Why do you like wrestling?

[UMhester04]

I was just watching Smackdown in my room with my door open (college dorm) and some kids walked by and I heard them make a joke about it which got me thinking, why are we the outcast? That question does not have to be answered, because what I really started thinking about was why do I like wrestling?

I started liking wrestling when I was little. I always used to get taken to the video store and was allowed to rent one video per week. I cannot even remember why I picked up a wrestling dvd, but once I got home and started watching it I was absolutely amazed. I was young, so I believed everything that was going on but I just could not get over how cool guys like the undertaker, shawn michaels, razor ramon, etc were. I wanted to be just like them. Not only did I fall in love with the characters, I also fell in love with the "spectacle" part of the events. Entrances, the pyros, the stories, you name it I just loved everything about it.

Fast forward to today where I know everything is staged and I still love the product almost as much as I did before. I feel that my interest has fell a little bit only because the roster is basically totally different and the fact that I am seeing all the guys I grew up watching, leave the company and grow old and whatever other personal problems they are having.

I like watching wrestling because of the storylines, the spectacle, and the personalities. Seeing a storyline come together infront of thousands of people every single week with one of your favorite superstars is a great feeling. Just watching guys fued with eachother and have it all come together at a big PPV is real cool to watch. I think I like it so much because at the PPV everything is a big deal, it is the "big time". So much goes into the PPVs to make the stories come to an end (or accumulate even more) that is is just real fun to watch.


So what are your backstories to wrestling and why do you like it?

[vernond]

I got into wrestling 24 years ago for all the reasons you stated. Today its just for the wrestling itself. The characters and storylines aren't there for me anymore

[st0rmb11]

Hard to say, but when I was 7 or 8 years old (which was how old I was when I first started watching it.) It was the opposite of what you said about wrestling fans being the "outcast".

In 1997, 1998 - you weren't cool if you DIDN'T watch wrestling. If you didn't know what Stone Cold or The Rock or DX were up to, you were almost a loser. If you didn't own an nWo shirt, you weren't considered "hip".
I guess I came along at the perfect time to get into wrestling - you had two companies putting on world class shows every Monday night. You had the incredible storylines; whether it be Stone Cold & McMahon, DX doing..whatever they wanted, the nWo running roughshod all over WCW, Goldberg's streak, The Undertaker's crazy ministry angle, you name it. You had great matches being put on by The Rock, Stone Cold, DDP, Sting, the cruiserweights. Great tag team divisions (Harlem Heat, Steiner Brothers, New Age Outlaws, Edge & Christian, The Outsiders, etc.).

Like I said, when I was 7, 8, 9 years old, it was COOL to like wrestling. If you didn't come to school Tuesday morning talking about what had happened, guys looked at you like you were crazy for not watching. If you weren't quoting at least one superstar per week, you weren't cool. I still remember getting in trouble when I was in 4th grade for getting caught saying "Oh, you didn't know? Your *** better caaaaaall someboooodyyy." I still remember my mom giving a guy (a guy who was 8 years older than me, which goes to show the wide age demographic that could get interested in wrestling, at the time) a detention because he asked her how to do something, and when she started talking, he busted out "IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW YOU DO IT!!".

In the late 90s, when I got into it, wrestling was the hottest thing going. It wasn't just something you watched on Monday nights, it was a part of pop culture - everyone was making references. People would be roaming the halls of my school (grades 3-12) wearing DX shirts, Austin 3:16 shirts, NWO shirts. They were doing crotch chops to anyone and everyone. I just can't really describe what a phenomenon wrestling became around that time.

So, to answer, I guess that's why I got into it - you were an outcast if you DIDN'T follow wrestling. Once the attitude era cooled off, and WCW shut down, people started to gravitate away from it, and the select people who still watched it were considered "behind the times". I watched it from 1997-2003, almost non-stop. Then, I barely watched any of it until 2006 (when Edge started getting his huge push, Jeff Hardy came back, RVD got a push), but didn't watch it for more than a few months. I've just recently gotten back into it, but for completely different reasons than I was into it in my younger days ('97-'03). I believed everything was so real back then, but now I just love the in-ring product the WWE is putting out. I don't care much for outlandish storylines (which is why I never watch TNA); I just thoroughly enjoy watching guys like CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, etc. at work.

I can't really say why wrestling is sort of an "outcast" program to watch now, other than I think it's popularity just ran it's course - the storylines started to get overly cheesy and absurd, and honestly, the late 90s (Attitude era) was sooooo edgy, that even the most jaded of fans were inclined to believe that it was real, at times. Plus, it's overly obvious how scripted it is, at times. Once they started to go more towards a family program, I think it really turned off guys ages 12-25. But, believe me, had you been in your college dorm room in 1998 and watching wrestling, every guy would have walked in and watched with you.

[Redacted01]

Quote: Originally Posted by st0rmb11

Hard to say, but when I was 7 or 8 years old (which was how old I was when I first started watching it.) It was the opposite of what you said about wrestling fans being the "outcast". In 1997, 1998 - you weren't cool if you DIDN'T watch wrestling. If you didn't know what Stone Cold or The Rock or DX were up to, you were almost a loser. If you didn't own an nWo shirt, you weren't considered "hip". I guess I came along at the perfect time to get into wrestling - you had two companies putting on world class shows every Monday night. You had the incredible storylines; whether it be Stone Cold & McMahon, DX doing..whatever they wanted, the nWo running roughshod all over WCW, Goldberg's streak, The Undertaker's crazy ministry angle, you name it. You had great matches being put on by The Rock, Stone Cold, DDP, Sting, the cruiserweights. Great tag team divisions (Harlem Heat, Steiner Brothers, New Age Outlaws, Edge & Christian, The Outsiders, etc.). Like I said, when I was 7, 8, 9 years old, it was COOL to like wrestling. If you didn't come to school Tuesday morning talking about what had happened, guys looked at you like you were crazy for not watching. If you weren't quoting at least one superstar per week, you weren't cool. I still remember getting in trouble when I was in 4th grade for getting caught saying "Oh, you didn't know? Your *** better caaaaaall someboooodyyy." I still remember my mom giving a guy (a guy who was 8 years older than me, which goes to show the wide age demographic that could get interested in wrestling, at the time) a detention because he asked her how to do something, and when she started talking, he busted out "IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW YOU DO IT!!". In the late 90s, when I got into it, wrestling was the hottest thing going. It wasn't just something you watched on Monday nights, it was a part of pop culture - everyone was making references. People would be roaming the halls of my school (grades 3-12) wearing DX shirts, Austin 3:16 shirts, NWO shirts. They were doing crotch chops to anyone and everyone. I just can't really describe what a phenomenon wrestling became around that time. So, to answer, I guess that's why I got into it - you were an outcast if you DIDN'T follow wrestling. Once the attitude era cooled off, and WCW shut down, people started to gravitate away from it, and the select people who still watched it were considered "behind the times". I watched it from 1997-2003, almost non-stop. Then, I barely watched any of it until 2006 (when Edge started getting his huge push, Jeff Hardy came back, RVD got a push), but didn't watch it for more than a few months. I've just recently gotten back into it, but for completely different reasons than I was into it in my younger days ('97-'03). I believed everything was so real back then, but now I just love the in-ring product the WWE is putting out. I don't care much for outlandish storylines (which is why I never watch TNA); I just thoroughly enjoy watching guys like CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, etc. at work. I can't really say why wrestling is sort of an "outcast" program to watch now, other than I think it's popularity just ran it's course - the storylines started to get overly cheesy and absurd, and honestly, the late 90s (Attitude era) was sooooo edgy, that even the most jaded of fans were inclined to believe that it was real, at times. Plus, it's overly obvious how scripted it is, at times. Once they started to go more towards a family program, I think it really turned off guys ages 12-25. But, believe me, had you been in your college dorm room in 1998 and watching wrestling, every guy would have walked in and watched with you.

And this is why we won't see anything like the attitude era ever again. With their whole "against bullying" campaign now, they probably won't ever get that edgy because then kids will imitate. First they imitate what they hear, then what they see and it is only goes downhill from there. When I was younger, I remember hearing on the news or whatever about how someone injured their friend or brother by doing a wrestling move. I'm sure that still happens, but I don't hear about it as often as I did 10-15 years ago.

The attitude era is why I got into wrestling, but probably should have happened sooner. I remember seeing Monday Night Raw on USA when I was much younger, but my dad never kept it on. He was into wrestling back in the 70's and 80's with WCCW, AWA, Mid-south so I kind of wish he had gotten me into it then then I would have seen the start of the Monday Night Wars.

[TheMatrix31]

So many reasons.

I feel like wrestlers are more human, despite often being larger than life. They all have so many faults, they seem to put more on the line than your typical athlete, they're paid less so we can relate to them more, they're in our lives week in and week out, they remind us of our childhood. I don't know. These guys are like our best friends. They're dependable, since there's no offseason. You know that every week, you'll get something.

I love the fact that it's scripted. It's a show. This means no worry about what I'm watching being fixed (like the NBA). You can watch and appreciate the immense skill needed to be charismatic, control the crowd, and actually wrestle day in, day out for 300 days a year. I have more respect for wrestlers than I do any other athletes/performers. By far.

I could probably go on and on and on about this topic.

[ubernoob]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheMatrix31

So many reasons. I feel like wrestlers are more human, despite often being larger than life. They all have so many faults, they seem to put more on the line than your typical athlete, they're paid less so we can relate to them more, they're in our lives week in and week out, they remind us of our childhood. I don't know. These guys are like our best friends. They're dependable, since there's no offseason. You know that every week, you'll get something. I love the fact that it's scripted. It's a show. This means no worry about what I'm watching being fixed (like the NBA). You can watch and appreciate the immense skill needed to be charismatic, control the crowd, and actually wrestle day in, day out for 300 days a year. I have more respect for wrestlers than I do any other athletes/performers. By far. I could probably go on and on and on about this topic.

Perfectly said, and I agree.

Our friends laughed at my fiance and myself for dropping money on tickets / t-shirts, but we told them what the wrestlers go through. How they're there week in and out, the charity work, etc...

We made new fans out of them. Wrestling truly isn't just about the in-ring sport, it's about the grandeur and spectacle of it all combining into amazing moments.

[55]

Because its still real to me damn it!

[Marino]

Because of Scott Steiner.