In Love With Pro Wrestling Again
Here is a bit of an embarrassing confession: I used to be a Hulkamaniac. This was back in the 1980's. Ronald Reagan was president, I was in fifth grade, and my family lived near an American navy base in Bermuda. My best friend, at the time, was a hardcore wrestling fan. My family had just moved to the island from the UK, and I was a shy boy that didn't make friends very easily. Growing up as an American foreigner in other people's countries can do that to you. So, if my new best friend was into pro wrestling, I was going to get into pro wrestling, too. So, every Saturday afternoon, I went over his house, we would watch a bunch of matches, and then we would tie towels around our necks like capes, go into his yard, and make up our wrestling personalities and then play fight. Mine was "Gerhardt Heckler, the German Super Fist." (Although I am a natural born American citizen, I have some German ancestry, and I was born on a US air force base in what used to be West Germany during the Cold War.)
I have had an on again, off again relationship ever since. I maintained my love of wrestling into high school, where I ended up competing in a 189 pound junior heavyweight class. I really didn't take the non sports entertainment version seriously as an athlete -- after all, my father required that I play two sports in high school. If I had to do something athletic, I figured it would be wrestling. Because real wrestlers (and now some MMA fans, too) like to scream "Pro Wrestling is fake" all the time, my not caring attitude pissed some of my competitors off. Back then, I used to play mind games and would hulk out before each of my matches, much to the eye rolls of many. Despite that bit of tomfoolery, I managed to place sixth in all of Europe my senior year -- I should qualify that, I placed sixth in all of Europe, and second in my region, when it comes to American International and Department of Defense Schools.
Then, I entered college as a political science major, and then switched to English to study poetry and writing. I tried watching the then WWF like twice, and I found it eye gougingly childish and stupid and stopped caring. So, I totally missed out on the heyday of WCW and the NWO because of this. I really didn't watch for many years. It wasn't until the late 1990s and ECW that I started to watch again. I became addicted to watching The Rock, Chris Jericho, and Steve Austin cutting hilarious promos. Since then, I have been tuning in and out of WWE, for various reasons, missing several years at a time. The last time I watched, it was the height of CM Punk before he quit. I stopped watching, back in the beginning of 2014, for one huge reason: I moved to China.
About a month ago, I was wandering around Youtube and somehow I ended up on a highlight reel of Chris Jericho calling people "stupid idiots" and documenting their status as such on a list and clipboard he carried around with him. A few of those made beer come out my nose. Then, I started searching out other more recent WWE clips. Then, I started watching New Japan and female Stardom matches on Youtube. Then, I said "What the hell, why not?" and bought a WWE Network subscription.
Oh, how times change. I am in love with The New Era that's going on. I love how wrestling has gotten back to stressing athleticism and telling stories inside the ring. I like how the Vince Russo nonsense that killed WCW and TNA is totally gone and cut out of the industry as a whole. Right now, it seems like less soap opera -- it's still there, but not as bad as it used to be -- and more fighting. I love how there are now real woman wrestlers and not poorly trained models acting like wrestlers. Good riddance diva division! What can I say, I am actually a mark / fanboy for Asuka in NXT now and can't wait to see her elevated to the main roster. A match between her and Charlotte Flair would be awesome. So would her and the recent Japanese signee Kairi Sane. Which of new, younger guys do I like? I would have to say Kevin Owens.
I would say about 95% of everything I have written about on Steemit has been about living in China and learning its language, history, and culture. But, as a friend told me, I can write about anything here that I am passionate about. He's got a fair point. I have other blogs that focus of specific places in China. So, I guess I am going to start writing about pro wrestling here since Steemit offers that flexibility and my other China blogs don't. Apparently, I think I need an outlet on my thoughts about the industry. It's the curse of a writer and somebody with a very long history of writing reviews. Does this mean that I am going to stop posting pictures and stories about China? No. I'm still going to do that. But, I think I have to add wrestling as one of my more consistent topics.
[I claim no copyright on the images, use them under fair use, and have linked to sources where I have found them online]
Many people underestimate wrestling, it's actually very useful in MMA
Agreed. Pro wrestling is not so much fake -- it's just an athletic display with a predetermined outcome. Actual real wrestling helps in the MMA ground game, but its funny that some MMA fighters, like Chael Sonnen, have actually incorporated pro wrestling in how he does interviews and what not. You could say the same for how Connor McGregor has comported himself in the past. And the counter of what you have said is also true. MMA has had a huge impact on pro-wrestling. There are now so many more submission holds used in matches. Yes, some of them are wildly unrealistic and overly dramatic, but MMA has made people want to see submission wrestling more. It's no surprise that it has wormed its way into the product more than it was in the era of The Rock and Austin.
I'm also a big fan of wrestling thanks for sharing this nice infomativ post.Looking forward for more like this from u,keep them coming.Upvoted followed u.
thanks!
I used to love wrestling as a kid. I think the biggest problem with wrestling today is there isnt enough crazy characters. Think back to Doink the clown, Razor Ramone, Macho man, Ultimate Warrior, Sycho Sid etc. Now everyone just seems the same, a man in pants. They need to bring back parts of the attitude area that made it very exciting to watch. Also i think todays wrestlers dont look very tough at all. Its mainly due to the fact steroids got banned because of the health issues associated with them, look at Scott Steiner, he was a freak. Also many wrestlers died from health issues relating to steroids.
Ive tried watching wrestling recently and i dont find it very entertaining. I end up watching old matches from youtube that i watched as a kid. It makes me wonder if wrestling is still good or not, and maybe the fact i enjoyed it so much was because i was a child.
Actually, the crazy characters nearly killed the WWE back in the day. A lot of the child fans, like me, grew up, and thought the product was unwatchable. WCW at the time decided to go with the more "real" approach with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall invading, and for while, WWE was getting its ass handed to them in the Monday Night Wars. Eventually, the return to the hyper focus on soap opera killed WCW and that same mentality made TNA unwatchable. I can understand the current product is not for you, but out of necessity WWE had to return to some sort of realism in the ring. The closest competition in the US isn't even professional wrestling -- it's MMA and the UFC. This is why there are so many submission holds now in the current WWE. Professional wrestling has to be in the business of giving people what they want to see, and the days of outlandishly roided up guys with limited move sets is a thing of history now. Over the years, physiques have mostly gotten more natural, and the size of the performer has gotten smaller. If you are a fan, like I am, of telling an athletic story inside the ring, full of ring psychology, selling you're opponents pulled punches as real these changes are great. Sure, I worshipped Hogan as a kid, but that was me being a kid who liked watch wrestling as a human cartoon. Now, as an adult, I know Hogan really wasn't a good wrestler -- he had a limited move set, and I can't watch the matches that had me amazed as a kid. They are actually quite boring. However, a smaller guy like AJ Styles is not anywhere near larger than life, but damn, can he put on an entertaining match to watch.
I'll follow you because I love wrestling. I look every week.
thanks
Great thanks
wrastlin.. like most things was better back in the day haha I was a hulkamanic too 🙌
I enjoy this read, lol