Areala Asks: Professional Wrestling (20161014)

[Areala]

Seeing the WWF Smackdown cover on EDay's most recent GamePro upload got me thinking and wondering:

 

Who here either currently or at one time in the past enjoys/enjoyed professional wrestling? Doesn't have to be WWF/WWE, it could be ECW, All-Japan, Lucha Libre, WCW, TNA, whatever.

 

Did you ever play or enjoy a good wrestling game? Have a favorite wrestler? See a live show? Buy a Pay-Per-View? What did you like (or alternately, what did you hate) about the business of sports entertainment?

 

Your Goddess desires to see opinions falling like elbows and knees all over this thread. I want rants, raves, taunts, and word brawls. Let's see those "Austin 3:16" banners, Ultimate Warrior tributes, and Ric Flair howls. No count-outs, no disqualifications. Go to it, my beloved.

 

*huggles*
Areala

[Data]

I remember the personalities, the promotions and the feuds more fondly than the actual wrestling matches.

I'am trying to figure out why exactly so many men enjoy watching this type of sports entertainment.  Women I can understand secretly having a crush on one of the athletes but men become emotional watching this.

 

Member when Razor Ramon showed up at WWF in 1992 and his gimmick was being a pompous ass?  But  at 6'7" and 270 pounds he became an immediate superstar.

I watch his second vignette and understand why wrestlers always hit him in the face before the bell rings.

[Areala]

I remember the personalities, the promotions and the feuds more fondly than the actual wrestling matches.

I'am trying to figure out why exactly so many men enjoy watching this type of sports entertainment.  Women I can understand secretly having a crush on one of the athletes but men become emotional watching this.

 

Probably a good fifteen years ago, I had basically this same conversation with an old friend. I grew up with very little exposure to wrestling, but I babysat for a couple of kids in the mid-90s who absolutely adored it. They knew it was all "fake", but still they went nuts over the spectacle. Their parents would occasionally order one of the PPVs for them to watch on a night I was babysitting, and watching them caught up in the melodrama and the excitement of the Royal Rumble was just...awesome. We'd play the SNES wrestling games too...'Royal Rumble' and 'Raw is War' were quite fun.

 

Anyway, my friend said that guys like him got into wrestling because it was basically soap operas for dudes. No guy worth his balls would confess to watching "The Young and the Restless" or "As The World Turns", but watching a bunch of guys hulk out and smack the shit out of one another over some perceived slight was perfectly legit in the world of testosterone. It probably helped when the different promotions started introducing women alongside the guys. I'm not going to lie, watching somebody like Lita or Chyna work the ring with the big boys was enjoyable.

 

My guess is that most guys who get into wrestling are actually getting back into wrestling. It reminds them of when they were kids, just like people who geek out over Star Wars remember it from when they were little.

 

*huggles*

Areala

[twiztor]

have always been, and always will be, a wrestling fan.

 

now, to clarify, i don't follow most of what's shown on TV today. The WWE lost me as a fan many years ago (i stopped religiously watching Monday Night Raw in 2004). But i still know what goes on, thru friends that still watch, or a wrestling message board that i'm a part of. The actual show just can't hold my interest anymore.

 

to make up for that, a couple years ago i started watching the glory years (the "Attitude Era" for those in the know) again. i'm watching it in real time (one episode every Monday night) but i'm also watching it ALL. the Raws, the SmackDown!s, the PPVs, the weekend shows that don't matter. everything i can find. to make this more complicating, i'm also watching WCW programs. Nitro every Monday, Thunder on thursdays, and their entire plethora of weekend shows. i'm in October of 1999 right now, and i plan on working my way thru the end of 2001. After that, i'm not sure, but i'll probably do something similar with 1980s WWF/NWA shows.

 

favorite wrestler: "Macho Man" Randy Savage. even when he was the bad guy, i still rooted for him. Hell, in my mind, anybody that feuded with him was clearly in the wrong. 

Also rounding out the top four are: Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, and Jushin Liger. After that, there's a lot of contenders: Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Owen Hart, Ultimo Dragon, Ultimate Warrior, etc. etc.

 

i've been to a number of live events. Most notably, WrestleManias 22 (Chicago, 2006) and 23 (Detroit, 2007). 'Mania 22 was amazing. the atmosphere was electric. 23 was huge (80,000+ people) and was fun too but way less memorable for me (likely due to not following the show much at all). Last year, i took my 11 year old nephew to a local wrestling show (a co-worker wrestles for this promotion) and it was one of the best wrestling experiences i've ever had. He was super into it the whole time and he raved about the fact that the lead good guy (my co-worker) high fived him after his match. it was awesome.

 

the best wrestling video game is hands down WWF No Mercy for the n64. i can still play it to this day and have a blast. pure perfection.

 

 

as for why men like it? i dunno. i've been a fan since i was a kid. i tend to liken it as "real life superheroes" as opposed to "soap opera for men". the garish costumes, the feats of strength, the way they risk their bodies by flying through the air. it's the whole atmosphere. the "fake" stuff is such a stupid argument. it's like, "you know 'the Walking Dead' didn't really happen right?"

[theassassin]

WCW 4 LIFE