posts on professional wrestling...geez, War and Peace wasn't this long!
About the HHH skit, you have to admit you cracked up when HHH said, "Ah, nothing better than the smell of formaldehyde (sp?) in the morning!"
I have to admit, I was laughing out loud when he was doing that. "Hello, I'm Kane", while wearing a "Big Freak'N Machine" shirt. And "who's your daddy". Of course McMahon has reportly had 1300 complaints which is nightmarish for the WWF. I completely agree with Refman, the WWF killed kayfabe, not WCW. The WWF was doing crazier things in the 80s and early 90s then WCW could dream of. It's not the cartoonish characters that killed kayfabe, it's when Vince came out and blantantly said everything was fake, and then went out of his way to basically discredit good wrestling. Hulk Hogan is a legend. He drew more money over a longer period of time then anybody in history, including Steve Austin. Well the WWF is dying, and Vince has only himself to blame.
Two biggest faces ever. It's such a shame Stone Cold walked out. A Hulkamania/Austin 3:16 feud would've been awesome and may have even given WWE new life. It would have made Hogan/Warrior look like Big Show/Bossman in terms of hype.
As big as Rock/Hogan? Hogan is past his prime, so we would all know the result of the fued. The same result in the Rock/Hogan fued. Rock was a bigger star than scsa this last year or so.
this is one of the best posts in this entire thread. You succinctly summed up the entire problem in one paragraph. You made the point better than I ever could have.
Ive been watching since three. That is just recet stuff. The Mountie had my favorite theme. Koko B Ware and Frankie were pretty neat in its time.
Koko B. Ware was the man. JYD was also one of my favorites. My favorite jobber might have been Pez Whatley. I also loved the British Bulldogs, tagteam. I loved Akeem also. Bam Bam was one of my favorites too. For some reason, I never was into Randy Savage. The heel I may have hated the most was Savage's brother, THe Genius.
OK since I saw this back on the first page I thought I'd put in my .02 . This'll be long-winded so read it only if you've got a couple minutes. I'm a high school graduate and 4 hours away from my college degree (stupid tuition costs). I've got a full time job, a house, a nice fairly new car, and a big fat student loan to pay off. I've also, depite stereotypes, been watching wrestling for over 20 years now. The second live sporting event I ever went to was when my GRANDPARENTS took me to a local wrestling show in Madisonville, TX. I grew up watching JYD, Jake the Snake, Ricky Steamboat, classic Ric Flair, the R'n'R Express, the Midnights, the Freebirds, etc. on Saturday Night Main Event and the classic WCW shows. Even when wrestling became cartoonish in the late 80's and early 90's I watched (the Goon, Repo Man, and Berserker anyone?). When the "Attitude" era came about and Bret Hart, Steve Austin, and Shawn Michaels hit it big, I was first in line to watch the shows. I was watching the PPVs when Owen Hart died and when they announced the death of Brian Pillman. I've seen lots of stuff. However, NOTHING made me more ashamed to be a wrestling fan than Monday night. Brian Gerwitz (and, if the internet is correct, Mr. Paul Levesque aka HHH) came up with an angle that offended me both with it's subject matter and it's stupidity while at the same time made me ashamed to be a "hardcore" wrestling fan, all in the name of controversy and publicity. Well, if you count 1300 protests and being ignored by the mainstream media as that, then Congratulations! Mission successful! I'm just glad my mother, who bemusedly tolerates my fascination with wrestling while at the same time enjoying the athleticism of guys like RVD, Kurt Angle, and Chris Benoit, wasn't watching. I may be 27, but she probably would have put a moratorium to wrestling right then and there (don't ask me how, but she'd know somehow if I watched). Sorry if I don't get it, but I just don't see the point in involving necrophilia in a WRESTLING show! Yes I know wrestling is over the top and yes I saw the humor in HHH dressed up as Kane, but there MUST be better ways to build up an angle between two guys. Sheesh, Vince's family has been doing this for over half a century you'd think they'd have it down pat by now! Anyway, to conclude this entirely-too-long post, while I will continue to watch the network shows with a kind of car-crash fascination, I can't in good conscience spend money on this product until things change. Thanks for letting me vent
