Anyone around here a pro wrestling fan? Just wanted to test the audience here.
I have been a fan for most of my 42 years, and I’m not ashamed to admit that fact.
When I was growing up in the 1980s and early 1990s, wrestling was bigger than life to me. Saturday morning meant cartoons, sure, but come 11 a.m., it was time for the WWF (now WWE). If we were lucky, that night also meant “Saturday Night’s Main Event,” which aired in the time slot normally held by “Saturday Night Live.” Sundays meant the WWF, too, and once we got cable TV, that opened up the door to NWA/WCW and eventually, ECW.
Yes, I’m old.
It’s funny now because I tell my kids about the “good ol’ days” of pro wrestling and how it hardly resembles anything we see today. And I get it. Times change. Interests change. It’s inevitable.
What makes me feel even older is when I realize some of the top wrestlers today in WWE or AEW are the sons and daughters of wrestlers from my youth.
Yeah, that one really makes the gray hair spout on top of my melon.
Over the years, I’ve grown to see how pro wrestling (or sports entertainment) has evolved, but that is far from “fake,” and instead, staged. That’s not news to anyone reading this.
Pro wrestling is about the characters and the storylines. These days, it sometimes seems it’s the least about the in-ring product, in my opinion.
I grew up in the Hulkamania era and reading about Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Ric Flair, Sting, The Ultimate Warrior, Junkyard Dog, The Road Warriors, and Lex Luger in all the magazines that I bought with my paper route money (well, those and baseball cards!).
I had the posters on my wall and even today, try to get to an autograph signing for past wrestlers or legends.
Even today, many of those autographed 8x10s hang in the basement “man cave,” treasurers of years gone by.
So basically, I guess I’m still a fan who hasn’t adjusted to the new wave of the business. And I know many others feel that way, too.
I guess I just want to relive the Rock ‘N Wrestling Era, the New Generation Era, and the Attitude Era.
Anyone with me?
— Matt Mackinder